#it works well enough here as long as she's not looking directly at the screen

[gamebunny-advance]

"Huh..."

I'm experimenting with some emotes for Kun3h0 since I never got that far with the last model. I feel like I should have at least one "negative" emote, so she's not smiling during sad or somber moments.

Ya know, for all the times that I've redone Kun3h0's model (which I think is 4 now), I think only the first one had a "real" alternate emote (the happy "peace sign").

The last one technically had two, but one was just looking to the side while idle, and the other was looking at the viewer.

[tinytennisskirt]

A Slippery Slope

Summary: Every girl has their favourite ex. The one they will forever have a soft spot for. Reader is above all of that, doing all she can to avoid Art when he’s back in town for tennis. Unfortunately, he’s unavoidable and has a lot of things to say about the way he left things…

Warnings: mentions of drinking, mentions of sex, rehashing a breakup, kind of hurt/comfort? I’m not sureee

It’s not like you were stalking him or anything… and if you were, it was totally normal for girls to stalk their exes. Part of being a girl is stalking your ex, like a rite of passage. You were just lucky his progress and whereabouts were publicized.

Art Donaldson was going to be in your hometown again after leaving for college three years ago. His tennis brought him here, a tiny little tournament. It was a charity game, so people paid to watch. It was in the news that Art had refused to receive any portion of a winning and that it go directly to a children’s hospital in Canada. As sweet as that was, it was also presumptuous that he would win. You scoffed a little to ignore the fact he was there on the website, smile gleaming, curls all blonde and pretty. He was sweet, you had to ignore that.

The feeling that him coming back here gave you was a mix of anxiety and anticipation. For what? You didn’t know exactly. He would be back and you could go to his game for $20. Like it was nothing, you could see him in the flesh again. But you said no, because your best friend would probably yell at you and kick your ass. So you shut the screen and pretended like it wasn’t real.

When the tournament was in town, the Main Street turned into a giant sale. Every shop had a tent outside of itself enticing people to come by. You avoided it the past week, getting to work by an extra-long route. It was easy not to think about him (though you did from time to time) when he was off somewhere far playing tennis- but now that it was here and there were posters up and the library promoted it and the lamppost flags were changed to commemorate the event, they may as well have plastered Art’s face all over everything.

The tournament was tomorrow now. Soon you had no reason to worry about. It would be easy. It was around seven and the summer sun still warmed the air, but it was getting chillier with every ten minutes that passed by. You headed down from your little above-bakery apartment, bag in hand and flip phone in the other. The walk to the bar was delightful, a good thing after a busy day at work.

You walked in and sat at the bar, your usual spot for Friday nights. You usually never went to the bar alone- it was often you and your best friend but she was on a first date and you still needed your gin. You ordered a small drink, strong though. Tasted a bit gross but it was fine- you deserved it. After all this avoidance, all of this torture, being on complete edge- plus work.

You got another drink and sipped on it while checking your email on your phone. Flipping through unread, work emails, messages from friends about an upcoming birthday and what food to bring. A few more drinks, light, hard, you were tipsy but not drunk. Enough to be satisfied and fuzzy. You were conversing with the bartender who you knew well- she was a friend of a friend and you were a regular. You were struggling to hear her over the noise of a nearby group of guys.

“Another round of shots for the boy!”

“Woah, woah, I can’t get drunk guys, I told you,” another voice piped up. You recognized it. You hated how your head turned. Your heart stopped for a moment. Amongst the crowd, in the very centre, was the very blonde mop of curls that had been haunting your dreams for the past week. It was Art. He was here. Right now. In the bar with you. “Okay, maybe another shot.” He grinned at his friends.

Your heart beat hard in your chest. And you were about to look away to save yourself- but his eyes met yours and it was immediately too late. Blue eyes on yours. And his grin dampened to an open-mouthed look of awe. You looked away and grabbed your bag to pull your wallet out and pay as fast as you could. All of the avoidance, all of the torment, just how shitty it was to know he was back- it all was falling in on you.

All you had to do was avoid it all. And it was too late. You paid quickly and apologized for rushing off and you got up to go and he was right there in front of you.

“Y/N,” Art said. He still looked a little surprised. But this was your hometown. You blinked hard and pushed your hair away from your face. He was really here, he was here standing in front of you. “Hi.”

“Hey,” you replied. You didn’t want to look at him, you were nervous, afraid, intimidated. What if you weren’t improved enough- or prettier than you were before. Something about seeing an ex that made you re-evaluate yourself. “How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?” He answered, upbeat. “I didn’t expect to see you here. If I had known you were still around I might have messaged.”

Would he really? It felt like a jab at the fact you still lived here. “I’m alright. I’ve been working.” You wished you weren’t tipsy, but he seemed so as well.

“I have a tournament tomorrow- are you going?” Maybe he drank more than you.

“I have work,” you told him. “It’s good to see you though, I have to be on my way, I’m so sorry-“ You lied. As good as it was to see him, you’d been afraid of seeing him again, feeling things again. The risk was very real, no matter what he had done wrong before.

He narrowed his eyes. “I wanted to see you. I’m glad I caught you. I’ve been… um… ever since I got here I’ve been thinking about you. I was going to call tomorrow after the tournament.”

You blinked a few times, “Oh,” you said. As you said, the risk was very real. “I- um. Sorry, I’ve been drinking.”

“That’s okay,” he said. “I get it.”

“I’m really sorry, I’m out of it,” you followed up. He was prettier than you remembered. His curls were more defined, longer. He matured, he looked more adult, but still young. He had been thinking about you… meaning to call… “It’s been good to see you, Art. And good luck at your tournament.”

“Do you really have to go, Y/N? I know I’m out of it too but you’re here and I… I know you.” He did. Somehow. He knew you were lying.

You sighed, “I really am sorry, I’m just tired.” You’d thought about how you’d act if you saw him again but your mouth was moving faster than your mind, trying to get you out of the situation because it felt like fight or flight. “Goodnight.” You tried to go again but he kept speaking.

“Can I walk you home?” He asked. You stopped walking and turned back to him. He was out of it, but you were a woman walking downtown at night. Usually you’d be with your girlfriends and you’d never travel alone and it didn’t occur to you that you would be. As much as you hated this current situation, it was safer. You nodded, slowly. And started mentally preparing. Would you seem impressive compared to his feats since you broke up? Did you look okay? Was everything okay?

Art ditched his friends. He didn’t say goodbye, he just stepped out with you. You were silent. “Did you dye your hair?” He asked as you began to walk.

You nodded, “Highlights, so kind of.”

“Ah,” he nodded back. “How have you been the past few years?” You remembered the healing process after him.

“I’ve been okay. Like I said, just working a lot. I have my own apartment now and some good friends. It’s not like college and travelling around to fun cities for tennis.” You said. He looked at his feet, smiling. You’d just given away that you’d kept tabs on him. “It’s not like I don’t have access to your Facebook. Or tennis news.”

He grinned at you. “Well I wish they had more hometown news because as many times as I’ve checked I couldn’t find anything about you anywhere. Look- I was going to call you tomorrow because I wanted to apologize to you properly. I know how I left sucked. I wished immediately and over the past few years that I’d gone about it differently and I want to apologize to you. Properly. And not now. Sober. Completely.” He said. His grin had lowered.

“I don’t need an apology, I dealt with everything when you left,” you told him a little too candidly.

He ran a hand through his hair, his blue eyes meeting yours. “I know. But it’s been eating me alive and I’ve spent every day since feeling guilty. I want to apologize right- I’m here now and as a man, I hate to beg but would you give me a chance to do that? We can get dinner after the tournament, my treat.” He had a hint of a smile.

“You don’t need to apologize,” you repeated. “I’m glad you’ve done some reflecting but you hurt me. I want to say no, Art.”

“I know.” He said, smile falling. “But I’m not who I was then. And I know better. If you hear me out and it’s not sufficient, I’ll be gone in two days and I’ll just be tennis news again.”

You both stopped walking and the silence was filled by the wind in the trees of the park that you passed with a small hint of the noise of cars on a nearby main road. He looked at you in a way that was so familiar, eyes soft- and new demeanour of being on the verge of giving up. But you saw his sincerity, unfortunately, locking eyes with his on this sidewalk. All he did was shrug and you shook your head slowly, eyes not leaving his.

“Okay,” you said, hushed. And a small smile creeped back onto his face. And you both, in unison, continued walking wordlessly. He walked you to the door of your building and stayed until you unlocked the door. “Goodnight, Art.” You said, stepping in.

He raised his hand, not waving, just raised, and smiled a small smile, his face illuminated from the golden light of the hallway, “Goodnight, Y/N.”

And you went to bed that night slightly freaked out, a little excited, and extremely nervous.

The next day rolled around and the same anxiety was NOT slept off. You worked a bit from home- You showered, did your hair the way you usually did, did your makeup and dressed in something that was comfortable, but nice enough for a warm summer day. A skirt, a cute top, comfortable shoes.

You replayed Art’s proposal. Dinner, he had said. You didn’t want dinner with him, that made it real, that felt like… too much of the past. Too close to something dating people would. You’d head over for his last game- you didn’t need to stay all day. It was nearing four o’clock when the next game was scheduled.

Above all, he was sorry. And he said he felt guilty and for a good while you convinced yourself he didn’t care and didn’t miss you or think about you at all- so hearing that he did unravelled a bit of your healing process. It’s not like it was an aching wound, but more like reopening a time capsule.

You stared at yourself in the mirror, putting your earrings in. This was a slippery slope, dinner would be the slipperiest, but you grabbed your bag and headed to the tournament.

You found a seat at the top, the last row.

You’d seen him play before a few years ago, but when he came onto the court today it was different. He had a new attitude and confidence and you could see it as the game started and he hit the ball with everything he had. And it was something you hated because it was hot and it shouldn’t have been. You had to look away a few times just to spare yourself but the sounds he made on the court reminded you of something and you hated it.

There was nothing you could do but tell him dinner was a no. And you were sorry. The game ended and he won, triumphantly, with a great cheer from the crowd that their hometown boy had won. You were somewhat proud of him- you never stopped, even after the breakup. He was doing well for himself. The crowd funnelled out after the game ended, but you stayed seated atop the metal bleachers that lined the court. And you contemplated how to be kind and apologetic in a way that told him you were better off not having dinner, whilst not giving away the fact that you were thinking about him in a way that scared you because it was an old, buried feeling. Without showing him that the apology meant hope. You were a strong, independent woman now and you could speak up and this just wasn’t a good idea. You were-

“Hey,” Art said. He stood down a few rows of the bleachers and waved. “I thought you wouldn’t show.”

“Me too,” you said. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky. “That was a good game. Congrats on the win.” You tried to be flat, but you were too genuine-sounding.

He chuckled, “Thanks. I’m glad you came.”

“Me too,” you replied. His smile grew but you saw him fight it. “Look, Art-“

“No I know,” he cut you off. “Dinner feels too intimate. Do you just want to go grab frozen yogurt? It’s honestly all I’ve thought about today- is there still that 24/h place that we used to think was insane hours for frozen yogurt?”

You blinked a few times before the relief set in. And you smiled a full smile, not meaning to, but you did. “That sounds- yes. Yeah, it’s still there.” You grabbed your bag and got up from your seat.

I’ll be ten minutes just to shower and we’ll go- if that’s okay?” He smiled back. The weight of a real dinner was lifted. No spiel involved, though frozen yogurt distracted you from the fact there was still a code of yours to uphold and it was to keep from slipping. You nodded and he went to do so and you waited outside the court. He was out soon enough with his things and he walked over to a car that you assumed was his the way he loaded his things in. His hair was still wet from the shower and as he passed you, he smelled clean and… familiar. You hated that.

The conversation in the car was about the game and that was easy. You pointed out some things you saw from his opponent and things you noticed him do. He answered every question of yours. And then you were there.

“How did they stay open all this time?” He said, entering. You shushed him and he put his hands up in surrender.

“High quality and good tourism,” you replied, getting the flavour you wanted. “Did you miss it here?”

“Here or here as in town?” He asked.

“Home,” you answered. He got his flavour and walked to the toppings.

“I missed some things about it, yeah. Not many things, but a good few.” He stayed vague.

“I think I would like to miss it someday,” you told him. “I’ve been here too long.”

“Travel?”

“Saving up for a house,” you told him. “I’ll travel when I’m old, I think. When retirement money comes in and I don’t have kids to pay for.”

“I thought you didn’t want kids?” You both paused. You paused at the fact he remembered that and he paused at the fact he said an inside thought aloud.

You blinked hard a few times and put on a few toppings. “I’m- um- I’m not sure. I think I was young and inclined to the idea of being a working woman with no distractions and now I feel that… I’m older, so. I feel like maybe it’s not the best thing ever to have no distractions.”

He cleared his throat, “That’s fair.” Silence. The place was empty anyways. You brought your frozen yogurt to the scale and the price came up. Art walked over with his and pulled his debit card out. “My treat, remember?”

You did forget. He paid right then and there and then paid for his own and you thanked him but the silence still hung over you both even in the sound. In the car, you ate your frozen yogurt and the topic turned back to tennis and it was easy. Talking to him about passions was just like no time had passed at all- and it was interesting to hear the ins and the outs and the tells of tennis. But he stopped the car eventually, outside his hotel. You wondered if he was about to banish you home out of nowhere.

“I have to interrupt- I was wondering if you wanted to come up to my room for a bit, I feel like with the impending conversation maybe you’d want to be somewhere quiet and I wasn’t about to invite myself over.” Art said. You nodded. “You will?”

“I will,” you agreed, though you didn’t want to. It felt wrong, like a mistake, like the edge of a cliff and a slippery slope all at once. He smiled and got out of the car with his frozen yogurt. Your mind lingered on how considerate it was, despite the intimacy of being alone with nothing to see but him. “I appreciate that a lot though.”

“I know you like privacy,” he replied. You went up to the 14th floor, two down from the top and followed him down the hall. The room was standard. Large, but one bed, presumably a pull out couch, a chaise lounge, a small kitchen, a big bathroom and a tv. His things were all in one corner. You immediately took a seat on the chaise which was near the bench at the end of the bed that Art immediately sat on. It was a bit real. It was more than a bit, it was real.

He looked at you, blue eyes with their bits of brown and his long eyelashes. “I shouldn’t have left the way I did.” He started. He was jumping in. Your heart sped a little and you suddenly felt a pit in your stomach. “I was stupid. And naive and convinced that I would thrive more when I left for college.”

“You did,” you nodded. A nod to his success.

“But my intention was wrong. You… loved me. And I took advantage of that for the idea of a perfect college experience with Patrick- full of smoking and drinking and girls.” Your stomach flipped hearing his words. “I felt the guilt from the moment I left, I just shut it up with vodka and constant tennis and it was hard but it was manageable but it doesn’t mean I didn’t think of you.”

You kept your eyes locked with him and set your frozen yogurt on a nearby table. He took the time and did the same, but he looked at you for something. “You could have come back. Or called- even if you called-“ you cut yourself off. You were jumping too quickly. But it was Art and Art was easy to talk to. “When you left, I knew that. I knew what you wanted and I didn’t believe that you would truly let it go.”

“I didn’t,” he said.

“But there was no proof. To me, you left me for the ability to drink and kiss and fuck and it broke me because I was young and all I had to give was myself.” Your eyebrows knit closely together. He looked guilty. “And with no proof, I just… I was upset for a long time, but I slowly got over it.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“I know now,” you sighed. “Unfortunately it was hard to get you off my mind.”

“I tend to have that effect,” he smiled a little and so did you.

“Apparently so do I,” you countered. He grinned his perfect crooked smile. “But you hurt me. Badly. And I missed you for years but you didn’t even reach out on my birthdays so what could I think other than you’re out there succeeding and had put me in the past.”

“It’s why I’m here, or- why you’re here. I needed you to know that I thought about you all the time. It ruined my relationship with another girl because she knew I was hung up even when I didn’t. And when I found out the tournament was here, I just… I knew I had to see you. I had to face what I did. I know it was shitty, I know not speaking sucked, I just… I want you to know how sorry I am. And how much I wish I hadn’t left.” He looked genuine, his regret radiating off his skin. Your heart skipped a beat or two and your breathing picked up a little. “I wish I hadn’t left you, I traded you for something so fucking meaningless, it kills me.”

You had to stand your ground, because you knew the moment he said that- that all of your healing was coming undone. It unravelled and floated down to the floor, useless. You recognized the look on his face too well, you missed the look on his face. He wanted you. “I really-“ you started but stopped. The slope was icy, slick and smooth and at your very feet. One wrong move and you’d fall down it. And all of the healing, all of the time, all of it would have been for nothing and what would that mean? You had to have some sort of stance against this, some little bit of resistance. His voice was too soft, his eyes too sweet. “You should have told me that ages ago if it’s truly how you felt.” You said. You hated being dismissive this way. “I accept your apology.” But he didn’t look happy to hear that.

“I wanted to call, but I’d left things so badly I wasn’t sure if it would just reopen wounds or…” he had a desperation in his eyes.

You picked up your bag, your stomach doing flips and your heart beating at a crazy pace. You had to go. The slope was too slippery. “Art, I accept your apology. Thank you for the frozen yogurt and for the privacy and inviting me up here. I really should go, it’s getting late.” It was too easy to want to fall down that same slope, to tumble into him, to crash, to even burn. It was too tempting and you just… couldn’t do it. Couldn’t handle it. You stood up and walked toward the door and you felt him get up behind you.

“Wait, please?” He said. “Y/N, I have more to say.”

“I heard everything I wanted to hear four years ago,” you replied, turning before the hotel room door. “Unfortunately too late and I just feel… the same. You did trade me for the opportunity to have sex with girls shamelessly. Everything we had was just gone at the drop of a hat because you felt like it and you left me here to pick up the pieces and knowing you wanted to tell me all of these things since you left? While I waited by my phone every single night in case you called to change your mind, convincing myself day after day that you were just busy until I convinced myself that I was never worth anything to you- do you know how much that hurt? Having everything I ever wanted in a person who knew me like the back of their hand and being dropped for a college party era… I…”you huffed and he kept his eyes on you, listening, but eyes sad. “I convinced myself that it was all fake because what other explanation did I have? And it’s not like I could call to clarify, you left me. And it took forever to stop having nightmares about you and even when they were dreams they hurt. I missed you more than I missed anything and you showed no signs of regret or remorse or even missing me in the slightest. You broke my heart when you left, Art. And I’ve been better.”

There was silence in the room. It lasted a minute and a half. He seemed to be taking in every word you’d said. He cleared his throat eventually and he looked more upset than he had this whole time, “It kills me that I did that to you but every day was a constant battle. No girl out there was worth it- nothing was. But we were so far apart and- fuck I have only excuses but I know I did you wrong. And I know I hurt you and I can’t undo it but I can be here now and tell you that you look just as and even more beautiful than you did then. And even after not speaking for years I feel like we never stopped. And I have never stopped having feelings for you so seeing you last night in that bar just about took me all I had to not immediately pour my heart out in hopes that maybe you would forgive me enough to let me try again.”

Try again? Your hand rested on the door handle and you looked at him in disbelief. “Art, I can’t.” You said. He was standing in front of you, looking down at you, over you. His eyes were wet, you noticed, and he was breathing just about as hard as you were as your heart pounded in your chest.

“I can live without, I know we’re older and you might have moved on,” he said under his breath. “But I’ve never stopped wanting you and seeing you has made it so apparent. I can’t escape you, so even if you walk out that door right now nothing I’ve said will change.”

“You were everything, Art,” you told him, hushed. “But you hurt me and it would be wrong to go…” He swayed closer, over you, close to you. “-Back.” Your eyes met.

“I don’t care if it kills me. It almost did leaving you the first time but if…” he swayed near again. Your lips parted and your eyes stayed trained on his. “If you let me… I wouldn’t go anywhere. If I can promise you anything it’s that I know now that I need you.”

“You’ve gone years without,” you said, standing your ground. “You’ll manage.”

“I don’t know if I will,” he sighed, his blue eyes a dark shade of grey in the dim lamplight of the hotel room. His voice stayed low. “Not this time.”

“Why?”

“I told you why. It’s been a mistake, I’ve wasted years of my life just thinking and never acting and I need you to know I still want you. You stand here and you’re questioning it but you’re at my door and you haven’t left.”

“Maybe I want to hear you out,” you reasoned, it took all you had not to stutter and stumble over your words. Your hand gripped the door handle harder, knuckles whitening. “Thank you for your apology and for telling me how you felt.”

“Thank you for letting me,” he hushed to a whisper again. In his eyes, through the focus and lock on your own, you saw his hurt. You saw how genuine he was. But the silence was still and he was close to you, too close, but just close enough. Just about as close as you were to slipping. Down the slope… “Y/N…” he trailed off.

“You missed me? You missed me…”

“Every day.” He confirmed, the gap between growing smaller every second. “And I’ll never stop being sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. You don’t have to say anything for sure, but I want to try. If you’ll let me. I would do anything to not have to miss you like this. I promise you.” His nose grazed yours, that’s how close he was. You looked up at him through your eyelashes.

“Art…” you sighed.

“Yeah?” He looked into your soul the way his eyes kept hold on yours. He wanted to smile, you could tell.

“I’m not sure.”

“I know. That’s completely fair-“

You cut him off, “I don’t know.

“I know.” He replied. “I know what I can give can match what you gave me. I want to give you everything I couldn’t, I-“

“I know,” you echoed.

“Please,” He said, the way he looked at you was so soft. His eyebrows were knit in the centre, he was pleading with only one word.

“How do I know?”

“You don’t. But you can take my word.”

“What good is your word? You said you would stay and you didn’t, you said you loved me but you were gone a week later, you swore it was us.”

He looked exasperated, “I was young. And stupid. So stupid.”

“Very,”

“I know.” He echoed again. “And I’ve known. And everything has lead me back here.”

“How do I know you won’t leave for tennis again?”

“Nothing could take me away this time,” he said, voice still hushed. You were fighting a hard fight.

“You can’t promise that,” you retorted.

“Who can?” His voice echoed around your head. Who can promise to stay? Indefinitely? Eventually someone dies nobody can ever stay forever. There will always be an eventual absence. Your heart pounded in your chest, racing, pumping hard enough you could hear it. He looked at you with perfectly parted lips and eyes that just pleaded and an expression you missed for ages. Eyes locked on eyes, trained, centred. And closeness you craved for years. You were fucked, done for.

You grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into you. Though it wasn’t a kiss. It was the tightest embrace you could muster as he wrapped his arms around your waist, hands grasping at your sides, his other hand flat on your back, holding you close and your hands around his neck, tight. You missed this more than kissing him, you missed this more than most things. Younger you missed everything, but most, she just wanted to be held again. You thought about it for years. And his grip on you didn’t waiver one bit for the time you kept your embrace. He kept you flush against him like it was the easiest thing in the world.

And he kept you that way for a long while. He didn’t want to let go, neither did you. But eventually, slowly, you both pulled away. The heat of the moment was gone and the apology was over and your heart still beat a little bit too quick. And he still wasn’t far. The silence was loud, but comfortable now.

“Can we try again?” He whispered. Plain and simple. He wasn’t asking for a promise- nobody could ever promise anything. Even you couldn’t promise. But it was him and even after years had gone by, it was always going to be him anyways. So why not?

You nodded.

[msbigredmachine]

Hoochie Daddy (Jey Uso/OC)

How many of these shorts does he have? And how quickly can she take them off him? Jey Uso/OC gym one-shot.

Warnings: SMUT

Word count: 4.7k

A/N: I believe @southerngirl41​ is the reason for this title, lol. Let me know what you think!

All Jey gifs by @annoyedkayah2395

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

The gym in the basement of Jey Uso’s house was something straight out of the Creed movies. The floor, walls, and ceilings were solid concrete, the old school decor contrasting with the state of the art equipment within its walls. The speaker system on the far wall blasted the late great DMX as you laid waste to the punching bag in the corner. The straining of your muscles and the aching of your joints felt good. It was helping a lot with clearing your head, given the rather stressful events of the past couple of months. 

Though not directly involved yourself, you had experienced the strife within the Bloodline through your boyfriend. From Sami’s betrayal at the Royal Rumble, to Roman’s rage, Jey boycotting the shows for weeks, the uncertainty coming to a head at Wrestlemania with the twins losing the Tag Team titles to Sami and Kevin. Hit hard by the defeat, Jey reacted by keeping his distance from the group once again. He avoided everyone’s phone calls, and you happily played gatekeeper, screening his calls and keeping the doors locked from all intruders. If Jey didn’t want to communicate with anyone, then so be it. You loved his family like they were your own, but his peace of mind always came first. Always.

Which is why you let him sleep in while you came down here to beat the shit out of this damn bag. He’d gone to bed early last night and you wanted sex, but you couldn’t find it in your heart to wake him up and disturb his rest. This morning, you had to physically stop yourself from mounting him and riding him well into the afternoon. He looked so good lying there next to you, butt naked with his new chest tattoo just begging for your oral attention. That man made you horny at a moment's notice and it would have been infuriating if you weren’t already completely in love with the way he made you feel. 

So, you decided an early morning exercise would help you out with your frustrations. You learned that working out brought you to a state of erotic readiness. There was a power and excitement about exerting your entire body that amplified your arousal. It also helped that you were dating a man that shared your philosophy. Exercise energized you and Jey. The changes you’d experienced sexually in the past year were testament to this. As a couple you had transitioned from traditional sex to something so much more erotic and spiritual. Your relationship thrived as a result, and for the first time in years, you were happy.

"You’re stronger. But you gon’ hurt yourself if you don't relax your shoulders," a familiar gruff voice warned from the doorway of the gym.

You turned towards your boyfriend, locking eyes with him from across the room. You nodded at his barely clothed frame. “And you’re gonna have a yeast infection if you keep wearin’ them tight ass hoochie daddy shorts,” you shot back.

He burst into a chuckle as he glanced down at his yellow shorts, smiling that breathtaking smile of his. “You got jokes, huh?” he said, pushing off the door frame. As he approached you, his dark eyes raked over the light sprinkling of freckles over your beautiful face. He knew how many there were and could locate each one with his eyes closed. Your frizzy jet black hairstyle and crafted eyebrows made your eyes pop. And though they were hidden, he couldn’t help but drool over the outline of your nipple piercings through your thin, long sleeved Nike crop top.

You picked up your bottle of water. “How long have you been standing there watching me like a creep?” 

“Long enough. You know I can watch you all day, baby. You sexy as hell,” he winked, giving you a sweet kiss before swatting your backside. "How long you been in here?” 

"About an hour. Did some cardio first. I was horny and you were asleep.”

“Sorry ‘bout that, babe. I’ll make it up to you later.”

“I wanna fuck you now,” you pouted like a child, “Do you know how much willpower it took to not jump your bones this morning?” 

“I do. And I applaud your restraint. Usually, you can’t resist me,” he bragged.

“So damn arrogant.”

“Luh you too, boo,” he chuckled. Adjusting the Snapback around his head, he moved to the free weight area of the room. You noticed him fiddling with his phone, and rolled your eyes when he placed it in a strategic vantage point. Another IG story in the works; another day of women coming online to comment and thirst over his beautiful body. Just great. 

You stared as he pulled himself over the high bar and back down in flawless repetitions. The transformation of his body over the last year was goals, and you were inspired. However, with said transformation came the sudden need to wear only the teeniest tightest outfits to the gym, and now he had these little shorts in every color imaginable; pink, green, yellow, black, literally the Power Ranger collection of bikini shorts, with the hem just a few inches below his backside and showing off the extensive leg tattoos and the fullness of the groin that belonged to you. The material bunched up in that area as he slowly lowered himself back to the ground. Sweat glistened on his body, coursing down his defined contours, and you felt an animalistic urge to go right up to him and lick off every drop...

“Like what you see, baby?” His deep voice interrupted your dirty thoughts. Forcing your gaze back up, you saw his smirk, expressing his amusement at the heat in your eyes.

“You know I do. I’ve lost all my concentration thanks to them little ass shorts.”

“Concentrate on something else, then,” he insisted, empowered by how flustered he made you.

“I can’t. That ass is calling my name,” you whined, “You got your Daddy’s booty, I’ve told you this before.”

Jey groaned audibly. “Girl, leave my Daddy outta this!”

The side of your lips quirked, showing off the tiny dimple in your cheek that drove Jey crazy. “But it’s true. Jimmy got Kish’s face, you got his ass.”

The former tag champ burst out laughing. His girl was as crazy as she was beautiful. “You are unbelievable.”

“I know, Daddy.”

Not Daddy. Damn. His gaze followed your ample backside as you walked away, and involuntarily, his tongue darted out over his lips. Forcing himself to refocus, he settled down on the weight bench and picked up the weights he set out to train with.

The two of you worked out in comfortable silence, shooting furtive glances when the other wasn't looking. As he laid back on the bench, you ogled his dick print, his grunts of exertion causing you to bite your lip and squeeze your thighs together where you stood. Noting his attention was solely on the dumbbells, you sensed the opportunity passing you by. 

Fuck it. 

“Your video still on?” you asked, going over to him.

“No, why?”

You gave no answer, but proceeded to flop down directly onto his groin, smirking at his startled grunt. You could feel his eyes burning holes into the back of your head but you didn't care. Making yourself comfortable on his lap, you started slowly, grinding your ass on his cock, feeling him harden almost instantly through the thin barrier of your clothing.

“What are you doing?” Jey demanded, scrambling to sit upright. You looked over your shoulder at him with a devilish grin, noticing the struggle in his eyes. 

“I told you…I want some dick...I want what’s mine,” you let him know, opening your legs a little wider to grind on him. With a steady roll of your hips, you moaned and whimpered at the feeling of the wetness pooling in your loins. You let his groans wash over you as you rocked you back and forth on him, bumping your ass against his abs repeatedly. 

“Fuck, baby,” he hissed.

“Yeah, Daddy, you like that?" you taunted him, looking back at him as you rode him reverse cowgirl. "Come out here looking like that and expect me not to jump you, huh?"

Jey did not know where to put his hands. You had him all discombobulated from your little ambush. He settled for the curls of your hair, tugging your head to the side to allow his lips and tongue attack your sweaty neck. This motivated you to arch your back and roll your ass more harshly, his hand in your hair making you look back at it. You knew how good you were making him feel as he shifted multiple times to make your ass stroke his dick through his shorts. His hungry eyes watched you dry hump the shit out of him, his eyebrows pinched together in total arousal. 

“Aww fuck, keep goin’,” he moaned, grabbing your gyrating backside, purposely flexing his thigh muscles to give you more friction. His husky praise encouraged you to pick up the pace. Your hips rolled diligently, your hands braced on his knees for leverage, thoroughly enjoying the sounds tumbling from his mouth. It was sweaty, it was hot, and from the way your pussy rippled, it was about to get even hotter.

Then, from out of nowhere, you stopped and stood up.

“And that’s my workout done for the day,” you announced, stepping away from him.

Jey could not keep his jaw from dropping in shock. “The fuck? Babe!” he exclaimed with wide eyes.

You casually adjusted your clothes and ignored the prominent tent in his shorts. “Yep. Pelvic thrusts. Great for mobility,” you explained, fighting the urge to laugh. He looked so frustrated, it was hilarious.

The Samoan squared his shoulders and glared at you. “Damn dick tease. I’ma get you for that, ya hear me?” he threatened.

“I hope so.” For a long moment, you regarded him, talking to him without saying a word. You were checking on him, hoping he was okay. Jey’s expression softened in understanding, and he grabbed your hand and pressed his lips to your inner wrist. The feeling of his mouth gently pressed to your skin made your stomach clench with a sweet mix of affection and need.

“See you upstairs, baby. I’ll be right up, a’ight?” he prodded gently, his eyes shining with gratitude. 

You nodded. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now go, before I bend your fine ass over my lap.” He burst out laughing as your eyes lit up at the prospect. “Go!”

“Fine.” Blowing him a kiss, you left the room before he could change his mind and carry out his dastardly threat. Like he did a couple of weeks ago, when he locked you inside the laundry room and proceeded to fuck you for an hour. In eight different positions. All while getting the laundry done. Good Lord. Could you do that again, actually?

Buying a jetted jacuzzi tub big enough for two, was one of the best decisions you and Jey had ever made, expense be damned. It was one of your favorite things about the whole house, your place of Zen and tranquility after a long day. You ensured the water was adequately seasoned with Epsom salts and eucalyptus mints among others. Turning off the hot water, you stripped off, tucked your hair into a shower cap, and lowered yourself carefully into the tub. You leaned back and closed your eyes with a deep sigh, allowing the quiet to take over the ambience. You could feel your pores opening instantly, absorbing the mint and the steam, making you feel much more relaxed.

The sound of shoes being noisily kicked off forced your eyes open, landing on the handsome Samoan culprit grinning cheekily at you.

“That looks nice,” he commented.

“It feels amazing,” you concurred, crooking your finger at him. "C'mere, Daddy. Come join me."

Like he would ever turn down such an offer. He peeled off the t-shirt that stuck to his sweaty skin, followed by his so-called hoochie daddy shorts. He blushed at the way your eyes glossed over with desire as they raked over his body. He would never stop enjoying the way you looked at him. He descended into the tub on the opposite side, allowing his legs to entwine with yours underneath the water. Once he was seated, he exhaled loudly, leaning back and closing his eyes like you did.

“Your mind’s a mile away from here,” you spoke up after a few minutes of observing him in silence. “Come back to me, baby. Talk to me.”

Jey turned his head toward the window, staring dully at the bright sky outside. When he spoke, the pain in his voice hurt your soul. 

“Tell me how I let all of this shit happen,” he whispered. “I thought I was doing the right thing, man. Staying in the Bloodline to protect Jimmy. I thought I had everything under control. Until I got in that ring on Saturday night. It shoulda been just another match for me. But one look at Sami and all I saw was red. I let my emotions get the best of me. Now we’ve lost the fucking titles.” He paused, dragging a hand down his face. “The crazy part is, I believe Sami. I know he’s right about everything. Everything he warned me about is happenin’ now. Baby I just don’t know what to do.”

He looked over at you, and your heartstrings tugged at the helplessness you saw in his eyes, something you realized you’d been seeing too often lately. It was taking a toll on the usually confident, self-assured man you knew and loved. It was no secret that your boyfriend was under the Tribal Chief’s thumb, with no true will of his own. You had your own opinions on everything that was happening and you had told Jey that much, but it was ultimately up to him to do what he needed to do. 

Pushing away from your end of the tub, you waded in between his spread legs, resting your back against his chest. You always seemed to fit so perfectly against him. His arms instantly came around you, feeding off your warmth, your aura, your quiet strength that he so desperately needed.

“You’re not happy, Jey,” you assessed. “I wish you didn’t second-guess yourself so much, because your instincts are almost always right. You need to act on them again. I want you to do what’s best for you. Nobody else. Not Sami, not your brothers, not your cousin…not even me. Look out for Jey Uso this time. Just this once. And as always, whatever you decide, I got your back one hundred percent.”

Although you couldn’t see him, you could feel him absorbing your advice, letting your words swirl around in his head. You only hoped this meant that his misery would come to an end sooner rather than later. Exhaling heavily, he reclined again, stretching one arm across the top of the tub’s ceramic surface and holding onto you with the other.

“After this shit is over, I owe you a vacation,” he spoke. “Just you and me, far away from here.”

“Ooh, yes I’m down for that,” you nodded eagerly.

“Yeah. I definitely owe you a ring, too.”

“A ring?” Your brows furrowed in confusion at first, and then it hit you. Your head angled up to meet his eyes. “Mr. Ucey Jucey, are you proposing to me?”

Jey shrugged. “I told you I’ma marry you one day, lil’ mama. I ain’t changed my mind,” he said.

“You sure you’re ready for my craziness on a full-time basis?”

“That’s what I love about you the most, baby. I ain’t letting nobody else have you, that’s for damn sure.”

“Hmm. So you’re possessive,” you interrogated.

“I just know a good thing when I see it,” he stated, gazing deep into your eyes. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I ain’t letting it go, not even with my last breath.”

“And I’m not letting you go either,” you smiled, leaning into him, “You’re all mine, my big bad hoochie daddy.”

“Stop,” he warned, licking his lips.

“Stop what?”

“Calling me that.”

You raised your eyebrow. “Make me.”

Jey's amused expression instantly became serious, and he swallowed hard as his eyes dilated. It was always a thrill for you, challenging his control, anticipating what he would do to you afterwards. Just as that thought crossed your mind, you felt his right hand glide slowly down your body.

“What are you doing?” you asked, your words dissolving into a gasp when he squeezed your right breast.

“Finishing what you started.”

Your breath hitched when his hand continued its journey down south and slipped between your thighs. Instinctively you opened them, letting him play with your pussy using the tips of his long fingers. "Oh fuck," you gasped, your head tilting back when they breached your folds, going in deep. Licking your lips, you moaned and then grunted as he scissored his fingers back and forth inside you. “Oh god, Jey, yes…”

His lips swept the length of your neck, your little moans music to his ears. "You like that, mama? Like my fingers deep in you?"

You tried to respond, but the words evaporated as he dug deeper into your pussy. You spread your legs wider in the water, letting him work you at the pace he wanted. His mouth suckled your throat, and a blissful sigh sang from inside your heaving chest, your body awash with heat as his fingers probed you. 

“Daddy…”

“Yeah, say my name, baby.”

It was as though he’d cast a spell on you, the urgency with which you needed him inside you, on you, all over you. Holding the back of your head steady with his other hand, he leaned down and covered your lips with his. Your fingers raked through the wetness of his mullet fade, moving your lips greedily against his as he sped up the movements of his fingers. 

“Mmm, these lips were made for kissing me,” he murmured dreamily, and his soft words turned you to mush. Your mouth remained on his even as you rotated your body, unwilling to release him for even the few seconds it took to turn around. You climbed onto his lap and sat on him. His hands immediately sought the curve of your ass, squeezing in large handfuls. Your pierced, erect nipples pressed against his chest, delightfully rising and sinking like two round buoys in the sea. His groin felt hot against yours, just like it did in the gym. As he guided you down his length, you quickly grabbed the edge of the tub to keep from slipping. You both gasped from the familiar joy of your bodies joining, with every inch of Jey’s thick length sliding all the way inside you.

Jey didn't think he had ever felt you so tight, yet so slick and easy to penetrate. He watched you closely as you rocked your hips slowly, carefully, making sure you had all of him. You lifted your knees and wrapped your legs around his hips, your heels pressing against his lower back and prompting Jey to sit up and hug you tight. The tilt of his cock as you rolled your hips forward brought out another groan from you both. You rode him at a variety of paces, watching the pleasure wash over his face with each change. He lifted one hand to toy with your nipple, his palm squeezing your breast as you moaned in response. You paused for a second to adjust yourself on top of him, then switched up your movements, rising and falling, your pussy gripping his length tightly with every drop and dragging a hiss from his lips. You rode him good, rode him hard, your wanton gasps of pleasure echoing around the bathroom. Jey’s bottom lip disappeared between his teeth as he kneaded and massaged your ass, then gripping hard as he took control, working you on his dick. 

“Fuck, yes, yes!” you groaned into his neck as he steered you on his pole, his fingers digging into your hip bones as he grinded you onto him, increasing the stimulation on your clit. Then, he was lifting you up and down, bouncing you with a desperation that turned you on even more. Words failed you at this point, reduced to a panting, moaning mess. You were dizzy from pleasure, almost at the edge of release. The water splashing around you went ignored in the throes of passion, with him growling against your throat as you whimpered in his arms.

Jey’s grip on your waist was vice-like as he bounced you harder, chasing his own release. It felt like you were cracking in two from the scorching heat you and Jey had created. You didn’t try to tamp down your moans as you came. It was sweet and ferocious and ravaging all at once, ushering Jey himself past the point of control as he spurted generously inside you. His deep, raspy groan broke you all over again, and you let the ripples plunge you into another incredible orgasm, brought on by the sheer force of his. When it was over, you were both spent and trembling in the water, breathing raggedly, clinging to each other for dear life. Jey dropped a kiss to your forehead and then your nose, the gesture warm and tender.

“Damn, Daddy,” you moaned, earning a proud grin from him.

"Ay, you wanted dick, you got it. You're welcome," he said matter-of-factly, carefully lifting you off his cock and helping you out of the water.

“So arrogant.”

“Luh you too, boo.”

After draining the tub, the two of you made your way into the shower for a proper cleansing. You ended up in there for much longer than usual thanks to your make-out session beneath the cascading water while soaping each other up. There was something so sexy about him pinning you to the wall as you kissed, your wet bodies pressed together, the little sensual noises of pleasure you both made while he gripped and massaged your ass cheeks. As you left the shower, he maneuvered you towards the sink, facing the mirror. You hissed softly as the cold surface contrasted erotically with the heat of your man's body on your back, and you braced your hands on the bathroom countertop. He started kissing your neck, his hand shifting upwards so he could caress your breasts. You watched him in the mirror, your pussy moistening further at the sexy sight.

As he continued to nuzzle your throat, you flexed your spine, pressing your ass into his groin, and was rewarded by the sharp breath he sucked in. Relieving you of your shower cap, he swept your curly hair into his fist and pressed another kiss to your throat, meeting your eyes through the mirror.

“I love the way you look at me, like you want me,” he whispered.

“I do want you. I want you every day of my life. I’ll always want you, Jey,” you vowed. The look he gave you in response was so purely masculine, so primal, visibly turned on by your declaration.

"That’s my girl. Keep your eyes on me, baby,” he instructed, kissing your cheek, “Let me show you what I see every time we fuck."

Swallowing hard, you watched his head drop, and gasped as his fingers slipped unexpectedly between your legs, gathering your juices. You could hear the wet sound of his hand stroking his dick, and you longed to turn around and look, to watch him spread your essence all over himself. His husky groan as he lined his dick up with your entrance made your pussy flutter. Catching your eye in the mirror, he smirked at your impatient expression and smacked your backside for your troubles.

"Don’t worry, you gon’ get every inch, baby, all of it, it’s yours," he promised. With no further preamble, he bent you over, used your hips to pull you up onto your tiptoes, and entered you from behind. Your sharp gasp filled the bathroom as your walls stretched to accommodate his length and girth, your body almost doubling over in the process. His eyes remained on yours through the mirror as he slowly started to thrust in and out of you, reveling in the pleasure washing over your features. 

A string of moans left your lips as his cock speared you over and over, his tattooed arm around your waist to hold you steady. Your breasts jutted forward as your spine arched back, both of you transfixed by the reflection in the mirror, both of you extremely turned on, panting with the sheer eroticism of watching yourselves have sex.

"Baby, you feel so good," you groaned, bending over slightly as he thrust deeper into you. His long fingers threaded through your hair, and he used it to roughly pull you back up, almost to a standing position. Both of you were panting, moaning, the scent of sex heavy in the air, the sounds of your flesh pounding together ringing in your ears.

Dropping a wet kiss to your neck, he growled in your ear as he stared you down through the mirror. "Look at us, baby. Look how fucking good we look together."

You did look good, especially with him inside you. Together, your joined reflection looked good. You were an amazing pair, you and the man of your wildest dreams. You spread your legs further and rocked onto the balls of your feet, bringing him deeper into you, your breasts bouncing in time to his fierce thrusts, his hand still in your hair to hold you in place. He was insatiable for you, and you for him. 

"Shit, baby, your pussy is so good. You’re takin’ Daddy’s dick so well," he rasped.

His glassy eyes and barely contained groans told you he was close to coming. A naughty idea came to your mind, and you brought your hand down to touch yourself, moaning when your fingers slipped easily over the slick wetness you found there. Jey's eyes darkened in the mirror as he watched you, his hand in your hair tightening reflexively as you started stroking rapidly, right over where his dick made that sweet connection with your pussy.

Being the showman that he was, Jey loved himself a good show. And you found that you quite liked putting on a show for your man.

You could feel your body start to heat up, your swollen clit protruding against your fingers at the same time he deep-stroked your wetness. As you watched him in the mirror, you could see and feel the tension building inside him, matching yours, your naked bodies starting to tremble from the climbing pleasure. 

“Daddy, I’m gonna come,” you whined. Those four words seemed to set him off. His movements became wilder, rougher, mounting to a rising crescendo. He had you literally on the tips of your toes, at the very edge of euphoria, finally falling over when his teeth sank into your shoulder.

“Jey!”

You exploded. Releasing one more time all over his dick. Jey was right behind you, pumping hard inside you once, twice, and groaning into your shoulder as he came. His body shuddered against yours, your orgasms seemingly pulsing through both of you together. Gripping your hips tight, he moaned again, rolling his pelvis against your thick, juicy backside to drain every drop of his cum into your warm, intoxicating pussy. You purred softly with satisfaction and rested your head on his shoulder, letting him envelop you in those strong arms of his as your bodies calmed down.

