#moving so far away that you have to fly or make multiple stops ramps up the cost even more

[andromeda3116]

like i really think people outside small towns - especially in the south - wildly underestimate what it takes to leave them

like, here's what it took for me to move 450 miles from home:

familial support on both sides of the move, i.e.:

--people to help pack the u-haul for free

--someone to drive the u-haul for free

--a place to stay overnight after arriving in the new city for free

--people to help me unpack the apartment for free

--people to chip in on gas

--people to buy lunch/dinner on the way over

--people to give advice on where to look for apartments

--people to give me a place to stay while apartment-hunting so that i didn't have to go in sight-unseen to a new home

--a big one: a brother with whom i lived for a year at very cheap rent and expenses to save up what i could

a decent job in a niche in-demand field back home, which allowed me get a well-paying job here in the same in-demand field with enough experience to start off in a good place

a reliable, reasonably fuel-efficient car that could travel 450 miles without concern (which was paid off beforehand)

a $4500 personal loan from the bank (which i used every single penny of) - which also required:

--good enough credit to qualify for a personal loan

--enough income from the previous year to get enough from the loan to move

enough income pre-move to cover expenses for my final month at home and my first three weeks of work here before getting a paycheck

(aside: people were like "why would you start your new job less than a week after moving?? that's so stressful!!!" like my doll my dear my darling i needed the fucking paycheck as quickly as possible after moving)

enough food to bring along so i could eat between moving and getting that check

related, and also in the "familial support" column: people to help me pay for gas and/or feed me if i ran out of money/food

of course the baseline of a home to stay in at all back home, internet to do the zoom interview and find apartments to rent, as well as the structure in the hometown like a u-haul facility and a good bank with which i have a long-standing account

also, only having to move myself and my pets rather than having children who would need to have either daycare or schooling lined up on the other side of the move

now, like, obviously you can move without these things - and of course any kind of support system can take the place of my family, either friends or community groups or government programs - but they are not easy things to necessarily contact or interact with from hundreds of miles away, and not having them leaves you potentially very vulnerable in the new place, sometimes to the point of life-threatening

and i wasn't even that poor! i mean i was below the median income, but only by a few grand - and it still required a solid baseline at home, support on both sides of the move, and a personal loan, and i still barely managed to do it

"why don't you just move???" is such a severely, blindly, mind-bogglingly classist statement that it makes me just immediately disengage with whoever is saying it

like, even if you don't have roots in the place you're at, moving away is fucking hard and fucking expensive

--signed, someone who has been rankling deeply at the casual way people talk about "just mov[ing]" like that's a normal, easy, obvious thing to do and not something that is absolutely price-gated to hell and back

[feneku]

Under a Million Blazing Stars - WIP

Warnings: None

Tags: Slight F!drifter/ordis if you tilt your head and squint, fluff, comfort, Post-Jade Shadows

Notes: I headcanon the Operator and Drifter merging into one being during TNW so the Drifter is generally referred to as the Operator in my fics. Set prior to Rescue Operation.

~800 words

The Operator stretched her arms over her head as she walked up the ramp out of the Orbiter. She breathed in the cool night air and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful night, quiet and peaceful. She turned back toward the Orbiter for a moment, and thought she’d never get used to it being stashed away in a cave. Hell she didn’t think Ordis would be fine with it considering it was leaking water in multiple places. She smiled and hoped the small army of domestik drones she bought helped, if nothing else, it was funny watching them follow Ordis around when he wandered the ship in his drone body.

She looked up at the stars again and sighed, she didn’t come out here to stargaze or worry about the state of the Orbiter. She had something far more pressing to worry about.

As she moved through the camp she kept an eye out for her target. He wasn’t by the campfire, she poked around Kahl’s garrison, not there either. She frowned and hoped he hadn’t wandered off too far into the forest. She's sure he’d be fine, but still she worried. The Operator moved past Kahl’s garrison and walked down the small path further into the forest. It wasn’t until she had wandered into the small cave with an overlook that she spotted him.

“Ah!” She paused. Now that she had found him she was at a loss at how to handle this. She took a deep breath and recalled what he’d let slip out that afternoon.

"I am, as always, your- Ordan- Ordis." He’d called himself by his original name. One he’d tried so hard to hide from her. She knew she shouldn’t’ve pried, searched for his scattered memories, but after Granum’s ranting it was more or less out in the open now.

She slowly approached him. It seemed he was doing some stargazing of his own.

“Ordis?” She called out to him as she made her way over to him.

He jerked in shock, like she'd interrupted him deep in thought, “Operator! What are you doing- skulking around- walking around so late?”

The Operator looked past him at the moon slowly making its way across the sky. It wasn’t really that late.

“Looking for you, actually.” She said as she settled in next to him. “Mind if I join you?”

“Certainly! Ordis did not know the Operator enjoyed stargazing as well! It is a lovely night, isn't it?” He started babbling excitedly about the stars, the nighttime wildlife, and occasionally stopping to ask her thoughts. He always seemed to want to know what she was thinking.

After a short time had passed she decided it was now or never, and interrupted him, “Ordis? Can I give you a hug?”

“Of course, Operator.” The drone’s little head tilted quizzically. “Is something wrong?” His voice was tinged with concern for her. She smiled softly, he was still fussing over her after what had happened with the Stalker.

“Not exactly…” Not with me, at least. She thought as she wrapped her arms around him. “How have you been feeling lately, Ordis?”

“Ordis has been… Fine.” He said, a little too carefully.

Liar.

“I'm sorry, I know this is sudden but…Can we talk a little about what you said earlier?” She said as she braced herself for his response.

She felt his drone body jolt and he made to fly away, but it wasn’t an earnest attempt. She grimaced. She didn’t like trapping him like this, but one of them had to start this conversation at some point. Truthfully, if he really wanted to avoid it he could just disconnect from his drone body, she really didn't want to have to carry it back to the Orbiter though, it was heavier than it looked.

“That man is dead. Ordis is Ordis.”

She frowned and fought back some choice words about how that was absolute kavatshit. He's so insistent, so damn stubborn. It felt like the more he denied who he was the worse his “glitches�� became. She worried for him.

“I understand.” She sighed, “I just want you to know I'm here for you, no matter what. Okay?” She felt him relax in her arms and wondered for a moment if he was going to disconnect and leave her here. There was a long silence before he responded.

“Thank you… Operator.” His response was quiet, soft. She held him just a little tighter. The drone body didn't have many sensors, but the gesture was appreciated nonetheless.

She watched the shattered moon slowly make its way across the sky. “The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?”

[pamplemousseparadox]

(prompt 11: argument) (oh no i have been dreading this one lmao)

Kya skidded into the clinic, her heart in her throat. She always knew there was a chance that call would come, that Lin would get hurt, seriously hurt, on the job. Republic City could be a dangerous place, even after everything that had happened. 

Lin had been hurt every time. Amon. Unalaq. The Red Lotus. Kuvira. Kya had begged her to retire, to rest, to buy a little place out in the country, but Lin had refused every time. 

“Where is she?” Kya demanded. 

“Master Kya!” the junior healer replied. “They only just pulled her in. We don’t know the extent of--”

“Where is she,” Kya repeated. 

“Room seven, but--”

She didn’t stop to listen, pushing right past him. Lin, she had to get to Lin. Had to make sure she was alright, that she hadn’t--

Bile rose in Kya’s throat, tears pricking at her eyes. She slammed through the swinging door, sending it flying into the wall, leaving a hole where the handle had connected. 

Lin was lying on a cot, three healers around her. 

“Move,” Kya said, already bending water from a pitcher. 

“Master Kya, it’s protocol that loved ones--”

“Move!” She inserted herself between two of the resident healers, already inspecting Lin for injury. “What happened?”

“Building collapsed.”

“How?”

“Agni Kai, they think. She went back in for more survivors. The rest made it out.”

Kya squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry. “Status?”

“Multiple broken bones, internal bleeding, a number of lacerations. She was conscious at the scene, we sedated her.” The resident healer placed a hand on Kya’s arm. “We’ve got this.”

Kya faltered. She knew the rules, she’d helped write them herself, and yet she couldn’t imagine leaving Lin’s side. “No. I’m fine, let’s just... let’s just get to work.” She bent the water against Lin’s skin, her heart breaking a little more with every cut she worked to heal. 

It was hours before they finished, exhausted, run off their feet. The others left Kya alone with Lin, resting her head on the cot. 

“Hey,” Lin said, her voice raspy. 

“Thank the spirits,” Kya said, gently tracing a finger along Lin’s jaw. “I was so worried.”

“The others?”

“They’re all fine. Minor injuries only.”

Lin closed her eyes, a faint smile on her lips. “Good.”

“I can’t keep doing this with you, Lin.”

“What?” Lin opened her eyes again, frowning now. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you have any idea the terror I feel, every time I hear that you’ve been hurt? Every time, worrying I won’t see you again?”

“It’s my job, Kya.”

“Then retire!”

“I still have a few good years left in me. Besides, none of the captains are ready yet.”

“They’ll never be ready! Not ready enough for you to finally give this all up!”

Lin sat up with a grimace, holding her arm. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious. I just spent four hours healing you, alongside three other resident healers. Do you have any idea how close you came to--to--” A sob caught in her throat, stopping her short. “Spirits, Lin! I thought I’d lost you! Again!”

“You didn’t. I’m right here.” Lin reached out for Kya’s hand, but she pulled it away.

“How close will it be next time? Or the time after that?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to say.”

“You’ve already been in your post far longer than your mother, how much more do you think you need to take before you’re worthy?”

Lin frowned. “It’s not about that.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Of course not! Republic City is still rebuilding, everything is a mess with all the temporary housing, with the gangs ramping everything up, with--”

“Lin, I am begging you. Please, just... what about light duty?”

“No.”

“Not even for a month?”

“No.”

Kya folded her arms across her chest. “And what if I give you an ultimatum?”

“Please don’t.” Lin reached out again, this time grasping Kya’s fingers and pulling them to her chest to rest over her wrappings. “Don’t make me choose, Kya.”

“I wish you knew how much I worry.”

“I know. I felt the same when you fought with the Red Lotus.”

“And what if I was out doing that every week?”

Lin sighed quietly. “Okay, Kya. I hear you.”

“And?”

“I’ll be more careful.”

“That’s not quite what I was looking for.”

“Light duty for a month, and that’s my final offer.”

Kya searched Lin’s face intently. “Retirement in 18 months, or I move to the country by myself.”

“Alright, my love,” Lin relented. “Two years and we have a deal, but I still want to be in charge of training new cadets. I’m unlikely to get my ass kicked with those kids.”

“Fine,” Kya said, reaching out for her. “Don’t scare me like this again.”

“Okay.”

“I mean it.”

Lin looked into her eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind Kya’s ear. “Okay.”

[x-childish-x]

hello, i noticed there’s been a growth of obi wan requests on your page. if you don’t mind, may i also request an obi wan x reader fanfic (preferably a female reader)? my idea is that the reader is related to qui gon, maybe a niece of his that he looks after since her parents passed. after qui gon’s death, reader decides to become a jedi and she and obi wan grow closer over the years, and finally confess their love for each other after they both become masters?

Long Time Coming

Pairing: Obi-Wan x fem!reader

Fandom: Star Wars

Warnings: ansgt?, fluff, mentions to multiple character deaths, mentions of a funeral

Word Count: 2,417

A/N: This is quite long! I'm sorry if that's not something you like! Firstly, thank you for the request and support! I appreciate it so much and feedback is always more than welcome and appreciated!! This request was super unique and I had a fun time writing it despite feeling the need to absolutely perfect it, lol. Anyways, I really hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

P.S. I am out of surgery and now starting recovery. Everything’s gone well so far, but I probably won’t be posting much. Check my page for a form to send in some questions for me to answer!!

Summary: Obi-Wan's been trying to catch your attention for years and after your uncle Qui-Gon Jinn's death, you find comfort in Obi-Wan like never before.

(gif not mine!)

"(Y/n), we're making another stop. We don't have enough fuel to make it back to Coruscant. We're landing on Tattooine," Your uncle, Qui-Gon, spoke softly through the holopad.

"I found the planet," Obi-Wan beamed at you, hoping this fact would impress you.

You smiled widely, nodding to Obi-Wan, "Keep this old man out of trouble for me, won't you Obi-Wan?"

The young boy nodded vigorously as your uncle rolled his eyes, "You're getting quite old yourself (y/n). I urge you to rethink your choice of not becoming a Jedi before you're using a cane."

"We could train together!" Obi-Wan cheered, his eyes glinting with hope as he looked up at his master, "I would do well at bringing her up to speed!"

There seemed to be something that happened off the holopad that you couldn't see. Both men turned their heads before looking back at you with nearly identical looks of remorse.

"We're landing soon. I must leave," Qui-Gon frowned, "Stay out of trouble. I'll return soon."

Over the next few days, Obi-Wan and your uncle did their best to keep in contact with you. Though it wasn't much, barely once a day, it was still something, and that very much made you smile. Each call was a relief because they were both alive. They were okay. They would be home soon. 

"A boy?" You questioned Obi-Wan.

"Yes, his name is Anakin Skywalker," He frowned slightly before leaning more towards his holopad, whispering, "I'm beginning to think Qui-Gon likes him better than me."

"Nonsense!" You laughed, "Qui-Gon loves you! It's impossible to not love you!"

Immediately realizing what you said, your cheeks flushed with heat, Obi-Wan's reaction mocking yours. You missed Obi-Wan, he was your best friend after all, and it wasn't often that Qui-Gon and he left on such long missions. 

"There was this thing," Obi-Wan spoke up, "He wielded a red lightsaber."

"That doesn't sound good," You frowned, wishing Obi-Wan was more than just a hologram before you.

He nodded before his attention was stolen off-screen, and he huffed, "I have to go. We'll be home soon!"

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

"What is this about you being attacked!" You yelped, jogging up to Qui-Gon.

He smiled at your concern, "I am fine. He escaped. We believe he's a sith, that they've returned. The good news is the boy we found will be my new Padawan."

"I don't care about the boy," You hissed, glaring up at your uncle, "I care about you being safe, about not losing you!"

Unexpectedly, Qui-Gon pulled you into his chest. Tears welled in your eyes at the action he so rarely did, your arms wrapping as tight as they could around his torso. You felt a kiss pressed to the top of your head and immediately squeezed tighter, tears rolling down your cheeks.

"Please... I can't lose you too, Uncle."

Qui-Gon winced at your words, knowing how dangerous it was to form attachments, yet it'd been impossible with you. From the moment you'd come under his care, you'd immediately bonded. There was no way you wouldn't have formed an attachment with him and he with you.

You'd showed up on his doorstep fourteen years ago when you were only nine. You had clutched your stuffed bantha to your chest with tears running down your cheeks, mumbling all about how 'mommy and daddy were gone' and 'I need you, uncle Qui-Gon'. His heart immediately shattered. The passing of his brother had reached him a few hours before your arrival, and the nanny behind you gave the older man a soft smile before nudging you forward.

You bounded forward, slamming into Qui-Gon's legs with a loud sob that had the older man lifting you into his arms instantly. You'd been destroyed by the sudden and mysterious loss of your parents. You sought comfort in your uncle Qui-Gon and his young Padawan. You'd spent years denying the chance to become a Jedi, afraid you were too imbalanced in your emotions.

You pulled back from Qui-Gon, allowing him to wipe your tears before he kissed your head once more. He moved, walking over to Obi-Wan, and you watched as the two talked before separating. Obi-Wan walked towards you, but your eyes locked on a small boy behind him who stood next to what looked like an R2 droid.

"We're leaving again," Obi-Wan sighed, frowning at your slightly red cheeks and glassy eyes.

You nodded, biting your lip before finally locking eyes with Obi-Wan, "Please take care of him... I have a terrible feeling Obi-Wan."

"I will," Obi-Wan smiled, gently reaching out and allowing you to place your hands in his before pulling you closer, "I'll make sure he stays out of trouble. He has a new Padawan to train, after all. But besides that..." Obi-Wan's voice dropped, his gaze growing softer as he squeezed your hands, "You know I'd do anything for you."

You nodded, listening as Qui-Gon ordered Obi-Wan to head to the ship, and with one last playful goodbye, you watched him leave, followed soon by everyone else. You stood on the pad, watching as the ship rose and left, the terrible feeling in your stomach growing with each second.

Nobody called you. For the next few days, nobody called you, and it only worsened the terrible feeling, making you nauseous as you waited patiently for the ship to arrive. You'd been told briefly by Yoda that they were returning, yet the pain on his face confirmed your thoughts. Something was wrong, and you weren't sure what, but you'd felt the pain and dread that filled you yesterday, and now Yoda was looking at you with remorse as he watched you waiting from his tower.

You couldn't maintain your focus as the ship landed, frozen still as you waited. You watched each person that exited, waiting for the two familiar faces you wanted to see so badly. Obi-Wan descended the ramp, his eyes lifting from the ground to lock with yours. Instantly tears filled your eyes, a hand flying to your mouth as Obi-Wan rushed to you.

"No..."

You collapsed into Obi-Wan's chest without a second thought, throwing your arms around him as sobs racked through your body. He attempted calming you, one arm wrapped tightly around your waist and the other stroking your hair. Obi-Wan panicked slightly, feeling immediately it was all his fault. Your pain was his fault. If he'd just been slightly faster he could've saved his master, your uncle.

"Please... Obi-Wan... tell me no," You cried, burying your head into his chest as his grip tightened.

"It was a sith, the same who attacked him previously," Obi-Wan whispered, not caring about the looks anyone gave you, "I killed him. I killed the sith right after. I... I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't faster."

Nobody could remove you from Obi-Wan's side, not even Yoda, who was forced to allow you to sit in while he spoke to Obi-Wan about Anakin. You were distraught and terrified at the idea of seeing your uncle's body later. Obi-Wan comforted you, an arm around you the entire day until the ceremony rolled around.

You'd separated from Obi-Wan briefly, and when you returned to Qui-Gon's funeral, Yoda himself almost cried. You stood over Qui-Gon's body, a hand gently brushing his cheek, your mother's Jedi robe caressing your body. Just for a second, Yoda believed he was seeing your mother's spirit. You looked so identical, and the soft click of Yoda's cane startled you, forcing you away from your uncle's body.

"Determination within you, I sense. Made a decision, you have," Yoda hummed, coming to your side.

You nodded curtly, your gaze on Qui-Gon, "I wish to become a Jedi, Master Yoda."

"Agree to your request, the council does. My Padawan, you will be," Yoda nodded, not needing to speak to any other members to know there would be no defiance. 

Yoda retreated to the back, watching your reaction as people filtered in, most not catching your attention until Obi-Wan walked in. You seemed to escape his gaze for a few moments, certainly because of the robe, before he rushed to your side. Yoda knew this was a potential problem, the connection the two of you held, but that was a problem for the future.

The future seemed to bring many problems for you. Your days quickly molded into becoming nothing but training. You barely spent time sleeping. Both you and Master Yoda determined to bring you up to speed. Despite everyone in the council loving your decision to become a Jedi (especially Obi-Wan), they had all disagreed with the idea of you becoming a Jedi-Knight within five short years. 

However, Yoda insisted you were ready, and you passed the trials with such ease it'd seemed like you'd been training for years. Which of course, lead to many Jedi accusing you of training illegally under Qui-Gon. But it wasn't anything like that. Yoda and Obi-Wan were amazing when it came to training you. They were patient and worked with you consistently, over and over. You knew there was no way you would've become a Jedi-Knight had you not had their help.

"So?" Obi-Wan asked when you returned to your shared apartment, "Did you pass?"

Slowly, you lifted the hair on your right side to reveal that your Padawan braid was no more. He smiled widely, leaping up and pulling you into his chest. You smiled back, squeezing Obi-Wan as he spun you around gently. 

You still weren't used to everything. Obi-Wan and you had decided to get an apartment together after Qui-Gon's passing, insisting that living together helped your coping. Of course, it was a two-bedroom, and you stayed in separate rooms, and just Obi-Wan's presence truly did help you.

Once Obi-Wan sat you down and pulled back, a huge smile on his face as you stared up at him. A moment passed as you struggled to get a grip on your thoughts. You gulped, eyes flicking around the room as you kept your hands linked at the back of Obi-Wan's growing hair. You liked it longer. You felt it suited him, not that you didn't like it short.

"Obi-Wan?" Your voice was small, fragile in the air as the slightly older boy stared at you.

"Yes?"

"Do you think he's proud of me?" 

Obi-Wan's heart melted at the worry in your eyes, the worry that your uncle wouldn't be proud of you after everything you'd done. His hands drifted from your waist and up to cup your cheeks, pulling your face just slightly closer as he leaned down. He wanted nothing more than to wipe your ever-growing tears, but that could wait. The most important thing for Obi-Wan right now was to make sure you understood that there was no possible way for Qui-Gon to be even the slightest bit disappointed in you.

"(Y/n), I have not a single doubt that he's proud of you. He was before he passed, and I'm sure he's proud now," Obi-Wan reassured you, his smile growing as you nodded, "I know Master Qui-Gon wishes he was here with us, to see you become a Jedi Knight, but regardless he is incredibly proud."

You giggled softly, leaning forward just the slightest bit, so your nose touched Obi-Wan's, "I just worry sometimes, that maybe I'm not doing enough," You paused, gasping a quiet breath when Obi-Wan nudged your nose with his again, "Thank you Obi-Wan... I... I couldn't have done any of this without you. I'd be lost, truly."

Your gaze flicked down to your connected noses and back up to Obi-Wan's blue eyes. Yet, it felt like it was the first time you ever looked at Obi-Wan. You felt like you were a small kid again, peeking out from under your uncle's robe to see two big blue eyes looking at you with a huge smile. Blue eyes and a smile that promised to be your best friend, promised to stay by your side... 'as a loyal Jedi should'. And now, as you stared into those same eyes, you felt the urge to be so much more than what he promised.

You tilted your head up, mushing your lips against Obi-Wan's and leading the kiss as he froze in shock. Was he dreaming again? Was he about to wake up alone in his bed once more? The squeeze you gave to the back of his neck told him otherwise... that this most definitely wasn't a dream. Suddenly, he was dropping his hands from your cheeks, looping them around your waist and pulling you flush against him as he took control of the kiss.

It became a dance of lips and tongue, mumbling in an attempt to convey all the years of unsaid feelings even though no real words were being formed. It felt perfect. It felt like the force was exploding through the two of you, screaming that nothing could've been more right. There was no thought of the Jedi Code, no thought of the possibility of losing your titles. The only thought being formed was how not only your lips but your mind and soul seemed to connect at that moment together.

"I... that... we..."

"I've wanted to do that for so long," You laughed breathlessly, cutting off Obi-Wan.

He smiled, nodding in agreement as he placed a kiss on your forehead, "I adore you so much (y/n). I always have."

You mocked Obi-Wan's actions, nodding your confirmation as he placed another kiss closer to your temple now. It felt perfect. The life force flowing around the two of you was bursting with light, harmonious, and balanced perfectly. There was no need for words. You could feel one another projecting all the unsaid emotions. You were one, and suddenly a large smile broke onto your face as Obi-Wan continued to press light kisses all over your face.

You weren't worried about the possibility of losing your title. You didn't care what the Jedi Code had to say, and you certainly didn't care what the council thought. You felt complete, whole. And it was the first time you'd felt that way since losing your parents. You'd deal with the consequences later, when they made themselves truly known on their own accord and when it was time for Obi-Wan and you to make a decision.

"Do you think he's still proud of me?" 

Obi-Wan chuckled, kissing your nose before pulling back, "I think he'd want to kill me."

"It was a long time coming," You teased, making Obi-Wan nod.

"That, it was."

[damn-stark]

All That’s Left Ch.4

Star Wars Au

A/N-I hope you guys like how this chapter turned out! Cause I know I did :) leave your thoughts!

