#nuna meat

[sw5w]

Casual Cruelty

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:02:47

[ladylucksrogue]

Prompt: Food

Seated at a table, Cody resisted the urge to adjust the collar of his dress grays, feeling the scratch against his skin. The unfamiliar dress uniform and the formal setting of the Galactic Senate's dining hall made him uncomfortable, like navigating uncharted territory. Among familiar and new faces, all members of the Appropriations Committee, discussions focused on logistics and budgeting. It was a necessary evil, the bill needed approval for the war effort to proceed. They needed provisions, supplies, the mundane yet vital stuff that kept the Grand Army of the Republic operational.

The absurdity of his presence at a Senate luncheon struck him. Was he here to assure them that clones didn't run on batteries, that they were, in fact, living soldiers who ate and breathed? A token gesture to humanize the war machine. If it got his men the gear they needed, he’d do what he had to.

Even as the appetizer was served, talk droned on about credits and allocations, Cody's attention shifted to his General. He couldn't help but notice Kenobi’s knack for handling the conversation. He engaged the senators with his own brand of wit and sincerity, steering the conversation back to the issue at hand. And they listened, seemingly charmed by the stories he told and the explanations he gave.

Cody couldn't ignore the subtle signs of strain on Kenobi's features, how his jaw clenched despite his smile, the flash of irritation or surprise in his eyes even as he kept his tone agreeable. The weariness of the burden of advocating for a seemingly endless war, of having to practically beg for the bare necessities to feed and arm his troops. Of once again explaining to some Senator, who’s outfit probably cost more than Cody’s armor, why it was necessary to requisition spare body gloves. Or boots. He didn’t envy Kenobi at times like this.

Cody couldn't quite place what the appetizer had been, all he knew was that it was unlike anything he'd ever eaten. As the plates were cleared, he overheard two aides across from him expressing disdain for the food, lamenting their current situation of dining on dry nuna instead of enjoying a meal at a proper restaurant. Cody was firm in his loyalty to the Republic. He understood his role, fighting for the safety and security of its citizens. Yet, moments like these highlighted reality, a glimpse into the disconnect some citizens seemed to revel in. Lost in his thoughts, he nearly missed the arrival of a plate in front of him. Everything seemed unfamiliar. While he could assemble a blaster in record time and calculate the velocity of a sniper shot in his head, nothing in his training had prepared him for determining which fork to use for whatever was on his plate.

General Kenobi took mercy on him. Cody felt a subtle lean as Obi-Wan quietly explained, "The green on your plate is an algae salad, I won’t eat it, I’ll give you mine when I get a chance. The meat is nuna, and the rest is a variety of grains and vegetables." Obi-Wan explained, demonstrating the use of the cutlery by subtly displaying the fork and knife he held in his own hands.

Cody appreciated the lifeline of information. "Oh. Just like in the mess. How boring." He couldn’t help but quip. One of the aids looked in his direction, not reacting to his words per se, but probably that he could talk at all. He smiled politely and focused back on his plate but caught the way Kenobi's eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled.

The rest of the conversation became an indistinct hum as Cody savored each unfamiliar flavor on his plate. His attention wavered. His General would have to forgive him, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to recall a single bit of the conversation during the meal. Even under pain of torture.

After the main course was cleared away, negotiations continued. It wasn’t too far from any precarious diplomatic situation Cody had ever encountered. The battle plan was essentially the same. Even as the conversation continued, a team of droids appeared, setting up a table of even more food. Tiny, meticulously decorated cakes and sweets, finger foods, and a variety of beverages were made available. Cody was focused on the talks, providing insights when prompted to the needs of the GAR, to the troops. It was all too tempting to indulge in everything on display, but he refrained, sticking to a cup of caf and a single tiny cake. Maybe he should have indulged. Perhaps a demonstration of how much a trooper could actually eat might have emphasized the necessity of their requisition amounts. A bold move, but he couldn't afford to compromise the image he needed to maintain as Marshal Commander.

When the talks concluded, more or less successfully, Cody couldn't help but inquire about the fate of the remaining food. The response was predictable, no one truly knew but it would probably be disposed of by the cleaning droids. Cody sighed inwardly, fully aware of the galaxy's struggles, the whispers of food shortages. He was intimately acquainted with the daily fare of rations, nutrient pastes, and the occasional gruel for variety that sustained him and his brothers. The contrast between their reality and the excesses of the Senate left him wondering how anything in the galaxy managed to function at all.

He couldn't pinpoint when or how it happened, but back at the barracks, where his sole focus was shedding the uncomfortable dress grays, one enthusiastic trooper informed him of the unexpected delivery of food. Cody observed with a mix of relief and amusement as the 212th eagerly tore into the food, with more enthusiasm than he had seen at the Senate. Seemed the idea of waste hadn’t sat well with the General either. Cody felt just a little better about the day, even if it was just a small victory.

[nerdpickle]

The Planet Ordo (Remade)

(This is all Fanon) Ordo’s air is actually thinner than normal, with the oxygen levels being around 25% lower than what is considered normal for humans, while people native to the planet do not experience any problems, somebody new to the planet will likely be fatigued and require time to adjust

The planet Ordo consists mainly of rocky, mountainous deserts that have a reddish orange color due to high amounts of iron oxides. The area around Ordos equator has a high abundance of underground rivers and lakes, which is why the closer to the equator one goes, the more vegetation one will see.

The planet's mantle is abundant in a mineral called ciridium, ciridium is used in the creation and forging of superalloys such as beskar, phrik, chromium and cortosis. Clan Ordo has mined this ciridium for generations, selling it to the other Clans.

Most of Ordo’s native wildlife has a crustacean like appearance, a notable example is the sand crab. Clan Ordo has also brought in eopies, nuna and strills

Ordo is often referred to as “the brewing capital of the Mandalorian space” because a huge amount of alcohol is made and exported by the locals, Netra’gal is native to the planet, and there is around 1 still for every 6 people

The main settlement on Ordo is known as Ordomorut. This is a massive underground fortress carved into an extinct stratovolcano. Ordomourut is also the ancestral home of the Mandalorian Clan Ordo, big surprise

To the southwest you can find the ruins of a Mandalorian battlefleet that was destroyed in the Dral’han, there is a small settlement nearby whose inhabitants salvage scrap metal 

The local delicacy is known as Gi’shun, it is made by combining grain, eggs, a variety of spices, Netra’gal and shredded sand crab meat, the resulting mixture is then shaped into balls and fried in eopie tallow. 

(it's essentially a very spicy crab cake)

comments are always appreciated

[solarflarekiid]

Intro - Prod. By The Mali Empire , Nowaah The Flood DJ Muggs & Planet Asia - Black Mask Men (Instrumental) yancy - stylin' Wavy Bagels - SMOOCHUM Re_V w/ VINTER & SwuM - IN MY SYSTEM Hazey - Bringing It Back (Cesar Castilla Jump Off Edit) (Dirty) Earl Sweatshirt + The Alchemist - Mac DeucE MOTL, Morgan Tucker - Soft Space Davishmar - A Rose Blooms in Chaos PAUL STEPHAN - STREETS DON'T LOVE ME Take Van - Bad Behavior 1981 tokyo - I Want To Fly Aquarius Jay - THE HILLBILLIES (AQUA FLIP) Uncle Kizzy - urmylady. AUDREY NUNA - Baby Blues meat computer - i feel like a dog Nia Archives - Off Wiv Ya Headz dracodraco - through the light Edits by KNVL. - D.D.A. el delpha, Lojii - Flight Club (Horatio Luna Remix) Mach-Hommy - COPY COLD (feat. Black Thought & Quelle Chris) Soul Glo - Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?) Yves Tumor - Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood Mansur Brown - Want You 3KIDZ3 - from a distance _richspirit_flip* ZE??? - MoreNight **(snippet)** Styles Davis - eastside, westside w/ forestxfire & xar Sideshow - LOCKED DOORS COUCOU CHLOE - ZERO FIVE STARS (CLIP, KELVIN KRASH REMIX) ZACK FOX** - sipping my tea *(NOTYERO INSPIRED) Shroom - SHAKE THAT ( feat. okxyvro! and jourdxn ) [prod. 609Fredo and Shroom] ** *(NOTYERO INSPIRED) JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown - Kingdom Hearts Key (feat. Redveil) Quarteto Em Cy - Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser

DRIVETHRURADIO

MIXED BY OZZZIE

[chaoticgeminate]

If My Heart Was a House

Pairing: Din Djarin x f!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 14.5k

Content/Warnings: Mutual Pining, Allies to Lovers, A/B/O dynamics (rut and heat cycles, nesting, knotting, pheromones), jerking off in the shower, brothels, beating up Imperials, Unprotected PiV, Oral (f!Receiving), spit as lube

Notes: Omega!Din and Alpha!Reader, they traveled together pre-Grogu, dynamics are a little different here since I sort of used bird behaviors for Alphas (showy and prefer bright colored clothes). Set between season one and two, asks are open for them if you're ever curious about more. Yes the title is the Owl City song.

“Roast nuna, one credit for five!”

“New durasilk shawls and scarves, treat yourself to core world fashion finery!”

“Please come, look at the fine jewelry made from only the rarest stones.”

Vendors shouting over one another for the attention of the crowd, the sharp roasting scents of meats and vegetables mingling with the tables of spices and heavily perfumed incense made for a chaotic dance through the crowd. Mando and the pollywog were on a hunt for a bail jumper, the armored warrior had tasked you to restock on rations and essentials, leaving you to all of this. Not that you minded much. The explosion of sensation from the sounds, the scents, the feeling of the sun on your skin was a welcome reprieve from the quiet of hyperspace.

Already the ration packs were being delivered to the hauler you’d rented, leaving you to find the cosmetic requirements like soap and towels, opting for low expense and bulk purchases over something indulgent. The number of times towels had been ruined by Mando bleeding all over them, washed as best as they could and then being turned into cleaning rags, it was easier to just buy the cheaper ones.

