#like something with a small connection to the main story but u get to be who u want

[strwberri-milk]

Hellooo 🎀 I love love love reading ur works they bring me so much joy 💕 I was wondering if u could do the boy’s reaction to an mc whom loves to collect trinkets that remind her of them? I read your rules and didn’t see anything against this, but if it is I’m so sorry <3 (sorry for the terrible language, English isn’t my main language!)

thank you for reading the rules!! and this is so me

Zayne doesn't expect you to dump out a small bag of your things on the bed when you come home from your trip. He knew that you said you were picking up souvenirs but this amount of them surprises him a little.

When you tell him that these are all the things that you picked up he gets confused. Sure he'd asked if you could grab a thing or two while on your trip if you saw them but he wasn't asking for anything like what you ended up showing him. You laugh it off, telling him that you'd already put away the stuff he asked for.

When you finally tell him that this was all stuff you bought for him he's incredibly flattered. He doesn't show it blatantly on his face but you can tell he likes the things you picked out with the way he handles them so delicately. He finds space for them in his office - both at work and at home - as a reminder of your love for him.

Xavier didn't realise how many things you'd collected for him until he runs out of room to put down the newest trinket you got him. He stares at them all, asking you why you keep bringing him things.

You end up shyly admitting that every time you see something that reminds you of him you can't help but pick it up to add to his collection. They all have some sort of theme and he has to admit that you've always grabbed things that he ends up liking.

He tries to do the same for you but sometimes it doesn't quite work out the way he intended. Sometimes you have no idea why he's giving you what he is but he justifies it by saying he thought of you, then saw it so it works. You don't mind though - you know he's genuinely trying.

Rafayel does the same thing! The two of you have your own little cabinet displays of trinkets the two of you pick up for each other. Each thing has their own story and much to Rafayel's credit, he does somehow manage to remember all of them without too much issue.

Unbeknownst to you though he does actually remember everything he keeps a physical record. He's got a notebook (one of many) dedicated to you where he draws the trinket in question and writes a note with where and how he found it, as well as why it reminds him of you.

He treats everything you give him as though it's the most precious thing known to man because to him, it really is. Everything you give him is something he loves because it made you think of him. He wants to occupy your every thought and having these physical tokens soothes his soul.

Sylus returns your trinkets with three more that he finds for you. It's almost like a competition - one you'll sorely lose because he's got way more connections than you do. Regardless, he'll still take everything you give him happily and without hesitation, thanking you for thinking of him.

You just happen to occupy a lot of his mind so it's also very easy for him to find trinkets for you. Now you two just end up doing show and tell with the objects you find for each other. He tends to shower you in gifts though so this is definitely right up his alley, even if it's not done quite in the same manner.

[lomlkenji]

༊*·˚ dumb and dumb-er |reggie peters

summary : alex having enough of you and reggie's obliviousness and did something about it.

warning : fluff, soft reggie, really poor written confession <3

word count : 0.9k

author's note : reggie is babieee and i'm so obbsessed with him so here u go!! ily <3

── ⋆⋅☆ main masterlist

You and Reggie were always the powerful duo. You guys did everything together, and in that time you have grown feelings for the boy.

You did everything in your power to ignore it, but it just never works. Everytime he laughs or makes physical contact with you, you can help but just melt.

Unbeknownst to you, Reggie feels the same way. He loves hearing you laugh, especially if he was the reason. But he always thought you guys would just stay friends and nothing more.

Right now, we're now on the couch, ranting to Alex about your little crush. Scratch that HUGE crush.

"-and I don't know Alex, should I tell him?" you asked the blond, you were laying down on your back, your hands resting on your stomach.

Reggie and Luke are out exploring, while you and Alex are having a little heart to heart session.

Alex rolled his eyes for the hundredth time this week. Reggie came to him earlier yesterday and also ranted about you to him when you were with Julie.

Alex sighed, "I think you both are the definition of dumb and dumb-er." he said.

"I mean we do a lot of stupid stuff together." you laughed, as memories flashed across your mind.

But of course Alex didn't mean it like that, he meant that you both are idiots who have feelings for each other and choose to ignore it by thinking the other one didn't feel the same way.

"Yes you will tell him. Right now." Alex stated, determination in his voice. He stood up getting ready to poof and find Reggie.

"What? Are you crazy?" you stood up too but it was too late, he was already gone.

"Damn." you mumbled under your breath.

You started to pace around the room and began practicing your little confession. "Okay uh hi Reggie. Um I- well you see, it's actually a funny story- I actually uh you know- UGH." you groaned in frustration when you can't think of anything to say to him.

"Why is it so hard for me to tell my best friend that i'm basically in love with him." you stated sarcastically as you hid your face in your hands.

"You what?" a soft voice asked.

You froze. Shit.

You look up and see Reggie, Luke and Alex standing together. Reggie was standing in the middle, his face full of confusion.

"Oh my god, hey guys!" you greeted them, trying to hid your nervousness. You felt like you wanted the ground to swallow you then and there.

"We're gonna leave you two to talk." Luke said as he patted Reggie's back and poofed away with Alex, probably outside the garage eavesdropping into this conversation.

You gave Reggie a small smile which made his heart skip a beat, but his eyes are still widened and no sentence coming out of him.

"So-" you started, avoiding eye contact.

"Did you mean it?" Reggie cut you off and started moving closer to you.

You took a deep breath and sighed heavily, looking up to him "Yeah. Yeah I mean it, i'm in love with you Reggie Peters." you confessed.

A huge weight was lift from your shoulders but a whole new one came, scaring you at how he's going to react.

He took your hands in his and gave it a soft kiss. "I think I'm in love with you too, well actually I'm pretty positive." he admitted bashfully, chuckling.

It was now your turn to have your eyes wide open. "What?"

"Surprise?" he wanted to sound optimistic but it came out in a questioning tone.

Your eyes cast down at your shoes and laughed. When you look up at him, you see him staring at you with the biggest heart eyes that made your heart leap.

"So can I kiss you now?" he asked softly. Reggie is screaming in his head at how nervous he sounded.

You nodded and managed saying "Yeah." with a small voice.

He grins and cup your cheek to pull you in. Resting his hand on your jaw and when your lips connected you instantly melted. This may be cliché, but sparks flew. He sighed in relief, finally feeling your lips against his.

"OW!" the sound of Alex's voice broke you both apart.

You guys look at the garage door then back to each other thinking of the same thing.

Reggie grabbed your hand and poofed you out in front of the garage door. When you arrived, his hand didn't move to let go of yours and it brought a huge smile to your face.

You look to see Alex on the floor, with his hand propped up his head. Luke was leaning against the door trying to act cool. And someone you didn't expect; Julie was sitting down pretending to meditate.

They all looked at you guys, a sheepish smile made its way to their face as they started to act oblivious.

"Oh hey guys!"

"Didn't see you there!"

"When did you guys get here?"

You rolled your eyes not believing them for a second. "You were there the whole time weren't you?" you said, raising your eyebrows.

"Yeah." they said simultaneously in shame.

You laughed as Reggie wrapped his arm around your waist turning you to him "Good, now I can do this." he said before smashing your lips together again. The effects were still the same as before. it felt like you were in cloud 9.

Reggie too felt like he was in heaven, having the girl of his dreams finally in his arms.

You pull back and look back at Luke, Julie and Alex to see them all hung open. But also a small smile lingering on their lips, happy that their friends are finally being together.

You felt heat rush towards your neck and ears as you laughed and pecked Reggie's cheek. "I guess we are dumb and dumb-er."

reblog for a kiss! 💋

[lamentingintheuniverse]

Obey Me Nightbringer Lesson 9 Spoilers! Rambling about this one thing about the new character and their connection to MC

Aight so I just finished all of the available lessons in Nightbringer and I just wanted to point something out. Not very in-depth or eloquent, nor do I have much to say, really, but I just thought this was worth noting.

So we get the game's namedrop in Lesson 9 (putting aside that one scene where Solomon says Obey Me!) when Adam tells us about the demon "Nightbringer".

Now, since we can assume that "Nightbringer" is just an alias, we have reason to think that there's a reason for it other than "Whee hee hee I'm shrouded in darkness, so call me 'Nightbringer'." We can also be confident that "Nightbringer" is the person who dragged MC back to the past. Adam was pretty adamant about MC being the person "Nightbringer" was talking about.

"Nightbringer" knows a lot about MC. Seeing that other than the main cast + Michael and Raphael(?), nobody should really know that MC is in possession of the Ring of Light.

Now, in Nightbringer, MC still has some power over the past version of the brothers. They're still capable of commanding them to stop in one of the earlier lessons despite not having a pact with them. We also see them manage to cast small-ish, simple spells every once in a while. In Lesson 9, however, we see MC bring out Lucifer's Ring of Light for the first time in NB to draw power from the demon brothers who were with them in the Mausoleum to open a portal to the Celestial Realm for Adam to ascend.

(not them brushing it off😭)

Apparently, "Nightbringer" could know more about MC and what they could be capable of.

From what I can remember, we haven't really seen MC wield the power of angels. We know that MC can wield the power of demons they have pacts with, but the power of angels? This is me going with the understanding that "wield" means "to use" in the sense that MC is harnessing the power of angels like with demon pact-mates, and not, like, cast angel magic themself. But then again, I am unable to think of instances where MC casts angel magic specifically (if angel-specific magic is canonically a thing).

What I find especially interesting about this is the timing of the introduction of "Nightbringer" and the use of the Ring of Light. Earlier this year, Obey Me! partnered with U-Treasure and made merch of Lucifer's Ring of Light. It's never mentioned in the games (I could be wrong and forgetting if they actually do mention it), but one special feature of the ring merch was the engraved message on the inside of the ring.

"Blessed be the bringer of light."

It was Lucifer's ring as an angel with the meaning of his name and all, but this also applies to MC. They brought light to the lives of the seven brothers in the first game, and they're doing it again in Nightbringer. Freshly yeeted out of the Celestial Realm, facing discrimination, haunted by regrets, etc etc, the brothers are in one of the darkest moments of their life. MC is just doing their thing of being the sunshine who brightens things up and stuff. They're basically the Lightbringer.

I just thought that it was interesting for the story to remind us of the fact that MC is the bearer of the Ring of Light the moment they introduce us to "Nightbringer" who obviously has a plans for MC.