Warning- violence, swearing, angst, some fluff, Slow burn, long chapter.

Pairing- Poe Dameron x reader

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“Hello, sister.”

“Armitage” you deadpan, avoiding the shocked stares coming from your crew.

“Should’ve known you would be among the scum.” He smirks. “Well fun is over I’m afraid, it’s time I take you home.”

You step forward and speak bluntly, “no.”

“No?” Armitage looks at the crowd and frowns, “You have no one here, you’re alone. Come home with me sister. Where you belong. Snoke is anxious to meet you.”

“No.”

His jaw tightens, but continues to remain his collected, poised self. “The resistance doesn’t promise your survival. You do know you’ll die once you provide what you possess.” He steps up making Ben move closer to you protectively. “But not with us. After we take what we need you’ll be free to go and live your life. Free from the order...I’ll even go with you. Isn’t that what you want?”

A moment of hesitation hits you at his words, he knew exactly what to say to pull the strings of your heart, to convince you. But even if what he said sounded promising, you couldn’t believe him. As much as it hurt. You needed and were going to do the right thing. “I’m sorry Armitage, but I don’t trust you...I’m not going with you.”

Armitage sighs loudly and takes a step towards you, “Amara is dead. Who do you have here? No one, you’re alone. But not if you come back with me. You’re my sister. My responsibility.”

You swallow thickly and lower your gaze, your decision not changing. “I’m doing the right thing for the galaxy and me. I’m not going back.”

Armitage exhales deeply, a scowl replacing the expressionless demeanor on his features as he decided that he was done asking. “Take her and the traitor.”

The Stormtroopers don’t hesitate to listen to their master and march directly towards you and Finn. A mission that came to a quick end as Ben completely stepped in front of you with his lightsaber activated.

“Always protected, sister.” Armitage sighed, “mother, Amara and now this fool. That’s why you’ve always been weak, why you’re a coward.”

Tears pool in your eyes as you’re left speechless. He’s always been like this, you should've known that nothing he said before was sincere.

“Just leave her alone.” Poe defended you, instantly making you look over at him in shock. “You heard her, she doesn’t want to go with you. Leave while you still can.”

Armitage smirked mischievously, his eyes falling on Poe’s, “and the list keeps growing.”

The tears that stung your eyes finally rolled down your cheek. You knew that what he was going to say was going to be anything but nice, especially after you rejected his offer, but the words still hurt. Like the first time he said them to you. It left you speechless and unable to defend yourself—like always—maybe what he said was right.

Before you even had the chance to respond or act on the problem some of the stormtroopers continue to move towards you. Until they were all suddenly flung back. A small gasp escaping your lips at the action, Poe and the rest of your crew seeming to share your same response at the sudden action. All except for Ben.

Armitage looked back at the troopers and then at Ben, his eyes expressing surprise and fear. It made you smile, something that didn’t last as the troopers got back up and got ready to shoot their attacker—the thought to help out Ben take out the stormtroopers crossed your mind, but the guilt and knowing they were human under those uniforms made you quickly brush away your thought.

Leaving you to watch as Ben single handily took out the troopers without moving from his spot, watching as Armitage was lifted from the ground and his hands reached to grab the invisible hold around his throat. A look of horror expressed on your features.

“Ben.” You quickly called out. “Stop.”

Everything stayed the same, expect now Armitage tried to gasp for the little air he could get in his lungs. His eyes desperately glancing at you to make Ben stop.

“Ben, stop!” You bellowed while trying to pull back the hand Ben had extended out to do said violent action. “Leave him alone!”

“I don’t want to see you or any of your stormtroopers after us again. You understand?” Ben told Armitage in an unrecognizable voice.

“Ben!”

Said man glanced at you for a brief moment and then let Armitage drop to the ground. The ginger looking unkept as he gasped for air, not responding but simply ignoring Ben altogether.

“What’s your problem?” You hissed at Ben. Receiving nothing but a glare as a response, his attention quickly stolen by the Falcon flying in.

Before you disappeared into the old ship, you gave Armitage one last glance and frowned, his words not letting you feel bad for what had happened. “That’s why you got bit and why Amara died. Because you’re weak!”

You swallowed thickly and looked away, an ominous black ship parked in the distance catching your eye before the ramp closed.

——

It was closer now. The time you had left was coming to an end. And knowing that didn’t help the pit you felt in your stomach, didn’t help the nerves that were eating you alive. The scary part wasn’t that you were going to give the galaxy a new hope, it was the not getting to live a life what messed with your head. There had to be more out there than just violence and flesh-eating monsters right?

But then again maybe this was Karma for what you were born into. A feared Order that wants nothing but destruction. Dying this way was just Karma paying back.

“I did it for you, Poe. Because I knew that if you found out you wouldn’t report it.”

Okay. First, yes, you tried not to eavesdrop onto Poe’s and Zorii’s argument, but avoiding their argument was hard, especially when they argued so close. And especially when the argument had to do with you...sorta. So, yes there was no choice but to discreetly listen in while Finn and you pretended to be busy with something else.

“Because it isn’t your news to tell, Zorii. Why don’t you understand that? You had to tell me first! Not just go run your mouth for some credits.”

Zorii glared at Poe, her demeanor not faltering for a single minute. A trait you admired about her. She wasn’t easy to put down or scare. She was head-strong and confident. Immediate comebacks that were thrown at her.

If only you could be like her.

“Why don’t you understand I did it for us? So I had enough money to get a different ship and leave together. Don’t you want that?

Poe put his hands on his hips and sighed, his shoulders dropping as he tried to be more understanding and calm. “I’ve told you already that I can’t leave this fight. I know you prefer to go rogue, but I can’t and won’t. I’m sorry.”

Zorii took a moment to respond, the now cold tone in her voice making what she was meaning and how she felt obvious. “So, then I guess this is it.”

Before either Finn or you could hear what Poe had to respond, multiple red lights went off in the Falcon, said ship shaking violently before it quickly began to fall into the planet. Forcing you to grab onto the table in front of you for stability, repeatedly hoping that a simple crash wasn’t going to take you out. Not when you were close to your destination.

Right as you were going to try and complain to Ben, the ship came to a sudden stop. The two pilots guilty of making said destruction rushed out of the cockpit and rushed outside. And of course the rest of the crew and you followed after them, your lips immediately parting at the sight of the Falcon on fire.

“It’s on fire.” Poe panicked, “all of it is on fire.”

“Really, Dameron? I wouldn’t have guessed it if you hadn’t so obviously pointed it out.” Ben retorted sarcastically.

Poe cocked his head to the side and glared at the tall dark haired man. “You know, complain all you want about Y/N lightspeed skipping the Falcon, at least she didn’t set it on fire like you and Rey.”

Your eyes widen at Poe’s comeback, instantly getting the feeling to laugh, but having to hold it back as you noticed Ben’s death glare.

Ignoring him however you dared to make a comment. “That’s right. Because I’m the best pilot.”

Poe glanced at you with a sly grin, “that’s still up for debate.”

You turn and shrug, “eh, no, you’ve said it yourself. At least I didn’t burn the ship.”

“That—”

“We don’t have time, let’s extinguish this fire and fix the ship. We’re almost at base.” Ben interrupted. “We can’t lose focus now.”

——

“We’re right here. Texas.” Ben pointed on the map, “my mother’s base is up here, in this state called Oregon. We can make it. It isn’t far.”

Rey shook her head and backed away from the table, her arms crossed on her chest and a perplexed look on her face. “We won’t. Unless you want us to die from an explosion the moment we start this ship. Plus we’re very low on fuel and we don’t have the parts. We have to go on foot.”

Great. The problems just keep piling on.

“No.” Poe added, “we’ll never make it on foot. It will take us months. We have to get something to travel on.”

“Whatever we use also needs fuel. We don’t have that remember?” Ben remarked.

“Then we collect it. People always leave stuff unchecked.” You speak up, making all eyes fall on you.

“She’s right.” Finn adds, “there's another camp not far from here that’s allied with the resistance. Admiral Haldo is in charge. We just collect enough to make it there and get what we need to make it to the base camp.”

“Sounds like a plan. But how do we get our mode of transportation?” Poe asks. “I can go search for something.”

Ben parts his lips to say something but Rey beats him to it. “It’s dark out. It’s too dangerous now but you can at first light.”

Poe nods, his eyes finding you next to Ben, “y/n, do you want to come? I need someone to watch my back.”

Wait, what?

Your eyes part away from the map to land on Poe, feeling surprised that he would ask you first, instead of...I don’t know, Finn, or Zorii. He was your friend, yes, but he barely knew you. Why would he ask you first?

Regardless and desperately wanting out you accept before Ben also had anything to say against it.“Yeah, sure.” You grin, immediately feeling Ben glare daggers at you. And as you heard him open his mouth you cut him off. “I’m going to start a fire.”

——

“Excuse me, but who gave you permission to go risk your life with Dameron?” Ben argued as he stormed after you.

You scoff but don’t stop or turn, “myself. You’re not my father or anyone to be giving me orders. I can take care of myself.”

“Really? Because lately you’ve proven otherwise.”

“Look—”

“Shut up.” Ben rudely interrupts, prompting you to spin back and glare at him.

“Excuse me?!”

“Shut up, I hear something.”

In a swift motion you turn towards the direction of the noise and pull out your Vibroblade, breaking it apart and turning it into twin blades. The rustling got louder the closer it got.

You try and search for red eyes in between the darkness but nothing shines, the noise only gets closer. Ben tries to pull you back, but you rip your arm away from his grasp, inching closer and closer until out of the darkness the creature you had heard jumps out. Revealing nothing but a cute animal.

“Aww, Ben were you scared of a cute little animal?” You tease as you turn to face him with a cocky grin. “Don’t worry I don’t think that cute little deer can eat you. If it tries I’ll keep you safe, don’t worry.”

Ben just shoots you glare before he huffs away.

——

“Ok, craziest thing you’ve done before, doesn't matter if it was before or after the outbreak.” Poe explains as he shoves a piece of cooked meat into his mouth and points his finger directly at you. “You, y/n, go.”

“Really? pick the new member, cheap move.” You sigh but continue, hugging yourself tighter as a cold breeze hit you, “uhmm, well I guess it would have to be lightspeed skipping the Falcon.”

Rey looks up at you, her narrowed gaze basked by the fire. “That was not crazy, that was a stupid move. You could’ve killed us all.”

“Did you die?” You shot back.

Rey’s lips part, your comeback catching her by surprise and causing her to fumble for a brief moment. “Don’t do it again.”

Will there even be a next time?

“Well I for one thought it was a pretty awesome move.” Zorii defends you, making you smile shyly.

“Thank you.” You then glance at Ben and direct your comment at him, “at least someone here appreciates what I did.”

“Hey, what about me? I was the first one to compliment you on that.” Poe interjected.

You blink to meet his gaze across the fire, a half smile on your lips and a heat creeping on your cheeks at his comment. (Or was that the heat from the fire?) “Yeah, I guess you did.” You joke before tearing your gaze away when you felt Zorii look between Poe and you.

“Well, I have some crazy story I haven’t told yet.” Poe begins enthusiastically, making everyone around him groan in annoyance.

Finn leans in and whispers in your ear about the subject at hand, “he’s full of shit. Half of the stuff he tells isn’t even true. He’s just trying to impress everyone.”

You slide your eyes to the side to meet Finn’s gaze, the both of you beginning to snicker as the pilot begins his story—regardless of Finn’s warning, you got hooked and listen to every word Poe said about his dreadnought story, the whole vibe that was happening right now, reminding you when your sister would tell her stories to passing people that would join your group from time to time. Their would be new stories each night, never the same and almost all of them made up.

But as entertaining as Poe’s story was you couldn’t help but glance at Ben, who seemed to be lost in his own head, his eyes glossy and focused on the gold dices he held in between the pads of his fingers. Even if he was rude to some extent, the way he was now, quiet and somewhat relaxed reminded you of your brother Armitage. Him just like Ben had their anger problems that could become excessive sometimes, but in the quiet times they appeared harmless, somewhat nice and approachable. Maybe that’s why Ben was so easy to talk to and get angry at. He reminded you of your brother…..

Ew.

The moment you were going to attempt to talk to Ben solo, you felt someone sit beside you and a place a jacket on your shoulders, the warmth evading the cold you felt before. When you turned your head you noticed that it was, Poe. Said man offering you a warm smile and a witty comment.

“Couldn’t stand your chattering teeth.”

You roll your eyes and smile, “sorry, did it get in the way of your intense storytelling?”

“The person I was trying to impress wasn’t paying attention anymore, so I stopped.”

You snort, “who, Ben? Well sorry to break it to you, but I don’t think he was ever paying attention.”

Poe chuckles and plays along, “wells that’s a shame, told my best story for nothing then.”

“Better luck next time.” You grin.

Right when Poe was going to say something, a tall shadow covered Poe and you, both of you looking up to see no one other then Ben, his glare fixated on Poe. “Y/N, you and me are up for first the lookout shift. Let’s go and leave Dameron alone. He has to wake up early tomorrow, you don’t want him sleeping on the job.”

“Yeah...okay.” You push yourself off the log and offer Poe an apologetic smile, “goodnight, Poe.”

“Good night y/n. Remember first light tomorrow don’t forget.”

You quirk your eyebrow and smirk, “I won’t. Best you not forget though.”

Poe scoffs, “I won’t.”

——

The soft orange hues of the sun rising in the horizon brightens your smile and illuminates the eagerness that plays on your features when you finally spot a car a couple feet away. Hope filling your whole being, not only because you were going to find what you needed so early on into the trip, but it meant that the fear you felt of running into danger with so little backup wouldn’t turn into a real terrifying scenario.

Even the little orange and white droid seemed to be hopeful on your find as he quickly rolled over to said object. An action you didn’t hesitate to follow, making Poe rush to catch up to the both of you in case anything surprised you that neither the droid or you caught in your eager spirit.

But just as everything else, as soon as you reached the red car you came to a disappointing turnout since the battery was missing from within the car. “Stars.” You groan.

Poe sighs behind you, his little droid seeming to copy his sound of disappointment—“Let’s continue down the road, we’ll come across something eventually.”

You nod and continue down the paved road in a surprisingly comforting silence, unaware of the stolen glances Poe would give you. That exact moment going on for a moment longer until you got reminded of something that made you glance at Poe, who was quick to look away as he saw you look his way.

“Oh yeah, I forgot last night,” you begin as you shrug your backpack strap off your shoulder to take his jacket out, “your jacket. Thank you for letting me use it.”

Poe glances at your outstretched hand and what you had to offer, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he pushed your hand back towards you. “Keep it. It suits you.”

You meet his gaze and smile, “are you sure?”

“Damn sure.”

Deciding to put the jacket on you add one more thing that had been pestering you all night. “I do want to say, uhm I hope your girlfriend doesn’t get mad that we came here together. I don’t want to cause any problems.”

Poe strokes his beard and responds quite quickly, “no, no it’s fine,” he didn’t know why he had the urge to further explain himself, but he did. “I think Zorii and I have been out of it for a while. Not that I don’t love her because I do, in a more platonic way now, I mean she’s always going to be special. It’s just we both haven’t been like we once were for a long time.” He pauses and sighs, his gaze distant as he chose to continue.

“The only reason why we were together now was not because we had feelings for one another, but because we felt obligated to be together because of our past and the thought that there wasn't going to be anyone else or anything else in the new strange galaxy that is now our reality.” His eyes met yours, the orange hue that basked his face letting you see how brown his eyes were under the sun. It’s something you didn’t want to focus on, but couldn’t help but do as he let out held in words. “We both felt familiar, I guess. We both needed each other in the beginning, but I think now after a while we were both scared to admit that we had moved on...that we both have always wanted different things.”

Turning your gaze towards the path ahead, you hum softly before responding verbally. “I understand...but just know there's nothing wrong with sticking with what’s familiar. It reminds you to keep grounded. Helps you feel calm in chaos.” At least that’s what you felt...before Amara died. She was the only person you had, the only person that helped you in a galaxy full of chaos.

But she was gone now.

“I guess you’re right. But can I give you some advice?”

Once again you meet each other’s gaze, your paces slowing down at the shared moment.

“Go ahead.”

“Don’t be afraid to try what’s new. Adapt with what is now, there's so much to do. I know that it’s all terrifying, but if you don’t try, you won’t live.”

A frown shows on your lips while you blinked to look away for a brief moment as you responded softly, “even with how things are now?”

“Even with how things are now.” Poe confirmed with a assuring smile, “nobody is guaranteed tomorrow, enjoy life, have fun...just like when you lightspeed skipped the Falcon.”

Again you looked over at him, this time holding each other’s gaze for a moment, a shy smile growing on your lips, “thank you.” You look down and hide the fact how hot your cheeks were burning, how your heart seemed to skip a beat at the lingering stare.

The action not going unnoticed however; Poe had seen how flustered you had gotten and couldn’t help his smile from softening, an admiration growing on how different you were from the other girls he'd met throughout his life.

“You welcome.” He muttered.

——

“Fuck, yeah!” Poe exclaimed as he practically jumped off the drivers seat, “it works!”

When you check the car, your smile drops at the only thing missing, “it needs fuel genius. A lot of it, we won’t make it around the corner before it dies on us.”

Poe scoffs and shakes his head, turning away from you to talk to himself, “thank you poe, for finding a working car. Oh no problem, y/n, just in the day's work.”

BB8 and you share a glance at Poe’s ramblings, deciding it's best to let him...be him.

“There's a couple cars alongside the street, I’ll go check if they have what we need.” You point, not waiting for a response to walk down the driveway. The curly headed man following you nonetheless.

“I’ll check the garages while you take out the fuel from cars, okay?” He instructs as he hands you an empty canister. “BB8, watch her back.”

The both of you begin to do your own thing, the objective you had, actually harder than you initially thought. Making Ben come to mind. Mostly his ability to use the force and how it would be much easier if he were here since he could just get the fuel out with his mind or….however he used it.

Then again, if Ben were here, he would most likely let you wait in the car or something that was out of harm's way—At least Poe let you be on your own and do what Ben never would.

So, actually it was good Ben wasn’t here.

“Seems full,” You muse as you shake the canister and hear the liquid swish around inside, a proud smile plastered on your lips. A feeling and gesture that all too quickly vanished at the sound of Poe calling out to you in a panicked cry for help.

“Y/N! Y/N! Help!”

You snapped your head in the direction of his call, jumping to your feet and forgetting the full canister on the ground to run to him faster than you have ever run in your life—when you finally located where you had heard him shout from, you saw a corpse on top of him, teeth snapping inches from Poe’s face. The only reason why he luckily didn’t get bitten at that instant was the hand he had against the corpse's head. And you didn’t know what it was, maybe the positioning Poe was in or the sight and sound of the bloodied corpse, but it was at that moment you were struck by the memory when you were bitten.

Causing violent flashes of the past to hit you, something that caused you to freeze in place, making you let out heavy breaths and causing your lips to part in disbelief. And as much as you tried you couldn’t snap yourself away from the trauma, not until Poe called out to you again.

You whipped out your vibroblade and swung down on the corpse's head, immediately having to react by pulling it out of its head, and breaking apart your singular blade to turn it into twin blades as you heard another corpse running up behind you. Having to use your right hand to swiftly and skillfully turn your blade around so you could manage to swing back and hit the corpse in the chest with a backhand trick. Not hesitating to throw your arm upward and cut the corpse's head in half.

When you saw that the ghost was clear you reconnected your blades together and put them away, turning back around to see Poe still on the ground, his eyes wide and lips parted in amazement. His eyes were the only thing to react as you extended your hand out to him.

He didn’t hesitate when he took your hand, but with his speechless reaction he hardly paid attention to how fast he got up, his chest hitting yours and his face leaving only inches of free space between your, the feeling making you go rigid.

He stood quiet for a moment, his eyes frantically searching yours, as if what he wanted to say was contained inside them.

“Uhh, I—”

“Your brother was wrong.” Poe interrupted.

“What?”

Poe licked his lips and kept close, his hand still holding onto yours as he continued. Each and every word sincere, causing your eyes to water, “you’re not what he said you were. None of it was true. If he saw you now, he would’ve been left impressed, like I was.”

You swallow back thickly, a warm smile growing on your lips before you softly spoke up to seek for assurance on what he said, “you really think so?”

Poe grinned as he held your gaze, “hell yeah.” His eyes slowly drifted down to your lips before he met your gaze again, his face leaning closer, making your heart hammer in your chest.

Right as you were going to close your eyes and be swept by the moment that was going to happen, the same black ship from before appeared in the sky. Not making you pull away completely, but causing you to stop what Poe planned to do.

“Poe.”

“Hmm?”

“Th-there's a ship in the sky. It was in Ajan Kloss when we were leaving too.”

Poe sighed deeply and turned to follow your line of sight, his gaze narrowing on the mysterious ship you only now identified.

“Who the hell is that?”

You gasped and slowly walked out of the garage, “The Knights of Ren.”

.

.

.

.

A/N- does Poe think of reader as a cute little cinnamon roll? Yes, yes he does.

A/N-Anyway yes earth exists in this universe, I know, I know out all of the planets I could’ve used from the SW universe, but it’s just earth will provide a lot of angst in this series!! One more thing I would like to add that for those who haven’t read the Kylo Ren comics or know much about the knights of Ren, they did exist before Kylo Ren was created, just a little FYI.

Tagged- @thescarletknight2014​​​​​ , @lanatheawesome​​​​​ , @yodaboo​​​​​ , @geo-winchester​​​​​ , @ginger-swag-rapunzel​​​​​ , @mamanoota5​​​​​ , @peachdameron​​​ , @roserrys​​​ , @too-lit-for-fanfic​​ , @jimpyknees​​ , @softly-sad​​

Permanent taglist- @ms-dont-care​ , @commondazy​

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Weird “We Come in Peace.”

This was difficult to write, and I am not sure if it makes much sense, but I promised to write this one for you, and I did my best. If you like writings about the logistics of a first contact situation go ahead and send me more ideas. I was thinking about learning about simple human biology would be interesting, 

As always I hope you enjoy feel free to comment, question, critique, message or anything else. 

Captain Kelly stood below the ramp of the strange alien ship surrounded on all sides by her most trusted companions. To her left, her first lieutenant, to her right, her linguistics specialist directly behind her three of her most experienced men, and right to the back…. The 2nd lieutenant who had begged her on his knees to tag along. He was young and inexperienced, but then again, he had shown resolve under pressure and probably kept them from being shot. Because of him they were taking their first steps into communication with an alien race.

Above them, the ramp began to lower releasing light downwards upon them. At the top a set of sentries watched them with tense anticipation. She may not speak alien, but she knew caution when she saw it. She urged her team upwards, the boots of her space suit thudding against the strange material.

Lieutenant Vir hurried up to stand next to walk next to her a bounce in his step, eyes wide with childish wonder. She sort of hoped he never lost that, she also hoped that he would never have a reason to.

They stopped at the top of the ramp, as the door hissed shut behind them leaving them alone and stranded aboard an alien ship.

***

The atmosphere of frustration was clear. The galactic assembly’s best specialists had been sent out to attempt and make communication possible between the two species but so far, they had made no real progress. The variability in the creature’s intonations and voices made it structurally impossible to tell what they were trying to say and even identify if they were saying the same thing. A hiss from one sounded completely structurally different from the hiss from another. Additionally, they seemed to refer to themselves through a multiple combinations of the sounds.

On the other hand, scientists had made greater headway in learning about the creatures genetically and structurally. The human leader, the small one, had handed off the green-orbed creature for scientific testing, and despite its constant need to touch things, it was easy to deal with. From examination, they learned that the creature spoke based on a system of fluctuating air pressed out from its esophagus, through two vibrating vocal bands, and the interaction of its mouth, specifically a muscle within the mouth. Unfortunately each creature had varying sizes of vocal cords, tongues, teeth, and nasal passageways making communication completely different creature to creature.