“A practical traveler.” You looked up at the shopkeeper as she folded some sort of flowy material, it was pearlescent in the light of the sun and stacked on the wall behind her with the rest, and she motioned to the packs of vacuum sealed towels you were holding under one arm.

“Unfortunately, these get turned into cleaning rags far too quickly to risk splurging on something better.” The Omega laughed softly, the musical quality of her voice combined with the warm scent of her pheromones made the hair on your arms and down your back stand up, your mind buzzing pleasantly. As you handed over two packs of towels, a bulk pack of soap sheets, and a hair moisturizer pack it was hard not to look at the bottles of oil for shaving and facial hair care.

Not only were they right there but the sleek bottles were an eye-catching shade of teal.

You knew Mando had facial hair, he’d told you that much when you asked why he had a straight razor, but you also knew that he didn’t use any lather to shave -there was none to be found in the fresher- and that he’d complained about it getting caught in the helmet lining if he went too long without shaving. You snagged a bottle each since the instructions said not to use more than a drop or two, and the Omega’s brows rose before she hummed.

“Part of a traveling flock then?”

“No, uh, ‘m not part of any of that. I don’t like those sorts. This is for a bounty hunter I know.”

In recent years -a few decades now- there’d been groups of Alphas that began flying around the galaxy together, being dubbed flocks with how often they flew, going around trying to bully Omega into a mating bond and even causing trouble in local cantinas doing so. It wasn’t like that sort of thing was unusual for an Alpha to do, your designation had a tendency to be showy bastards and bossy as hell, but you hated being lumped in with all of it.

The flocks weren’t even gender specific, plenty of Alpha women and non-binary Alphas were in these groups being just as brazen and pushy as the males, and while it was true that there were Omega out there who liked partners like that… none of that was you.

“You might want to consider something colorful then, walking around with your head low has eyes on you, people think you’re an Omega.” The advice made you look up and look around the market slowly, making sure it looked like you were just perusing the stalls, and you realized that she was right. Several others were watching you from afar, all of them donning some vibrant article of clothing like a tunic or a jacket.

It was instinctual, the desire to be noticed, something you struggled with because in your line of work -bounty hunting and protecting the baby- that was the exact opposite of helpful. You’d managed a compromise in the beginning with a woven string bracelet that had vivid teal strands mixed in the soft tan linen, made by Winta on Sorgan, but it’d been destroyed a few planets back.

All you could really do was sigh, motioning to the sheets of durasilk she had on the shelf behind her, and the Omega studied you before choosing the one that was a vibrant red shade after holding a few different colors up and comparing them. The material was smooth and soft, light but also durable, with the very faint embroidering of lines that made you think of sand dunes.

After folding the long length of material into a triangle you simply wrapped the ends around your neck and tucked them under the front so that it was draped almost like a loose bandana. A tight knot would give an opponent something to grab on to, to restrain you with, so you kept the ends loose.

Once the rest of your purchases were sent off to your hauler, the small floating cargo speeder being watched over by the owner, you decided that you were done and followed it back to the Crest. You took a pitstop top grab some fresh food, before you had to live off rations again, and made sure to grab more than enough for all three of you,

 The eyes that had been on you disappeared, adjusting your body language to present as more confident and aggressive than usual to be safe; Mando was sitting inside the ship when you got there, the ramp was open and he was cleaning one of his many blasters. The sand had gotten into it, you could see the coarse grains being swept away by the light breeze from speeders and haulers moving throughout the shipyard.

“Finished already? I wouldn’t have lingered in the market so long if I’d known, sorry.”

After paying the second half of the holding fee for the hauler you began unloading the boxes, seeing the door to the cot was closed -and likely where the baby was being hidden- you made quick work of dismissing the droid and the Beta in charge of the service. One quick inventory list slapped onto the crates, setting the soap sheets and hair oils into the fresher cabinet, you then went to get the baby so you could give him the roasted nuna you’d bought for him.

His eyes were wide open when you opened the door, your body blocking his form from view, and the excited grab for the roasted meat when you pulled it out of the insulted bag made you smile fondly. For such a curious, trouble-making, little pollywog he was damn adorable and his ears twitched as he tried to shove a whole one into his mouth.

“Small bites, don’t shovel it all in, come on now.”

Sure he’d eaten whole birds and whole mudjumpers before, with no consequences, but teaching him manners was something you were trying to work on. Soup was something he had down, he could sip bowls of soup easily, but whole meals? Rations? It was a work in progress. The ramp began closing and Mando’s steps across the hull were your warning that he planned to take off, your free hand going to the bag on your shoulder.

“I got you something too, Mando, I’ll feed the baby down here so you can eat up in the cockpit. I think one fresh meal after weeks of soup and rations will be good for you.”

You held out the takeaway container in his general direction, if you even looked away from the pollywog he’d scarf the rest of his food down, and you felt the weight of it leave your hand before there was a light touch at the red fabric around your neck. Now you did turn your head, seeing Mando’s helmet tilted as he took you in, and you realized he was probably confused by the sudden vibrancy in your wardrobe.

“There were Alphas watching me at the market, they thought I was an Omega, so I figured this would keep them off my back. Should have expected it, since it’s happened a few times now.” You shrugged off your discomfort at being so bad of an Alpha that you could be confused for an Omega in a crowd, the idea that all Alphas were showy and aggressive wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t difficult to suppress the more aggressive aspects of your designation, which made you think it had to be just you.

Mando’s reply was interrupted when the baby took an accidental bite out of your hand, the sharp sting making you yelp as the pollywog took advantage of your relaxed grip on the food to devour it in one gulp as you inspected the imprint of little teeth in your skin.

“Little bugger, that was mean, you need to be more polite.” The baby looked up at you like you were in the wrong, and of course he would think that since you were slowing down dinner time by insisting he take small bites. Mando seemed to choose retreat since you heard him ascending the ladder to the cockpit, reminding you -yet again- that you were kind of a shitty Alpha traveling with someone who had to be the most prime Omega specimen in the galaxy.

The Crest began take-off so you seated the baby in his pod, to prevent him from flying all over the hull, and settled into your hammock as you waited for the ship to exit atmosphere and enter hyperspace. Eating now while you were still dealing with the slight turbulence of exiting a planet’s gravity was a recipe for disaster.

He had to get it together.

Din scrubbed his hands down his face in the fresher, you’d already showered so the faint musk of your pheromones was7 still present in the air, and it was making his body react very enthusiastically to the unintentional dosing of scent. He had been completely thrown when you’d returned, glancing up only to immediately lower his gaze at the addition to your wardrobe, the vivid red was so eye catching and it looked good on you.

Every instinct to rip his helmet off and scent you had been very thoroughly tamped down as he gathered himself, up until you began feeding the kid; the care you displayed for the baby was like a shot right to his designation’s very nature. When you’d begun feeding the kid it practically purred Alpha cares in his ear, making his heart speed up, and then when you’d so calmly shoved food in his direction too?

Alpha provides had practically echoed in his head on repeat.

As an Omega he was very used to the usual flaunting and preening and prancing that Alphas were known for, independent clients were quick to try and play to his instincts for any sort of discount they could try and get from him. You’d never outright thrown your designation in his face, challenged him when he gave you orders, or even remotely tried to use any sort of pheromone manipulation tactics on him.

Respect was something that always made him take notice and the respect you showed him, by treating him like he was just a person instead of just a potential mate, had created this horribly confusing infatuation that Din had no idea how to handle. He wanted to drag you onto his uncomfortable sheet of barely-there padding so you could cover him in your scent, so he could shut the door to the cot and blacken the space and you could sink those teeth of yours right into his scent gland.

He inhaled heavily to catch the traces of your scent in the thick steam and wrapped his hand around his cock, he was hard and leaking at the very idea of your teeth breaking through his skin as you leaked with his spend. Din couldn’t help but create this fantasy of you taking care of him during his heat, riding him until you were sore and needing his mouth to soothe the ache between your thighs as you used your hand and mouth to soothe the insatiable need to fuck right out of him.

Just the thought of squeezing your plush hips, of your bare skin against his, as his knot locked the two of you in place made him spill all over the wall.

He stared at the ribbons of his seed being washed away by the splash of the water, remorseful that it was dripping down the fresher stall and not your thighs, but Din wasn’t sure how to go about asking. He could just go out there and tell you that he wanted you to scent him, that he wanted you to claim him, but he’d seen the way you always shied away from attention.

Other Omega noticed your calmer, subdued, nature despite being an Alpha and flocked whenever you strut through a town at his side; not-so-subtly trying to entice you to join them for some fun. Offers you never seemed interested in taking up, not that there was an issue with that, and he sighed as he turned the water off to get dry. He knew you weren’t against sex, that you weren’t disgusted or put off by it, you’d confessed to having lovers in the past when your rut would hit.

As he slipped on a new pair of underclothes Din paused at the sight of the very vivid bottles in the cabinet, inspecting the labels and swallowing thickly as a new wave of affection ripped through him. The scent was subtle, not heavily perfumed, which was always an issue with products like this because of the helmet trapping scent or the lining holding the smells; and he set his razor down on the sink and decided to use your gift.

The shave cream created a smoother glide and even his skin felt better, softer, once he rinsed everything off. The oil for the hair he kept wasn’t going to act instantly of course but he wondered if it would soften the patchy beard he kept, the idea that you’d bought this to feel his face rub against yours sent pleasant chills down his spine as Din put everything away and dried his hair before he slipped his helmet back on.

He left his dirty flight suit in the sonic scrubber and as he stepped out to clean his armor he felt his throat catch, you were sleeping in your hammock but had to have shifted around because your undershirt had ridden up and your blanket was half hanging on the floor. One bare leg was thrown over the edge of the fabric and he caught a glimpse of the scant material hidden under what little blanket remained, his eyes shooting to his cot where the kid was also sleeping in his hammock.