What's this plan? Idk. Destroy the Celestial Realm using MC's powers, maybe. I don't really think "Nightbringer" was only interested in MC's capability to open the gates of the Celestial Realm just so this random human wandering the Devildom could reunite with his long lost love. Plus, I find it pretty weird for "Nightbringer" to mention that the person bearing the ring could wield the power of angels. If we're talking about being able to control angels like one would be able to control demons you have pacts with, MC is basically God. We've seen before in the first game just how much of a big deal it is for MC to be able to use their pacts to command seven of the Devildom's strongest demons without breaking a sweat. Solomon even says that it takes a lot out of him when he uses his pacts. If "Nightbringer" plans to take over or destroy the Celestial Realm, MC is the perfect instrument for him to use.

So, who could "Nightbringer" possibly be? Well this is just a guess because I wrote OM! fanfic and needed like, a music demon character and this one dude named Beleth popped up and apparently he's the music demon (according to The Lesser Key of Solomon, as cited in Wikipedia) and Adam mentioned hearing music before he came face to face with the demon who introduced himself as "Nightbringer" so idk lmao

[talon-dragonbeast]

do u have any tips on staying more connected to your theriotypes/kintypes in your day to day life and not online? and not just to do with purchases?

i sure do!

my main tip is to express yourself in some way! drawing pictures of yourself, writing short stories with your 'type as the main character, crafting your 'type with origami, making plushies, writing essays... i found art is really helpful in terms of species euphoria. for example, i crafted a grass block with just cardboard and some paint i had laying around, and i love to hold it when im in an enderman shift!

journal! i know its been said again and again, but it really does help. i sometimes like to vent about my more intense nonhuman feelings in a journal app i have on my phone, and it feels great to be able to put those feelings someplace where they cant bother me as much. if you prefer to keep it light-headed, you can make lists! write down instincts, memories, places youd like to visit, or anything that comes to mind!

make sure to get in touch with nature from time to time. something as small as a walk to your local park can do wonders for your mental help!

if youre a therian, interacting with animals is sooo good for nonhuman brain. go to a dog park or beach, practice birdwatching, visit a zoo, go to a pet shelter, visit your local cat colony (if you have one)... even if you dont get to see your theriotype in real life, taking a break from humanity to connect with your animality is always great.

experiment with clothing, accessories, perfumes, or jewellery! paint your nails, dye your hair, sew patches on your jackets... just alter your appearance in any way you like, even if its small. something as simple as putting on my black leather jacket makes me feel a bit more connected to my enderman side, for example.

lastly, remember to indulge in your instincts/urges from time to time. nesting, hoarding, vocalising, scenting, etc are all things i do even if im not feeling particularly dragon that day. forget cringe, have a bit of fun with your identity every now and then. i feel like thats the most important thing with identity.

[amethystina]

For the wipe tag game:

May I inquire about :

The devil's due ( I have been hooked since the first chapter that u posted. It's such an interesting idea with so many possibilities)

The gentle light ( will we get more of yohan's poverty?)

Thank u, and have a nice day 🩵

Thank you so much for the ask!

The Devil's Due

Oh man, this one. I am hooked on this one too, but I keep holding it off because I know it'll be pretty long and it's also going to be pretty, uh, sexually charged? And that intimidates me x'D

But yeah, I LOVE the idea and the possibilities it offers. It's a story that would focus on Ga On and Yo Han's relationship without the power imbalance of them being chief and subordinate. That's to say that Ga On is going to be even feistier than in canon, if you can believe that. And he's going to be more aware of his sexuality and what he actually wants — or who, I guess I should say.

The main plot would really just be Ga On getting to know Yo Han — and Elijah — during different circumstances. And the biggest conflict will be the fire and whether or not Yo Han caused it, plus Yo Han trying to open Ga On's eyes to the corruption in their country. The main portion of the fic would be set a couple of years after the first chapter, and a couple of years before the start of the drama. So they're all a little less jaded and, since the situation is so different — Ga On isn't sent to spy on him, for one — Yo Han won't be as defensive. But he's obviously also going to be, well, Yo Han. He's working as a normal judge, trying not to draw too much attention to himself — biding his time for his revenge, and all that — but he would definitely not mind having some fun with the bright-eyed, reformed delinquent he saved from a life as a criminal.

As a treat.

As with many of my WIPs at the moment, this fic is mostly just a collection of lines of dialogue from various scenes, with no connecting text around them. So there are no complete snippets I can show, but I can say that the first time they do something sexual together it's because Ga On has finally had it with Yo Han's teasing and flirting and just marches into his office — at Yo Han's work, yes — and goes:

Ga On: "Fine. Let's fuck."

Yo Han, after a small pause: "Right now?"

Ga On, very scathingly: "Do you want me to schedule an appointment?"

Yo Han: "You're an absolute delight when you're angry."

There are reasons why Ga On is being so blunt, I want to point out, because he wouldn't usually be. Again: Yo Han and his manipulation tactics.

... and yes, they do have sex right then and there, in Yo Han's office. Which is one of the reasons why I'm afraid to write this. I'm way out of my depth here x'D

But I will continue eventually! I like the story way too much to give up on it :)

The Gentle Light

As for this one, I was kind of shocked to realise that I have a lot more written on chapter 2 than I initially thought. It takes place right after the first chapter, so basically Yo Han's side of the very loaded conversation that takes place during chapter 7. I've just been adding bits and pieces here and there when I've felt like it and now I have almost 4 000 words. Imagine that.

Here's a snippet!

---

Yo Han slowly walked up the steps leading to Kim Ga On's apartment, his hand sliding along the railing. The metal was cold against the mess of scar tissue on his palm, sending a chill up his arm. Yo Han paid that no mind, focusing instead on taking in his surroundings. While he'd known Ga On's address ever since K did the first background check, Yo Han had never actually been to visit before.

There had never been a reason for him to — until now.

As Yo Han finished climbing the first set of stairs, his gaze swept briefly over the terrace to his left, then flicked upward, toward the rooftop. There was apparently another terrace up there, but it was dark for the time being and therefore not of much interest to Yo Han.

Instead, he turned and looked out at the surrounding buildings. The neighborhood was as run-down as he'd expected, debris littering the streets and the majority of the buildings in desperate need of repairs — some even looked abandoned. Or perhaps the owners had simply given up, choosing to huddle inside the dark, decrepit shells of what used to be their homes, waiting for the end to come. That seemed common in these parts, where unemployment and hopelessness blanketed every house and street corner, sucking the life out of those few remaining.

Yo Han could tell it hadn't always been that way, though. There were glimpses of a once lively neighborhood hiding underneath the grime and despair, the descent probably having happened slowly over time as the economy kept getting worse and worse — money getting tighter and tighter. And, eventually, whether they wanted to or not, the people had no choice but to give in.

It made sense, Yo Han supposed, for Kim Ga On to have grown up in a place like this, where he'd had to watch what he once knew wither away and fall into disrepair in front of his very eyes.

That deeply rooted disdain for the rich must have come from somewhere, after all.

---

A lot of what I have so far is basically just Yo Han sauntering around in front of Ga On's apartment, observing things and drawing conclusions about Ga On. It's kind of adorable in it's own way xD But things obviously take a very dramatic turn once Ga On shows up, some of which I've shown before in snippets that you can find here.

I can't promise I'll ever post this, though, since I'd obviously have to finish it first and this is very far down on my list of priorities right now. But we'll see, I guess? If I keep chipping away at it one piece at a time, eventually it will be finished.

I hope you like it! And you have a nice day, too 💜

WIP Tag Game

[noodlehaku]

When I saw the new art of the bending!au I thought 'OMG they match!!( forehead decorations.)' But then I started thinking how it shows that Wangxian are the same yet not. Like the Lan headband and airbender tattoos are symbols of prestigious cultures yet the Lan headband is one of many and in Gusu, especially in the Cloud Recesses, signals that Lan Wangi is part of a group, a sect, a family, that he is not alone. But Wei Wuxian on the other hand, his tattoos mark him as an outlier both as an airbender among a water bending sect AND also an airbending MASTER at a young age.( I'm just spittballing that last headcanon since in canon WWX is a prodigy and in atla its shown that Aang was beginning to feel ostracized bc he was an airbending prodigy before he was frozen so my brain connected the two.)

Also for some reason seeing WWX with the airbending tattoos a thought popped into my head saying that Lan Qiren can't get that mad at WWX w/out coming across culturally insensitive in public since airbenders are known to be playful, silly tricksters and fun loving.

Either way I love ur new art piece and it's understandable if u don't want to put in the tattoos as a permanent design as small detailing for an overall bigger design can be a pain. ( I say this as someone who was part of the transformers fandom and saw many artists leave out the faction signs out of their 'bots and 'cons art pieces bc it was often at times a pain to draw something relatively small and detailed among a bigger detailed design. So it's understandable if u want to leave it out.)

I love these insights!! The main reason I haven’t added tattoos to his design so far is because in my mind he would’ve been taken in by the jiang water tribe at a fairly young age (about 7? Or 9?), like in MDZS canon. Which means he wouldn’t yet have earned his tattoos.

In my (mind you, very vague) world building, air benders would have been rare even before wwx was born; baoshan sanren would lead the last, elusive group of air nomads in a hidden location & cangse sanren would’ve left their community to roam the world (& meet water bender wei changze!). Wwx would’ve been raised and taught air bending by her before his parents’ untimely passing.

So I guess I’m trying to decide whether my story would include an arc where wwx meets boashan sanren & learns from her at some point, then earns his tattoos. I like the look of both anyhow so I’m trying not to overthink it!

[to-mourn-a-mourning-dove]

so i was playing ddlc the other night, and i started thinking about the differences between hatoful and ddlc, bc that's what everyone compares hatoful to. but really... it's hard to explain that they really are nothing like one another, unless you've played both (thus, spoiling the Big Twist in both). but NONETHELESS, here's my breakdown

hatoful's main goal is not to scare the player. sure, there are horror elements, but it doesn't function as a psychological horror in the same way that ddlc does

hatoful works almost like a rube goldberg machine, utilizing every small detail you learn in the first half of the game to maximum effect

both games start off as a stereotypical dating simulator. you are drawn in by complex story elements, whether that b silliness (okosan), or subvertion of expectation with dating sim tropes (sayori, yuuya, natsuki,, basically every character in both these games, actually), or something scary (shuu, arguably yuri?), or even just a deep and compelling story (nageki, sakuya, any of the girls). all of this sets u up for the second half of the game, where shit goes down (bbl, act 2)

but it's at that point where we learn in ddlc, the protagonist, the player, is the most important part of the story. the story relies on the player. in hatoful, the opposite is true. hiyoko was always doomed by the narrative.

hatoful's driving motifs are grief, guilt, human connection, and getting a littol silly with it. ddlc's driving motifs are about mental illness, masking, desire--and not getting what you want

comparing hatoful to ddlc works bc both games are dating sims that involve a lot of horror elements and a subversion of expectation. but beyond that, they're... VERY different. and i just really wanted to sit down and consider why.