Jey slowly pulled out of you, his eyes flickering to your stance; naked, bent over with your legs splayed, with his seed trickling down your inner thighs. So fucking hot. He turned you back to him, a small smile on his face when you tiptoed up to kiss his lips and play with his hair.

“So…what else are we doin’ today?” he asked you.

“We might need another shower,” you giggled, rubbing his back, “Also, I want you to make me breakfast wearing one of them tiny shorts,” you added. “You’re gonna wear them all day and nothing else.”

“That what you want, baby?”

“Yeah, and for me and my eyes only. No videos,” you quickly added the caveat.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he quipped, laughing when you smacked his arm.

“I said what I said. I think your beloved IG fangirls have seen enough for today,” you pouted.

He chuckled at your little riot act and pecked your pouty lips. “Fine. Anything for you, pretty girl.”

“Thanks, Hoochie Daddy. Love you.”

Jey could only sigh and shake his head with a big smile. He wouldn’t have your cheeky self any other way. “Love you, too, lil’ mama.”

THE END.

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

I’m on a roll with Jey rn. But I’ll 100% go back to my Tribal Chief soon. This one didn’t have too much drama, but I hope you liked it, still.

Please leave comments. I love comments!

Banner made by me. Credit to owners of the pics and gifs.

[queenshelby]

OSCAR SPECIAL (PART TWO OF FOUR)

Given Cillian’s recent success, I decided to jump ahead a little in my fics and give you a little Oscar Special. But don’t worry, I will cover off everything in between in due course and, for some fics, this Oscar part will hopefully get you guessing, while for others it will constitute a happy ending!

Yes! Mr Murphy (Oscar Special)

Eight months later…

For the past three months, you accompanied Cillian to every award show there was but, tonight, was the most special and nerve wrecking one of them all - The Oscars. 

You wore a long dark coloured gown, its material shimmering and alive as it danced against the soft curves of your body. Intricate golden lace wrapped around your throat and gave the impression of a choker necklace and the necklace itself matched your earrings, studded with small sparkling stones.

It had taken you an eternity to fix your makeup, granting yourself those seductive eyes with a hint of elegance that only added to your mystique that night and, if it hadn't been for your best friend Emma who designed your dress, you wouldn't have known what to wear at all. 

Cillian on the other hand, was impeccably dressed in a well-tailored suit. His eyes matched the calmness and ease of his demeanor, accentuated by his ever-charming smile. The perfect pair for this Hollywood scene, yet the excitement still created an anxious buzz in your guts.

"I don't think I will ever get used to this," you told Cillian quietly, gripping his hand as the sea of reporters approached.

"Neither will dad, trust me," his daughter Nina said as she smiled at you both, walking by your side and being closely followed by Max, Cillian's son who much rather wanted to keep to himself.

"True that, Nina," Cillian responded to his daughter's comment with a smile, accepting the situation with determination and strength, while the momentary buzz of the crowd and the flashes of the cameras made you feel a bit overwhelmed and nauseous again. 

Then, out of nowhere, a familiar reporter from Entertainment Weekly, eventually called Cillian's name as all four of you reached her position and, closing in, she began firing off her questions like a seasoned gunslinger.

"I can see you brought the entire family along to the Oscars tonight," she said, appraising you all as you stepped back to give Cillian some space.

"I did indeed," Cillian responded professionally to her question while you moved out of the way, not wanting to be on camera. "And I am just so glad that they can be here with me tonight," he added before briefly looking back at you with a smile. 

The reporter smiled too, following up with another question. "And how do you feel about being nominated for an Oscar?" Samantha asked, holding her microphone with one hand and poising her pen on her notepad with the other.

"Well, it's always an honor to be nominated for an award, of course. But no matter the outcome, I just want to take this time to enjoy myself and appreciate everyone who worked so hard on the project," he responded humbly before, finally, the music turned on, indicating to you that you had to take your seats.

Cillian, once again, took your hand, leading the way into the screening hall which is where Nina and Max trailed off to sit on the viewing platform upstairs. All of the nominees were only allowed one guest to accompany them and, of course, Cillian took you that night for support.

You were seated directly behind Emily Blunt and her husband John

Krasinski, allowing you views of the entire theater, as well as the giant screen in the front.  

"You look spectacular Y/N," Emily said as she greeted you with a friendly hug before telling Cillian that he did not look too shabby either.

"So do you," you told her while admiring her dress and, before you knew it, the lights went down and you fell quiet, anticipation crackling in the air.

The audience was breathless, eyes transfixed on the giant screen and, even though it was dark enough, you felt as though you could hear the thundering of everyone's hearts beating in unison.

You could sense Cillian's nervousness and took his hand into yours as, after about two and a half hours, the nominees for his category were called out and his name, among other prestigious actors, echoed from the loud speaker.

The energy in the auditorium was tense and, as the room filled with a sudden hush, the sound of creaking chairs and shifting bodies brought you back to the uncomfortable reality of this grand stage you could not help but feel trapped on as you waited to hear the winner called.

Cillian squeezed your hand gently and you let your thumb glide against his palm, keeping him tethered to you and giving him a boost of confidence in the process.

You then turned your gaze back to the screen, breathing in deeply as the list of candidates scrolled down on the screen and, before your heart could skip a beat, the envelope was opened, the winner revealed.

"And the winner is..." Jimmy Kimmel began to say as the moment stretched on in agony as you hung on to the edge of your seat.

"Cillian Murphy, for his role in Oppenheimer!" he exclaimed and, as the crowd erupted in cheer, Cillian let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding.

He looked at you as if searching for an ounce of calmness, but there it was, reverberating between the two of you.

"I am so proud of you," you told him somewhat emotionally just before he gave you somewhat rushed but emotional kiss. He then nodded nervously and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles out of his suit as he prepared himself for the stage in front of an auditorium filled with people.

He looked down on you, a smile playing on his lips. "Y/N," he whispered lovingly, "thank you for everything those past few months," he said before walking towards the stage where he would accept his first Oscar.

Your heart swelled at the pure vulnerability that lay within his beautifully sculpted features. A rush of emotions surged in your veins as you acknowledged the love you both shared and the journey that unfolded, since being whisked into each other's lives. It felt like a lifetime ago since the first moment your eyes laid upon him, your undeterred admiration.

He took stage and accepted his award before taking the podium with grace, his voice echoing in gratitude, speaking on the magnitude of the project and thanking Christopher Nolan and his wife for believing in him before also addressing the cast and crew and then, finally, his family.

"Last but not least, I would also like to thank my beautiful fiancée for her support during those last few months. You have been my source of strength as well as my retreat in the midst of this roller coaster ride. I love you and I couldn't have done it without you," Cillian said, gazing into the distance and catching your attention. "And finally, to my children, Nina, Max and my baby girl Sian, thank you for believing in me. I love you so much," he finished, his voice cracking slightly for the first time among his composure.

His speech was genuine and heartfelt, adding a depth of personal connection to an otherwise impersonal event.

The crowd waited for him to compose himself, taking in the genuine sentiment that lay within his words as he left the stage, lifting his award up in triumph, before walking back towards his seat.

"—I couldn't be happier for Cillian," Emily whispered to you as he sat back down. "He really deserved it. And," she added, smiling a hushed confirmation. "That was a beautiful speech," she told you and you nodded, wiping away a tear.

"You did it," you smiled at him as he sat back down, his face flushed. 

"Fuck yes, I did," he chuckled before kissing you more deeply than before feeding off of the relief that swept over his body while for you, unfortunately, the nausea hit you again.

"Only a few more months of this, babe," Cillian reassured you, noticing your discomfort and you couldn't help but flash him a smile.

"2024 is a big year for us," you nodded in agreement, his fingers intertwining with yours as you imagined what laid ahead. 

To be continued...

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[airam1quhs]

🏵️Working Things Through🏵️ | K.C.

(requested by @kay-random [request: Kurt and reader are together but reader gets insecure cuz of uh courtney soo yeah he comforts her saying he wouldn’t leave her or any way u want :)]

Warnings/Notes: Courtney is not the antagonist! Other than that, just hurt-comfort :) Enjoy!

“Who, Kurt? Oh yeah, he’s great!”

“So you guys are in contact?”

“In theory yeah, for sure. Of course I haven’t talked to him as much since he married that girl. But he’s a person I connected very well with. I was really kind of shocked when we stopped contacting each other!”

“You should give him a call sometime!”

“Yeah, I agree. Hey Kurt!” Courtney Love looked directly at the camera with a grin that conveyed many things. “We should start talking again sometime!” Courtney winked. Winked.

She picked up the flipper and turned the tv off, flopping back on the couch with a frown. She heard the playing from the other room fade to silence, a clunk which was no doubt him setting the guitar down, and then footsteps growing louder.

“Hey, love, I just finished writing in there.” Kurt came out into the living room and stood in the entrance. He was in his pjs, looking as pretty as always with blond hair a mess around his head, and stubble dotting at his jaw. And of course the new ring on his left hand.

“The tv’s off? Didn’t you wanna watch mtv?” He approached the coffee table, picking up the flipper and turning to look at her. “Can I turn it on, then?”

She nodded wordlessly, watching as he hit the red ‘on’ button and the tv lit up, flipping over to to MTV. To her exasperation Courtney Love’s face reappeared on screen.

“Ah, Courtney!” Kurt said lightly. “She’s always got something interesting to say.”

He plopped down next to her, covering his hand with her own and fully watching.

Ugh stop, that wink was for comedic effect. You’re overthinking again.

She pursed her lips and said nothing.

***

“Hey, Kurt, uhm-“ She faltered slightly, “There’s a message here from Courtney.”

Kurt came trotting out in his socks, looking interested. “How did she even get our new number?”

“I don’t know. Somebody working with you probably gave it to her.”

“What’s it say?” He walked closer towards the phone, putting a warm hand on her shoulder.

She played the message:

“Hey Kurt! At least I hope it’s Kurt. If not, sorry to bother you, girl, could you pass it over to Kurt? Yeah, okay. Kurt it’s been a while. You should come out and play with us! Come to my place on the 21st? You know my address. I’ll have everything ready, just bring your guitar. Really looking forward to seeing you again!”

Kurt listened quietly, nodding. “Yeah, I do think we should play together. I really admire her art, honestly. I think we could make something nice together,” He seemed to trail off, thinking about it.

“If I’m at my best.”

“How do you know her address?” She asked him with a furrow of her brow.

“Oh, I’ve been to her house with a mutual friend a while ago. ’91, I think?”

“Okay.” She said plainly, not knowing what else to add even while she felt like she should say something.

“So… you’re, gonna go?”

“Yeah. I think it could be productive. I don’t think I have any plans that day, yeah?”

“Yeah, probably not…”

“Okay, then it’s set!” He smiled at her, placing a quick kiss on her lips before heading back to their room. She watched his back as it disappeared across the corner, cringing at her own internal monologue. She shook her head, before turning back to the phone.

***

He still wasn’t home. Why was he still out? Hadn’t it been long enough for them to create something? Would he voluntarily stay there for so long if they could be done?

Why are you thinking so much? You know he would never hurt you like that. This is stupid. He’s been nothing but good to you and these thoughts are how you repay him?

She twiddled her thumbs in her lap, shifting in her seat on the faded couch restlessly. The shaking of her knees against the coffee table caused the drink in her mug to spill, and she groaned, voice cracking with disuse as she hadn’t spoken since Kurt had left. Which was nine hours ago.

The liquid had spilled all over the table and was dripping onto the ground. She launched herself up to grab tissues but just knocked the mug to the floor in the process. She sucked in a deep breath and struggled not to cry. Don’t. Hyperventilate. Don’t.

She heard the door unlatch and steeled herself. She needed to calm down. These emotions were baseless and even more useless. Yeah, that’s right. This doesn’t need to be thought about anymore.

Kurt stepped into the house, kicking off his shoes and smiling very slightly as he placed them on the rack to his left.

“I’m home.” He called from the entrance, walking forward towards her.

“It’s ten. You said you’d be back for dinner.”

“Oh, shit, I did, didn’t I,” He grimaced, apologetic. “I’m sorry, love. We were in… a bit of a fervor.”

She let out a short laugh and spoke under her breath “Yeah. A creativity fervor.”

She spared a look up at him from wiping down the table, spotting his minute frown. That was the way it was with him. He was supposed to pick up on her feelings. Which she supposed was part of the reason why she felt so hurt.

With a clearly audible sigh she stood up, tossing her tissue in the garbage can, before moving to the door where Kurt had been not long ago, brushing past him in the process as she reached up to grab her coat off the clothing rack.

Kurt walked over, footsteps more hesitant now. “Hey, love… what’s wrong?”

“No it’s fine. I’m just going to go for a walk. Maybe get a cup of coffee.” She pulled on her coat, voice slightly muffled by the fabric pulling over her.

He perked up slightly, reaching for his own coat which he had just hung up next to her, “I’ll come with you.”

“No Kurt. You must be really tired. Go sleep.”

Her reaction seemed to trigger something in him. His movements halted, and he slowly retracted his arm, instead laying it on hers.

He spoke lightly, looking directly at her and turning her to face him with a worried look.

 “Darling? What is it? You seem to be holding things in. You know you can tell me and I won’t judge, yeah? I hope I haven’t, well, given you an impression that says otherwise.”

At first she pressed her lips together, looking at him. Okay. You need to speak now or it’ll get awkward.

“I-” Her voice cracked and she cringed. What had happened to her self-confidence? Her belief in her own abilities?

She let out a shaky breath, looking down and focusing on the floorboards as tears welled up in her eyes. Don’t hyperventilate.

“Hey, love, look at me.” He placed his hands tentatively on her cheeks, as if asking permission, before tilting her face upwards so she was once again looking at him.

He faltered slightly, likely noticing the glistening of her eyes, before his face softened even more, if possible.

She couldn’t help it. Her sight was blurring together and her breathing was watery. She tried to blink but it just allowed the tears to find a path out of her heavy eyelids, one on either side flowing down her cheeks. It was like a dam broke and suddenly she was shaking all over. Sobbing now.

She couldn’t see him through her closed eyes, but she felt his hands move from her face to wrap around her back, the soft fabric of his sweater against her hands and his hair tickling at her face as he pulled her in.

“C’mon. Talk to me.”

“I don’t know…” she took a deep breath to try to get her words out, “I know it’s stupid and baseless but-”

“Listen.” She felt his voice gain a newfound serious tone, the vibrations moving through her chest. “I will never think your emotions are stupid or invalid. You can talk to me no matter what. I care about you. Don’t bottle them in, love, or they’ll burst out and harm you when you don’t want them to. I know about that.” He paused, voice regaining its quiet, “Now, uhm- you can keep going.”

“I just… I guess I just felt jealous. You were- complimenting her, and her art, and I-I guess she’s just the type of person who likes to stir things up, and even though I’m pretty sure she doesn’t mean any real harm, I- I just didn’t really feel safe? I felt kind of threatened by her. And I know you- you’d never but-” She groaned. “I feel so bad. For having so little trust in you!”

“No, no, I don’t blame you. I’m sorry I didn’t pick up on this sooner.”

“I still feel guilty. That’s why I never… told you about it. I knew you were just there to play music. And I wanted you to go because I knew you’d enjoy it. So much. And I want you to do the things you love.”

“And thank you so much for that.”

“It’s just, when it got late and hours after the time you said you’d be home, I guess I let my mind wander. And… that’s almost never a good thing.”

“Make no mistake, love, I… take full responsibility for this-”

“Don’t say that-”

“But I also want you to know, that I would never purposefully hurt you, okay? Today, her entire band was there. All we did was write. And also... you're perfect just the way you are. Yes, I like Courtney's art, but there's so much more that I love about you.”

She just nodded, slowly but surely calming down, breathing deeper and regularly.

“Talk to me about anything you want, whenever you want. I love you.”

She sniffled slightly, “I love you too, Kurt.”

She felt him let out a breath, and his stubble tickled at her head.

“Let’s go, uh, lay in bed together?”

Finally, the corners of her lips twitched upwards, “Let’s go.”

[thegingerwrites]

Obikin sickfic musings

So I’ve been sick for almost the past week, pretty much unable to look at a screen or do much more than rot in my bedroom for most of it. But! I have been thinking sick fic thoughts. Especially after reading Lemon's Obi-Wan sickfic a few weeks back. What is Anakin like when he’s sick? (And how does Obi-Wan take care of him)

The Jedi don’t get sick very often and when they do, they can often be sent to the Halls of Healing or the medbay of their star destroyers to get any illness treated quickly. But sometimes that isn’t possible, common colds are too various and changeable to treat directly so it’s easier a lot of the time for them to pass on their own.

Anakin gets one while out in the field and doesn’t really notice at first. A bit of congestion, fatigue, dizziness, isn’t really enough to stop him from doing what needs to be done. Honestly, most of that is expected after pushing himself so hard for so long.

When Anakin is sick, he pushes himself too hard. He is out on a campaign, stationed on planet, and in the midst of leading the ground troops through an assault. Midway through, he stops giving orders, fully immersed in his own head and doing what needs to be done. He has a few close calls, his reflexes are slower than they should be, but they live to fight another day. Ahsoka and Rex give him a few sideways looks as they return to the ship.

Even when the battle is over, he doesn’t retire to his quarters. He stays up, heading to the hangar to catch up on some repairs he has been thinking about for weeks. He waves off attempts to get him to slow down and rest, needing to keep going until he collapses.

Ahsoka loses patience with him almost immediately and hands the situation over to Rex until he convinces her to call in reinforcements. General Kenobi is in the system, wrapping up an engagement on a neighboring planet. If anyone can tell Anakin to sit down and rest, it’s him. Thankfully, he is only an hour away.

“Anakin.”

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re sick.”

“I’m fine. Did Ahsoka call you?”

“She did but I’m told the decision was seconded by Rex, your officers, and Chief Medic Kix.”

“…Traitors.”

“There are two ways this could go. You can admit that you are not feeling well and head back to your quarters to sleep of the rest of this cold with your dignity still intact.”

“Or?”

“Or I give it about ten minutes before you collapse and I have to carry you back to your quarters.”

“Fine.”

Anakin wasn’t exactly allowed to be sick when he was little. His mother took care of him as best she could, but Watto forced him to work regardless of how Anakin felt. His early years at the Temple were marked by a few bouts of illness, as his body adapted to its strange new home. He is better about recognizing illness and accepting help now but some habits are hard to break.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

“My mission went exceedingly well, thanks for asking. Completed it with just enough time to wrestle unruly former padawans into bed.”

“I mean, if you want to—”

“You can barely stand, Anakin. Hold still.”

“I’m still capable of taking my own armor off.”

“Then why is it still on?”

“…I think it’s half the reason I’m still standing.”

“Come now. Clothes off.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

“Anakin.”

When Anakin is feeling truly miserable, every kindness shown to him is treated like a gift from the Force itself.

“You don’t have to be here, you know.”

“I know.”

“I’m here now, in bed, resting. I promise I’m not dumb enough to run off the second you leave.”

“I know that too.”

Anakin breathes a heavy sigh that catches around the congestion in his chest. He clears his throat and nuzzles into Obi-Wan’s side.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever for?”

“For everything,” Anakin slurs. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, darling.”

Anakin smiles at the sound of the endearment he only ever hears when he is very sick. Obi-Wan offers it up carelessly to other people but it only ever gets administered to Anakin when he is at his lowest, perhaps when Obi-Wan thinks that Anakin won’t notice or remember, or when he believes Anakin most needs to hear it. Anakin remembers every single “darling” and “dearest” and “love”. Something about them does make him feel just a little bit better.

“Are you going to make your tea?”

“You hate my tea.”

“Yes, but I like that you make it.”

“…Alright.”

Anakin doesn't like the taste of Obi-Wan's tea but he does like the way that the ceramic mug feels in his hands and the smell of the steam that wafts from it and the way it fights the chill from his low-grade fever. This time, when he holds it in his hands and shivers, it almost feels like a good thing.

Obi-Wan stays with Anakin as he falls asleep, sitting up behind him on the narrow bed in Anakin’s quarters, keeping him elevated to help with his congestion. He runs his fingers through Anakin’s hair as Anakin’s mouth falls slack and he begins to doze as well.

“Aren’t you worried about getting sick too?”

“A Jedi doesn’t get sick.”

“What do you call this then?”

“A minor setback. You’ll be on your feet again in no time. Now, rest.”

When Anakin can’t sleep and makes some truly pitiful noises, Obi-Wan agrees to read to him. Anakin buries his face in Obi-Wan’s robes as he lets the words wash over him. It doesn’t matter what Obi-Wan is reading to him, the fact that he is here, that he cares, is more than enough. Obi-Wan presses a kiss to Anakin’s forehead just before he falls asleep again to check on his temperature.

Obi-Wan is only able to spend a few hours with him before being called back to the front. He manages to escape before Anakin’s cold takes a turn for the gross, all of the coughing and hacking that means that whatever is in his system is finally starting to break up a bit. The few hours together don’t feel like much, don’t feel like enough, but he is able to help Anakin to take care of himself and offer a bit of comfort in a time so often devoid of it.

“Master, is that Master Kenobi’s robe?”

“Yeah, he left it for me.”

“Isn’t it just a standard issue robe? You have like three of them.”

“It’s soft.”

[miracles-and-butterflies]

I kinda have a hard time believing Camilo doesn’t feel guilty for nearly killing Mirabel. I understand he’s a bit of a shit and we don’t know much about him from lack of screen time: but we do know he isn’t a psychopath.