Carefully, so he didn’t wake you, Din brought your leg back up into the hammock so you didn’t accidentally roll out; he caught your blanket before it could fall completely and draped it back over you, tugging your shirt down and running a bare hand along your cheek. You crooned and purred softly as you nuzzled into his hand, comfortable with his presence, and Din spotted the red fabric piled on top of your clothes for tomorrow.

He glanced at you, almost afraid you’d wake up, before lifting his helmet and lifting the fabric to his nose; it was so strongly covered in your scent already, enough to make him squeeze his eyes shut and return it so he could retreat to sleep before he did something else even more embarrassing.

You couldn’t be happier that you’d gotten the red shemagh as you draped the fabric over your head and the bottom of your face, the durasilk helping to protect your skin from the heat of the twin suns, and your tech goggles helped obscure the rest of you while giving you a few advanced HUD options to ensure you didn’t lose visual clarity. Mando was on another hunt, he’d taken the baby with him again, while you were off to catch the other quarry in the opposite direction.

Having two quarry on the same planet wasn’t unusual and it was easier to split up like this, though you’d noticed Mando had been a little reluctant to do so today, you chalked his nerves up to the fact that your prey was an Imperial. He knew your history with the Imps, that your little hometown had been victim to raids for years before they decided to wipe it off the galactic maps, that you’d been the one to lead the children away from the destruction and get them to safety while all your parents had died in the assault.

Omega were protective of those they cared for, that was a well known fact, so having any proof of him caring for you even if it was something like this made your heart skip in your chest.

Flipping through your vision options, dimming the glare of the sun and enhancing your view, it was easier to see the start of the small town far ahead in the distance and you could have breathed a sigh of relief. While you had some mild regret for not renting a speeder, seeing as it took most of the morning to walk here and you’d likely have to trek back dragging your unconscious quarry, it was better this way.

Mando’s hunt was a much further distance so he needed the Crest, and when he was done, he’d come find you at the rendezvous location or be waiting there for you. Keeping your face covered as you approached, making sure your posture was tall and commanding as you kept one hand on your blaster, the townsfolk that were out and about all peered at you before returning to what they were doing.

Omegas, all of them, you couldn’t smell a single Alpha in the area and your eyes narrowed behind your goggles since the Imp you were after was an Alpha. Either he was suppressing his scent with pheromone inhibitors or he had moved on and your intel hadn’t been enough up to date, the idea that the little creep at the outpost lied to protect the quarry also presented a possibility.

Seeing as Karga didn’t have a damn tracker for this one, just a puck to your annoyance, and then triggered your natural show-off instincts by challenging your abilities right in front of Mando it was a wonder your mood wasn’t worse.

“Well, hello stranger.” You turned and felt your face warm under your cover as the Omega sent you a flirty wink, the line of her cleavage was very prominently on display and instead of hiding from the sun she had a lot of skin open to sunburns. Instead of remarking on that, like some kind of fucking creep, you cleared your throat and tipped your head in greeting.

The surprised look on her face melted to something pleased as she reached out to play with the end of the durasilk where it draped slightly over your chest.

“You’re a sweet Alpha, I’ve never had one like that, most that come here are bossy. You looking to show a girl a good time?”

“I’m hunting, actually, has another Alpha come through recently?” Using any sort of pheromone or tone shifts against an Omega was something you hated doing but in this case you had little choice, she was too close to her heat and would definitely lose focus if you didn’t, the stern tone and the way you stood up straighter snapped her right out of that syrupy haze of pleasure seeking for now.

“Yea, we got one, he isn’t kind.”

You pulled out the puck to show her the face, earning a nod, and followed her gaze to the unassuming door behind her. You should have guessed he’d find and hole up in a brothel, probably expecting any Alphas that came after him to get distracted by the Omega pheromones within, and you slipped a few credits into the woman’s hand in thanks before reaching under your scarf to slide your respirator filter over your mouth and nose.

Omega pheromones typically elicited the same instinctual responses in Alphas, but every person -Alpha, Beta, or Omega- had their own natural scent that helped create a unique chemical cocktail for others to pick up on. The sleek mask allowed you to breathe but had a unique pheromone filter to make sure you didn’t accidentally trigger a rut, since pheromone exposure was the leading cause of off-season rut incidents.

A few people looked at you as you walked in, no doubt taking in the oversized goggles and mask obscuring your face, but the owner looked relieved and you slid the bounty puck across the table to show her the image of your quarry. With crimes off assaulting Omega, in particular one bonded to an enforcer of the Hutt Cartel, you weren’t surprised that she was willing to give him up as she led you toward the room.

Punching the door switch and walking in on the Alpha choking out the young man he’d paid for, making your blood simmer in outrage, you used a tranq shot and watched the effect kick in immediately.

“I’ll be taking him off your hands, anything he owns is yours.”

Watching the owner fuss over the young man as you dressed and restrained the Imp, tossing him over your shoulder since it’d be easier than dragging the bastard, the young man let out a whine that drew your attention.

“Thank you. I’d like- could I offer you a good time as gratitude for saving me?”

“No, it’s not necessary, you should rest instead.” He looked surprised at your refusal, you knew that you carried no trace scent to indicate you had a mate, but then he smiled and nodded in response. Leaving the brothel, and the town, was easy to a point; you did not count on the Imp having friends though.

When he didn’t see you at the rendezvous point Din kept the Crest moving toward the coordinates you’d gotten for your hunt, you would have left some indicator that you’d arrived and there wasn’t one to be seen, it would be easier anyway. There was something burning in him, a feeling that something was wrong, and the kid had been very cranky out of the blue; if there was one thing Din knew for certain it was that the baby had a connection with you that transcended distance, the crankiness was a bad sign.

As the sand dunes passed by he finally noticed what looked like shapes moving in the distance, seeing you in a full-on fist fight when he got close enough, and Din snarled as he whipped the Crest around to land. The kid shut himself into the bunk and the second the ramp was down he was firing at two of the idiots that turned their attention on him, the sound of your furious snarls as you bared your fangs at the Alpha you had pinned sent a sharp thrill down his spine but Din shoved that reaction down fast.

The quarry was bound, unconscious, and Din suspected you’d dosed him with a tranq -maybe even twice- to keep him from escaping. He could see you’d taken out at least six of them on your own with how many bodies lay bleeding out in the sand, he grabbed your arm to pull you up after saying your name but he didn’t expect your fist to swing and slam into his chest plate. The sharp impact and the crunch of bone -your hand now broken from the impact- elicited a howl of rage that made Din realize you’d been pushed into a rut. He had never actually seen you like this before, this aggressive angry thing that saw anything as a challenge, and the Alpha below you snarled before Din put a shot through his head and wrapped you in his arms as you continued to try and fight him.

“It’s me!” He tipped his head up so that his neck was bared a little more, so that his pheromones could pierce through the veil of your rage, he needed you to calm down so he could get a bacta shot into you and heal your hand. The moment the scent registered he felt you begin to calm, the growls and snarls softening, but Din knew that wasn’t going to be the end of it. He hated doing it but he brought his helmet down hard, head meeting yours, and knocking you out cold with the hit; after stripping the valuables off your assailants and putting the bounty in carbonite Din set you down in the bunk and moved the kid to the cockpit.

The bacta shot was a half dose, since there was bone to mend, and he secured your wrists to be safe since he didn’t know what sort of temperament you’d have when you woke up. Bacta was a lose-lose situation with any Alpha, its healing properties be damned, some Alpha woke up enraged and pushed into a more extreme version of a rut while others woke up beyond starving as their bodies worked double time to burn calories and get the healing agent to wear off faster.

He took the Crest to the nearest town for a supply grab after fetching your broken filter mask from the sand, knowing that if you were the latter you would eat through at least two weeks of rations on your own, and realized that you’d been here. Your scent was soaked into the sand and adobe buildings, the brothel -an Omega establishment- reeked of heat and sex and your scent was mingling with it.

“So, she did have an Omega.” One of the women looked him over, the prominent display of skin and cleavage pretty indicative of being tasked to lure people to the brothel. The food stall owner stacked another box of rations -your favorites, even if they were a little pricier- onto the two boxes he already had.

“She?”

“The bounty hunter, the Alpha, she refused all of us even after saving us from that Imp and being offered a freebie. She was sweet, most of us were sad to see her go, I figured she had an Omega waiting for her.” The fact that you’d refused the others sent a shot of sharp victory and possessiveness through him, you hadn’t even entertained any other Omega despite being in a place that most Alpha would lose themselves to, and even though you had on your respirator and goggles Din knew that if you wanted to you could and would have stayed.

The fact that you hadn’t chosen them, even if you technically hadn’t said you chose him, made his blood sing; he was the Omega you spent your time with, he was the Omega that got to see you feel safe enough to sleep and provide you food and a little home in his ship.

“We’re not… we aren’t.”

“You should probably tell her that you want to be, honey, Alpha like her -that actually respect Omega like us- are far and few between. Not that I think any old Alpha would be able to take you on without a serious fight on their hands, but if she’s what you want you should make it clear before someone else does. Alpha and Omega stereotypes? None of that matters when you really care about someone.”

The woman let him be after that, though she tossed a cheeky ‘you can always tell her she has a fan club here and we’ll treat her right, too, honey’ over her shoulder, and Din paid for the rations before heading back to the Crest with his heart thundering with the knowledge that she was right. Who cared if he initiated things first, who cared if he was the one asked you to claim him, why did he have to wait for you to show interest?

Luckily the kid had not snuck down while he was gone, allowing Din to set down and add the rations to the inventory list before heading up to get the ship into hyperspace, you’d need to be changed and cleaned up anyway and that would be easier without the baby trying to heal you or fuss at you to wake up. Once Din got the Crest into atmosphere, he heard the kid grumble and sighed at the kid’s attitude, placing a hand on his head gently.

