#look at this trash who forgot we were writing in present tense

[masked-and-doomed]

NO! No, lambs. You are not going to make me feel like I've never known you. That would be very mean of you guys. They simply have a different interpretation, that is bound to happen, considering how little information we have on you as characters. I simply have my own views on them, they simply have theirs. We are not going to have a crisis over this. Clear?

Baldias I don't know when I'll finish writing your chapter. I think the progress I've made in the past week needs to be dumped in the rubbish bin. Yes I was gonna say trash but opted for the British option. Rubbish just sound funnier.

I think I'm losing it in this void, lambs. Darlings? Yes, you are darlings, as you are part of my family, but I suppose it just doesn't feel as nice on the tongue when it's in regards to you lambs.

I don't know when I'll finish killing you Baldias, I think this might take a whole year. Do I have a whole year? Fuck, I probably don't. Shit.

Well, at least you guys are important and whatever. You're at the tippy top, your guys' opinions matter most, and you don't have anyone above you to worry about disappointing. A whole load of responsibility but at least you don't have to worry about muddy feelings regarding that your downfall is a mix of your own inadequacies and stuff out of your control, rather than being strictly one or the other.

Oh right. I forgot. You're still just people. Haha. Yeah 2187 suckkedd. 3 of you died there. And you, leader, became a lost little lamb. You didn't. You don't? know what to do with your life. Present tense feels weird here. Time and space and all, fucky wucky in the void, it is. Hah.

Hm. Is there any truly saving me?

I know I know, I saved like, most of you guys. And you guys were war criminals. And I helped you become better. Or at least, will. She. I? She. Let's go with She. She hasn't wrote that part yet, but it's the intended future.

Ahah. What a big dreamer She was, and She'll have a bit to show for it. Not as much as She'd like, but enough to give an idea what was the dream She had, huh?

Why have you guys let me talk this long?

“I'm sure you're quite aware with that answer yourself.”

True. Fuckk. This sucks. Do you think sleeping will do anything? I did have more important stuff to do that I wasted time all on. Looking at your alternate selves. Ahah.

“I'd reccomend you'd do at least some of it. You remember all that you've taught us, haven't you? Better half-ass it than nothing.”

God, but I hate doing it. How did you fuckers get through all of that fuckin' paperwork.

“You just have to get it done. Useless whining about it.”

“Damn hated it. And I was the one who had mostly practical shit! I was this close to burning it all.”

“It's a necessary evil to go through. It's mostly tedious rather than difficult. Your situation is quite different.”

I fucking hate thinking. This is why I should've just been made a living weapon for you guys.

“You are, aren't you! I'd much rather have one that's less bitchy. Testament would've been more tolerable.”

Well, if you got Testament, none of you guys would learn to properly love eachother. You require my stupid ass and whimsy.

“...You should kill yourself soon.”

“Baldias!”

“It's not as if you're in a favourable situation. I must admit I can't exactly advise you much here. I can only hope that your fate isn't as grim as ours.”

I need to die, Chronus. I dunno what else there is for me. Nagito would hate me rn. I am sooo faltering at the sight of my future sucking ass. I can't even follow your guys' example!

“We had the whole world at stake. Powerful motivator.”

“I just hope you can keep your chin up as long as you can, dear.”

You're unreasonably nice, Libraria. For what I am.

“...”

When is this ending?

“You're the one that's God here, dumbass.”

“Baldias.”

“And? She literally fucking asked for it!”

“I second Baldias. She wants to hurt. Hurt, Baldias and I have given her in our years.”

“It doesn't mean it's ethical. Nor legal. One can't sign a contract agreeing to be harmed.”

You're pulling law into this? Don't you have better arguments? You're like. Literally controlling the UN.

“Firefly... You're the one writing us."

Right. Sorry you don't have a better argument.

“It's fine. You're letting this all out for some sense of relief right? Is this helping?”

Partially. It still feels like I'm grasping at a puddle that's reflecting you guys, being fooled by the illusion of reflective light. And I don't have the object in my hands.

Hrm. I'd say more here, but I'm worried there will be someone to watch this. Us.

“To have so many of your layers peeled for everyone to see, yet to still keep such a mask. You are quite the esoteric person.”

Compliment.. nice..

“I'm tired of this. Can you shut it, now?”

Ermmm you know what they say. Majority vote.

“Yeah, shut up already! I didn't want to be in your void at all today.”

So two in favour. Chronus, Libraria?

“With all your masks, I am quite curious on what more you could reveal.”

“I like hearing you talk. You're lovely to listen to, dear.”

Fucking tie. Fuck, man.

Should I bring in-?

“No.”

Wow. Not even darling doctor?

“You do remember him taking the news poorly, don't you? You're not losing memory this young, right?”

Shut upp. I just don't think good. Head so empty. Yet so full. Dammit.

Heh. Just like-

“Don't you fucking say his name.”

“Doll, do not speak of him.”

“I'm going to actually strangle you if you finish that sentence.”

“Dear. Do not complete that thought.”

I thought you guys were chill now,,

“Well, She hasn't written out what happens post White H-”

“Name.”

“Damn it.”

“Hrm. It was called Strive, was it not? The game that that incident was held in.”

Post strive?

“Hrmph. Fine enough. Back to my point, She hasn't written that yet.”

Right. Sorry about that. She'll get to it soon, I promise.

“And what's with all those Google Docs I see behind your back, vermin?”

Ermmm. Faut..... To help me cope...

“A chink in your plan, those past few hours were, right? It seems every fortunate thing comes with it's own misfortune for you. Poetic, I suppose.”

“And you wanted poetry, that's what all this has been about!”

I think Monika pities me and my poem skills.

“We keep getting off topic.”

“Can't do much. Since she's doing it all.”

Sorry. Sorry.

“How many times will you say it? When will you forgive yourself for once?”

You fucking know I'm not Faut, Chronus. I'm not you guys either. I'm not. I hate effort.

“What about your art, your writing?”

They're things I like doing. But I damn hate putting effort in things I don't like. I mean! You've seen what happened a week or two ago!

...

Ah... I'm tired..

“You're lazy. We know.”

“Perhaps it's time for your rest. After dinner, of course.”

“Heheh, rest. Yeah right. She doesn't feel any rest, does she?”

“Please take care of yourself, firefly.”

I love you.

“Hey! We're meant to say it first! Way to ruin things like you always do, cunt!”

Ahah. Thank you.

“Sentimental. Never thought I'd be here. But you keep doing your fuckery, and I'm pulled along for the ride.”

I'll make sure others love you guys.

“You should focus on loving yourself, dear.”

I don't have much.

“Still, try to push on, won't you?”

Maybe I'll have a last laugh.

Maybe I'll just be forgotten.

[sirthisisa-wendys]

Hi i just read your work and it is amazing!!!! Buuut, if its possible can you make a part 2 of Scraps? Like, the first one was so good... it kinda needs a sequel😂😂 if thats possible

Had to think about what I would write for a little bit, but I think I've got it.

Scraps (Part 2): Rindou Haitani, Ran Haitani, Kakucho Hitto, Sanzu Haruchiyo, Manjiro Sano, Hajime Kokonoi, and Takeomi Akashi x Fem!Reader

wc: 1.9k

tw: NSFW

masterlist

song recommendation:

A pussy clenching, breath hitching, thighs squeezing mess.

That's what you're reduced to as you're in class, the soundless, dual vibrator/clit sucking device hidden neatly in your underwear.

Ever since you'd been introduced to the Alpha boys, they'd made you their personal plaything. And you didn't really mind; it was something to do when things got boring around the sorority house. But sometimes... they'd take their experiments out of your scope of knowledge.

This was one of them.

You were given the toy and told that if you could hold off on cumming for twelve hours, you'd be rewarded with whatever you wanted. But you couldn't take it out, you couldn't tell anyone - oh, and you didn't know who had the remote to it. The device is only controlled by a discreet, white remote, and any one of the seven men could have it, changing the speed or the pattern of vibrations of the device. Right now, it's on a pulsing cycle, making you squirm slightly in your seat as the professor lectures about art history.

You're sitting in the very back of the lecture hall where no one would sit if they wanted to pass the class. But you're content with today being an off-day. You need to survive this challenge, first.

You can't help but think of the various dicks that would be yours for the choosing once you finish today's challenge. But it's only ten o'clock.

Ten more hours.

Around twelve, you're trying your best to keep yourself calm, sitting on the edge of your seat while you attempt a test. The speed changes from pulsing to a dull vibration, giving you a brief break from the jolts of pleasure that go straight to your clit.

"Ms. Y/n, can you come up to my desk, please? Bring your test." You look up at your professor, who is cooking her finger at you. For a moment, you wonder if she's caught on to your little predicament, but when you approach her desk, she takes your test and crumples it up before throwing it in the trash, much to your surprise. "I forgot to tell you that you have an A in the class, so you don't need to take this test." You sigh in relief, just as the vibration changes to a more intense sensation. You tense up, clenching your legs before thanking your professor and leaving the classroom quickly.

You can't take much more of this.

Around three pm, you're laying in the sorority house, face down in a pillow as you moan, the feeling of an orgasm building on top of the other six or seven ruined orgasms from earlier. But you stuff this one down with the others, tears decorating your pillowcase as you sob in frustration.

Five more hours.

_____________________________________________________________

At six o'clock, you're at your breaking point.

Dinner is at seven, but you can't even focus on anything except the buzzing between your legs. You're hazy, staring at yourself in the mirror and blinking slowly. There had been no relief, no naps, no rest from the torment, but the pink device inside of you persisted, making you want to cum over and over again. All you can do is think about algebra or something disappointing to prevent yourself from cumming all over the device and losing the challenge.

Suddenly, your phone begins to chime, and you raise it to your face, seeing "Alpha House" on the screen.

"Hello?" you breathe into the receiver, and you hear a chuckle on the other end.

"Are you okay, princess?" It's Mikey. The vibrator begins to pulse again, and you bite your lip.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?"

"Come by the house at seven-thirty. The boys are excited to see you." Mikey hangs up the phone and you stifle a loud moan, trying to keep yourself together before you meet the boys.

One hour left.

At seven-thirty, you're standing at the door of the house, and the vibrator is going crazy. You almost didn't make it across the campus without your legs going weak, but you prop yourself up against the door with a hand, quivering at you wait for the boys to answer the door.

"Little sister..." Ran answers the door, his violet eyes observing your quaking figure. "You made it." You try to step through the door, but Ran catches you in his arms, stooping to pick you up. He holds you against his chest, cooing into your ear about how you're such a good girl, and how they're going to take good care of you before the night is over. You're deposited in the den, where the other guys are, and Ran parts your legs with tender fingers, revealing the device nestled inside of your panties.

"All day, huh?" Sanzu wonders, sitting across from you on the couch and stroking your thigh. "You're such a good girl for us. Kakucho, Rindou, and Kokonoi didn't think you would make it."

"We placed bets," Rindou explains, forking his cash over to his brother with a small sigh. "But you proved me wrong." Mikey appears, his black eyes roaming over all of those present in the room before sliding and focusing on your half-dazed self on the couch, legs spread and shaking.

"Ready to guess who had the remote today?" You nod, breath quivering as you look around the room at the men. Your first bet would be on Sanzu, but you figure guessing him would be too obvious. Your second guess would be Rindou, but he also seemed like the most obvious. So you're left with Kakucho, Kokonoi, Mikey, Takeomi, and Ran. "You get three guesses."

Three guesses. Five men.

"M-Mikey?" Various members of the frat shake their heads. Of course, Mikey wouldn't, he just comes up with the ideas. Takeomi seems almost too bored with you, so he's off the list, too. Two guesses and four men. A twenty-five percent chance of getting it right.

"Kakucho?" He shakes his head, leaning on the back of a chair and blinking slowly.

"One more guess."

Kokonoi or Ran. Fifty-percent chance of getting it right. Kokonoi had a class with you today, but you didn't see him move his hands around as you watched from the back of the class at all. But the sensation also didn't change during the class. You have to take a chance, though.

"Ran." The violet-eyed man smiles, then produces the white remote from his pants.

"Smart girl."

"But how--"

"On Wednesdays, my work-study has me all over campus. Every time I saw you or walked by the sorority house, I'd change the vibration." Sanzu chuckles then looks at his watch.

"It's time, ain't it?" Mikey pulls your underwear off, leaving the lacy thing on the floor before looking at the device, then back at you.

"You earned yourself some extra credit," he begins. "Are you ready for us, pretty girl?"

"Yes," you keen, jerking your hips up. "Yes, I am."

"Good." Mikey slides the vibrator out of you and puts it up to your lips so you can taste yourself. You suck the device slowly, fingers coming down to caress your swollen clit as you suck your juices off of it.

After this, he stands you up and bends you over the back of the couch, feeling a large, warm pair of hands on your hips. "I'm not going last this time," Takeomi mutters, pants down around his ankles. "Been waiting for this all day." You're more than prepared to take his length, your pussy squelching and sucking his cock into you. "Fuck, yeah..." The slapping sounds of your backside against Takeomi's hips begin, and you moan, feeling the relief of a cock filling you up.

The other six just watch, some with their dicks out, others palming themselves over their pants. Mikey, as usual, is standing at the back of the room, watching the scene before him with crossed arms. This is his foreplay.

He enjoys watching and listening to you squeal more than anything. He enjoys having control over six men who will bend you over and use you as a willing cum dump if necessary, like a breeder who requires his bulls to try their luck with you, the lone heifer.

And it's pleasurable enough for you to keep coming back for more.

"Why don't we record this one?" Sanzu wonders and Takeomi laughs.

"You're gonna have to ask little sister, here. She might not--"

"That-that's fine," you pant.

"Just a little POV thing," Ran adds, pulling out his phone. "Make it real nice, Takeomi." You look back and watch the man inside of you point the phone at the space between your hips, watching his cock go in and out of you with a smile on his face.

"Look at that pussy... she's creaming all over my cock..."

And each frat brother waits his turn to cum in you, with Ran's being the most you've ever felt inside of you at one time, and Sanzu's being the roughest. Kokonoi is taking his turn when you feel cum sliding down your leg, and when he's done, cum drains out of you in a small flood. Your fingers, which have been running over your clit and bringing you close to climaxing, are covered in it, and you want so desperately to stick them inside of yourself and then suck them dry.

Kakucho takes his time bringing you pleasure, tweaking your nipples, and running his tongue down your back and up again. You suppose someone else is filming you two, because both of his hands are on your body as he pumps you full of cum, ghosting his fingers over the slight bulge from his long cock.

Rindou is last, and you watch Mikey pull out his own cock, stroking it while Rin slams his hips into you, making you moan louder than you thought possible. He grips your neck from behind, choking you lightly as you let drool run past your lips and onto the couch. You hear Ran complimenting his brother on his fucking, and your raise on your tiptoes, praying his dick would stop slamming into your cervix.

"Take it," Rin whispers in your ear. "You can take it, sweet girl." You choke out a cry, then grip the couch for all it's worth as Rindou lets himself go. When he pulls out, Mikey stands, his eyes focused on your face as he walks around the couch, taking the phone from Ran and pointing it at your filled and abused pussy.

"Push it all out for me, sweetheart." You obey, feeling the cum leak out of you rapidly before Mikey stands, swiping his cockhead over your pussy lips. "You haven't cum yet?" You shake your head, breathing heavily. "Go ahead and cum on my dick." Mikey enters you and fiddles with your swollen clit, bringing you back to the edge and not relenting. You get no warning prior to the orgasm crashing over you; the feeling of release almost taking you out.

"Oh my fucking god," you cry out, and Mikey pistons his hips a little faster as you clench around him.

"That's a good pussy," he grunts, left hand gripping your hip while he cums inside of you, growling low in his throat. When he's done, he backs away, watching you push out his cum, too. "Now I want you to get on the floor and lick it up," he orders you. "Lick all of our cum up."

You get on your knees and lick the puddle off the polished wooden floor, each man watching you with slack jaws. When you're done, you show Mikey your tongue. He approaches you, grabs your throat, and spits in it, closing your mouth as you swallow that, too.

"Such a good little slut, aren't you?"

[btswishes]

She what?

Jungkook x reader

Part1 / ...

A/N: Kookie needs more stories added to his masterlist section, so I am bringing you guys this. Sorry for any mistakes made, hope you like it.

Word count:  2,906

Warnings: Swearing.

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

  “Y/N! Get up it’s time for school!” your mom’s voice echoed in the house so loudly ,that even the people waiting for you outside heard her. 

“I am up!” you mirrored her energy, while running around your room “Ok ok, books, pens, ummm AH! Homework!” you were wearing only one sock on your left leg and over all looked like a mess “I swear I won’t stay up today till 3am, it really fucks me up hard!”  

“Y/N!” your mom yelled out again 

“I KNOW! FUCK!” 

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!”

“NOTHING!” throwing the bag on your back, you took a quick glance in the mirror. Fixing up the things that weren’t in order ,you looked presentable enough for school. This wasn’t a fashion show after all.

  Your footsteps filled up the house when you said goodbye to your mom and dashed outside. Leaning onto your knees you took deep and sharp breaths, trying to calm down your fight or flight reaction to oversleeping.

“Look who it is.” moving up, your eyes focused onto that familiar beanie, trying to keep in check all those dark and wild curls. 

“Whip that look off your face Kook.” Yoongi murmured under his nose “We had to drag your ass out of bed. You ain’t any better than her.” Jungkook reached and pulled you up by your hand 

“Don’t look down with this pretty face kitten.” he was smug, knowing oh so well that he was good at flirting.

“Calm yourself hot stuff. Cats also have claws.” you pulled back with a playful wink his way, which pulled out a scoff out of him. With a jump in your step you grabbed Yoongi’s arm and started pulling everyone to school. 

  A quick stop at your friend Mina’s house and you were on your way again to the 4 wall jail. 

“I see Yoongi is lookin disgusted.” she needed only one glance at him to know what happened “Let me guess, Y/N and Jungkook are being flirty earlier than usual.” Mina sighed proceeding to ask the obvious question “Yall seem to like each other, why not just, um i don’t know. Date!”

“Mina, you are misunderstanding.” Jungkook patted her shoulder 

“Me and Jungkook are just friends. He is just shitty and stuck up, thinking he is so good at flirting. I am just showing him that those skills are mad trash and won’t work on me.” you turned to look at him “Even if he chocked me!”

“Damn, you don’t have to say your kinks out loud like that sweetie.” Jungkook ran his hand gently through your hair, leaving the sensation of a light tugging  “Leave that for when we are alone.” 

“EW! I can’t with you two!” Jimin rustled his hair, shaking his head aggressively 

“ Ok ok, let’s change the subject.”Namjoon stop the conversation from drifting into a huge mess “Can we stop for a sec? I need to go buy pens.” there was a small store next to the school. Size aside, they were always stocked up with good materials since all the students visited frequently. 

  While Namjoon was buying writing supplies, Jin pulled you to the side with an alibi of fix your hair.

“Ok what is up with you and Kook lately?” he kept pulling out small clips and all kinds of things, from last night’s 3am glow up attempt 

“What do you mean?” 