Conversely, the creatures seemed to be growing irritated, as they did not understand their complex, additional, body posturing. One specifically including one digit pointing in random directions, and then the creature would get angry when they didn’t understand.

Things had ground to a halt at this point. The main creature was resting its head against the table, the second one was frantically gesticulating towards and unknown device, and the other three looked saggier than usual. The only one who didn’t seem to have changed was the green-orb creature watching from close by as a scientists took measurements about his chest.

The curious-eyed creature had been watching silently for some time before shrugging himself away from the scientist, to range across the room gathering all the chairs and dragging them into a large group. Creatures and member of the council alike stared at the creature with confusion. By the time he was finished all the chairs were piled in the circle at the center of the room. Everyone was standing ty this point having had their chairs confiscated.

The creature pulled one of the chairs forward a sharp chirp and a growl. He brought forth the next one and repeated the sound. He did this over and over again, and then urged the other creatures to do so one after the other.

“Wait, wait, I think I understand.”

“Someone, start recording.”

They ran statistics comparing the different sounds and found they had the same rhythmic pattern to them. “Chair,” They repeated.

***

“Why didn’t they get it when I said that?” Their linguist asked angrily as the aliens chirped to each other excitedly. They grabbed a chair and made a noise. It was a weird kind of sequel and hiss.

Adam did his best to copy it. The aliens parroted it back to him a few times excited with his copying rendition.

They sat down again moved by a new vigor. Captain Kelly finally let the boy over. He was proving himself to be more useful to this mission than he had any right to be, and if they were going to communicate with these inhuman beings, than they were going to have to use all of their available assets.

***

It was important to first establish the nouns for objects. Each one had to be carefully statistically analyzed for difference in language pattern, but just because they knew the names of objects meant absolutely nothing. The rules and meanings of their language would be difficult to puzzle out.

Personal pronouns proved to be an issue that took them some hours to puzzle out. Certain ones accepted He some accepted She and all accepted they although they could be an identifier for a group of the creatures though a group of creatures was not called a “They”. We was used when the creature speaking was part of the group indicated. They themselves could not be part of a they, but they could be part of a we. They seemed very reluctant to explain the difference between a he and a she, and so they left that particular mystery for another time accepting what the creatures told them as fact.

They eventually got the name of their race, though, of course, there was no direct translation. The word consisted of a short exhalation of air then a hum a chip and then another sort of humming sound.

“Human.”

It took an entire session just to explain these personal pronouns in relation to the nous they already understood.

The humans came back the next day with new equipment proceeding to draw images, and symbols that apparently represented the sounds that they made. It was fascinating to find that they had a written language proving once and for all that they were a sentient species equal to any in the galactic assembly.

The green eyed human remained integral in these discussions. Despite his inferior position in the hierarchy, he was the first to act, and sometimes, the first to understand. He was the one who made it clear that body language was just as important to the “Humans” as was spoken language. Pointing with a single digit was to indicate attention be focused on a specific object. A head shake meant no and a nod meant yes. The lifting of both shoulders was an indication of confusion neither agreeing nor disagreeing.  

“I” and “Me” were indications of the self though each creature also had a personal name. In certain cases they had three names…. Though that wasn’t discovered until later.

“I was usually followed by an action I run, I walk while ���Me” Denoted something happening to a person, for me, to me, with me. Us and We acted the same way.

“You” was the word they used when speaking to another creature, when not unitizing their personal name.

Motion words followed their personal pronouns. The leader spoke the words while the green eyed creature demonstrated. He waked, he ran, he spun and he jumped.

Going, was a general term indicating the movement to somewhere, coming meant to return or to journey FROM a location.

The first sentence, “I come.”

“You come.” The creature said pointing at one member of the council.

Hesitantly they walked forward towards the human.

The room around erupted as the creatures began shrieking and showing their teeth. They fled backwards away from the horrible display of maddened barbarism. Upon seeing this the humans calmed hands in the air vital organs exposed.

No words could be shared, so no one understood what was happening.

How were we to know that facial expressions were so important?

It took another day to explain wanting something and then possession.

I want, I have, we want, we have.

General verbs followed that, beginning with easy concepts not abstract. To speak, to fly, to breathe.

All throughout they learned question words beginning with what paired with that. What to ask what something is or was, but usually paired with other words to determine context. Where for location, when for time, who, for a specific person. All which had a matching answer who paired with personal pronouns or names what with that where with here or there (here for right next to a person) there paired with a pointing gesture or some other context.

The humans surprised them indicating that their language also utilized the pat and the present is and am indicating something in the now while others required prefixes or suffixes to indicate past. Their translating equipment was beginning to pick up short sentences now, and with excitement the humans accepted the strange technology.

The green eyed human most of all.

***

Lieutenant Vir marched aboard the ship with the strange alien translation device clipped to his right ear. He was going to speak with an alien today, he was determined. Not just a sentence, he was going to get an answer to a question.

The first alien he saw had been there every day, a simple soldier, nothing more, but Lieutenant Vir walked right up to him. The creature watched in tense worry and confusion, “What is your name?”

Seconds passed.

“Gurt.”

***

It took weeks to understand the question why and even longer to explain abstract concepts. They had been there for months.

But the day came. They sat across the tale from each other Captain Kelly sitting next to her linguist and her soldiers.

“Why are you here?” The alien asked in its stilted and halting voice. It almost sounded like a bird or a parrot talking. It could have spoken through the translator, like some of the others did, but like the linguist it insisted.

“We come in peace.” Came the reply…. A reply that humans had thought up for thousands of years, in every science fiction novel and television show. An intergalactic hand of peace extending across space and time. “We want to know….. To understand.”

“You want knowledge.”

“We wanted to know that we are not alone, and now we want to be…. Friends/allies.”

“You…. Are danger.”

“Why?”

The alien paused for a long moment rubbing its head…. A gesture it had picked up from the humans, “You run quickly, jump high, sharp teeth. You want….. Eat us?”

“Predator?” The word was passed around explained and translated in the next thirty minutes.

The humans looked appalled, “No!”

“You ran and chased, following at first….. You make fear for us.

The humans convened for a long moment glowering at the green eyed creature who seemed shocked for a second butting in to the conversation, “No. I did not want to eat. I wanted…. Uh…. Allies…. I was….. Pleased.”

The translation was broken, the meaning algorithms struggling to piece together understanding form one separate mode of communication to another.

The entire room shifted in confusion and surprise. How could this be?

The predators had crossed the galaxy searching. They sought friendship in the stars despite their barbaric nature and their powerful, predatory instincts. What drove them was not hunger, or even knowledge.

Alone in the universe they sought proof…. Proof they were not alone.

[supersweethoneybee]

Mother: Chapter 2 - Swell

This chapter contains: Force-feeding, bondage, gags, tube feeding and clothes popping.

The vibrators just kept going, buzzing away, clicking against each other, wobbling your whole gravid belly around and allowing it to ripple. You had lost how many times you had moaned wildly at how it just hit those perfect spots, how it tightened the coils inside of you. You also had lost how many times you came, your own spunk a shiny puddle between your spread legs, the bottom of your belly covered in its slick.

But what killed you the most was how you couldn't reach your own pussy to pleasure yourself. Your own stomach covered up your pussy and your hands didn't even reach your belly button anymore after Ardyn dumped probably three gallons of cum into your stomach.

It wasn't fair how you could be this helpless, this powerless.

You whined, pressed your lips together and clenched your ass cheeks against the anal plug, a vibrator knocking and vibrating against it quickly, only ramping up how fast this orgasm was coming.

You honestly had no idea how much longer you can go on for. You knew you lost most feeling in your legs, not only from coming for hours on end but also from the heavy weight your stomach pulled down, blocking some circulation.

You had tried multiple times to reach down and pull the anal plug out, but you only somehow managed to either push it in deeper or knock it against a moving vibrator and forced yourself to orgasm from the sudden explosion of pleasure. You tried peeling your belly up slowly, you tried using what little slick of orgasm you could reach to try and slip your hands under your belly to pull it out. Your only option now was to reach from behind.

You took a deep breath and swallowed a moan pressing against your throat and craned your arm behind your swollen side, down to the curve of your ass. It was so hard to even gather enough strength to push yourself, but you somehow managed to pull yourself up by maybe less than two inches, just enough for your fingers to grasp at the lip of the anal plug and tug roughly.

You cried out when it just popped out of you like a champagne cork, a small splash of dark sludge leaving your gaping asshole until it became plugged with a vibrating egg. You bit your lip as pressure quickly gathered in your ass, pain quickly spreading like wild fire. Your body gave up quickly, but you were able to throw the weight of your gravid belly to the side just enough to land on a bloated side. The pressure of squishing Ardyn's spunk around managed to push the vibrating egg more and more. You screamed and cried, clawing at your face and back, just above your ass cheeks until it finally popped out.

You could feel your ass gape open, a wave of more spunk and the rest of the eggs quickly flowing out and leaking behind you.

You chucked the anal plug far away from you and crawled away from the vibrating eggs now rattling on the dirty floor.

You were covered with a mixture of blood, your cum and whatever this black sludge was from the top of your mostly deflated belly and down.

You quickly became worried when you noticed that your belly still retained that slight, taut roundness, just less inflated from a medium beach ball to maybe the half-way point of a pregnancy. You could feel the leftover sludge slosh around like you were drinking alcohol on an empty stomach.

The door to your cell quickly opened, your eyes pinned to Ardyn's strict figure, his muscles locking up upon seeing you mostly deflated and the vibrating eggs on the floor with most of his cum.

"You naughty little minx, you filthy whore!" he boomed, stalking towards you.

"Ardyn, please, no," you whimpered as you clutched your still throbbing tummy.

"How dare you disobey me?" he snarled, his hand grabbing at your tight little belly. "You were not ready to deflate yet!"

"Ardyn, I couldn't!" you wailed. "I couldn't take the pain of being stretched!"

Ardyn reeled back, his face morphing from furious to amused.

"Perhaps I can find a new way to stretch you out," he eyed your belly full of his cum. You shivered and tried to cover your belly with your hand, but it barely did anything. "Poor little pet. I know a way to fix our little problem, and something tells me you'll love it."

A magi-tek soldier came around from behind Ardyn, a long needle in its robotic grasp.

"No, no no, don't!" you sobbed as you pressed up against the wall.

You cried out when the needle struck into your neck, the plunger forcing various liquids into your body. Your vision swam, you grew nauseous once more, you became heavy until your head hit the floor and you were out like a light.

~*~

Your eyes slowly opened to see Ardyn standing before you, his back turned as he was lining up carts of... food?

You didn't realize how hungry you were until your stomach suddenly roared and rumbled, catching the man's attention.

"You're awake, pet. Just in time too," he cooed.

"Where..?"

"We're still in your little bird cage, dear, I just had some things placed in here just for this. I even had you dressed a bit."

Your eyes slowly peered down to your torso where a button-up covered your body despite being tight. It wasn't tight enough to tug at the buttons and show skin, but tight enough to hug every curve and bump of your belly and hips still full of his spunk. There were also multiple belts strapped around your belly where the curve sat the longest. The belts looked to be those auto-adjusting belts which slowly made your stomach twist. You shifted a bit, but realized your wrists were strapped down to the arms of the table, your ankles too. It was a big chair though, wide and very sturdy, metal. Your legs were strapped so far apart, your belly sitting in open space.

"What's inside of me?" you murmured, gazing up at him with swollen eyes. "What did you make me swallow?"

"My seed, of course. Scourge. It won't really by leaving you for a bit, what's left of it that is, especially now that you have a brand new plug waiting for you once we're done with your treat."

Treat.

The word made you shiver.

"Treat?" you questioned.

"Indeed. It's a treat for both of us. You get to be overindulged by the most filling treats and meals the finest chefs here have to offer for my broodmother," Ardyn stroked a finger down your curved gut and pressed his finger to your belly button, "and I get to watch you grow plump and heavy, to pop out of these clothes and grow."

"What?! No, you can't fucking do this!" you shouted.

"Oh, but I will." Ardyn strut over to the carts of food and picked up a small plate with a piece of cake. "My scientists have been hard at work, testing the effects of ingesting my cum, and some of the results have been an increase in hunger and a hard stop to the metabolism." He turned to you and smiled, simply strutting his way back to you. "And that results in quick weight gain, which is good for expecting mothers."

"Fuck you," you spat.

A swift crack against your cheek was all it took to get you to scream, giving Ardyn the perfect chance to stuff the piece of cake into your mouth and force you to swallow.

You shivered at the heavy spongecake and thick sugary frosting as it crept down your throat, but you were quick to groan once it quickly hit your stomach. You could feel it fighting against the scourge sitting inside of you, as if gas was forming. You wanted to rub your tummy, but your bound wrists refused.

"Are we going to have the same issue again? If so, I will get the tube, and I'm sure you won't want that. It's too quick, too painful, neither of us would enjoy you stretching to be the perfect mommy. And besides, it might even get stuck and I won't be able to save you from popping."

You gulped and fought the urge to burp as you stomach battled with its contents inside.

"Don't," you whimpered.

Ardyn smiled and set the plate down next to you and reached for another. A plate filled with chocolate covered strawberries so big they rivaled the eggs that were just in your ass not even an hour ago.

"Open wide like a good girl," he teased, holding up a large strawberry to your lips.

What choice did you have but to comply?

You opened your mouth and gasped when he shoveled the whole berry into your mouth, ripping away the leaves and allowing you to chew and swallow before cramming the next one in. One dozen strawberries felt like bricks going down your throat, joining in on the war between the spongecake and the scourge cum.

The next plate was a small pie stuffed to the brim with what looks like wildberries with thick globs of honey and caramel on top. You groaned as Ardyn dug out a chunk of the pie with a fork and forced you to scoff it down. Your tongue started to burn from all of the fattening sugars, you were starting to feel sick. You glance down at your stomach and saw nothing had happened yet.

Yet.

Ardyn quickly got impatient by your slow chewing and decided he wanted to hurry onto the next dish, opting to shovel the rest of the pie in by the forkful and clamping a hand over your stuffed mouth so you couldn't spit it out. You whined and begged him with your eyes, but Ardyn only pushed down harder on your lips, forcing you to swallow.

As Ardyn turned around, your stomach suddenly growled loudly, catching you off guard as it suddenly became a little harder to breathe. Ardyn turned his head as he lifted a hefty plate ambrosia, his eyebrows flying up in amusement.

Your chest suddenly grew tight. You glanced down and saw that the buttons towards the top of your button-up were starting to stitch apart, showing just a bit of skin.

"Breasts first? That's interesting," he laughed.

And just like before, Ardyn shoveled spoonfulls of ambrosia down your throat until you suddenly pulled away to burp and sob out from the pain growing in your stomach.

"Ardyn, please," you whimpered, "it hurts."

"Aww, my pet, does your little tummy hurt?" He curved his free hand down the slab flab of your under belly, massaging the clothed skin. You whined, hating how him giving your belly a rub was making you feel better. "But, sadly, you get nothing more until you pop out of these clothes." He tapped at the three belts around your thickest section. "These haven't even loosened one notch. Your breasts are the only thing growing."

You whined, but you were quickly stuffed with ambrosia once more, forced to swallow in order to breathe.

As soon as Ardyn placed down the now empty plate of ambrosia, you heard clicking noises and felt your stomach swirl and stretch. The belts had loosen by a few notches. It wasn't enough to show the tug at the buttons just yet. Ardyn's brows lifted playfully as he eyed the belts. Three notches lost to each. You felt a brief comfort before the need to belch overcame you.

Your jaw ached like high heaven and your tongue was burning from all of the fattening sugars scraping against your tastebuds. You groaned, feeling bile bubble at the back of your throat. But you knew... You knew you wouldn't vomit, because he doesn't want his "broodmother" to deflate and whatever crude and disgusting shit that spatters from his mouth. Your breasts ached, like you were on your period. You felt bloated, gassy, stiff.

Ardyn had produced a bundt cake, layered with chilled chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. It was hefty, taking up a large silver platter. You shivered at the size of it! It was bigger than your head!

"I think after this, we should speed things up, pet," Ardyn hummed as he cut slices into the cake.

He wasn't suggesting the tube, was he? Didn't he say you could pop if he did that?

Your thoughts were cut off by him shoveling forkfulls into your mouth. You barely had a chance to breathe as he clamped your mouth closed with every mouthful, forcing his fingers in for you to swallow. Each swallow was worse than those strawberries. Compressed, soaked, cold and dense cake did not mix well with the contents inside of your belly as you quickly whined and sobbed as it roared and growled in disagreement. You writhed in your chair, clawing at what you could and yanking at your wrist restraints. Ardyn watched in sick enjoyment, placing an empty platter down onto the stack of dishes.

Through your whines and sobs, you heard the belts popping again followed by the creaking of the chair below you. Your body was forced to shift, your legs forced apart bit by bit. You could feel the button-up slowly become more snug against your chest.

You looked down through the tears and whimpered at the size of you. You could have sworn you thought your breasts would start leaking from how much you looked like a pregnant woman.

Ardyn tapped at the belts with his knuckles and smirked.

"I think this is taking too long, dear. What do you think?" he purred.

"No... Please-"

"I think we should try what some online claim works when it comes to fast bloating." You eyed him, not caring about the hot tears and snot dribbling down your face. Ardyn only smirked and turned away from you, going to one of the carts that had nothing on top of them. Instead, he opened the top and reached in. "I've done a bit of research while you were being naughty and deflating without permission. Browsing online, combing through countless websites." Ardyn pulled out a tube used at frat parties, meant to chugging beer. "And there are a lot of weight gaining websites out there. Many have sparked my interest." Next was a two liter of diet soda. "And from what I've watched, pet, should help us both. Granted, it won't put on many pounds as it is only a small, short chemical burst." He produced a long tube of mints.

You froze.

He wasn't going to do that... Right?

With a simple wave of Ardyn's hand, you heard Magi-tek soldiers in both corners of the room behind you slowly come forward. You were oblivious to their presences, not being able to turn your head that far to see. One forcefully grabbed at your jaw, driving its fingers between your teeth through the skin of your cheeks, forcing you to not be able to bite down while the other seized at the beer tube. You fought against the soldiers as Ardyn opened up the soda bottle, eyeing you playfully before a tube was driven down your throat.

You choked and coughed, struggling a bit more, feeling the tube creep farther down the back of your throat until you couldn't feel it anymore. Ardyn handed the soldier holding your jaw the bottle.

"Do the honors for me," he purred as he stood in front of you. He placed both of his hands on your belly, sliding his fingers in between the belts now pushed a little far apart than before. "I want to feel her grow plump and soft in my hands."

You eyed Ardyn for mercy, whimpering and slobbering against the tube, only for him to smile.

You watched as the soldier slowly tipped over the big bottle and watched as the dark liquid bubbled down the tube, rushing down before exploding in a cold mess so far down your esophagus. You cried and yanked at your wrist bindings, feeling your stomach wretch and fight back at the sudden filling liquids.

You had only realized how much cake and cookies and brownies he had forced you to eat. This was his plan: Stuff you with all of these spongy desserts, and once you add liquid, everything expands.

And now, he's going to push your belly even more by adding mints.

You choked and gasped at the tube, feeling your belly slosh worse than the eggs and cum from earlier. You could feel everything expanding inside of you, pressing up against your gut's tight walls, forcing your organs and skin to stretch. It didn't help that your breasts also gained weight with your belly.

Ardyn watched in astonishment as your belly swelled like a water balloon, pushing out to match the size you were earlier, but it was still going. Even after the bottle ran empty, your gut and breasts still expanded.

You were throbbing and heaving, choking and slobbering.

You couldn't even count the amount of snaps the belts made, but you saw the top one had vanished under your breasts now straining against the stiff cotton. You could barely feel the bottom one clinging on to the bottom on your gravid stomach, threatening to sink under and be crushed. You barely made out your stomach over your breasts. All of the buttons were pulled to tight apart, but managed to stay closed.

"Marvelous, marvelous, pet. So big, so full, so stretched for me and my brood. Your progress only makes me want to forego the mints and let you sit pretty like this." Your nose twitched. You knew he wouldn't. "But, I can tell you know it too. I won't, even though you look as round as an award winning hog." He slid the roll of mind from his pocket and handed it to one of the guards. "You won't leave this chair until everything has snapped off of you."

You sat in defeat, looking at Ardyn with a dead gaze as he poked at your woefully stretched skin through the pockets in between the buttons. You paid little attention to the mint packaging being torn, only when they rattled down the tube did you care, as that was when the soldiers yanked the tube out and gagged you.

To say your stomach was not happy with you was a severe understatement. The buttons snapped off all together, flying out to different corners of the room, knocking into the carts and trays of food. Two of the belts popped open as the shirt collapsed around you. You went limp, your body shutting down from pain. Your eyes blurred, but you still looked at Ardyn as he stood once the rumbling of your mound of gut stopped growing. You could feel those splitting, bright red stretch marks claw at your skin.

Ardyn tutted and reached under your breasts, tugging at the last belt that had yet to snap. You could feel it was close though.

"What a shame this one didn't snap. If you'd like, I can keep stuffing you until you're nothing but a ball?" He glanced at your face and sighed. "As you wish. But, this calls for a drawback." He traced patterns into your stretched skin and pinched at your breasts. "That toy I promised will be saved for another time. And that belt will stay on until you deflate or you grow softer for me soon." He tugged at the belt before flicking at your belly, watching it jiggle and ripple. "Besides, I don't think even the Magi-tek would be able to pry you out of your chair. You seem to have gone flabby around it." He grabbed at the fat on your thighs now peeking through the gaps under the arms of the chair. He was right, you were to heavy, to stuck in this chair to even move your knees. "My, how you've let yourself go," he teased, walking away from you as if he didn't force you to gain so much weight.

The clasps around your wrists retracted, your hands immediately flopping onto your belly to rub circles into the painful skin. You moaned softly, petting your skin as Ardyn smirked before closing the door.

[cleocat246]

Star Trek Chapter 4

Summary: Hailey Pike, a Starfleet officer, and daughter, goes through Life and Space while trying to help as many people as she can. With species and events trying to destroy mankind and everything in existence. She has to save the people she loves and also the universe with the help of new friends and crew members. 

=============================================

Jim, Spock, and I were getting everything we needed to go aboard the Narada. We walked to the transporter room as Sulu took us to Earth, where the Narada was drilling a hole into the planet.

"How are we, Scotty?" Jim asks as Spock, and I walk onto the Padd with Uhura and Cyrus behind us.

"Be careful, okay?" Cyrus says while putting his hands on my shoulders. I nod and hug him, which makes him hug me back. He hugs me tighter and kisses my head when Jim gets onto the Padd.

When we pull away from each other, Spock and Uhura were having an intimate moment together. They pull apart from their kiss as Spock says, "I will be back."

"You better be. I'll be monitoring your frequency." They kiss one last time.

"Thank you, Nyota." Uhura looks at us then leaves with Cyrus right behind her.

"So her first name's Nyota?" Jim asks, looking over at Spock, "I have no comment on the matter." I snort, leaning forward a little. Jim looked kinda peeved but didn't say anything else on the matter. 

"I KNEW you were in cahoots with each other!" I declared, making Spock look over at me with a smug look and a raised eyebrow. I stand up straight with a smirk on my face.

'I effing knew it!'

Right!

"Okey-dokey then. If there's any common sense in the enemy ship's design, I should be putting you somewhere in the cargo bay. There shouldn't be a soul in sight." Scotty says as I take a deep breath in then out.

"Energize."

Once we were beamed onto the Narada, Romulans started running at us, screaming, "No soul in sight, my ass!" I yell as I shoot at one and dodge another. We started running in a random direction while getting shot at. 