“I need you to stay up here a little longer, once we get to hyperspace, and don’t touch anything. I have to clean her up and get her into comfortable clothes.”

He was glad the kid just closed his pod, pouting, and Din’s own growl earned a smaller one in reply; it was kind of cute, honestly, and he began to suspect that the baby -if his species had a secondary nature- was more Alpha than he thought.

You were still sleeping when Din climbed down the ladder, removing his cloak and armor to make it easier to maneuver you and not take up as much space, and he did his best to be respectful as he laid you down on the supply crates and fetched a rag and bucket of water with some soap sheets rather than try to shower with you. The red scarf was tossed with the rest of your clothes into the sonic cleaner, with additional time tacked on for blood removal, and he couldn’t help but run his hands down your skin just to feel you beneath his fingers before getting to work on cleaning you up.

He slipped one of his spare under shirts onto you when he was done, along with fresh undergarments, and part of him preened at the sight of you in the material; knowing you were blanketed with his scent. Sliding you back into his bunk, forgoing any pants because you never slept with them on anyway, Din kept the door open and decided to sleep nearby so he didn’t have to restrain you again.

If you woke up aggressive, he would handle it. “Come on, kid, let’s get some sleep.”

You slept for two days straight, the brace he’d made for your hand to make sure it healed properly had worked according to the basic x-ray he ran, and Din nearly jumped out of his skin when you finally stirred; he’d slept sitting up against the wall while the baby stayed in his pod nearby and your soft whine of discomfort was cut off by the fierce growl in your stomach. The kid woke up to the sound, eager to make sure you were okay, and Din tipped his head up as you rolled and peered down at him. He watched you take in your place in his bunk, his place sitting on the floor without the rest of his armor on and the top half of his flight suit missing, and the baby’s frantic grabby hands.

“What happened after you pulled me off that Alpha and knocked me out?”

“You remember that? Being in a rut, I mean?”

Din knew that it wasn’t fair to assume all the Alpha stereotypes were right, especially since Omega stereotypes were only partially true, but you’d seemed so out of it when he found you. He got up to get one of the ration packs and nearly tripped over his boots when you brought the collar of his shirt up and sniffed it, your eyes lifting to look at him, and then a shy smile bloomed across your face that made his heart race.

“I always remember them, at this point I don’t know if I’m just an outlier but when I do get into a rut, I know exactly what I’m doing. There are things I can’t stop, like when I punched your chest plate, but I’m consciously aware of it happening.”

Din watched you inspect your hand, flexing your fingers and checking for any residual ache, and when he handed you the ration pack he watched your eyes take in the packaging. You rarely purchased anything expensive or indulgent, with how often the two of you ruined everything there was little point, but he wanted to give you this at the very least.

“Mando-“

“Eat.”

You leveled him with a look but nodded, activating the heating element and letting it warm the meal inside as Din got the baby’s meal ready, and he watched as you pulled your legs up and patted the flimsy cushion for him to sit before relenting. The warmth of your arm pressed into his as he sat right next to you, pulling the kid in his lap to feed him, and he kept a careful eye on you as he fed the baby.

After a moment of silence, just a calm between you, he was ready to talk but you beat him to it.

“How would scenting work, with your helmet I mean.”

Scenting was sort of like courting, an old custom that had been started among people being betrothed or engaged, it was a way to tell others that a person had someone who they wanted to mate with already. To ward off unwanted advances, typically romantic; although some Omega women would have platonic Alpha friends scent them before going out to party as a way to ward off unwanted attention.

It required unhindered access to the scent glands right below the ears. The very thought of your skin against his there sent his heart into overdrive, he knew he was releasing strong pheromones when your grip on the utensils tightened enough that he could see the strain in your knuckles.

“A blindfold.”

You nodded at his answer and shoveled food into your mouth, he hoped you were asking because you were interested, and Din sighed again when the baby began to mimic your pace eating. You would need more than one pack though, after all of that, and he could tell you were still very hungry when you finished the first meal off. He gave you a second one and put the baby in his pod since the little one was now trying to snatch at your meal, and Din felt you lean into his side a little more as the two of you sat there together.

His mouth opened, to ask, but he just couldn’t right now. You were recovering from your reaction to the bacta, the kid was right here, and if he started that conversation, he wasn’t sure he could stop it from going too far if you gave him a positive response.

After you finished off the second ration pack he wasn’t surprised when you got up, the shirt long enough on you that you didn’t even need pants, and Din watched as you picked up a bottle of water too before chugging the entire thing. He’d expected you to be ravenous so he simply began cleaning up behind you, setting your cleaned clothes out in case you wanted to change, and you reached for him when he went to get the kid up into the cockpit before the little one decided to join you in decimating the food supply.

You hugged him, making Din shiver as every hair on his body stood on edge, and he cupped the back of your head before pressing his forehead much gentler to yours.

“Is this- is this okay?” He angled your face toward his neck without actually pushing you, the scent of your pheromones teasing him as they slipped under his helmet, and he swore he felt you shiver as he offered you the bare side of his neck. Everything felt still as he waited for your answer, the racing of his heart and harshness of his breathing felt so much more intense, like some sort of pivotal decision was being made.

“Yes, Mando.”

Your breath coated his skin before you closed the distance on your own, accepting his request as you bathed his skin in your scent, the touch of your scent gland and the wash of your pheromones making his head spin. He heard the low coo from the kid, reminding himself that there was an audience, and it was so much more difficult to let you pull away with you wearing his shirt and laying your claim on him.

He wanted to build you a nest, to make somewhere small and dark and comfortable where he could feel every part of your skin against his, the warmth of acceptance making him giddy. Your hold on his suspenders was firm, keeping him still as you moved to the other side of his neck, and Din’s stupid knees began to go weak as you got more confident with your touch.

“Cyare, I- we need to find someone to watch the kid.”

“I know, and we will. I can’t- my hand is still a little sore and I’m still starving so this is just so I know that people are aware you’re mine.”

The possessive growl in your voice made his cock go hard in an instant, and he knew you felt it when you hummed softly, and Din hissed when your teeth teased him gently. “Soon, Mando.”

You had one last job before it was time to turn in the slabbed bounties to Karga, Mando was refusing to allow you to help while you recovered, and you knew that it made sense for you to stay with the baby; your body was finally starting to recover from the bacta dosing, you’d easily decimated a month’s worth of rations in a week as your system recovered from expending so much energy to burn off the medicine.

While you weren’t exactly a liability you knew that Din’s worry was amplified by his feelings for you and by his instincts.

The armored Omega had been firm in keeping you comfortable -as comfortable as one could be on the shitty cushion he called a mattress- and you let him fuss over you, the man naturally cared for those he was close to but his instincts were likely going haywire over you needing to rest up. He had removed your hammock, despite your complaints about how uncomfortable his thin cushion of a bunk was, but you didn’t mind the compromise.

You had not expected for him to strip down to only his undershirt and compression leggings and join you in the bunk, laying on the pad and having you lay on him, and when he’d closed the door so that the space was black he had removed his helmet. The pneumatic hiss was deafening in the space as his modulated breaths softened, as he gave you all of him the only way he could right now.

Never, in a thousand years, would you forget the feeling of his hands holding you against him as he pressed his cheek to yours for the first time. His facial hair was softer that what you expected, it smelled like the oil you’d bought him, and the fact that he used it made you preen that your gift was well-received.

You hadn’t thought about how he kept the kid out of the bunk initially, letting him fall asleep in his pod and sealing him in, but now it made sense. Mando had soaked you with his pheromones and you’d done the same, hands pressed to his pectorals to grip the shirt fabric when he finally kissed you after making your head swim from how strong his scent was and how good it felt to be wrapped in it.

“Mando-“

“Din, my name is Din Djarin and I’d like you to use it, Cyare.”

Avoiding the use of his name had been intentional, he himself had never told it to you, so you had firmly pretended not to hear Moff Gideon use it. Having his permission to do so made you smile against his lips; it was really all you needed to know that this man had truly chosen you out of every other Alpha in the galaxy. You breathed the single syllable name out in a sigh when he pressed your core against the hard line of his cock, when he rocked his hips up and captured your mouth again, and he shushed the rumbling growl that formed in your chest when he nipped at your neck.

“Want to- want to have your first time with me in a nest, would you be okay with that? Waiting until I can make a nest for us?” The idea of him making a nest for you to share sent liquid heat right through you, making your cunt throb as you began to leak into your underwear, you had only ever dreamed of being wrapped up in a nest with this man and to know that he thought about it too?

How could any Alpha get this lucky?

“I’m- I can wait, Din.” Your voice was breathy with desire and he groaned, slotting his mouth to yours as he planted his feet to grind against you, it was heady and overwhelming in the best way as you rolled your hips to meet his thrusts; you didn’t care that he wasn’t going to fill you tonight, that he was going to make you cum from just rubbing himself against you like this because you knew that when he made that nest you weren’t going to be leaving for a long time.

A sharp mewl escaped you when you felt the swell at the base of his shaft, felt the heft of his knot forming, and it made you rock down harder as his pheromones sharpened and his grip tightened and you felt the liquid warmth as he let out a strangled growl right into your mouth; you nearly screamed when one of his hands pulled the gusset of your underwear out of the way to slide two fingers into you as his thumb slid up through your folds to stroke your clit.

He swallowed down your sharp snarl of his name as your clamped down on his fingers, as your slick soaked his hand, and Din shivered beneath you as you nuzzled him and carded your hands through his hair to shower him with affection to temper your urge to sink your teeth into his skin. Din chuckled and you nearly yelped when he rolled you onto your side, so he could curl his broad body behind yours.

“We’ll clean up in the morning, Cyare.”