“Lately all this flirting has been a bit...” 

“Too direct?” you tried to help Jin out

“Personal.” his voice was serious, the word cutting almost through the air around you “ Are we going to act like Jungkook didn’t bring kinks in a public convo?”

“He is just being the same dork as always.” you laughed out, crossing your arms in front of your chest

“I am not worried about what people are going to think of him for saying stuff like that out loud, he can deal with that himself. I am worried about miss tough bruh girl.” Jin’s lips pressed together as he looked at you. The confidence and macho behavior disappeared from your body “Are you really ok?” he turned around to make sure no one was around you two

“...honestly?” you asked him, receiving a nod “I am dyingggg Jin!”you folded like a piece of paper as the words came out “I know he is just flirting with me to prove his point, but it’s so hard to act unfazed by it. “

“Of course it is. You are head over heels for him.” Jin bluntly spoke when you hushed him, checking around yourself again

“Look. It was fine till a week ago. He became...touchy.” 

“Touchy how?” you were trying to avoid Jin’s gaze, while blushing “He um...he has been brushing his hand over me and then saying it was by mistake. He bumped into me a few days ago and got so close he almost kissed me!” your voice was a forced whisper ,as your hyper nature pushed it out from your throat like a whistle 

“He what!?” Jin gasped upon hearing all that “Shy Kook did that?” you nodded “He is a flirt, agreed. But he NEVER did anything remotely close to this. Are we 100% sure he doesn’t like you?”

“I am positive Jin. He is doing this to prove his point that any girl falls for him if he gets serious about it. Jungkook is trying to prove me wrong.”

“That is not like him t-” Namjoon’s voice pulled everyone’s attention to himself, exiting the store with a bunch of pens in hand. 

“You have like a billion of them.”  said Jin

“Yeah, but these are comfortable for exams.” Namjoon was placing them in his school bag, when Hoseok gasped 

“Wait, what do you mean for exams?” 

“We have 4 exams today.” noticing the confused faces around, Joon facepalmed himself “Yall didn’t really think they were letting us leave 3h earlier just like that, right?” the group synchronized nod was so shocking, that you could hear even Namjoon’s brain facepalm itself “I don’t know what you guys will do, just don’t fail at least.”

“Oh, I knew about the exams.” you rose your hand between the bunch of panicking creatures “Surprisingly my mom found out and made me study my ass off. I am confidant this time.” you took a few steps and stood next to Namjoon “For once i am on team Joon and honestly, I can’t lie, it feels amazing.”

“So what you are saying is that you are actually prepared for all 4 exams!?” Taehyung had to do a double check just in case he heard wrong

“Yup.”

“Better sit next to me before someone asks to cheat off you.”Namjoon said making you giggle. Your head swung in the opposite direction as you felt a strong hand grab the back of your head. Not even in a moment’s notice you came inches from Jungkook. His eyes, sharp and dark, eyeing up and down slowly.

“So this pretty head of yours got the answers?” you couldn’t move, frozen from the shock “Mind if I use some of that knowledge?”

“I- what?” you stuttered in panic.

“Jungkook you better stop acting like a kid and study!” Jin tried to be a hero and pull you by the hand, out of his grasp. Yet Kookie with an aggressive look directed towards his hyung, grabbed his wrist and curved his arm up. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” the air was tense, you could hear the silence no matter how weird that sounded. His free hand proceeded to pull you flush against himself, holding you by your waist. His hot touch felt even under the layers of clothes “I can use whatever is mine. Isn’t that right kitty cat?” 

“Jungkook don’t be a brat!” Hoseok tried to calm the atmosphere, but was met with the same energy as Jin, when he grabbed your hand. A loud smack pushed him away as Jungkook lifted you of the ground like it was nothing , throwing your body over his shoulder. His serious face changed to a childish smile when he yelled out “MINE!” and dashed towards the school building, only letting you go once you were inside and behind a wall. He was peeking to see if the others were catching up, excited from the whole situation. 

  His breath was deep and the giggling was coming out of his mouth none stop.

“Did you see the look on their face?” Jungkook turned to you, but you were still frozen from what just happened “Hey, you good?” he lowered himself to your eye level but you averted your gaze, grabbed your bag and dashed to your classroom.

“Y/N...?”

  With all the power in your legs you got to your now safe space. The desk felt secure for the first time. As you were catching your breath, Mina caught up to you. 

“What the fuck was that!” she threw her bag on the chair next to you, bashing her palms into the wooden board of your table “It was new!”

“Drop it Mina.” you didn’t want to look at her right now, but she was a persistent one 

“Nah nah, I am not doing this again. You HAVE to tell me, this isn’t formal.”   

“At this point we both need an explanation.” Jin seemed to have calmed down a bit and took a third chair, cornering you with Mina “Come on, you can trust us.” 

  A moment later you sighed deeply and looked them in the eyes. It was time to get things off your chest. “Kook is going overboard.”

“Yeah, we all saw that.”Mina drew a circle parallel to the floor, in the air “ He has been openly umm nasty.”

“Not to mention weirdly touchy.” Jin nodded as he spoke up “ He might find it fun trying to prove his stupid point, but in the end of the day you like him. It’s effecting you in more than one way.”

“ Jin is right. Acting tough like it doesn’t effect you can’t and won’t last long. What will you do when he gets a gf and stops acting like this towards you?” 

“Yes. You like it, of course but that would just crash you princess. I think you should try to move on or at least find someone else to crush over. Sounds hard but...yeah.”

“I know I know.” you grunted placing your face into your hands “It’s a mess, I shouldn’t have challenged him at all. This wouldn’t have happened at all.” 

  You were frustrated, it felt like a huge mess you made and now had to clean up on your own with only a rag and water. For a moment you forgot about the issue because of the exams. Namjoon and you were confident but not the rest of the gang, luckily Jungkook had one class with you. You were able to avoid him easily with all the running around and revising. 

  After all the stress was done, you decided to have some lunch with Jin and Mina after everyone else went home for the week. There was a moment of silence.

“Someone gonna say something?” Mina looked at you two stuffing your faces, avoiding the matter at hand “I thought we staid to talk this out.”

“You are right.” Jin sighed placing his box on top of his backpack “ The more we try to ignore it the worse it will get. I know you are frustrated Y/N but we need to do something.”

“Maybe I should really pull back and try to move on like you two said.” the floor was locking your attention in one place. 

“Or you don’t except defeat and step on his toes for once in your life.” for a three party conversation you weren’t expecting a fourth person. For a second your heart dropped till you located Taehyung

“Tae!” your body rose from the desk “Please don’t t-” he placed his hand over your mouth. The index finger of his free hand stood in front of his lips as he winked your way.  Jumping onto your desk he sat down, crossing his legs widely with his hands now in his pockets

“Relaxxx~, I am not a snitch, plus this smells to me like I can mess a bit with that little brat. His high horse has been fucking annoying all of us, well maybe expect Joon.” 

“Your plan is so bad!” Jin rolled his eyes 

“Well from what I saw so far all she did was bark back. Come on, don’t you guys see?” he flicked your forehead and leaned back after your ‘ouch’ “ She is all bark no bite. Jungkook sees her as a toy or a little puppy, nothing more. He knows he will break her down at some point.” Tae focused onto you again “Y/N you really need to grab that boy by the hair and show him that you aren’t one to be messed with.”

“On a serious note, I am on Taehyung’s side. Backing up is what he wants you to do. “ Mina clapped her hands excited about the whole plan 

“How do I even do that?” you began to panic inside again 

“First of all that attitude. Confidence is key.” Jin grabbed your shoulder “ You dress timid, I know this will sound like one of those early 2000s movies with the makeovers.” 

“But it is.” you didn’t even need to look up, you just knew. That soft yet manly voice  “What?” Jimin leaned onto Taehyung’s shoulder and smirked at you “You didn’t think I wouldn’t sniff this whole thing up, did you?”

“Guess Jimin is up for the part.”Tae fist bumped him “I got the plan already in my head.” he pulled out his phone making a small group chat with all of you in it

“We got this man!” Jimin and Tae were apparently too into the whole situation, while you were almost dripping in cold sweat 

“Ok ok.”your hands rose up “Let’s say I agree to all this. What do you want me to do?”

“Man the fuck up!” Jimin hit the table in front of you “ Pull that kid’s leash for once, he thinks he is all strong and stuff. I am so done with him and his disgusting flirting skills lately.I can’t even go to the gym without thinking about him...ugh” a shiver went through his body

“Try to be dominat for once princess.” Jin was being gentle in attempts to calm you down 

 * knock knock *

   The wood sounds creeped into your ears and your heart dropped, when you saw him. Jungkook in all his cocky glory. You panicked and grabbed your bag, trying to get past him in the most natural way possible, but his arm hit the door frame and you were staring at his veiny hand.

“Wow, where do you think you are going?” he sounded more serious than usual  “You have been ignoring me all day and then I catch all you guys having a fun looking meeting without me.” 

“I am not ignoring you, I just don’t feel that well.” you mumbled under your nose just hoping he would turn back into his old self for a moment and let you go. The day was long, filled with all kinds of emotions you weren’t ready for. You didn’t want him to be one of them. The feelings inside you were starting to bubble, there was no more space to keep them. 

“Aw.” Jungkook lifted your chin up with his finger “ I can be your medicine if you want something sweet on your tongue, baby girl.”

“Jungkook!” Jimin threw the chair back, about to start something when Taehyung grabbed his shirt stopping him “...wait...”

“Wasup hyung, why so aggressive ?” the boy leaned onto the door looking high and mighty. Your hand slowly creeped up onto Jungkook’s shoulder. His attention focused onto you once more, when your leg kicked his foot to the side. With a strong grip you pushed onto him, making the boy kneel in front of you. This was the first time he was the one looking up.

  With your free hand you swung your hair back, revealing a pissed off gaze that send a chill down Jungkook’s back, in a way he had never experienced before. 

“Listen here you little shit.” it sounded like a low growl of frustration “I said I don’t feel good, but you insist on being all macho manly and annoying me. Next time.” you squatted down slowly making him follow you as you came down to eye level “ When I say move, you will be a good little boy and what?”

“...move.” the room was shook by the fact he followed your lead calmly . You eyed his lips making him feel something beep inside his chest, as your index and middle finger gently caressed them 

“Louder!” you snapped him out of the trans as you got up suddenly. 

“I will move!” he almost yelled out

“Good.” with the bag swung over your shoulder you walked out of the room with a strong step. The moment you were outside the school, you got back to your senses and the situation sunk in. The dash you did towards your house was Olympic level. You had no idea what happened in the classroom, but you didn’t even want to think about it after what you just did.

[mlmdarkfiction]

Can I request maybe headcanons or whatevers easiest about a classmate who's affectionate to everyone so in turn him too. How would he be affected? Maybe he'd noticed or not but they're just a bit more affectionate to him. (Is this too fluffy? Do you write about more darker content? Apologies, I'm kinda new to your blog)

(Anon that was asking questions) I forgot to add the part where it should probably just be morbidly sweet I think.

No worries! I don’t just do darker content, in fact I think as of recently my blogs had a good middle ground of dark and not dark…Not to mention Hubert just deserves some morbidly cute fluff tbh…like…tbh…

This reader is basically just Mercedes but in the Black Eagles and a dude and you know what…that’s good. 

I’m doing HC’s and a fic because I really don’t like how the fic came out and I wanted to trash it but I already wrote this whole ass fic so I’m not throwing it out.

Head Canons:

OH HUBERT ABSOLUTELY NOTICES

Every single person that comes int his and Edelgards lives are looked over with a microscope.

That includes you. 

If you’re a noble he’s IMMEDIATELY far more suspicious of you than he would be if you’re simply a commoner. 

He concludes early on that you’re harmless, and more than that that one day your kindness is going to get you killed. 

Still he’s not oblivious to the way you linger around him, to the specific and different kindness you show him outside of the rest of the class. 

Hubert never does anything about it. 

At least until you stop, either because you’re busy with something else, or anything else. 

If you’re gone for a long period time, away from Hubert, then…

He will soon come to find how much he dislikes it when you’re not nearby, or when he can’t hear your joyful voice conversing with someone else. 

Of course he never expected to feel such things really…ever or for anyone. 

He feels an immense guilt about his feelings. 

Because you are a good person, and he is, in most peoples eyes, including his own, not. 

He fears to taint you.

But his own selfish whims outweigh these worries, as Hubert struggles to think of what his life would be like now without you in it, and how he would cope. 

More than anything else he hopes that when Edelgard’s plans begin to take hold that you’ll stay by his (and by extension her, side)

Fic:

Read on AO3:

Read Below: 

When you first joined the academy, no one, including Hubert, knew very much about you. And so, it took very little time for Hubert to decide he needed to know everything. After all what kind of retainer would he be if he didn’t look into the lives of every single person in their house?  Every single person who was going to be spending any long periods of time with Edelgard were going to be under his microscope.

What he’s found was…

Nothing of interest.

Your background was clean.

You weren’t from a family of nobles at all, you’d been recommended for Garreg Mach after making incredibly high marks at the Mage Academy in the Kingdom.

It was, for a time, enough to relax Hubert about your presence amongst them at the Monastery.

Then you became comfortable.

And the more comfortable you became, the more your true colors showed.

-

“Um- Everyone!”

You’re embarrassed, cheeks burning red as you hide the sweets you’d made behind your back. The professor had given you permission to give the cupcakes to everyone before todays mission.

A small moral boost curtesy of some sweet treats.

“I made cupcakes…as a reminder for us all to do our best out there today!”

The tray of treats moves so you can present them to everyone. Admittedly you’re not the best baker, but you thought it’s the thought that counts right?

You had even gone as far as to ice them accordingly, black on one side, red on the other.

“Oh, you’re the best ____!” Caspar is on you in an instant taking one of your cupcakes and proceeding to take a huge bite.

The others slowly file forward to get cupcakes as well, even the Princess herself.

“Thank you, ____. This is very sweet of you.”

Seeing everyone eating cupcakes and having a good time before the mission…

It makes you happy and warms your heart!

Eventually you notice though, the one remaining cupcake. You hadn’t made one for yourself, only for the Professor and your classmates.

Quickly you scan the classroom to find the cupcake less person.

Hubert.

You’re not really…surprised by this. You don’t think you’ve ever had a proper conversation with the man before, although not for any particular reason.

Better late then never.

You take up the plate containing the last cupcake before making your way to where he stands by the door.

“Would you like a cupcake, Hubert?”

He’s surprised. The emotions only there for a moment, you see it in his eyes, but as quick as it were there it was gone.

“What about yourself?”

His eyes are scrutinizing you.

“Oh! I ate all the messed-up ones,” You admit a little flustered. “So, I’ve eaten a lot of sweets. This one is for you.”

He takes the cupcake. That’s all you can ask of him.

“I hope you like it!”

Feeling as though he’d rather be left to himself, you leave his side, going to speak with Dorothea, not noticing the way his eyes continue to follow you as he takes a bite of the cupcake.

-

The days battle had ended in a win for the Black Eagles, but Hubert had been injured.

“Sit still.”

You tell him softly, hands glowing white as you work on his wounds.

“I can’t Lady Edelgard-“

“Edelgard is fine. She’s with the professor.”

Hubert tenses, but then relaxes.

“You don’t need to heal me. Manuela can take care of it once we return to the Academy.”

“There’s no point in your suffering any longer than you have to,”

He’s quite stubborn, it almost makes you smile, but you don’t relent.

“There…See? All better.”

“…”

“We won!” Edelgard says as the two of you finally catch up with your classmates.

“We should all celebrate! What do you think Professor?”

Byleth nods in agreement.

“See?” You gently nudge Hubert.

“If you waited until we got back to get healed, you’d miss the celebration.”

“Well we wouldn’t want that,”

He’s clearly being sarcastic, you can tell, but as you look over, he’s actually smiling.

You swear you feel your heart skip a beat.

-

You are…a good person.

The more time Hubert spends with you, the more he finds himself sure of this fact.

And it’s why he can’t understand the way you seem to seek him out.

Sure, you’re nice to everyone.

All the Black Eagles know that they can rely on you for quite literally anything, Hubert including, but still…

Time and time again, if you have free time you seek him out.

You ask him to share meals with you, to help you in the kitchen, to join you in the sauna, or to test your magic prowess against one another.

Before he never would have found himself the type to enjoy such attentions or affections before now.

He doesn’t know how to tell you that he enjoys being around you.

He doesn’t know want he should do to repay you for all the kindness you share.

Maybe he doesn’t have to.

Maybe things can just remain the two of you, happy like this, for the rest of your days at the Academy.

By the time Lady Edelgard’s plan is coming into fruition, he’ll have made his own plan to assure you and your kindness will remain by his side.

[yuna-dan]

Hey are you still doing the dodie prompts? If so- 9, Prinxiety

Hey, both of you! Thank you so so much!! I really hope you like this one, I did enjoyed writing it, haha.

-

Warning: One-side Anxceit AND one-side Prinxiety. It’ll make sense. Not bad deceit per se, but not good either. Human AU.

--

When Virgil decided to break-up with Damien, it was the last time. He had given so many opportunities to him to change, to improve, to give him a sign that he cared about that relationship just as much as Virgil cared.

He didn’t, so when Virgil broke up with him, for the ninth time, it was for the good. He wasn’t going to fall for any more of Damien’s tricks.

-

It went okay for a few months. Damien still sent him some texts, and Virgil still answered but he wasn’t going to fall again. No.

Even if a small part of him wished for Damien to care about it.

-

When school started again, Virgil was slightly relieved, since now he wouldn’t have to share most of his classes with his ex, even if they still talked it was quite uncomfortable for Virgil, at least.

It was in the second period when he met him, and at that moment he didn’t care much about him. Mr. Sanders, the Chemistry teacher, presented him.

“Hey, people, we have two new students. Please guys, introduced yourselves.”

Virgil didn’t pay much attention to them, just the basic I’m Roman and I’m Remus. It wasn’t until Roman (or was it Remus?) sat next to him, “Can I be your science partner? I really don’t want to work with my brother.” 

“Uh, sure. I don’t mind.” 

Roman smiled, and Virgil didn’t think much about it, but he couldn’t help but noticed what a beautiful smile he had.

--

Virgil didn’t realize how much his life change by becoming his chemistry partner until he was in Roman’s room, playing Mario Kart and laughing his ass off. It wasn’t as if he they became best friend at the beginning, no. It took some time, Virgil being a procrastinator and Roman wanting to work in the chemistry project since day one, but at the end of the day, it was okay.

Patton said they completed each other. Virgil still couldn’t believe he had more friends since becoming Roman’s chem partner. He even got along with Remus, even if sometimes he creeped the fuck out of him.

He almost forgot about Damien. Almost being the key word.

-

Virgil couldn’t believe he was once again crying because of him. He gripped the edge of his hoodie and clean harshly his eyes. 

Damien, fucking Damien and his inability to fucking compromise I just hope you never forget how much I do love you, Virgil. It was never my intention to hurt you like that.

And what was he supposed to do with that apologize? 

Virgil knew he better got his shit together; he was crying in the school for fuck sake. He cleaned once again his eyes, and prayed it looked as if he was tired and not as he just cried his eyes out inside a janitor closet.