We hide behind a half-metal wall and start shooting at everyone coming for us. After looking around and seeing everyone down, Jim starts talking towards Spock, "We'll cover ya." I nod while standing and looking around. I had my phaser up and ready to shoot anyone that comes into my line of sight.

"Are you certain?" 

"Yeah, we got you," I say as he moves to an injured Romulan and mind-melds with him.

"Do you know where it is? The black hole device?" Jim asks after we shoot another Romulan coming up on Spock. 

"And Captain Pike." Spock finishes and looks at us; we nod as Spock starts leading the way.

We then came upon a white circular shaped ship. Running up the ramp and inside, we look around as Spock walks through a door, "I foresee a complication. The design of this ship is far more advanced than I've anticipated." 

The computer then starts talking, "Voiceprint and face recognition analysis enabled. Welcome back, Ambassador Spock." We were in what looked like to be a flight deck with the black hole device. It was red matter - why didn't I think of this before!

"Wow, that's weird," Jim says, not sounding that convincing, and starts walking again. Spock stays where he's at as he asks, "Computer, what is your manufacturing origin?"

"Stardate twenty-three eighty-seven. Commissioned by the Vulcan Science Academy." The computer answers, making Spock raise his eyebrows and turns to Jim, "It appears that you have been keeping important information from me."

"You'll be able to fly this thing, right?" Jim asks, turning to us. 

"Something tells me I already have."

"Good luck," Jim says, turning to leave and grabbing my hand but stops. "Jim, the statistical likelihood that our plan will succeed is less than four point three percent."

"It'll work," Jim says. "In the event that I do not return, please tell Lieutenant Uhura..." Spock starts, but I cut him off, "Spock, it'll work." I put my hands on his shoulders and squeeze, giving him a smile. I then turn and grab Jim's hand making our way out to stop the drill and find my father. 

Jim and I were going down this metal tunnel but stop after finding Nero on a high platform. We point our phasers at him as Jim whispers to me, "Go find your father."

"Are you sure?" Not taking my eyes off the Romulan. "Yes, now go," Jim says as he walks closer to Nero. I nod and then take off down a corridor to find my father. Please be safe, Jim!

It was a little while, but I finally found my father, who looked half dead. My eyes started watering, but I shake my head and get back to the task at hand. Once over at my father, I shake him awake. 

He opens his eyes and struggles on his restraints, "Hey, it's just me, dad! I'm not going to hurt you."

"Hailey, what are you doing here." I could tell he was trying to use his dad voice, but it wasn't working. I put my phaser down to get the restraints off of him, but before I could do that and answer him, someone grabbed me, "Hailey!" 

I was pulled back by my hair and thrown into a wall, then a kick to the back. Yelping, I roll out of the way and spin, kicking the legs of my attacker. He stumbles back while I get up and kick him in the stomach, making him fall back. 

Before I could get any closer to him, another pair of arms wrapped around me, holding my arms down. I leaned forward and then back, bashing my head into the Romulan's face and nose. He lets go, and I back kick him in the stomach. By this time, my first attacker has gotten up and was charging at me.

I also run at him but at the last second slide on the ground under his legs. Grabbing them, making him fall, I climb on him and grab his neck, about to bash his head onto the metal ground but was caught in a pair of arms. 

I was picked up into the air as the Romulan I was on got up and grabbed my legs. I fought and struggled, but they didn't budge from their hold.

I kept hearing my father's voice shouting for me and at the Romulans that held me. Their grip never lessened, and I couldn't get them off, so I tried wrapping my legs around the Romulan's waist. I planned to knock their heads together, but it was futile in the end. He could tell what I was doing, so he brought both my legs together and put them under his right arm, and held fast with both arms.

Well, that didn't work - shit. 

'Need help?'

"Yes, please!" I yell, making my attackers confused, but before they could say anything, a beast came out of the gem around my neck and attacked the one at my legs.

(Not my picture but this is what Solani looks like; couldn’t find the owner. Credit to them though)

He screams in pain as the other Romulan leaves me, making me fall hard on the ground with a grunt. A phaser shot was them heard, and the Romulan behind me fell to the ground, dead. Footsteps came running up to me but stopped once a growl was heard.

"What the hell!?" Jim yells, stumbling back a little. "Hey, Solani, no," I order while stumbling up. She calms down but then looks behind us and runs, attacking another Romulan.

"That... what... hell?" Jim gasped out in slight fear as I just shake my head, going over to my father. Seeing me get to work on the restraints makes Jim jump into action and helps me, as Solani attacks Romulan after Romulan.

"What are you doing here?" Once my father was up and in our arms, I call Solani, and she runs to me, getting back into the gem around my neck.

"Just following orders." Jim says, "Enterprise go!" Beams of lights flash around us as we get transported back onto the Enterprise. We look over and see Spock looking at us.

"Nice timing, Scotty," Jim says as we walk off the Padd and bones coming in with nurses grabbing my father. Jim, Spock, and I walk to the Bridge as my father gets taken to MedBay. 

"Captain, the enemy ship is losing power. Their shields are down, sir." Chekov says while we walk in. "Hail them now," Jim says, walking to the screen with Spock and me. "Aye."

Nero appears on the screen as a black hole materializes in the Narada, destroying the ship slowly, "This is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Your ship is compromised. Your too close to the singularity to provide assistance, which we will provide."

Spock looks at Jim before whispering to him, "Captain, what are you doing?"

"Showing them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulus. It's logical, Spock. Thought you'd like that."

"No, not really. Not this time." Spock shakes his head as I agree with him.

"I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony than accept assistance from you." Nero then yells at us.

"You got it," Jim says, walking to the Captain's chair as I give the Romulan a thumps up, "Arm phasers, fire everything we got."

"Yes, sir," Sulu says while arming the phasers and shooting the Narada ship. The black hole sucks the ship in as we all grab onto something feeling our ship gets pulled, "Sulu, let's go home!"

"Yes, sir!" Sulu exclaims, but the ship doesn't move forward, only back towards the black hole. "Why aren't we at warp?" Jim asks as Chekov replies, "We are, sir."

"Kirk to engineering. Get us out of here, Scotty." Jim says over the comms.

"You bet your arse, Captain." Scotty yells over the comm from engineering, "Captain, we're caught in the gravity well! It's got us!"

"Go to maximum warp. Push it!"

"I'm giving her all that she's got, Captain?" Scotty replies as the Bridge screen starts cracking. "All she's got isn't good enough. What else you got?"

An idea pops into my head as I run to Jim and start talking to Scotty, "If you eject the core and detonate, the blast could be enough to push us away!"

"Well, lass, that could work!" Scotty yells, "You are brilliant!" 

Jim then starts yelling at Scotty to do it as we get closer to the Blackhole. 

"GO!" Scotty yells.

Then multiple warp cores get launched at the Blackhole, making a shockwave appear, shaking the ship but pushing us to safety. As the Blackhole disappears and everyone is safe, we all start cheering. I smile down at Jim, to which he does the same, but he gets up and hugs me tightly. I embrace him back, laughing lightly.

===================================

A few days later, we were all at Starfleet attending a hearing about the events in the last couple of days. Jim was being promoted to Captain of the Enterprise, and I couldn't be more happy and proud!

'Calm down.'

Oh, shut up!

"This assembly calls Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Your inspirational valor and supreme dedication to your comrades are in keeping with the highest service traditions, and to reflect full credit to yourself, your crew, and the Federation, it is my honor to award you this commendation." Admiral Barnett says, putting a medal on Jim's red uniform, "By Starfleet Order two-eight four five-five, you are hereby directed to report to Admiral Pike, USS Enterprise, for duty as his relief."

Jim then walks over to my father, who was in a wheelchair, "I relieve you, sir." 

"I'm relieved."

"Thank you, sir." Jim says, smiling down at my father, who smiles back before saying, "Congratulations, Captain. Your father would be proud." Everybody starts applauding as Jim turns to them. I smile at him, which he reciprocates and walks over to me.

"So, Captain, how are you feeling?" I ask once he gets over to me. Everyone was talking amongst themselves and smiling. "Happy." He answers while a giant grin enters his face, "But I do know of something that would make me even happier."

"And what's that," I ask while smiling and leaning my head to the side. He smiles while just staring before looking down and then back up, saying, "Having dinner with you."

A grin breaks out on my face, and a blush dusts my cheeks, "I would love that." He smiles back. "Then it's a date." We stare at each other while the rest of the world fades away.

===================================

A couple of days later, Jim and I made our way onto the Bridge with his new uniform. The night of the assembly and Jim being promoted, we went out to dinner, and it was one of the best nights I've had. We just talked about everything and what we wanted in our futures. He learned that I didn't just have one brother but two. He told me that he also had a brother, but he hasn't seen him in years. He also learned about Solani and more about my species. We both had a good time and are planning on another date night in the very near future.

Cyrus decided to help rebuild New Vulcan and learn more about himself in the process. He wants to keep in better contact with me, so once or twice a week, we will be video calling and talking about everything.

"Captain on the Bridge." 

"Engineering thrusters and impulse engines at your command, sir," Sulu says. 

"Weapons systems and chutes on standby." Checkov says as Uhura swivels her chair towards us and says, "Dock control reports ready, Captain."

"Bones, buckle up," Jim says, slapping Bones on the shoulder, making me giggle. Jim then sits in the Captain's chair, "Scotty, how are we doin'?"

"Dilithium chambers at maximum, Captain," Scotty says before yelling at someone in engineering to get off something. 

"Mister Sulu, prepare to engage thrusters," Jim says as Spock enters the Bridge.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain," Spock asks. "Permission granted," Jim answers as he stands up. 

"As you have yet to select a first officer, respectfully, I would like to submit my candidacy. Should you desire, I can provide character references." Spock asks while smiling so tiny that you can't really see it, but you know it's there.

"It would be my honor, Commander," Jim says while smiling. "Aw, you two are finally getting along!" I teased, grinning at the two boys. They look at me before Jim pushes me lightly on the forehead, "Oh, shush you." He then sits in the Captain's chair as Spock, and I stand on either side of him. "Maneuvering thrusters, Mister Sulu."

"Thrusters on standby," Sulu says, pushing some buttons. "Take us out." "Aye aye, Captain." And we were off.

[In Prime Spock Voice] Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before

[middleearth2asgard]

The Hangover (Avengers x reader x guardians)

“What are you watching?” You asked Bucky as you plopped down next to him on the couch.

Scooting over to rest his head in your lap, he answered, “Pawn Stars.”

“Seriously? That show is such a rip-off.”

“Yeah, but I get a kick out of it.”

Right about the time you started running your fingers through his hair, the sounds of multiple bickering voices made their way down the hall and into the living room.

“There’s nothing to do in this dump! I don’t know why Quill keeps dragging us back here,” you heard Rocket say as he entered the room. Catching sight of the two of you, he asked, “So, what are you two losers doing?”

You felt what could have been described as a small growl reverberate through Bucky’s muscular chest.

“Watching a show about a family who scams people out of their valuables in order to make a buck,” you replied.

“Now that sounds like entertainment!” Rocket exclaimed, climbing up on the far end of the couch after knocking Bucky’s feet out of the way.

“Hey! There’s another couch over there!”

“I’m not sitting beside Drax. He had this three-bean chili for dinner, and let’s just say you don’t want to be downwind of him.”

“Charming,” Bucky muttered.

“So, where is this place? What are all those big buildings with the flashing lights?” Rocket asked, motioning towards the television when it showed a shot of the desert city.

“Las Vegas. Sin City. One of the gambling capitals of the world. All of those buildings are casinos,” you said.

“Really?” Rocket said to no one in particular before giving Drax a knowing look. Suddenly jumping off the couch, he added, “Well, it’s getting late. We better be going to bed.”

“What are you talking about, Rocket?” Drax began. “It’s not—“

“Time to go to bed, Drax! We’ll, uh, see you two tomorrow.”

A suspicious feeling nagged at you as you watched the two of them leave the room, whispering to each other the entire way.

“Well, that was weird,” Bucky said.

“Yes. Yes, it was.”

———————

“From the way she described it, the place sounds like it’s full of suckers just ripe for the picking,” Rocket said as he slipped the keys into the ignition.

“I do love suckers, especially the cherry flavored ones,” Drax replied.

“I am Groot.”

“Not that kind of suckers, you idiot.”

Their conversation was interrupted by you screaming “What the HELL do you think you’re doing?” from the opening of the Quinjet. Without giving them time to answer, you continued, “You three were going to steal our jet to go to Las Vegas, weren’t you?”

“Steal is a bit harsh. Borrow without asking is more like it.”

“No way,” you said. “I don’t care what you do when Quill and Gamora get back with the Milano. But there is no way I am letting you take our Quinjet to Vegas so you can wreak havoc. Now, get out.”

“That’s not very friendly,” Drax said.

“I mean it. Get out. Don’t make me make you.”

That’s when you made the fatal error of taking your eyes off of them. It was only for a moment, but it was long enough for something to hit you in the back and knock you to the ground. As you lay there, unable to move, you watched the doors shut and listened to the engines roar as the Quintet took off.

——————

“Captain Rogers! Please wake up, Captain Rogers!” Mantis yelled as she pounded on his bedroom door.

He opened the door only a crack and peered out at her.

“What’s wrong, Mantis?” He asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“It is an emergency,” she said with big eyes.

“Okay, just give me a minute,” he said, closing the door long enough to put his pants on. “What’s the emergency?” He asked when he reopened the door.

“They have taken her.”

“Taken who?”

“Y/n.”

——————

Rolling over on the floor of the Quintet, you groaned loudly and said, “You bastards tased me.”

“Well, you were going to interfere with our plans,” Rocket replied with a shrug as he hopped out of the pilot’s seat. “Anyway, we’re here.”

He pushed the button to drop the ramp and walked out into the desert with Drax and Groot in tow. Glancing over longingly at the pilot controls, you were really wishing you had let Clint teach you how to fly all those months ago when he kept bugging you about it. Your cell phone was still in your bedroom back at the training facility, so you couldn’t call any of your teammates. The only option available to you at the moment was to take the jet out of stealth mode and hope that someone would miss you sooner rather than later. Of course, at this time of night, it was highly unlikely.

“Hey, are you coming or are you going to let us roam around unsupervised?” Rocket called back to you.

You let out a deep, defeated sigh before following them out into the sand. They had landed the jet a few miles outside of the city, and you could see all the lights in the distance. Honestly, you really, really didn’t want to get involved in whatever they had planned. But, the Avengers had had their share of bad publicity in the past few years and you were hoping to minimize any collateral damage that this evening might create.

“So, what’s your grand scheme?” You asked. “You can’t get very far without any money, and I didn’t have my wallet on me when you tased me.”

“You let me worry about that,” was Rocket’s only reply.

“‘All you can eat,’” Drax read off of a nearby sign. “What prize do I receive if I win this challenge?”

“Indigestion,” you muttered.

“That is not much of a prize. Still, I feel I must accept.”

“Yeah, alright, we’ll see you later. We’re hitting the tables,” Rocket said.

You followed along behind Rocket and Groot until they picked a casino that appealed to them. Although you didn’t say it out loud, you hoped that no one would actually let a raccoon and a talking tree through the front door. Unfortunately, you had no such luck. In fact, it didn’t seem like anyone even noticed your unusual companions.

“What game am I going to win the most money at?” Rocket asked once you reached the casino floor.

“None of them. Don’t you know the house always wins?”

“I know that’s a dumb saying that a loser probably came up with. I’m gonna win big tonight. What’s that one over there?”

“Blackjack. You try to get as close to twenty one as possible without going over.”

“Play a few rounds so I can pick it up,” he said, dumping a pile of chips on the nearest table.

“No, thanks. I am not getting into this.”

“Fine, don’t show me. I’ll just have to catch on. Of course, I might lose some of this hard earned money that your friends invested.”

“You stole our money too?”

“Again with that word ‘steal.’”

Giving up, you hopped up into the barstool and told the dealer to deal you in. Rocket yelled at a nearby waitress to bring a round of the strongest thing they had.

“I’m not much of a drinker,” you said when she placed the shot glass in front of you.

“You’re probably not much of a gambler, either. Might as well be both tonight.”

—————

“Alright, so tell us what happened,” Steve said once all the Avengers who lived at the facility were gathered together.

“Rocket, Drax, and Groot were taking the jet. Y/n was going to stop them. Rocket tased her, and they took her with them.”

“Do you know where they were going?”

“No, they didn’t tell me.”

“I checked her room. Her cell phone is still there, so she can’t call us,” Natasha said.

“Hey, guys, we’re back. What is everybody doing up this late?” Peter Quill asked when he found everyone standing in a circle in the living room.

“This is all your fault,” Loki told him.

“I just got here!”

“What happened?” Gamora asked.

“The rest of your team stole our jet and one of our friends,” Natasha said.

“And we don’t know where they went,” Thor said.

“Shit...” Bucky muttered, getting everyone’s attention. “I think I know where they are.”

—————

“And the name of the game is?!” You yelled obnoxiously.

“Blackjack!” Rocket finished as he high-fived you.

“Oh, hell yes! We are on fire tonight!” You said, sliding your mountain of chips closer before taking another shot. By this point, you’d totally lost count of how many drinks you’d had. It just didn’t seem to matter. You were experiencing a winning streak that would have put Rain Man to shame, and there seemed to be no end in sight.

That is, until your little party caught the attention of the pit bosses.

“We should cash our chips and get out of here,” you whispered as you slid off the barstool.

“Are you nuts?! We can’t lose!”

“No one likes for you to win too much,” you said as you pointed over your shoulder to the gathering crowd. “We can start over somewhere else. There’s a million casinos in this town.”

“Alright, I’ll see if I can drag Groot away from the slot machines. Meet you out on the street.”

You didn’t really realize how much you had won until you were standing there holding it in your arms. With nothing to carry it in, you had no choice but to hug it until you made it outside.

“Look at that beautiful sight,” Rocket said, eyeing the money with a little sniffle and a tear in his eye.

“We can’t go walking down the street like this,” You hissed. “We need a bag or something.”

“I am Groot.”

You looked in the direction Groot was pointing to find an open gift shop.

“Perfect,” You said, hurrying into the store. “Rocket, find something that will work. I’ll hold onto this until you get back.”

“What? You don’t trust me with the money?”

“Of course not. Do I look stupid to you? Now, speed it up.”

While you stood there waiting for him, your eyes landed on an outfit that was....daring, to say the least. It was a short, tight, leopard print dress with faux leather detailing that was very much not you on any other day of the year. But tonight, it felt right up your alley. As you stared at it, you heard, “I am Groot.”

“He’s saying why don’t you get it if you like it so much?” Rocket translated.

“It’s not me,” You said. “I’d look stupid wearing it.”

“I am Groot.”

“No more stupid than anyone else would,” Rocket said. After a few awkward seconds, he added, “I think he meant it as a compliment.”

“Uhh...thanks,” you directed to Groot with a smile. “Will you guys wait for me?”

“If you don’t take too long.”

Ten minutes later, you walked out in your new dress and a pair of very tall matching heels.

“Well, how do I look?”

Rocket made a face and replied, “You look like the kind of girl that Quill would pick up. Can we get going already?”

Only a few yards down the sidewalk, you ran into Drax.

“They are not very nice to people who beat them at their challenge,” he said before letting out a big belch.

“Ok, now that our merry little group is back together again, can we please go win me some more money?” Rocket asked.

“I’m tired of gambling,” you said with a slightly dazed expression as the alcohol from earlier really began to take effect. “I want something else to drink.”

“Drinking is an excellent idea!” Drax interjected.

“So is winning me some more money!”

“Oh, haven’t you ever heard of ‘quit while you’re ahead’?” You asked.

“Another dumb saying...if I was going to quit while I was ahead I’d rather be farther ahead than I am right now!”

You simply rolled your eyes in response and started making your way to the nearest bar with Drax and Groot. Only a few minutes after you’d ordered drinks, a muttering Rocket climbed into the barstool beside you.

“Glad you decided to join us,” you said.

“Yeah, well, you stole my friends so what choice did I have.”

“There’s that word ‘stole’ again,” you said with a smirk.

The more the four of you drank, the rowdier you became. Eventually, Rocket ended up bumping into a very large and intimidating biker.

“Hey, lady, keep a tighter leash on your pet,” he said with a snarl.

“Pet?” Rocket growled.

Without warning, you grabbed the bottle closest to you and smashed it over the guy’s head yelling, “He’s not my pet! He’s my friend!”

It wasn’t until he was crumpled on the floor that you noticed he was very much not alone.

“Uh...we might should get out of here,” Rocket said, quickly grabbing the bag that contained your winnings.

“Nonsense,” You slurred. “I’m an Avenger, and an Avenger never backs down from a fight.”

“Yeah, but we’re the Guardians. And we see no shame in running to save our sorry asses. Drax, grab her.”

You squealed out in protest as Drax threw you over his shoulder and made a hasty retreat out of the bar.

—————-

“Good thing she had sense enough to take the Quinjet out of stealth mode so that we could track it,” Natasha said as she moved to look out the window of the Milano. “I’m still surprised she hasn’t found another way to contact us though.”

“That’s what’s got me worried,” Steve said. “Even without her phone, she should have been able to find a way to call us, unless something’s happened.”

“If any harm has befallen her, I’m going to take it out of your hide, Quill,” Loki said with a hiss.

“Why am I catching hell for this?! I wasn’t even around! I can’t be blamed for everything they do!”

“Your teammate attacked and kidnapped our teammate. If you want to like to act like you’re in charge, then you’ve also got to be responsible for them,” Bucky said.

Quill muttered something incoherent while Thor stopped chewing long enough to interrupt, “I am confident that everything is fine. Rocket and the others may be reckless, but they are good friends of mine. They would not to do anything to endanger y/n. Besides, she is a mighty warrior who can take care of herself. We have nothing to worry about.”

“Hey, where did you get that?” Quill asked, pointing to the snack food bag in Thor’s hand.

“From somewhere back there,” Thor replied, waving his hand around. “You steal my friend, I steal your food. Fair is fair.”

“There it is!” Natasha said, pointing out the windshield towards the Quinjet on the ground beneath them.

Quill landed the Milano beside the jet and everyone on board rushed out to investigate.

“Well, it’s empty,” Steve said. “Any idea where they might have gone, Bucky?”

“No, they could be anywhere.”

“Fantastic.”

“What do we do, Captain?” Loki asked.

Before Steve could reply, Mantis yelled, “Look! Over there!”

In the distance, three figures could be seen running through the sand, heading in the direction of the two ships.

“Rocket!” Quill shouted out angrily once he knew they were in earshot. “What the hell, man? Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me?”

“Oh my God, what happened? Is she alright?” Steve asked, rushing forward when he recognized your motionless body lying across Drax’s shoulder.

You peeped between Drax’s arm and his body to see a muscular torso in a gray t-shirt.

“Steve!” You yelled happily. Slapping Drax on the back, you added, “Put me down, big guy.”

The first thing you noticed once you were back on your own two feet was how unsteady the ground felt under you.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, the sweet look of concern in his blue eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve had a great time,” You slurred.

Loki moved close to you, giving you a long stare and a small sniff before saying, “She’s completely gone.”

“She doesn’t drink,” Steve supplied, as if that would change things.

“She doesn’t gamble either,” Rocket said, opening the bag that contained your winnings. “But, look at this!”

“Nice dress,” Bucky said, eyeing you up and down before an annoyed glare from Steve brought him back. “Sorry, pal.”

Suddenly feeling very flushed, you lowered yourself to the ground with a groan.

“I don’t feel so good,” You whined when Thor knelt down beside you.

“Yeah, she’s probably going to puke for the next two days!” Rocket added with a laugh.