[loveguts]

what are some wips you're having fun working on? (sorry i know this is random 😅)

hi hi no need to apologize at all i’m excited to get questions thank u for asking!!

right now i’m really excited to be working on a wip i’ve called “boything,” it’s a short story atm but if i end up really feeling it and writing a lot i might consider turning it into a novel? it’s sort of mutated from a short story i’ve been trying to write since 2021 but could never figure out what to do with it, i’ve tried rewriting it and workshopping it like 5 times now and i’ve posted about it a little bit in the past. the original had a few different titles but it was always vaguely victorian in setting and followed the main character, eden, through his shitty relationship with his tyrannical abusive father.

BUT recently i’ve decided to overhaul the story entirely and i’ve made it southern gothic, the bare bones concept with eden and his father is staying the same but the setting and the characterizations have changed a lot into something i feel a lot more excited to write about and overall just more connected to. the vibes of the rewrite are ofc a southern gothic setting + religious horror + cannibalism + even a worm will turn + kind of like if carrie was transmasculine but also obligatory i hate stephen king + subtle body horror

i’m really excited about it though and genuinely feel more connected to it than any personal writing projects i’ve written in a long time. and i mostly blame this on my depression and not being on meds that worked for me, but over the past ~3 years i’ve been involved in writeblr and posting my writing publicly on here, in the past it was just difficult for me to grasp the stories and characters and that’s why nothing i wrote ever really went anywhere. so 2024 and just being on new meds definitely feels like turning over a new leaf for me and im HOPING i actually get somewhere with boything, especially since i have a very clear vision for it. i might post a preview soon or maybe i’ll just wait until it’s finished to post it but it’s going well so far i think!!

but yeah other than boything i don’t really have any wips atm, just concepts i’ve been tossing around. there’s one i’m trying to work out that’s sort of an amalgamation of every major writing project i’ve tried to write since i was like 15. there’s absolutely no plot in mind right now and i’m kind of just frankenstein-ing various ideas i’ve had to see what i like and what ends up sticking, but the essentials right now are like..midwestern gothic (specifically a small town in indiana), focus on dysfunctional familial dynamics between the main character + his sister + their neglectful mother, the sister goes missing and a lot of weird shit starts unraveling surrounding her disappearance. idk what the weird shit is yet im gonna be real. but the other story idea i have isn’t fleshed out at all in the slightest i literally just have an aesthetic in mind for it and that’s it, but i’m thinking it’s something like small town suburban gothic maybe with a slasher or a string of murders or something?? i do have a post about these two ideas in my writing tag including a moodboard for the second idea so i’ll tag this post with the same tag so it’s easier to find.

ANYWAYS thank you again for asking i really appreciate it, i’ll go ahead and use this as the first post for my boything tag too :•)

[whump-captain]

- Day 18 -

Prompt: Ache

@whumpmasinjuly-archive

---

Ethan Trauma Episode again (◡‿◡) as a backstory bc i don't know if i've explained it well enough, this is post-canon, after Ethan's been rescued and is hiding from his former captors in Scotland. during the main story, he gets his hand chopped off but since he's possessed by an alien entity, his regeneration abilities grow it back - but Not Quite Right. lots of fun.

---

CN: past loss of limb, supernatural themes, mild possession, incorrect use of icepacks (don't put them on bare skin pls unless u also have regeneration powers), chronic pain

(a word on the last tag perhaps: do let me know if my portrayal of chronic pain is in any way inaccurate or damaging. i based it on my own experiences but they're fairly new to me so im still learning.)

---

It got worse when summer came. Though Glasgow was closer in weather to Alaska than to Seattle, the heat built inside the insulated university halls and Ethan often found himself dizzy with it. Air-conditioning helped, but barely - he still got tired quickly and his head hurt if he spent too long indoors. But the worst was the pain in his wrist.

It began in the morning as a stiffness in the joint and by the afternoon lecture it had grown into a constant, searing pain, like hot wire wrapped tightly to dig into his skin. Right on the seam, where human flesh met alien, living gold.

He rubbed it unconsciously through his gloves and the soft friction brought a small relief. Even through the thin leather he could feel the difference in texture - the metal skin was harder and smoother, the bones underneath it ever so slightly misshapen. It connected with his forearm in an uneven ridge of strange, raised tissue, like a scar. The ache pushed up from under it, as if trying to burst it open again.

It didn't feel right. He wanted to call it phantom pain but how could he? The new hand obeyed him so well that he sometimes forgot what he’d lost. But then he'd take off his gloves and the memory would come crashing back down -  of his real hand, severed, greying as it wept the last of its blood onto a laboratory table. The ache would get worse then.

Once it had reached its peak, it settled. It didn't get stronger but neither did it fade. It was like a veil thrown over everything around him, heavy and smoke-grey. He had to strain his eyes to see through it, every thought took twice the effort to keep. 

Even though it had hurt for months, Ethan wasn’t used to it. He couldn’t ignore it. The ache kept eating away at him, demanding more and more of his strength, until he found himself swaying. He leaned against his desk, hands folded behind his back, and breathed deeply to at least finish his sentence. There was still more time in his lecture but he could tell he'd lost the room. Here and there, rustles betrayed students putting their things away; some had closed their notebooks. It wasn't surprising they had noticed Ethan faltering; they’d had months to realise that he had limits. But it still left a bitter taste in his mouth when he met their expectations and ended the lecture early. As he returned the nods and goodbyes, he kept his hands hidden and kept a trembling grip on his wrist.

The moment the door had closed, he sank into his chair and cradled his hand to his chest. The pain travelled to his fingertips, like a thousand burning needles fighting their way out from under his skin. He squeezed them tight, if only to feel something different. It did nothing to distract him.

It was so familiar. It tethered him through time to a different moment of pain - of a sudden, heavy shock; a glint of a bone cleaver. And again, to the sight of his hand severed. Again, the memory of molten gold spilling out with his blood and reshaping itself into a perfect copy, down to the fingernails. Again, some force crushing his throat, not even allowing him to scream.

He screwed his eyes shut and begged his mind to return to the present. In the silent lecture hall, his own breathing seemed deafening. He rubbed circles into his palm, trying to pretend it still felt like human flesh.

He couldn’t. But still, the solidity of it carried him back into his own body. The pain was just the dull, exhausting ache that he knew, almost like an overtaxed muscle. It was his present, something he dealt with every day.

From the side pocket of his bag, he retrieved an instant ice pack. When he squeezed it, the ice-cold relief was instant. Angling his body to avoid security cameras, he took off his left glove and placed the pack on the bare, golden skin. He let his head drop forward, exhaling slowly. The anxious buzz in his head faded and then stilled.

He forgot sometimes that he wasn’t the only one hurting.

Only half of this pain was his own. The rest belonged to the being that lived inside him - impossibly alien and yet just as fragile as he was. It hated the heat. It withered and shrunk in it like paper held over a flame. And because they shared a body, Ethan felt everything it did. 

He barely understood half of what it made him experience. But pain was simple. It reached across the vastness between them and connected them into this one, physical form - a healed scar joining flesh and metal.

So he closed the ice-pack between his hands; one gloved, and one alien. As the cold seeped into him, it dulled everything: the ache, the fear, the bitter memory of how things used to be. The past was nothing but a lesson. All he had was the present and the steps he could take towards whatever the future would be.

That thought seemed to echo. It gained a hallucinatory voice as the alien mind flinched and bucked against his human understanding of time. It almost felt like it was mocking him.

But then the voice dissipated into the cold and it took with it as much pain as it could.

[alientitty]

i don't have the wherewithal to get too into it rn but mmm while more people may have been optimistic in the early days of these apps and services I really don't quite agree. I think stuff like uber, doordash, airbnb was meant to disrupt their respective industries from the start. there's a reason all these companies made their own apps/website instead of pitching it to/compiling existing taxi or hotel/bnb service--and it's not only to corner the market, but specifically to get around market & labor regulations in place and take advantage of the fact that laws in these areas haven't caught up to the internet age. I'm not saying airbnb's founders specifically wanted to cause a wave of evictions in favor of piecing together vacationers (and desperate people) at a rates even higher than month-to-month, but it was always about turning even more homes from places people use for living into property from which to gain capital. so I guess I'm saying this consequence or something very similar was glaringly obvious from the start. and that's before we're even considering the insane state of the housing & real estate markets in recent decades, or how small capitalists (which is what airbnb hosts become) are bought out or defeated by larger capitalists who have the advantage in market competition. over time all industries trend toward monopoly under capitalism, and this happens even quicker in free markets that slip under the radar, which is where most of this crap out of silicon valley lies.

i guess the story is slightly different with uber in that the middleman is taking over both sides of the equation vs airbnb seems to me still more of a tool of exploitation rn than the main perpetrator, but still they're connected to me. u feel?

[moohnshinescorner]

THE BILLIONAIRE AND THE RUNAWAY

S.E. Rose Release Date: April 18

A wealthy college graduate who needs to escape her boring life. A small-town farmer who needs some help. And a job offer that will change everything. Ariana Titan hates her life. She has everything but doesn't want any of it. Her wealthy father controls every aspect of her days. Her apartment is starting to feel like a prison cell. She longs to run away to the countryside like in the movies she watches at night. When her father's girlfriend mentions a job posting for a social media marketing manager at a small town farm, she decides to apply…in person. She maybe fails to tell her father exactly where she's gone. Eric Windsor's farm needs a marketing makeover. He knows business but social media and online marketing are not his strong suits. He needs help and he needs it yesterday. When a young woman shows up at his property with a mile-long list of references and an impressive degree from a fancy university, he hires her on the spot. He soon figures out that his new employee is not only a fish out of water in his coastal town, but she also has the uncanny ability to bring a smile to his face, something that hasn't happened in a long time. Can Ariana stay afloat while grappling with her past amid a sea of marketing chaos, her overbearing father, and her new overprotective boss? While she fights to swim instead of sink, one burning question remains in her mind: will her mysterious farmer employer be part of her future?

Grab your copy! https://books2read.com/u/4jBp0Z

MY REVIEW

Oh my this was such an adorable and fun read. I mean come on, baby Thor is just soooo cute. I want to snuggle with the little kitty. Ok back to the review.

This story was a fun and entertaining read. Ari is an heiress whom has recently graduated university. She is trying to find her way in life and her controlling father is getting in the way. So she disappears to a small town to work as a social media marketing manager of a small farm.