He took out his phone, to check what class he had next. History, and since he was pretty good at that, he going to skip that class and sleep in the school gardens, yes. 

Virgil was just ready to leave the building and go to the garden, when Roman bumped him.

“Oh, hey Virgil, I was just about to text you…” Roman checked his face, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” He lied, “I was going to sleep a little, I feel very tired.”

Roman hummed, clearly not buying the lied, “Okay, I’ll keep you company, if that’s alright?”

And Virgil just started to cry again, and Roman held him. They walked together around the gardens, while Virgil talked, talked and talked about Damien, about how he knew how he wasn’t bad but goddamit.

Roman kissed his temple, “You deserve better, Vi.”

And Virgil may not have known this, but Roman’s heart ache by seeing his friend crying, you deserve better, Vi, hopefully I can be that.

--

It had been two months since the last time Virgil talked or text for the matter, with Damien.

The thing was, that the only person in the world who knew that Virgil loved pink roses was Damien, so when he opened his door and found a bouquet of pink roses, he instantly thought of him.

He rolled his eyes, and when he was about to throw them into the trash and forget about them, he saw the letter with a big golden R. 

For the best friend I could ever asked for,

-Roman D. Prince

Virgil couldn’t help but smile and feel some buttery thing inside his stomach.

On his locker he found a box of strawberries, because he didn’t like chocolate.

Then a bracelet, and finally Roman holding more flowers, with Remus and Logan holding a sign that read Prom with me? Please? and Patton taking photos with his phone in the middle of the school gardens. Virgil chuckled because only Patton was enjoying this.

Virgil was so fucking sure he hated great and big gestures, but at the moment he loved it. 

“Of course, you big sap.” Roman hugged him, and the people who were filming and watching awwed.

Virgil loved it.

--

He was in his room, smiling at the photos that Patton tagged him on Facebook, when he received Damien’s call. 

He ignored it, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly proud of himself.

--

The days that followed before Prom night, was full of Roman always holding Virgil’s hand, and constant emoji kisses, and here I bought this because I thought about you.

It was as if Roman was almost waiting for him, and it was such a beautiful cliché.

And Virgil felt slightly guilty because he really liked roman’s attention, but at the same time he knew that if Damien asked him again, he would probably say yes.

-

When prom night arrived, Virgil and Roman were using matching suits. Roman picked him up and held his hand.

“Thanks for this, Virgil.” He squeezed his hand.

And when they slow-danced together, Virgil kissed him for the first time.

-

Damien confronted him one day, at his house, “You don’t even like those things, Virgil!”

“Why do you care?!” Virgil snapped, “Suddenly, when I finally move on, you suddenly care about us?!”

“I have always care about you, Vi.” He said, softly, getting closer. Virgil tensed, but didn’t moved, “Please…” He pecked his lips. “You don’t even like him,” he grabbed his hands, “You love me.”

Virgil took a step back, “I do like him, De.” He said, and with the back of his hand he cleaned his lips, “and I loved you, so very much.”

He opened the door, “Sadly for you, I’ve learned to love myself, so you better watch me fall for every damn stereotype.” He took a deep breath, fighting the tears back, “Out. Now.”

He did cry that night.

Later, he texted Roman.

damien came at my home

-V.V

He saw the status of Roman changing from typing… to online at least three times.

And? How are you feeling?

-R.P

Virgil chuckled, wondering how he manage to find someone as amazing as Roman.

emotionally drained

he pecked my lips

but I kick him out 

sorry

-V.V

Virgil felt his heart drumming into his ribcage as Roman’s status was typing…

I’m mad, but with him, dw.

Wanna talk about it?

-R.P

No, not really.

-V.V

So, lunch tomorrow, sweetheart? 

-R.P

Virgil sent him an emoji heart.

--

Two months later, Virgil asked Roman to be his boyfriend, to became official.

That day Virgil blocked Damien from all social media.

-

They were laying on Roman’s couch, waiting for Remus and Logan to bring food, while Patton was in the kitchen doing something. Virgil’s head was on Roman’s chest, and it felt so natural.

“Roman?”

“Yes?”

“I think I love you.”

Roman smiled as if someone told him he won the lottery, “I love you too, Vi.”

Yes, he really loved Roman, and it couldn’t be happier.

--

I believe De really loved Vi, but he was still an idiot.

Thanks for submitting!!

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Tag List: @awkwardkindanerd @logically-asexual @just-some-gt-trash @theunoriginaldaisy

[peqachy]

Among Us Writing Anyone??

It’s been three days since we left MIRA HQ, each of the crew doing their part to repair any damages to the ship, or, as it’s officially called by White, The SKLED. To be frank, the ship is rather small, mainly consisting of eight different areas that anyone can travel through with ease, the maximum time it takes to get from navigation to reactor is about three minutes when walking and the tasks on the ship are mostly basic material that I was already briefed on by Cyan (otherwise known as Mother). Which leaves one question stirring in my head, How do I medbay scan again? Peering around in a lost manner, I try to spot my partner Black (otherwise know as X). Why is it that he always disappears when I need him mo-oh! Out of the corner of my eye, I briefly catch the sight of the security camera’s light flashing red. He must be in security! Trotting down the hall towards upper engine, I spot Blue walking around by himself. Wasn’t he with Mother earlier? I thought with confusion, but quickly brush it off. She must have left to do a task. I conclude as I continue to trot towards security.

“Ah, Red, where are you going?” Blue asks suddenly, catching me by my elbow as I walk past him.

“I’m on my way to security to ask Black how to do the medbay scan!” I chirp back in response, noticing how he bites his nude-pink lower lip, “Is something wrong Blue?”

He blinks at my question, “Ah, no, everything is fine! How about I help you with medbay instead since I’m heading there myself.”

“Oh, you are? That sounds great, thank you for helping me Blue!” I cheer, following him like a lost puppy.

“My name is Ein, in case you were wondering,” he says shyly, a light shade of red dusting his redwood colored cheeks.

“Pleasure to meet you Ein, I’m Luca,” I reply happily, observing how his pale olive green eyes dart from my gaze to the floor.

“The pleasure is all mine...” he mumbles quietly, only loud enough for me to hear.

As we enter medbay, we run into Pink and Orange (they’re the resident couple on the ship), “Ah, Pink, Orange, you’re just in time. Red here needs help with her med scan!”

“She does? Alrighty! Come with me dear and I’ll show you the ropes!” Pink says, clapping her hands together in a friendly manner, “Lucky for you, I was just about to do a med scan myself!”

Following Pink into medbay, I glance over my shoulder at Orange and Blue. They seemed to be caught up in a conversation, standing off to the right of the doorway. Odd, doesn’t Blue have a medbay task as well? My brows furrow in confusion, once again feeling perplexed with Blue’s strange behavior as a chill runs up my spine. No, you’re imagining things Luca, he isn’t suspicious. 

Oh, right, probably forgot to mention this huh? As of yesterday, at 11:00 pm, all of the crew was notified of two impostors hiding aboard The SKLED in plain sight. Since then, everyone has been staying in pairs to avoid being alone. Although, in my opinion, it’s a pretty dumb idea seeing as the impostors can easily kill their partner and then come up with an excuse as to why they weren’t with them.

“You’re new to the MIRA ship crew aren’t you, Red?” Pink asks after some shuffling, bringing my attention from the doorway to her.

Instantly, my pale olive cheeks are lit a flame by the sight of her half-naked form, “W---wh--what are you doing?!”

My screech of distress causes her to laugh, a smile causing her dark chocolate colored cheeks to tighten, “Calm down, love, this is mandatory if you want to get an accurate reading on the med scan.”

“It is?”

“Yep! Dressing down to the bare minimum helps the machine get a better scan, which means approval from Home.”  she replies to my question expertly, pointing to a little green button next to a lighter green screen, “This button starts up the scanner. For right now, you and I can press the button for each other, but you won’t always have a partner who can help you with this. Luckily, there is a ten second timer on the scanner that allows you to get on it before it begins to scan, but that may take a few attempts before you get the hang of it.”

“Wow, that’s such a helpful tip Pink!” I chirp with a grin, pressing the button for her as she stands tall on the scanner.

After Pink’s scan, something terrifying happens. At first, I thought it was just a message from X, wondering where we should regroup, but when I looked at my tablet my blood ran cold. A---a body has been reported?! Horror fixes itself on both our faces, Pink’s milky sky blue eyes stare into mine with shock before she hurriedly puts her uniform back on.

“Pink...” my voice cracks with fear, my body trembling as my stomach sinks.

“I know, I know, com’ on, we’ve got a meeting to attend,” she speaks with hooded eyes, her jaw tense as she fixes her clothes.

From the look in her eyes I can tell something is up, but I am too afraid to speak up about it. Just keep to yourself for right now...there’s no reason to be hasty. I think as I quietly follow Pink to the cafeteria, my eyes scanning the brightly lit hallway for anything of suspicion. To my relief, there’s nothing suspicious to speak of. I hope X is okay... I thought, my hands feeling clammy and my face being drained of all it’s color. Oh god, please don’t let him be dead! Looking at the table, I notice Pink and I are the last ones to arrive at the table for discussion. Spotting X on the other side of the discussion table I wave goodbye to Pink before trotting over to my partner, the two of us sharing a hug of relief seeing as we’re both still alive.

“Alright, seeing as we are all present, Black, tell us what you found,” White says coolly, remaining calm in a terrifying situation.

“First, I would like to know where everyone was before I say where the body was found, “ X responds, just as calmly as White.

How are they so calm? It’s almost unnerving. Swallowing thickly, I decide to speak up at least once, “Blue, Orange, Pink, and I were at med bay, Pink was helping me figure out the scanner...”

“Blue, Orange, Pink, can you confirm this information?” Yellow asks, most likely trying to see if my alibi is accurate.

“Yes, this is true, although I’m not sure why Red and Blue were together in the first place. You did split us up into specific pairs for easier management remember?” Orange speaks with narrowed brown eyes towards Ein, obviously suspicious of him.

“I was on my way to find Black in security when I bumped into Blue walking up from reactor. He asked where I was going, so I told him and then he offered to help me,” I answer simply, feeling a need to defend myself even though I wasn’t accused.

“Alright, Red is cleared. Blue, what’s your story?” White nods approvingly, the sigh of relief X lets out not going unnoticed by the rest of us.

As Ein explains himself, I glance at X from the corner of my eye. Stress is apparent on his features, beads of sweat rolling down his pale skin like a spray of bullets. Slipping my hand to the side to have it rest on his, I give it a gentle squeeze of assurance. His partner was just semi-accused, makes sense for him to be nervous now. I thought, my expression contorting into a look of pity. He looks back at me, a small nervous smile on his lips as his hand turns over to squeeze mine back.

“....and that’s how I met up with Red.” Ein finishes, still looking cool and collected whilst explaining himself.

I can’t tell if he’s lying or not. I think nervously, his alibi sounding solid from what I paid attention to. But there has to be pieces that don’t fit together!

“That’s a good alibi, Blue, or at least it would be if I couldn’t prove your story wrong,” Lime says sternly, pointing to Ein with an accusing finger, “While Cyan did have trouble with her card, you stood there and waited for her! After that, Cyan said her last task was aliening the engines while you said your last task was inspecting a sample in med bay! If you’re a true crew-mate, why would you lie about where you were before Cyan was murdered!?” 

“How do you know we left together? You weren’t in admin with us, “ the retort was swift and sharp, a glare fixed on Ein’s face as he defends himself sharply.

“You’re right, when you two left together, I wasn’t in side of admin, but I was emptying the trash shoot whenever I heard Cyan cry out in frustration about the card reader! Not only that, but when I was fixing wires in storage, I heard Cyan say she needed to swing by the engines to realign them! You have no excuse for not being by her side when you bumped into Red!” Lime nearly shouts, appalled by Ein’s assumption.

“Lime calm yourself, Cyan’s murderer will be brought to justice, “ Brown jumps in, quick to defuse the rage in Lime’s hazel eyes before he can get out of hand.

“Right, sorry, guess I got too worked up,” Lime apologizes with a weary glance over in Ein’s direction, a nasty glare replacing it when he spots Ein’s smirking lips.

“Blue, “ White speaks up over the growing tension, earning everyone’s attentions just as easily as a captain would, “ The evidence we’ve been given is strongly against you, if you cannot get a solid, trust worthy alibi in the next three minutes then we’ll have no choice but to eject you.”

“But Black hasn’t even said where the body was! How are you certain it was me?!” Ein roars back with defiance, a scowl directed towards the silver haired male whom has lead us all up to this point with narrowed blue-green eyes as rugged as raw jasper, “Fine, you want the truth? I’ll tell you the truth! I left Cyan to start up the reactor! The last time I saw Cyan alive and well was when she was talking to Black!”

“Don’t try and blame your murder on me Blue. You’re the last person I saw with her while I was on cameras. Shortly after I saw you two together, Cyan turned up dead in the lower engine room! That’s not just a coincidence! You killed your partner in cold blood and tried to cover your absence by pairing up with someone who was partner-less at the time!” X’s argument was too valid to be over looked, and oddly specific too.

“You’re lying! You’re the one who killed her!!” Ein’s retort is desperate, realization setting in whenever our tablets begin to ding for a vote.

“I could be, “ X pauses to cast his vote against Ein, “But you could be lying too. This situation is more of who do I trust more right now, Blue or Black.”

If X is telling the truth, and Ein truly is the impostor then... Timidly I press the icon for Ein, hitting the green check mark that appears to cast my vote. In a flash the votes are tallied, majority voting for Ein while the rest, such as Pink and Green who vote for X. After the vote were tallied, White and Orange grab a hold of Ein, dragging him to the airlock without hesitation. The entire way there, Ein struggles, shouting and yelling to me to stop them, but I know I can’t. Begrudgingly, I force myself to turn away, covering my ears with trembling hands. Why is this happening? What did we do to deserve this? Despite my covered ears I could still hear Ein’s shouts, the cries for justice only stopping when the air lock opens to release him into space.

Blue was ejected.

[ilovethings-somuch]

Nervous?

Bucky Barnes x Reader

A/N: @loricameback requested a fluffy bucky fic from me a while™ ago and I finally finished it! so yeah, this is just a lot of fluffy surrounding one of Tony’s parties.

“You know, we could just stay in bed all day,” Bucky suggests as I make my first attempt at getting up, though I don’t make it very far as Bucky pulls me back against his chest once again. 

“Bucky,” I half laugh half sigh at his antics.

“It’s only 9,” he insists, “there’s no reason to be getting up this early.” 

I turn in his arms to face him as I remind him, “except for the fact that you insisted I take up Pepper on her offer to have a spa day with the girls today.” 

“I don’t remember that.” 

“Oh, well it’s a good thing I have it in writing” I quip and make a move to reach for my phone. 

But Bucky is faster than me and before I can get too far he has managed to roll us completely so that he’s straddling my waist, holding me in place in the center of the bed. I can’t help the fit of laughter that bubbles out of me at the lengths Bucky was willing to go to just to keep me from reaching my phone and prove him wrong. 

“There’s no need for that,” he chuckles along to my laughter.

After a beat, he leans down for a kiss. I’m determined not to let him deepen it too far, as I still have to be out the door in an hour, but when he moves down to suck a spot on my neck I almost lose my resolve. 

“Bucky, I still need to get up.” 

“Don’t you worry, I’m just getting you pre-relaxed for your massage,” he insists with a glint in his eye. 

                                ________________________________

When I finally make it out the door I’m running a few minutes late and all the girls are hanging around in the lobby of the tower. I apologize repeatedly as I walk to meet them but they all insist it was fine. Pepper informs us all that the car would be here in a few minutes so we make our way onto the sidewalk to meet it. Wanda brushes my arm with her hand before linking our elbows together. 

“Did you have an eventful morning?” she winks at me. 

“Hey, my brain, get out,” I pout at her. 

“It’s a little hard when you’re thoughts are so loud. I could hear you the moment your elevator opened. ‘God, they’re going to know I was late because I decided to have morning sex,’” she imitates me thought perfectly. “‘Is this an all-day robes kind of spa day? He better have made that mark high enough’” 

“Wanda!” I shout, making some of the other girls look our way. Wanda throws her head back laughing and our car arrives just in time to keep anyone from asking questions. 

                               ________________________________

When we arrive at the spa, Pepper has essentially rented out the whole building, so we’re free to do whatever activity we want whenever we want. A few girls head straight for the saunas, some head for mani’s and peti’s, but I go straight for the full-body massage. Annoyingly, Bucky was right and my body was relaxed the moment I landed on the table. As the masseuse tackled knots throughout my shoulders, my mind began to wander. 

First, I began to fret about the party tonight. Worrying that I chose the wrong dress, or that something embarrassing would happen. I quickly decided that those thoughts were only making me tense up more, so I switched to happier thoughts. Of course, that mostly meant thoughts about Bucky. It wasn’t long before I was thinking back to our first date. The way he was visibly nervous, his leg shaking under the table the whole time. Then, when he walked me back to my apartment all I wanted was for him to kiss me. He did, but only on the cheek. I guess he knew how to keep a girl wanting more. 

On our second date, I tried to plan something that wouldn’t make him so nervous. Instead of going to a restaurant, I invited him to my place and we cooked together. That Bucky, the one who relaxed enough to sway along to some music, the one who laughed as I sang poorly to him, the one who was a better cook than I was, that’s the Bucky that really made me fall. I was determined, going into our second date, to get a real kiss goodnight. 

It was pushing midnight when we both realized how late it was. Part of me wanted to invite him to just stay the night, but I knew that would imply that I wanted more and I didn’t think either of us were ready for that just yet. Instead, we had a few awkward pauses and starts as he made his way to the door. 

“Thanks for inviting me here,” he said shyly. “I had a really good time tonight.” 

“Thanks for cooking with me,” I replied.

He shrugged his coat on and met my eyes again. I could tell he was considering what his move should be, and instead of waiting another awkward minute, I decided to make the move for him. Moving forward the few inches to meet him, my hand cupped his stubbly jaw, and I drew our lips together in one soft kiss. When I pulled back, the look on his face was unreadable. 

“I’m sorry, I just, I thought–” before I could make up some weird excuse, Bucky was kissing me again. This one was deeper, there was more emotion behind it as both of us finally know how much the other truly wanted this. 

“Wow,” I breathed when we eventually broke apart. 

“We should’ve been doing that all night,” Bucky laughed. 

“Hey, now we have a plan for next time.” 

That was a year and a half ago. It’s odd to think back to a time when Bucky wasn’t in my life. We grew accustomed to each other so quickly that it seems like we’ve just always been this way.  

I’m drawn back to the present as the time for my massage wraps up. I catch up with Wanda in time for us to get our nails done together and before I know it, it’s time to head back to the tower. 

Bucky is still lounging around in sweat pants when I get back. He smiles lazily at me as I approach him and opens his arms for me to join him on the couch. 

“It’s really not fair,” I grumble to him. 

“What’s that?” 

“How I spend most of the day getting ready for these parties and you only need to spend a few minutes.” 