To be fair, he didn’t nearly kill her. He’d left well before his friends got to that point - he found out when Dolores and Bruno did. And he never really saw the evidence of it.

~~~~~~

Camilo slept very little.

He doesn’t think he ever stopped scratching. He’d gotten some relief from a morning shower but that didn’t last long.

When he came down for breakfast, Isabela took one look at him and snorted. She didn’t laugh, she’d tried to hide it, but if he had any doubts on his appearance, she’d made it clear.

A meal had been made for him - though he could tell it wasn’t his Tía’s work.

He definitely hadn’t expected Abuela to sit directly beside him during the meal though.

The meal was awkward.

Nobody said anything. He received a few glances from the others. Clearly they thought he’d say something; be his usual chatty self.

Tía Julieta continued ignoring him. Actually, she seemed to be ignoring everyone now.

Tío Agustín was in the kitchen preparing some kind of breakfast tray. Probably for his other cousins, neither of whom were here.

“I’m sorry, Abuela,” he said, instantly swallowing his mouthful. “About what happened yesterday. It was a prank that got out of hand. I’ve learnt my lesson; I won’t do it again.”

“Thank you, Camilo.”

She paused, reaching a hand over and tilting his head.

“What on earth happened to your cheek?” She asked, sounding concerned.

“Dolores hit me.”

“What?”

“I was going to speak to her,” Pepa piped up. “She left early this morning though. I’ll get her when she comes back… I shouldn’t have said that out loud.”

“Is it not clear enough to people in this family that you should not be abusing one another?” Abuela sighed. “Or misusing your gifts?”

Isabela nodded. “I completely agree, Abuela. I wouldn’t dream of misusing my gift.”

“And the poison ivy that has appeared in my son’s room?” Pepa questioned, glaring.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Tía.”

Abuela sighed again. “Take it out, Isabela. Please.”

Isabela rolled her eyes, pushing her chair back. She mumbled something about it being fun while it lasted.

Camilo sighed in relief.

Before tensing a little. He hoped she wouldn’t leave anything else in its place.

[jpitha]

Dreams of Hyacinth 29

First / Previous / Next

Coreanth led them through the huge door at the opposite end of the hall. The room beyond was much smaller, seemingly at odds with the gigantic door. In the center was a large stela - a carved stone - covered in what looked to Nick like a list.

"This is the address stone. It lists all of the addresses that can be dialed on a ship equipped with an addressing module." Coreanth gestured to the stela in the room. "It's also the main way to transmit Nanites to people."

Eastern approached - but didn't touch - the stela. "How does it work?"

"We don't know. I think it's related to the way the Gates work." Coreanth clacked their mouthparts in a grin. "But, I don't have any way to prove it."

Chloe looked at the stela, then Nick and Eastern, and finally Coreanth. "How do you communicate with the Nanites?"

Coreanth's arm gestured towards some equipment in the corner. "It was difficult at first. We had to wait for them to just accumulate in a high enough concentration within us for them to even to be able to communicate, and then the first few people who tried thought they were losing their mental facilities. Finally someone had the idea to set up a radio receiver and we were able to... tune into them, so to speak."

Chloe approached the radio. "So we can talk to them now?"

Coreanth examined a screen set up next to the radio. "No. The concentration is too low. We might get a reply, we might not."

"Well, how to we increase the concentration?"

"We don't. We ask them if they will communicate. If they decide to communicate, then the concentration rises."

Chloe sighed. "Then, can we ask them to increase the concentration so that we can communicate?"

Coreanth walked over to the radio set and flipped a switch. The radio came to life with a hum and crackle of static. After that, silence. Another Xenni walked in and spoke with Coreanth in their own language and gestured at the radio and then at Nick and Eastern.

Coreanth gestured to Nick and Eastern. "They are probably our best bet if you would like to talk to the Nanites. The concentration in here is currently too low to communicate." The other Xenni looked at Nick and Eastern and said something.

"What did they say?" Eastern raises an eyebrow.

"Ah, they just mentioned that the concentration is suspiciously low. As if the Nanites are waiting for you two to touch the Stela."

"Is it safe?" Hat walked over to the stela and looked at it with Nick and Eastern.

"Nobody that we know of has been injured from a request to speak to the Nanites. We have had multiple people touch the stela, and they are all with us to this day."

"And how many of them touched the stela willingly?" Chloe whirls around and looks directly at Coreanth. "I was around for the Xenni/K'laxi war. I know how you work. I know what you did with prisoners. I see no reason to believe you have changed your ways."

Silently, Hat makes a face behind Chloe and puts his hand on his head and slides it down, wiping his face in exasperation.

Coreanth's eye stalks move apart and then back together. Nick thinks maybe it could be like raising an eyebrow. "Chloe, I understand what you are implying, and I am disappointed. We have been peaceful for the last fifty of your years. We have made no incursions into Human or K'laxi space, we welcome your traders, have met all of your demands from the cease fire and still you imply that we are some kind of faceless monster who would force people to risk their lives." Coreanth raises his arm leg and points a delicately clawed digit at Chloe. "Tell me Chloe, how many of your people have died at the hands of the humans? How long were you treated like things? How long were you ordered to do dangerous, even deadly things to protect a humans' life? Hmm?" Coreanth's rear legs tap the floor gently while they speak.

Nick steals a glance at Eastern. She's watching the interaction between the two of them. She did not expect Chloe to be so antagonistic to the Xenni. He looks at Hat. Hat clearly looks uncomfortable at Chloe's outburst and subsequent reprimand from Coreanth.

Nick sighs. He turns to Eastern and raises his eyebrows and flicks his eyes to the stela. Eastern follows his gaze, and her eyes wide, she nods. Before Chloe or Coreanth can react, Nick takes Eastern's hand in his own, and they both touch the stela at the same time.

****

They come to on another beach. Nick sits up and looks around. The same vibrant blue sky, the same wheeling birds overhead, the same yellow white star in the sky. Earth, maybe. He looks over and sees Eastern with him. She's wearing an emerald green gown, like an evening ball gown, skin tight, form fitting and flattering to her curves. He looks down at himself and he's in a similar outfit. Almost like a cross between a military uniform and a gown. Again, form fitting and flattering to Nick's frame, it's surprisingly comfortable.

Eastern's eyes flutter open and she sighs. "Another beach? Where are we now?"

Nick stands and offers her his hand. She takes it and they both pull her upright. "Earth I think. I've never been there, so I can only guess."

Eastern looks around and nods. "I think this is Earth too."

"It is Earth. Though, it is also not Earth. It's a memory of Earth." Nick and Eastern jump when they hear the voice and turn. Eastern gasps.

It's Melody.

She is just as Eastern remembers her. Shimmering blue gown, long dark hair, crown and wings visible but dimmed in the bright sun on the beach. She is similing kindly and her arms are spread in greeting.

She's shorter than Nick expected.

Eastern immediately bows low "Empress."

Melody giggles and returns the bow. "Empress." She looks at Nick and bows again "Emperor."

"What?" Nick looks at Melody. "We're not-"

"You are now. You touched the Stela. The Nanites agreed. You can both be in charge."

"But Raaden-"

"Is also Empress yes. It's a difficult situation." Melody looked up at the sky, at the birds overhead and smiled again. "You know, I never actually touched down on Earth. I never visited it when I was just Melody, and I only... interacted with them aboard my ship. I wish I got to see this in person."

"If you're here, is Raaden?"

Melody smiled sadly. "No. She hasn't done the rites yet. After the initial dose, the Empress is supposed to come back to the Gates and touch the stela again. Ideally, yearly. Back in the old days, they made a whole festival and holiday out of it. It was a big deal. I was able to do it once, which is why I can talk to you here." Melody looked over her shoulder. "Raaden hasn't done it yet."

Nick looked around. He could smell the sea, hear the waves. He wondered where on Earth this memory was from. "Melody, what are the Nanites?"

"They're a distributed intelligence. They live in a dimension adjacent to ours. Other than that, they're people just... different. I found that it was helpful to think of them as people."

"Did they make the Gates?"

She shakes her head. "No, the first Builders did. They placed The Gate in their dimension and all other gates are a... reflection of that Gate. It's how the Gate works. It's all one Gate just... sticking out into our space at a bunch of different points. When the first Builders placed the Gate they were just as surprised as the Builders were when the Nanites spoke to them."

"Did you really glass three cities?" Eastern looks at Melody. Her eyes are bright and shining. She looks like she's on the verge of tears.

Melody looks at Eastern, surprised, and looks away. "I did. I was hoping that with a massive show of force, people would surrender without a large loss of life, and I could begin the work of helping everyone. When that didn't work, I tried... more force. That worked, but..." Melody sighs. "I think the cost was too high, now."

Nick looks at his clothes, then over at Eastern. If he squints, he can see a faint outline of a crown over her head, and wings on her back. Nick tries to turn and look behind himself, and catches a glimpse of them on his back too. "So wait, we're royalty now?"

"More or less, yes." Melody nods. "You're Builders. Mind you, there are fewer and fewer people who would take you at your word these days. Fifteen thousand years ago you'd have billions of sapients at your beck and call. These days? I think the Xenni would like to meet you, some folks back at the Reach, and... that's it. Raaden has the rest of them right now."

"Emp-Melody, that's what I'm talking about. You're saying we're royalty now, but also that Raaden is too? What are the Nanites saying?"

"It's simple really." Melody's form started to fade. "Now, you have the power to take the Empire. If you succeed, the Nanites agree that you'll make excellent rulers, but they're not going to give it to you. You have to earn it."

"You have to take it."

Nick came to on his bed back on Tinker Toy. He turned his head and saw Eastern next to him, asleep. Tink was fussing over them with through the support frame. "You touched the Stela when Chloe and Coreanth were arguing." It was not a question. Tink chuckled. "Chloe is big mad, but Hat is trying to calm her down. For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing." Tink stepped back from Nick and Eastern. "So what happened?"

Nick sat up and rubbed his temples. He was getting sick of waking up like this. "The Nanites think we'd be good rulers. Eastern is an Empress, and I'm an... Emperor. We have the full suite of powers, same as Raaden. We're Builders now."

Tink cocked her head. "But..."

Nick nodded. "Yes, Raaden is still out there and still has her powers too. Before all this, we had... a vision and spoke with... the Nanites I think? They had mentioned that something like this had happened before. They're basically saying 'think you can do better? Well, go prove it.' If we defeat Raaden, the Nanites agree to let us rule."

Tink's frame nodded. "That's a lot to hand to you."

Nick chuckled. "It is, isn't it? From petty crook to usurper is a big leap."

"Chloe isn't going to like it."

"Chloe doesn't get a say." Nick's voice was hard.

"Bullshit we don't get a say." Chloe entered the room as Eastern was stirring. "You're here because we need to learn more about the Nanites to defeat Raaden, not to start some kind of jihad against her and set up a different empire. The first thing we ha-"

C̵̺̏h̸̪̐l̴̪̚ȏ̵̺e̵̻͘,̸̳́ ̴̝̈b̶̙̿ȩ̵͐ ̸̨̊q̴͕̽u̶̲̅i̷̱̅è̵̠t̷̗̊ ̴͉̒a̶̼͗ ̷̝̈́ḿ̷̼o̸͙͠m̵̟͆ê̶͓n̶̮̚ṯ̸̾.̸̜̓

Chloe's mouth slammed shut. She startled when it happened and then her face contorted into a snarl.

Eastern was sitting up, her crown flaring, bright in the room. "One, Nick said you don't get a say. You said 'we.' You're speaking for the AIs again. I wonder how they feel about that." Nick looked over in suprise and Tink's frame turned to face Chloe. She just seethed. "Two, you have spent this entire trip trying to tell us what to do. How to do it. How your choices are the correct ones. At least twice you have been wrong. Once almost enough to start a war. We have been given a vote of confidence by the Nanites, by all accounts an interdimensional intelligence far above our own. Three, I think Melody was wrong to not reach out to the AIs. I am here, on a ship that is an AI, with two other AIs. I am asking you and Hat and Tink for help. Not to take over, not to use us for your own goals, to help. Tink, Hat, Chloe? We need help. Will you help?"

"Of course we'll help Eastern, that's all we've been trying to do this whole time." Tink's frame stood and walked over to the bed.

"Tink is right, Eastern. I want to help. We want to help." Hat appears in the doorway to the bedroom, trying not to smile. "I see you have the Voice now too, eh? How about you Nick? You get the whole setup as well?"

Nick nods. "I think so yeah."

Hat gestures. "So, please release Chloe and we can talk this out."

Nick thought about the Voice. How he heard it before, how it felt when someone spoke it to him. As he was thinking he realized he knew what to do. It was so easy! He chuckled mentally, it couldn't be that easy. And yet.

C̵̝̃h̶̫̎l̵̩̕o̵͖͠e̷̳͠,̸͖́ ̶̳̋y̵̭̿ỏ̵̯ṳ̸͠ ̶̑ͅm̴͓̐a̶͕͑ý̶̺ ̷͈͋s̵̰̈́p̴͍̃ẻ̶͎a̷̖̋k̵̩͐.̸̛̠

"You son of a bitch." Chloe growled, but didn't say anything further.

Hat grunted. "Now then. I assume the Nanites can hear us through you. Can you hear us? Will you talk with us?"

Nick and Eastern's crowns flare and they tip their heads back.

"We prefer to speak through our intermediaries."

Nick and Eastern are speaking together, in a kind of odd, warbling harmony. They don't look like they are conscious of what they are doing.

Hat took a step towards the pair. "I understand that, but right here, right now, we need to speak with you directly. We need to know what to do about Empress Raaden."

"She is Empress."

"What about Nick, and Eastern here?"

"They are Usupers. But, we think they have potential. Should they succeed in removing the Empress, we will accept them taking the mantle. A mated couple running the empire is nearly unheard of. We are interested in what happens should they succeed."

"And if they fail?"

"There is always the Empress. There has been good empresses, great empresses and... others. The Empire remains."

"But, she's taking over Sol. She may already effectively control the entire system."

"She is Empress."

"You don't care?"

"On the contrary. We care quite a large amount. A functional empire means more Gates. More Gates means a larger presence in this dimension. A larger presence here means we are able to experience new and interesting things."

"That's all you're after? More experiences?"

"Do not presume to know us."

"I'm not, I'm trying to learn. There are very many sapients who do not wish to be under the control of the Empress."

"Have you asked them?"

"No, but-"

"Then once again, do not presume. We know you are part of the faction that destroyed Empress Melody."

"Yes, I am, but I am trying to learn more this time. We don't want to just destroy Nick and Eastern and Raaden."

"Don't want to, or worry you are no longer able?"

Hat remained silent.

"This is immaterial. Communicate with us through our intermediaries. We are after the expansion of the Gate system. In our experience, the growth of the Empire is the fastest way to facilitate that."

Nick and Eastern's crown faded and they slumped forward, leaning on each other. Nick sat up and looked at Hat and Chloe and Tink as Eastern's eyes fluttered. "Are we done? Being used as a conduit with interdimensional beings wears one out. We need to rest."

Tink jumped back. "Yeah. Sure Nick, take all the time you need." Tink's support frame left the room. Chloe stomped out without saying anything. Hat stayed back a moment. "This is going to be trouble, you realize that, right?" and raised an eyebrow at Nick.

"Medicine Hat, it feels to us like you and Chloe are the one stirring things up."

"Hmm," was all Hat said. He turned and left.

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 18

"Hey, everybody, I'm Eva Unit 03! I just flew in from America, and boy are my arms tired! Heh. I'm just kidding, of course, we Evas can't fly. Anyway, I know I'm a little late to this show, but I'm looking forward to working with all of you, and I just know we'll all be the best of friends. Right? What's the matter, why is everyone looking away from me? Did I do something wrong?"

This one starts out pretty slow, mostly recapping things we already know. Toji Suzuhara's the new Eva pilot, Asuka doesn't like that one bit, Big Rigg Mahoney begs Misato to make him the next pilot, unaware that the job's already been filled. Shinji also doesn't know, because Misato never got around to telling him. Also, that girl with the pigtails is kind of into Suzuhara and started bringing him leftovers from the lunches she cooks for her sisters.

The one new bit here is when Rei goes to see Suzuhara brooding on the roof at school. He's surprised to see her showing concern for someone else besides Shinji, and she's a little surprised to hear him say that she cares about Shinji.

Whats-her-face sees the two of them on the roof and wonders if they might be an item, so she talks to Asuka about it, who assures her that Rei is too thick to relate to anyone, so there's no chance of this. Asuka is astonished that anyone would be in love with Suzuhara, though, but Pigtails says she admires his compassion.

Misato's out at the test site to get Unit 03 up and running, so Kaji stays over with the kids. That night, Shinji asks Kaji about his dad, and... have Gendo and Kaji even been on screen together at the same time? Wait, yeah, he dropped off that big suitcase with the fetus in it. The point is Kaji probably doesn't have a lot of insight into Shinji's dad, so he shifts the conversation to women. Kaji sucks.

The next day, Suzuhara's not at school, so Pigtails gives her extra lunch to Asuka. Asuka knows why he's not here, but she doesn't want to say.

You know, I'm not sure why nobody wants to talk about this. I mean, they each have their reasons. Asuka's ego is bruised by it, Rei's not very forthcoming in general, and Suzuhara himself is very pensive about the whole thing, and he's in no mood to brag about it. Even so, they seem to be going out of their way to not explain what's going on. At one point Shinji asks Asuka directly if she knows who the new pilot is, and the shuts him down.

I think part of it is that nobody wants to be the one who says it. But it's very ominous, like they all expect something terrible will happen to Suzuhara and they just don't want to speak it into existence. Which is a fantastic tone to set for the episode, don't get me wrong, but it feels like Suzuhara died last night and no one wants to say it.

Now, about here, it occurred to me that maybe Suzuhara doesn't even live long enough to die in a battle. Maybe he dies in this episode, during the test stages, and his pilot career ends before it can even begin. It's a new Eva, after all, and it could be defective. I could see this show doing an episode where Suzuhara dies on the launch pad, and everyone is haunted by the tragedy of random chance. But no... ha ha! No...

It's not what I thought. It's much much worse! As Unit 03 comes on line, they detect another energy reading inside it, and it turns out to be the 13th Angel. Whoops!

The entire testing ground is destroyed, and Misato and Ritsuko are lost, perhaps dead.

The other three Evas are deployed, and while Shinji is worried about Misato, Rei assures him that Gendo Ikari will assume command of their operation. Gendo orders the pilot to be ejected from Unit 03, but it doesn't work. They have no control over Unit 03 whatsoever. Gendo orders it to be abandoned "at this time", and for the unit to be relisted on the tactical readouts as the 13th Angel. He orders the Evas to go in and destroy it.

This does not go over well with the remaining pilots. Asuka wonders how an Angel could have possessed and Eva, perhaps worrying that her Unit might suffer the same fate. Somehow, the 13th Angel gets the drop on her and takes her out off-screen.

Shinji, meanwhile, is more worried about the pilot. He never did learn who was inside the thing, but he knows it must be a child his age, and that bothers him a lot.

Gendo orders Rei to try to sneak up behind it and attack from a distance, but it's no good. She gets a clean shot at it, but she hesitates, and that's enough for the 13th Angel to do a sick backflip and overwhelm her.

The Angel then secretes some sort of goop on to Unit 00's left arm, which damages it and hurts Rei's arm, since they're still connected. I think the Angel may have been attempting to take over Rei's Eva, just as it already took control of Unit 03, but I can't be sure.

What I do know is that Gendo is worried enough about this that he orders Unit 00's left arm to be severed completely. I guess they can just do that in the control room, just send a signal to pop off one of the Eva's arms. The people at the controls object that they have to disconnect the pilot first, but Gendo insists that there's no time. So they do amputate Unit 00's arm, and Rei feels like her arm just got lopped off at the same time. She's completely out of this fight.

So that just leaves Shinji in Unit 01. The only problem is that he still doesn't want to fight this thing, since there's an innocent child inside. So the Angel attacks him, and it's more than just an Eva now. For example, it has stretchy-arm powers, and it starts choking Unit 01, and by extension, Shinji.

Gendo demands to know why Shinji won't fight back, and Shinji reminds him that there's somebody in there. Gendo warns that if he doesn't defend himself, the Angel will kill him, and Shinji says he'd rather die. So Gendo resolves the dilemma neatly.

He orders Shinji to be disconnected from Unit 01 so they can switch to the Dummy Plug instead. Everyone's like "What the fuck? Ritsuko said that's not even ready for use." And he's like "It's better than the pilot, do it."

If you're just joining us, the Dummy Plug was introduced last episode as a way to operate an Eva without a human pilot. It contains a computer simulation of a pilot's brainwaves-- Rei's brain, to be specific-- and in theory it should at least trick an Eva into thinking there's a live pilot at the wheel. If it works, I guess it's the best of both worlds for NERV, as they can just order the Eva around remotely without having to worry about unruly children. If it works. Ritusko recommended against using it, which is why they recruited Suzuhara to pilot Unit 03 in the first place.

From inside Unit 01, Shinji can only watch helplessly. He's spared the choking sensation from the Angel, but he's powerless to do anything as the Dummy Plug takes over. He quickly realizes that his father is going to use the Eva to do what Shinji would not.

So forget Shinji, this is Dummy Plug's time to shine. First thing it does is choke out the Angel the same way it was choking Unit 01. Is this what Rei would be doing in this situation? Hard to say.

I don't even remember taking this scrreenshot. I think that's Unit 01 smashing Unit 03's head. Well okay.

I'm not quite sure what happens next. Unit 01 mounts the Angel-Eva and starts either pounding on it with its fists, or Unit 01 starts ripping the thing apart, piece by bloody piece. Even the goons in the command center are horrified to witnes this.

This one can't even bear to watch.

Is this Angel blood or Unit 03's blood? Well, I doubt either of them had literal blood, but you get the idea. This is fuckin' sick.

The whole time, Shinji keeps screaming into the comm line, begging his father to stop this. And Gendo just sits there watching his monitors with satisfaction. That's what makes this shot of the bloody traffic light so amazing. At first I just assumed it was on a red light to suit the colors of this shot, but then I realized it's begging Gendo to stop, just like Shinji is.

And to think I was bored with this show last week! I mean, the early episodes were pretty dull, but look where we are now!

Shinji tries to use the controls, but that's just an exercise in futility. At last, the Entry Plug from Unit 03 is exposed, and Unit 01 picks it up, but there's no human at the controls, so there's no one to tell it that this piece isn't a threat.

And yeah, that's about what I expected at this point. Nice knowing you, Suzuhara.

Oh this was just awful to watch. The screencaps don't do it justice. This went on for an uncomfortably long time, and I'm pretty sure the Angel didn't even live that long into the beating. I'm blown away. Really.

But this show isn't done. Oh no, we now cut to that girl who was going to make lunch for Suzuhara, and she's planning her next meal. "I sure hope he's going to eat tomorrow." Just twisting the hell out of that knife.

Meanwhile, Misato wakes up. She was hurt in the attack, but she's going to be okay. Ritsuko survived too, apparently. She gets the news, then contacts Shinji to apologize for not telling him who the pilot was.

But Shinji's not exactly in a good place right now. I mean, what can I say? Obviously whatever relationship he's been rebuilding with his father is ruined forever now, right? And he still doesn't know who was in Unit 03, so that's another shock he'll have to deal with... wait...