From the very first time they meet Ari and Eric are drawn to each other. With secrets in their pasts they rather not share, they embark on a journey. Neither one of our main characters could have imagined the outcome.

This book was enjoyable and a perfect romantic comedy. The characters are complex, caring, kind and sweet. Ari is like a butterfly finding her wings and Eric is a lost soul coming out of the dark. Their love story is exciting and butterfly in belly inducing. The book centers on a farm so there are plenty of cute animals and their crazy antics.

Overall this book has it all. From romance to comedy, this book is sure to have something for everyone. It is a sweet and beautiful story full of heat and passion. If it wasn't for all the steamy fire inducing scenes, then this book would be Hallmark Movie worthy. This guaranteed happy ending is sure to pull at your heartstrings and like the Grinch grow with all the love.

I did not read the first two books in the series, but this book was a perfect stand-alone read. I did not feel as if I had to read them in order. It wasn't confusing or missing anything. It was pure perfection.

Meet SE Rose:

USA Today & International Bestselling romance author, S.E. Rose lives near Washington D.C. with her family. When she's not wrangling her cats or keeping up with her kids, she's plotting her next story. She loves all things wine, coffee, and cats. In her non-existent free time, she enjoys traveling, going to concerts, binging on her favorite shows, and reading, especially if it's a good mystery or comedy. 

Keep up with S.E. Rose and subscribe to her newsletter: https://bookhip.com/LSMKWL

To learn more about S.E. Rose & her books, visit here! Connect with S.E. Rose: https://linktr.ee/seroseauthor

[pridewishes]

yay rec time!! i could ramble abt these games forever but i’ll list some favs and give a general description!

mass effect: sci fi rpg set in the future where aliens and humans co exist. very good story, very good characters and romance, i suggest the remaster just cause better graphics and controls. there’s the og trilogy and a sorta spin off game set in the same universe after the events of the trilogy. not as good tho lol

dragon age: fantasy rpg by the same company who did mass effect. very similar to it, the first game is probably the best, but the second is rlly good too. not rlly a trilogy in terms of a linear story but they do all connect and are chronological so they do affect how each game is! (there’s a way u can transfer ur world state between games)

life is strange: recent video game series all abt player choices. main character (at least in the first and third games, the second it’s the main characters little brother) has superpowers but is also like a normal person in a small town so. very twin peaks. also so gay <3 first game is the best even tho it’s cringe at times. remaster is not that good tho they did my girls so dirty. second game isn’t as good but the third game rlly is a lot like the first which i love!!! set in the same universe too

these r just a few i rlly like, i also have a general list of games to try

oxenfree

spiritfarer

the wolf among us

firewatch

road 96

what remains of edith finch

ok this got super long i will stop here i’m sorry but i hope u like some of these games!!!

Thank you. I've personally never considered Mass Effect but I have a friend who enjoys it. Same with LiS, ik it's well enjoyed I'm unsure of how id feel but it's definitely a possibility. As for Dragon Age it's something I've wanted to get into but I get overwhelmed by very... large extensive games. It's one im most likely to try though. I actually own Oxenfree but haven't gotten around to playing. I've heard of the last one and wanted to watch a playrhough at some point. Spiritfarer isn't really my speed and I've never heard of Firewatch but I just looked it up and maybe I could check it out. I also vaguely know of Road 96 and should give it a look. I have played TWAU though and enjoy it. Tysm for the reccs

[neetest]

Neetest Books - Heathen by Dabeon

hey there maniacal nerds! reset reporting! and today i have finished reading heathen, written by daebon on ao3. i managed to find this fanfic while looking for more graphic and violent fics and this one piqued my interest thanks to its tags. its a jikook fic with 5k kudos and i think that if u wanna get started into dark fiction, this could help u get over more sensitive topics and themes while still staying light!

and now, lets get into details~

PLOT - Jimin is a 21 year old trainee who gets scrutinized on daily by his roomate, Taejoon, for being gay and having a compromising video of him having sex with a rapper. Then, two characters enter Jimin's life; Kim Taehyung, his new vocal teacher, a flirtatous bastard who wants Jimin to sign for his rather vulgar company, Serendipity. And Jeon Jungkook: a psychotic mysterious fresh 18 year old who finds himself captivated by Jimin. At the time the main events of the fanfic are happening, a mysterious killer nicknamed as The Busan Butcher has moved to Seoul. Does that has any connection to Jimin? Read to find out!

POTENTIAL TRIGGERS - abuse, bullying, homophobia, usage of the r slur at the VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY end of the fic, and mentions of pedophilia and sexual assaut. and ofc, a shit ton of violence, but the peak of violence its only at the very end. OH AND ALSO BLOOD KINK!!!!!

QUOTE FROM IT - "In a world like thus, there are no victories. Just a blurry line between ligh and dark and all the gray spaces in between are perfect for people like him to take solace in."

⭐️ Stars&Ratings! ⭐️

DETAILS - ★★★★☆ 8/10

STORY - ★★★★★ 10/10 - this fic will entertain u for DAYS, it may be boring on the start but soon enough, ure gonna be reading it 24/7

VIOLENCE - ★★★★☆ 9/10 - there is violence but its mostly small scenes, but in the end it gets REAL violent.

CHARACTERS - ★★★★★★ 100/10 - all characters are EXTREMELY interesting!!! HEAVY ON JUNGKOOK!!!! maybe im biased cuz i love psychotic characters but he's very interesting, and so is taehyung too!!

SADNESS - ★★★★★ 10/10 - DO NOT FINISH THIS IN CLASS I CRIED TWICE NOT KIDDING

DRAMA - ★★★★★ 10/10 - this could be a spanish telenova atp

AND OVERALL HEATHEN GETS...

★★★★★ STARS AND A 10/10 RATING!!!!

READING. THIS. WAS. A. RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!! everything was so fun and i always kept craving more and more of this fic!!!! the ending was so shocking and sad but dw, this is happy ending certified!!! if u want to read something slightly darker but still not all archive warnings apply dark, READ HEATHEN!!!!!

[otakusheep15]

hi im the same anon :)

honestly that hc u have is pretty solid and i even had a thought that he might be autistic. Did he had a life similar to silver where he was isolated from most people. Also its interesting how he comes from sunset savannah instead of the shaftlands despite him being based on the snow white story not the lion king. Do u think because of his origins he couldnt really fit in with most of the people ( and the most people being beastmen) but wasnt really accepted so he started copying or trying to find out how they get along the best. But at the same time, it makes sense for rook to be from there since the place is filled with beasts and he is based off a huntsman after all.

'his off-putting nature stems from a lack of social skills.' yep i agree as well honestly a lot of unsettling stuff he says or does wouldnt be so unsettling if he expressed them in a more appropriate way.

also someone told that they hc that rook is a noble which makes sense considering he is elegant enough to be a prince (if we change his haircut tho) and if he is a noble maybe like malleus he didnt grow up around the people he probably should at his age or no people. and because hes a noble nobody dares to approach him and he couldnt really reach out or connect to them. but at the same it doesnt because i dont think the huntsman would've been a noble. If he was, why was he sent to do the dirty job not his minions

also i have heard that many people consider huntsman as a false antagonist. as as he tried to kill snow white in the first place, but he actually did it out of fear of queen grimhilde aka the evil queen, who threatened to execute him if he would fail. so i think they went with that interpretation and gave rook light magic.

"an interesting character design to him, both in looks" i mean his looks is interesting...but should i be worried about your taste in men.

"at least a side story that delves more into his character." yes i hope so too uk like obey me they have a side after finishing the main story theres a part where u could go to the opposite storyline and find out about the bts. id like something like that and maybe that showcases him going through his development.

side note, im still a student who is mandated to take the subject english language even if i want to drop it. I citied them because thats the way we kinda do stuff when we have solve questions etc and thought hey wouldnt it be easier if the person understood it in more context and thus using the way to use the method ive learned in school.

I love the autistic Rook hc actually. Honestly, I think most of the characters could be labeled as autistic, but maybe that's just me. I think it would be interesting if he grew up similarly to Silver. I do remember during the Halloween event Rook mentioned one time where he got lost in the woods and spent time with wild animals, and the story seemed like it could have been based off of the Jungle Book, but maybe that's just me. But, either way, that story does seem to indicate that he was either neglected as a child or just liked adventuring on his own. As for why he lives in Sunset Savannah, most of the characters are pretty scattered about in terms of location. I know Cater, despite being a card soldier, lives in the same place as Vil and Jack, so Rook definitely isn't an outlier. I think him being there might represent how the Huntsman abandoned his home with the Evil Queen after helping Snow White. Maybe his parents (or just Rook himself) moved out to the Savannah at some point during his childhood, but that's only a small theory of mine, and I doubt it's true.

The headcanon of him being a noble is interesting, but I don't think it really works. He just doesn't seem like the type, and him being the huntsman doesn't line up either. I personally like the idea of him just lacking proper social skills much better. Also, when I mentioned his character design, I more meant how he looks despite living in the Savannah. Like, I wouldn't think someone who lives his life would look so prim and proper lol, not that I find him attractive. However, as I was writing this out, I did also remember that Rook was in Savanaclaw during his first year before moving to Pomefiore because of Vil, so I think that might be the reason.

As for a side story about his past, I wouldn't mind a vignette of him talking about his past. At the very least, I'd like for him to elaborate more about him switching dorms. From how he spoke of it, it seems like dorm switching isn't a super rare thing, but it still seems uncommon, so I'd like to hear more about it.

But, yeah, overall, Rook is an interesting character, and I would love to know more about him. He has such potential and I usually enjoy his type in other games/anime, so I'm sad I don't like him more. Hopefully we'll get more about him at some point in the future.

(Side note: it is very late when I'm writing this rn, so if any of this sounds weird or grammatically incorrect, I'm sorry lol.)

[kio-may]

after the flowers wilt

---------

summary: what happens after you leave? what if both of you were meant to meet, no matter which world? the new student in your class seems so oddly familiar. What memory are you trying to revive?

A/n: this is basically self indulgence for me after twst is over after watching the ch 7 trailer and realizing the main story will end soon </3 this is also inspired by like. the intro page of twst where they ask u to choose someones hand n grab it tight. i thoroughly believe its connected to the ending so yargh. reader basically picked Vil in this one. can u guys guess who my bias is.

Words: about 2.7k, this is a one-shot <3

Content warnings and Labels: Vil x reader (reader is gn), Angst, reader has amnesia, mentions of being in a long term coma, feelings of nostalgia and melancholy, mentions of grief. you get the gist, I hope.