Bucky’s laugh vibrates through my cheek on his chest before he kisses the top of my head, “you and I both know you don’t have to spend the whole day getting ready, you just like to.” 

“That’s debatable,” I shrug and snuggle a little closer to him. 

“Speaking of getting ready though, I do need to shower,” he hints, knowing that if I get too comfortable I’ll never let him up. 

“You wait until the moment I get back to shower?” 

“I’m sorry. You’re free to join me.” 

“Though the offer is tempting, I think I need my nails to set more before I get them too wet.” 

Bucky slowly untangles himself from myself and a blanket, laughing as I make it more difficult than it needs to be by clinging to whatever part of him I can get my hands on. He eventually escapes, though, and I can still hear him chuckling from the bathroom. 

While he’s busy I decide to begin getting my makeup on. I stick to a more natural look, not going too bold on the eyeshadow, and picking a lipstick that simply accents my natural lip color. Bucky has finished showering and his mostly dressed by the time my makeup is done. He sits, looking at his phone, while I finish, only finishing his own look with his tie after he’s zipped my dress. 

By the time we make it up to the rooftop, the party is already in full swing. Nat and Wanda motion us over to the bar as soon as we enter. Bucky calls over the bartender to make us some drinks as Nat, Wanda, and I do the obligatory gush over each other’s outfits. Bucky spends some time chatting with us before he spots Steve and Sam and dips out of our conversation. 

Though I’m fully engrossed in Wanda’s story about the new way she’s learning to use her power, I keep tabs on Bucky as he crosses the room, enjoying the way his shoulders sway with confidence. As more people enter the rooftop I begin to lose track of Bucky’s whereabouts. It’s about an hour later when I hear a bit of commotion by the bar and look over to see none other than Bucky flipping bottles behind the bar. It’s something that happens almost every party, there were a few where he stopped after breaking a bottle, but it seems his confidence is back. That or someone challenged him and, with Thor’s Asgardian liquor in his bloodstream, he has a hard time saying no. 

“He always makes me nervous with these antics,” I tell Wanda. She only laughs in response, but as he comes out from behind the bar without breaking any bottles we both let out a little sigh of relief. 

Bucky stops to hand me the drink he so impressively made and a kiss on the cheek before heading off towards the pool tables with Sam. 

“How’s the drink?” Wanda asks. 

I take a tentative sip and grimace slightly, “I think this is just straight whiskey and rum.” I hand it over for her to taste and she quickly agrees with me. 

“I think I saw him with a bottle of vodka too.” 

“He’s just trying to get me trashed apparently,” I laugh. 

It isn’t long after that that Bucky comes back and asks me to dance. I agree easily, handing my drink to Wanda for safekeeping. Bucky leads me onto the dance floor before spinning me into him and swaying easily to the music. 

“Rumor has it, I make you nervous,” Bucky smirked devilishly after a few moments of silence.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I question, laughing at his antics. 

“I heard you and Wanda by the bar, something about how I still make you nervous?” 

“Yeah, when you’re throwing Tony’s most expensive bottle of whiskey around to show off, it does make me a little nervous.” Bucky’s ears begin to turn red as he understands where he went wrong. “Especially considering the fact that you and Tony aren’t exactly on the best terms yet, since you haven’t finished paying off the last bottle you broke.”

“Hey, you know that only happened because-”

“Becuase Sam got in the way,” I finish for him. “Don’t worry, I know.” 

“Besides, I didn’t break anything today so I think I’m redeeming myself.” 

“Of course you are,” I giggle. “Your bottle flipping skills are very impressive, even if you don’t know how to make a drink that tastes very good.” 

Bucky opens his mouth to argue but quickly shuts it again, “I forgot the mixer didn’t I?” 

“You most definitely did.” He grimaces as he thinks about it. “But at least I got the hottest bartender to make me a special drink. I don’t know what I did to earn that.” 

“I think it had something to do with that dress,” Bucky says, holding me an arm's length away to look over my figure. I feel my face heat up at his compliment and can’t seem to make myself meet his eye. “Am I making you nervous again?” Bucky teases.

“Not nervous, excited.”

                               ________________________________

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[literalloserforhanzo]

Happy Late Birthday ♥

Hanzo x Reader Oneshot  ♥

Short summary: Hanzo is a busy man and misses readers birthday. To make up for it, he plans out something special for her.  WARNING! EXTREME CHEESE AND FLUFF!!!  This fic is dedicated for mah lovely friend Viri <3 (who’s bday was last month lol)

________________________________________

“Mrs (Y/L/N)!”

“Yes Sophia?”

“Did I write this right?”

The little girl handed you her exercise booklet.

Your eyes glided from the top to the bottom of the paper curiously, scanning it for spelling and grammar errors.

“You did a good job for your first essay, I found something though. You got the tenses mixed up here “ you pointed towards a word, “ and here.

Go back to the pages we read together last lesson and correct it before class ends. “

Sophia took her booklet back and nodded, before she turned around and walked back to her seat.

With a sigh you checked your watch and quickly after, you peeked at your phone.

No messages.

Nothing.

The view upset you, but it was no surprise. People wouldn't want to bother you at work and the majority of your friends were at work themselves. Especially the person, whose message you were awaiting the most, would be the last in terms of capability to answer.

He was most likely busy snapping someone's neck or piercing their skull with an arrow.

The thought of that sent a shiver through your spine.

Your best friend was an undercover agent for the government, basically the one, who does the dirtiest work. Everybody thinks, that those who work such jobs are cold hearted monsters, far from human and reckless in any way possible and to someone who'd only get to know him briefly, the description would be spot on, but as someone,who actually means something to him, you have more than enough reasons to negate those accusations.

There aren't enough synonyms for lovely and caring, to gather a description of this man you called your best friend.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a group of girls' loud chats and laughter in the corner of the class room, which quickly found an end once you met their gigglish looks with a raised brow and the obnoxiously loud clearing of your throat.

It was one in the afternoon and you just finished writing the homework onto the blackboard for the students to copy, when you realized, that something was off. Usually one or two students were already eager to leave minutes before the end and had their stuff packed to run off, once the bell rang. For some reason, all of them were strangely calm and their items were still spread all over the tables, as if they were still up to something. You washed your hands to get rid of the chalk dust on your fingers and returned back to your table, when suddenly all the children got up and formed a semicircle around you and began singing.

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday Mrs. (Y/L/N),

Happy Birthday to you!”

The children began to cheer and the two class representatives handed you a bouquet of flowers and a small packed gift, you were asked to open right away. You ripped open the paper and your pupils widened instantly. You were holding a set of extremely expensive paint brushes.

“This is so lovely! Thank you all so much! I can't believe you planned this all alone!”

The children looked at each other in joy and with proud expressions due to your praise.

Even though you were a language teacher, your love for art and painting was known amongst both your colleagues and your students.

Thanking your class a few more times, you hugged each student, before they eagerly packed their belongings and made their way out of the class room.

By the time the last student left you were done packing as well. You locked the classroom and walked to your car. With a thud, you closed the door and breathed out, enjoying the sudden silence as the voices of playing children were no longer in your ears.

The brushes were something you always hesitated to buy, since they were really, really pricey but now, they were yours and your mind was already flooded with ideas of what to paint first. It's been a while that you discovered them and toyed around with the thought of a purchase, literally telling everyone about how good they are, hoping to receive them as a present. As always, your genius plan worked as intended.

You couldn't wait to show them to your best friend of to surprise him with a really good painting.

Unfortunately the joy of thinking about said action vanished as fast as it appeared. He wasn't in town. Probably not even in the same country or continent. His work was top secret and he said you would be better off knowing less. You were absolutely clueless, about where he was at the moment or when he would come back, it was common for some of his duties to take longer than expected. You had just wished, that maybe this time he would be back in time. You decided not to linger on sad thoughts and drove to your parents place, who were awaiting you impatiently.

One week later.

Hanzo's POV

It's morning.

“Excellent work like always Mr.Shimada. Just like I expected it from a man like you.”

You got up from your bowing position and looked into the eyes of your boss.

“You honor me!”

“We sent that naïve simpleton our regards, they won't get in our way any time soon.”

You nodded in agreement, not knowing what else to add.

“Well well.... you look tired. The mission is over, you may go home unless you still have anything to say.”

You shook your head. “No, I am finished.”

“There is a limousine waiting to escort you home.”

You bowed down again. “Thank you.”

“You're always so formal. I guess that's a sign that you're parents raised you well.”

Your boss groaned. “Speaking of parents... I totally forgot that I have to call my wife's mother today. I guess it has to be another golden Rolex this year unless I want to hear complaints for months … Every birthday my wife wants something even more extra ordinary for her mother. I just wish she would leave me out of her plans each time.”

Birthday..... Oh god …. Oh no … OH NO!

“Sir , would you please tell me what today's date is?”

Your boss looked at you in confusion.

“It's the xx.xx, why?”

Your pupils tightened. God damn it. How could you forget.

“Sir is it possible,for the driver to bring me to another place?”

“Of course Mr.Shimada, would you first explain to me why though?”

You began explaining.

(Y/N) POV

“Ah dang it, thirteen percent.”

You had forgotten to plug your phone into the charger over night as you had fallen asleep on the couch.

Annoyed, that you couldn't scroll through the latest news as the first thing of the day, you got up and rubbed your eye. Making your way to the charger, you stepped on a piece of paper on the floor.

“Huh?” You picked it up and recognized the flyer of the city's art gallery. You placed it on the kitchen table and turned on the coffee machine while wondering where you left your charger. Ever since your birthday you were very busy with work, so you had barely any time left to look after yourself or your apartment. You decided to take a day off all tasks and catch up with what you had neglected lately.

At the breakfast table you decided to take a look into the flyer before you would drop it into the trash can. There were three exhibitions this month. Two rather boring ones and one that caught your eye, the one about ancient east-asian art. You remembered bringing the flyer home so you wouldn't forget to book the tickets for you and your best friend but the both of you forgot about it in the end and now it was too late, since it was not only the last day but most likely already booked out.

Sighing you dropped the paper into the trash can and took a sip of your coffee.

You missed him and It was becoming annoying. You knew he was good at his job and not all of it was cruel so he enjoyed it aswell. It paid well so he had a life free of worries, you couldn't complain either, as his best friend you out of everyone enjoyed that fact the most. Unfortunately all the gifts and pleasures coming along with his job were no substitute for his constant absence. Missions could take up to two months sometimes. The worst thing was when he suddenly disappeared for three and  a half months, without being able to notify you. It was an emergency and he was called in during another mission. Lucky for the both of you, that never occurred again.  

It was true, you despised his job. It consumed so much of his time one couldn't call it a life. You saw him so little amounts of time, it was ridiculous. You knew him since high school, yet nothing had developed further than a good friendship. Sometimes you would point the finger towards yourself, after all you encouraged him into taking the job offer he received after winning an award for his combat skills. You didn't know it would end up this way. If only you had known.

Unlike your best friend, who had nothing else in mind but studying, to ensure a bright future for himself, you sensed your feelings for him pretty early on but decided to keep them to yourself.

Multiple girls had confessed to him and he turned all of them down, saying he had no time for a relationship because of his studies. You knew better than doing the same mistake, you didn't want to risk losing the friendship you had built up during those three years. You eventually became the person he shared everything with but that was about it. He was very reserved and you were afraid to lose him. Your jobs didn't leave much time for the two of you to spend together. There was no solid ground for a relationship and you started to doubt that there would ever be, no matter how many times your hugs would last for minutes, no matter how often his face would be mere centimetres away from yours while watching movies or going to amusement parks together. No matter how often the two of you would look at each other blushing when you were asked how long you were dating already.  

Louder than necessary, you placed the mug onto the table and closed your eyes. Oh when would he finally come back and be in your arms again, so you could tell him how much you missed him.

Opening your eyes, you remembered your plans for today. You got up from your chair and brought your dishes into the kitchen.

Later that evening.

“Yeah, yeah dad I will call you back later, I need to bring the groceries home and I need both hands for that, love you, byee!”

Sighing you hung up the call and got out of your car. You took your goodies out of the trunk and closed the door.

Your neighbour greeted you at the door and held it open for you, since you had both hands full of bags. You thanked the woman and waited for the elevator to arrive. Inside it you eyed yourself in the mirror. You had lost some weight lately, partly because you planned to in first place and partly because eating alone was just not the same. You looked into your own eyes. It really was overdue for you to take care of yourself again, you hadn't seen yourself this pretty in a while now, just keeping your appearance up as much as necessary.

Bing!

You walked out of the elevator and placed the groceries in front of your door to find your keys, which had fallen to the bottom of your purse. You opened the door and closed it with your leg, quickly took off your shoes and walked into the kitchen to unpack the bags. You were done and decided to take a seat on the sofa and relax in front of the TV for a moment. As you walked into the living room, you immediately realized, that something was off. The chair you had breakfast on today, was missing. Confused you walked around the room, back into the kitchen and suddenly towards your bedroom.

Were you going crazy? You opened the door of your bedroom and your jaw dropped. The chair was there, on it, an enormous plush of your favourite animal. Around it, the words “Happy Birthday”

had been arranged with light strings. Three huge boxes were placed on your bed, wrapped in shiny paper with bows all over. You walked over to your pile of surprises and a card caught your eye.

“Happy Birthday (Y/N)!

I'm sorry for being late, I hope you forgive me.

I'll be picking you up at three, thirty .

Be ready!

Hanzo”

You smiled and shook your head. That's all he had to say after three weeks? This man ….

You wanted to open one of the boxes but then your watch caught your eye. It was already two fifty!

And you still had to shower and dress up! This was going to be a special day after all!

You dropped the present onto your bed and quickly ran towards the bathroom.

Twenty five minutes later you were checking your phone nervously. A last glance into your pocket mirror reassured you, that you were in fact, looking gorgeous. Not knowing what surprise he had in store, you dressed elegant enough to fit a fancy dinner but casual enough, not to stand out if he'd just take you to the cinema.  The doorbell rang and you shot up from your seat, rehearsing your greeting. Something about this was special. It didn't feel like the last times he came back. It was completely different. You opened the door and your heart began beating like crazy. Your eyes locked for a few seconds, the two of you eyeing each other after this long time, before indulging in a very long, tight hug.

“Happy belated birthday.”

“You were gone for way too long.”

“I know.”

“Do you have any idea how much I missed you?”

“I'm sorry.”

“You better are!”

You ended the hug giving him the most ridiculous angry expression, causing the both of you to laugh about it.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, mind telling me where we are going?”

“Hmmm no, you'll have to be patient, birthday girl!”

He took your hand and the both of you walked outside.

In front of your apartment, something had caught a few passengers eye, and yours as well the moment you walked out of the door.

A really beautiful Mercedes was parked in front of the door, shining in the midsts of the regular sized cars.

“You didn't have to ….”

He grinned widely. “But I wanted to.”

The passengers stepped aside as he held the door open for you to step in. You shook your head and took a seat. Hanzo closed the door and walked over to the drivers seat.

“I really don't want to know the price of this car, do I?”

“No, and it's nothing you need to worried about anyway.”

The low buzz of the car began and he started driving.

“How did you like your presents?” He looked over to you and smiled slightly.

“I don't know.” You shrugged,  “I haven't opened them yet.”

Hanzo raised a brow.

“Why not ?”

“I barely had time left when I came home. Besides, I wanted to open them with you there.”

You looked over to him, the corners of his lips slightly rose.

“Alright, we'll open them later then.”

Minutes later, the two of you arrived at a lively part of the city and parked the car.

He opened the door for you and he took your hand to guide you to your destination.

You stopped in front of the art gallery and he looked at you, curiously.

“Why did we stop? What are we gonna do here?”

“What do you think?” He grinned.

“I don't know? All I wanted to see was the east asian art but it's sold o-”

Hanzo waving with two tickets, cut you off mid sentence.

“We should go in, it's the last day and we still have much to see.”

This man....He was full of surprises and mysteries. You had no idea how he managed to get the tickets but you couldn't care less. You were too busy being exited about the exhibition.

Time flew by as you looked at what felt like a never ending collection of ancient art. You were amazed and mesmerized by each one of them, wishing you were allowed to take pictures of all the details and individual paintings.

As you had reached the end of the exhibition you walked into a small room, arranged to be a store.

The post card section magically attracted you like a spell. Scanning the cards for some of the beautiful pieces you saw in the exhibition, a blue card caught your attention.

The blue print was met by a golden dragon, treated with a dark golden fish pattern. It looked extremely pretty and royal and reminded you of your best friends family emblem and the tattoo on his arm. You picked it up and turned around to show it to him, he would love it ! But he was nowhere to be seen. You scanned the entire room, just to be told by the saleswoman, that he got a phone call and walked out already. Sighing you looked at the post card again. Maybe it was too much to be expected but you wished to have him just for yourself, an entire day. It would've been too perfect if that day could be the day, you celebrated your birthday.

Your decision to not let that thought drag you down and just enjoy what you have, guided you to the register. You bought the post card together with a notebook and a few other cards. As you were paying the items the woman asked if you also wanted to take a look at the tie pins, since one of them would match your boyfriend so well. You didn't know what you were supposed to ask the lady first, why she thought you two were dating or why the hell the souvenir store would sell tie pins.

“The gold in the tie pin would suit the golden shine in his eyes.” She smiled.

“You are right, the shade also matches his suit perfectly, I'll take it. But …. he's not my boyfriend, what made you think that?”

The woman covered her mouth and then giggled.

“The way he looked at you, it just …. reminded me of the way my father used to look at my mother.  I don't think I've seen more love in somebody's eyes before.” She laughed nervously at your surprised expression before handing you the little paper bag with your newly purchased goods.

“Have a nice day” she said , “and oh, … I don't think my eyes were lying to me when I saw him.“ She winked at you and you smiled brightly as you stepped through the door.

Hanzo dropped his phone in his pocket and rushed towards you, as you walked out of the entrance.

“I'm sorry (Y/N)! It was an urgent call from my boss but everything is alright now.” He smiled.

“So show me what you got!” He tried lurking into the small bag but you quickly hid it behind your back. “Hmm you'll have to wait until later.”

Your playful grin made him raise a brow.

“Anyway, walking for 3 hours straight made me sooo hungry,

can we stop somewhere nearby and grab something to eat?” you asked him, resting a hand on your stomach.

“I know a good place.” He said smiling. “But it's not nearby.”

You huffed in dismay and followed him to the car.

He didn't lie, it really wasn't close by. While you were admiring the view on the highway , his phone started buzzing very loudly next to you. Your body's reaction to the surprising sound and your nosiness were quicker than your will to respect his privacy so you took a glance on the screen of his phone. Your heart twitched slightly as you saw an unknown name of another woman light up on the display. You didn't remember him having any female colleagues or any girl named Rosie in his family. Who was she? Wasn't he always telling you everything? How come you never heard of this new friend of him? The car ride went awkwardly silent from then on. Luckily, you quickly met your destination soon after.

Hanzo stepped out of the car and walked towards your door to open it for you, you decided to use the time to quickly drop the little package with the pin into your purse. The door opened.