“Thor,” you muttered while trying to crawl off in the direction of the Quinjet.

“I’ve got this,” he told the group as he quickly helped you out of sight. A few moments later, he popped his head back into view and motioned for Loki to come over.

“How is she?” Loki asked as he joined the two of you.

“I don’t want you guys to see me like this,” you sniffled. “It’s so embarrassing. Do you even still love me after this?”

Loki was so taken aback by the question that he paused in unzipping his hoodie half way down.

“Of course we do,” he said once he had recovered. After he finished removing his jacket and wrapped it around you, he continued, “It’ll take a lot more than a little vomit to change that.”

On cue, you turned away and got sick again.

“I gambled, got trashed, bought this ridiculous dress, and started a bar fight...Steve is going to be so disappointed in me,” You whimpered while the tears started streaming down your cheeks.

Thor put one of his strong arms around you with a chuckle and pulled you into his chest where you began to sob with a shameful amount of fervor.

“It is going to be alright. You just had a very busy night.”

You spent the next twelve or so hours alternating between sleeping and throwing up. Every few hours, someone would wake you and say, “You need to drink this so you don’t get dehydrated.” So, you would drink some water to make them happy, and then you’d throw that up too.

Finally by the next afternoon, you dragged yourself, your killer headache, and your sore throat into the living room.

“There she is!” Thor said much too loudly for your liking.

“Thor, please, inside voices,” you said, putting a hand to your head.

“My apologies, y/n.”

“How are you feeling?” Bucky asked when you sat down beside him.

“Like I died and was brought back to life against my will.”

Loki came up beside you with a hand full of Tylenol and a bottle of water.

“This should help,” he said. When you eyed the water with distaste, he added, “Believe me, there’s no way you aren’t done getting sick by now.”

You thanked him and swallowed all the pills down in one sip.

“Hey, am I allowed back in here now?” You heard Rocket ask from the doorway.

Steve opened his mouth to say “no,” but you beat him to the draw with a “Yes.”

Rocket then scurried across the room and hopped up on the coffee table in front of you.

“Ok, so I got your share of the winnings.”

“My share?” You asked, slightly confused.

“Yeah, your share. I cut it into fourths—“

“Fourths?! But I did all the work!”

“Not all the work. I had to arrange for transport and funding...which was returned as soon as we got back,” he added when he noticed some hostile glares from certain people in the room.

“Can I finish what I was saying without interruption?” he directed to you.

You simply nodded your head “Yes.”

“Alright, I cut it into fourths. Then, since Drax didn’t do anything but stuff his stupid face all night, I gave you his share. And what is Groot really going to do with all that money? He doesn’t need it. So, I...gave you his share, too.”

“And yours?”

“And I kept mine. Just cause I’m trying to be nice doesn’t mean I’ve turned into a total lunatic.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “Uh, what you told that jerk at the bar, this is my way of...saying...”

He looked like he might have been about to cough up a fur-ball so you finished for him, “thank you.”

“Yeah, that!” he exclaimed. “Good thing you figured it out cause I was really choking on it there. Anyway, I heard about this other place called Atlantic City. It’s closer to here. I thought we could go make a bundle this weekend—“

“No!” several voices around you yelled out.

“Not again.”

“No way.”

“Going through that once was enough.”

When you thought no one was looking, you gave Rocket a wink and silently mouthed, “Count me in.”

[thirdeye6thsense]

Metropolis

METROPOLIS

Director: Fritz Lang

Screenplay: Thea von Harbou

Set Design: Otto Hunt, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht 

The epigram begins with a heavy note, giving the audience something to wonder about, and not seconds later, does the next shot (where everything is moving horizontally and vertically at the same time) ask you to throw every thought out of the window and begin watching the movie with a clean slate. 

The sunken faces, walking in symmetry, as if in a herd, hypnotised by the idea of grazing grass in a set design so grand and lifeless, even though it is ripe with blood. My first thoughts on this scene. 

Phrases like “The mediator between brain and hands must be the heart” and “Deep below the earth’s surface, lays the worker’s city”, symbolises the true nature of the human society and the silver lining, of hopefulness or hopelessness that a mediator might come, and be the bridging gap.  

This rare shot when the workers reach the bottom, the gate of the elevator lifts for the audience to have a peek into where they work. It’s so detailed, even for a mid ground shot. The buildings become larger and larger in size as the lift descends. 

A set design so huge, the characters look like ants. 

Fredder, when first sees the woman with the children, the tune in the background music suddenly shifts into a melancholic version of a melody, suggesting the audience that something gentle and sad is about to occur, so pace themselves. 

Everything in the factory is robotic, even humans. Not a single tweak or a hint of disarray. Straight-lined. 

The first worker, zoomed in on, showing emotion, But even that is distraught, disheartened and doomed. 

Buildings even grander and more accurate than the CGI ones we see today, in explicit detail, trains ramping up, multiple planes flying around, bridges with moving vehicles. Yes, I am describing just one shot, incapsulating all of this, 95 years ago, not a Marvel film. When Fredder stumbles upon the woman with the children for the first time or when he reaches his father’s office quarters, he has his hands on his chests, a state of worry or tranquility, one that he doesn’t really understand. Mainstream cinema always lauded the central hero as the macho man, unafraid of everything and standing strong in the face of adversary. But movies from the German expressionist era never catered to it. Fredder is the perfect example. Feeling for the workers, running to his father with questions, crying on the shoulders with worry and more, all indicate that he is a man with a conscience and consideration and more importantly with a heart, which we later find out is the role of his character. Being the heart in between the hands and the mind. 

Whereas, with his father, one look and we can tell a lot about him. Lost in his work, the father  looks at his son for a second (probably because he is making a scene in the office), turns away to walk and turns back to his work. It suggests he is not considerate of his son’s feelings and obsesses over his work. So much conveyed through so little. 

It was extremely hard to capture rainfall or tears/sweat back in the era of black and white cinema. One of the early films executed showcasing rainfall by mixing black ink colour in the sprinkler to portray fake rainfall. From that, we travelled far enough to execute showing sweat dripping from a man’s face.  

Here, the worker is so hurried and accustomed to working the machine that he almost has to be cradled by Fredder back into a life not capsuled my mechanisms. The workers are run exactly like the hands of the clock. 

When the robot or machine man is first shown, it operates exactly like the humans. It’s walk, its pace, its non-vulnerability to emotions. Its a replica of life, more like presenting the lifelessness of the workers in the metropolis it is going to replace.

The clock never stops ticking, not for any man. When Joh  switched lives with the clock worker, he might have swapped his destiny too. Will 10 hours never end Father?, he asks. 

The parallel between these two shots is irresistible. The first one shows how worn-out and exhausted the workers are, so much so that they don’t even have the strength to pick up their heads, with no one to give them a sign of hope and happiness. Whereas in the second one, faces of the workers are seen for the first time, with their head held high as the woman speaks to them and promises them a future they deserve. 

The use of light and shadow in the scene where the scientist is scaring off the woman is a brilliant piece of visual cinema in effect.

To show a halo/multiple rings, a 100 years ago, with this much finesse and authenticity is commendable. By now, the movie has turned into a thriller surrounding capitalism, future obsessed maniacs, worker oppression and so much more, without losing any value in each of the themes. 

The special effects to portray Fredder’s breakdown are phenomenal as well way ahead of their time. 

With this title, the maker wants us to revisit the idea whether what Joh believes is right or wrong. From the beginning of the movie, we have sided with Fredder and the woman, preaching freedom and rest for the workers, but this thought makes the audience question that the same basis on which we were judging Fredder’s father, what’s the reason of us denying the same argument of his son?

Dramatic visual sequences symbolising a character’s process like the machinery turning into a monster, the lewd dance of the robotic Maria, the opening and closing of doors on their own, the luminous eyes and faces of the characters taking over the screen have been used vividly throughout the movie. 

Considered the first great-science fiction film, the movie set an exhilarating example of a futuristic city, from which movies like Blade Runner and The Fifth Element descended. Not only the set, even the idea of a scientist gone rogue and mad on the possibilities of the future. From the giggling or evil laughs to dissing the opposing will, it’s the first root of any futuristic themed film. Metropolis is the perfect summarisation of German Expressionism, with focus on sets, dramatic camera angles and shots, bold shadows and extraordinary special effects that have never seen the light of the day. From my research on the movie, I believe the movie forcefully employed method acting onto its actors, as the extras on the sets were made to stand for hours In the cold water, the heroine was made to jump great lengths and during the scene where she was burned at the stake, the director used real fire. Ironic, how the directorial style was quite similar to the approach of the mad scientist. 

It’s hard to imagine how the trickery of the movie was done without absolutely no technology at all, just pure hard talent and ideas. 

[poeticandors]

I’ll Come Back For You Part 5

Poe Dameron x Reader

Summary: The group is now on their way to Maz Kanata’s castle, where hopefully they can contact the Resistance. Rey and Y/N encounter something very interesting.

Warnings: Mentions of violence

A/N: Yeah... so this happened suddenly lol. I was debating whether or not to post this and just decided whatever lol. ENJOY. 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

I do not own anything!!!!

Green.

You had never seen so much green in your entire life. Sure, D’Qar was somewhat surrounded by a forest, but this was different.

This was beyond ethereal.

While Poe was trying to find a place to land, all you could do was lean forward in your chair—your mouth agape and eyes shining as you stared down at Naboo.

You were mesmerized by how the trees were flowing with the wind and how soft the grass looked. All you could think about was running your hands through the grass and you just wanted to run up to a tree and hug it.

So many questions were running through your mind and you felt your heart pound from the excitement you have been holding in the entire trip. Poe called out your name, but you were still staring in awe out the window to listen to what he said after. A nudge in your elbow slowly pulled your gaze to a smiling Poe.

“Huh? What?”

“I asked if you had ever been to a planet like this, Y/N/N.” Poe laughed and warmth filled your cheeks.

“No, none as beautiful as this.” Motioning towards the planet. “I have been to other planets, of course. None of them had as much green as this one does.” Turning your head, Poe looked solemnly at you and you bit your lip.

“Anyways,” You placed a hand on Poe’s arm, his muscles tensing as you did so. “Thank you for bringing me here, Poe. It really means a lot that you would do this for me.”

“Yeah well, you aren’t as much of a pain in my ass as you think you are, Y/N/N.” He smirked at you and you laughed, lightly pushing him.

When Poe brought the U-Wing closer to the ground, you were quick to unstrap yourself and run straight towards the ramp and began to bounce impatiently. BB-8 sounded just as excited as he rolled next to you. Little did you know, Poe was smiling at excited you were—like a kid on Christmas.

When the ramp finally lowered, you ran out onto the waist-high grass and slowly came to a stop. This was the moment you have always dreamed of and you were just paralyzed at the scenery.

There was a light breeze—blowing the grass and leaves in the trees in sync— and you could smell just how clean the planet was. The breeze was also making your hair fly just enough around you, tickling your face and you smiled. You felt easily relaxed and closed your eyes, taking a deep breath.

You shot your hand out towards the grass slowly, the air feeling cool against your skin, and suddenly closed it into a fist. The grass had looked so pure, that you were afraid it would taint it as soon as you touched it. Your eye caught sight of a beautiful pink flower and you couldn’t pull your gaze away.

Suddenly, a hand gently wrapped itself around your forearm and pulled you close. Looking up, your eyes directly looked into the dark eyes of Poe. You dared not to lower your gaze to his lips, as you knew you would be done for. Your mouth suddenly became dry and you let out a small gasp when he began to unclench your fist—placing something light on the palm of your hand.

Lowering your gaze, you saw Poe had placed a flower in your hand, similar to the one that you were just staring at. Your heart swelled and you couldn’t help but beam up at Poe.

Poe chuckled and removed your hand from his grasp. You had forgotten that he was holding your hand and you blushed. Poe turned on his heal and you furrowed your brows, wondering if he was trying to leave.

He returned from the ship, carrying a basket with a green blanket lying on top of it.

“What is that for, Poe?” You asked, nodding towards his hands.

“Oh, this?” He lifted the basket up. “I just thought we could enjoy a nice picnic for the birthday princess.” Grinning a wide-toothed smiled, you nodded.

“Where should we go?”

“Lead the way princess, I’ll follow you wherever you go.” BB-8 chirped in agreement and began to roll next to you as you walked deeper into the grass, towards a body of water.

Deciding it was the perfect spot, Poe handed you the blanket and you laid it down on the ground. While Poe was setting up the picnic, you walked down to the water, with BB-8 rolling next to you. Stopping to admire the way the waves rolled lightly against the surface, you failed to notice the footsteps behind you and slightly jumped when Poe placed his hand on your back.

“So what do you think of the planet so far, Y/N/N? Is it everything you imagined?”

“It’s even more beautiful than I imagined, Poe.” You looked up at him through your lashes and he bit his lip as he smiled.

“Well, that’s one thing we disagree on.” Your brow lifted up in question and he looked directly into your Y/E/C eyes.

“I can think of one person that is more beautiful than this planet.” He whispered.

Your lips parted and you could feel your cheeks becoming as warm as Mustafar. You mentally hit yourself as you looked directly at his lips, but quickly gazed back into his eyes. It was almost like he was saying anything to get you to crack.

Looking back at the water, you hoped he didn’t notice the effect he was having on you, and tried not to smile. Poe began to laugh.

“You know, you’re cute when you get all bashful like that.” You gave him a smug look.

“Oh yeah? Well, you’re cute when you’re wet!” Poe’s smile instantly dropped as you bent down and splashed Poe with a handful of water.

Poe stared at you in disbelief as you laughed out loud, clutching your stomach. But, the laugh soon stopped when you noticed the evil look on his face as he stepped towards you slowly.

“So that’s how you want to play, huh princess?” Gulping, you shook your head.

“No Poe.” You said sweetly. “I would rather run instead.” You took off running away from the body of water, laughing as you saw Poe trying to catch up to you.

BB-8 rolled up right next to you and you yelled down at the droid.

“C’mon BB-8, we can’t let him catch—“

A pair of arms wrapped your waist from behind and began to twirl you around. You were giggling like a child and heard Poe laughing as well. He lowered you down and you couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Thank you for bringing me here Poe, this is seriously the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me.”

“Don’t worry about it, Y/N.” Poe smiled. “I would do anything for you.”

Sighing at the memory, you watched at how mesmerized Rey was at how green the planet was. A part of you felt sad for her—how she had never once left Jakku and been able to experience something as beautiful as this. Maybe if things went well, you could see about taking her and Finn to multiple systems.

Poe would’ve loved that.

As your dad set the ship down, Rey quickly got up from her seat and ran outside. You moved to follow, when your dad pulled you by your elbow.

“You need to stay close to me, Y/N. There are all types of creeps in there. Do you understand?” Not bothering to argue, you nodded and grabbed the blaster he was handing to you, placing it behind you on your belt.

While Han and Finn went to look through supplies, you walked down the ramp and watched as Rey was taking in the scenery before her. You nudged her shoulder and she looked back at you, her eyes still glossed with amazement.

“I remember the first time I ever went to a planet like this, I was so excited.”

“I was worried I looked like a fool.” She looked down, her cheeks flushed red, and you frowned.

“Hey,” You placed a hand on her arm and she looked back up at you. “You are not a fool. You are allowed to be excited about visiting another planet, especially when you have never left home before. I was the exact same way when I visited Naboo for the first time.”

“You’ve been to Naboo?” Rey asked and you smiled.

“Yes, Poe was the one who took me. Whenever we arrived, I was completely astonished. So you have every right to feel this way.” Rey smiled softly and pulled you in for a hug.

“Thank you, Y/N. You have been a wonderful friend.” You returned the hug and couldn’t help how the corner of your cheeks raised up.

“Not as great as you Rey. Without your help, Finn, BB-8, and I would not have made it out of Jakku alive.”

“And I’m sorry about Poe; I never got to tell you that. I could tell he meant a great deal to you.” The smile dropped slightly and you pulled away and nodded thanks.

“Thank you, Rey. He did.” It was quiet for a moment, and you cleared your throat. “How come you have never left Jakku? You’re an amazing pilot Rey; you could fly anywhere you want to.” Her smile dropped and she began to look nervous.

“Well um, I have been waiting for my family. I was only a child when they left me on Jakku, I hardly remember them.” Your heart ached and Rey suddenly shook her head. “But they will be back, someday. That’s why I need to get back to Jakku after I make sure BB-8 and you two are back with the Resistance.”

Your dad came up suddenly and handed a blaster to Rey. You smiled as he continued to ask her if she would be interested in working with him and Chewie, to which she declined. Han tried to not seem disappointed and told you all to follow him to the castle that was in the distance.

Cantina music filled the room as soon as you entered—no one paying you all any mind as you shuffled through the doors.

“Han Solo!” The loud, booming voice was heard over the music and caused everyone to drop their conversations and look towards you all.Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked directly towards your group.

“Hey Maz.”

After meeting Maz, she sat the four of you at a table, where you began telling her all about your mission. She agreed to help you, and also continued to scold your father about going back home to your mother.

Inside, you wanted nothing more than for your father, as well as your brother, to come home. It just wasn’t the same without them, and you could only think of how your mother felt. Maz suddenly began to climb on the table—adjusting her glasses as she looked at a worried Finn.

“If you live long enough, you see the same eyes in different people.” She continued to scan him, “I’m looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run.” Finn’s demeanor changed and he leaned forward.

“You don’t know a thing about me.” His voice dropped an octave lower and you stared at him. “What I’ve done, what I’ve seen. You don’t know the First Order like I do. They’ll slaughter us, we all need to run.” Maz let out a hum and sat back in her seat.

She pointed out two guys and mentioned that they could help him escape. Finn looked towards you and Rey, asking the both of you to go with him.

“What about BB-8?” Rey asked. “We have to get him back to your base.” Finn shook his head and stood up.

He took of Poe’s jacket, which you had forgotten he was wearing, and handed it to you. You took it reluctantly and watched as he walked away. Slipping on Poe’s jacket, you and Rey ran after Finn.

“We’re not letting you leave Finn.” You pulled him back. “You’re one of us.”

“Y/N is right, Finn.” Rey said. “You can’t just go.” Finn pulled from your grasp and looked between the two of you before his gaze went to Rey.

“I’m not who you think I am Rey. I’m not Resistance. I’m not a hero, I’m a Stormtrooper.” Rey stared at him blankly and Finn sighed before he continued.

“I was taken from my home, and raised to do one thing. But my first battle, I made a choice. I wasn’t going to kill for them, so instead I ran. I ran into Y/N and Poe, and then I ran into you. You all looked at me like no one ever had. I was ashamed of whom I was and I made my decision. I am not going back to the First Order. Please, Y/N and Rey, come with me.”

“Finn, you know that I can’t.” You shook your head, placing a hand on his arm once more. “I have to finish this mission, mine and Poe’s mission. I have to do this for him.”

“Poe’s dead Y/N!” Finn yelled, and you retracted your hand back.

You stared at him with white eyes, your mouth slightly agape. His eyes went from rage to sadness as he realized what he said.

“Y/N…” He began but you shook your head and walked away, not looking back.

You knew Finn didn’t mean it, but it still hurt. Eyes burning from the tears forming, you were making your way back to the table.

“Y/N.”

You looked around in confusion, your gaze falling on Rey as she walked towards a set of stairs and followed after her. As you caught up, you softly called out her name, which she ignored, and so you grabbed her arm gently in hopes of stopping her.

“Y/N.”

Immediately letting go, you looked down the hallway, hesitating before walking behind Rey. A door at the end of the hallway was open, and you couldn’t help but allow yourself to be pulled inside the room. A chest lay at the end of the room; you couldn’t stop yourself from walking towards it. Rey kneeled in front of it, slowly lifting the top, and inside was a lightsaber.

“Y/N, don’t!”

It was too late. At the same time Rey grabbed the lightsaber, you reached for her arm. Rey yelped as the chest closed and you flinched away, taking in your surroundings.

Looking back down, Rey was gone and you began to panic. As you were about to call out her name, you lifted your head and saw that you were no longer in the room—but in your father’s ship.

Children laughing behind you caused you to twist around. A young boy with curly, black hair and an even younger girl with Y/H/L, Y/H/C were chasing each other—the boy with a toy lightsaber and the girl with a toy blaster.

“Ben?” You whispered to yourself as you realized who it was, and the little boy stopped in his tracks, allowing the little girl to run off.  

The little boy turned around and stared out you for a moment before reaching his small hand out. Shakily, you reached forward to grab it but then watched as he disappeared right before your eyes.  

“Y/N!”

You recognized your father’s voice and quickly turned around, only for a figure to bump past you, knocking you to the floor. Groaning, you looked up just in time to see a slightly younger version of yourself running towards your father and jumping into his arms.

“I missed you so much, Dad!”

“I missed you too, sweet pea.” Your dad set you down and you pushed yourself up. “Now, where is your mother?” It was suddenly becoming harder to breath, your chest tightening and your breaths becoming shallower.

“Y/N,” You gasped. “Hey, don’t pass out on me, princess. I don’t think I could handle not hearing your pretty voice. Even if you have used it many times to threaten me with it.” Slowly turning, you found a beaten Poe cuffed to the same chair he was tortured in.

Lip trembling, you walked up to Poe and reached to cup his cheek. As soon as you made contact, he disappeared and you were back in the room from before, leaning your hand on a wall. You began to gasp for air, looking over towards the door to see Rey sitting on the floor, looking up at someone.

With your legs shaky, you watched as Rey stood up and ran and you hurried out the door after her. Maz was there, and she stopped you, explaining what happened.

Tag list: @sabertooth-potato @extraterrestrialsky @readingvogueonprivetdrive

@jessicaguerreiro07 

Permanent Tag List: @geeksareunique @firefeatherx

[teddyylou]

HQ!!FantasyWeek Day 1! - Opposite Worlds

Kuroo works as a secret service member for the Japanese government in the extraterrestrial department. Or he would, if there were an aliens to investigate. See how once slow night at work and the first alien aircraft seen in months crashing down on Kuroo’s doorstep will change everything.

Read on AO3

Words: 3235

#kuroken

______________

Kuroo’s eye’s began to droop as the low hum of the twenty monitors in front of him lulled him to sleep. The only thing keeping him awake was dull flickering LED light above his head cast a dark greenish light on the small metal room. He moved his hand over to the desk where is coffee cup sat, ‘empty’ he sighed to himself, rolling his eyes as he placed it back down in the same spot, lining it up perfectly with the ring it had created on his desk.

When Kuroo was first told he’d be working for the secret service he was over the moon; it had been all he’d ever wanted as a kid and he was thrilled he’d be able to serve Japan in a way that required ultimate skill and intelligence. However, as the years bled on, alien discoveries became less and less and workers in the department were given other positions to fill while they waited for any signs of extraterrestrial life.

So watching security cameras became Kuroo’s. ‘What a waste!’ he would always say to himself. Maybe if something was going on he was in the best shape out of everyone to go chase after the culprits, but nothing astounding really happened any more. No fights, no explosions. Everyone was to professional and the security controls was to high for any outsider to get close to the base.

At least if anything happened to crash down in exactly the right spot, Kuroo would be the first to see it and know exactly how to approach it. He rested his head in his arms which were crossed on the desk, it was late so he wouldn’t be missing anything anyway. He dozed off, dreaming of the days where his departement filled their usual office with loud witty banter, more like brothers and sisters then co workers.  

Friday night’s after a long week spent drinking together when their Friday day shifts ended, just enjoying their time, fresh off training. Kuroo fit in so well with all of them, not once did he feel like he didn’t understand the joke or that anyone was less than anyone else. They were good times. Now he just sat and watched, waiting for the day that an alien graced their monitors again.