Suggested: listen to this mbira video while reading. The only thing i was listening to while writing this. hope it captured the mood well.

---------

The headmaster chose to spare everyone of the grief.

It was a few weeks, you'd been in a coma apparently. Your family rejoiced when you finally woke up. You swore you weren’t here before, but you couldn’t remember anything else. You didn’t know where else you could have been. You chose to push it to the back of your mind, after enough brushing off from your family and friends.

You recovered in no time, and started going back to school. You climbed the same stairs as you always did, your locker remained in the same place. You found out your place had been changed and you sat beside someone else now, your friends at a faraway corner. 

You half expected them to snicker and throw a paper ball at you and..

Wait, why would they do that?

You kept looking at the back of their heads. They were focused on what your teacher was saying.

Why wouldn’t they?

A tiny voice. Brushed aside.

The ceiling of your room looked so familiar and so distant. A tiny glow in the dark sticker painted over with the color of your walls. A vase full of roses and a small stack of "Get well soon!" Cards on your bedside. The open window blew in slight dust and a small dandelion seed. You wanted to catch it, but couldnt find the energy to get up. You watched it slowly trickle down onto your bedside and stay motionless.

Don’t forget us, idiot.

You shot up.

You remembered.

No, wait.. you didn’t.

A flash of a memory.

Was it really yours?

The flash went by as quickly as it came. What were you trying to remember?

Your eyes zoned in on your desk. A small perfume bottle and a neatly written letter from a distant relative. You could smell the faint, sweet smell of apples and a forgone summer.

Why did you feel so.. lonely?

What are you trying to remember in the first place?

What did you lose in the first place, that you are so desperately trying to remember?

You fell back on your bed with a soft thump.

Your phone cast beside you started to buzz. It was your friend. They asked you about the homework assigned.

You got to work.

–

Riddle was not the best at suppressing emotions, but where did they come from?

He stared at the tea in the cup, and let the warmth dissipate in his hands. The party was perfect. All the roses were red, there was no chestnut tart, and the only cat allowed was Grim. 

Even Ace, Deuce and Grim were not quite snarky, and seemed much more tame than how they usually were.

.

Leona was smart. He knew something was missing long ago. He didn’t know where this came from, but he didn’t bother. Another order for Ruggie, a different sandwich and another day in his passing life with a predetermined fate. What should he worry about?

Ruggie stood under a tree, and contemplated an empty feeling, without a word. A few moments off from his rushed, ever so busy life. He listened to the silent bristling of the leaves and glanced at silver, who also seemed to be confused about this feeling. No words were shared. The rustling sound of a plastic bag and distanced footsteps were heard.

-

The lounge was much more empty than Azul would have liked. A sign of less profit was of less noise, and less noise meant he was alone with his thoughts. The paperwork was drab today aswell, which did not help much. It kept him busy, though.

Jade and Floyd didn’t seem too ecstatic about working either. Floyd was especially slumped, but didn’t whine or complain. Jade was similar, the only difference being he would do whatever was required (at a more lethargic rate, but it was work nonetheless).

-

The ever so cheerful Kalim, for the first time, seemed calmer than usual. Smiling brightly at his dormmates and the repeated, "its a slow day today!" With a smile. It was starting to get easy to tell he was getting tired of it. A followed laugh that trailed off and a smile that stopped reaching the eyes.

Jamil was harder to figure on the surface. Ever so cool and composed. His hood seemed to cover his face further than usual. A thoughtful and foggy look in his eyes. Someone always sat beside him, but it wasn’t any of the dormmates. The hot air gently blew in. The smell of a water fountain and something that waited to be remembered.

-

Vil was an actor, a model, and a professional at both. He knew how to keep mild troubles buried. He's used to it.

There’s that photoshoot he has to prepare for, and the new makeup kit he has to try. He needs to help the Special Effects team in his club and there’s also a new skin serum he has to try, and then..

He swore there was a perfume bottle on his vanity, and he could still faintly smell it. But he couldn’t remember how it looked like. What brand was it, really? He scolded himself for not remembering. The mirror reflected his face. The reflection felt unfulfilling.

Rook knew deep and well that Vil was troubled. But it was something he couldn’t quite help him with. And if anything, he might make it worse. He knew when to be honest and when to keep quiet. Even as a confident figure, he seemed to be quieter than usual. 

Epel wasn’t an idiot. So he kept quiet. Rook didn’t have to tell him anything. He spent enough time around him to understand from a single glance at one another. No words were exchanged, but understanding was universal between the three, and a nonverbal agreement to keep quiet. The faint smell of dust, despite the halls being cleaned spotless almost everyday.

-

Idia swore the character Ortho's been mentioning doesn’t exist in any of the fandoms he knew. He found foreign things in his memory card, but it was all corrupted. It wasn’t anything important, and easy to delete.

Why was he hesitating? Its not important.

Although.. maybe he should keep it. Ortho insisted the character was there, and was so adamant until he asked him to describe the character. Maybe he’s hoping something will happen. He left ortho to his own devices for a while.

-

Malleus was familiar to this feeling of loneliness. But the smell of dust, a blurred memory of a night walk, and discarded tickets, all seemed like something just within his reach. But when he reached out, his fingers felt the fog of an unknown memory. Were the years starting to strain on him?

Lilia was very aware of what malleus felt, but not about what he felt about. He simply smiled and continued on, assuring the dorm students.

Sebek was not bothered, and accompanied Malleus just as frequently. He seemed to go about his own more easily, however. Silent bouts became uncommon but not rare anymore. Silent training and a faraway expectation.

-----

{real world - pov}

You took your usual place in class, and 2 acquaintances came around your desk, simply discussing what happened in the last class and lightly joking. You wanted to join in, but hesitated, simply opting to smile politely. They mentioned someone wouldn't be coming today, and one of them claimed another desk was newly added. You blinked in confusion for a while. It was evident you were the last one to know.

You opened your textbook and spun a pencil in your hand, your eyes drifting to the empty desk across the class.

He never gave back your pencil.

You blinked.

Another memory. It wasnt yours. You brushed it off.

Everyone settled in and the atmosphere turned quiet. There was slight mumbling outside the door, before the teacher came in and asked for everyone's attention. 

A new student was joining the class. As far as the teacher told the class, he was supposed to be here last year but due to issues, he had to join a different year.

The door opened and a tall blonde boy came in. You swear you’ve seen him before, and you slightly gaped as you kept looking at him. His eyes simply wandered and lingered around the class until he looked at you. His gaze fitted you for only a while longer before he blinked and introduced himself.

His name felt familiar.

He took the empty seat across the class, and the person sitting there would be moved next to you. You watched him settle into his newly assigned desk and other classmates around him welcome him.

You were able to pay more attention to your lessons nowadays, and some kind of fog started to lift. But from time to time you'd look up at the teacher ,when she turned to the black board and flit your eyes to him, where you'd catch him looking back at you. You shifted and quickly averted your gaze back to your notebook. You felt his stare linger on you for a while before he turned around.

Vil was certain this feeling was nothing but a simple bump in the road. His conscience felt clear (or rather, he got better at ignoring and tucking this feeling away for good), and he was able to get back into rhythm again. Rook and Epel took notice, and didn't comment as he subtly expected. He was lively again.

–

[other world]

And it was disappointing for him to see his neighbor was absent, leaving an empty desk to his right. 

His mornings had started to feel lighter and better. The club had finally started to make better progress on the project they'd been working on, Epel finally got over a learning curve and Rook had been as praising as usual. His schedule was set and he made enough time for himself to relax for an hour, after roughly a solid month of feeling disconnected and still pushing through. 

Oh, and there's that one student.

They became the hottest topic at NRC, even Epel couldn't help but mention it during his lessons and Rook even chittered with delight about them.

Due to.. complications, their entrance into NRC as a student was delayed a year, and had finally returned. They hadn't been sorted into any of the dorms as their arrival had been very recent.

Vil didn't quite care more or less about it, but still bothered to listen to the information.

Getting into NRC was one thing, and having your entrance delayed was another.

-

[other world]

You were anxious to say the least. Happy or sad, you couldn't decide. But anxious? Almost all the time with the new developments in place. Well, most of the time. 

Your friends cheered upon hearing the news, and encouraged you greatly despite the fact you'd have to wait another year and continue in a different school for the time being. You decided it was better to wait. Good things come to people who wait, you suppose.

And it was strange enough as-is, having to put on the dark grey-ish black vest, with the uniform the school had provided. The headmaster assured you it could be replaced in no time with the dorm you'd be assigned to later that day, and you saw multiple students simply choosing not to wear one. It was still weird.

You walked into class just as the professor was about to introduce you to the class and explain tiny, small details in a summarized form. He asked you to sit down in the front row.

You didn’t notice before, slightly fretting over taking out your materials and keeping up with the professor, but midway during the lesson you glanced at your sides. A window to your left, and a blonde man to your side.

You knew who he was of course; but you couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity off. 

You kept glancing to your right, trying to figure out just why he seemed so familiar. It wasn’t because you’d seen him on that commercial before, but it felt like something else. You couldn’t name it. And everytime you glanced, it seemed he decided to glance at you too. Both of you made accidental eye contact a few times before you pushed down the urge to look and focused on the lesson. You felt him looking at you and, maybe his gaze lingered longer than usual.

Your last class ended, and as the teacher left, most people started packing up and leaving for the day. Some started chatting with the new blonde boy, while you jotted down some extra notes and started packing things yourself.

–

{real world}

You weren’t far off from the class in the corridors when he called out for you.

"Excuse me", he tapped your shoulder. He caught up to you quite easily.

"Hm?" You stopped in your tracks and turned to face him.

He took a hesitant moment, before he asked you, "have we met before? You seem familiar."

You took a few seconds of pondering before saying, "I thought so too but er, I don’t think we have. You seem very familiar too." 

You swear you’ve seen him somewhere before. The faint smell of lavender and apples felt so nostalgic, but what memory were you trying to remember?

Both of you started talking, and surprisingly there was smooth conversation. Both of you seemed to get along well, and it was evidently shocking to some of your other classmates who caught glimpses of you in the hallway. 

He introduced himself and you did too. He decided to switch seats in the back so he sat next to you, and people even started texting you.

"Getting cozy huh?" Or something similar were the usual messages. Some of them made you laugh, but you brushed it off. The feeling of nostalgia remained, but it felt as though there was no more of a need to remember something. As if everything was fondly in place.

Sometimes both of you would talk about vague nostalgia once again. It confused both of you greatly, but the topic started to be forgotten the more he made newer memories with you.