“I don't think I've ever been in this part of the town before, where are we?” You asked, as you stepped outside the car, hoping he'd take your hand again.

“I have only been here before once, they just finished building new houses and stores around in this area so it's not quite known yet. That should change soon thought, you'll find out why, once we're inside.”

He gave you a promising look before offering you his hand. You were glad but also surprised, he rarely held your hand , usually he'd only go that far some times when he walked you home at night and creepy people would  pass by you.

Hanzo guided you towards the entrance of what looked like the most fancy restaurant you had seen from up close. The two of you went eating out quiet often but nothing could reach up to this. It was cute of him to go out of his way for you but it was very unusual of him to make things this extravagant.

You entered the restaurant and your jaw dropped. It looked similar to a ball room but with beautifully shaped chairs and tables. The lights at the hight ceiling were surrounded by shiny chandeliers.

After naming himself to the receptionist, Hanzo was greeted with a bow and the two of you were lead to a small stairway at the side of the desk. Your friend asked you to go first and you walked up the stairs quickly, curious of what was awaiting you upstairs.

About halfway there, you realised the slight wind meeting your face and you suspected to be led to the rooftop of the building. Your suspicions were true and you couldn't believe your eyes. It was beautiful. The rooftop was rather small and looked like a very lovely balcony. There was only one table and two chairs were placed around it, facing each other.

The fence was surrounded by garlands of roses and the most powerful source of light, next to the two lanterns at the staircase, was the dark red candle in the middle of the table.

A waiter placed two menus on either side of the table and went downstairs quickly afterwards, leaving an electronic bell behind. Still admiring your surroundings and the marvellous view at the city's shining buildings, the night lights and their reflections in the sea, you took your seat and decided to read the menu as your hunger was at its peak.

“I really can't decide, if I want to settle for a pizza, or if I'd like to try something new. The baked chicken sounds soo tasty.”

“I am really tempted by the chicken aswell” Hanzo sighed. “But the grilled salmon sounds just as good.”

“How about....”

Hanzo's eyes slided from the menu to meet yours. “I choose the chicken and you take the salmon? And we try from each other?”

Hanzo nodded and smiled. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” His sudden smile made you blush and you tried to hide it quickly, by ringing the bell for the waiter and deciding on a beverage.

After giving your orders by the polite man in the suit, the two of you picked up on any news regarding your families and quickly after, you excused yourself, to go to the bathroom.

Leaving your stall, a woman passed by you to the sink next to yours to wash her hands. A moment later you recognized her. She was the wife of some TV celebrity . So this place was more than simply fancy looking? It must be serving very nice food as well, you thought to yourself.

The receptionist guided you to the stairway again and you began walking but stopped right before your head, peeked out of the entrance. Hanzo was speaking to somebody. Probably on the phone. You didn't want to spy on him but your curiosity was taking over you, as you wondered who would be calling him this time of the day.

“Yes , everything went as planned, thank you for everything again, Agasa san!”

Agasa san? That was his boss' name, so it was a work related call? But it sounded less formal...

“I can't thank you enough for your help sir and don't forget to deliver my thanks to Rosie aswell, you were right, your wife really is talented at planning surprises. I don't think I would've managed to gather all the right things in time without her help.”

You smiled brightly.

“Yes, yes, and no that was nothing. It's my job after all. Have a great evening sir.”

“Excuse me m'am, your dinner.”

You turned around in confusion just to meet the slightly uncomfortable waiter standing at the entrance, waiting for you to leave the staircase so he can deliver the dishes.

Embarrassed, you hurried to your seat, pretending not to know anything and enjoying your delicious dinner.

The fifth sip of champagne later, your plates were empty and your bellies filled.

The place was quiet and peaceful and the two of you were simply enjoying the moment of silence before Hanzo's phone gave off a silent buzz, making his eyes expand.

“It is time...” He whispered and turned off his phone.

“Time for what?” You asked , as he got up from his seat and asked you to follow him to the fence.

“There is a festival today, at the beach over there. “

Exited you waited for him to end his sentence. “And if I'm not wrong, there should be a fi-”

Hanzo was cut off by the loud chanting of people counting down from three in unison, before ten rockets shot up in the air, on the other side of the sea, dissolving in bright lights and sparkles in the sky.

You were mesmerized by the beauty of the colours and the lights, you didn't notice Hanzo looking at you the entire time instead, watching the fireworks out of the reflection in your eyes.

The rhythm of the fireworks lost it's steadiness and you looked over to Hanzo, causing him to quickly look away after you caught him staring. This made you remember the words of the woman in the store and the Pin.

“Ah, I've got something to give you.”

You quickly walked to the table and took the pin out of your purse, hiding the package behind your back as you turned around, to watch him take a sip of his champagne nervously.

“Close your eyes!” you requested as you slowly walked towards him.

“Why?” He asked.

Gosh, such a stupid question. He was really nervous all of the sudden, but why?

“Just do it, It's a surprise.”

Hanzo breathed in sharply and closed his eyes.

“Do I need to hold out my hands or anything? “

You were now standing right In front of him, unpacking the pin.

“No, just stand still.”

He swallowed hard as your voice determined, how close you were standing in front of him.

Taking his tie into your hand, you slided the fabric between the two parts of the pin and softened the fabric of his shirt causing his hands to shiver slightly.

“You may open your eyes.”

He opened his eyes and looked down. A smile marked his lips.

“The color of the pin is so beautiful. The gold really shines even thought its a bit dark. I love it! And the pattern ...”

He looked at you. “Where did you get it? I don't think I've ever seen a pin this beautiful anywhere before.”

You grinned. “The store section of the exhibition.”

“Uhm.... you're joking right?”

“No”

“Why would they sell tie pins?”

“I don't know” You laughed. “But hey, I guess that's were you'd find such beautiful tie pins.”

The both of you laughed slightly before you became so silent you heard each other breathe.

“Oh you moved and now it's uneven.”

You rearranged the tie pin and he looked down to watch you do so. Again you flat out the fabric of his shirt but your hands remained on his chest. You didn't want to take your hands off him, ever.

You wished this moment could last forever. Just you and Hanzo. No phones buzzing, bosses calling, other voices interrupting. You didn't notice you were staring at his chest, caught in your thoughts, until you heard Hanzo, call out your name.

His hands slid on top of yours, his thumb brushing over your remarkably smaller hands, his eyes locked onto yours.

“Happy Birthday.”

He smiled at you, hoping he had made up for the time, the two of you lost during his time working.

“Thank you for everything Hanzo, the presents, ... the exhibition, the dinner , …the time with you.”

You smiled and were surprised, that he wasn't anymore.

“I wish I could spend all of my time with you.”

Before you could think of an answer to that, he continued.

“I love you.”

your lips parted as the heavy blush on your cheeks gave off the answer to his proposal.

There were so many emotions going through you at this moment. Your thoughts travelled back to the moment you met him, the first time you spend your afternoon together. Every single time your heart beat fast because of him rushed by your mind, filling your stomach with a million butterflies and your heart with a strong rush of joy and an even bigger rush of relief.

“I want to be with you, (Y/N).”

Softly, you freed your hands from his, travelling up to rest your fingers on his cheeks, closing the gap between your lips, as they met each other , unwilling to ever part. His arms pulled you closer to his, making you able to feel his chest on yours.

Your lips finally distanced for a longer period, allowing you to breathe and look up at him and reply.

“I love you too Hanzo. I want to be with you for ever.”

His eyes closed for a second and a relieved huff left him, causing you to giggle. So that was, what he was nervous about?

Your finger brushed his cheek and his beard, curving his sharp jaw before he came closer to you, to place a kiss on your forehead.

He held onto you very strongly.

“I'm so happy and so ….” He looked away for a moment.

“Relieved?”

“Yes.” He replied, looking back into your eyes.

Your soft lips marked his right cheek with a kiss.

“How could I possibly say no to you, you are all I wanted and more.”

“You're exaggerating.”

“I'm not. You're the loveliest man I know and have ever known. On top of that, you're the best friend one could have and absolute husband material.”

He was startled.

“Hus-”

You cut him off with another kiss, slightly biting his lower lip.

This wasn't the last kiss of it's kind that night. The day began with Hanzo in your mind and ended with him by your side.

Extra :

Hanzo looked at his laptop screen in anger of not finding what he was looking for , before taking a look at the time and hurriedly putting on his clothes. His phone rang and he cursed whoever was calling in that moment of a rush.

“Hey Genji I'm busy , can I call you back later?”

“It's only a small question Hanzo.”

SIGH

“Yes?”

“You're planning to move out of your current apartment? Why? And why into a place so big? Is there anything I need to know?”

“How ...”

“You were still logged in on my PC so your browser history showed up while I was trying to find a website. I can't because the list is full of houses....Now tell me why you want to move into a house so big on your own?”

“Genji I ….

Me and (Y/N) are dating now.”

there was a small moment of silence before his brother bursted out loud cheers.

“FINALLY! Me and mum and everyone else have been waiting forever! Took you long enough to confess. Or her, I doubt it was you.”

Genji laughed and Hanzo snarled annoyed.

“What do you mean mom and the others? And what do you mean forever? Also I should let you know I asked her out after spending a really nice date with her, don't you dare ridicule me like that.”

“You took her out on a fancy date? Are you really my nerdy brother who only knows work and studies?”

“Yes and I am gonna be late to my next fancy date with her if you don't answer my questions and make it quick!”

“I can't believe you didn't know, that we were all waiting for the two of you to finally find each other. I always wanted to drop hints and lecture you about how to finally approach her, back in high school but mother told me to let it happen naturally. She probably cursed herself secretly when she saw, how nothing happened over the many years.” Genji laughed again.

“Well congratulations, you two wanted me to engage romantically with my best friend, now what is it about the others?”

“Oh not just us two, the entire class felt like you guys would marry one day. Or do you think it was a coincidence, that you were supposed to play the main roles in the play in eleventh grade?! You didn't get the role for your honourable acting skills brother.“

Embarrassed, Hanzo walked past his wardrobe as he forgot his watch on his desk, stopping at your high school graduation picture.

“Hanzo ? H e l l o ?”

“Yes, yes sorry, I  got to go now, I'll call you tomorrow alright?”

“Yes, I'll be waiting, ….gosh I can't wait to tell mum, she will probably cry. Bye Brother!”

“Bye.”

[whimsicalwhimsicott]

Human!Connor x Android!Hank AU

To the anon that sent me the reverse AU! I'll be writing more on this specific fic definitely.

*********

Connor first found the android loitering while he was on a case, dressed up in dirty sweatpants and a t shirt that looked too thin and too cold to be out in this weather. He looked down at the picture in his hand, laced between his thumb and palm. It looked as though this was the android he was looking for, although he was surprised to see an android in such a state. He was aware that there were many types of androids, but unaware just how many. This would be a learning experience.

When he approached, the android groaned as though he was the one to be inconvenienced. “Hello, my name is Connor, I’m the officer sent by the Detroit Police Department.” He held out his hand to shake the others, but it got slapped away. Confusion took his features, but he put his hand back at his side quietly.

“I don’t give a shit about who you are,” he snapped, and then turned to walk away. Connor decided he couldn’t let this happen and grabbed the man's wrist. The deviant turned around on him and pushed him back.

“My apologies, but you are the one who called us, correct?”

“Yeah, I called y’all, but I didn’t ask for someone to actually come out.”

“Unfortunately, the request and information you called about required a face-to-face interview. They sent me to do that. If I recall, you said you saw the murder that happened here recently? I would appreciate it a lot if you told me in person what you saw,” he smiled. The deviant grimaced.

“Why aren’t you…less…you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Cops hate androids, especially deviants.”

“Oh, I don’t mind them in particular, I think their cause was wonderful and historic.”

“What?”

“…How about this, you tell me what I want to know and I'll tell you what you want to know.”

“I don’t make deals,” he spat.

Connor just shrugged and turned away from the android, “Well, if you don’t want access to a crime scene, there’s no helping it…” he trailed off, starting to walk back down the sidewalk the way he had come from. He heard a disapproving noise, followed by one of thought behind him.

“My name is Hank.”

Connor stopped, turned to look at the deviant – Hank – and waited.

“My name is Hank, and I want to see the crime scene. I knew the guy, so I want to help.” It was Hank's turn to keep Connor there, but the human couldn’t say that it didn’t please him. He had expected his ruse to not work considering how hostile Hank had been at first, but maybe there was something else going on entirely. He also thought it odd that Hank's definition of friendship consisted of ‘I knew the guy.’ Nonetheless, Connor smiled and led Hank across the street and up the four floors. The scene was blocked off by tape with no officers present. Other than Connor, that is.

“Wow, he really lived in a shithole,” Hank murmured, stepping over trash and piles of clothes. Connor walked around carefully, noting each piece of evidence – just in case Hank got a little grabby – Connor honestly wouldn’t put it past him as he picked up a magazine from the floor. “I’ll be honest I didn’t think a kid would be part of this investigation.”

“I’m not a kid, and I’m the one they designated all android cases to so…” he murmured, trailing off and hoping that Hank got the point.

“Well, no offense, but anyone who looks younger than me is a kid.”

“Is that in your programming?” Connor asked, genuinely curious.

Hank went to answer, stuttered on his words, and then shut his mouth. The air became tense with the aftermath of a wrong question and Connor noticed it. He was first to apologize. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Hank coughed. He was trying to create noise to drown out how awkward these next few words would be. “Its not part of my programming, that’s something I picked up on my own.”

“Can I ask another personal question, Hank?”

“What, you’re asking me? I thought you were going to be rude this whole time, shoot.”

“What was you model designed to do before you became deviant?”

“Oh, when you say personal, you mean it. Uh, oof…”

“You don’t have to answer the question,” Connor said trying to be polite about it, “How did you know the victim?”

“He was a friend that found me a place to stay, gave me a few things to help me survive.”

“He didn’t let you stay with him?” Connor inquired.

“It was…well, right after the revolution. Humans were angry, androids were being attacked everywhere. He didn’t want attention drawn to himself and I didn’t want to draw attention to him either. Obviously it didn’t work.”

“Obviously.”

Hank knelt down to examine the blue blood splattered on the ground. “Poor bastard.”

Connor turned away to let Hank have a moment, pulling out his phone as it buzzed away in his pocket. A message from Fowler asking what he’d learned. It really hadn’t been much, so Connor texted him back as much. Looking out the cracked window, Connor determined that any more investigating beyond this point would be difficult. With the lack of electricity in the apartment, he decided it was time to wrap up. “Its getting dark, we can continue the investigation tomorrow,” he announced. Hank looked up from the floor and sighed, starting to get up and leave.

“You have a place to stay? It’s supposed to be well below freezing tonight, and I hear that while androids can’t feel cold it’s not beneficial for them to be out in this weather.”

“Well, when he kicked the bucket, all bets were off with my host. So I figured I’d find an abandoned car or something to sleep in.”

Connor seemed taken aback, and Hank rose one artificial eyebrow. “What? Why are you giving me that look?”

“Do you want to stay with me?”

It was Hank’s turn to swivel around and stare at Connor wide-eyed. “What?”

“I have an extra bedroom I’m not using, you can use it for the night. Besides it’s beneficial if we stay together. After all, you’re witness to the crime right?”

“I wouldn’t say witness…”

“You saw something, and that’s worth something. Please, I would feel bad if you froze out there.” Hank noted the way Connor smiled, and he wasn’t sure if it was sincere. He never got sincere smiles – mostly the ‘I’m going to kick the shit out of you’ smile – and was immediately wary of it. He stepped out of the apartment as Connor locked it up tight, re-tying the tape.

“You some kind of android lover or some shit?”

“I was empathetic to your cause, even going as far as to house some before the government granted your freedom.”

“What? You helped deviants?”

“Of course, they needed help and police officers are supposed to help.”

“Ah ah,” he clicked at Connor, “There’s more to it than that. You like androids.”

He hadn’t expected to get the kid to blush just from that, but he supposed he had uncovered a huge secret or something that hadn’t been told before. “Wait…you haven’t told anybody at your job have you?”

“It was illegal...I couldn’t exactly do that, I would have been arrested on the spot.”

“Shiiit, maybe I did misjudged you, kid. But yeah, a place to stay would be nice.”

“Not a kid,” Connor murmured hastily as they made their way down the stairs, “But I don’t live too far.”

-

As it turned out, Connor did live really REALLY far away from the crime scene, and even his job, and he walked that distance almost every fucking day. If Hank hadn’t been an android, he was positive this walk would have killed him, yet the kid hadn’t even broken a sweat. “I'm used to it,” he had said when Hank asked. Nonchalantly brushing it off as though it really wasn’t a big deal. Hank suggested buying a car, to which Connor laughed. “In this economy? I can’t even drop a quarter without feeling it,” he joked.

Eventually, they reached Connor’s apartment complex (a skyscraper, Hank swore) and took the elevator up to the 7th floor. It wasn’t that far, he figured Connor might have a penthouse view or some shit, but when they entered it seemed fairly normal. “The department provided me with the funds to rent this place, and I've been paying for it since with my paycheck.”

“I mean, it’s nice, I guess. I figured it would be more…decorated, but you don’t look like a decorating kind of guy.”

“I don’t have a lot of…” Connor started, but decided against admitting the obvious as he shut and locked the door. “Make yourself at home,” he said cheerfully, showing Hank the guest bedroom. Once he was sure that Hank was settled, he moved to the kitchen to start his dinner. He glanced at the calendar on the fridge, detailing what he would have each day of the week, before opening the fridge and pulling out lean hamburger meat and vegetables. As he prepped his food, he heard Hank rummaging around in the guest room. He tried to think nothing of it, surely he wouldn’t steal from Connor after such hospitality was extended.

He still worried, but didn’t investigate. He needed to trust Hank if Hank was going to trust him. The next thing he knew, his dinner was in the oven and he turned to see the android just standing there half naked. He jumped in surprise, eyes wide. “Uh, yes?”

“I almost forgot to ask if I could use your shower before I used it.”

“Of course you can,” Connor coughed, unable to keep his eyes from roaming. Hank was pretty damaged, as far as he could tell, and rather dirty. Several open wounds and burns distracted Connor from hearing the next words, and instead left him once again stumbling over his words. He didn’t want to ask…

“Humans are shitty,” Hank answered for him, “Get a good look, this is what you’re trying to turn around, right?”

“I certainly am,” Connor affirmed. If he had ever been unsure about it, he wasn’t now. Androids, deviants…people didn’t deserve this. “Is there anything I can do about that? I may not be rich but I could probably afford to get those fixed up.”

“Nah, it’s not really damaging to me, just a cosmetic issue really,” he tried to reassure Connor as he traced a finger over one of the open cuts. “Anyways thanks for letting me crash here, really.” And he disappeared back into the hall. It wasn’t long before Connor heard the water running. He stood there, stunned, feeling stiff as he finished baking his dinner, eating it in silence as the last of the light outside died down.

This was the right thing to do.

[avengersfluff]

Feed Desire PT4

A/N:: Im sorry I haven't posted in a long time. And I'm sorry this chapter is so short I'm just trying to get back into the swing of writing!