When you woke up, to him nuzzling you and whispering your name, Din kissed you deeply before putting his helmet back on to open the door of the bunk. The kid was still asleep at least, since it was early enough, so you were able to get into the fresher and wash up before sending the broad Omega in after you; Din’s chuckle when he emerged made you wink, since you’d flooded the steamy fresher with pheromones when you’d finished up.

As you handed him a ration pack to eat, expecting him to take it up into the cockpit, you didn’t expect him to take your shemagh and wrap it over itself several times before holding it out to you without a word. You realized it was meant to be a blindfold and you closed your eyes before turning around, letting him tie the red fabric over your face, and the hiss of his helmet was softened by the space of the hull before your felt him pressing his cheek to yours.

“Shouldn’t take too long.”

“Not with the best bounty hunter in the parsec on the loser’s tail.”

Din preened at your praise, even if it was Karga’s chosen moniker for him, and only when he was thoroughly drenched in your scent did he pull back to sit with his back to yours so you could eat together. The baby wasn’t due to wake up for another hour -you’d managed to get the little pollywog on a sleeping schedule at long last- so neither one of you rushed to eat.

“Keep the ground security protocols engaged, don’t leave the Crest while I’m gone, this area isn’t safe.”

“I’ll keep my blaster on me too, then, just in case.”

“If you could stay up in the cockpit that’d be great, this one is a Devaronian so I don’t want you or the kid in the line of fire if something happens.”

“Din, like hell I’m going to stay up here knowing you could get hurt. I’ll keep the kid up in the cockpit when I know you’re coming back and I’ll stay near the weapon’s locker since you’re going to bring him up the ramp, that way I can tranq him if he breaks your hold somehow.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well, I don’t like that you’re going out there without me to back you up, how am I supposed to make sure you don’t get hurt if you go alone? Do you know how hard it is for me to sit back and let you go while I stay here?”

You felt him pause as your voice exploded out of you, the difficulty of warring with your instincts and respecting Din’s skill was hard, and you dropped your head before setting your food aside to hug your knees to your chest. Din’s arms circled you gently and he pulled you against him after he turned around.

“Hey, no, talk to me Cyare. Don’t hide what you’re feeling, please.” His voice without the modulator was a lovely baritone that made you want nothing more than to just curl up against him in a pile of blankets, to have him whisper praise and affection in your ear. Instead, he was crooning and purring, trying to get you to tell him what was going on in your head after your temper flared.

“Just because I have a better hold of my instincts doesn’t mean they aren’t there, Din. You’ve chosen me to be your Alpha, I’m supposed to be the one that goes out and gets hurt so you -my Omega- can stay here and keep our home safe, keep our young one safe. I’m willing to compromise and stay here but you cannot expect me to stay where I can’t help you if something goes wrong.”

 “Cyare, I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought about how you’d feel with me asking you to stay out of the way, my desire to make sure you’re safe doesn’t excuse me from ignoring your instincts and feelings. Thank you for compromising and thank you for respecting me and what I’m capable of, I will try not to forget again.” If it were anyone else you would think it was mildly condescending but you knew that Din meant every word sincerely, that he was learning you just as much as you were learning him, and you huffed softly.

“Thank you, Din.”

A low grumble from the pod made Din let go of you, turning around fast and sliding his helmet on right as the baby let himself out, and you smiled as the little one reached for you when he spotted the rations open. Din got up with his half-finished meal, opening a new pack on the way over, and you finished eating as the Mandalorian fed the baby. As soon as you were done you took over for him and shooed Din away to finish his own meal, watching him slip out of sight into the bunk and poking the pollywog on his little nose when he tried to peer around you.

Din pressed a hand to your lower back after he emerged, his helmet resting against your cheek as he used his free hand to pat the baby gently on the head, and you watched him step away before starting to pull his armor on. You paid attention so you could get an idea of how to take it all off him later, if the need ever arose, and when he noticed your attention on him the Mandalorian slowed his hands and began explaining the steps. After he was armored up, the scent of you still so noticeable on him, you waited at the ramp as he armed himself and smiled when he slid his pulse rifle onto his back as a final touch. He paused beside you as the ramp lowered and you weren’t surprised when Din leaned his head down, forehead tapping yours gently, before leaving to get the last bounty. As soon as he was out of sight you closed the ship to activate ground security protocols, taking the baby up to the cockpit so that you could continue to try and work on talking with him.

He knew his mood was foul as he dragged the Devaronian back to the Crest, the bastard had put him on a chase for two days longer than Din had accounted for and all he wanted was to get back to you and the kid. The entire way back the bastard kept making remarks about you, calling you a shit Alpha for allowing your Omega to do the dangerous work, and it was taking all of his self-control not to put a bolt of plasma through the quarry’s head. Especially since you battled with insecurities about your temperament already, he didn’t want you being brought down by some bail jumper.

It appeared he was lucky, given the late hour, because he got the prey into the ship and slabbed without any sign of you or the baby; climbing up out of the hull and spotting you sleeping with the kid nestled against your chest in the co-pilot chair. He imagined you expected to wake up to the disturbance, and you should have since the bastard hadn’t been quiet, but it appeared the cockpit doors had muffled enough of the sound that you hadn’t noticed.

Din smiled, sitting down and getting the Crest prepped for take-off, and resisted the urge to chuckle when you inhaled deeply at the rapid button presses and switches being flipped; he heard you murmur his name and the baby didn’t even stir when you put him into his pod and closed the door. But Din couldn’t contain the croon he let out when you crawled your way into his lap, pressing your head right under the chin of his helmet, your legs folding over the arms of the seat so you could press yourself as close to him as possible.

He used one hand to hold your lower back, wishing that the plates of his armor weren’t so cold since he could feel your faint shiver, and you answered his croon with a warbly little noise before drifting back off to sleep. Once he had the auto-pilot engaged, the ship into hyperspace, he slipped his arms under your legs and stood up before setting you down and shaking you gently.

“Come on, Cyare, you should be in the bunk.”

“No way, ‘s uncomfortable. Dunno how you do it.”

As he steered you down the ladder, with the baby’s pod following you both, he sighed softly; more at himself, since he slept in his armor it was easier to ignore the pain from such a thin cushion. He made a mental note to get new padding for the bunk, his delight at having you share his sleeping space didn’t mean he could place his comfort above your own. Din joined you in the bunk after stripping down, the hull darkened enough that it was plenty safe, and he slipped his helmet off once you were settled mostly on his chest.

He could feel it now, without any of the armor plates in the way, just how thin and ragged the bed actually was and the way the bars were definitely digging into his back.

“I’ll make sure it’s more comfortable, promise.” He whispered that against the crown of your head as you got comfortable, the low hum you answered with fading into a light snore, and Din couldn’t help but think about the ship’s layout and how he might be able to make it easier for both of you if he just… got the work done. It would take time but Din wanted to be able to have you all to himself for a little while so it would be a win-win, he’d be able to take his time with you and the kid could spend time with other kids on Nevaro while the shipyard worked on his surprise.

With that rough idea mapped out Din closed his eyes to sleep and smiled, wondering what your reaction would be when you did get back to work after the Crest was finished, and he imagined you’d like it.

Once the mechanics gave him a rough time frame, a week and a half total, for the modifications Din gave them half the payment up front and let them get to work; he’d already handled lodging, Karga had given him shit for wearing your scent but seemed pretty pleased for the result. He’d been directed to the entrance that once led to his people’s home, Din hadn’t expected much to happen to the area once the covert was gone but Karga had surprised him, having it cleaned up and actually making something out of it.

You followed after him and looked around, he knew you’d seen the covert in shambles along with Karga and Dune, it was so different now. The walls had been carefully treated with a gloss so they could be tiled with a soft golden white mosaic of tiles, it looked almost upscale, and the nooks used for sleeping rooms had been turned into proper bedrooms with scent and sound blockers; some of the rooms were made to connect to the one beside it, though he had opted against that since Karga was going to keep an eye on the kid for the week.

The space was specifically to appease nesting Omega, being underground it offered somewhere quiet and insulated, the added scent and sound blockers guaranteed privacy. It didn’t really have a name yet, though Karga had mentioned Navaro’s Nests and The Nesting Grounds as choices, but it was functional. As he opened the door to the room Karga had given him Din looked around carefully, checking for any type of cameras or audio bugs, and when the room turned up clear he nodded at you.

The room size, and layout, were about the same except for a few key differences. The walls had also been treated with a gloss to stop falling dust and debris, the bathroom was through a door now rather than just an open walkway, and there didn’t appear to be a bed anywhere. The sleeping nook that had once been carved out of the stone wall had been turned into a seat with a table that folded out of the wall, the cold box and cooktop were across the way.

Din looked around the space and stumbled when the floor shifted under him, your hand on the button that opened the wooden cover on the floor to reveal that the mattress was set into the floor itself and he got down to inspect that area for possible problems like pests or technological bugs. You watched him as he tested the mattress itself, it felt pretty soft, and when he nodded you didn’t hesitate to grab the laundered sheets from the sealed bag the Beta at the entrance had provided you to put them on the bed.

As he stood up he watched you finish the task of making the bed, the octagonal shape was unique though and Din’s fingers flexed when he watched you get up again.

“Is there- I’d like some time to myself here for a little bit.”

“Of course, Din. Trust me, I’ve got some things I’d like to do as well.”

As you left he could only stare at the mattress before nodding to himself and locking the door behind him, steps fast as he headed right for the market, he’d need the spare blankets anyway by the time the work on the Crest was done so this was a win-win situation. A few people balked when he approached their stalls to inspect the things they had for sale, the satins and silks felt smooth under his fingers but he needed them to be perfect.

A new type of excitement sent him reeling on a hunt unlike any other he’d been on, testing the give of pillows and how smooth blankets were, and he ignored all the stares as he leaned heavily into his Omega instincts to nest. The thought of how your eyes would shine in delight when you saw what he made, the desire to see you laying on only the best materials after putting up his with ship for so long, it spurred him on through the market as he practically vibrated with excitement.