He's alive?! How the fuck did he survive all of that? And this is how Shinji finds out who the pilot was. That's gonna be really interesting, but we'll have to wait until next time to see how this plays out...

[bobattef]

Tech Support:

I had to use this GiF because…well…

Hmm” you tilt your head to the side. 

Hoping the different angle will have a different outcome on your mind but it’s no good.

*Has he always been this…alluring?*

 You ask yourself.

*no, no! Don’t do this! Look what happened last time you started to show feelings for another* 

You try to talk yourself out of it, but it’s no use.

He looks scrumptious right now relaxing by the fire.

Maybe it’s his posture? 

Propping himself up on his elbows, his legs are spread casually as he gazes up at the night sky.

Your mind starts to wonder as it tries to figure out your sudden attraction to the bad batch member.

Working with Clone Force 99 hadn’t been in your list of things to do whilst you traveled through the Galaxy but here you are.

You ended up being quite the asset to them after helping them with a mission back with Cid a few weeks ago.

So tagged along for a few more.

“Y/N? are you warm enough?” Echo’s voice lures you out of your thoughts.

“Mmm hmm” you answer him, pulling your gaze away from his team mate, just as you were undressing him of his armour with your eyes.

“Come closer to the fire Y/N” Omega pipes up as you walk over to her, conveniently sat next to Tech.

He shifts slightly as you place a hand on his shoulder to steady yourself whilst you sat on the blanket Omega had dragged outside.

It was her idea to come up here, to come see the meteor shower.

You always had a duty of care for the young clone.

Being away from your own younger siblings for so long you weren’t surprised when you both latched onto each other the first time you met.

Hunter always admired that about you.

He knew you’d do anything to protect Omega.

“How much longer Tech?” Wrecker shouts out, making Tech almost jump out of his own thoughts.

He grabs his data pad, stuttering a little as you lean over towards him to catch a glimpse of the screen.

“According to the star map, we should be encountering he first of the space debris enter the atmosphere in T-minus 3 minutes” he manages to tell Wrecker as he looks over to you, locking eyes with him through his googles, you almost blush.

“Aaah I’m starving!” Wrecker exclaims as the rest of the squad roll their eyes in sync.

“Here Wreck…” you call out to him whilst rummaging through your bag slung across your chest.

Pulling out a couple of snack-crackers you toss a few over to the clone whilst slipping a few to Omega also.

“You’re the best Y/N!” Wrecker says in between chomps.

“Easily pleased” Tech sighs out and you giggle.

You haven’t giggled at anybody in a fair few rotations, are you really in that deep with Tech.

Hunter looks up at you, narrowing his eyes.

Like he does when he can sense something is coming.

*surely he can’t sense this sudden attraction at his team mate*

You think to yourself as you look away from his peering gaze.

You hear him chuckle.

*dank ferrick! He knows!*

***

The meteor shower isn’t as spectacular as you would have thought giving how excited Omega was at wanting to see it but it made her happy.

The few lights that passed directly above the 6 of you were beautiful, lighting up the ground you sat on every few minutes, you and Tech exchanging looks at one another every so often.

After about 25 minutes of straight flashes of light, it seem to of fizzled out.

“That was the last of it” Tech states to the rest of the squad.

“Good, because it’s passed someone’s bedtime!” Echo states as he stands nodding towards Omega.

“I’m not…even” *yawn* “tired yet” her little voice calls out.

She must of done it with out you realising but she’s laid her head on your lap as you drape an arm around her.

“Come on!” Hunter says to her, lifting her up from her comfy position on you, he walks over to where the Marauder was parked.

You feel the sudden loss of heat from her embrace and shiver.

“Put the fire out Tech, I don’t want to lure anyone here whilst we sleep” Hunter calls out over his shoulder.

“But Y/N’s still cold” he answers looking at you.

“I’m fine” you shrug at him but it turns to shakes as you feel the cold a little more. 

Wrecker walks over to you both sat on the blanket still and pulls it away from underneath you.

“Wrecker!!” Tech shouts at the stupid manoeuvre that caused you both to roll into each other.

But the clone just laughs out loud as he wraps it around your shoulders.

“Thanks Wreck” you manage to say to him between laughs.

He salutes you goodnight as both him and Echo follow Hunter towards the ship.

You still have your eyes on the squad walking away as Tech stands, he wipes down his armour that got slightly dusty by the ground roll.

You watch him intently as he walks over to the little bucket of water you had collected from the lake earlier.

Pouring it over the fire, it sizzles in protest but withers away eventually.

“There” he says, breaking the silence that had fallen over you both.

“Suppose we both better get to bed ourselves” Tech claps his hands together but then quickly moves them into a surrender sign.

“I mean, I didn’t mean, I’m sorry” he starts to stutter again as you stare at the clone in confusion.

“I wasn’t implying I mean, I didn’t mean to imply we should go to bed together” he starts to explain himself.

“I was just simply saying, simply stating that us, too should get to the bedroom, er bed cause of well an early start tomorrow for sure!” 

He adjusts his goggles as he finally stops talking and you erupt into laughter, you realise what he was apologising for.

“Oh Tech!” You start to slow down your chuckles

“Never change will you” you say to him as you get up from your spot by his feet.

He walks slightly behind you as you both climb the ramp into the Marauder.

“Goodnight Tech” you smile at him as he turns to face you, you think he’s going to say something to you but instead he just smiles and nods at you, disappearing behind the curtain to his sleeping quarters.

***

The next few days passed by without much interest.

You spent more time back at Cid’s, running a few errands, than with the Bad Batch lot.

You missed the mix-matched clones greatly!

Even Omega. This place was boring as raking the deserts on Tattooine without her singing and dancing around the place.

You didn’t mean to shine so much excitement on them all when they arrived back after their latest mission. 

But it didn’t last long for you noticed Tech was being held up by Wrecker as he limped in.

“What happened??” You asked, your brows furrowing as Omega ran up for a hug.

“Tech got crushed!!” she shouted.

“Crushed?!” you didn’t mean to shout back but your heart dropped.

“I’m fine” Tech sighed hating the fuss “just need a breather that’s all”

“Well hopefully not for long techy boy…” Cid piped up, “I got-a-nuva mission for you boys”

“Tech’s no good” Hunter almost grunts at Cid.

“I’m fine Hunter!” Tech protests but the man can’t even stand up without Wrecker’s support.

“It’s a little one, not too far” Cid tries to sell it to the other clones, she wants the bad batch to go on this one rather than having to risk disappointment sending another one of her cronies.

“Tech will have to stay” Echo argued back, “he’s not fit for the field” 

You almost heard the eye roll from Tech at the comments and chuckled.

“Fine, he can stay here with Y/N, she’s helping run the place whilst I’m ya know, other wise occupied” Cid says whilst slapping you across the back.

“Tech will love that!” Wrecker laughs out but quickly gets cut off by Hunter’s glare.

***

You’re not sure what to do.

You’ve helped Wrecker set Tech up in the back room at Cid’s bar before the team set off.

It’s where you lay your head when you’re not out on your travels or missions with the bad batch. 

You’ve tried offering Tech food, drink, a gaming data pad, but he’s declining it all.

You’re sure he isn’t enjoying the fuss.

In between helping serve punters at the bar to cleaning down a few booths on the floor, you take time to walk out the back to check on your favourite Clone.

Yet on this occasion he isn’t laid out on the bed where Wrecker had left him. 

“Tech??” you call out.

“Mmm…” you hear his voice mumbling from the fresher.

“Everything….ok?” you ask him, placing your ear up to the door.

“Erm..well I er, wanted a shower of some sort but ergh, never mind…I’m fine” Tech doesn’t usually find it a struggle to think of words.

“Do you need help?” you ask, your voice laced with a little bit too much of happiness at talking to him once more.

“Ha, with what? You going to scrub my back or something?” Tech answers amused.

“I can do” You answer him, secretly wishing he’ll take you up on your offer but you know he’ll just laugh you off. 

Tech doesn’t say a word and you instantly regret being so forward with him.

You go to apologise to him, you don’t want to jeopardise any friendship that was established before between you both, but he opens the fresher door instead.

You don’t mean to look him up and down, it’s such a cliche thing to do but he’s shedded most of his upper armour, only wearing his black slack shirt, that’s been rolled up at the sleeves.

He’s still in armour from his waist down.

“The trickiest part seems to be the legs” Tech says to you, his voice is a lot softer than usual.

“Your injury… on the left or right leg?” You ask him, trying to stop your heart racing right now.

“Left” he states to you as you sink down to your knees.

You’re sure he takes in a breath at the sight of you kneeling in front of him.

But you had a plan as to why you were here, and it wasn’t because of the obvious thing.

You gently pull up his injured leg, resting his foot on top of your thigh you unclip his combat boot and slide it off.

Reaching round to the back of his leg, you pull open the clasp holding his lower part of armour together as the piece almost clanging on the floor.

You then drag your hand up towards his thigh, feeling for the clip for the strap his has hugging his thighs so tightly, you notice his muscles flex under your touch.

You don’t realise you’re holding a breath at the same time he is as when you release strap you both sigh out.

Glancing up at the clone quickly, your eyes lock his as he’s been watching you intently this whole time.

A smile spreads across your face as Tech’s mouth almost falls open.

Gently placing his foot back onto the floor you switch to the other side.

Slower this time as he has to balance on the weaker foot, you repeat your movements of removing his armour pieces one after the other.

You freeze when it comes to the cod piece, if you had more confidence, you’d just grab the clone by his waistband and push him inside the fresher to have your way with him but you need to know if you can go this far.

You stay kneeling on the floor in front of him.

You gulp as you look at him back into his eyes, the reflection from the fresher light bouncing off of his googles.

“Can I?” you ask.

Tech tilts his head to the side, working out what you’re implying.

“The er…cod piece?” You’re even too shy to say the words out loud.

Tech clears his throat, nodding at you in response as he can’t seem to find his words for the second time tonight.

You un-clip the utility belt he had wrapped around his waist, the metal clinking as you do.

It almost wants to fall open, like it wants you to have access to this particular area.

You slowly pull the cod piece down, carefully so you don’t knock his already injured leg but also because you want this to send signals to him.

Yes, you offered to help him into the fresher but he’s smart, surely he knows you want more from him than just to be there for support.

Your hands are now back up to where his bottom half of his slacks meet the top half.

The bottom half lazily hanging around his hips, as the top half has ridden up slightly, exposing the v line he has.

You run your fingers alongside it, and down, almost feeling the hair there underneath the waist band.

Tech takes in a shaky breath under your touch.

He’s often thought about you, when he’s had some alone time back on the Marauder.

He’s had to stop himself moaning out your name just in case someone heard him.

The other clones are already convinced something has happened between you both.

But he’s never been brave enough to make a move on you.

You lick your lips as you glance back up wards at the clone, he’s a sight for your eyes as he’s leaning against the fresher door frame now.

One arm out stretched above his head as it’s bent at the elbow. 

His free hand starts to reach out, to cup your face but he changes his mind almost immediately out of shyness.

He’s so freaking hot standing there like this that you completely forget he’s actually injured right now.

You can’t help but flutter your eyelashes at him.

He opens his mouth, you know he’s about to say something but you’re both startled out of your thoughts running when the main door to the back is thrown open.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Hunter jokingly mimics the look of shock the both of you have now.

“Ergh…she was helping me out of my armour” Tech sounds annoyed at the intrusion.

“We can see that” Wrecker pipes up, almost roaring with laughter.

“For the fresher…” you start to explain.

But you’re still knelt in front of Tech, his armour strewn around you.

It’s not exactly painting you in a good light right now.

Echo now joins you all out back as he doesn’t say a word, you just clock his eyes widening at the strange scene he’s walked into.

“Y/N!” Omega screeches from behind Echo completely oblivious to what’s going on and runs towards you, almost knocking you over.

You both laugh as you get up onto your feet.

You’re too embarrassed to look towards Tech, so you’re unsure what he was thinking about this interruption but you get dragged passed the other members of the clone force by a hungry Omega.

Not saying a word to any of them nor making any eye contact as you’re sure your cheeks are heated.

***

The bad batch members were hungry, starved almost. 

You had cooked up a full plated meal for each of them.

Cid will definitely be displeased with the amount of food you’ve used up but you wanted to busy yourself in the kitchen to avoid any prying questions from them.

Tech has managed to join you all at the table, with the help of Wrecker, as you sit down to eat your food also.

“So” Hunter speaks first “want to tell us what went on back in the fresher there between you two?”

Wrecker snorts out loud at Hunter’s forwardness.

“The fresher??” Asks Omega “what happened in the fresher?” 

“Nothing!” Both you and Tech say in sync.

Causing Wrecker to laugh even more.

You glare at Hunter, narrowing your eyes at him and then glancing from him to where Omega was and then back again.

*Surely with his enhanced senses he’ll understand every word you just said to him*

He holds his hands up in surrender and continues to eat his food.

You all do in silence pretty much.

Due to you and Tech not wanting to be asked any more questions but mostly because everyone seems to be enjoying their food so much.

Clearing up shortly after with Omega’s help, you manage to prolong the very obvious questions that will be coming your way soon from the members.

The washing of dishes distracting you from your own questions too.

*what is this with you and Tech?

A crush?

Something deeper?

Wreckers comments about Tech loving the fact to be stuck at Cid’s here with you, implies that the other members know of Tech’s likeness to you.

But does he like you?*

“Y/N!” Omega shouts as you realise the water had run a little too close to the top of the wash bowl and started to spill over.

“Dank ferrick!” you curse as you grab some towels and start to mop up the mess.

“Everything ok in here?” Echo comes to check in on you both.

“Y/N wanted a swim I think!” Omega laughs and it causes you to laugh with her.

“Come on Omega, you’re staying up later and later every night” Echo ushers the young clone around the spillage on the floor as you high five her.

“Goodnight Y/N” She sighs out, she doesn’t enjoy bedtime routines but then, what kid does.

“Sleep well Omega” you say as you grab a few more towels for the floor.

Hunter must of been in stealth mode as you didn’t realise he was standing in the doorway to the kitchen until he speaks.

“Going to answer my question now Y/N?” He asks you as you ignore him and continue to clean up.

“He likes you ya know” Hunter tells you after realising you’re not going to talk.

“Huh?” His comment makes you stop what you’re doing and look at him.

He crouches down towards the floor, so he’s eye level with you.

“Tech…he does like you, he’s told us…in his own little unique way” Hunter drifts off at the last part.

“His unique way?” you repeat him.

“Tech’s not like anyone else” Hunter starts to explain.

“I know that!” you say a little too quickly.

He smirks “In a way where he can’t just say to you that he likes you” Hunter continues. 

“Ok” you shrug.

“So you might have to er, be more forward with him?” He tells you whilst tilting his head to the side, like he wants to read the understanding of his words on your face.

“Why are you telling me this?” you mimic the tilt in his head with your own.

Hunter sighs “because he really does like you” 

***

*because he really does like you* 

Hunters comments from earlier on replay on your mind as you try to sleep.

You gave your main bed here at Cid’s up to Tech to rest his injured leg, which was fine of course!

But having the Bad batch stay here also meant you were kicked further down the ranks and were currently tossing and turning on a floor bed out the front.

You get up, surrendering any chance of getting some sleep and make your way down to the bar in search of some instant mocoa instead.

You shouldn’t be too loud for the others sleeping off their latest mission, the bar backs onto the main room that Tech is laid up in only, whilst the others were a little further back down the corridors.

*hmm, I wonder if Tech is sleeping ok.

He should be, that’s my comfy bed he’s laid in!* 

You almost laugh at your silly comment. 

You’re obviously ok with him being in there whilst he recovered.

But then you repeat your thought once more.

*Tech’s laid up in MY bed*

The realisation almost makes your cheeks heat up.

The very man that you’ve been fantasising over, been flirting with, trying to have your way with, is laying in YOUR bed and you’re just standing in the bar searching for a caffeine beverage?!

It’s like your legs make the decision for you before you think about your next move.

But you find yourself being walked over to the door just behind the bar area.

*shall I knock?

Shall I just let myself in?

It is my room but then, I did offer it out so it’s polite to treat them as the occupant* 

You raise your hand to knock but then quickly stop yourself, what if Hunter hears your rapping on Tech’s bedroom door in the middle of the night? He’ll never let you live it down.

So instead you choose to open the door ever so slightly.

“Tech?” You barely even whisper but you don’t want to sneak up on him.

“It’s me…” you say as you step into the room, closing the door ever so quietly.

Focusing on where the bed is situated as you can’t see a thing in the dark, you practically tip toe over.

Again thinking to if Hunter can hear anything but even more so, is you’d hate to be interrupted for a second time.

You place one knee on the mattress, it groans slightly under the pressure causing you to freeze.

Tech stirs in his sleep, and you almost feel a pang of guilt.

Should you be waking the clone up?

After all, he needs all the rest he can get and there’s you, wanting to jump on him because you’re horny and can’t sleep.

“Tech?” you barely whisper his name but his eyes fly open.

He distinctively grabs your wrists as if holding off an attacker, pulling you downwards and swinging you round on the bed, he’s now towering above you as your arms are pinned above your head and his legs are either side of yours like some sort of cage.

“Tech, tech?? It’s me!” you stutter. 

You’re not sure if it’s due to the surprise attack from the clone or the way he is gripping onto you, pushing you into the bed with his whole body but you seem lost for words.

“Y/N??” Tech squints his eyes like he’s trying to focus on if it’s really you attacking him whilst he sleeps.

“Wh…what? What are you doing?” He asks you but he doesn’t release you, almost as if he thinks he could be dreaming right now.

“I er..I couldn’t sleep and thought I’d come er…check up on you” words start to fall from your mouth but you’re unsure they’re making any sense right now.

“Check up on me?” Tech almost scoffs in his answer.

“You pounced on me, a trained soldier, as I slept, not the best of moves y/n?” His normal, matter of fact, voice was back. 

“I’m sorry” you mumble and try to wriggle out from his hold on you.

Your earlier confidence had started to deflate.

This was a bad idea.

Tech’s grip on your wrists tightens though, he shifts more of his weight down onto you as you spread your thighs a bit to adjust to him laid on top of you.

“What is it that you want Y/N?” Tech lowers his head towards yours, you can almost feel his breath on your face.

You swallow, hard.

You have no words right now.

It’s not like you made a plan.

You’re no good at strategies, that’s more of Tech’s skill zone.

“Tell me Y/N…” his voice now changes to match his body language.

“I can …show you…” you whisper out to him.

Your confidence starting to build back up again, alongside your need for him.

“You’ll show me?” Tech repeats you as he stares straight into your eyes, seemingly pushing you to hold to your words.

You nod at him as he sits back on his heels.

Freeing your arms from his hold, either one of his thighs sit straddled over you.

“Your leg?” you ask him and he shrugs.

“Pain tolerance is heightened in the state of arousal” he states.

*still such a smart ass* you think to yourself.

You start to get up slowly, your face coming so close to the clones that he was sure you were going in for a kiss but you take him by surprise when you buck your hips upwards to him, causing his to lose his balance on top of you.

As he pushes out an arm to catch himself you pull your legs out from under his, instead wrapping them over his waist and as his back hits the mattress, you now lean forward, arms either side of his head as he’s the one captured underneath you.

“Fascinating” is all he says as he watches your chest rise and fall with each breath you take.

You want to be quick, show him how needy you are to finally have him and also, you’re very conscious about someone interrupting you both again.

But something about the way the clone is gazing at you, like you’re one of the most delicious things on the planet right now shifts your want into taking it slow with him.

You don’t even realise you’ve caved and you allowed your lips to crash against his until you hear him moan softly into your mouth.

You’ve thought about kissing the clone many a time before but always chickened out.

But now, now you’ve finally got your hands, and lips, on him and it’s better than you could ever of imagined.

It’s hot and passionate but it also has hints of tenderness in it.

A perfect mix of both lips and tongues.

It’s needy enough for you to feel his hardness pushing through his slacks as you start to feel your shorts get damp.

“Mmm maker!” You moan out loud as you start to grind on top of him, the friction from the little cloth separating you both, starting to do wonders.

You’re taken a back as he bites down on your lip, it pulls you out of the trance you were currently in.

“You’re going to have to be quieter than that” Tech looks up at you with his half lidded eyes. 

“So do you…” you smirk up at him remembering the beautiful sounds he moaned into your kiss.

“Oh I can be very quiet” he starts to tell you but you move off your position sat on his lap, smiling at his comment as you shift yourself down the bed.

Your hands quickly find the waistband of his slacks just like that did in the fresher last night.

You start to palm his hardness through the fabric at first, Tech almost pushing his hips out to meet your hand.

He holds back a moan as you stop your movements on him, glancing up to look at his face, he nods like he understands what you’re asking of him and you waste no time in pulling down his slacks, freeing his beautiful cock as it strained against the fabric.

You hardly give him time to steady himself, propping himself up on one of his elbows so he can watch you as you take him in your mouth.

Your lips wrapping around the head of his cock as you flick your tongue on the underside of it.

Tech uses his other hand to grab your face, moaning out loud, it causes him to push his cock further into your mouth.

You take him with no protest at all as you widen your jaw to fit him inside.

You want to take his full length but quickly run out of throat space, deciding to use a hand to wrap around the part that your mouth can’t quite reach. 

Tech seems to like that as his hand has switched from cupping your face to grabbing your hair.

It’s like he holds your head in place whilst he moves his cock in and out of your mouth faster now, like he’s fucking your face. 

You’re almost glad that your mouth is full with him as you’d love to be screaming to the world right now with how he’s making you feel.

With every thrust of his hips, his cock pushes it’s way further down your throat, you concentrate on not gagging but a few escape your mouth.

“You can take me, can’t you y/n?” Tech says to you in between the snapping of his hips.

But you don’t answer, not that you think it’s an answerable question anyways.

Instead you allow him to fuck into your mouth deeper.

Starting to move backwards with how hard he is going you find yourself now laying back on the mattress.

Sideways almost from your original position whilst he holds your head up slightly so he can angle his face fucking better.

The sounds that are falling from the clones lips goes straight to your core, you clench your thighs together so you can feel some sort of friction down there.