After Y/N left Peter in the bathroom, she took the quick moment of privacy while alone in her room to change from last night's clothes into her black gym pants and a baggy, oversized shirt with a wide enough neck it hung slightly over her shoulder. This was her normal lounging outfit when she was alone and she knew her ex would soon be coming around for the daily beg-fest. If he did, she definitely didn't want him to see her in the same clothes she wore yesterday.

Once changed and hair managed, she walked back out into the living area to see Groot still sitting in the same spot and still munching on the bag of chips. "Okay, once Peter gets out of the shower, I swear we'll go down to the kitchen and make you breakfast." She chuckled. "You ever had pancakes?" She asked while walking over towards the coffee table to pick up some of hers and Peter's trash from last night.

"I am Groot." Groot shook his head as he handed over the, now almost empty, bag of chips.

"Well, not to brag but I make some damn good chocolate chip pancakes." She smiled, reaching out to very lightly poke Groot playfully on the side.

Groot smiled and went to slap her finger away. "I am Groot!" He replied with a bit more enthusiasm in his voice.

Y/N giggled while walking the arms full of trash over to the bin that sat in the corner next to the door. As the discarded empty food containers and coke cans fell into the bin there was an obnoxiously loud knock at her door. "Dammit." She sighed, bringing her right hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. He was there earlier than expected. Y/N had hoped that she could hustle herself, Groot and Peter out of her quarters before Richard had shown up to avoid a very awkward scene.

Richard had yet to meet the Guardians and she didn't want the first time he met Peter Quill to be in her quarters after having spent the night. Richard had an awful jealousy streak and when provoked could be very mean. Things with Peter had just gotten smooth so Y/N didn't want to risk things getting out of hand and Peter ignoring her again. She had grown very fond of the unique outlaw and kinda wanted to spend more time with him.

As she hesitated, there was another loud knock on the door. She rolled her eyes knowing that he would not go away until she opened the door. She quickly smoothed out her clothes in a subconscious attempt to look more presentable before grabbing hold of the cool silver knob and snatching the door open.

"Morning, Y/N." Her ex, Richard beamed, showcasing his pearly whites. Normally his smile would get her weak at the knees but now it only made her stomach churn, and not in that good way. He wasn't an unattractive man, dark hair, dark eyes, tanned skin. The problem was he knew he was attractive and his ego was nearly matched the the ego of one Tony Stark.

"Richard." She spoke blandly with a sharp nod of her head. "Look, now's not a good time..." She started but was cut off when he pushed his way past her and into her living area.

"I know, you're not interested but I think I have something that'll change your mind." Richard began to ramble. Everyday it was the same routine and always ended the same way. Richard would come in, snoop around while trying to wiggle his way back into her Y/N's life. Y/N admired his determination but he broke her trust and therefore her heart. Once he did that she knew there was no way she could ever risk being with him again. Plus when she looked at him now, there was no attraction. "I remembered one night while watching TV, you said you had never been to a city fair.... guess what! I have two tickets to the fair this entire weekend. It's starts tonight and runs through Sunday, if you wanna go with me."

Y/N arched a brow and folded her arms across her chest. How dare he use something as fun as a city fair to persuade her. In truth she was tempted. She had always wanted to see one of those crappy fairs with the not so safe ride and horribly made stuffed animals that cost a fortune to win. "Richard that's so sweet that you remembered what I said but--"

"Whose coat is that?" Richard cut her off, his voice deepening as he glared dagger at Peter's coat that was a still laying across the back of her couch. "Is that a guys coat?!"

"Does it matter?" Y/N asked whole folding her arms across her chest.

Richard's glare turned from the coat and onto Y/N in seconds. "It fucking matters, Y/N! You know I've been trying to fix things with us and you've been having other guys over?" The annoyance in Richard's voice struck a nerve with Y/N.

"I told you there's nothing to fix because it's over between us, and just for the record, I can have as many people staying over as I damn well please!"

Once Y/N began raising her voice, Groot got nervous and slowly inched himself under the couch and out of sight. He hated fighting but yelling, yelling was something he heard far more than he wanted too.

"STAYING OVER?" Richard took a step towards Y/N and pointed a finger at her. "You won't even give me a chance to make things right! I haven't dated anyone since we broke up because it's you I wanna date."

Scoffing, Y/N rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away roughly. "Date me, but fuck other people. I'm sorry that's not how I roll. I only date people who seriously want to be with me and only me."

"So what, you dating this jacket guy then?" Richard snapped, trying to take another step forward to close the gap between them and possibly intimidate the smaller woman.

Bringing up her hands, Y/N shoved Richard away roughly. "That's none of your damn business, Richard! Get out!" She screamed completely unaware that the two of them were being watched from her bed room door.

"What the hell is going on?"

Both Y/N and Richard jumped about three feet and turned towards her bedroom door to be greeted by a very pissed off, and very shirtless Peter Quill. His hair was still wet and small beads of water littered his exposed skin. For a quick second, Y/N completely forgot about Richard standing there, her eyes moving shamelessly over Peter, she worse she could feel her cheeks starting to heat up during the long pause. Richard also seemed to be thrown off by Peter's sudden appearance. His body growing tense and his jaw setting tightly.

It wasn't until Y/N saw the angry look in Peter's eyes that she plummeted back to earth and the real world. She lowered her head and her eyes in shame, like most children do when being caught squabbling with their siblings.

"Who the hell are you?" Richard finally snapped out of his own mind and towards Peter. The tension in the room was so thick that Y/N had trouble breathing. That tension only grew when Richard took a threatening step towards the unpredictable outlaw.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Peter just narrowed his eyes towards the other male and his body tensed up making him stand taller and his look appeared more threatening. "The real question is who the hell are you coming in here and upsetting Y/N this early in the morning?" Peter turned his gaze to Y/n before slowly making his way over, his shoulder harshly knocking Richard out of the way. His eyes softened as he walked up to Y/N and placed a finger under her chin, raising her gaze to meet his. "Are you alright?" He asked in a soft tone, lips curling up into a smirk as he shot her a playful wink as if silently telling her to play along.

Y/N was shocked at first as Peter lifter her face and slowly snaked an arm around her waist. She caught the smirk and had to bite back on of her own as she quickly caught on to what Peter was trying to pull, obviously he had heard more of their conversation then he let on. "I'm fine." She spoke softly with a grin. Peter's hand moving across her jaw to cup her cheek. She almost got lost in the gentle touch of his rough hands but still, she turned her face to nuzzle her cheek into his large hand. Anyone on the outside looking in would see this a cute moment between a loving couple. But to them, it was a game to annoy Richard. A DANGEROUS game they shouldn't be playing.

"So you are dating this guy?!" Richard's voice boomed out, causing Peter to turn his gaze from Y/N and her cute behaviour. The angry look reappearing in his eyes as he turned to face Richard, pulling Y/N up against his side in a protective manner.

"This guy has a name plus, it doesn't matter if we're dating or not. I don't see how that's any of your business, Dick." Peter shrugged in a causal manner.

"It's Richard!"

"Whatever you say Dick." Peter grinned, his fingers running up Y/N's side causing her to squirm a bit under the feather light touch. "The point is, you need to move on. Clearly she's not interested in taking you back."

Richard's blood began to boil as Y/N leaned into Peter's side and wrapped her arms around his bare torso. A position she used to always be in with him, cuddled into him, so warm and so adorable. She looked so small and fragile cuddled into another man's arms and it lit a fire of rage and jealousy deep within him. His eyes were narrowed dangerously that made Y/N's body shudder in discomfort. "I don't think you have any say in this, man." Richard hissed, voice dripping with anger.

"I think I do since last night she was on top of me all night." Peter smirked, he was lowkey loving the reaction he was pulling from Richard in this moment. He was picking his words carefully to make their innocent night together to sound much dirtier than it was. "Plus, like I said. I have a name, it's Peter Quill. Or better, you can call me Star Lord."

Peter ran his hand from the small of Y/N's back and up her spine, a gesture that all but made her cling to him. He was also taking note that she was very sensitive to the touch. Something he'd store in his mind for later.

"S-Star Lord?!" For the first time, Richard looked more shocked than angry. He hadn't met Peter until now but he knew Star Lord. Hell, everyone knew the names of the Guardians. Them showing up was a huge deal for the whole compound.

Peter felt a sense of pride at the stutter. Finally!! "Yeah, and as for that fair, Y/N already has plans, she's coming with me so you can find another taker for your extra ticket." Now that Peter had staked his claim he wasn't about to give this guy anymore chances to be alone with her. This was all a game they were playing but fuck, he really didn't want to see her go with any man. He was possessive and he knew it. Y/N wasn't his, but he sure did want her to be. If their time together was faking in front of Richard than he'd take it. Anything to keep Y/N by his side just a little longer.

"So you speak for her now?!" Richard hissed, his fists clenching tightly causing crescent shaped marks into the soft flesh of his hands.

Y/N had finally had enough of Richard's attitude and finally spoke up. "He can if I say he can. I'm going with Peter. Please, just drop this. It'll never work out between us. You hurt me and I'm gonna do what's best for me and protect myself. I'm going to be with who I want to be with. I'm going to date who I want to date. Just pleasee leave!" She finally pulled herself away from Peter and marched right to the door, opening it wide and point out the door, signaling for Richard to leave.

Richard's eyes narrowed and he scowled all the way to the door, his eyes meeting Y/N's for a quick second. "This isn't over. I'm not giving up on us." He whispered with determination before stomping angierly down the hall.

Y/N went to shut the door before being met with a loud gasp of surprise. "What the hell?!" Her face paled as she whipped around and found herself face to face with a very shocked Steve Rogers who was glancing between a very shirtless Peter Quill and to a very shocked Y/N.

Y/N knew exactly how this looked and for an instant her mouth ran dry and she wasn't sure how she was going to explain this to Steve. "I can explain!" She yelped out.

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.66

“Past and Present Tense”

A/N: This chapter cover the events of episode 7, "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad." Also, revised a paragraph in chapter 61 – Ctrl-F "mutilated" for the new edition. I had already written that bit months ago, but it accidentally got punted into the prewritten section of this chapter and I just found it again. Just a little echo of a ghost from the past... (You may have already read the revised paragraph depending.)

Also, the fortune that is drawn in this chapter was 100% a random, "pick one and use it" draw that just happened to be unbelievably and unforgivably apropos to the theme. I was so shocked I forgot the sentence I was in the middle of writing when I opened it. Apparently, fate wants me to write this fanfic just as much as it wants Lorca to stay in command of his ship.

Finally, this is a long chapter. I considered splitting it, but there didn't seem a point where it made sense to. I give you an (overly) extended look into the antics of non-Michael Burnham characters during the episode.

Full Chapter List Part 1 - Objects in Motion << Part 65 - The Stars, Broken Part 67 - Einstein on the Beach >>

O'Malley came to the bridge, which was unusual, and Lorca spoke to him in the ready room again. The colonel was as high-strung and judgmental as ever. He crossed his arms as he stood across from Lorca and declined a fortune cookie.

"Am I to understand Admiral Cornwell's been taken by Klingons and we're not going to rescue her?"

"Those are not our orders," said Lorca smoothly.

"So, Cornwell ordered us to rescue you, and we did, and then our orders were not to rescue Sarek, but we did that anyway, and now our orders are not to rescue Cornwell and we're suddenly doing what Starfleet Command wants?"

Lorca crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. This was much the same as Saru's objection, but Saru was not so fearless as to pose these objections in the form of an argument to Lorca directly. "We're here to win a war, not rescue every lost soul."

"Well you damn well could've fooled me as that's largely what we've been doing these past six months. You personally, might I add."

"I thought you didn't like Cornwell," pointed out Lorca.

"I don't, but that doesn't mean I want her tortured by Klingons."

"I was tortured by Klingons. It wasn't so bad."

O'Malley's mouth fell open and his arms uncrossed. "Gabriel!" For a moment, O'Malley sounded like Lorca's mother might have, had she been prone to chastising Lorca in the tone of a sixty-year-old British woman.

"Look," said Lorca, dropping the levity. "This is what Cornwell would have wanted. Following the rules and waiting for orders. She's spent most of the past six months telling me to do just that."

"You've picked an awfully convenient time to start doing what Cornwell wants."

Lorca stared. "Are we going to have a problem here, colonel?"

O'Malley exhaled and shook his head softly. "I'm just very disappointed in you, is all." He stood in silent consideration for a moment. "You know, I've mostly agreed with everything you've done up till now. Usually you do to the right thing, just in the wrong way, and for the first time I find you doing the wrong thing in the right way and I honestly don't know what to make of it. I don't like what it says about you as a person that you'd let one of your oldest friends suffer like this simply for the purposes of keeping your ship."

"She was my friend," said Lorca. "Past tense. And out of respect for that, we are following Starfleet's orders." Each of the last few words was said with pointed emphasis indicating Lorca had no interest in being further argued with on this subject.

"If you're going to be like this, then perhaps you'd better count me in the past tense as well."

They stared at each other, neither backing down. Then something occurred to Lorca and he scowled in disgust and looked away.

O'Malley squinted at him. "What's that look for?"

"What look?"

"That look on your face right now."

"I don't know, Mac, why don't you tell me what it looks like."

"If I knew that would I be asking?" They were going in circles.

Lorca broke the pattern. He clenched his jaw in anger directed mostly at himself. "I suppose now you're gonna take up Cornwell's cause." Worse, he had given O'Malley enough ammunition to do just that. His intent in the telling had been to make O'Malley see his side, take his side, and it had worked, but now Lorca was uncertain where O'Malley's loyalties lay: with his principles, or with Lorca himself.

O'Malley looked insulted. "What? I'm disappointed in you, I'm not going to betray you. I know how hard it was for you to tell me any of what you did. I'm certainly not going to use it against you. It'd destroy my reputation, for starters." O'Malley sighed. "Just give me some time, will you? I need to process this."

O'Malley left the ready room. Lorca took a fortune cookie and crushed it in his hand, eating the pieces and dropping the paper unread into the trash. He quietly put a hold on any and all outbound communications from O'Malley and Allan, just in case. In doing so, Lorca noticed Allan had not sent or received a single transmission in all his time on Discovery. Unusual.

As Culber was not permitted into Lab 26, he had to wait outside with Allan for Mischkelovitz to emerge. When she did, she looked at Culber with obvious suspicion as to what he was doing on her doorstep.

Culber managed to be as friendly, cheerful, and charming as anyone could be, especially given the adversarial stance Mischkelovitz had taken. "Dr. Mischkelovitz, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

All that charm and she still looked at him like he had three heads and two of them were shooting fire at her. "Pel'tra kas-kotiin kelmatro sai-on," she said darkly.

Culber had no idea how to respond to that.

Standing behind her, Allan apparently did. "Melly," he said, "je kranna kos'bri-kaa. Se patro kii'kay'an?"

Mischkelovitz turned to him. "Je mohs ke'barato, se patriik maroten."

Allan replied, "Kesse na iil me trohs baraal. Pelta!" Then he smiled at Mischkelovitz.

With a scowl, Mischkelovitz said, "Fine, Lan! But only because you asked." She turned back to Culber. "What do you want?"

Her eyes lit up when she saw the design of the implant. "Ah!" she went. "This is terrible!"

They were standing in sickbay at Culber's workstation. As Stamets was now the computational interface of the spore drive, Culber was hoping to ease the difficulty of his husband's connection to the drive with an implant so that the dangerous, painful system they had recovered from the Glenn could be rendered obsolete, but the technology was slightly beyond Culber's expertise. "I was hoping you could help me refine it," said Culber. "Tweak the design a little?"

When Mischkelovitz looked at Culber this time, her eyes were alight with enthusiasm and there was absolutely no trace of anything negative in her expression or demeanor. "Absolutely! Let's do it." For all that she was standoffish and surly around people she had not accepted into her inner circle, once presented with something she liked, she was entirely won over, like a reluctant child bribed with a new toy.

Culber's initial design for the implant was entirely too big to be practical. They began by refining it in virtual form to reduce its size and complexity. There were several factors to consider. First, the needs of the spore drive itself, which Mischkelovitz seemed unusually familiar with. Second, the features Culber wanted the implant to have, for safety and in the event of a medical emergency. Third, the limits of the technology they could produce aboard Discovery on such short notice.

Mischkelovitz was quite happy and friendly when she had a task to focus on. She also seemed only halfway aware of Culber's presence, even though he was standing right next to her and working on the same project. She chattered away to herself, saying things like, "We have to beroute the riomatter relay through the transventral section in order to ensure uninterrupted frow legulation..."

"Sorry, what?" asked Culber, but Mischkelovitz seemed not to hear him and continued her rambling obliviously. Apparently her use of "we" did not refer to Culber.

"If we switch the configuration of the nanotubes, then we can responsively adjust the row flate to compensate for the constriction mechanically rather than computationally..."

At other times, she seemed overly aware of Culber.

"You're married to him, right?" she suddenly asked. Even though she did not specify Stamets, it was obvious who the implant was for and there was no one else she might be referring to.

"That's right," said Culber.

"Mm," went Mischkelovitz and lapsed into silence, her gaze darkening.

Culber studied her carefully. She was staring intently at a fixed point in space. She had to be thinking about her own deceased husband, which was probably not the healthiest or most productive thing for her to be thinking about in the moment. He decided to try to switch her mind to something that had been bothering him since their previous encounter, risky as it was. "I've noticed you and Captain Lorca seem to get along."

"He likes monsters," supplied Mischkelovitz.

Culber blinked. "You're not a monster."

"Tch," she went. "Of course I am. That's the moral of the story, isn't it? The real monster was Victor von Frankenstein?"

Culber considered Mischkelovitz. That was a truly sad way for her to describe herself, even if she had done things that might warrant usage of the word. "I can't begin to understand what you went through," he said sympathetically, "so I won't judge you for it." He had judged her already, but he was willing to put it aside for the sake of being kind. "I just want to make sure you don't get hurt. Captain Lorca is a... strong personality."

"I like that about him. Very much so."

"It's easy to get swept away by someone like that."

"Don't worry about me. I only go where I'm wanted. If the captain wants me, so be it."

Culber paused. The word choice seemed a little off. "You haven't... with the captain?" It would explain her comfort level with being manhandled by Lorca, her rush to defend him, and even the captain's kindness.

"What?"

"Forget I asked," said Culber, quickly shaking his head. "It's no business of mine who anyone sleeps with, so long as they do it safely." That might apply to Lorca more than most. The captain had something of a reputation in that regard.

"Do you mean have sex?" said Mischkelovitz, looking confused. "I would never compromise my work by wasting my time like that! Ever!"

She seemed genuinely repulsed by the idea. Culber was taken aback. "That isn't..."

Mischkelovitz suddenly brightened. "We can halve the size of the mower podules if we use the outflow return for the subsystems!" She began to make modifications in a flurry of excitement. Suddenly the implant design seemed neither inelegant nor oppressively bulky. It was perfect.

"Thank you," Culber told her. "I really appreciate your help with this."

"That was fun!" she exclaimed, then turned and ran out of sickbay.

It took a few minutes for the computer to finish the fabrication, but when it was done, Culber summoned Stamets to sickbay and presented him with the completed device. "What do you think?"