Din chose colors he knew you liked, the color scheme coming together by making a few things accents rather than full splashes, and he avoided anything with patterns; he wanted it to be soft and demure, he didn’t want some jagged chevron or whatever it was called drawing the eye among the solid shades. In his head he knew that some of the purchases were frivolous, like the two knit blankets that were an ombre of colors made of soft yarn, but Din couldn’t remember a time he’d ever indulged and if anyone was worth indulging for it was you.

As he got back to the room Din used the sonic cleaner to give everything a good sanitation first, including the sleep clothes he’d bought for himself, and as he waited he inspected the lights and tested just how dark the room could go. He didn’t want you in a blindfold if you didn’t have to be and he purred at the way the room went black when the lights were all off and the door was shut tight. The darkness and the small space made him croon before he began removing his armor and setting it aside for its own sanitation, his flight suit following, and the warrior gave himself a sonic shower before starting the task of making his nest once the cleaning cycle ended.

His helmet and armor went through the cleaner as he worked, a long and thick curtain of black fabric hung in front of the door just in case you returned while he was doing this or if someone tried to get in while you both were sleeping, and the mess of pillows were dropped onto the mattress before he started to place them where he wanted them. Din started by grouping them according to their color and arranging them around the edges to soften the corners, shaking his head at the outcome and mixing the colors up into a random hodgepodge before growling and sighing.

He wasn’t really an artist, not like you were, so it felt a little hopeless as he tried to come up with something that looked right.

Abandoning the pillow arrangement for now turned into layering the blankets, making the already soft mattress a dream, the thick and luxurious tauntaun pelt was unbelievably soft and would be a dream to lay on; the durasilk comforter over that was full of varacytl down, making it fluffy and warm with a soft surface to lay on or under. The knit blankets were folded and draped over two sides of the octagonal ledges just in case, that way if you didn’t want to sleep under the comforter you could choose something lighter, and Din went back to arranging the pillows.

He almost dropped his cloak onto the pile, since it was bathed in his scent, but the scratchy and worn material wasn’t what he wanted you to lay on or with. Instead he turned the lights lower and laid down on the bed, thinking about you coming back to the room, and for the first time in a long time he let himself flood the space with his scent. Din kept his helmet in reach, to be safe, but he laid there bare and thought about your reaction to his nest.

It was almost nightfall and you made your way back to the nest with a skip in your step, you’d gone through and purchased a handful of new things you needed to replace -mostly just socks and compression leggings- as well as a few things you’d just wanted. Tisai had greeted you warmly when you went into her boutique and, after a lot of catching up, she’d begun fitting you few a few specialty lingerie pieces that she ran through the sonic for you so that you could put them on right away.

The tailor was a very dear friend of yours, allowing you to work at her shop to supplement your income when you’d first started out bounty hunting, who also knew that you’d always had eyes for Din ever since you first caught his scent. On top of leggings, socks, and lingerie she’d also given you a flight suit made to your measurements with durasteel plating between the thick layers that were fit to add some extra protection but allow for movement.

You thought about dropping your purchases off at the Crest but decided against it, whatever work was being done to it was definitely big since you’d watched Din change the lock on the weapons locker and key it to his helmet if someone even tried to jimmy the thing open. You hadn’t even seen him do that when Peli was doing work on the ship, which spoke volumes for how in depth the repairs were going to be.

With each step closer to where Din was waiting for you it was like your stomach began to fill with glow flies, you had no real reason to be nervous about what was going to happen but you kind of were, and when you waved at the Beta you earned a soft giggle of a response and a ‘you two are so cute’ called down the hall.

You clicked the comm device on your wrist twice to warn Din that you were outside, not sure of what he could be doing, and yours clicked once to indicate it was safe before you opened the door. The black sheet of fabric in the way made you pause but Din’s voice, modulated, was warm with affection behind it even with the helmet muting his tone.

“Welcome back, that’s an added precaution, it’s safe.”

You stepped around the fabric and closed the door, locking it before turning and staring at the sight of Din on the bed; he was naked except for the helmet, the multitudes of pillows and the plush looking blankets were all in colors you loved and looked so inviting with the fluffy looking comforter hiding his legs from view. The fact that he’d tailored this nest to you made your whole body explode with a soft noise escaping you, the bags you’d been carrying thumping on the floor as you tried not to cry.

“Din this is- it looks so comfortable. You picked all my favorite colors? You really made this for me?” When an Omega tailored their nest to an Alpha’s preferences it was -supposedly- the trust sign of affection on an instinctual level, a way to show that they weren’t just nesting to satisfy their own instincts but doing so to ensure their chosen Alpha felt as invited and wanted as possible.

The reality of how well Din knew you came when he, instead of making fun of you, sat up and reached for you instead.

“I did, Cyare. Will you come here, please?”

“Hang on I- I need to, hold on.”

He tilted his head as you scampered toward the bathroom and you could have kissed Tisai for thinking to pre-wash your purchases and put them in boxes meant to retain that sanitary state. A quick sonic shower had to be done, you were covered in the volcanic dust from Nevaro’s market after all, and you felt your body begin to buzz with desire knowing he was there waiting for you.

The leather corset was designed to rest just under your bust with a ring that looped into the top closure with three straps were attached, the center strap had a leather band that buckled closed to circle your throat while the two straps on the side looped over your shoulders to the rings on the back.

Technically it was designed to be worn over an undershirt because the straps were meant to be used as a place to fasten additional ammunition cannisters, but without the added frills you’d seen the potential for this and asked for Tisai to include the band with the collar as a customization option. You wore it over the teal strapless bra and underwear set that you’d gotten, the fabric contrasting the brown leather and adding the color you’d so desperately wanted to find, the lacy fabric hiding everything and nothing all at once.

Feminine yet as flirty for a Mandalorian as any lingerie would ever get.

You grabbed the blindfold you’d bought and tied it in place, making sure it was nice and tight, before stepping out into the main space. You wanted him to see it without his helmet in the way, the matching teal blindfold was one of many you’d bought -all matching different lingerie sets- and meant to be a way to show him you were never going to disrespect his creed in any way.

“I might have bought some things too, Din.”

The sharp intake of breath followed by the low rumbling whine made your lips tip up, glad that he liked what he was seeing, and you heard the pneumatic hiss of air as he slipped his helmet off before you felt his hands take yours gently. Din guided you into the nest and you let yourself fall onto the pile of fabrics and pillows, moaning at how soft it was and how good it felt on your back compared to the bunk in the Crest.

“This is perfect, can we take this to the Crest? That bunk is a nightmare, I would like to sleep in something this soft forever.” While you were teasing him, he knew you hated the Crest’s bunk because you weren’t going to let him forget it, you also were admiring how good this felt from how soft and fluffy the blankets were to how warm they felt under you. Din’s fingers skirted across your skin, touching the feeling the sturdy leather first.

“Cyare, is this what you occupied yourself with while I made you this nest? Buying things for me to enjoy?”

“So, what if I did, you going to argue with your Alpha?”

“Maker no.”

Din’s reply was more of words mingled with an exhale as he continued to trail his fingers over your body, taking in the sight of you without his helmet on most likely, and you felt him playing with the soft lace fabric at your hips before he cupped your breasts and moaned when he felt your nipples start to stiffen because of his attention to them with his thumbs. His mouth met yours and you smiled into the kiss, luxuriating at the soft fabric below you and the firm weight of him as Din braced himself over you carefully, the long line of bare skin textured from scars as you ran your hands over his bare sides.

It was unhurried, the way he licked into your mouth as you rubbed one of your legs along the bare skin of his hip and thigh, and you scratched at his scalp with one hand while you used your free hand to cup his cheek and angle him the way you wanted his face to go so that you could deepen the already intense kiss.

“Since you bought these for me-” you grinned as he pulled himself from your mouth, he sounded wrecked and you loved it. “-may I ruin them?” His fingers tugged at the lace and you nodded only to whimper when you felt him drag the leaking head of his cock against the fabric. Purposefully smearing precum onto the fabric as he rocked against you.

“You want to cum on my pretty lingerie? Want to paint it with your scent and stain it with your mark?” Din groaned as his forehead dropped to your collar, the hand in his hair tightened to a firm grip that made him throb, and you hooked your leg over his hip to rock up against him as his hips bore down against yours.

“Cyare, ‘m gonna cum.”

“Good, cum for your Alpha, Din; be a good Omega and let me feel you.”

Din practically ripped himself off you to grab his cock, you felt where his cum hit your inner thighs and where it warmed the crotch of your underwear, and his harsh breathing made you wiggle your hips before you nearly jumped when he pressed against your clit through the fabric with firm pressure as he watched you. Your hips rocked against his hand and you gripped the blanket tightly now that you didn’t have anything to hold on to, a moan of his name when Din pressed against your opening and pressed the fabric of your underwear into you as he panted over you.

“Fuck, you’re so wet, you smell so fucking good.” His voice was more growl than actual tone and you felt where he pressed his forehead against the skin just above your underwear, his deep inhale making your pheromones flood the room and his tongue pressed into the skin on your inner thigh where your scent glad was before he sank his teeth into it with a firm bite. It wouldn’t break skin but the idea of him marking you there and claiming you, where only he knew it existed, pushed you over the edge as your slick soaked into the fabric on his fingers.

Din pulled the fabric away and moaned at the sight of your wet lips, his teeth sinking into the fabric of the lace as he used his now free hand to spread you open to look, and your chest heaved when he pressed his nose and face against you to inhale greedily. His pheromones spiked and you caught the hand reaching for yours, rocking your hips against the curve of his nose, and Din pulled the underwear off of you before shoving the wadded up fabric into your mouth and kissing the tip of your nose.

“Hold that for me, Alpha.”