“Dank ferrick y/n!!” Tech almost hisses out now. You can tell he’s close to climax as you feel his cock pulsating inside your mouth.

“Such a…such a good girl for me…taking me so well” He grunts out praises to you and your eyes almost roll to the back of your head.

Who knew that sucking this man’s cock would be such a turn on for you also.

He’s bunched up your hair into some sort of pony tail now as he releases the hold he had on your wrists and instead, places his hand around your throat.

Groaning a little too loudly as he can feel the movement of your throat muscles as he moves his cock in and out of you.

“Maker! It’s like your mouth..your mouth was made for this, for me” 

You’re sure Tech isn’t supposed to be saying this out loud but you’re glad he is.

The noises coming from your throat sends him into a spiral as he calls you all sorts of names under the stars.

It doesn’t take much longer, just a few more movements of his hips before you feel that familiar feeling of thick, warm liquid.

You’re sure Tech starts speaking Mando’a as he releases the hold he had on your throat, you keep your head still, allowing him to fill your mouth with his come.

He starts to slow down his assault on your mouth, pulling out from you with a pop as you swallow down every drop.

Drool has gathered in the corners of your mouth whilst he uses a finger to wipe it away, he glances into your eyes, tears starting to form in them from him hitting the back of your throat over and over again.

He smirks at you as he pulls you upwards to towards him, he settles back on the headboard  so you’re laid on his chest.

He takes a little while just holding you there, using a hand to rub circles on your back.

You almost feel yourself shutting your eyes under the comfort that washes over your body.

“Y/N?” Tech’s voice lures you out of your snoozing.

“Mmm?” You manage to reply to him. 

“Could I…May I return the favour?” 

You chuckle lightly at him being so polite, despite the fact he just called you all sorts of lewd words whilst he fucked your mouth silly.

“You can do what ever you like Tech” you’re sure he can hear the smile on voice as you realise you won’t be getting much sleep any time soon.

[lovechrissturniolo]

5/ day one - morning

contains: Lea & Chris talking and being interested in/ looking at each other

After a 30 minutes intro Chris and Matt played Fortnite.

As the day was just dawning, Lea - sitting in the living area - noticed an unfavorable change in the light in Chris's room and she texted him:

I have to adjust your light if it`s possible? Your room is a literal lighting challenge!

No problem, go ahead. I open the door so they can't hear when you come in.

Chris tried to concentrate on the game as she slipped into his room, but he couldn't help but watch her out of the corner of his eye.

She had this deliberate posture and highly concentrated look when she was working.

It was kind of cute.

Lea was wearing blue jeans and a black baby-T, her long hair tied into a messy bun and subtle make-up. Chris had to admit to himself that she looked pretty good.

Her belt and the lower part of her belly were visible as she leaned over the table behind the camera making adjustments to the ring light.

〽️

Her being here during the stream was definitely better than some old guy, he thought to himself again.

Immediately afterward, he heard Matt yell and realized he'd been shot down.

“Chris! You're an idiot!”

“Fuck, sorry!” he shouted back, ruffling his hair.

As Chris leaned back in his chair, he caught Lea's gaze, who silently formed the word “Sorry!” and twisted the corner of her mouth.

He waved his hand to indicate that it wasn't her fault and smirked without looking directly at her.

“What's funny about that, you moron?” Matt joked from above.

“Nothing!” Chris answered, laughing about his stupid fault and rubbed his eyes. “Bro, I don't think I've ever played Fortnite this early in the morning! You can't expect my full concentration!”

“You better focus, man! We almost won that round!”

“Yeah yeah, all right! Go!”

Lea sat down on Chris's bed with her laptop and phone.

Sorry for the interruption!! I'll be off again in a minute.

You can also stay! You're not bothering me.

〽️

After the light was set, she moderated the chat without changing her location again to avoid making too much noise.

The madness in the comments was limited - probably because it was still early in the morning - so Lea kept catching herself watching Chris play.

He was one of the most expressive people she had ever met. Concentration, anger, excitement, joy - it was as if his whole body showed how he was feeling in every moment.

Something about his posture and facial expression was so fascinating that she could barely look away.

It was undeniably a beautiful sight to see him on her screen from the front and live from the side.

〽️

Chris noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lea looked over at him once in a while.

He somehow liked it and wondered what was going on in her head. Probably just the lighting situation, but maybe also personal interest?

Chris couldn't really log into Fortnite today, causing him to blow one game after another.

Eventually Matt had enough and they decided to have breakfast and try again later.

Lea disconnected Chris's computer from the stream, stated: "It's off." and gave him a thumbs up.

They unintentionally stretched at the same time and smiled sheepishly when they realized it. “Sorry about the interruption earlier. It shouldn't happen again.”

“Oh, please." Chris relented. "That's not the reason, I'm just still tired and play like shit!”

“That I can't judge, even though I've watched you guys play often.” Lea smiled.

〽️

Chris dropped onto the couch, stretched his hands over his head and mumbled: “I really should have slept more!"

“You didn't?” she asked casually.

“Not really well. Probably too nervous.”

“You guys really don't need to stress. Literally everything you try turns to gold anyway.”

“Nick says, you always have to be a little uncomfortable to be comfortable. That's what we do and why it works, I guess."

“That actually applies to my life too, I have to say,” Lea replied thoughtfully.

“You know what, I'd like to know more about that!” Chris replied quickly, sensing his chance to find out more about her and sat up.

Lea smiled involuntarily and wondered whether she was feeling a little too comfortable right now.

〽️

“You need to go support Matt, I think.”

“Is he already on camera in the kitchen?”

“Yes, he texted me to switch over right away.”

“Damn, this kid needs to chill, we'll be here for a while!” Chris sighed and made his way to the door.

“We talk later. I'll bring something for breakfast when I come back."

next ➡️

⬅️ index

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Pulling on the Strings of Destiny: Act 2 Chapter 14

Summary: Four days pass for Japan, and everyone is on edge.  They wonder, and wait. What will happen next for them? Will Midoriya  keep rising? What sort of things would she face. They all turned towards  the screens, wondering. None more so then the future class 1-A, more so  as they get a glimpse into their first sports festival, first  internship and their final exams. Watch as Midoriya’s future continues  to unfold, as she learns more about her family, society and herself.

Warnings: References to underage pregnancy and the assualt of a minor. References to child harm. Toga Himiko to, she is her own warning.

On AO3

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 Eri watched closely as Rappa grinned at the screen. “Man, I'd love to fight those kids! Wait till Midoriya gets her Quirk, and she's gonna be on fire!”

 “That's if the Boss lets her,” Chronostasis told his fellow criminal. Eri kept her gasp quiet as she followed the two back to her room.

 “No way? He wouldn't let her?” Rappa asked. “What does he want to kidnap her and keep her here like a pet or something? That's… Creepy.” he frowned. “I want to fight him, not deal with… that.”

 “He wouldn't touch her unless she gives permission,” the other villain said in offence. 

 “Still fucking creepy as hell,” Rappa said. He was so focused on the conversation it took only a second for Eri to spot his keys half out of his pocket. She hesitated, looking up at the other two as they gossiped before reaching out and grabbing the keys. She hid them against her stomach, walking hunched over. 

 Now, she just needed to wait. The scientists working on her had made Overhaul angry enough to kill them, so they needed new ones, hence why she was being escorted to her room again. It would take time to find new people. She could use that. 

 She would get out. She'd be brave like Limitless. She could do it; she knew she could.

 The screen started as the little girl planned.

  The screen opens on Midoriya as she walks back to the student seating. When she reaches it, she pauses.

 “Did Uraraka and Iida go down to the waiting rooms?” she asks.

 “They did,” Yaoyorozu says, smiling at the girl who smiles back. Tomoe hums as she plays with her bunny, Midoriya moving to sit down. “Who do you think will win this match?”

 “It depends. Uraraka might not have a lot of combat experience, but Kirishima tends to be a hot head,” Midoriya tells Yaoyorozu. “Or well…” the green-haired girl pauses, looking thoughtful. “That’s not the right phrase.”

 “He’s over-eager,” Ojiro suggests. “I wouldn’t call him dumb or anything, but he’s not the type to think about the long term.”

 “Exactly,” Midoriya says. “So it’ll depend. Does he get over eager, rush her and let her touch him- thereby letting her throw him out of bounds? Or does he not.”

 “…So, I’m saying yes.” Kaminari voices. “Anyone want to bet?”

 “Hey!” Kirishima said. “I… might not?” he frowned as Ochako looked at him, waiting to hear what he'd do. She had already sat down with a laptop to start her lessons, Iida right next to her with an earbud in to listen to lectures. 

 “Kirishima, I think you might. Or can you think of any way you two hand-to-hand combat users wouldn’t directly face-off?” Sato pointed out. 

 “… damn it,” Kirishima said with a sigh. “Yeah, I'm gonna lose.”

 “Jamming-whey, no one wants to bet on that,” Jirou rolls her eyes, shaking her head. Kaminari laughs in response.

 “Damn, could have made easy money,” Kaminari says.

 “Hey, he might not!” Ashido defends her friend.

 “Like I said, it depends. It also depends on Uraraka being able to move quickly enough to tap him.” Midoriya says.

 “…RIP Kiri.” Ashido sighs just as the screen moves to the field. Kirishima and Uraraka face-off, both grinning.

 “In one corner! We have the Rocky Boy Kirishima Eijiro from 1A! This rockstar is ready to rock on! Right on this ro-“ Mic begins before he is interrupted.

 “Say rock ONE more time.”

 “You’re so mean, Shou!” Hizashi complained as he juggled Tomoe, who’d decided she wanted to be in his arms to poke at his shoulders. 

 “You’re the one who married me,” Shouta replied.

 Elsewhere, a little girl put her ear to the thin wall. Thin because Overhaul wanted to be able to listen in if needed. Footsteps were heading down the hall. She counted them quietly before pulling away. 

 Eri didn’t understand time too well, but she knew enough to be able to tell when was the best time to escape. She also knew footsteps. That had been Katsukame; his steps were always loud. 

 That meant Sakaki would be next, given he always came around after. He would be drunk as always. He’d also do it way too fast without checking on her. 

 So… it was time. Eri quietly opened the door to her room after counting to a hundred after the heavy steps.

 She was going to be like Limitless.

 “Fine, you funsucker. In the second corner, we have Uraraka Ochako, also from 1A! She’s fast, she’s strong, and she can steal your gravity to send you to SPACE!” Mic finishes.

 “Hope you don’t mind me winning!” Kirishima chirps. Uraraka grins ferally back.

 “Hope you don’t mind me doing so!” she teases.

 “Ready?” Mic calls out over the intercom. “BEGIN!” Midnight cracks her whip at his words. Kirishima hardens his body and rushes at Uraraka, who holds her ground right until he’s close. Then she moves out of the way, reaching out to tap his arm.

 “Wh-what?!” Kirishima yelps, eyes wide as he lifts into the air. He flails in the air, letting Uraraka grab onto his leg and spin, flinging the weightless boy out of the ring. The shock on Kirishima’s face when Midnight cracks her whip again is obvious.

 “Kirishima is out of the ring!” she calls.

 “...okay that is EMBARRASSING,” Eijro groaned as the rest of the class laughed, shaking their heads. It was swift, but honestly, it was also incredibly funny to them.

 The sentiment was shared around Japan, with people laughing and shaking their heads in amusement. Wow, that was fast. 

 “And he knew what her Quirk was!” Native laughed. He was patrolling with Tensei again, the two deciding to spend time together due to the focus on Tenya. Already, Tensei kept being bugged about his brother; some of the people who were asking were girls around his brother’s age. A few boys, too. It usually would amuse Tensei, but it was rapidly becoming a pain in the ass to deal with. 

 “Overconfidence. Better it happens now than the future,” Tensei pointed out. 

 “Still, kind of ridiculous.” Native chuckled. 

 “I’m not denying it,” Tensei agreed. His phone rang, and he checked it, shoulders stiffening.

ID: Hey, Engine Boy, I got a ping about something. Can I call?

 “Who is it?” Native asked, noticing it was his work phone. Tensei hesitated before speaking as he replied.

 “ID.” He told the other as he texted he would call later.

 “No shit? Aren’t they supposed to be in Atlantis?” Native asked in surprise.

 “They were last week… I didn’t know you talked to them,” Tensei said cautiously. Native shrugged.

 “They were one of the people who openly mocked idiots commenting about me. Of course, I chat. They’re pretty wound up in the Court, aren’t they?” 

 “I think so. I heard their contract is running out…” Tensei said. Native hummed.

 “It would be nice to have them back in Japan.”

 “...Yeah, it would.”

 “Wow, another short one?!” Mic asks over the speakers. The screen goes to show the two teachers in the announcer’s booth. “What are you teaching these kids, Eraserhead?”

 “It’s bad matchups all around,” Aizawa sighs. “With Uraraka and Kirishima, both are hand-to-hand Quirk users; however, Uraraka has the advantage of being able to quickly change any fight in her favour if she can get a hand on her opponent. Kirishima, when paired with that, lost because his Quirk gives him an advantage in hand-to-hand that is lesser than Uraraka’s.”

 “So Kirishima got overconfident?” Mic asks.

 “He did, which isn’t a surprise. Most young heroes get overconfident easily- Kirishima is just one of many. At least he learned it here rather than in battle,” Aizawa says as the camera goes to the field where Uraraka has released Kirishima, so he stands on the ground. He looks shocked, almost lost, even as he stands there. Then Uraraka runs over.

“So I should probably focus on working on that,” Eijiro said with a wince. 

 “Hey, it’s a common thing.” Midnight told him. “You just need to work on it more, and it’s not that hard to adjust! Trust me, I got a hundred stories of myself, Aizawa, Mic and a few others… including your brother.” She winked at Iida, who grinned the smile that came from having heard a few and wanting more.

 Well, now Eijiro was interested.

 “Kirishima, are you okay?” she asks him. He turns to her, a grin slowly crossing his face.

 “Yeah! Man, that was so… MANLY Uraraka!” he pumps a fist into the air. “So cool! You just… wow.” He then laughs. “Wow, I need to think more, don’t I?”

 “Maybe,” Uraraka laughs back. The two classmates share smiles and walk off the field together to thunderous applause from the crowd right before the screen returns to the rest of 1A.

 “Wow, that was shorter than I thought,” Ashido says.

 “Kirishima got over excited and reacted,” Midoriya says. “Honestly- I think no matter what, Uraraka would have won unless he dislocated her fingers and forced her to be unable to use all five.”  The class stares at her, including a fuming Bakugou, who looks incredulous. “What?”

 “... that is terrifying but really cool,” Ochako said to Iida, who nodded.

 “It is, and something you should remember.” He told her. “More so since now, it’s a weakness others will know of.”

 “Hell, forgot about that,” Ochako muttered. As it was, villains were making note of it. The three people who caused this whole thing were handy in allowing them to get a headstart on the next generation of heroes.

 “Why did you think of that?” Kaminari asks her. Midoriya hesitates and then sighs.

 “Bullies at my school liked to use their Quirks. I would dream up ways to disable said Quirks.” Midoriya explains. “I got used to it, and I kept thinking of ways to disable Quirks ever since.”

 “I knew you could, like, figure out ways to make Quirks better, but not this…” Kaminari looks at her in surprise. “In all seriousness, tell me about it 'cause I’d like to know my weaknesses, but later,” Kaminari says.

 “She just needs to get you into idiot mode,” Jirou mocks. “Then you’re a sitting duck.”

 “That why you kicked me into a bunch of villains?” Kaminari snaps back, sounding annoyed.

 “I forgot about that!” 

 “Oh god, right. That girl did not think it through.”

 “More like she was trying to kill him!” 

 Eri heard the voices from a room, the goons of Overhaul. She quietly crept past the door, head down. She just needed to keep moving, keep going. 

 She could do it, she could. 

 “WHAT?!” Ashido says, along with most of the class. Kaminari looks surprised as Jirou’s eyes widen.

 “Wait, she didn’t tell you guys?” he asks them. Yaoyorozu also looks surprised.

 “No! What the hell, Jirou?” Ashido asks the punk girl, who scoffs.

 “He didn’t go idiot then,” she protests.

 “A villain threatened him while in ‘idiot mode’ though,” Yaoyorozu speaks up. Jirou looks at her in betrayal. Yaoyorozu shrugs. “I’m not going to lie for you. I thought you told them.”

 “Why would she?” Mina asked Yaomomo as Jirou slunk down in her chair. “It paints her in a very bad light.”

 “I am unsure. Possibly, I thought she had some moral fibre and would admit to it,” Yaomomo said, her voice upset. With Jirou or herself for making yet another mistake, the elegant teen didn’t know. 

 “Guys, let’s not all jump on her,” Kaminari says.

 “Course not; she has a damn point, Pikachu.” Bakugou sneers. “You need to get better fast.” Jirou’s face goes pale, and she stands up.

 “I think I need to puke.” She leaves without another word as Sero scoffs.

 “Oh god,” Kyoka said. “I… oh god-” 

 “You aren’t like him!” Kaminari said instantly. He looked at her firmly. “Yeah, you’re a bitch sometimes, but you are not as bad as he is.” Kyoka looked at him with wide eyes. 

 “How come I only realized it now when I am being compared to someone I don’t like?” the teenager asks him. He opens his mouth, and Jirou turns away. 

 It was selfish; it was disgusting, really. She was being forced to acknowledge her actions when a bully said he agreed with her. When a bully probably would have done the same thing as she did. 

 What kind of person did that?

 Oh god, she was still making it all about herself, wasn’t she?

 “The resident asshole agreeing with her showed her how bad her choices were,” he says before wincing.

 “FUCK OFF TAPE FACE!” 

 “KATSUKI!”

 “Tomoe’s heard that one, sadly,” Midoriya tells him. “She knows they’re big words, though.”

 “Ass-ole.” Tomoe says. The entire class bursts out laughing as Midoriya sighs.

 The silliness of the comment had people laughing after witnessing the emotions of Jirou, people giggling, and parents nodding their heads at Midoriya’s pain.

 One girl ignored it as she crept away. At least until she found herself facing a maid. Eri stared at the woman, horrified. Her shoulders tensed, and the keys in her hands hurt as she clenched them.

 “... Three more hallways,” the woman said to Eri. “Fatgum, a hero, his agency is about ten blocks away. Chisaki and the others are having a large lunch. You can make it.” The woman walked away. 

 Eri didn’t waste her chance.

 The screen returns to the field where Iida and the white-haired boy from Monoma’s team face off.

 “In our next match, we have Iida Tenya from class 1-A! He’s fast, skilled and loves his rules! Due to a withdrawal, his opponent is Shihai Kuroiro! He’s dark, moody and faster than shadows!” Present Mic announces over the intercom. Iida bows to the other boy, who mimics it. Neither say anything as they wait.

 Kuroiro frowned. Why would he agree to take the spot? His Quirk was incredibly unsuited for that. Did the other boy insist?

 “START!” Midnight shouts. Iida speeds towards the other boy, who lets it happen. Iida moves faster, shoving the boy out of bounds swiftly. “…Iida winner?”

 “Apologies for the short match,” Shihai tells the other boy. “However, my Quirk is one I am still working on, as well as the fact there was no way for me to use it.”

 “It’s fine,” Iida says but stops. “So this was a bad match-up no matter who you fight?”

 “My Quirk allows me to merge with dark things, such as shadows or colours,” Shihai explains. The screen pauses on him.

 “Shihai Kuroiro!” Present Mic’s voice announces. “Quirk: Black! He can merge with any dark enough thing and be completely hidden! He’s also a huge fan of the occult and horror.” The screen goes back to them speaking.

 “Huh, that’s an interesting Quirk,” Izumi said as she heaved up a microwave. He could have tried harder, maybe learned fighting skills or something. But it was still a cool Quirk.

 Elsewhere, Eri unlocked the door to the outside, slipping out of the base. She stepped out into the fresh air, shaking. Is this how Limitless felt? When the man who hurt her left? The girl wondered before she shook her head. 

 She had to move. 

 The girl took off, unaware of the fact the maid she met had gone to the security station to look at the cameras. No one was there, the thug who was supposed to be there off somewhere. It took a minute to destroy the footage. 

 Anything to give the kid more time. Kuira Nakami wasn’t that good of a person. A life with a Quirk like Razor Touch made it hard. She’d always been angry at how people treated her and hated how some of the more idiotic heroes preached redemption for villains. The villain who hurt her deserved death, not being let out on parole. 

 How it got her under Overhaul’s reach was simple. She heard he wanted to destroy Quirks and dreamed of him destroying her villain’s. Being a maid was not what she wanted, but the man’s sexism was legendary. She’d hoped to prove herself. Then she met Eri.

 And she couldn’t do it. 

 Watching as the videos were deleted, she closed her eyes. She didn’t have hope for a future.

 But she would pray one last time.

 “I am not skilled enough to move through them as my mother is. She is able to vanish into her shadow and appear in another. A talent she told me took time to hone.” Shihai says calmly. “I am not as fast as you to dodge, and I know that.”  The white-haired teen shrugs.

 “I see,” Iida frowns. “This entire event seems more suited for people like me. I knew it previously, but this strengthens the idea.”

 “It’s chance,” the other teen disagrees. “There could have been something more suited for me in another situation you were ill-suited for.”

 “Yeah, but he didn’t even try,” Izumi said as she walked up to the top of the beach to toss the junk into the pile. Shouta made a noise, wordlessly asking her to continue. “It’s one thing to not be suited, but he didn’t do anything. He seemed so… defeatist there. Like it was a foregone conclusion he’d lose.”

 “Not the kind of attitude we like in UA, I won’t lie,” Shouta admitted. “But he did get in with robots.”

 “Which is more frustrating. Sure, there were more shadows there, but why not even try here? How can you just give up like that? It’s ridiculous!” Izumi said. She threw her arms up. “You have to try. He could have trained more to; learn how to throw a punch.”

 “We can work with that in UA,” Shouta said. “But I agree, he should have worked harder.”

 “How did he get in when Shinsou didn’t?” Izumi wondered.

 “He was better in the exams,” Shouta said. “After all, he could probably sink into the colour or shadows on them.”

 “It feels so dumb,” Izumi sighed. “He could have tried!”

 “He could have. Yet you seem more frustrated than you normally are about this.” Eraserhead said. Izumi didn't answer for a second before she sighed.

 “I think I'm just frustrated. Everything going on is just… so much. Mom, Dad, Endeavour… I kinda want to complain to complain.” she admitted.

 “Well, that makes sense. How about you think of how you want to argue your point and create an essay about it while working? You're here until one anyway, then it's lunch, and you're going to UA for classes.” Shouta said.

 “Alright… thanks Shouta. That'll help,” Izumi smiled at the man, who nodded back.

 It would be a good way for her to think better.

 “What do you think of that Eraser?” Mic’s voice asks as the two teens walk off, still speaking.

 “Shihai isn’t wrong, but he made a fatal mistake in not even trying. Attempting to dodge and becoming one with Iida’s shadow could have enabled him to win the match,” Aizawa says as the screen shows the announcer’s booth.

 “So you think he could have won?” Mic asks.

 “If he’d thought about it. He’s a first-year,” Aizawa says. “He’s got time to think about it, but a lot of times, Quirks won’t work in ways we wish.”

 Back in the stands, Midoriya nods along with the words. “People are really reliant on Quirks.”

 “So you think there were other ways he could fight?” Ojiro asks her.

Kuroiro frowned at the screen. He might rely on his Quirk a lot, but going up against someone like Iida with his super speed wasn't easy.

 “Hmm… he’s kinda skinny, and Iida is built like a tank, so I’m not sure. But he could have tried something.” Midoriya says. “He should work on his muscles more than his Quirk usage. Though I wonder how he can hone his Quirk…”