"What is it?" asked Stamets.

"This is what every astromycologist is going to wish they were wearing at your next conference," grinned Culber, and explained the implant's functions and features. Stamets was entirely impressed, both by the design and that Culber had done this for him.

The surgery was quick and easy. Mischkelovitz's design modifications took into account Stamets' anatomy perfectly, so even though it looked like a giant, painful thing inserted into Stamets' arm, it actually folded around the various blood vessels, muscles, and tendons perfectly. Stamets flexed his hand and smiled at it.

"You're the best," said Stamets.

Culber smiled. "I had a little help." And maybe, just maybe, he had gotten himself into Mischkelovitz's good graces in the process. Though, if the captain wasn't sleeping with Mischkelovitz, what exactly was he using her for?

The ship fell into a sort of quiet routine the next few days. Everything was going smoothly, if uneventfully, because to everyone's collective surprise, Lorca was presently adhering to the letter of Starfleet Command's desires. Routine spore drive jump tests at scheduled times. No presence at the front. Trying to find a way to duplicate spore drive control without violating augmentation laws.

It began to feel like O'Malley had been given more than enough time to process. Lorca called him to his ready room.

O'Malley refused. "Wanna try that again, colonel?" said Lorca, clearly implying their personal disagreement did not give O'Malley the right to deny a request from Discovery's captain.

"I literally can't. I gave Allan and Larsson leave to go to some disco party. There's no one else on the door."

Lorca started chuckling. Of course O'Malley would do something that pathetic. The party had been a concession to the fact they were presently doing nothing important. May as well let the crew kick back and relax a bit.

"So happy I can amuse," said O'Malley miserably. "Larsson fancies himself some sort of a dancer, and Allan... don't ask me, he's supposed to be asleep right now and apparently he'd rather do that, so I also get to cover part of his shift alone."

"You do not understand how to command," said Lorca, shaking his head.

"Well now, hang on a minute, I—"

The bridge cut in. "Captain, we are detecting an unidentified signal," said Saru.

"Yellow alert. This conversation isn't over, colonel."

"It hasn't even started," managed O'Malley before the ready room door opened and the comm channel cut off.

It turned out to be a gormagander—a space whale. Burnham was apparently some expert in the species, rattling off details of their biology and attributing their decreasing numbers in the galaxy not as a result of hunting but because they focused on feeding so single-mindedly they failed to find the time to mate. "That's as depressing a trait as I've ever heard," quipped Lorca before calling to the helmsman to plot a new course.

"Captain!" interrupted Burnham. "The gormagander is on the endangered species list. Protocol requires us to transfer it to a xenologic facility."

Great. Now not only were they not going to be participating in any battles, they were going to have to play chaperone to a space whale. Burnham seemed enthused for the task, at least. "Then have at it," Lorca told her, and she hurried off to the shuttle bay to oversee the creature's transport onto the ship.

Not five minutes later, it was aboard, and a frantic comm came from the shuttle bay:

"Intruder alert, shots fired," said Burnham breathlessly. "Need immediate assistance."

Tyler was at the security station. He put the security feeds on the main viewscreen. "Intruder's on deck six, sir!"

"I want him locked down!" ordered Lorca, watching as the helmeted assailant strode through Discovery's halls.

"We have him trapped, sir!" reported Tyler after a moment.

Lorca rose from the captain's chair and strode towards the viewscreen. "Whoever you are, drop your weapons. This ends now."

The helmet came off with a round of hearty laughter, revealing a familiar bearded, grinning face. "Did you miss me as much as I missed you?"

"Mudd," said Lorca, almost spitting the name.

"Did you really think that you could leave me to rot in a Klingon prison and not suffer any repercussions!" said Mudd, voice rising as he spoke, hand shaking in anger towards the security monitor. "As soon as I find what's so special about your ship, I'm gonna sell it to the Klingons. Do you hear me, captain?"

"I don't see this ending with you taking my ship," said Lorca, entirely unimpressed.

"Not this time, but I have all the data I need for the next, so, I will see you later. Or, rather, earlier."

Mudd triggered a device in his hand. The corridor flashed with light and Lorca had to close his eyes a moment. When he opened them, the viewscreen was static. "Mr. Saru!"

"Sensors read an amicium and yurium compound explosion," said Saru.

"Hull breach on deck six," said Ash. "Five, four, now three—we can't contain it, captain!"

Lorca felt his heart drop as Discovery was torn apart around him. The last thing he saw was bright yellow-white flames coming towards him.

Reset.

It was a space whale. Burnham was pleased for it, Lorca was completely annoyed at the prospect of playing chaperone, and he sent Burnham off to handle the situation.

From the belly of the beast itself, Harry Mudd waited and looked over the files from Discovery he had stolen before the reset. He had stripped out all the important stuff—access codes, schematics, crew assignments and the project directory—and he had a lot of data to go through. Luckily, he also had all the time in the world. As the transporter light shimmered around him, he decided to start this little adventure off with a bold gesture. "Computer," he said as the shimmer faded and the gormagander appeared in the shuttle bay with Mudd still inside it, giving Mudd access to the ship's command overrides from his hiding place. "Site to site transport. One to the captain's ready room."

The shimmer of the transporter began again, this time plucking Mudd from the gormagander's digestive tract with the precision of the finest surgeon and depositing him in the ready room.

The lights were dim. A concession to Lorca's damaged eyesight, of course. Mudd snorted at the conceited weakness of the self-imposed impairment. He also frowned at the sight of the standing desk. He had been hoping for a chance to put his feet up while he reviewed Discovery's files, but instead the room was as aggravating as the captain himself.

There was a wooden bowl on the desk filled with fortune cookies. Mudd took one. It read, There is a prospect of a thrilling time ahead of you. Mudd's face lit up. "Well now, isn't that just what the captain ordered."

Perfectly aware Lorca was just on the other side of the door attending to matters on the bridge, Mudd decided to stay for a while and munch on cookies as he went over Discovery's project list and schematics. He noted with great interest a laboratory completely shielded from transport. That had to contain a pretty good secret. He also took a glance over the many luminaries that called Discovery their home. Quite an assemblage of minds Lorca had gotten himself. Some genuine surprises in there, too. Emellia Mischkelovitz, for example. Dr. Frankenstein in the flesh. Mudd whistled in appreciation. If nothing else, he had to respect the captain's cojones. Almost as big as his own.

Four meters away, Lorca finished relaying the details of Discovery's newest "assignment" to Starfleet Command and decided to pick up the conversation with O'Malley. "Mr. Saru," he said as he rose from the captain's chair and headed to the ready room, the intonation of Saru's name sufficient to convey the transfer of command over to the first officer.

The ready room doors opened and Lorca found himself staring at Harry Mudd standing next to a bowl's worth of fortunes and cookie crumbs scattered across the desk.

"Why, hello, captain!" said Mudd blithely, raising his disruptor.

"Mudd," scowled Lorca. "What the hell are you doing on my ship!"

"Your ready room is awful! No chairs? Really?" Mudd shot Lorca. He watched with immense satisfaction as the captain disintegrated into a flurry of dust, leaving a singed smell on the air. Tyler appeared in the doorway, phaser drawn, but too late.

Reset.

This time, Mudd beamed from the gormagander's stomach to the corridor outside Lab 26. A pale, freckled man was guarding the door and raised his rifle in Mudd's direction as the transporter finished with the beam-in. "Identify yourself!"

"Harcourt Fenton Mudd," said Mudd. "I've been sent to review this experiment." He said it with the sort of glib confidence that usually made people think twice and accept a statement as potentially truthful.

"Absolutely not," said the freckled man. "Hands up. Computer, alert the bridge. We have an intruder."

Once again, Mudd found himself face to face with Lorca. "Mudd! What the hell are you doing on my ship?"

"A better question is, what the hell are you doing on your ship?" asked Mudd gleefully. "Computer, transport Captain Lorca to preset coordinates."

He beamed Lorca into space. The door guard clocked him on the back of the head with his rifle, knocking Mudd out, but it mattered not.

Reset.

Mudd beamed from the gormagander's stomach to the next section of corridor over from Lab 26 and fired his disruptor the moment the freckled man was in view, vaporizing him.

The door did not open. "Computer," said Mudd, "command override."

"This door can only be overridden by Colonel O'Malley's command module," the computer intoned flatly. This made no sense. Mudd had gotten himself the highest command authority, above even the captain, but the captain could not open this door?

"Who the hell is Colonel O'Malley?" asked Mudd aloud, checking the crew files. A freckled face stared back at him. "Well, damn it," said Mudd. He spent a few minutes on a halfhearted attempt to blast open the door to no avail.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" came a deep, booming voice. A pair of officers coming down the hallway had discovered him. They were a mismatched set, one a giant hulking blonde and the other a thinner, dark-haired man. They both had leis around their necks and were holding drinks. Neither was armed.

"What does it look like?" asked Mudd, firing at them. Then he made his way to the bridge. May as well have a little fun if no other progress was going to be made this time around.

"Mudd," scowled Lorca. "What are you doing on my ship!"

"Whatever I want!" exclaimed Mudd gleefully, shooting Lorca on a non-vaporizing kill setting and watching the captain stagger to the floor and collapse, dead.

Reset.

Mudd set his disruptor to kill without vaporizing and tried again. The freckled Colonel O'Malley fell to the ground in a heap and Mudd began to search him, locating the door control module. He clicked it.

Nothing happened. He clicked it again and again. No reaction. "Computer!" he shouted, really getting annoyed now. "Why won't the door open!"

"The outer door was automatically sealed when biosign termination occurred at..."

"Oh, come on!" screamed Mudd, and kicked the lifeless corpse of O'Malley until a mismatched pair of officers with leis around their necks happened upon him.

He came face to face with Lorca again. "Mudd!" scowled Lorca. "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"

"This," said Mudd, and activated the ship's self-destruct sequence on a ten-second timer. He laughed as he watched Lorca scramble to override it without success and listened as the captain screamed in useless fury as a yellow-white explosion engulfed them.

Reset.

It was a space whale. Burnham was pleased for it, Lorca was completely annoyed at the prospect of playing chaperone, and he sent Burnham off to handle the situation.

Not ten minutes later, the gormagander was aboard, and soon after a message beeped on the command console at Lorca's arm. He glanced down. It was from Lab 26. He tapped it.

It read simply "TINRUEDR" with no signature attached, but Lorca didn't need an ident to recognize Lalana's typing, because she had a habit of hitting three to four letters at once with her epithelial filaments, jumbling them all together. TINRUEDR? His eyes widened. "Red alert!" he barked, launching himself from the captain's chair to a very confused bridge. "Tyler, with me!"

The ship's site to site transport did not respond to them. They were locked out of the ship's commands. The turbolift was also not responding. "Down the turbolift shaft," ordered Lorca. Thankfully, down was a much quicker trip than up. Lorca slid down the access ladder at an almost breakneck pace and he and Tyler burst out onto level nine with phasers at the ready.

He found O'Malley laying in a pool of blood in the corridor and checked for a pulse. It was weak, but still there. He grabbed O'Malley. "Computer, emer—" The words died on his lips. No emergency transport. They were locked out.

O'Malley groaned slightly, eyes half-opening. "Gabe," he managed, only the first syllable.

Lorca stared at O'Malley. He was so pale even his freckles seemed to be disappearing. "Tyler! Get someone from medical down here." The only other option was try to carry O'Malley up the turbolift shaft, but with the loss of blood, he needed to be stabilized first. Tyler rushed off to fetch a doctor.

O'Malley's hand weakly reached up and grabbed Lorca's collar. "Listen," whispered O'Malley. "He locked the outer door, but there's a secret way in. Bottom left panel." This was a gross violation of the lab's security procedures, but Lorca could lecture O'Malley about it later.

Lorca carefully lowered O'Malley back down and went to the indicated panel, prying it off with his fingernails. There was a passage behind it too narrow for Lorca. "How am I supposed to," Lorca began, turning to look back at O'Malley only to find O'Malley was crawling over. Lorca darted back to O'Malley's side. "Stop moving!"

O'Malley clutched his hand to his wound. The main attack had been a knife wound directed just below the body armor and up towards the gut to ensure a slow, lingering death. "I'm fine. Look, this is just dinner at my house. Help me in there. I'll open the door from the inside."

There was enough blood on the floor to bathe in, but every minute out here was a minute Mudd was in there with Lalana and Mischkelovitz unsupervised. Lorca dragged O'Malley over to the passageway, helped him squirm inside it, and watched as he disappeared into the darkness. Then he did the thing he hated most: he waited.

The outer door opened after a minute. O'Malley was slumped against the wall, a dark red smear of blood behind him. Lorca stepped into the outer chamber and crouched down to check his pulse.

"Tell Melly... just as much."

"Tell her yourself," said Lorca. O'Malley's pulse was so weak Lorca could not find it.

O'Malley smiled faintly. "Guess... your secret's safe... with me." He closed his eyes and slumped forward. A message popped up on the internal door controls: BIOLOCK PROTOCOL ACTIVE. The outer door slid shut. The display updated: EXTERNAL ACCESS PROHIBITED.

Lorca straightened and readied his phaser. Thankfully, he was already inside. He hit the command to open the internal door.

The intruder in the lab heard the door and reacted by grabbing Mischkelovitz and pulling her in front of him. "Captain! How good of you to join us," said a familiarly taunting voice.

"Mudd," sneered Lorca, face contorting with rage. "What the hell are you doing on my ship!"

Mudd was standing with one hand tightly around Mischkelovitz's neck. Lalana was just off to the side, hands knocking rapidly together in alarm. Mischkelovitz was much smaller than Mudd and made a poor human shield, but between her and Lalana, Mudd had made the better choice in terms of coverage. Mischkelovitz looked at Lorca with terror in her eyes. "Gabe!" she squealed. Her usage of the short form was not something she had ever done directly before. Lorca knew from watching her on the security feeds it was how she referred to him when she was alone.

Mudd grinned, disruptor hovering at Mischkelovitz's ear. "First-name basis! Well then, Gabe, looks like I've found a few of your secrets this time! Never thought I'd get to see your lului. It's much better than the one in that Markalian zoo."

The distance wasn't tremendous, and the lights burned his eyes, but Lorca felt he could make the shot. He aimed his phaser.

In response, Mudd pulled Mischkelovitz more tightly against him and turned his disruptor towards the captain.

Both shots went off at the same time, but neither hit their mark. A blue shape appeared in the air between them, propelled from the side, intercepting both blasts and absorbing the shot that might have taken Mudd's life and would certainly have taken Lorca's. Lorca had one fleeting glimpse of green eyes looking at him and then she was gone, disintegrated into wisps of dust that burned away into nothing and left a singed smell on the air.

The shock lasted but a moment as both men realized their kill shots had failed to eliminate their opponent and took action.

Mudd fired again, but his shot went too high as Lorca ducked into a charge, screaming with a fury that told Mudd he had made an enormous mistake. With absolutely no concern for Mischkelovitz, Lorca barreled into Mudd and his hostage, slamming them both to the ground, the brunt of the impact cracking a number of Mischkelovitz's ribs. Straddling both Mudd and Mischkelovitz, Lorca pinned Mudd's weapon with one hand and pummeled the butt of his phaser against Mudd's face with such force it shattered Mudd's nose. He brought it down again, rage filling his ears, totally oblivious to Mudd's pained yell and Mischkelovitz's terrified, raspy scream as she struggled to breathe beneath his weight. There was a faint crunch as Mudd's orbital bone fractured.

Lorca dropped his phaser but did not cease his onslaught, continuing to batter Mudd with his bare fist. The fracture deepened, the face pulped, and still he continued, the cracking sounds coming as much from his own fist as Mudd's skull bones.

He finally heard Mischkelovitz crying and stopped, rolling off of her and Mudd. His breath heaved in his chest. Mischkelovitz squirmed weakly and whimpered in pain. Lorca's right hand was a uselessly twisted mess, but he managed to get his arms under Mischkelovitz and lift her up.

He stepped over O'Malley's body in the outer chamber. He was careful to keep Mischkelovitz's face against his chest so she would not see what had happened. As if losing a husband and sibling already weren't enough, she had now lost the one person who probably loved her more than anyone else in the universe.

Lorca hushed her softly. "Shh, I got you." He understood what it felt like to lose everyone and everything. Now he understood it twice over. He could still see that last flash of Lalana's bright green eyes in his mind. He triggered the external door with the internal system override.

Tyler, Culber, Larsson, and Allan were in the corridor. Culber gasped and quickly went into action, scanning with his tricorder for injuries. He scanned O'Malley, too, but the life sign was already long gone. Allan and Larsson looked ridiculous in their leis, drinks in hand. Allan also looked absolutely distraught. "This isn't happening!" Allan exclaimed. "How is this happening? This isn't supposed to happen!" He looked to Larsson as if he expected the Swede to somehow know.

Tyler noticed the bloody tangle of Lorca's hand limply dangling alongside Mischkelovitz's arm. "Let me take her, sir," he offered.

"She's my responsibility," said Lorca. He owed O'Malley that, at least.

The timer on Mudd's device maxed out. They were enveloped by a yellow-white explosion.

Reset.

Lab 26 was full of secrets, but not the one Mudd was after. At least Mischkelovitz had turned out to be a useful source of information in the minutes before Lorca's arrival. "It's not us!" she had squealed at him. "We're trying bloak creaks! Bloak creaks—bloak—cloak breaks! You want the mushrooms!" Finally, Mudd understood where he needed to go.

Engineering test bay alpha. On paper, mushroom spore propulsion sounded like a bad joke, but apparently it was a viable technology. Armed with this information, Mudd began his assault on engineering. He had full control of the computer and made short work of the staff in there. Unfortunately, he was unable to ascertain exactly how the drive functioned.

Something was missing, he realized. If he was going to sell this ship to the Klingons, he had to figure out what.

This time, he beamed onto the bridge, took out the crew there first, and then came last for Lorca in his ready room. Perfect timing, really. But then, it always was.

Reset.

Stamets was having a very weird day.

One moment, he was in quarters dismissing Culber's ongoing concerns about his personality changes as being silly, because he felt good, relaxed, better than ever. The next, they were enveloped by a yellow-white explosion and then he was walking down the corridor with Culber away from sickbay again.

"Hang on a sec," he said. "Weren't we just here a minute ago?"

Culber looked at him like he might be crazy, which was a look he was getting used to these days.

Stamets dismissed it the first time. Some sort of bad déjà vu.

Then it happened again. And again.

Stamets tried to alert Burnham and Tyler. "It all starts with a gormagander!" he managed.

It was a space whale. "Oh, for crying out loud," said Lorca. "Cancel yellow alert."

"Sir, scans show the gormagander's bio readings to be highly unstable," reported Saru, and informed Lorca that they were required under the Endangered Species Act to transport it somewhere.

Both Burnham and Tyler suddenly objected. Burnham looked like she had seen a ghost. Lorca stared at the two of them, wondering what was going on. "Let's beam this thing into the shuttle bay and drop it off at the nearest sanctuary soon as we can," said Lorca.

"Captain, I would like to run point on this, sir," said Burnham.