His purr was soft and affectionate, as if he hadn’t just used your cum soaked underwear as a gag, and you practically melted when his tongue licked a flat stripe through your folds. Your strangled -wordless- moan, muffled by the wad of fabric, made him rumble a growl into your cunt that had more of your slick begin to gather at your opening as Din wedged his shoulders between your legs and used his thumbs to hold you open after letting go of your hand.

The feeling of added wetness made you shiver as he let his saliva drip onto your clit, watching it drip down your folds as you trembled for him, and then he sealed his mouth over you to lick up all up before it could fall onto the blankets.

“Di-“ The muffled attempt at his name had your Omega purring, no doubt satisfied as he swirled the tip of his tongue in a way that had your thighs shaking from the attention to your clit, and you felt his hands grip tighter as one of your hands found his hair and grabbed the strands for leverage as you lifted your hips to change where his tongue focused its attention.

“That’s right, Alpha, use me. Teach your Omega where you need him.” Din’s command sent liquid heat through you, he was both taking control and giving it to you, with each place you shifted your hips you knew he was paying attention. Learning where you preferred the flat long strokes of his tongue and where you liked the more focused, intense, tip of his tongue to circle; his messy slurping as your body leaked for him, coating his chin and mouth, was so loud that you almost couldn’t hear your own muffled cries of his name when your toed curled and your muscles locked down as you came hard.

He lapped at you until you were pulling his hair to get him away, when you were so sensitive and trembling and trying to uncurl your muscles, and the lace was pulled out of your mouth before Din kissed you again. His nose, his lips, his chin were all wet with you and he preened when you rolled him onto his back and loomed over him. You knew that he’d prove how much he’d paid attention to eating you out later, the man was one hell of a determined student when he liked the subject, but right now you needed him to fill you.

Din’s strangled attempt at your name as you sunk down on his cock, welcoming the burning stretch from his size, made you preen knowing that you were the one he’d feel from now on; that pride at bringing him pleasure so intense he couldn’t even say your name spurred you on, rocking your hips carefully at first, and the second you had a solid rhythm you planted your hands on his pectorals and lifted yourself off just enough before sinking back down while keeping that rhythm of your hips.

His hands held your wrists tight and even though you couldn’t see him beneath you there was no mistaking the tension in his chest and ab muscles, the way his thighs felt so damn sturdy each time you sank down against him, and his breathing was harsh as he squirmed beneath your body. Like this he hit deep, his cock dragging through your cunt and hitting areas of you that you were sure none of your past lovers had ever touched, and you were leaking a mess of wetness down his shaft and balls.

The slick sounds and harsh breathing, the way he whimpered for you, it made you move your hands to tug the cups of your bra down.

“Going to just ignore my breasts after I dressed up so pretty for you, Din?”

His needy whine as he sat up, using one of his hands to brace himself while the other held your side, it made you dizzy with delight that you did that; his mouth closed around your nipple before letting it fall out of his mouth with a pop, circling it with the tip of his nose, and then bringing it back into his mouth as you adjusted to the new angle of his body. He must have noticed the way you fluttered around him and Din nipped at the stiff tip before the hand on your side moved to take over where his mouth had just been as he moved to give your other breast the same attention.

“My Alpha likes it when I play with her nipples? Yeah, you do.”

Din crooned when his words made you clench down on him and you could feel another orgasm right there, the way his teeth set into your skin and the way he pinched your other nipple and tugged was like a line right to your cunt and your orgasm was a frantic and powerful thing as you felt where you were smearing every bit of your release along his shaft where the swell of his knot was growing.

“Knot me, Din, lemme- lemme feel it.”

Your plea made him snarl as he planted his feet and bounced you on him, the hand on your breast moving to pull you down after each thrust as he fucked into you with the sheer purpose of filling your body with his knot. A sharp whine escaped you when he thrust up once, the bulge of it making you breathe heavily against the size of it, but your Omega wasn’t going to be deterred now that you asked for it and Din pressed his mouth to yours as his knot caught and swelled with his orgasm. You rocked down against his hips, against his knot, as Din licked into your mouth and trembled while he trembled and panted at the feeling of you clamped around him.

“So good to me, feel so good, Din.”

“Wanna- wanna fuck you so full Cyare.”

“Yeah?” His syrupy, soft, answer made you smile and Din clicked the lights off before pulling you down and laying so that most of his weight was on top of you; he couldn’t exactly pull out without it possibly hurting anyway and you didn’t mind the arrangement at all.

He was sweltering, the room felt unbearable, and Din blinked awake through the darkness before getting up to go to the bathroom; he turned the fresher light on after closing the door and stared at his reflection, washing his face and marveling a little at how his back didn’t hurt for once. He kind of understood now why you complained a lot, the fact that there’d be a proper bed in the Crest was starting to look like a bigger plus than before. He cleaned up and stared at your sleeping form in the doorway, the warmth returning the second he smelled your pheromones, and Din felt a little like an idiot.

Suppressing heats wasn’t unusual but the longer you went without one often led to more intense heats, he usually timed his heats with times he came back to Nevaro for extended periods like basic repairs so he could shut himself away and the others of the covert could make sure he was safe. After the covert was exposed though he’d been forced to suppress it for when you kept the baby with you on hunts and he could shut himself away in the Crest, you’d offered after he explained it when he asked for the extended alone time and Din had appreciated your respect for him by just doing what he asked.

Most other Alphas would insist to stay and help.

Din knew he’d fallen in love with you before then but that moment, when you’d accepted his right to privacy, had been what finally pushed him to accept that truth. Din felt the stirring of his heat and smiled knowing that this time you’d be here, and willing, and he sank back into the blankets to nose at your cheek after making sure the room was darkened again.

“Cyare.”

You murmured a reply, adorable in your sleepy state, and he nipped at the shell of your ear. He could tell the moment you realized what was happening, your body shifting, and you captured his face in your hands to kiss him deeply.

“Mmm, your heat is here, you want me to roll over?”

“Please?”

He felt your lips curl up before you were pulling away to shift to your stomach, sliding your knees under you, and Din couldn’t help but bury his face into your wet folds first where the taste of you and him was mixed together. He grabbed you and held you in place, his thumbs pressing into the skin of your thighs as he pulled to hold you open for him, and you were trembling as he not only cleaned up the remains of before but worked to get you nice and wet. It was always intense in the beginning, during his heats, and he’d spent so long handling them alone that he didn’t know how to let an Alpha take care of him just yet.

But you? You were willing to let him use you, to submit to him, and that was what he didn’t understand but also fucking adored about you. It was easy with you and as your release smeared along his tongue after your orgasm Din couldn’t give you recovery time, he just couldn’t, his cock was so hard it hurt and you were fluttering around him from your orgasm as he sank into your wet heat.

The feeling of you clamping down on him was so intense and he draped himself over your back, forcing you to drop your face into the mattress as he pressed his hands over the back of yours and making you arch your spine as he drew back and fucked into you. It was the high pitched, sharp, sound of his name on your lips that ripped through all conscious thought; the scent of your pheromones dizzying as they changed in response to his, and he couldn’t stay still any longer if he tried.

The wet sounds where he slid into you again and again weren’t nearly as loud as his breathing, as the mewling of your voice each time his hips met yours, it was so much but it wasn’t enough and he nearly lost his mind when your back arched just a little more. His mind blanked at the way your mouth stayed open, the way he could see where you were drooling because he was fucking you so good, and Din’s blood roared as he felt his knot starting to swell.

“Fuck- fuck Din, gonna cum-“ The sharp whine and the way you clamped around him ripped his own orgasm out of him, his knot catching and locking into place, but he couldn’t stop from thrusting harder into you; from grabbing the front of your thighs and pulling you as he imagined fucking his seed right into your womb. The idea of you swollen with his children, bringing new life to the covert, made Din see stars as a second orgasm followed almost immediately after the first.

One of his hands moved to run his thumb along your lips, wet with drool, and he groaned when your tongue darted out to lick his finger before he let you suck it into your mouth.

“Fucking perfect, Cyare, my Alpha.”

He felt the way you fluttered at his praise and even though it was a little bit of maneuvering, without pulling out, he managed to help you get on top of him. What he hadn’t expected was that you truly meant you’d take care of him, the second his knot was small enough that he could slide out of you and his blood started to heat up again your hips rocked and you shifted to face him before grinning.

“Don’t worry, my Omega, I’ll take care of you.”

He almost wheezed when you began to ride him like he hadn’t reduced you to a trembling, drooling, mess and Din was lost to the rush of his heat as you leaned down to lick his ear. “Maybe, when we’re ready to retire, I can take out my implant.”

If Karga suspected what happened he didn’t say anything, just handing you the baby and letting you be on your way as Din finished up paying the mechanics at the shipyard, and you knew the little one had missed you by the way he was clinging to you instead of riding in his pod. You thought about the way Din had promised that the moment he got in touch with his covert again, wherever they were, he would make sure they knew he had chosen an Alpha -and been chosen in return- so that you’d be allowed to see him.

For now you just had a surplus of blindfolds, all of which Din had eagerly asked you to wear throughout the course of his heat, and you couldn’t remember a time you’d felt this pleasantly relaxed as you spotted the Crest come into view. There was an ache between your legs that wasn’t at all unpleasant, it was in fact a very pleasant reminder, and when you spotted one of the human mechanics leaning your eyes narrowed as you approached.

“You sure I can’t do anything else for you?”

“We’re sure.”

Your voice was sharp, a snarl of warning, and the guy turned to look at you before losing all the color in his face at the sight of the kid in your arms and the scowl on your face. No doubt realizing that it was your scent that was clinging so heavily to Din’s body.

“Right, uh- I think I hear my name being called.”

He wisely ran, moving faster when he watched you hand the baby to Din, and when he was back in the safety of the city walls Din chuckled as he pressed the forehead of his helmet to the side of your face.

“I like that you’re possessive.”

“Damn right I am, you’re mine.”