***

Kuroo shot up from his office chair, jumping back quickly to doge one of the monitor as it came in an extremely close proximity to his head. Red emergency lights were flashing, tinting the grey room amber as alarms blared, his original disturber of his slumber. He checked the monitors quickly, rapids searching them for the cause of the panic. He eyes landed on the bottom right screen - the entry to the bomb testing field - where he caught sight of it.

A large purple aircraft, unlike any design he had ever seen in his time working with the government and airforce. It’s sides were glowing blue as smoke rose from the crater it had dented into the patch desert. He knew instantly what it was, his bones riddled with excitement, adrenaline pumping furiously through his veins.  

Maybe he wouldn’t be the first to know.

Kuroo ran, sprinted down the halls, instinct and muscle memory from the last four years guiding him through the concrete labyrinth of underground hallways. His could hear multiple footsteps echoing off every surface, increasing his speed so that he could still be to the crash site, the first to discover what was inside. No thought of possible harm could stop him as the elevator to the surface appeared at the end of a long hallway, it’s blue glass revealing it’s vacancy.

“Yes.” He panted out as he reached the cool glass, resting on it as he slammed the button to open it, breath taking over all noise. The swooshing sound of the glass seemed to last forever as the eager man shook with anticipation. As he leaped inside he let the door shut, turning around with the biggest grin. He could still be first. Kuroo’s small flattered as he looked down upon the hall as the machine lifted him up.

It was empty; the footsteps he had heard clambering off the bricks were that of his own. ‘It’s fine, it’s late, it was still night outside. There is always less people on night shifts.’ He told himself, not wanting to even entertain the idea for a second that no one was excited or knowing about this as he was. The alarms were still going off like crazy, why was no one else around?

As he reached the top level he didn’t even let the door open the full way before squeezing himself out, not hesitating to run into the freezing cold night air. He cool now see his rapid breath as he was drawn to the flying object, feeling that he was only a short distance away as he flew past the metal fence acting as a barrier around the field. He had to slow down as the smoke from the crash got into his passage way and caused him to cough. He hoped that anything inside it was still alive as he struggled to catch up with everyone else. The everyone else Kuroo had convinced himself must already be there.

He entered the thick cloud of smoke that was close to the door of the aircraft that had been forced open upon the impact. He knew he was acting irrationally and against all his training by blindly running into the scene with no preparation and no protection besides the clothes on his back. His old sports jacket from highschool protected him well enough from the cold but would it from alien weaponry. He didn’t care, the thoughts of his hayday came back to him. The extraterrestrial and UFO department would flourish once again.

“KUROO!” He heard a shout, the only thing thus far that he stopped him in his tracks.

He wiped his head around trying to see through the thick cloud, eventually re emerging from it, to see the first sign of human life that night so he could go back to seeing the first sign of alien life in almost a year.

He strained his eyes to see the person running towards him, yelling back as soon as he could make out the black and white spikes of his old coworker.

“Bokuto! Late to the party are we?”

“No fair, you were closer.” He called back, placing his hands on his knees to regain a steady beat once he reached his friend.

“Yeah well so were a lot of other people, but do you see them. Do they even know what is happening?” The taller man gestured to the barren land.

“Oh they know alright.” Bokuto stood, “Kuroo, none of them know how to deal with this, the only ones who do are those of our department.” He encouraged Kuroo to work out the answer himself, which he did quickled.

He cursed under his breath. “You’re right, most of us had day shifts today.”

Bokuto nodded.

“Is anyone else here tonight, it is hardly possible that it is only us.”

Bokuto replied after a thinking for a second. “There maybe a few.”

“Shall we wait for them-”

“Yes.” Bokuto didn’t even let him finish. “You may be the best at this but you acted as if you knew as much as the the people back in the control room watching us by the way you just ran in blindly. We need people with supplies and weapons, we don’t know what’s in there, so as much as I want to run in there and kick some alien but - surely not as much as you do - we need to be prepared.

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Kuroo wanted to sound cold but due to his impatience it came out more whiney, like a child.

“With them.” Bokuto looked back in the direction of the facility. Three figure were closing in on them, traveling by motor bikes to move faster. Soon their old coworkers and friends Kiyoko Shimizu, Daichi Sawamura and Kōshi Sugawara were revealed to them, bringing them guns and stunning devices as well as capturing and communication mechanisms for their own use.

“Ready when you are.” Daichi stated instead of a greeting.

“I’ve been waiting so long for this to happen.” Sugawara said bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Yes! So excited, Suga.” Kiyoko agreed, more words then they ever thought she could say in a day, this was as rare as the aliens.

With our friends now there to provide backup, Bokuto and Kuroo re entered the slowly clearing crash site, just able to make out the ramp up to the ship using the glowing light emitting from the aircraft as their guide. Once they were up in the foyer of the aircraft, there was still no sign of life, only two identical hallways leading off in opposite direction.

“You take right, I’ll go left.” Kurro commanded and we set off.

“Make sure to shout if you get anything.” Bokuto tapped his walkie talkie which was fastened to a pocket on his sleeve before disappearing behind the opening.

It was a surprisingly quiet and anxious jog down the hallway. Kuroo never stopped once, checking every room, going up two flights of ramps. ‘Maybe the aliens didn’t have legs’.

Everything had been empty so far. Was it possible that this was nothing but discarded space junk from another species?

Kuroo had found himself directly above where they had entered, but about five stories higher. He was on the final floor and the only thing he had found was a very large window that looked upon the whole base.

This room and all is corresponding doors was his only hope left.

The first door he tried on the other side of the room lead to an area identical to the one he was in just before, most likely Bokuto would be arriving through it shortly if his journey was as uneventful as Kuroo’s own. He tried the rest, breaking them down if he had to. All were just simple storage cupboards. He would definitely have to investigate these later for artifacts.

Kuroo’s heart was breaking as he was left with one more door. The white metal was the only thing that stood between him and his biggest dream coming true. Setting his things down on the big confrance looking table in the center of the room, all except his gun, he approached the door.

“Not locked he whispered to himself as it slid open from simply censoring his presence. The small room was lined with a bench running the length of the walls and had shelves above them full of glowing substances. A medical bed positioned in the middle. Kuroo could feel a lump in his throat forming at the empty room until he almost fell over after the sudden realisation of two feet sprawled out on the floor behind it.

“No!” he gasped, unable to believe if this was real.

He approached the unconscious body slowly, more of the apparently small figure was revealing itself to Kuroo. He did a double take when he saw the full thing.

“Human?” He questioned to nobody.

He quickly vetoed that idea once he began to search the alien, which only made his heart flutter.

Most of the beings features were the same apart from it’s dark purple hair turning blonde at the end of it’s shoulder length style, pointed ears and red marks just under its eyes.

He went to touch it’s arm. Hesitating slightly before realising that nothing had happened. He picked it up supporting its head which had flopped into his chest, and under its knees.

“I’ve got one. The only one. You see anything? I’m heading out. Over” He spoke into his own walkie talkie.

“Nothing I’m on the ground again. Over.” A crackly voice gave back. The magnetic energy of the ship must be interfering with the radio.

Kuroo brought the small alien out of the aircraft, a vehicle ready to take it back to camp.

“That’s all?” Suga sounded happy and sad at the same time. Kuroo could relate. He rode with the being and soon they were back, alone, in a medical looking room of the human’s own.

Still dumbfounded that the being looked so human he began to look closely at it again. It was breathing, he noticed, so he decided to pull up a scanner to see what this thing was made of, unsure about how it had bloody lungs!

With the big metal contraption over the sleeping alien he turned it on. As it loaded up Kuroo moved his face really close to the other, looking at the birthmarks on the aliens face. From what he could see, with the mouth and eyes being shut, it looked so human. He could only possibly be a-

Golden eyes snapped open.

“AHHHH!” It let out a screech, raising a hand and pushing Kuroo away and hurtling itself off of the table and into the corner of the small room.

“It’s okay.” Kuroo said, aware that it probably couldn’t understand it, as it covered it’s face with a hand, bringing its head down to its knees.

“Where am I!” It demanded.

‘Holy Crap!’ Kuroo was flabbergasted.

“English!” He yelled, instantly switching from his native tongue to the western dialogue.

“What?” It didn’t look up.

“You speak English!” He made clearer.

“What’s English?” It replied.

“Oh, well I can understand you, and you, I” He explained.

“I guess.” It looked up finally, glowly lifting it’s gaze, a look of fear turning to confusion as it had also instantly noticed their similarities.

“You’re… Altaen?”

“Human.” They spoke at the same time.

“Oh, human.” It sounded disappointed.

“Altaen!” Kuroo repeated, still excited.

“You know of us?” It asked.

“Well yeah,” Kuroo’s face faltered for the second time that night. “Only that race has been extinct for centuries.”

“Nope.” It mumbled

“Their planet was exploded.”

“Well they didn’t get all of us.”

“How?”

“There is this thing called Some of us were on a mission in this other thing called space.” It spoke very sarcastically for how quiet and shy it also was, barley meeting Kuroo’s eyes.

“Oh so you are like ten thousand years old then?” Kuroo asked.

“No.” The alien sounded irritated now. “Breeding.” It responded quickly, regaining its shy composure.

“Right. So do you mind if I ask a few more questions.”

“Sure. then can I leave.”

“That’s not up to me.”

“So i’m gonna be dissected or something.”

“No, no. We may not be as advanced as you sir, but we have come far since the days of mutilation. My job is to keep you safe. So you’re good as long as you stay by me.” Kuroo smiled.

“Cool.” The alien sounded calmer and relaxed its shoulders a little. “Ask away.”

“Name?”

“Kozume Kenma.”

“Cool.” He wrote it down.

“Race, Altaen.” Hw spoke as he noted. “Gender.

“What’s a gender?”

“What do you mean? Altaen’s have genders.”

“We these ones don’t. What ever a gender is.”

“You must have evolved past them in the last ten thousand years.

“Possibly.”

“Reason for crashing on our planet?”

“That’s a joke right?”

“Yeah. But why’d you come near us.” Kuroo admitted.

“Joyride. Not my fault your magnetic field is hella strong.”

“Hella?”

“Really.”

“I know what it means. Just why.”

Kenma shrugged.

“Well for now that’s all I need. Mind if I take a photo.”

“For science?”

“Nope.”

“Okay.”

Kuroo took Kenma to the food court then. It was really empty this time of night so they could chat in peace.

“You eat human food.”

“Never tried it. Is it like goo?”

“I’ll get you some jelly.”

Later the pair was sitting at a table, Kuroo using all his effort to make the situation as comfortable for his guest as he could. They could work with the crew tomorrow, he quite like this new discovery.

They ate jelly together in silence for a bit before Kenma looked up to see Kuroo staring.

“Do I have a booger or something?” They covered their nose with their hand, looking down and wiping it.

“No! No. Just curious.” Kuroo reassured Kenma.

“Then what?” He grew embarrassed.

“I just didn’t think an alien we found would be this small.” He said honestly.

“Small!” Kenma stood, speaking the loudest they had yet, slamming their hands on the table moving around to Kuroo who also stood, a near foot above them.

“Well watch this.” They raised his eyebrows as he began to grow, Kuroo was amazed at the being ability. However when they finished their party trick they were still a few inches of matching Kuroo’s height.

“Cute.” Was all he said.

“I’m not cute he said, pouting.

Kuroo took the opportunity to look back into Kenma’s eyes. The golden iris’s contrasted perfectly with their purple pupils, a match to the creatures hair.

They were catlike in shape and absolutely breathtaking.

“No, no your not. How about… Gorgeous?” Kuroo blushed slightly at his attempt. ‘Was that a flirt?”

“Gore...Jesus?” Kuroo had thought Kema would get flustered but he just tipped his head to the side.

“No, um… Beautiful.” Kuroo tried. Again with no success.

“Something else.”

“I don’t know? Stunning.” He was running out of ideas.

“I did not!” Kenma just looked more offended than happy.

“I don’t know!” Don’t you have any positive words for physically appealing people.” He wracked his brain for other English words to explain with.

Kenma thought for a moment. “Hot?” Kuroo blushed deeper.

“Uh, Kinda. Maybe more, charming?” He stuttered.

“Well, we have one… It’s uh… Perfect?”

“Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Kenma’s eyes widened. Their marks began to glow as they shrunk back to their first size.

“Um, oh, thanks…” They really were flustered now.’ Kuroo thought. ‘And yes, that was a flirt. Sooth Kuroo.’ He smirked to himself.

Kenma took his seat again and Kuroo his. They chatted for a while longer before Kenma began to yawn and Kuroo offered to show them to a room in their facility. He agreed to stay in a neighboring room for the duration of Kenma’s stay due to, as Kenma had put it, the fact that they didn’t know anyone and he was the only one that they felt comfortable with.

Kuroo wasn’t sure if that kind of sentence held the same value in Altea as it did on Earth but he let it slide. Kuroo went and sat on the end of the ‘Perfect’ creatures bed, watching as they sat down too.

“Thanks for not cutting me open.” Kenma smiled, however their head was still facing is lap and their hair still covered most of their face.

“Thanks for eating jelly with me… and breaking a scanner but that is for a different day.” Kuroo tried to joke.

Kenma yawned again so Kuroo told him goodnight and made to leave. Right as he was about to leave, Kenma called to him. Kuroo first wondered if this would be like in the movies where the alien would ask something awkward like ‘would you stay with me tonight.’ or some other embarrassing thing. But even if secretly he hoped they would, Kenma just tilted his head once more.

“Really, tell me what a geder is? Is it like lumps? Or an extra limb?”

“Kinda.”

[1stvioliner-fangirl]

So, this is the fanfiction that I accidently deleted and had to rewrite. I took a comment’s suggestion and used written Kitten, check it out if you want to write your own fanfictions!

Rey never wanted to go back to Jakku. She never thought she would ever have to again.

The Millenium falcon flew through the atmosphere of the desert planet, letting off bursts of steam and debris as it heaved itself out of hyperspace. It was a miracle how the old ship could handle jumps through hyperspace so easily despite its age. Their position of interest was far from any town or village on the entire planet. The AT-AT that she used to call her home. The falcon landed sloppily,touching down too fast and sinking into the sand. The co-pilot beside her was the wookie known as Chewbacca or as the last owner of the falcon knew him, Chewie.

Chewie roared in wookie as Rey left the falcon's exit ramp, giving her hope in her search. She walked up to the old, discarded piece of junk left to rot in the sands only to notice that the door had been blown off. It wasn't something she didn't expect, she had expected raiders to come in looking for valuable items to take in order to make a profit. She walked up the ramp that led into the inside and jumped down into her old home. It was just as dusty and dirty as she had remembered, but many things of significance that she kept lying around were gone. Rey grabbed onto one of the many pipes within the robotic walker and pulled herself up onto what was once the walker's control panel.

Rey found that it hadn't been disturbed at all. The fighter pilot's helmet she kept from the resistance was still sitting on top of the controls. She used to like to put it on herself and pretend like she was with the resistance.

But now, that dream of flying through space to places far beyond was within her grasp. She could do whatever she wanted, go anywhere in the falcon's cockpit. Ever since being left on Jakku at the age of four, she had wanted that. To leave the junk planet behind and start new.

Rey reached to the top of the AT-AT where an air duct was and threw it open. Dust and sand pummled her, drowning her and leaving her coughing. She reached into the duct and pulled out a small crystal. When she was on Jakku, she had found it on the star destroyer near her home while she was searching for anything of value to sell in the nearest town of Niima Outpost. She held the crystal in her hand, memories coming back as a young, 12 year old girl who used it as a wishing rock. She would wish that her parents would come back, but now she knew that no matter how long she waited, they would have never come back for her.  

Rey pocketed the rock and grabbed the fighter pilots helmet. She leapt down to the base of her home and found the dust and sand make its way into her eyes again. She rubbed them again, annoyed with her home's age.

Rey exited the AT-AT, heading towards the falcon before something caught her attention. A disturbance in the force. Coming from the opposite direction of the robotic walker. Rey walked into the falcon and into the cockpit, taking a seat in the pilot's chair. Chewie looked at her with concern seeing the worry in her face.

"We're making a stop." Rey said, turning on the ships controls. She put the thrusters into full drive as the ship lifted off of the ground. The falcon flew in the opposite direction of their last location. In the distance, rocky cliffs came into view surrounded by more sand.

As they flew over, the strange sensation became an entire ripple in the force. It was overwhelming and almost terrifying. They passed the entire valley before landing. The landing went a lot smoother than before, but it was still shaky.

Rey opened the exit ramp and climbed out. She looked above, seeing the massive amount of rock and sand around them before turning her focus to the valley in front of her. Seeing nothing of importance or caution, she started walking the distance of the nature made structure.

After a ten minute excursion, finding nothing worthy of investigating, she turned back to the direction of the falcon and started to walk back, putting her communicator up to her face and talked into it.

"Chewie start the falcon. We're leaving." She said, turning to look back one more time. Just as she stopped the communication, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Movement above on a pile of stone and rock. Rey, thinking it was a raider or thief, threw the hood of her cloak over her head, trying to conceal her identity. She started walking a little faster, preparing herself for the worst. She put her head down and went to start a communication once again. Just as she put the microphone to her head it was too late.

Rey saw multiple men coming out of the shadows and moving toward her. She reached into her holster and fumbled for the weapon she had concealed. She held it out in front of her in a defensive position. The men backed up a bit, realizing what it was. The lightsabers hilt was made not too long ago but it was still enough to scare anyone. Rey started backing up, keeping herself in a defensive position at all times.

Before she could recognize the figure behind her it was too late. She backed straight into him, flinching at his sheer strength in the force. Without turning, she started shaking, putting her lightsaber down and facing it towards him almost threateningly. She knew who it was before he even said a word. His presence in the force was much more powerful than any of his comrades.

"Hello there Rey." Kylo Ren said, his breath on her neck made the hair on it stand up. Not seeing him in the flesh for several years had made her somewhat surprised to hear his voice again. But it sounded much of the same, the same dark, overpowering, deep, and depressing tone to it.

Rey refused to turn around to face him, fearing that he would reach into her mind and make her feel a similar pain as the one on Takodana. She could feel his anger towards her, his desire to have her back, and his other conflicted emotions holding him back from tearing her to shreds. The knights of ren kept their distance from her, fearing a strike from her.

"There's no need to be afraid." Kylo said to his comrades. "The Jedi has no kyber crystal in her lightsaber. It's just an intimidation tactic. She has no real power here."

Rey looked down to the ground knowing that he was right. Since Luke's lightsaber had broken in the Supremacy's throne room, she hadn't been able to do anything except create the hilt to a new one. She had no idea where to look for a new kyber crystal since the one that Luke had used was shattered.

"How did you know where to find me?" Rey asked him, still unable to look him in the eye.

"It took us a good 3 years to track a multitude of ships thought to be in the resistance to a point. We managed to capture one of these ships and find the location of the millenium falcon. After that it was only a matter of finding you. We sent ripples through the force hoping to get you to this place where you had no chance of escaping us."

Rey turned her attention to the knights of ren who were shifting uneasily in the presence of their master with his overwhelming force abilities.  

"You have no power here." Kylo said, moving his hand only inches away from her arm. "Come with us easily and you won't be punished immensely."

Rey forced herself to turn and face him, anger flooding into her voice. "Never!" She said taking a full look at him.

The force connections between them had been more verbal than physical. Most of the time she couldn’t see him and only hear his voice. She half expected him to be dressed in golden robes, a crown on top of his head and other ruler like qualities. But instead he was dressed exactly as she remembered him. Black clothing all around with a cape. His hair was much shorter, only going down to his chin line with a few loose pieces falling down in front of his eyes. His big ears were very exaggerated with this new look as they stood out without the big pieces of hair in front of them anymore. The scar she gave him on starkiller base was still plastered down the side of his face, it's red tint making it a focal point of concentration. He stared at her as if looking down on her and put his hand in front of her similar to what he did in the throne room. But before she could do anything else, the lightsaber flew out of her hand and into his own. This act caught her by surprise as she backed away from him a foot. The presence of the guards making her uncomfortable.

"You're unarmed and defenseless." Kylo said holding out the hilt of the blade to her mockingly. "Come with me."

Rey backed away from them, towards a wall of the valley looking for a possible escape. She tried desperately to try and stop them from surrounding her but it was no use. They moved towards her as slowly as she was backing up, as if they were playing a game with her. A few more feet and she finally hit the wall, backed into a corner with the knights of ren and their leader surrounding her from every direction. She put her hands to the wall, clawing them into the sides, desperate. Kylo walked towards her, his voice was soft and almost pleading.

"It's ok." He said softly "You don't need to fight me. Just come with me and you'll be ok." He held out his hand in front of her face before gently touching it with his open palm. She looked him straight in the eyes, seeing that beneath his dark and brooding mood there was a shed of light. After several years of isolation after the battle of crait, several force connections and visions had made his dark, depressing mood fade a bit. He didn't want to admit it but deep down he regretted everything that had happened. She noticed a pile of rocks behind them as she turned her eyes from him.

She pushed him away, grabbing her lightsaber from his hands and used the force to manipulate the rocks to her will. She ran past Kylo as he looked back in shock to the sudden commotion. Rey started climbing the pile to a stretch of stone that formed a ledge along the cliff side.

"Treat your wounds." Kylo said to his knights who were the ones most affected by the sudden avalanche. "I can handle this myself."

Rey fumbled inside of her pocket while moving as fast as she could across the somewhat narrow ledge. She took out the crystal and fumbled with the lightsaber hilt, trying to get the compartment open. She finally got it open, shoving the crystal into its small space, she shut it and tested it. The lightsaber lit up a bright white, illuminating the surroundings and casting a white light onto the cliffs walls. She saw that the ledge led to a patch of cliff that looked safe to climb. She grabbed onto one of the rocks and put her foot on another just below it. She continued this process until she was finally on top of the cliff. She looked around, seeing the flat plateau as a threat to her safety having nowhere to hide or protect herself with other than her weapon. She looked across the other side of the cliff and found Kylo standing on the exact opposite side that she was standing on. In between them was a walkway most likely used for traders to move between the cave systems that were most likely to be inside of the cliffs.

She took a step onto the walkway as Kylo did and continued. They both continued until they were only a few feet away from each other. Kylo had his lightsaber in hand as did Rey. However, his body language did not show any threat towards her.

"It's just us now." He said repeating his words he had said on star killer. "There's no one to help you or me. I saw the kyber crystal that you put into it, don't try to resist it. Fight me Jedi. And we can end this once and for all."

Rey stared at him, unable to keep her emotions at bay. Her hand with the lightsaber started shaking. Suddenly, she dropped it, it clattered to the ground of the platform making a sound that echoed throughout the canyon.

"No." Rey said refusing to accept his methods "Ben I won't fight you."

Ben's mouth was open slightly, making movements trying to say something, but he couldn't get it out.

"Pick it up Rey." He said quietly, his mouth barely moving

"No." She said, standing defiantly

"I SAID PICK IT UP!" He suddenly screamed at her, his eyes lighting up like a raging fire

She looked at him with sad eyes, neither of them wanting to let out any emotions.

"And what if I don't?" She asked him, staring at his lightsaber "Will you force it into my hands? Will you try and make me think this is what I want? Do you really want me to pick it up and face what you want my destiny to be?"

She stared at him, letting his emotions get into her head and making her say something she desperately didn't want to say.

"Strike me down Kylo Ren." She said crossing her arms around her cold body from being at such a high altitude. "It's the only way to become the monster you always wanted to be.

He stared at her in disbelief and disappointment. He let some of his emotions get in his way remembering all of their force connections after the battle of Crait. They had gotten more and more frequent as they continued growing as human beings. Over time Kylo had learned to look past some of his dark tendencies and look towards the light but now, as if everything that happened to them had disappeared, it had turned back to the way it was when they first met. All of the development he had went through with her, learning to care for another person, wanting to do anything to make that person happy, even offering her the entire galaxy, everything was gone in that very moment, he thought.