You’ll hold onto the strange feeling, but you’ll start living once again, you suppose.

He smiled. Soft and rare. The smell of crackers and blurred sounds of celebration in the background, the beginning of a new year.

Vil wasn’t quite sure how to start conversation with you. You most likely knew who he was, but both of you didn’t know anything about each other personally.

–

[other world]

Vil asked you for an eraser, which helped him start something. It wasn’t what he exactly wanted, but it was something.

He started conversation there. He asked you simple questions, and started to ease into a conversation. Before both of you knew it ー something clicked and both of you started talking as though you’d known each other long before even having come to NRC.

Vil himself was quite surprised with such an outcome; he didn’t expect such a smooth conversation at all. He made up his mind about inviting you over to Pomefiore if you were free, and approached after class.

That’s when you mentioned, he seemed so familiar. He knew you meant as though both of you had known each other personally, and not simply as having seen him on billboards and magazines.

It wasn't long before you started coming over much more frequently to Pomefiore. Rook welcomed you graciously and even Epel seemed happier around you. It was as though something fell into place; a distant memory clicked.

 He knew what you meant, but decided not to tell you.

"I see. Do you mind telling me more?”

There you were, so what else did he have to worry about?

He took your hand gently and applied the nail polish.

"I keep messing up", you’d laugh.

The revived memory of a distant summer. He might never get sick of your laugh. He smiled to himself.

"Of course you did. Let me help.”

—-----

To make the grief easier for everyone to handle, headmaster Crowley was able to erase their memories of you. Or at the very least, blur them to an extreme degree, so no one would grieve of your absence. He promised you would be exempt from this pain aswell. "You will remember when you need to", he told you.

"Farewell, then."

A hand reached out, and you grabbed it tightly. "Don't let go", a distant voice told you.

[grippingbeskar]

The Element of Surprise | Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: The Jump

mando x fem!reader

word count: 6.8k

warnings: ADULT CONTENT MINORS DNI (oral f recieving, m masturbation, overstimulation, kinda dom vibes) general sexual content, swearing

a/n: WOW FINALLY. I was feeling so unmotivated but all your lovely little messages and comments brought out my inspo!!! so yay another chapter!! im hoping to finish writing the story in the next couple weeks but I cant believe how far this has come WOW. anyways ill go now love u all bye!

p.s idk how well this is edited but just ignore the typos if they r there okay okay bye

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

“What even is a Mythosaur?” Din sticks a hand out to stop you as another ship whizzes past, your eyes not moving fast enough to track it as it disappears into the distance.

Corellia isn’t as ‘city like’ as you first thought. The buildings are smaller, shorter, but there’s just as many people crammed into them. Ships fly up and down the narrow streets, and you swear they are going to burst into flames when they inevitably smash into each other, but they never do.

“Like a big bug. With two legs. Giant.”

“Now you’re just making things up.” You roll your eyes as you round the corner, and you just hear him huff, making sure the kids crib clears the corner of passing traffic before returning his attention to you.

“I’m not. Things are fast, too. Ran me all the way across the desert.”

“Sure it did. Did it lead you to the end of a double rainbow? Pot of gold at the end?” Dins hand grabs on to your forearm to stop you from crossing the road. Just as you look up at him, a giant golden ship shoots past, kicking up dust and sending a gush of wind straight into your face, pushing you back a little. “You know, I can see the face your making right now.”

“Go.” Din breathes, and only because you’ve been studying him so closely do you pick up the light tone in between, and you know he’s smiling.

You’d both been walking for about twenty minutes, arguing lightheartedly about stupid things that pop into your head, and you had been taking the piss out of him about it for that entire time. Everything seemed simple, so straightforward, and it made you think about how long this was going to last. The only other time you had felt this safe, this sure that where you were was exactly where you were supposed to be was when you were a kid. You felt more free than you ever had, and stronger than before.

Just being around the kid made you better, more connected, and now that you had somewhere to focus your energy, things seemed to come more naturally to you. It was always the thing you had struggled with the most - trying to quiet your mind for longer than three seconds to actually get something done, but here it was almost easy. You hadn’t said anything to Din, but when you were piloting his ship, everything seemed so much clearer when he was there next to you, so you had been conducting little experiments of your own.

You tried to focus elsewhere, on the kid or on your own happy places like when you were younger, but nothing helped clear your mindset, helped you reset like when you imagined him. He was impossible to not think of, so you leaned into it, and found you were stronger for it. Every time you tried to lift something through the Force, tried a new technique with the kid, you honed in all of the racing thoughts your mind constantly flashed of Din, and streamlined them into your own personal muse. It worked; a bit too well. You had noticed an almost overflow of energy, and you were restless - antsy to let it out.

“In here.” A large hand rests on the small of your back, directing you into the side of a building. As you pass through the door, you see a glimpse of the main hall, fit with a small circular bar in the centre and a couple people milling around the outside. Din keeps you moving straight up the stairs, not even looking into the room.

You jog up four flights of stairs before you finally stop, and you try to hide how out of breath you were. You see the flash of a light and then the door opens.

“Wh- do we not have to, like, pay for it?” Din pushes into the room, and drops the small pile of bags down at the front. You follow him inside and let your back pack slide off your shoulders, flinging it into the door at the end of the hall and watching as it skids along the hard wood floor.

“An old friend.” He says simply, as if it’s enough to answer why you snuck up the side of the building and broke into an empty room. At least you hope it was empty.

“Since when do you have friends?” Another door opens, and with a low mumble of something you don’t catch Din slides the kid out of his crib and lets him on the floor. Immediately he waddles into the hallway between rooms, and you see him flip a couple times in the air before disappearing around a corner, a few clicks signalling him opening and closing doors as he explores. You can’t help the little smile that appears - just a few days ago he was hopeless at getting in the air, but now he’s flipping around without a care in the world. Din turns to look at you silently before moving towards another doorway to the left and walking through it, this time leaving the door open.

This place must be huge. As you move further into the apartment looking space, you look down the hallway to momentarily catch Grogu’s giant head wandering into the kitchen, door shuttering closed behind him.

Of course he would find the food first.

You turn your attention back to the door Din left open, and walk inside of it, breath catching in your throat. You don’t see him at first, too distracted by the space. The room is plain; light coloured sandy walls surround you, and you think you see a light on in the bathroom under the closed door. You take another step, and don’t bother searching for Din because your eyes are fixated on the thing in front of you.

A bed.

A giant, gloriously fluffy bed, complete with enough blankets and pillows to take up almost half of the mattress. You jump, flopping your entire body onto the soft covers and sigh into them, practically sinking. As much as you love your little place on the Razor Crest, that tiny cot has made your back lock up on more days than it hasn’t.

Your arms spread out not even touching the opposite side of the bed, and you stretch, enjoying the enormous space. Pushing some of the pillows off onto the floor you shuffle yourself up higher, and it’s then that you hear the door to the bathroom open. You flip over, but not fast enough to react before he’s on you.

Within a second Din covered the length of the room and landed on top of you, straddling you to the bed and pinning your arms above your head. He was still in his full armour, and the image in front of you was almost a little daunting. You had seen him in armour the entire time you had known him, and even seen him above you like this, but there was something about the way his chest was dragging heavily with each breath, and how one of his gloved hands easily held both of your wrists above you that sent a swirl of heat and a little bit of fear through your whole body, and your toes curled in response.

“Hi princess.” He whispers above you and you have to close your eyes to hide the effect. He lowers his body so he presses against you, the cool metal burning your skin in the best way. “Not so talkative now?”

“Hu-h?” You try to open your eyes, but he’s just so damn close to your face, staring straight at you that you have to shut them again.

“You’ve been on my ass all day. Pissing me off.” Okay, now you look at him. You try to hide the little smirk of excitement that bursts through your face, and your cheeks flush under his accusation. You’d only been poking fun, but seeing him like this makes you think you might have to try a little harder next time, just to see what he’d do.

“Have I?” You tilt your head underneath him, and feel his grip tighten on your wrists.

“Smart-ass.” His free hand rests on your hip, pulling up your shirt slightly to expose skin. The marks of his hands he left days ago still remain, and you watch as he lines up his fingers with them, picturing just how they got there. Goosebumps appear where he touches, and he looks up at you to watch your face as he begins to slide your pants down. You shimmy trying to quicken the action, but he stops when he notices you moving.

“Stop.”

“Din, I-“

“I said stop.” The voice he uses make you listen immediately, and your hips stop their desperate attempt to be free of the fabric. “I want you to listen to me. Keep your hands there.”

Still straddling you, he lets go of your wrists and you obey. The rip of velcro frees the skin of his hands. You don’t think you will ever get over the way he takes off his armour, piece by piece like he’s unwrapping himself just for you. It’s a bit of a possessive thing, you think. Knowing that he only shows those parts of himself to you, and he does so without hesitation.

You watch him as he works through the process, not touching you apart from the weight of his body on your lower half. He undoes buckles, unties knots and slides off pieces of beskar methodically, never taking his eyes off you. It feels like it takes forever, much longer than it ever has before, and every time he takes off something new or a tighter part of clothing is revealed it gets harder and harder to keep still. When he finally gets to his undershirt your a wriggling mess, shifting and fidgeting until you forget what you were meant to be doing and you lift your hands up, fingertips finding the hem of his shirt. The helmet drops and your hands still - remembering suddenly.

“What’d I say?” Your eyes widen and you let go of his shirt, putting your arms back over your head the way he left them, but rolling your eyes as you do it.

“Such a good girl.”

You are pretty sure you stop breathing. He’s called you a million names, praised you a hundred times and somehow every time it just makes you fucking hotter. Right now, though, it almost seems different. It’s like he expects it from you. Like you should do it. There’s a tiny part in you that wants to be defiant just for the sake of it - just to see how he handles it, but first you want to see where he’s going with this.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Close your eyes.” You do, so fast and missing any of that defiance you were so sure of only seconds ago. You feel his thumb come up against your face before four strong fingers find the back of your neck and lift you up slightly. With your head hovering above the flat of the mattress, the hiss of his helmet fills your ears and you feel warmth all around your head. It’s dark, and all encompassing. You know you have your eyes closed but it was light outside, so what is it suddenly so dark?

“Open them.”

It’s still unbelievably dark, and you let yourself adjust to your new surroundings. It takes a second, but as each of your senses relax, you figure it out. Your eyes see nothing, but you can smell him all around you. The warmth against your cheeks wraps around the back of your head, and you only notice it because of the line of cool metal that rests at the base of your neck.