"I don't give a damn," Lorca said, shaking his head at her. "I just want it done." The sooner they got this little detour over and done with, the sooner they could get back to doing something, anything of actual use in the war. Even if that something was just scheduled spore drive tests.

"I request security oversight of the operation," said Tyler.

"I still don't give a damn," said Lorca, and sent them on their way.

A few minutes later, the computer suddenly initiated a black alert. Lorca had not issued any such command. "Computer, show me engineering!"

"Denied," said the computer.

He ordered Tyler to engineering and began to elicit solutions from the bridge crew. "There is nothing we can do, captain. We are locked out of our systems," reported Saru. "We only have nonessential systems."

"Screw the systems, get all security personnel to the lab any way possible," said Lorca. "Through the Jeffreys tubes. Airiam, get me any useful systems control you can manage. I'll take environmental, lights, anything."

"Warning, critical systems overload in 20 seconds," said the computer.

Twenty seconds was not enough time to do anything. Lorca felt a chill at the utter familiarity of this whole situation. It was the Buran all over again.

"Warning, drive overload," said the computer.

"Somebody give me something!" he screamed at the bridge, not wanting this to be the way it ended, not after everything. He looked helplessly at his crew. He had failed them entirely.

Explosion and reset.

It just kept happening over and over. Stamets was trapped in a time loop and no one on the ship but him knew it. It was some quirk of the quantum nature of the mycelial network he was now genetically connected to.

He figured a little bit more out each time. There was an intruder on the ship who arrived hiding in the belly of a gormagander. The intruder had control of the ship's computer. Every single time, people died. Different people different times.

He tried to explain it to Lorca on the fourth reset. The first attempt went about as well as could be expected.

"Captain, we're caught in a temporal loop!" he declared as he entered the bridge.

Lorca pressed the controls on the arm of his chair. "Dr. Culber. Lieutenant Stamets seems to have gotten loose on my bridge. See if you can't come up here and corral him?"

"No, listen to me!" exclaimed Stamets, but Lorca did not.

The fifth reset, the intruder did something different, and Lorca was not even on the bridge when Stamets got there. The sixth reset, things were back to normal and Stamets spoke Lorca's words as Lorca said them: "Lieutenant Stamets seems to have gotten loose on my bridge—" at this point Lorca stopped talking and just stared, so Stamets finished the sentence for him "—see if you can't come up here and corral him."

They were locked out of the main computer functions, but Lorca managed to open a shipwide comm and Mudd was all too happy to answer and stare Lorca directly in the face.

"We meet again, captain," said Mudd. "And again, and again..." He chuckled in amusement.

"Mudd! What the hell are you doing on my ship," scowled Lorca.

"Really, captain, this time you've managed to surprise me! How did you find out I was here?"

Stamets suddenly got the sinking feeling that enlisting Lorca's aid was too obvious and would tip Mudd off as to his awareness of the time loop.

In the end, Lorca antagonized Mudd, Mudd activated the ship's self-destruct in retaliation, and they all blew up again.

Stamets tried Tyler. Tyler was trusted by the captain and could advise discretion, but the problem was, Tyler did not trust Stamets. Fair enough. As much time as Stamets spent trying to get to know him in the time loop, for Tyler, it was always the first time they had ever really spoken. Tilly was also a bust; she was at the party and a little too drunk to take him seriously.

Stamets turned his attention to Burnham. He managed to convince her after a few tries, but they were almost out of time in the currently ongoing loop. "Tell me a secret," he prompted her. "Something that will immediately prove to you we've had this conversation. Something you've never admitted to anyone. I promise it'll be safe with me."

She believed him, so she told him her secret.

Explosion and reset.

Lorca sat in the captain's chair. "Is the fish safely on board yet?" he asked.

"Technically, it's not a fish," said Saru, "it's..."

Lorca shot Saru a look. Saru obligingly shut up. Then Culber requested Lorca in sickbay urgently to discuss Lieutenant Stamets. Lorca stepped into the turbolift with a gnawing feeling of worry in his stomach. "Sickbay, direct."

The turbolift started, then stopped. "Destination canceled," the computer informed him. The doors at the rear of the turbolift opened and Lorca turned to see one of his officers crumple to the ground with a knife in his back.

"Heavy," said a familiar, bearded man holding a disruptor.

"Mudd!" exclaimed Lorca and ordered a red alert. The computer did not respond to him. "What the hell are you doing on my ship?"

"You ask me that question every single time," said Mudd. "You know that, don't you? Of course you don't." Mudd fired a shot past Lorca's arm in a demonstration of his seriousness and ordered Lorca to move. "I really can't take it from the top all over for you again, Lorca. The message from the doctor was not real, I just wanted some alone time with you. There's an area of the ship I can't access and I'm hoping you're hiding your secrets to the spore drive—"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mudd," said Lorca, immediately thinking of Lab 26, "but if you think I'm gonna help you in any way at all, you're crazier than I remember."

"There really are so many ways to blow up this ship, it's almost a design flaw," said Mudd. "Computer! Access self-destruct program."

A chill rushed across Lorca. This was entirely familiar to him. It felt like he was on the Buran all over again. "Stop," he said. "We'll go wherever you want."

"Then get a move on," said Mudd, giving his disruptor a little shake to indicate Lorca should get a move on.

Lorca realized they were not heading towards Lab 26. On the one hand, he was relieved because that meant everything there was safe. On the other, he would really have liked the support of O'Malley's rifle and independent security protocols right now.

Instead, Mudd dropped every hapless crewman unfortunate enough to cross paths with them. At least there were fewer people in the halls than usual. A significant portion of the crew were attending that party.

"You know, I've had a lot of fun so far on Discovery. Found out so many of your secrets. Even had a go at your lului!"

Lorca realized Mudd had already accessed Lab 26. "Mudd," he growled, jaw clenching and teeth hissing.

"Don't worry, captain, that was ages ago! Haven't bothered with them at all this time around. She and that darling little Dr. Frankenstein are snug as bugs right now. I can change that, of course, if you don't cooperate, Gabe."

They arrived outside of Lorca's study. Mudd needed Lorca to provide the personal passcode for entry. Once inside, Mudd found not the secrets of the spore drive he was so desperately searching for, but a lovely collection of weapons from across the cosmos instead. He began to rummage through the guns on offer, looking for one to try.

"Do you know how many times I've had the pleasure of taking your life, Lorca?" sneered Mudd. "Fifty-three! But who's counting. And it never gets old." Mudd checked his wrist. "Oh, drat, we're almost out of time. I'll figure out how that little drive of yours works sooner or later. I've got all the time in the world." And he shot Lorca and watched him vaporize into little flecks of burning particles.

Reset.

"Has that fish beamed aboard safely yet?"

"Well, technically it's not a fish—"

Lorca gave Saru a look. Saru obligingly shut up. "Where the hell are Burnham and Tyler?" asked Lorca. He had called them to the bridge five minutes ago.

Then music began to play. Sweeping, orchestral, triumphant. Wagner.

"Mr. Saru!"

"I don't understand, sir, I'm locked out of the ship's controls."

Lorca hit the panel on his chair. "Computer." Nothing. "Computer, respond!"

The turbolift doors opened. "Let me see what I can do!" announced a familiar, taunting voice. "Computer, reduce volume so we can have a normal, adult conversation."

"Yes, Captain Mudd," said the computer.

Lorca rose from his chair. "Captain Mudd!" he exclaimed, incredulous.

Mudd shrugged at him. "I never thought I would say this, but I'm actually tired of gloating. In any case, this is very much my ship. Your ship? Very much not at all."

Lorca started towards Mudd, because no one—not Mudd, not Cornwell, not anyone—was allowed to take Discovery from him. "All right, show's over, Mudd. Back to whatever little hole you crawled out of—"

"To the brig!" said Mudd, and Lorca vanished in the glimmer of the transporter.

Burnham, Tyler, and Stamets arrived on the bridge. Armed with Burnham's secret, Stamets had managed to enlist both her and Tyler, because while Tyler did not trust Stamets, he trusted Burnham.

Mudd vaporized Tyler in a burst of weaponized antimatter as reward for their efforts. Burnham watched in horror as Tyler vanished before her eyes.

Mudd was hitting the limits of his patience. He was at the point where destroying Discovery was seeming just as palatable an option as selling it to the Klingons. "How do I start that engine, hm? I will disintegrate every single one of you in a screaming fit of agony one at a time. Starting with you!" Mudd started towards Saru.

"Stop!" shouted Stamets. "I can't watch you kill any more people." He pulled up the sleeve of his uniform tunic, revealing the implant that allowed him to interface with the spore drive. "It needs me to work."

Mudd laughed with glee. He finally had everything he needed. "Delicious. Shall we to the engine room?"

There was no one in the brig. No one had been recently locked up, so no one was needed there on duty. Lorca tried to override the controls from inside with no luck. The computer remained unresponsive. He pounded his fists on the forcefield, knowing it would have no effect, but needing some physical outlet to his anger.

He turned his attention to the small console in the wall. It was entirely rudimentary, locked out of most ship systems, but it was his only option. It had the capacity to order food, bring out the cot from the wall, provide a moment's privacy for using the toilet, and not much else. At least, it wasn't supposed to have anything else.

Lorca blinked at the words "BRIG CHESS" in the list of available commands and touched it.

"ENTER NAME" prompted the display, offering him an old-school keyboard and four spaces to fill. Lorca was five letters, so he entered LORC. It then prompted him to set a password, this time a 4-digit numerical code. He entered 1031, Discovery's registry number.

The screen split into two halves. The left half was a leaderboard with names on it. ROVE, M.B., NATE, MISH, LLNA, SARU, AIRM, PAUL, SILY, and more. Each name had a score attached.

The right side showed who was online and listed only one player at present, MISH. Lorca had a good guess who that was. He touched the name. It then prompted him to select from a variety of chess formats including Vulcan. He selected Classic. "REQUEST SENT" appeared and then a chat room popped up.

MISH: Captain? LORC: in brig LORC: ship taken LORC: send mac MISH: Okay he's on his way by the way Lalana says there is a halo of stars everywhere.

Lorca stared at that.

LORC: what MISH: I think she is describing some sort of particle field aberration. I'm not certain what. I'm working to figure it out.

Probably it was related to however Mudd had gotten control of the ship.

O'Malley arrived and tried to lower the forcefield to no avail. "Sorry, captain, I'm totally locked out."

"Try shooting it," growled Lorca.

"That only works in movies!"

"Well if you have a better idea!" Lorca exclaimed.

"I might. Let's call John. If anyone can get control of the systems, it's him."

"Groves?" Lorca found that assertion faintly ridiculous. Groves could get control of a ship that its own captain had been locked out of?

"As he's very fond of pointing out, he could have walked out of that brig any time he wanted to. He simply chose not to. He's probably the best systems hacker you'll ever meet."

A long time ago, Mischkelovitz had said John Groves could be useful in unexpected ways. It seemed the time had finally come for Groves to fulfill that mandate and serve a purpose.

While Lorca languished in the brig and Stamets stalled Mudd in the engineering lab, Burnham continued working to figure out how Mudd was engineering the time loop. Understanding that could bring an end to all of this.

Mudd was not the only thing that had been hiding in the gormagander. An entire ship, linked to the device on Mudd's arm, served as the basis of the time loop power.

Burnham had a plan. There was one secret of Lorca's that Mudd had yet to unravel: her. She was something the Klingons would pay a lot to get, perhaps even more than Discovery itself. She approached Mudd in the ready room, revealed herself, and tantalized Mudd with the prospect of selling her for even more riches.

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Mudd. "What's in it for you?"

"Lieutenant Tyler," said Burnham.

"Lieutenant Tyler is dead," said Mudd.

"Not for long," said Burnham, and used one of the weaponized antimatter modules to disintegrate herself before Mudd's eyes.

The Klingons were hailing. "Damn it!" exclaimed Mudd. He wanted everything. Especially now that he knew exactly how much everything on this ship was worth.

In the brig, Groves released Lorca and opened his mouth to gloat about the sudden reversal of their fortunes, but his triumph was short-lived.

Reset.

Stamets, Burnham, and Tyler approached Lorca. After so many loops, there was no time. They had to get everything right. It was unlikely they would get another chance.

When Mudd arrived on the bridge, Lorca did not even turn to look at the turbolift doors as he said, "Captain Mudd."

"What's this?" asked Mudd, finding all of them ready and waiting.

Lorca stood up. "Your chair," he offered, stepping aside.

They told Mudd he had won. That after so many loops, Stamets had concluded Mudd was unbeatable, and now Mudd had everything he wanted.

"So, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, the USS Discovery is yours." Even knowing it was a falsehood, it still galled Lorca to say the words.

"As am I," said Burnham.

Mudd laughed. "Don't try to con a con man!"

"I'm not," said Lorca. "I'm negotiating with a businessman. My offer is simple. The lives of my crew in exchange for... Burnham, the ship, and Stamets."

"Why would a Federation captain do that?" asked Mudd.

"I will not have a repeat of the Buran." This, at least, was not a falsehood. He extended Mudd his hand. "Your word, Mudd."

Mudd took his time, considered the hand being offered, and finally smiled. "Well, I've never been one to look a gift captain in the mouth!" He shook Lorca's hand with enthusiasm. Lorca looked and felt crushed by the exchange. He hated this. He hated this so much.

Now that Mudd had everything he wanted, he let the temporal loop expire. The time crystal on his arm disintegrated. From here on out, everything was going to be permanent. No more do-overs.

"Captain Mudd, we are being hailed by the Klingons," reported the computer.

Lorca looked at Burnham. If any of them died now, it would be for good, forever. He did not want any of them to die.

Mudd took Burnham and Stamets down to the transporter room to meet the Klingons. "Not you, old man," Mudd said to Lorca. "Lorca, I'm gonna really miss killing you. Adieu, mon capitan!"

Lorca stood on the bridge as the door closed. "Mr. Saru," he said, and returned to the captain's chair. "Bring up the security feeds. Mr. Tyler, let's get you in position." Lorca did not smile, because there was still a risk and Burnham and Stamets were both down there with Mudd and a disruptor, but he was beginning to feel more himself now that the situation was coming back under his control.

Tyler beamed to an adjacent corridor to ambush Mudd. Lorca watched as Stamets and Burnham distracted Mudd and disarmed him. And then, the kicker: when Mudd had thought he was signaling the Klingons, he instead had signaled other parties interested in obtaining not Discovery but Mudd himself.

"Turns out, you can con a con man," said Burnham, and as he watched and listened from the bridge, Lorca smiled. Attagirl, Michael.

"The stars are gone now," Lalana said to Mischkelovitz. "Whatever was happening has ended."

Mischkelovitz stared at the readouts in the lab. Despite her best efforts and her suspicions, she had been unable to figure out exactly what Lalana was seeing, she only knew that Lalana was seeing something.

"Can you tell me all the other times you've seen these stars?" asked Mischkelovitz.

"Of course. The first time was when I met Captain Lorca on the Triton. They were lingering around him like a halo. The second time was when I came aboard Discovery. They were outside the lab, just in front of it. The third time was when we were in null time. They were diffuse that time, different, dimmer."

"And you think they lead you to where you're supposed to be?" This had been Lalana's assertion when the stars had shown up again thirty minutes earlier.

"I can think of no other explanation, except this time, they were everywhere, so bright and sparkling, and now suddenly they are gone."

Mischkelovitz chewed her lip. She did not think the "star halo" was what Lalana thought it was. Mischkelovitz did not believe in fate. "I need something," said Mischkelovitz. "And I need you to answer me honestly. That's not the thing I need, but I need you do this, too."

"I will answer what I am able," said Lalana, which was no promise at all.

Mischkelovitz knew better than to speak the words where the security monitors would overhear. She twitched her finger at Lalana and they moved into Lalana's quarters. Mischkelovitz locked the door behind them, turned towards Lalana, and said with sudden strength and clarity, "You're a part of Section 31, aren't you?"

Lalana tilted her head to the side. "I do not even know what that is. Why would you say such a thing?"

"We were working for them, and they have Rischka's mesearch, and I need that research and the quantum accelerator and scanner we developed. Can you get those things for me?"

Lalana straightened, her tail against the floor for balance. "I will steal it if I have to. How did you know I was with Section 31?"

"Because," grinned Mischkelovitz, her eyes crazily wide and somehow more uneven than usual, "you always lie." In Mischkelovitz's experience, that was the one thing you could always count on Section 31 to do. They had lied when they promised things to her and Milosz about their research. They had lied when they took the research away after he died.

Lalana clicked her tongue in happy mirth. "You are only the second human to have noticed that!"

O'Malley and Lorca finally resumed their discussion in Lorca's ready room.

"Look, Gabriel, it's all well and good, you locking me out of the communications systems, but I would really like to call my wife, and frankly, if it comes out that I didn't report anything because you prevented me, that's going to reflect rather badly. So knock it off."

Lorca frowned. "I can't let you send that report, Mac."

"Don't you want to know what it says?" O'Malley tossed his padd onto Lorca's desk.

It was the worst report Lorca had ever read. It mentioned an incident had occurred involving a weapon in the captain's quarters, but that the witness was unable to provide an official statement, investigation was presently stalled and inconclusive, and factors were at play that might have compromised both parties regarding the incident. There was no mention of what these factors were, what the accusation was, or even the fact the unnamed witness was an admiral who had been captured by Klingons. At the bottom the report said Preliminary investigation inconclusive.

"So now our asses are covered," said O'Malley. "My ass, anyway. If Cornwell ever turns up, I was unable to proceed owing to her absence, and if you get your wish, the poor woman will end up murdered and this will never go any further."

Lorca chewed his lip. He could hear it in O'Malley's tone, but just in case, he looked up at O'Malley's face. It was grim and very displeased. "Don't even think about thanking me," said O'Malley. "I officially owe you no favors. And for the record, Cornwell's right. You do need help. It just so happens we still need you. I feel sick for my part in this, do you understand that? I'm absolutely gutted. I don't know how you can live with yourself."

Lorca's mouth tugged into a frown. He could live with it because he still had Discovery and everyone on it, but he could tell this was eating O'Malley up. "Listen," he began.

"No, you listen! You're better than this. Every time you do some awful thing to someone, you always manage to make up for it somehow, so you have to do that now. You have to make this count. I don't care what it is, just give me something that matters. Just—something!" O'Malley's lip trembled and his nose scrunched up. He clasped his hand to his face. His voice cracked as he said, "God, I hate you! You have to do better, Gabriel, please."

Lorca considered O'Malley. For all that O'Malley was pathetic, he had also gone out of his way to protect Lorca despite the personal toll it was taking. "All right, Mac," said Lorca. "I'll find a way to make this count." He would single-handedly kill every last Klingon if that's what it took.

O'Malley's hand fell away, revealing a pain as deep as any Lorca had ever seen. "It's not that easy." O'Malley sighed, shook his head, and looked away. Then he said in a small voice, "Computer. Site to site transport. Personal quarters."

Lorca had a fairly good idea O'Malley had done that so no one would see him cry. He stared at the empty air where O'Malley had been standing. The ship seemed suddenly a little lonelier.

Part 67