"A monster." He said looking down at her. "Is that what you really believe I always wanted?" He let his emotions get the better of him as a tear slid down his face "I never wanted this."

Rey looked at him in shock and in surprise, letting her emotions loose she also let a tear slide down her face.

"I just wanted someone. Anyone to treat me like I was worth something. That I meant something to someone. I wanted someone to see me as who I was. And at first I thought you saw that in me." He said, letting more tears slide down his face.

"You are that." Rey said to him, moving closer to him and taking his lightsaber into her hands. "You don't have to worry anymore. You are YOU to me. You're not Kylo Ren, you are Ben Solo. A powerful force user who has the power to make anyone follow his orders."

"Strike me down." Ben said, taking a complete turn from what she thought he would say

"What?" Rey asked shocked at his sudden change in mood

"I don't deserve forgiveness anymore." He said, pointing the lightsaber away from Rey and turning it on, planning to kill himself.

"Ben." Rey said, turning her focus from him to the lightsaber now shaking in his hand

"I can't go back." He said, the tears now making constant streak lines on his face "I can't be forgiven for all the things i've done. There's no future for a monster like me."

Rey stared into his closed eyes as he let his head sink down into his chest. Shaking all around, she grabbed the hilt of the lightsaber and pulled him closer to her.

"Yes there is." She said grabbing him by the arm which held no weapon. She had to stand on her toes to reach his giant stature. She slammed her lips into his as he opened his eyes just before the shocking showing of emotions.

There was no lust behind this gesture, no pity, there was just a pure release of feelings.

He thought of pulling away from her but stopped himself. He dropped the lightsaber to the ground and put his hand on the back of her head, grabbing it and pulling her closer.

She was the one to pull away. She pulled away before lowering her aim to his waist wrapping her arms around it, with his own awkwardly in front of him reaching out for her who wasn't there.

Her tears were spilling from her eyes making stains in his clothing.

He put his arms on her waist and lowered his and her body to the ground as they stood in the heat of the moment letting their emotions get the better of them.

"One with hope, Ben."

[dontreadthistrashgarbage]

G O T 7 PT.7

Guerin was nervous. She had asked JB what to wear and he had told her that her normal style would be fine. He wanted the vibe to be casual. Still, Guerin had managed to overthink, she had changed her outfit multiple times before forcing herself to settle. She approached the designated meeting spot, the same spot by the Han river where they had first flown together, carrying Mihi. She saw both JB and BamBam waiting already. BamBam looked stylish as usual in his expensive brand name clothes. JB looked like he was trying to combine his usual aesthetic with a boyfriend look, a loose fitting dark grey turtleneck sweater that was tucked into fitted black jeans and his hair teased into revealing his forehead. Guerin felt silly in comparison, she opted for an oversized black, pink and orange color blocked T-shirt over distressed Jean shorts with black tights and ending in her same favorite neon shoes. She had started to slow her approach, wondering if there was time for her to go home and change but was foiled by an excited squawk from Mihi. JB and BamBam looked up, the former smiling and waving at her before they both resumed their conversation and moved to meet her.

"You're here early." Guerin said trying to sound natural.

"He was actually late. We were supposed to meet a while ago to figure out how to shoot everything but he just got here ten minutes ago." BamBam said, "He's always late."

JB forces a smile and put his arm around BamBam, resting his hand on the back of his dongsaengs neck. "I told you I'd buy you something delicious to make it up to you." She said through his fake toothy smile that did not reach his eyes.

BamBam wasn't phased and he laughed at his own cheekiness, "Of course hyung. So that's two meals, one for helping you film and edit and another for being late."

"Ya, we're also paying you." JB protested.

"Yeah yeah. So let's get this show on the road. We'll do the flying first and then the human only shots." BamBam changed the subject to hash out final details of how the shooting would work with Guerin and any issues that might affect Mihi. The three meandered to BamBam's chosen spot and Guerin took the opportunity to mutter to JB

"Should I go change real quick? I'm not sure we match convincingly..."

JB stuck out his bottom lip thoughtfully as he looked her over, making her feel more self conscious before he shook his head and looked away, "You look fine."

"Fine?" She asked shocked and not reassured at all. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, a mischievous smirk betraying his perceived dismissal. She frowned, "JB I'm serious, I'm so uncomfortable right now."

He looked shocked and apologetic, "I'm sorry, I thought you just wanted a compliment."

She pouted slightly, "Even then. You could just give me one."

"You look like you. That's perfect. It's exactly what I hoped for." He reached up and patted the top of her head with a puppy smile. Somehow the JB style comment helped her insecurity but ramped up her heart rate. She covered up her reaction by shrugging him off with a tsk.

"You look fine too I guess." She said with exaggerated dismissal, picking up her pace to leave him behind.

The flight portion of the filming went normally for the first and second round. Mihi was even ready for a third flight as they included JB and Guerin playing with Mihi between flights. Two loops into her third flight, JB was watching Guerin when he saw her relaxed and joyful expression change to one of concern and she let out a curse. JB quickly looked up and saw a drone heading toward the bird who was knocked off her usual loops by trying to avoid it, a screech from the bird sounding more like fear than her familiar happy calls.

Guerin looked around for the drone pilot, spotting him in the distance she tried yelling at him to stop. He didn't seem to hear, fixated on his toy. "BamBam, tell him to stop!" Guerin said urgently, pointing at the pilot, grabbed the backpack carrier, then put the whistle to her lips, blowing as she took off the same direction Mihi was headed. Unfortunately Mihi couldnt get an angle.with the wind to get a clean landing and instead kept getting chased away from the open river skies back into the city before disappearing into the taller buildings.

The drone had stopped and was returning its flight. Whether it was just getting too far out of range or BamBam had reached the man Guerin didn't know, but now she had a new concern. She paused, blowing her whistle hoping it would reach through the city sounds and guide her bird back to her.

"How can I help?" JB asked. She hadn't realized he had followed after her.

She glanced at him her face serious, the only hint at anything close to the very bad situation was a tension around her mouth. "I have to go looking for her. Can you make a post on a lost pets page on sns? If someone has seen her they might look there."

I'll have BamBam do that. He needs to stay behind with the equipment anyway, I can help you look. Guerin nodded, "I lost sight of her that way. If you find her just keep her safe, don't try and grab her and call me right away." She immediately turned and ran in the direction she indicated, blowing her whistle intermittentently. JB ran back to give BamBam the update. The drone pilot was talking to him, holding his offending toy looking very distraught.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know it would scare her I thought she was just an interesting bird, I'm sorry." He was saying before JB interjected. He had to swallow his anger at the man, at the same time understanding the perspective. Without the knowledge he had, he might have thought the same way. He did allow himself the rudeness of interrupting without an apology, gave BamBam the information, then took off again not sparing the pilot another glance.

Twenty minutes and several check ins with each other later JB was still feeling sorry and worried. He somehow believed that this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't asked for Guerin to film this stupid music video. It seemed like everything attached to this song was cursed. Lost in his thoughts and running his hand through his now disheveled hair for the hundredth time he almost missed it. A squawk.

"Mihi?" He called suddenly, startling a couple people near him. He apologized with a bow but didn't miss the unmistakable call back, coming from in front of him and to the left. He picked up his pace, calling her name again as he rounded a corner into an alleyway. He was looking up at the roof when another squawk drew his attention down to the ground.

A bedraggled and slightly damp green bird looked miserably up at him from next to a puddle she must have fallen in. He moved slowly toward her as he pulled out his phone and urgently called Guerin. Mihi took a step back as he approached and he froze while the phone rang.

"I found her. She's a bit wet, I cant tell if she is hurt but she is awake and moving." He said.

"Where are you?" She asked immediately. He told her. She sounded strained, not letting herself relax until the bird was back with her, "I'm about ten minutes away, I'm coming now. Just watch her and don't let people near her." She hung up quickly, presumably to start running. The traffic would make taking a can slower than ducking between buildings and sprinting through streets.

JB watched Mihi and squatted down on his heels to watch the bird, turned sideways to see if anyone started trying to come down the alleyway. Mihi watched him, shifting her weight from one foot to another, reaching down to try and chew pebbles or bits of debris around her.

"You gave us a scare." He said to her, talking just as much to keep himself calm as her. "Though you were probably really scared too." He hissed quietly "That idiot has no idea what he even did." Mihi was watching him, chewing an unknown object.

"We found you though. Guerin is coming, you'll be safe soon." He softened his tone, "I bet you wish she had found you. But this is almost as good right?" He kept talking, trying to sound as comforting as possible. Mihi took a step toward him hesitantly. He paused, then continued with his soft reassurances. Slowly and deliberately she came closer and closer to him. He didn't know what to do. Guerin had told him not to approach, but was he supposed to move away too? He opted to not move in case just him moving scared her off again. She walked right up to his leg, reaching out with her beak to chew at the hem of his pants.

"That's not nice." He said, willing himself not to move and hoping she wouldn't bite him.

Mihi straightened up, her feathers fluffing lightly, then raised a leg speaking in her odd mechanical voice in English, "Step UP."

"I don't think I can?" He said back, recognizing her motion more than the words.

She opened and closed her foot at him, then switched to the other leg saying again, "Step UP."

He hesitated again, glancing at his watch. Almost ten minutes had passed. He was at a loss. This didn't fall under the parameters of what Guerin had told him to do and if she was booking it here he couldn't call her for more advice. He was woefully unequipped to make the decision he was faced with, but it was one that still needed to be made.

Slowly he moved his hand, watching the bird for any odd behavior as he lowered it down to her foot. At first she reached for him with her beak. He froze and she straightened up again, shifting back to her original foot, opening and closing it again with her invitation style. He lowered his hand to her foot carefully. She rested her foot on him and pulled herself up. He slowly lifted his hand to rest on his knees, remembering how Guerin described the tactic to prevent the bird from climbing up his arm to his shoulder.

He was familiar enough to think that the bird looked stressed but slightly more comfortable as she looked around, flexing her beak every now and then. A figure appeared at the end of the alleyway, JB looked up to warn away anyone that might try to approach but stopped when he recognized a disheveled Guerin. She was breathing hard but her eyes lit up when she saw her bird.

"Hi baby." She crooned, sounding comforting. Mihi spotted Guerin and immediately started fluffing and flapping, jumping off JB's hand to the ground and walking toward Guerin. Guerin slowly stepped forward and picked up her bird, who immediately began nestling into her moms torso for affection which Guerin was more than happy to give.

"She came to me, I didnt know what to do so I let her climb on me. I'm sorry." JB said, slowly standing from his squat.

"It's fine she's here, I just want to get her in the carrier." Guerin didn't look away from her bird, giving her head small stratches. "You had a crazy adventure huh? I bet JB was a sight for sore eyes, yeah baby?" She kissed her bird, still speaking in her calm tone. After a minute she stepped Mihi into the carrier with little resistance and gave her a big nut and a grape. JB saw her visibly relax.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Not really. But I will be." She said, the tension leaving her body left her shaking. JB walked over to her.

"Do you... want a hug?" He asked, holding his arms open awkwardly.

She looked up at him and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. She bit her lip to keep her lip from trembling before she nodded and moved into his arms, wrapping her arms around his torso. He closed him arms around her, one hand resting on her head as her tears fell, the other rubbing her back. A squawk from Mihi brought their attention back. Guerin drew back reluctantly from the much needed comfort, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I think I snorted on your sweater." She let out and embarrassed laugh. He plucked at it then shrugged, unbothered. "God I must look a mess." She kept wiping at her eyes but her mascara had bled down and her lipstick was faded. JB wiped at a smear on her cheek.

"It's fine. We still match then." He said with a small smile. Guerin actually chuckled, still on edge.

"Let's let BamBam know. And I want to get Guerin home asap." Guerin said.

"I'll come with you." Offered, "Let's get a cab, and I'll call BamBam from there."

Following the plan Guerin sat with the carrier in her lap, hugging it as JB talked about rescheduling the rest of filming later. BamBam passed along the pilots information, he had offered to pay any vet bills and very much wanted to apologize directly. He hung up and the two sat in silence for the rest of the ride, both getting out at Guerin's apartment. She didn't question him as he followed her up to her unit and into her apartment.

A fluffy samoyed greeted them at the door, inspecting JB carefully, wagging her tail as Guerin acknowledged the dog in passing. JB waited in the living room with Eneoji for the few minutes Guerin took putting the bird away, examining her for injuries and watching for odd behavior. She came out to find JB seated on the ground with her dog seated, back to him, in his lap. As soon as Eneoji saw Guerin she stood and her fluffy behind wagged in the handsome musicians face making him exclaim and Guerin couldn't help but giggle despite being visibly exhausted. She saved JB by calling her dog to her and greeting her properly before straightening up.

"I'm going to shower and change into pajamas, then I'm going to order takeout and destress. You're welcome to stay but I imagine I'll be poor company." Guerin said to JB.

"Do you mind if I shower too?" He asked carefully, hoping it wouldn't be misinterpreted.

"Sure. I think I have something comfy you can wear too." She said thoughtfully as she tried to remember then shrugged, "I'll find it later."

JB entertained himself with his phone, catching up on messages and following up with BamBam about what else they needed to complete the video. Guerin returned faster than expected, fresh faced and neutral in a tank top and green lantern pajama bottoms. She held out some folded clothes for him, "There's towels in the bathroom, you can use any of the toiletries you need."

He accepted the change of clothes and headed in for his turn. After drying off he unfolded the pants, looking at them curiously, then looking at the shirt with narrowed eyes. Putting on the nondescript sweatpants and white shirt that fit a bit tightly across his broad shoulders and chest he came out of the bathroom.

"Ya, Guerin. These are men's clothes." He said.

She looked up from her phone at him with raised eyebrows, sitting on the couch sideways as she rested her back against the arm, knees up in front of her, "Yeah. Did you think I was going to give you mine?" She responded, nonplussed.

"Why do you have mens clothes? Mens pajamas?" He clarified, his question but sounded displeased.

"... I mean..." she hesitated, "Do you really not know the answer to that? I'm a grown woman JB."

He floundered. She didn't seem embarrassed at all, and did she have a reason to be embarrassed? He certainly didn't think of her as someone inexperienced, but he wasn't familiar with the personality type to make it obvious by not hiding another man's clothes, or at least making up a story about it being a friend or family member.

"JB, I'm emotionally drained today. I'm not going to argue with you about my life before you came into it." She said, sounding a little annoyed as she turned back to her phone.

He hesitated, then swallowed his jealousy. Now was not the time. Instead JB padded over to join her on the couch.

"You do look better in that shirt though." She said, without looking up and trying to withhold a smile.

"Of course I do." He responded matter of factly.

"Oof, you're lucky you're cute enough to get away with that ego." Guerin sputtered through a laugh.

"I'm not cute, I'm sexy." He corrected her matter of factly, which made her laugh harder.

"They're not... oh... what is it in Korean." She giggled, saying in English, "mutually exclusive?" She went back to korean, "You can be both."

"You're the cute one. I'm the sexy one." He shot back, taking the opportunity to compliment her and double down on his mantra.

"So you're saying I'm not sexy?" She stuck up her foot, posing comically like an amateur model.

"Maybe sometimes." He let out a small chuckle.

"Well if I can be both so can you. Let's order food, I'm starving." She said, not allowing him to argue back anymore. He nodded along with her suggestion, watching her relax comfortably in her pajamas. He had already fallen for professional Guerin and her polo shirt, and done up Guerin with her bold lipsticks and loud style, now he found himself falling for this cute casual pajama Guerin. He absentmindedly chewed his bottom lip, reminding himself that she still hadn't answered his confession, but he hoped it would be soon. Tonight wasn't the time to bring it up, so he resolved to just have a relaxing evening instead.

It had nearly been two weeks since Jinyoung and Charlie had started dating. They had gone out quite a few times, taking advantage of their schedules lining up so well. Jinyoung planned most of the dates which had ranged from a simple picnic to the current adventure at a meerkat cafe. They were currently sitting in with the meerkats, blankets across their legs. As soon as they had settled down four of the small animals had crawled into Jinyoungs lap and snuggled in, while a fifth perched on his leg, blinking slowly.

A sixth and seventh were distracting Charlie, climbing up to her and investigating. One settled into her lap while the other tried to dig at her shoe while she giggled and took pictures. Finally looking up Charlie saw Jinyoung coddling the critters in his lap, speaking cutely and making kissy faces. She pressed her lips together to quiet a laugh and surreptitiously recorded him. It took him about a minute to glance up, doing a double take when he saw her phone up.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"Nothing." She giggled through her unconvincing lie.

"Let me see that." He said, holding out his hand for her phone.

"No, I'm using it." She giggled again, lowering the camera to the meerkats still with her.

"Did you take pictures or record?" He asked, changing tactics as he tried to sound nonchalant.

"Don't get upset and scare the meerkats." She scolded him, panning up to see his face again. He was pouting but quickly changed his expression to something neutral.

"I'm not upset." He said blankly.

"Okay." She giggled again, finally ending the video and carefully tucking her phone back into her pocket.

Jinyoung managed to let it go long enough for the two of them to enjoy the rest of the visit at the cafe. They got selfies with a young coati crawling across their shoulders and Charlie got a kiss from an arctic fox. After the cafe Jinyoung suggested they take a cab back to his apartment. Charlie agreed, hoping this time the relationship might progress. It had been two weeks and they still hadn't kissed, or really anything beyond hand holding or a brief hug. A small part of her had begun to believe that Jinyoung didn't have romantic feelings toward her after all but she tried to beat those thoughts down.

Once they had arrived at Jinyoungs apartment and he went to make refreshments for the two of them she caught up on messages. A particular news story caught her attention that made her exclaim outloud in anger.

"Jagiya? What is it?" Jinyoung asked, coming from the kitchen with two opened beers and some freshly prepared ramen for them to snack on.

"There's a news article about Jackson!" She said, angrily, already messaging Guerin furiously.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, setting the tray he carried on the coffee table in front of the couch and sitting next to his girlfriend.

"Look." She said, angrily showing Jinyoung the pictures she was looking at, "He's here hugging some random girl in China ONE DAY before he is supposed to come home after confessing to Guerin."

Jinyoung knew of the dual confessions Guerin had received after promises of confidentiality from Charlie, though both his friends had confided in him already so it made it significantly easier to share. Jinyoung frowned at the pictures, taking her phone to read the article.

"It seems mostly like speculation." He said, unconvinced and handing her phone back with a noncommittal shrug, "besides, Jackson is a friendly man. He has a lot of friends. It's just a hug."

"Just a hug caught on camera." Charlie grumbled, taking her phone back with a petulant expression.

Jinyoung put his arm around Charlie with his most winning expression, "There's going to be times I have to hug someone for a camera, would that bother you?"

"No... not if it's for work." She couldnt help but weaken under his grip.

"Jackson is really outgoing. He has a lot of friends and sometimes the media struggles to keep up with him. I promise, knowing Jackson, that hug was platonic." Jinyoung said earnestly to his softening girlfriend.

"... yeah. That makes sense... I can give him the benefit of the doubt. But I worry about how Guerin is going to take it." She sighed, texting her friend again.

"Guerin will be fine. If she has spent time with Jackson she'll understand." Jinyoung assured Charlie.

"How would you feel?" Charlie asked suddenly after a pause, "If I was hugging some random man?"

Jinyoung tsked, "You won't need to. I'll hug you so much anyone else hugging you will be a nuisance." He squeezed her to make a point.

She forced a chuckle, insecurities with their relationship surfacing suddenly at his words. She believed him about Jackson, despite some reservations on behalf of her friend, so instead she flipped to some of the pictures she had taken at the meerkat cafe. Jinyoung brought out his phone and they were sharing photos until she came across a selfie and groaned.

"Wait, that was cute!" Jinyoung said quickly, reaching across to use his finger to swipe back.

"No, it's an awkward angle." She argued, moving her screen away to avoid the photo. Jinyoung huffed and returned to his own photos.

"Look, this is adorable." He said challengingly, showing a picture of her getting a kiss from the fox at the cafe, her face scrunched up in delight.

"Oh god that's an awful picture, please delete it!" She groaned and covered her face.

"What?" Jinyoung asked in disbelief.

"The angle is awful, I look so fat and my face... ugh. I didn't know you were taking a picture." Charlie protested, shaking her head still in her hands.

Jinyoung looked at the picture and back at his embarrassed girlfriend before setting his phone down, gently taking her hands and removing them from her face, "What are you talking about?"

"I just... I'm not cute. And pictures like that don't help. You're already so much more attractive than I am. I'm grateful if there's any man who wants to be in my proximity, let alone one as handsome as you. I have to work extra hard to be worthy." Charlie said despondently, avoiding eye contact as Jinyoung held her hands away from her face.

He dropped Charlie's hands, cupping her face gently and moving her gaze to match his own, "Look at me," he said softly, "You are beautiful, amazing and unique. I was drawn to you long before I said anything and I had to beat competitors to get to you. But none of that matters. None of that, none of my desires for you define you as a person of worth. You are reliable, hard working, dedicated, compassionate and thorough. You are so admirable and I love being around you. I hope as we spend more time together I can learn and grow from your traits but in the meantime I just... really love being in your company. And I want to keep doing that." He ended his speech finally.

Charlie, bit her lip as he spoke but waiting a beat after he finished talking she couldn't hold back anymore and moved in quickly, pressing her lips against his for their first kiss as her arms slung around his shoulders. His own grasp dropped to her waist pulling her in more tightly as he deepened the kiss she had initiated. Once they naturally separated, breathing slightly more accelerated than usual Jinyoung spoke through a smirk.

"I wondered how long that would take you. It was longer than I thought."

"...what?" Charlie asked, still a bit addled from the passionate session.

"I was waiting for you to kiss me first. I thought it would happen much sooner. I was starting to weaken. I thought you didn't like me!" He laughed, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Are you kidding me?!" She exclaimed in response. "I thought you had lost interest in ME! I thought you regretted asking me out!" She couldn't help her raised voice in indignation.

"Lost interest??" Jinyoung was shocked and he responded by pulling her close for other deep kiss before pulling away and pressing his face to the side of her face to whisper in her ear, "No way." He kissed down her neck to the crook of her shoulder, "I'm so sorry you felt that way. I've been holding back for fun, hoping you would push ahead when you were ready." He kissed gently at her throat as he spoke.

"Stop." She gasped at his ministrations. He pulled back but she grasped at him closer, "stop holding back." She said, running her fingers through his hair as he smirked into her throat.

"Would you like to move somewhere more comfortable?" He asked, kissing sweetly back up to her ear.

She responded by standing up then immediately turning toward his bedroom, shucking her usual comfortable hoodie off along the way to lay on the ground with the rest of her disproven doubts. "You better have some way to make it up to me." She snarled, disappearing through his doorway to the bedroom. Jinyoung could barely hide his joyous expression as he bit his lip excitedly, following his girlfriend into his bedroom.

Guerin had felt her phone buzzing in her pocket during her meeting with PWER CEO Jisoo. They had been discussing the next comeback and the possibility of a world tour and Eneoji's role in each. Not willing to interrupt the meeting she shut her phone off, hoping it wasnt an actual emergency. Turning it back on as she left the meeting she was astounded by the amount of kakao messages she had, and a few missed calls from Jackson. She chose to check the kakao messages first, hoping it would clear up the urgency.

Guerin was confused. An article about Jackson and some girl? Even more curious she responded quickly saying she was fine but had no idea what Charlie was talking about before she switched to her chat with Jackson.

Guerin was alarmed with the urgency of his messages. What in the world could be this bad? She sent Jackson a quick message explaining she had been in a meeting and had no idea what was going on but she was okay. She flipped to the news search on her phone and was greeted readily with an article at the top of the feed with a headline announcing Jackson Wang was in a relationship with an unidentified woman. Guerin clicked on the article and read a couple short paragraphs about Jackson and his recent activities all leading up to him being caught with a new girlfriend. The pictures attached were clearly shot without any person in the area aware of the cameras. Both Jackson and the woman were smiling and laughing, then a few shots of the two hugging each other. She couldn't help but chuckle. This was what had gotten everyone so worked up?