 “You’re right,” a new voice says. Monoma pokes his head over the barrier between their classes. “While I do think he can learn to use his Quirk better, muscle mass can only help in the long run with holding down criminals or even preventing things like this from happening from his mass.”

 “Exactly!” Midoriya nods. “As well, some Quirks do get better if the user is working out alongside training it. Mine did, and I believe that Iida noticed his Quirk strengthening as he trained both.”

 “Precisely,” Monoma says eagerly. Both Quirk nerds began to talk more as the rest of 1A looked at them with wide eyes. The screen shows Kaminari has made his way to the field for his match and is facing off against Shinsou.

 “… I am an idiot,” Kuroiro sighed. He would go to the gym later to buff up. He truly needed it. He would take the advice given. Perhaps one day, he could travel fully through shadow.

 Itsuka in her school sucked her teeth. She didn't like how Monoma was supposed to be a pest but seemed nice to Midoriya. He had to be hiding something. Her instincts on idiotic boys were always right. Look at her mom’s boyfriends! Itsuka always knew they were no good and had never been proven wrong yet!

 Her point would be proven, and people would stop saying she had anger issues! She knew it! 

 “For the final round, we have from class 1A the electric taser, the man who cannot be stopped, KAMINARI DENKI!” Present Mic cries. “And in the other corner, we have the dark horse, the General Education student who needs a nap, SHINSOU HITOSHI!”

 “Sup man,” Kaminari says to the purple teen, who nods back, smirking a little. “No hard feelings when I kick your ass?”

 “No hard feelings when I kick yours?” Shinsou asks, and Kaminari laughs, shrugging.

 “Now you two, have a nice, CLEAN match,” Midnight tells them. Shinsou snorts. “BEGIN!” the teacher cries out, and Shinsou opens his mouth.

 “WHEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY!” the purple teen sings. Kaminari, gearing up his Quirk, pauses.

 “Huh,” Hitoshi said. He sat down in his classroom, ignoring the looks of his classmates. A few were happy for him, but most were giving him the side eye. Assholes. “That’s an old one.”

 But it distracted Kaminari!

 In UA, Denki sighed. Jirou was frozen, not looking at anyone and lost in her mind. And then he lost just like that.

 Damnit, that wasn't fair at all. 

 “What-“ his eyes become unfocused, and he freezes in place.

 “Walk out of bounds,” Shinsou orders and Kaminari obeys.

 “… Okay, this first round was not as exciting as we all hoped, but the winner is SHINSOU HITOSHI!” Present Mic declares. Shinsou smiles, a happy glint in his eyes as the screen moves to show Midoirya clapping her hands.

 “He did it!”

 “Hito?” Tomoe asks before smiling herself. “Mama, Hito!”

 “What to go see him and congratulate him, baby?” Midoriya asks as she stands. “Me and Tokoyami are fighting next, so we can see him before then.” She waves at the others and leaves, passing by Iida. She smiles at her friend, who returns it softly.

 Eri walked through the city, trying not to run and draw attention. She needed to get to Fatgum. She didn't know what he looked like, but she remembered Overhaul complaining about something like ‘fat is unhealthy, and Quirks pervert us by letting us accept a….’ Something? She didn't remember. 

 But she knew the guy had to be big. 

 Leaving the stands, the screen follows her through the halls. Tomoe is in her arms, looking around curiously. As they turn down one hallway, they run into Endeavour, who looks at her in surprise.

 “Oh,” Midoriya says, seeing him. Her arms clutch her daughter tightly. Tomoe makes a noise, looking at Endeavour with wide eyes.

 “Ah, it is you,” Endeavour says. He looks at her curiously. “This is your daughter?”

 “Yes, and you stay THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!” Izumi shouted at the screen. The sentiment was firmly shared around Japan, with people glaring at the screen.

 “Yes,” Midoriya says simply. Endeavour doesn’t seem to care, nodding.

 “You’re quite strong. I have no doubts that you will end up facing my son. Try and give him a good fight,” the man says. Midoriya gives only a single nod. She attempts to move on, but Endeavour continues. “Your Quirk is a lot like All Might’s. It is quite fascinating.”

 “I suppose it is,” Midoriya says calmly. “He is a good teacher for me.”

 “We’ll see whose training wins out then,” Endeavour says. "It's my Shouto's duty to surpass All Might as the number one hero. And his match with you will be a good testing ground for how much training he has left. So hit him hard. Don't disgrace yourself or him by holding back.”

 “Oh, go fuck yourself,” muttered Z, the mercenary checking her phone for jobs. She had fun with Dabi. Man might need to take it slow the old-fashioned way, but his mouth game was on point. But she needed money. 

 Maybe she’d get lucky, and someone would hire to put a bullet in Endeavour. Abusive dads were her favourite thing to kill. She liked to picture her dipshit father as them. Her most cherished kill to date had been him, and maybe taking down Endeavour would give her the same thrill. 

 Midoriya stiffens. The screen moves to show her and Todoroki speaking to each other.

 " My father has not only a rich history of accomplishments but plenty of money to throw at his problems. He bribed my mother's relatives to get his hands on her quirk.” Todoroki says darkly. “And now he's raising me to usurp All Might.”

 The screen goes back to Midoriya and Endeavour.

 “Sir, do you know who All Might’s father is?” she asks randomly. The man frowns.

 “Ha!” Toshinori chuckled. He knew exactly where this was going. 

 “What?”

 “It’s a trick question,” Midoriya muses. “All Might is an orphan, after all. So let’s go to Ryuuko. Who is her father? He was a hero, too, wasn’t he?” Midoriya watches Endeavour, who looks confused. “I’m not All Might. And Todoroki isn’t you, sir. Both of you have left marks on both of us. But the thing is…” she pauses, frowning. “The thing is that while people will leave marks in history if their children become greater, they will be but a footnote.” She sniffs. “Food for thought.” She leaves behind the number two hero, who doesn’t move an inch before the screen goes black.

  As the timer began to tick down, people howled their heads off at the epic burn Midoriya gave the hero. That was amazing! Hilarious and perfect in every single way! Plus, it was true no one knew who fathered All Might. Or Endeavour, for that matter.

 In his office, the flame hero threw aside his Ben, the flames on him burning bright. That snot-nosed brat! How dare she say that to him! Shouto was nothing without Enji! The boy was a tool, a lump of clay that needed diligent shaping to become a hero! Enji did the job of an artist to create him! He had gone to multiple lengths to have Shouto! His name would go down in history as the head of a legacy!

 Or… would it be Shouto’s name…

 No, it would be the Todoroki name. Enji’s name. It would reign supreme in history, especially when the only person to match his son would marry him. Perhaps One for All would be passed through his bloodline now… yes perfect. 

 The legacy would thrive.

 As the hero thought and plotted, Eri stumbled down a new street. She paused upon spotting a huge person dressed in a yellow hoodie next to a nervous-looking guy in white.

 “Come on, Suneater!” The hero (cause it had to be a hero) said to the guy in white. “With Nighteye down patrollers, our area expanded!”

 “S-sorry Fatgum. I’m just nervous, you know?” Said the other.

 Fatgum.

 Eri ran towards them, and the hero spotted her. His face became startled, horrified and then concerned. He dropped to one knee as she approached. 

 “Hello,” he said softly. 

 “Hi,” Eri breathed. She looked up at him. “I… I ran away.” 

 “I see. Can you tell me who you ran from?” The hero asked kindly.

 “Overhaul…” Eri said. The hero blinked and then nodded firmly.

 “Well then, kid, I’m Fatgum. Let’s go to my agency so I can get you some food, okay?” He asked. Eri nodded and let Fatgum pick her up. 

 He was so gentle. He was kind… he…

 “I saved myself like Limitless,” Eri said. “And found my own hero.” She looked at Fatgum with wide eyes. The man blinked before chuckling.

 “You did, kid! Hell, I’m even blonde like All Might!” He told her. Eri beamed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

 She did it. The tears began to prickle at her eyes, and she sniffed, unable to stop it.

 She did it! She really did it! She was free!

 For the first time in a long time, Eri cried happy tears as Fatgum carried her to safety. 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Notes:

-Sorry, but I'm on a soap box again: for those who saw chapter 14 before, it was an AN complaining about commenters continuing to step over my boundaries to comment about Kendo. I have stated before I delete them, and they're annoying. I was admittedly a little pissy in my wording, but it's getting to a point where I want to force people to take an internet etiquette quiz or something.  Someone decided to comment on the chapter, basically scolding me for not, in fact, listening to the others, saying there are two sides, followed by going on about how me focusing on Kendo’s bad habits and making them worse but giving her a redemption later actually is a bad thing. I deleted that, to as I said, I was done. It also personally felt like an attack on my person and not an actual comment on the story as is, so why keep it up?

 They proceeded to go to my tumblr and comment that they saw I deleted it, and thus they know I can't take criticism, and I'm petty. I'll give the second, but I don't see how my getting upset people continue to STOMP on boundaries I set is me not taking criticism after I've said multiple times not to comment about that stuff. Plus, I think it's disturbing and weird they decided to go to my tumblr and comment about it like that. Like… are you that entitled you need the last word? Do you think your words are that important? Incredibly creepy, dude. I have turned anon off on my tumblr, and while I haven't set up moderated comments here, that's only because, frankly, I don't have the spoons to deal with that. 

 I will say this: you're not wise, unique or cool commenting, complaining about characterization or insisting I see both sides on a fanfic. You're just an entitled jackass, more so when you feel the need to go to my tumblr and comment. This isn't a place for debate. Want to debate? Then yes, go to my tumblr. Please don’t go there to whine that I deleted your comment. Any sort of high ground you had (if you had ANY) instantly was lost and you became revealed to just be an entitled jerk.

 There I am DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS.

-Also, the poll is not to decide if there will be poly. It's me asking if people would be upset if I went back on my word about no poly. The flow of the story is going where it will, and romance will always be secondary. I'm just a sucker for it, so I do think about it. 

-Eri kind of jumped at me, demanding I save her. And since this chapter was short anyway… here we are!

-In straight hand-to-hand, Kirishima wins. But we know from the final exams that the poor boy doesn’t really think things through. So he got too close to Uraraka and, boom, he lost. Someone actually said we weren’t going to see the Bakugou vs. Uraraka fight, and all I could think was: Yeah, we are. It’ll be the second round? So here for that person: we still see it!

-The Jirou scene… I dunno. I think it does show that she is also realizing she’s fucking up in the future. She’s also heavily aware Bakugou used to be a bully, and to know he agrees with some of her thoughts? YIKES to her.

-Okay, so ID was on an undercover mission as said in chapter 10, but has been removed from it because of what is going on right now. They wanted them on the case to find the villains responsible. Of course with two versions existing they keep getting conflicting information. (Another Court member has taken over the mission). Mostly I wanted ID around cause… reasons that will be shown in the chapter before the next intermission.  

-no-moku gave us Nakami!

-CONFRONTATION TIME. This was a lot of fun to think about, but here we go!! Izumi gets to put the smackdown on Endeavour!!

-ERI IS SAVED! She did it! With, you know, help from a maid who destroyed some footage and gave her directions. But she made it! She found her All Might and saved herself!

[purplekoop]

Alright while I'm thinking about it (and in lieu of having the willpower to draw any of it right now), I'm just gonna dump all the semi-solid ideas I have for Role Requeue right now.

The only two heroes I said much about in particular are Tracer as Support, whose time powers are altered slightly to allow her to recall the damage her allies take, and Reaper as a Tank, who's been turned from spooky gaseous ghost man into a big nightmarish part-liquid man.

The only other "officially recognized" of the hero changes so far is Widowmaker as a Tank, as suggested by @daylightcommand3, now is transformed from a mere sniper into a spider-themed cyborg with massive cybernetic spider legs to move around and add to her frame, and the ability to ward off enemies with web-based abilities.

As for the other uh... 35 heroes...

Well, not getting into everybody in just one post, both for the sake of readability and (primarily) because I don't have everybody figured out yet. But, I'll hit the highlights I have figured out.

Let's start off with the obvious ones. Doomfist as a Damage hero. Because like. If it was fine for the five or so years that's how he was, it's fine for this AU. As much as I'd love to entertain the idea of that gauntlet somehow being used to heal people, I'm gonna take the easy out where I can. There's enough fun concepts to toy around with for the other nearly 40 characters, one lame answer is gonna be fine. No major story changes for him either, if his backstory was already considered to work fine as either a DPS or a Tank, then that's okay for my low standards to be lazy.

As for other forgone conclusions, there's a trio of Damage heroes that were already envisioned as Supports in one stage of development or another: Symmetra, Sombra, and Echo.

As long-time fans of the game know, Symmetra was a Support for the first few years of the game's life, but with a catch: she was the only Support in the game's lifespan to never have a direct means of healing teammates. She launched with an ability to marginally increase the health of allies, which was traded out for an ability similar to an automatic version of Sigma's barrier. However, when the game was updated to include a built-in "looking for group feature" (which has since been removed as of OW2 due to. reasons.), the character select screen got some changes to match the changing perspectives of what the playerbase saw in each role. The arbitrary distinction between "Offense" and "Defense" heroes was axed in favor of a simple "Damage" role, and Supports were now all expected to have some means of directly and consistently healing allies, so she was reworked more significantly ever before or since into her Damage role. Symmetra was let back ever so briefly into the Support role as part of an Experimental card update with changes suggested by a select few major community members. Support main streamer ML7 was given the Support role to suggest changes for, and in the most drastic change of the whole update, was moved into the Support role, with the one major change that her turrets were changed to heal allies instead of damage enemies. This concept didn't go too far for Symmetra, but I wouldn't be too surprised if this didn't go to inspire a certain new support with a healing deployable. The fact that there's also a Support who's a former Vishkar student who uses hard light and has repositioning utility now also makes the concept of Support Symmetra in the real game feel... slightly redundant, but hey, while we're dreaming here, might as well indulge myself.

Sombra and Echo meanwhile have only ever been in the Damage role (er. "Offense" in the case of Sombra at her release), but were both at least considered to be Supports at some time or another in their development. With Sombra there's some vestigial remnants of it in her gameplay design, as with Hack she was built to be more of a "disabler" than the assassin she was retrofitted to be in Overwatch 2. With Echo though, the main thing that has me move her to Support is more just her visual design. Her personality and shape language just scream "kind helper", and I'm convinced the only reason she's a Damage hero is because they thought Duplication was "too cool" of an ultimate to be "wasted" on a support, or at least would encourage too aggressive of play to fit that kind of playstyle (I know I'd be a little mad if my co-healer went on the flank to turn into a Reinhardt and drop from the sky onto the enemy backline while leaving me to heal the other 3-4 people on our team). Either way, the rest of her kit has always felt kind of bland to me, and while I can appreciate it now it still feels like a bit of a waste for a character that can hypothetically do uh... anything?

So yeah, those three are just no-brainers for me. I've already made somewhat thorough concepts for them as Supports that I'm likely going to touch up to fit to my newer higher standards. I don't have any major visual or story changes for them either. Again, if I had it my way they'd already be Supports in the current real game, that's how close I think they are to just working as-is.

Again, this is largely a gameplay-focused AU, as unique of a thing that is to see (at least on this site). The story changes are largely meant to be in service of explaining the gameplay changes, because as someone who's honestly not thaaaaat invested in the story side of things (at least by tumblr.com standards) but feels at least moderately qualified to discuss the gameplay part of the... game, it's just what's easier for me to wrap my head around. It's also I suppose closer to how most official heroes are designed in the first place, which satiates my irrational desire for "professionality" or whatever you'd call it.

This post is already getting long so I'll just wrap up this one with more of a... I guess "concept" that makes this AU kind of awkward?

See, full confession here: Damage is my least favorite role by a somewhat considerable margin. Largely because I suck at the super aim-intensive characters, or because my skillset just works better when I have the kinds of buffers built in to the characters who specialize specifically in not dying, but it's also because I kind of just think they're boring, at least in a design sense. There's something special to how Tanks or Supports are designed, but I don't really feel it as much with Damage heroes. Part of the issue is that while the other roles have to balance unique objectives on top of dealing damage (unless you're like. Lifeweaver, he can be helpful enough without dealing damage or damage boosting). Meanwhile Damage heroes just gotta. Deal damage. I mean, their kits are slightly more geared towards confirming kills and being aggressive on their own, but I dunno, it just doesn't have the same "magic" to it. Then again, probably just a skill issue.

But uh, yeah Damage is kind of easy in this AU, because you kinda just. Take away parts of their kit.

Another weird thing about the Damage role here is that because there's 17 Damage heroes, 11 Tanks, and 10 Supports, that means there's a lot of Damage heroes going out from there and into the other roles, but not as much going into the Damage role (considering some Tanks are going to Support and vice versa), which ironically makes the issue of there not being enough Damage heroes in the final roster. I've got some fun ideas for Damage "requeues" (sure we're going with that as the official term for these reworks), but just a heads up that some of them might not be as interesting as others.

Anyways yeah, that's just me getting out some of the basic reworks and more general concepts, next post from me should be briefly going over some of the actual ideas I have. wooooooooo back to back long posts

[pigeonwhumps]

The video

Sanctuary masterlist

Whumptober masterlist

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages

Alt 8: made to watch

On the bus home from the animal shelter together for the first time, Anita and Theo bump into a fan of Adam and Eleanor's YouTube channel, and Anita makes the vaguest of vague plans.

2.1k (plus art!)

CWs: BBU and all the fuckery inherent in that, pet whump, dehumanisation, deaf whumpee, lady whump (in video), harassment (non-sexual), grief, exploitation of vulnerable people in the form of videos (non-sexual)

The bus home isn't too busy, thankfully, since it's only mid-morning, and Anita takes her usual seat behind the driver, Theo squeezing between her and the window at her gesture. Technically Theo's not supposed to sit down, because he's a pet, but it's not an actual seat he's sitting on (despite how many children sit there usually) so it should be fine. He looks exhausted, and no wonder. Anita isn't sure how long he was in that box, but she'll be glad to get some proper food down him. She's sure her paati won't mind cooking more. She holds Theo's lead loosely in her hand, as the law demands, and strokes his hair gently. He's sunk down as far as he can inside her oversized hoodie, and he looks even smaller (and unhealthier) than earlier.

"Nearly there, Theo," she says quietly, making sure to look him directly in the face. "Just this bus ride to go. I need to call paati."

Theo nods. She's not sure how much he understood, he might just be agreeing in fear of her, but there's nothing she can do about that now. She knows now that she did a pretty terrible job of communicating with him earlier, but she can't tell if she's doing any better now. She places her tablet in Theo's hands – watching videos helps her nerves, maybe it'll help his. Then she pulls her phone out of her pocket.

Indira picks up on the first ring.

"Anita! What are you doing calling at this time of day? I thought you were working?"

"I'm coming home early, paati, I'm on the bus now. I'm okay, don't worry, but I have a guest with me. Will you make some food? Nothing with peanuts. And... you might get a call asking if you're okay?"

"What have you gotten me into this time, child?"

"Nothing! Well, nothing bad. It's just... actually, I'll explain when I get home." While they've been talking the bus has stopped at the shops, and there's a man standing beside her seat, seemingly staring at Theo. She leans forward to block him from view and he moves to continue staring. "I've got to go. I'll see you soon."

Anita cuts off and slides her phone back in her pocket. Then she turns to the man staring at Theo.

"Excuse me, would you mind not staring at my pet."

The man's gaze flickers to her. "Your pet? That's 065, isn't it?"

"His name is Theo," she replies firmly. She doesn't know how he knows that he used to be called 065 but that doesn't matter. "And I've asked you to stop staring. Please leave, there's plenty of space on this bus."

That never works but it's worth a try. And sure enough, the man shakes his head.

"That's definitely 065. You know, from the YouTube channel?" He must see her utter lack of knowledge from her face, because he says incredulously, "You've never heard of A+E?"

"Of course I have, everyone's heard of them," she replies with distaste (just because she's heard of them doesn't mean she's ever watched a video), but the man ignores her, pushing her along on the seat and plucking the tablet out of Theo's hands. He looks up in fearful surprise. "Hey! Theo was watching that, and it's my property!"

"Just let me show you. Do you have data? Oh, you do."

Yes, she does, for work, because their WiFi is spotty and she needs it to do the occasional home inspection, but that doesn't mean he can use it! She clenches her teeth and strokes Theo's hair. She can't stop him, he's far stronger than her and she's not sure what will happen if she tries. She can only pray he's quick.

"Here. See." He turns the screen towards her and Theo, and she sees the video page of a YouTube channel entitled A+E and Pets. Their videos all seem to feature Theo (or 065 as he's called on here) and 785. At least she can put a face to the number, but... god. These are horrible, dehumanising things. "Their most popular video is 065's first. Oh, they've posted a new one! Want to watch it?"

"No thank you, I–" But he's not really listening, and he starts it, frowning.

"Oh. It only has 785. That's disappointing." Beside Anita, Theo stiffens, looking angry – he caught that then. Or maybe guessed. As soon as he catches Anita looking he his expression goes blank, eyes fearful, as if she's going to punish him for having emotions.

Maybe he would've been, once.

Anita forces herself to look. There on the screen is a young dark-skinned woman with dark hair, a collar, and a light blue petal-sleeved t-shirt, presumably 785, and a young light-skinned woman with a pink, puffy blouse, pink sunglasses, and pink heart earrings. That, then, is Eleanor. The mood is rather subdued.

"So, I have some sad news for you. Adam and I have officially divorced, and in the proceedings we took one pet each. I kept sweet little 785 here, and Adam took 065. I thought we'd still be able to collaborate on videos for you all, despite our differences, but unfortunately Adam had different ideas." A shelter very like the one she works at flashes up on screen – is that where Theo was meant to go? "Last night, when I phoned to check on 065, I was informed that he'd been surrendered to the Last Adventure Pets Home. There's nothing to be done about it, folks, but it does mean he's unlikely to feature in any videos in the future. You'll still get to see 785, don't worry! In fact, I filmed her reaction to the news earlier, and she's agreed to give you a tour of her room as it is without 065's belongings."

Anita almost snorts. 065's belongings. They weren't his, or he'd have more with him now than the clothes on his back (and even they're not all his).

The screen as cuts to 785 knelt on the floor, Eleanor sitting above her as she talks. The conversation's muted, but it turns back on when 785 starts to cry.