Are you-

“Din?” Your voice makes you jolt, and you hear him laugh above you, feeling the sound on your collarbone. It was the only way you could tell how close he was. The sounds you made were unfamiliar - metallic. It was similar to hearing Din, but high pitched and a little squeakier, which made you laugh along with him. He must have shut the visor off, because there’s no way he could see out of this thing like this.

“Is that what I sound like?” Din says between kisses that he leaves along your shoulder, working his way down slowly, slipping over the bunched up fabric on your shirt around your chest. You shake your head, and realise how heavy the helmet is when it swings you both ways.

“You wish.” His teeth nip at your skin and you let out a squeak, the mood slowly falling back into darkness, your breathing slower but more desperate.

“Mm.” He shuffles down your body, giving himself room to slide your pants off completely, taking your underwear with them and leaving you naked from the waist down. The bed dips and suddenly his mouth is kissing at your stomach, licking at your rib cage and then your hips, spending a little extra time appreciating those fading bruises at each one. “No more smart ass comments.”

“Do-“ He nips at your skin again and your whole body reacts, a modulated moan breaking the silence as he licks over the mark. He sighs and his forehead rests on your lower stomach, his hair tickling your skin.

“Stop making this so hard, baby.” Swallowing, you move a little underneath him but keep your hands above your head. “Say something if you want me to stop.”

“What do I say?” Your heart was starting to race in anticipation. You can’t imagine him doing anything you would want to stop, but it just makes you melt even further into the soft mattress, knowing how safe you are with him.

“Choose.” He keeps kissing, every inch of skin open to him, and you shudder when he kisses the top of your thigh - an indicator he’s moving closer.

“Mythosaur.” You say half heartedly, and he snorts, his face pressing into the top of your thigh. You can feel his smile on your skin and your whole body flushes thinking about what he would look like smiling.

“You are not going to remember that.” Muffled, he moves to the other side, continuing his slow pace.

“Yes I will. Just - keep going. I will.” Your legs tense and the soft material of the covers feel soothing when you scrunch them up in your fist. Your trying your best to do what he says but all you want to do is grab his head, breathing is suddenly becoming harder inside of this suffocating helmet and you are so hot and this thing is so tiny -

“Shh. Deep breaths. Just take a minute.”You nod and his hand spreads across your tummy, soothing circles bringing your mind to attention. “Relax, cyar’ika.”

The reminder he’s still there is enough to calm you, and you feel the soft, spongey interior of the helmet become less squishy and more comfortable with every breath. Whatever he tells you, you do. Okay. Easy.

“Why is it so dark?” He drags his nose along your upper thigh, and you feel his head drop back against your skin.

“Blacked out the visor. Use it to sleep.” He murmurs against your skin, and everything feels electric when he starts to move again. “You okay?”

“I- yeah. Yes. Yep.” Broken words drop into the room in a metallic pitch and he breaths a laugh at your mangled sentence.

“You look so fucking good like this.” He hooks his arms around your legs and positions himself between you, letting your body completely relax and taking the weight off your thighs. You know how soaked you are, you can feel it as he breathes against you, waiting - for what you aren’t sure. “I- been too long I- say something if you need me to st-“

He cuts himself off as he tastes you - finally - and you start shaking immediately. He always has you strung so tight it’s impossible to control yourself, and one strong arm comes to hold you down across your hips, pinning you into the bed. He takes your clit into his mouth and sucks, tongue trailing after and drawing lines and circles that drive you dizzy.

You can’t stop your hands as they come down to find his hair, tangling into the slightly damp mess. He groans, the sound vibrating straight into your core and even though the helmet keeps you in the dark your vision starts to spot. The other hand that was holding your thighs open comes between them, and you drop your legs open - inviting as he slides and curls one finger inside of you.

“Oh sh-shit Din. That’s it.” He responds to your praise by applying more pressure, and your back arches into him, the arm holding you down coming under your lower back and holding you against his face.

“S’sweet, but such a fuckin’ smart-ass.” He murmurs. The sounds of his tongue is almost amplified in the helmet and you moan out again. Din was a whole body experience, and only after a minute or two he had you reeling - arching and swearing, inching closer to your release. “Gonna shut you up now.”

“O- ah fuck D-“ He adds another finger and curls it straight into your core. Every tight muscle relaxes and tenses and everything spins, the extra sensory deprivation of the helmet making everything grittier. His tongue flattens, tasting as much as he possibly can and you pull on his hair - but it’s when he takes your clit back into his mouth and you feel his fucking teeth-

You say his name in a long, drawn out moan as you cum in his mouth, and he does nothing to draw you out of it other than utter small praises in between your gasps. His hold on you is tight and unrelenting as you black out under the pressure, your legs swinging around the back of him and pulling him closer.

He doesn’t stop like you expect.

Doesn’t slow down, doesn’t let you recover before sending you straight back into the mind numbing pleasure. You can’t see him, and his mouth is so concentrated on the patterns he’s drawing with his tongue that you can’t hear him talking. All you can decipher is your own metallic version of his name and the wet sounds of yourself mixing with his mouth and fingers.

“You get so f-fucking wet af-“ He sucks and bites and licks in between words, every movement making your hips buck “after you cum.”

“D-din it’s- i’m-“

“No. You’re gonna take what I g-give you, cyar’ika.” He dives back into your heat, fingers working you faster and his thumb replaces his tongue. Everything is hot and the arch in your back presses your shoulders further into the fluffy blanket behind your head. All the sensations mixed with his words and how fucking good his mouth feels has you-

“Fucking h-hell- shitshitshit so good-“ Your eyes screw shut even though you can’t see and you roll your entire body into him just to be closer. His hand wraps around you tighter, the entire lower half of your body controlled in his grip making it impossible to escape the pleasure spreading up your spine and across your stomach. “Din- I th-think I’m gonn- cum.”

“Th-that’s it. Good g-girl.” Your second orgasm bursts like a balloon inside of you, starting low in your core and exploding over your entire body, and it’s seconds after that you are shivering underneath him, completely overwhelmed.

You can tell how wet you are, the blankets underneath you soaked with the evidence but he still doesn’t let up. Somehow he feels closer than before, lips and tongue seemingly everywhere at once and his fingers pump in and out of you, every time making your hips and stomach tense and jolt.

“Din pleasepleaseplease- s’much I’m g-“ Floating and completely molded to how he’s holding you, he never pulls away too far that his mouth isn’t on you, lips brushing your overly sensitive clit when he speaks. He kisses it and lets his fingers come all the way out before curling them back in.

“Fuckin’ bratty before. Want my nice girl back.” You weren’t sure if he was talking about the walk here, or when you made fun of him while you were dropping the ship off, or maybe when you sucked him off so good he was about ready to give you anything you asked for - there were so many times he could be paying you back for but you don’t care - you just need him now. “Pissed me off.”

“B-but i’ll be- f-fuuuck i’ll be so good I sw-“ Another kiss to your clit has you crying out, and you swear you nearly cum just from the light touch. His mouth draws a circle all around your pussy, gathering as much of your cum as possible and taking it into his mouth before returning to your clit. Tears start to form on your eyes because it’s so much but it’s so good-

“Still with me, cyar’ika?” His lower lip drags over your clit and you try to nod, but the helmet is so heavy that you just squirm, one hand leaving his hair to lift your body up and make the movement possible. He takes his mouth off you for the first time in what feels like hours and you miss it instantly - your body squirming to search for him in the simulated darkness. “You gonna be sweet to me now? Know you can be.”

“Maker - whatever you want, Din. I promise okay-“

“That’s it, princess. Always know exactly what I wanna hear.” His words are so sweet but he just keeps fucking going and god- there’s no way to hold back the sounds of your sobs because it feels like he’s electrifying you, every movement sending waves of pleasure that make you flinch. Your hands are grasping at strands and you feel the bed dip again as he gets on his knees, pulling your lower half into the air, one arm still wrapped around you.

He has complete control, just like he had the entire time, and your legs drag up his back to wrap loosely around his neck, although your muscles are so strung out that you can’t really find a grip. You just fold and crumple the way he wants you to - doing whatever he wants and crying out his name as you cum again and everything goes white.

The sounds are so strange it’s almost disconnected that it’s coming from you - modulator buzzing as you babble praise and curses in no particular way, just whatever you can wrap your head around in the moment. You aren’t surprised you end up just repeating his name because he is all you can think about as pleasure shoots and crackles through every nerve ending. Somewhere in between you fall back onto the mattress and he switches hands, hearing a few quiet whispers of praise before he groans and shudders against you. When he finally settles, he has you whimpering and sighing the minute his mouth comes off you and his hand finally leaves your warmth, gently placing you into the soft blankets, throwing the ruined one to the side and placing you on the clean, fluffy covers.

At some point he slides the helmet off, because your eyes are still closed but you can feel the warmth of the sun on your face. It’s the sensation that starts to draw you back to your body, that and the warmth at your back when Din curls up behind you, his bare thighs intertwining with your own. You don’t remember him taking his pants off, but then again you don’t remember much except the way his mouth feels against you. It makes you shudder against him when he presses that same mouth to the back of your neck - soothing.

“I love you.” Every part of your body sinks into him at those words, and the arms wrapping you closer bring the biggest smile to your face.

“I love you.” You whisper back, and you feel the same reaction when he smiles on the back of your neck.

“You okay? It wasn’t too- too much, was it?” He runs his hand up your thigh, and you can still feel the slight shake in your legs at the feeling of him. You like that - a reminder that he was there.

“No. Fuck no. S’good. Just sleepy.” You mumble. You can’t help it - this bed is so big and fluffy, and he feels so good wrapped up behind you that you don’t care it’s the middle of the day. The time zones you’ve been travelling through have your sleeping schedule all out of whack - so crashing right now feels like absolute heaven. He leans up to kiss your temple and drops back behind you.

“I have to go tonight. I’ll leave the comm link out for you. You’ll be okay in here, though.” Almost forgetting why you were here, you just nod and link your fingers together. “When I come back, I need to- to talk to you about something.”

Suddenly sleep is not an option.

Talk to you? About what? Why did he say it like that? Oh maker - is he kicking you out? Did something happen with the kid? Maybe he finally found that Jedi he set out for. Not like you have been overly consistent with your ‘lessons’. So many options - all of them incredible anxiety inducing, but why does he sound so nervous? You swallow and try to fog out the thoughts.

“I- Okay.” If you say anything else you think you might produce word vomit and -

“It’s not bad. I just- I want to do it right. The right way.” You try to suck in a breath and choke on it, spluttering and coughing. Smooth. “You good?”

“Yep! Fine. When, um- when do you have to go?”