While she was reading Jackson had sent her a few more messages. She clicked over to his chat and reassured him that she wasn't bothered. He asked to call her later and she agreed. She set her phone down as her bus approached, stepping into it and settling into a seat, looking out the window. She hadn't been lying about not being bothered by the hug, but dealing with the aftermath had left her a bit stressed. It was just a hug, was it really something to get upset over?

Her phone buzzed in her hand and she grimaced for a moment before making herself check. It was a message from JB and she visibly relaxed seeing a simple message asking to meet up for drinks. A drink sounded like just what she needed so she agreed. She dropped her phone and let her fall to her shoulder as she stared out the window for the rest of the ride trying to figure out why she felt so strange.

[the-faultofdaedalus]

Maria’s Legacy: Part 2

Just in time for Father’s Day! (it’s ony 20 minutes to midnight. It counts.)

Tony was in the workshop. In itself, that wouldn't've been unsal, but he’d been down there for three days, and Pepper could tell it wasn't something for SHIELD or SI, based on the way he was grinning like he had a secret whenever he surfaced for coffee, and she knew it wasn't the armor, because he’d told her so.

Tony lived in the workshop pretty much constantly, and he’d gone on binges much longer than three days, so that, in itself, would not be concerning.

The concerning bit was that tomorrow was the day they’d all hop on the plane to go visit his family, and he was still in the workshop.

None of the Avengers were able to lure him out, so they’d called in the big guns. Which, in this case, was Pepper, seeing as Rhodey would be meeting them there.

“Tony, please let me in!” She called, from where she was standing in front of the blacked-out workshop glass.

The screen beside the door blinked to life, and Pepper transferred her glare to it. “Hia Pep!” He said, seeming completely unconcerned with the fact that they needed to be on a plane in less than 4 hours, and he was still wearing welding gear. Well, a tank top was not exactly proper equipment, considering the spectacular tan he was sporting, but he had the helmet and gloves on, and that was probably as close as he was going to get. One of the bots beeped excitedly over the speakers, and Tony turned around to see. and his eyes widened as he rushed off screen. “You, no, you can’t-” He began, voice distant as he moved further from the speaker, and Pepper winced at the crash. “Yeah, sure blame me. Because this totally isn't- oh my god, I will leave you like this if you don’t- there, that’s better, one sec-” He said, and when stepped back into the frame, there was a streak of oil on his face. “Yeah?”

Pepper resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. “Tony, we have to leave in four hours. You need to get ready!”

“Five hours,” Tony said, a little distractedly.

She blinked. “What?”

“Five hours, not four, we’re taking the quinjet, remember? No drive time.” He said, and Pepper wanted to sigh. That was not the point, and he knew it. “Pepper, I’m going to be ready, I promise.” He said, suddenly serious. “When have I ever been late to this?” He said, and she had to give him that. He looked back over his shoulder at more beeping. “I have to get back to this, I'll be ready, I promise. Just give me like three more hours. At the most.” He said, and the screen cut off before Pepper could reply.

She tilted her head up at the ceiling, a habit she knew Tony thought was ridiculous, but it wasn't one she was going to shake. “JARVIS?” She asked.

“I will make sure he finishes his… project in time.” JARVIS said, warm and amused.

That eased a considerable amount of worry from Pepper’s mind. “What is it?” She asked.

“I believe he wishes it to be a surprise.” JARVIS said.

Pepper smiled. “Is it a good surprise?”

“It is a very good surprise.”

***

4 hours later, exactly on time, Pepper and everyone else arrived at the quinjet, and were surprised to already see Tony sitting in the pilot's seat, mostly clean, except for a oil streak on the back of his neck, and changed, and from the looks of things, already starting the pre-flight checks. He grinned at them over his shoulder as they took their seats, and Pepper smiled back, turning to take a seat.

And then she froze. “Tony, why is the armour on the plane.” She asked, staring at the suit that was sitting straight, tall, and unpowered on one of the seats, buckled in like any other passenger.

Tony just turned back to the controls. “Surprise!” He singsonged, closing the bay door when everyone had taken their seats and buckled in. “Thank you for flying Air Stark, we hope you enjoy your flight, if you don’t, doors over that way.” He called cheerfully, and the jet hummed to life. “We ready to go?” He asked, and everybody nodded in agreement.

The trip was shorter, of course it was, with the Avenger’s jet, though not nearly as high-class or comfortable as a private jet. Pepper didn't mind, though, because Clint had the foresight to bring a pack of cards, and everyone was playing cheat while JARVIS flew the plane. “Three tens.” Clint said, dropping the cards on the ever-growing discard pile, glancing around at them with a smirk as if daring anyone to call it.

No one did. After all, Clint had the biggest hand of them all, having thrown caution and strategy to the wind and instead had set himself on a mission to fuck over everyone at any possible time, no matter the personal cost. So far, that cost had been well over a third of the entire deck, which he was having trouble fitting in his hands.

Pepper considered her modest hand, organised in order. “Two jacks.” She said and dropped one seven, and one five on the pile.

Natasha gave her a look, eyes glinting, and Pepper smiled sweetly at her, knowing that Natasha only needed one word to ruin her chance at winning.

Natasha opened her mouth, staring right at Pepper, but Thor interpreted what she was going to say. “One Queen!” Thor boomed, all but throwing his card, which everyone knew was a queen, Thor had a thing about not lying when it came to Queens, onto the pile.

Natasha shot him a glare, but Thor seemed oblivious. Until he turned, ever-so-slightly, and winked, obviously and exaggerated, right at Pepper.

Not many people seemed to realise that Thor, sweet as he was, had been raised to be a king, and grew up with the god of mischief as his brother. He could be quite crafty when he needed to, and hid it exceedingly well under a wide-eyed guise of ignorance.

Which was probably why he was almost winning, when Pepper thought about it. Natasha dropped a pair of kings on the pile, which no one called her on.

“Four aces.” Bruce said, softly, and ever so carefully put his cards, his last four cards, down on the pile. Everybody still heard him, though.

Pepper skimmed through her hand, which was ace-free. She could see the others do the same, but they all kept their poker faces. Except for Tony. Tony was grinning at Bruce with unbridled glee. “Cheat.” He crowed.

Bruce shrugged, and Pepper could feel the tension in the air as he flipped over the first card. It was the ace of hearts. Bruce flipped over the second card, even slower than the first. Ace of clubs. Tony was starting to look nervous. Bruce, smiling slightly now, and not having broken eye-contact with Tony the whole time, turned over the third card. It was the ace of diamonds.

There was chaos when Bruce flipped over the fourth card, shouts and laughter and Clint was cackling.

It was the two of spades.

Bruce, always a good sport when it came to card games, gave Tony a shit-eating grin as he scooped his pile up. “Almost got you.” He said, and nobody else had time to play their hand before JARVIS announced that the jet would be starting its descent.

The jet landed in the lawn, battering the trees and shrubs which surrounded the driveway with wind. The bay door opened, and Pepper waved to the group of adults, holding the kids back from the jet until the engines stopped running.

After that, it seemed, everyone and everything, including the jet, was fair game. The jet was thoroughly investigated, and if JARVIS had not been watching over everything to make sure none of them set off the missiles by accident, Pepper would’ve been very concerned. Clint had already been tugged out onto the lawn and given a homemade slingshot, which would only end poorly, and Thor was giving piggybacks to multiple kids at once, sprinting around the lawn. Steve, as usual, had gone off to greet and thank all the adults, and especially Tony’s grandma, who organised each may.

Natasha and Bruce were standing a little awkwardly off to the side, like they always did at first, but Pepper had no doubt that they’d be laughing and playing like everyone else. Steve, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Thor. The quinjet was off, and closed. So, where was Tony?

Pepper turned around just as the door to the quinjet opened again, revealing Tony backing down the ramp, tone cajoling. “Come on, guys. It’s grass! You- no, come on. Just, just try it. It’s not so back, really!” He was saying, continuing to back down the ramp, but stopped when he reached solid ground. He jumped, bouncing on the grass. “See? It’s not bad.”

And then, apparently convinced by Tony’s rambling assurances, Dummy rolled down the ramp. Except instead of the small, skateboard-like wheels that he’d had previously, the ones that could barely get over any obstacle larger than the edge of a rug, he had a massive 6-wheeled array, not unlike the Curiosity rover.

The first wheel hit the grass, and then the rest, and Dummy chirped excitedly before wheeling away over the grass at speed. You and Butterfingers, after seeing their older brother have no issues with the unfamiliar terrain, followed soon after, but with much less… gusto than Dummy, who was rocketing around the lawn like an over-edited puppy.

One of the boys managed to get Dummy to stop his excursion long enough to climb on his strut, and then he was off again, too quick for anyone to tell him that riding Dummy was probably a bad idea. Butterfingers was collecting sticks, and building a tower out of them, while You piled rocks around it. Tony was still standing at the base of the quinjet, looking on proudly as they explored their new world.

A group of kids were trying to herd them towards the trees, towards the fort, and everything clicked into place. Pepper stepped closer, and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Tony had turned back to look into the quinjet. “You too, J. We don’t have all day!” He called out, still grinning, and the Iron Man suit that had been sitting in the cabin for the whole flight stepped hesitantly out the back hatch, awkward and robotic.

“Sir, I don’t know-” JARVIS started, standing statue-still.

Tony laughed, and lunged forwards to grab the armour’s arm, tugging it down the ramp. “Come on! You’ve gotta meet all the cousins!”

JARVIS moved obligingly, in halting robotic steps onto the grass. “With all due respect, I have met all of them.” He said.

Tony stopped and looked at him. “Yeah, but you haven’t helped with the fort, and if you’re just in a phone the whole time, you don’t get hugs. Don’t you want hugs? I know they want hugs.” He said, gesturing at the cousins playing with the other bots.

As if on cue, one of the little girls ran up, smiling up at JARVIS, and handed him a flower. JARVIS… didn't really seem to know what to do with it, but she was patient, and when he finally held out a hand, palm-up, she dropped it onto the dull surface of the repulsor and beamed. He closed his fingers around it carefully, like it was delicate, which, to the armour, she supposed it was. His first try didn't go so well, and the crumpled flower fell to the ground. “I do not-”

Tony stepped in front of JARVIS as the girl ran off. “Hey. You just need some practice. You’re part of the family, J. It’s- please. Just give it a chance?” He said, and Pepper suddenly felt like she shouldn't be here, intruding on this otherwise private moment, but both of them obviously knew she was there, she was standing at the foot of the ramp just like them and it would be way too awkward to leave now.

JARVIS bowed the armour’s head. “I will try.” He said, and took the final step onto the grass. The girl who had left before ran up to him, followed by her siblings and cousins, holding a huge cluster of flowers. She bounded right up to JARVIS, and held out one of them, the same type as the last one.

JARVIS took it, like he had the last one, and again, the gauntlet curled around it with too much force, crumpling and creasing and flattening the delicate flower. He dropped it to the ground, head bowed, still and forlorn. “I am sorry-”

“It’s ok!” She said, still beaming at him. “There’s lots of flowers!” She said, and undeterred by the fate of the first two, and pressed another flower into his hand. This time, she held on, curling the fingers around the stem, and the flower stayed intact.

It was obvious that JARVIS didn't know what to do, especially when she lunged forwards and hugged the armour and he stayed stiff and still, arms held awkwardly away from his body like he was afraid he would hurt her. He’d met the kids, but it was always through the medium of a phone or tablet or TV, never something physical, never something that they could hug.

And well, hug they did. That first touch opened the floodgates, and soon all the kids that had followed the bots back to the quinjet were running up, talking and laughing and tugging at the armour, which was still and solid in the midst of the excitement, like a cheerful hurricane.

Not even the latest marvel of modern engineering could stand up to a hoard of determined kids, and JARVIS was eventually herded away from the jet, and the house, towards the forest and the creek and the fort. “Those are going to be a bitch to get out later.” He said, directed towards the flowers and leaves that were sticking out of nearly every joint in the armour, bestowed upon JARVIS by the same girl who’d given him the first flowers, but he was grinning, and just sounded proud. He glanced over to her, like he’d forgotten she was even there, and made a complicated expression, scratching at the back of his head. “Look, I know this is weird, but I had to bring them. They’re-”

“Tony.” Pepper stopped him, smiling softly. “They’re your kids. I know you did.” She said, and he looked at her, surprised, and opened his mouth to say something, but Pepper beat him to it. “They are. Whoever said you’d be a terrible father-” Tony flinched, and Pepper reached out to put her hand on his shoulder. “Whoever said that was hilariously wrong. You’re great with kids, Tony. Especially your own.” They stood in companionable silence, until in the distance, Dummy put on a burst of speed and jumped over a small gully, landing perfectly to cheering. Pepper shook her head. “Are you sure the wheels were a good idea?” She asked, as You tried and failed to make the same jump Dummy had, and beeped angrily at his brother. JARVIS took a more cautious route, taking tiny steps into the bottom, and tinier steps back up.

Tony, looking at the scene with his hands on his hips, just grinned. “This wasn't a good idea. This was the best idea.” He said confidently.

Pepper couldn't find it in her to disagree with him.

***

JARVIS walked into the clearing, with the sunlight slanting through the leaves, and the huge fort spread out and green among the trees, and stopped dead.

The kids and the bots rushed around him, gathering branches and flowers and climbing up the ladders and platforms.

Tony stopped beside him, not speaking, just smiling as JARVIS took in everything. “It is…” He said, trailing off at a loss for words. It was one of the first time Pepper had ever seen JARVIS speechless.

“I know, buddy. I know” Tony agreed, to whatever he had heard in JARVIS’s voice. Wonder, and awe, and gratefulness. Tony rocked to the side, bumping their arms together. “Come on. If you don’t start now, Dummy’ll start hogging all the good branches.” He said, grinning, and gestured to the pile of branches near the fort.

JARVIS nodded and took a hesitant step forwards towards the pile. He picked up a branch, and walked towards the fort, where one of the kids, sitting high up in the tree, pointed him towards where he should put the branch. Dummy was right behind him with a branch of his own, and beeped at JARVIS when he didn't move quick enough for his liking. Tony laughed, and picked up another branch.

 The sun was setting, bathing the clearing with gold-green light, and Tony was helping JARVIS and the bots carve their names into the trunk. Pepper wasn't quite sure how they had all fit inside, considering that the fort, on the inside, at least, was not all that spacious.

They shifted, letting her see the trunk, and the four new initials carved into it, around Tony’s own. JARVIS’s looked like it had been carved with a protractor and ruler, neat and more like a font than writing, and the bots’s were all sharp, straight lines, like a kid’s first try at writing.

They were crouched in a 7 armed hug that should’ve been awkward, with both too many and too little arms, 5 of them metal, but it wasn't.

It was Tony and his kids, and it just looked like family.

The End.

[tehfabbooty]

A New Light Part Two

Apparently this mission was different from the other ones he was used to. Instead of stealing, Peter’s job was to distract. Being that he’s a twelve-year-old Terran with a baby face, Peter could see how he could distract a few people. But for how long?

“Just long ‘nough for us to get what we came for,"Yondu told him. "Now tell 'em some dumb kid story or somethin’ you Terrans do on Terra.”

As the ship neared whatever planet they were landing on, Peter felt a hard knot in his stomach. He was terrified. What if he couldn’t keep them distracted?

But it’s not like they never failed a job before. Because they have. A lot of the time because of Peter. But he can’t always help it, and Yondu sometimes knew that, but other times Peter would get harsh punishments for it. Like the time Peter failed to steal a jewel a scary animal was guarding. How was he supposed to get it with that thing guarding it? Yondu wouldn’t listen to him and instead made him scrub the walls over and over and over again.

Biting his lip, Peter prepared himself for whatever lied ahead. He could not fail this one. If they succeeded, it meant a happy Yondu. Yondu made sure to embed that into Peter’s brain.

Slowly the ship landed in a dark part of the planet to keep anyone from seeing them. The crew readied themselves while Peter took a huge long breath.

“ 'Member boy, this one’s important. Don’t screw it up,"Yondu growled at him before turning to his crew and yelling, "Alright, remember the plan. Keep quiet, don’t expose yerselves, and if anyone messes it up, ye be lucky to survive.” Some of the crew’s eyes shifted to Peter. Peter shifted uncomfortably.

Peter had to go out first before the crew to start the distraction. He breathed deeply and marched off the ship onto the soil of the strange planet. All around him were bushes and trees, like Terra.

Feeling a little more confident, Peter clutched his Walkman tighter in his pocket and stumbled on. It took about five minutes of walking and nearly tripping before Peter heard voices and seen light.

“I don’t want none a’ that. I ain’t payin’ for all that,"snarled a deep voice.

"Then you don’t get the gun. It’s a package deal,"snapped a cold, hard voice. "I can’t sell the rest of it without the gun.”

“Damn it. You didn’t mention none of that bullshit,"the first voice sneered. "All you told me was you had a good deal on the gun I wanted.”

“I do! It’s this whole thing, Snavesky. You couldn’t buy this package for this price anywhere. This price would be for the gun, and the gun only in most places!"the second voice replied.

"Fine,"he grumbled.

Silence as the men went through the exchange.

"Thanks. But next time tell me shit like this. I wasn’t prepared to buy all of this, Larka. I only needed a gun.”

Peter watched the men go their separate ways before walking through the clearing. He knew not to try to distract those guys. Yondu had told him the people he needed to find were the females. They were the rulers, while the men were the guards. As long as the women were distracted, they couldn’t order the guards to attack the Ravagers.

It was a few more minutes before Peter had found the big white tent Yondu told him about.

“Boy, you find 'em yet? Yer too slow,"Yondu hissed in his ear from the microphone they had placed to communicate.

"Yeah. Just couldn’t move for a few minutes because of two guards in my way,"Peter answered.

"Fine. You go in there and do yer thing, boy. Give us at least fifteen minutes.”

“Okay.”

Peter walked up to the entrance. Hopefully he could do this.

“Oh, Clarice, did I ever tell you the story my husband told me?"a woman’s voice rang from inside.

Now or never, thought Peter.

He pushed through the flaps into the tent to find himself stunned.

It looked like a damn castle. A huge long red carpet led up to steps where five women sat. Pews were lined up on either side of the walkway like a church, but no one sat in them. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling of the tent, while two long tables on either side held food and what Peter could only assume alcohol.

The women were gorgeous. All five looked exactly alike. Long, blond hair in a long braid down to their laps. They had white skin like Peter, but their eyes were a bright purple and they wore the most gorgeous jewelry Peter had ever seen.

"Ooh, a guest,"one of the women piped up.

"How can we assist you?"the one second from the left said.

"I’m, uh, lost. I lost my dad,"Peter began.

"Oh, poor boy!"the middle one squeaked. "You must be terrified. What does your daddy look like?”

Peter decided to lie. “White skin, like me. Brown hair, brown eyes. He has muscles and a dark navy shirt on,"he whispered.

Whatever race they were they must have excellent hearing.

"Are you from Terra, sweetie?"the second from the right asked.

He nodded, trembling for effect.

"Is he here?”

He shook his head. “I got here by myself in a ship. It was my first time flying and I got lost and I found this planet.”

“How old are you, Terran?"the fifth one finally spoke up.

"Twelve,"he said.

"Oh, Clara, he’s still a child. We can’t just ignore this,"one said. She turned to Peter. "What’s your name, dear?”

“Peter Jason Quill.”

“Hello, Peter Jason Quill. My sisters and I are very kind; you are very fortunate to have found us. Do you know your father’s coordinates?”

He shook his head again.

“Okay, dear. It’s too late to contact our authorities. We hardly get any emergency, so they close early. We will let you stay tonight and then we can find your father tomorrow. Okay?"she asked.

Peter nodded.

"And our names are Clara, Clarice, Victoria, Serenity, and Maude. We are the queens of Ethyiopia,"she added. "If you need any help, we can assist you at any time. Now, shall I send a guard to show you our guest rooms?”

Internally Peter panicked. “Uh, yes. But I’m not really tired. I’m a bit hungry, actually.”

The one named Clarice, the first from the right, smiled kindly. “You may fill yourself with whatever you wish, Mr. Quill. The food that lies upon these tables are for visitors. Since you are, unintentionally, a visitor, you may help yourself.”

Feeling guilty for robbing these sweet women, Peter smiled back. “T-thank you, ma'am.”

As Peter searched the food table, he heard a communication device near the women start to buzz to alert them about intruders. Panicked, Peter abandoned the table.

“Uh, I also have allergies. Is there any food here with peanuts or gluten?"he asked nervously and a bit loudly to drown out the radio.

Fortunately, they did not seem to hear the radio. "Oh yes, dear. The food on the right -”

As they explained the food contents on the table, the radio buzzed again. The one closest to it looked at it, eyebrow raised. Feeling the overwhelming need to puke, Peter did the only thing he could do at that moment.

“Oh no. I ate one of the cookies. I can’t have peanuts!"Peter exclaimed. He grabbed his throat dramatically, pretending to choke. He made himself tremble and fall to the ground, convulsing.

The queens screeched. "Oh no! We have an emergency!"Clara squealed. "Poor thing! Call a medic!”

The queens rushed to his side while a medic was called on the radio. Peter, trying his best to look like he was dying, closed his eyes and kept choking himself. His face was red, and his hair was sticking up everywhere from the static.

Static? Peter thought. Then he realized. The electricity in his hands were shocking him. Very little amounts of electricity, but he could now feel it running through his veins and his face, making his hair stand on end.

A medic rushed in just then to cower over Peter. Knowing the medic would find him faking, he gasped, took his hands off his throat, and clenched his fists.

Screams echoed the tent as all lighting went out. The electricity in his fists must have caused that to happen. How, Peter did not know.

“Shit!"the medic cried. "I can’t see the boy -”

A guard ran in suddenly, panting, holding a torch. “Your Majesties, we have intruders trying to steal the precious stone!"he shouted.

Peter frowned. Why would Yondu want a stone? Oh yeah, because he’s Yondu.

Maude swelled in anger. "This can’t be! Stop them, Finnigan!”

Peter knew he could no longer stay here. He jumped to his feet, jumped around the medic and ran straight for the tent’s exit.

“He’s with them! He was faking it as a distraction!"shouted Victoria as Peter ran for his life.

He ran so hard everything hurt but he could not stop. He didn’t hear footsteps following him, but he did not care. Panting, Peter continued to run hard until he found the ship.

He leapt through the bushes and onto the ship’s ramp, not stopping until he got to the kitchen.

He dropped to the floor, breathing and sweating and shaking. Did he fail?

Obviously not, because a few seconds later, heavier, multiple feet were heard boarding the ship along with yells of victory.

Peter sighed a breath of relief. He was not getting punished tonight.

"Hurry, get on the ship. Move!"came Yondu’s voice. He was grinning as he walked into view before disappearing to pilot the ship with his first mate, Kraglin.

When they were far enough away from Ethiyopia, Yondu reemerged and clapped Peter on the back.

"Good job, boy. You helped us steal the stone!"he told him.

"What does it do?"he asked, staring at it with distaste. It was grey, like every other stone.

"Oh, don’t you worry 'bout that, Quill.” Yondu grinned down at him. “Now get to bed. You get tomorrow off for this.”

Peter happily obeyed the captain. A day off! He no longer cared about the stone. Putting it to the back of his mind, Peter rushed to his room and collapsed into bed.

A day off. Yes, Peter thought happily. He finally pleased Yondu for once.

Smiling, Peter put his headphones on and pushed play, falling asleep to “Southern Nights.”

Continued —