Anita looks away. The young woman's grief should be private, especially when it comes in great, gulping sobs that she apparently can't stop (or maybe has been ordered not to – Anita's sure she would stop exposing her private emotions to the world if she could). So Anita looks away, trying not to listen, and her eyes are caught by Theo.

Tears are streaming from his eyes as he stares at the screen, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away. He reaches out a hand towards the screen, almost touching before remembering himself and letting it fall. Anita squeezes his shoulder.

"Can you please wear headphones if you're going to watch this here?" she asks tersely. "It's rude."

"I'm showing it to you, I can't do that if you can't hear."

Anita closes her eyes for a second and breathes deeply. She does not want to lose her temper at this man, not when Theo's in her care. She doesn't know what'll happen to him if she starts a fight and is taken to hospital or arrested.

The video changes to a montage of the house overlaid with sad music. It's clear what it means – someone's missing. The music fades as the montage disappears, replaced by video of a rather small cupboard. There's a dog bed inside, with a rather scruffy teddy sitting on it and a small pile of clothes beside it. 785 isn't standing, and Anita's not sure she can with the boiler taking up so much room. It's not really 785's room, more a cupboard with a bed shoved in.

How did they fit 065 as well? It can't have been comfortable.

"This– this is my room now," says 785 tremulously. "I– I used to share with– with 065 but he's gone now. I miss him. This– this is my– is my bed, it's nice and warm because of– of the boiler, and these are my clothes, which– which Mistress lets me choose from. I– I also have this teddy, to keep me company."

"And how does 065 being gone make you feel?" asks Eleanor from behind the camera. 785 lets out a sob.

"I miss him, Mistress."

Anita suddenly can't watch any more. It's disgusting, profiting from someone's grief like this, exploiting it, broadcasting it out to the world like it's theirs to intrude on.

"Excuse me, this is my stop."

"Oh, but there's only a few minutes left, look."

"Please let me past."

The man doesn't move, and an old lady says in a thick accent, "She asked you to move, young man, and I would suggest you do so. I have a black belt in taekwondo, you know."

The young man moves round reluctantly and hands back the tablet, leaving Anita to take Theo's hand and squeeze past him. She exits the bus at the next stop, not bothering to check which one it is first. Once she's out, she realises they have quite a way to go. They'll have to wait for another bus, which she tries to explain to Theo. Hopefully it won't be too long.

"Would you like a lift?" Anita looks up to see the old woman from the bus. "I live just over there. My car might be a bit of a mess, I lent it to my nephew while I was on holiday, but it's better than another bus. Your pet looks like standing for much longer might finish him off."

Anita looks at Theo, who's still crying, eyes puffy with both tears and tiredness, and puts an arm around his shoulders. "If you're offering. Thank you."

"I'll bring the car around. You wait here. And you can unleash him if you like."

Anita gives her a small smile and turns to Theo as she leaves, crouching down in front of him.

"I'm going to remove your leash now."

Theo nods, and she reaches forward to carefully unhook the leash, rolling it up and pocketing it. He doesn't legally need one in private cars, technically, but she wanted to get home without a fight. Luckily, though, the woman seemed accepting.

As Anita busies herself with packing her tablet back into her rucksack, she notices she's trembling slightly. She's still shaken. She's not sure what would've happened if that woman hadn't come to their rescue.

The beep of a horn jolts Anita from her thoughts, and she sits in the backseat of the woman's car with Theo. The woman starts the engine.

"So, where are we going?"

"Crescent Building, Park Close."

"Ah yes, I know the place. Won't take long."

"Thank you again. And thank you for rescuing me earlier."

"Not a problem, my girl."

There's a silence as the car turns a sharp corner and Theo almost falls into her lap. She takes his hand and he clutches it, wide-eyed.

"You don't seem like the sort of person to be working in a pet shelter," the woman says. "I'm Marjorie, by the way."

"Anita. This is Theo. And I don't. I work in an animal rescue centre. Adam had Theo couriered to us by mistake, so I took him home." She strokes Theo's hair. "I couldn't just leave him there."

"Quite right. Well, if you ever need any help, I'll give you my business card. I'm a lawyer."

"You think I'll need one?" asks Anita, alarmed. Marjorie hums, taking a bend rather dangerously.

"Depends if Adam regrets selling Theo. And I know that look in your eye. You want 785 too, don't you?"

"Yes," admits Anita, "although to keep her safe, and reunite her with Theo, not to use her."

"Glad to see I did the right thing in offering my future assistance."

"Thanks."

"I'd suggest you let Theo settle in a bit first though. You never know, Eleanor might get bored of 785 and then you can buy her easily."

"I don't have that kind of money."

"Not yet you don't." Marjorie changes the subject before Anita can ask any questions. "Now, do you have someone to stay with you tonight? You look a bit off."

"Yes, I live with my paati." She still feels off, honestly. "Would you like to come up for a drink?"

"Thank you for the offer, dear, but my children and animals will be expecting me. Though sometimes I think the terms are synonymous." She chuckles to herself as she pulls the car into park with a screech and hands Anita a small piece of white card. "My details, in case you need them. Now look after yourselves."

"And you." Anita exits the car, Theo's hand still in hers, and swings her rucksack over one shoulder. Together they enter the block of flats, Anita already dreading what her paati's going to say to her bringing home a pet.

The YouTube channel in question:

[marshmallowprotection]

Replaying Jaehee's route really got me thinking about her becoming close friends with Saeran after his AE. Like, yeah there's the whole thing with them both being interested in cooking, desserts, ect but the thing that really caught my attention was the discussion about freedom and what it means to search for your own happiness in life. I can't help but think about how Saeran would relate to her struggle with finding enough courage to pursue what she really wants in life on a deeply personal level. Sure, it's quite different from his own situation, but their journey is oddly similar! She feels like the world will judge her if she decides to do what she wants in life, and even though she WANTS to escape, that means taking the risk of possible failure head on. And... it's scary. After all, there's nothing special about her, she shouldn't get all high and mighty and just do whatever she wants, right? That'd be selfish and arrogant... She should just be grateful for what she already has.

I can't help but remember Saeran's own conflict in that regard. Now I just want to imagine her and Saeran growing close with him helping her find her confidence to start up on her own path without any doubt in her heart. Better yet, what if they open up a cafe together? Or a cafe with a flower shop inside as a bonus :)

Here's some examples btw:

I have to agree. Saeran personally has nothing against the RFA members once he's free from Mint Eye, but it's obvious that he always respected Jumin Han and Jaehee Kang. He knew they happened to be smart people who could snuff out lies without trouble. As far as knowing them closely, he didn't until he came directly into contact at C&R after you flee Mint Eye.

He finds it's simple to work with them and they unite well in hopes of a common goal. Building bonds with them is hard, though. He feels a bit anxious about the past even if it's beyond him, looking at the RFA is like looking at a screen he never thought he'd find. They treat him in a way he never expected. He gets respect and compassion despite everything. Jaehee and Jumin were the first to greet him face to face and he knows he doesn't need to feel paranoid.

Those two understand how to be straightforward and that language helps him a lot. He struggles with Zen and Yoosung because they're a lot more casual and lax compared to him, but he's working on that. In this case, we know that Jaehee is the one closest to him in the office since they work together non-stop when Jumin isn't around and she's been left to her device.

Now, Saeran already knows a bit about her, but he doesn't know it all. He can probably piece it together with the way she talks about things in her life. She often pushes aside compliments and insists that she's capable of better. It won't take all that long for him to realize that she was treated a lot like him.

They were constantly trying to please somebody that would never be happy with their potential.

It's hard to be reaching for something like that when you're a child. You think that if you keep pushing yourself harder and harder then you will be acknowledged. But, it’s never the case. These kinds of thoughts and feelings manifest themselves in your personality more than you realize until you start to do some self-reflection and healing later in life. This is true for Jaehee's route and Saeran's. They need a kick to see it.

I feel like they could have a really good heart-to-heart on this subject. I don't know how it would come up and I don't know how it would play out but what I do know about it is that Saeran would finally be in a position where he’s giving the advice his MC gave him to another person in need. He took to heart the warm words he once received when it was easy to beat himself up instead of doing anything else to help himself. He can take that lesson that he learned and that he's still learning and give it to somebody else who needs to hear it. 

It's kind of funny to think about it. Ray once commented that Jaehee was just a fussy secretary that was too noisy for her own good, but at this point, he can see that Jaehee is more than that. She's a kind and compassionate person who hasn't quite found the thing in life that's made just for her. She's going through the motions just like Ray did in the past. GE Saeran can see that now in hindsight.

Personally, I love the thought of Jaehee and Saeran working together! I think they’d be such a power duo. She makes the drinks and he bakes the cakes. They would be unstoppable if you put them into the same job because the two of their heads are better together than as one.

I genuinely think what they could learn from each other is that it's okay to stumble and fall when you're trying to figure out the best way to be happy. That's a lesson that you can keep learning over and over again throughout life. You don't learn at once; Sometimes you have to learn it a few times before it sticks.

You can clearly see in Saeran’s AE that Jaehee admires him. All of the members of the RFA admire him for their own personal reasons but this is a good take on what she feels about him. It's obvious that a part of her wishes that she had the strength and confidence to believe in herself like that. She's not yet to that point but we know that someday she'll be able to get there. She just has to find some people that believe in her so that she can realize that she's had the ability to believe in herself all along.

[fumiko-matsubara]

Korosuu English Translation - Chapter 6: Sniper Time

Previous Chapter: Shopping District Time

Note: Although this was directly translated from Japanese -> English, I didn't write it word for word, and instead went with variants that flow better in the English language for a much easier reading experience. Raw scans were provided by the amazing @blazardragon, so a big thank you to them!

Along with Chapter 5, I actually finished translating this last year's summer. The initial plan was to wait for Nao to finish translating Chapters 3 and 4 before I post mine.

This is the chapter that birthed the joke that is Evil Enabler Chiba because... he is such a MENACE here, oh lord. Right up there with Karma provoking Grip at the hotel raid arc 😭

"Well sorry for the warning…"

After muttering that under his breath, Chiba leaned out of the window sill and looked around to see that there was a brand new round hole in the window frame.

"So, what should we do then? Should we still proceed with what you said earlier?" Hayami asked.

Chiba kept silent for a while and shook his head.

"Thinking from the trajectory, I'm going to need you to stay close. No matter how good I am, I wouldn't be able to shake it off if I were to make a mistake even by a few centimeters in a place like this… But even so, I would like to be able to give back the same "warning" to that man, at least."

Hayami swore she could almost see a quiet flame being lit through Chiba's bangs. It was an expression she had rarely seen from him.

[Illustration]  A hole was made as a result of sniping work by the Legendary Sniper. A mechanical pencil was inserted into the window frame hole to measure the angle at which the bullet flew.

"If you follow the trajectory with this-"

While saying that, Chiba took pictures of the mechanical pencil from directly above and the sides using a smartphone camera with a grid display on the screen. Then, taking an angle from the photo, he drew a straight line onto the prepared drawing.

Chiba's hand then stopped.

"What happened?"

Hayami immediately understood the reason for the sudden pause. Following Chiba's line of sight, what she saw was a pillar supporting the roof of the arcade. The problem was that the pillar was circular.

"Shit, that's right… We wouldn't know where the shot came from." Chiba realized.

The method that Chiba and Hayami came up with cannot be used if the ricochet location was slanted or curved.

"But you do know where the pillars would hit, right? And what about the vertical rays? Is that no good?"

Chiba pulled the elevation drawing map closer and quickly placed a ruler on it. 

"Nah... It looks fine. We can follow it."

Fortunately, there were no curved objects like sloping walls or cylinders there.

"I wonder if we bounce the bullet from the ground or shoot it from the ground. There's no doubt that it'll hit the left side of the pillar… but that also means knowing that the bullet came from the left."

Chiba looked at Hayami while still following the drawn line with his finger.

"But if you bounce from somewhere else before that, then you wouldn't know where your opponent is anymore."

Hayami turned to the window sill. "The bullet that was shot into the window frame was quite powerful, wasn't it?"

Chiba followed along Hayami's line of sight. It was an old piece of wood, but as long as the rounded bullet had penetrated through it, it should be powerful enough to hit a human.

"That's right."

"If so, then I don't think you would need the bullet to bounce so many times. If you just wanted to give a little scare, I think all you need was to be pretty accurate about it."

Chiba reviewed the illustration.

"I see."

"And the bullets would pass through the feet of people walking around the shopping district. But is there any reason to go through such length if it's just to give back a warning?" 

Chiba crossed his arms and pondered deeply.

It was exactly what Hayami said. There should be no reason to risk aiming at the feet of pedestrians who do not know where they are going. Regardless of aiming for the ultimate goal that is Koro-sensei, if an accident were to happen here, then everything they had prepared for would be ruined.

He has a reason to take such a risk, however. But he would rather avoid going through that length at all costs.

Hayami pressed a fingertip against a point on the drawing.

"This. Isn't it suspicious?"

Hayami was pointing at a box stationed just to the left of the building where the two of them are. It's the tonkotsu ramen stall that smells awful.

In the beginning, it was a prominent awful scent that made them want to pinch their noses. But as they checked the shopping district and began looking around, the two were so engrossed in what they were doing that they had forgotten about its existence.

"Well, imagine if you shoot from here."

"Huh?"

Now that he thought about it, there was something suspicious he noticed. A tall car model was used for the stall. But for some reason, it was fully wide open, and the old man inside was sitting cross-legged while preparing ramen, though a bit clumsily, and Chiba remembered that the man was in a sour mood the entire time they had been watching.

But earlier, it wasn't particularly on Chiba's mind.

"The food stall could also be helpful for us to move freely. Since the scent of tonkotsu ramen can cover us from Koro-sensei's strong sense of smell if it's a concern."

Chiba glanced at the ramen stall from the window.

"...No doubt about it. Except that car would be moving before you know it. So you wouldn't be able to see anything inside."

"That's true…"

Chiba clicked his tongue. "There's nothing we can do about this. Damn it, is there no better way to deal with that man?"

At that moment, the smartphone on the table began vibrating again. Chiba frowned a little and picked it up and thankfully, it wasn't an unknown number this time.

"Okajima?!"

"Yeah, I got a call from an unknown number earlier telling me that the sniper was working. So, I thought I'd try to assassinate Koro-sensei first because I'm a sniper too, you know?"

"Where are you right now? At a dining place?"

As soon as Chiba looked out by the window, he could see a shadow waving at him from his peripheral vision.

"Wait, is Takebayashi with you? I'm gonna need some help."

When Chiba shortly explained the situation, Okajima briefly laughed from the other line. "So in short, you wanna know what's going on with that stinky ramen shop over there?"

"Yeah, if that's alright with you. Also, if the distance is good enough, can the two of you guys show me the old man at the ramen stall through a video call?"

"I see, so you're going to triangulate."

At the same time Takebayashi's voice piped up from the other line, the phone screen was split into two, and the ramen stall was projected on them at different angles.

"Would this be fine?"

Chiba went to grab the rangefinder, answering yes. He measured the positions of where the two guys were and the position of the man making ramen using what was projected on the smartphone. Then he pulled the table with the illustration towards the window so he could determine the angle of where the two points would meet.

"Hayami, can you shoot as instructed?"

Hayami, who was already heading for the rifle, gave him a thumbs up in response.

"Horizontally: 12 degrees 22 minutes and 52 seconds. Vertically: 24 degrees 7 minutes and 21 seconds."

The moment when Chiba just finished talking was when the sound of firing echoed. Beyond the screen of the smartphone he's holding, Chiba saw a BB bullet graze a figure.

"Horizontally, you're about 30 centimeters off to the right. But vertically, it's fine. Do it again."

The instruction he gave was more of an estimation based on what he saw through the screen, but Chiba was convinced that Hayami had an accurate grasp of it. 

Another sound of the gun firing.

"This time, about 10 centimeters to the left. The rest is fine."

Though the screen of the smartphone was a bit delayed by the firing sound, Chiba saw the BB pellet bouncing on an old man's shoulder.

The said old man, who was trying to calmly present a ramen to a customer, suddenly dropped the bowl in surprise.

From outside the window, the duo heard a small yet heavy noise… then immediately followed by screams and yelling. One of which they cannot make out what the word is as it was certainly not Japanese.

They saw a figure who appeared by flipping up the floorboard and was caught by the old shop owner who looked like a mess.

"Is it a hit?" Hayami looked back at Chiba with a relieved face and he smiled at her. Then she turned back to the rifle again, and after a short while, pulled the trigger.

BANG.

Beyond the screen, the foreigner-like man's face, perhaps the Legendary Sniper himself, was stuck in a surprised expression. The BB bullet that was shot by Hayami is firmly digging into his forehead. Chiba raised a small right hand. Then Hayami matched the lifted hand with her own.

Then, when he turned to look back at his smartphone, the sniper was stunned and wasn't even looking at the screen. He wouldn't have thought that he would be shot this way.

Chiba turned back to Hayami in delight. "Hey! There's no target we can't hit, right?"

Hayami laughed with a pleasant expression.

Okajima's voice suddenly echoed from Chiba's smartphone.

"I'm happy for you guys and all, but sorry. Koro-sensei's heading over there."

Tension returns to their facial expressions. Chiba, who was attached to the scope of the rangefinder, found Koro-sensei, who had just left the product exhibition, and was about to return through the arcade.

Chiba had set a target shortly before Koro-sensei arrived and determined the angle of the incidence from the drawing. Then he raises his face to give Hayami instructions.

"It's your turn this time." She interrupted, however.

Hayami's hands lightly touch his shoulders. Chiba, who changed places as prompted by Hayami, shut his mouth tightly and sat down in front of his rifle.

This time, I would have to finish it in one shot. The second Koro-sensei notices me, I know I wouldn't be able to hit him anymore.

Chiba could hear his own heartbeat from the back of his ears. This was not just a sniping assignment. It was a situation he created by working with Okajima, Takebayashi and others, and Hayami.

As he held still, he felt that the ambient noise disappeared.

He could hear Hayami's breathing, which helped him measure the time. As she unconsciously breathed in, Chiba felt like he could truly see what he was seeing through the scope.

He could see Hayami's right hand going up high. 2 meters left… 1 meter. It was as if Hayami was speaking out.

The arm swung down exactly the same time Chiba pulled the trigger. It was a feat that could have had absolutely impossible timing if he had instead reacted visually.

BANG.

The BB bullet released from the rifle reacted exactly as Chiba expected it to be and attacked Koro-sensei diagonally above from his left.

It was at that moment.

Hayami, who was looking through the scope of the rangefinder, suddenly withdrew. "Eh?"

"...He saw it."

Startled, Chiba instinctively leaned out the window and looked down at the street.

=0=0=

"Aww too bad."

Among the crowds in the shopping district, Chiba and Hayami stood in front of the usually smiling Koro-sensei.

The confidently deadly bullet was evaded by Koro-sensei, who withdrew his neck right on the verge of being hit.

"Sensei noticed that you were planning something."

Apparently, looking at Chiba's expression who was inspired by Okajima's failed mirror technique, Koro-sensei immediately knew that he would be aiming for a ricochet.

"It's a great pleasure to see my students voluntarily attempt to assassinate, let alone, look up, and come up with their own methods from what little information available they could gather." When Koro-sensei noticed the Legendary Sniper's gaze, the man stiffened then immediately jumped into the driver's seat and sped from the shopping district.

"Maybe I don't have to tell you this, though. You can only realize the growth of your students when you're a teacher."

After a deep emotional smile, Koro-sensei turned to the two again.

"This was your homework. Complete this sniper technique. While there wasn't a deadline, you weren't given any hints instead. This was something that you all would have to work on your own. And this isn't just only useful for assassination. What you get in the process of this homework will probably broaden your knowledge and ideas far more than you can imagine."

Then, with a smile on his face again, Koro-sensei lifted the manju he grabbed with the tip of his tentacles.

"Nurufufufufu~ Today is a really happy day. This way, you can feel the growth of your own students and taste the manju that you have been longing for. I thought I could relax today in the staff room while enjoying green tea, but it would be a waste if I couldn't enjoy it at such a wonderful moment."

Chiba felt uncomfortable at the sight of the light-coloured steamed bun. It looked like something round was digging into its surface. By the time he realized that it was the BB bullet he had shot earlier, Koro-sensei had already chomped down the steamed bun.

Koro-sensei's high-pitched screams echoed throughout the narrow shopping district.

The class of year 3-E is an Assassination Classroom.

Tomorrow, the morning bell will ring once again.

Notes:

My boy is a fear-inducing risk-taking menace and he ENABLED Hayami to do his bidding (aka get revenge on the legendary sniper) only because he didn't like to be called a hindrance. If that doesn't scream petty then I don't know what to tell y'all... 😭

I love how we got a great callback to chapter 4 where Chiba and Hayami talked about combining their contrasting efforts to make things possible. Because we first have Hayami with her great timing being meticulously instructed by Chiba so she could aim accurately. And then our ever so accurate Chiba, whose overthinking tend to distract him but Hayami was there to keep him grounded and get his timing on point.

Also, this kinda proves that Koro's unpredictably was what caused Class E to ulttimately fail their Island assassination attempt, not the snipers' own mild mishaps. With the support of Hayami's timing, Chiba's perfect shot should've done him in. But it didn't so... Blocking the bullet with the snack he's holding, it's exactly what happened to Red Eye's attempt on him during the Kyoto trip 😭

And the remaining bits of official content we have left has now come to an end! I hope you all have a good read because... we won't be getting any new official content any time soon, I fear 😭