“Couple hours. Sleep, you need it.”

“So d’you.” His hand continues to drag feather light lines up and down your exposed skin, and the touch practically rocks the anxiety out of you and sends you into a lull, heart beat starting to slow and exhaustion catching up.

“Mhmm. Sleep.”

“Don’t want you to not be here when I wake up.” You shuffle backwards into him and he groans, you can feel the thing material of his briefs against your bare ass. “Come closer.”

“Your killing me, cyar’ika.” He rolls against you, and your practically begging him to fuck you. “You made me cum just from tasting you. Won’t be sleeping if I’m inside you.”

The confession isn’t lost on you, and as much as you want him all the time, your body is so tired. He can always tell when your tired, too, because that’s the only reason he doesn’t bend you over the headboard and fuck you senseless. You feel his breathing start to slow, and your eyes flutter closed, drifting to sleep with the sun streaming in the small gap in the window.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

You feel him get up, and as much as you appreciate how quiet he tries to be, the clatter of beskar wakes you almost instantly. You open your eyes, careful not to catch him at a moment when his helmet isn’t on, but when you hear the familiar hiss you let yourself watch him, the utility belt clicking into place as you pull the cover down from over your head.

“I’ll be back soon.” You nod your head, believing him.

“I know.” Shuffling down into the covers, he comes to your side and a gloved hand brushes your cheek. “Kid around?”

“Mhmm. Ate too much and passed out in the kitchen. I put him in his crib. Want me to bring him in?” You nod. As much as you like how much privacy you are afforded in this giant place, you miss having the little fuzz ball around. Plus, it makes you feel safer when he’s next to you.

“Stay safe.” You mumble as the crib rolls in to your side of the room, and you see Din stop at the door. He turns back, and you think he might come back to you - he hesitates, and suddenly the air in the room gets a little colder.

You feel something - you aren’t sure what it is, but the Force always rushes over you when you least expect it. This feeling is unfamiliar and makes your stomach turn, almost like you are nervous for something, but you aren’t sure what.

He steps out of the room and you hear the door shutter closed behind him anyways. Maybe it’s the fact that he told you he needs to talk to you when he comes back. ‘Do it right’. What the hell does that mean? Why was he being so cryptic? Grogu yawns next to you and the crib opens when he stretches his arms out - grabbing.

“Alright. Just this once.” You pull him into the bed and he easily makes a little nest in the top corner, using one of the many blankets to curl himself around in a tiny ball. His calm energy nestles next to you, and you are suddenly too exhausted to overthink - drifting back into a deep sleep, and as good as the mattress feels underneath you, just before you fall asleep you find yourself imaging the cot on the ship, and Din curled up next to you.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“CHECK THE BACK!”

A voice shouts you awake, and your instantly on your feet, rushing over to the bags at the door and grabbing the blaster. You don’t know the voice, but you swear it’s so loud the walls start to shake. Grogu mumbles himself awake, and he picks up on your energy, and that someone very much not The Mandalorian is inside your building.

Something breaks outside, and your heart beat pounds in your ears. Din said you were safe here - that he had an old friend. Din doesn’t trust easily, so something must of happened. You try to reach out with your senses but all you feel is chaos and determination. There’s at least 5 guys outside, and if you were on your own, with your new found strength you might take the chance to fight them - you have the element of surprise, but Grogu looks at you, big eyes wide, and you think better of it. You were still half asleep and awfully underprepared to fight one guy, let alone five.

Quickly you shove on a pair of pants, simultaneously placing the side table in front of the door with your mind and a flick of your wrist. The comm link sits on top of your table, so you grab it and move. You pick up your back pack and shove the blaster in, along with another unfamiliar weapon Din has brought with him.

Din.

He hasn’t come back. It’s light outside, and it was dark when Din left. Checking the clock behind you, you know it’s been at least seven hours since he left. Anything could have happened in that time, and he would never willingly let someone come after the kid, like when you thought those guys were going to break into the ship. Maybe he’s right outside, just biding time to take them all out in one swoop and safe you again.

You take one more second - just to check. You know what he feels like, strong and supporting, he would stick out in all this chaos with his calm energy.

You don’t find him, and the footsteps are getting closer. Din would never let anything happen to you - not if he had a choice. What if he…

No. He would have come back. You would know if something happened. Grogu would, at least. No. You would know.

Tightening the back pack straps you hear a crash right outside your door. Three strong bashes have the wood beginning to split. You scoop Grogu up into your arms. You look at the window, and remember the 4 flights of stairs you went up. You’re high up, and you haven’t made a jump this tall yet - but no better time than the present. Lucky you work well under pressure.

Quickly, you check outside below the window - no one suspicious. Ships still speed past, and you think if you time it right, you might just have a get away ride. You slide the window open. Another bang on the door and the table starts to slide out of the way, and a green arm reaches in.

“In here!” The voice attached to the arm shouts and you don’t take a second look. You leap - and for a second all you can hear is Grogu’s high pitched squeal in your ear. Everything slows, and you look down, watching as your feet lead the rest of your body and you plummet towards the ground.

You move in slow motion, and look to the right to see and white, flat like ship hurtling towards you. You let out all the breath in your lungs and shoot down, suddenly picking up an inhuman amount of speed.

The ship wobbles, nearly off course as your feet slam onto the roof, and you scramble to find something to hold onto. Grogu is continuously screeching in your arms and grabs hold of your shoulder, allowing you free reign to hold the ship with two hands.

As fast as the ships were going when you past them on the street it feels ten times worse when your on top of one. Holy shit. People looked and pointed as you flew past them, knuckles white with the force that you were hanging on to make-shift handles. Your stomach was flat against the exterior, legs swinging wildly out behind you every time the pilot took a hard turn. Maker - what the fuck were you doing? You look ahead, squinting, and try to make out what direction you were going but everything looks the fucking same when your flying through the streets on the back of some idiots speeder ship.

The pilot turns another corner and everything gets darker. You no longer have to squint as you start to get closer and closer to two giant buildings. Both towered over all the others, and were significantly darker, but the ship showed no signs of stopping.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” You take one hand off the part you were clinging to and bash onto the roof, but the ships pilot hasn’t even noticed you. They also continue to hurtle you towards certain death, because there’s no way this ship was fitting between those buildings. Oh god - you remember watching how these ships fly, and how they go horizontally to zip past buildings and avoid the main roads. You were going to get flattened if you didn’t let go soon.

The decision is no longer your own. Either you let go now, or you slam into the building and become road kill. Grogu’s little hand scrunches your shirt in a bunch and you close your eyes.

Din. Everything goes quiet.

He was there.

Walking you through the controls on the Razor Crest. You could smell him, it was like you were wearing his helmet again. He was all around but no where. You could see him in front of you, and you sucked in a deep breath as he began to take a step towards you. ‘Let go.’ He said. You can hear it in your ears, all around you like a sonic radar. It was deafening and soothing - and you grabbed at the energy that built in your chest.

“Let go.” He said. So you did.

For a second you thought you might have died. You pushed off the roof of the speeding ship with so much force - not Force but pure strength that you had to grab at Grogu before you lost him. It was weird; you knew gravity was going to hurl you onto the ground, and you knew you were going so impossibly fast that you should have been flattened into the wall in front of you. But none of that happened. You were suspended in the air - gliding towards the ground like you were a feather caught in the wind. You felt a lock of your hair brush against your cheek, and you watched as it floated; rippled in your peripheral vision. You blinked once.

Then it was over. You smashed on to the ground and rolled, wrapping the kid instinctively in your arms. You felt the pain of the fall instantly, and your arm was definitely bruised. You weren’t dead, though.

You weren’t dead?

Oh! You weren’t dead! As you came to a stop in an alleyway, smashing into an empty wooden crate, you started to put together the events that just somehow unfolded. You broke your fall. You flew. Kind of. All on your own.

When your brain stopped racketing around in your skull and you pushed up off the ground, the same hum of pride that you felt when you shoved the Razor Crest into hyperspace buzzes in your stomach. You brush off a few splinters of wood that the broken crate left on your arms.

The kid shakes his head, giant ears flopping wildley. You check him over - no cuts or bruises that he wouldn’t heal within a day. You sigh in relief, and then check yourself. Apart from a bruise already appearing on your arm, you were fine too.

You were fine. And you were the reason why.

All your life you had felt helpless - and now you were scaling speeding ships and Force jumping off them like no one’s business. All that un-used energy buzzes in your hands and chest, and you try to control your breath.

You were being chased.

Scooping the kid up and putting him in the top of your backpack, you slowly stand up and brush the dust off your pants. Ships continue to speed past the end of the alleyway, and you take a minute before you move towards the light of the street, not knowing if anyone saw what you just did. The street seems pretty empty when you peak a look, and after another minute you step out.

Two options. Left or right.

Where would Din go?

He was chasing a bounty. He would follow the tracker - only you didn’t have one. You did, however, have an uncanny ability to read the Mandalorian, and you may be able to use that to your advantage.

As much as you are feeling good about yourself right now, you know you need to find Din. You had no way of protecting yourself against that many guys without him, and there was also the daunting feeling that something may of happened to him. You need to find him - and fast.

The comm link! God - you were slow. Years on Tattooine had you never relying on technology, but you scramble to find the tiny little speaker and shove it in your ear.

“Hello?!” You take the earpiece out and shake it a bit, and then put it back in. Nothing.

The comm link was connected to his helmet. There is no way he wasn’t hearing you right now.

“Hey! Mando?!” You don’t want to say his name because you don’t know who can hear you right now. “Please. Are you there?”

Silence. Absolute silence. How was he not hearing you? You were yelling on the inside of his helmet - and there was only one plausible way that he couldn’t hear you.

“Ahh!” Grogu yells and hits you on the back of the head.

“Hey! I’m trying, okay?!” You hadn’t realised there was a tear in your eye until it fell onto your chest. No. You would know.

Shaking your head, you face the street again, keeping the commlink on, just in case. You turn left just because you feel you should, heading away from the giant building that nearly flattened you. A tiny ‘hm!’ of content comes from the back pack and you roll your eyes.

Grogu knows he’s okay too, and he needs you to focus because as strong as he was, he couldn’t do it without you. And you couldn’t do this without him. The sun begins to set as you run across the street, heading further into the city. You figure if a bounty was hiding out on a planet like this, they would go into the most populated area and hide in plain site. It’s what you used to do on Tatooine, and as much as you hate to admit it, all that hustling is going to come in handy right now.

You found him once - albeit by accident, but you could do it again. Din was fine - and you were going to find him.

***********

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