Din purred at your declaration and followed you into the Crest, you pressed the button to open the bunk before staring at the space that had been turned into a tiny room with a little bed specifically for the baby. When you looked at Din he simply hummed and began heading up to the cockpit, the ramp closing, so you left your belongings that you’d packed on the hull floor and followed him up to strap in.

But he stopped and pointed to the space that had once been storage for live captures before he slabbed them, or if they had to be returned outside carbonite, and when you opened the door your eyes widened as you took in the bed that was now there. The plating was different and when Din closed the door you realized he’d gotten plating the dampened exterior sound, specifically for to the reactor room right behind the wall, but it was an actual room and a bed.

“What-?”

“This is our room, figured I couldn’t let my Alpha be miserable with our sleeping arrangements.” He even had a space for his armor, a nook for his helmet to sit in right by the bed, and clothes storage space; you turned to look at him and hummed softly, tugging his helmet so you could tap your forehead to it gently.

“Thank you, Din.”

“You’re welcome, Cyare.”

As he went to the cockpit to take off, since he had a possible lead on the Jedi after a comm from Peli came through, you went down and collected your clothes to put them away. You went to sit in the co-pilot seat as Din finished prep for take-off but he tugged you into his lap and you went willingly, taking over some of the work for him, and Din held you close as the Crest began to lift off.

“Ready to find the Jedi?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, let’s hunt down a space sorcerer.”

“You’re adorable, Cyare.”

“Damn right I am!”

All Fics Taglist: @haylzcyon @wordsnwhiskey @pagannightwitch @radiowallet @tauralmie @amneris21 @trickstersp8 @practicalghost @alwaysdjarin @alexxavicry @all-the-way-down-here @xoxabs88xox

Just Pedro Taglist: @maievdenoir @beecastle @littlemisspascal @writeforfandoms @aynsleywalker @lovesbiggerthanpride @mswarriorbabe80 @emiemiemiii @harriedandharassed

[supersaiyanjedi14]

SABEZRA WEEK: Day 4 (Oct 26): Then and Now

*My AU: as the war with the Empire takes an unprecedented turn, Ezra and Sabine reflect on where they started, where they are now, and where they have yet to be. * 

There's an old saying, that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Ezra concluded that if anything could be chosen to represent that concept, it would boil down to two critical candidates. The first was the stars of space. Yes, the jet blackness and incalculable pinpricks of light would be there no matter where in the galaxy you were, but no two fields of stars would ever be the same nor would they stay the same. There were different constellations to pick out, different nebula and other phenomena to add to the expanse. And there was always the possibility of something new arriving to add its own unique piece of the array. A bizarre mixture of consistent shape yet fluid presentation that was the night sky. 

The second candidate, he mused as he tightened the grip of his overreached arm, was the feelings he had for the woman seated beside him. 

The past few months had been a flurry of activity that would give a protocol droid a migraine. While the Alliance’s victory at Endor had been a major turning point, the deaths of the Emperor and Vader seemed to have made many of the remaining Imperial forces desperate and, in some cases, downright suicidal. Already, countless reports had been coming in concerning Imperial troops performing some kind of scorched-ground policy without any indication of where they may be falling back to. Refugees from Imperial worlds were swarming to Rebel lines and Imperial defectors were more numerous than ever. With all that going on around them, the fact that Ezra and Sabine had been able to find even a brief moment to themselves was nothing short of a miracle. 

As their chosen activity for their brief, fleeting moment of alone time, the couple had opted for something simple yet meaningful. Ezra, with no small amount of begging, borrowing and stealing on his part, had managed to get his hands on a couple of nuna breasts that actually looked like meat. Meanwhile, Sabine had found a couple of bottles of ne'tra gal via a fair bit of bartering with some hicks from Clan Lok. It was far from the Menarai, but after years of subsisting primarily on military rations, the dinner was a veritable feast. The meal’s aftermath was where they found themselves now, nursing the remnants of their ale as they gazed at the stars, reclining on a sofa they had pilfered from the Rouges’ rec room (they’d promised Wedge up and down for an hour that they’d return it promptly). Some would think that living on a starcruiser would take away the splendor of the starfield, but the artist in Sabine was far from ‘some’. Besides, their company was what they cared more about. 

Looking over at Sabine as she nuzzled into his side, Ezra considered that strange paradox of his feelings being the same yet different. To some extent, he had always liked Sabine, reaching all the way back to the basic awkward teenage crush just about every sentient being in the galaxy would encounter at some point. Most of the time that would have died off, but Ezra found that his, more accurately, had evolved. He had initially seen Sabine as some distant object that he could only gawk at, though as time passed and they came to know each other, she had become an intelligent, courageous, and incredibly expressive (if somewhat snide at times) girl that he couldn’t get enough of. Respect grew into friendship, which gradually became unbreakable trust in each other. And for the past three years, they had firmly settled on love. Yet behind it all, they were still the same snarky Loth-rat and graffiti-splattered Mandalorian that had bumped into each other all those years ago. Numerous missions, perils and excitement, a small army of friends and now two Death Stars had passed (the voice in his head silently prayed there would never be another monster mad enough to try for a third), and it all started with a simple stolen speeder bike. 

With that memory, Ezra’s curiosity got the better of him. Reaching for his datapad, he flicked to the calendar and found his suspicion was correct. Sensing his movement, Sabine adjusted herself so she was looking at him. 

“What’s up?” 

“Just checking something,” he answered. “I was right,” he turned the datapad around so she could see the date. “This is the day we first met.” 

Sabine blinked a bit. “Really?” 

“Yep. Ten years ago, today.” 

“Huh,” she mused, gesturing to the remnants of their dinner date. “Talk about happy coincidences.” 

“There are no coincidences where the Fo-” 

“Ah, ah, ah, ah!” she interrupted, putting a finger to his lips. “No Jedi babble. I’ve heard enough of those sayings for months now, especially after that stunt Kanan pulled on Endor.” 

Ezra dramatically faked an affronted gasp. “Countess Wren, are you so crassly dismissing the wisdom of the Jedi Knights?” 

“No,” she smirked, “I’m calling out my boyfriend for being a dork.” 

“Dork?” 

“Yes, dork.” Sabine laughed as she set her bottle down. “You were a dork when we first met, and you’re still one now.” 

“Yeah?” he grinned, pushing himself into a sitting position. “Well, you’re still the same technicolor walking powder keg that divebombed me and shot off one of my crates.” 

“You mean the crates you stole from us?” 

“You stole them first.” 

“My point exactly.” 

The two were silent for a few seconds, then burst out laughing before returning to their embrace. 

“Although,” Sabine mused, “I guess you’re not exactly the same sneaky little Loth-rat you were.” 

“Yeah,” Ezra agreed, “I’m now a handsome sneaky little Loth-rat, right?” 

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Sabine retorted despite the giggle. “Though I’ll admit you have grown in a lot of ways since then.” 

“Same with you,” Ezra said after a quick sip of his ale. “It sometimes drives me nuts thinking about everything that happened to get us here. Make us who we are now.” 

Sabine adjusted herself on the sofa so she was now facing him directly, her lips twisting into a warm smile. “Well, as different as we are now, I think it’s pretty important that you were that little street urchin we picked up a while ago.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“Because” she said slowly as she placed either hand on the sides of his head, her right thumb brushing against the scars on his cheek. “The smart, brave, earnest, sometimes funny Jedi Knight I fell in love with?” Her smile broadened. 

“He had to start somewhere.” 

Ezra returned the smile. “Funny, I was going to say the same thing about this passionate, colorful, fearless, and drop-dead beautiful Mandalorian warrior I happen to know.” 

“Will you just shut up and kiss me?” 

“Can do.” 

As their lips met, Ezra concluded that the latter candidate won by a landslide. Whatever remained of what they were then, it was the unbreakable foundation of what they were now. 

[purplefangirl42]

Clonetober- Day 19

Prompt: “The things I do for you.”/cooking/Host Club AU

Prompt list by @ladysongmaster Divider by djarrex

Blaze stood over the pot, eyes glued on the water inside, watching for the telltale bubbles of boiling water. He had never done this before and wanted to make sure he did it right. 

“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘a watched pot never boils’?” Chip asked from behind him.

Blaze took his eyes off the water and threw a glare over his shoulder at his brother. He never seemed to have a helpful comment, making Blaze wonder why he was even here to begin with. Maybe he just wanted to make sure Blaze didn’t burn anything down, which was honestly a possibility. He turned back to look at the pot again, nearly jumping in surprise at the sight of tiny bubbles forming on the surface.

“I swear you did that on purpose,” he muttered before adding the noodles to the pot.

Setting the lid on the pot after adding the noodles, he turned to gather the rest of the ingredients he would need. He had acquired all of Keebo’s favorites from the recipe that Lena had given him, making sure to get everything on the list. 

When everything was cut up correctly and the noodles had reached the point that the recipe indicated to add the vegetables in, he added them one by one. The meat was another story. Lena had gotten him some good quality nuna meat, but he wasn’t really sure how to prepare it. The recipe was unfortunately of no help, as it only said to add in pre-prepared meat at a certain stage.

“I don’t suppose you know how to do this?” he called, turning to look at Chip again.

Chip looked up from his datapad at him, eyebrows raised.

“I thought you didn’t want my help?” he said. “You wanted to do this all by yourself.”

Blaze sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He had said that he wanted to do this by himself when he first started. He wanted to prove that he could do it. However, it seemed like he had gotten himself over his head.

“I take it back. I need help.”

Chip placed his datapad down and crossed the room. Blaze watched intently as he got everything ready that he needed and washed his hands. Before Blaze knew what was happening, the meat was rapidly being cut into small pieces and added to a bowl.

“I could have done that,” he interjected. “I just wanted you to tell me what to do.”

“You can get the seasonings ready,” Chip said. “And turn on the heat below the pan to a low flame so the pan can preheat.”

Blaze did as instructed and turned the other burner on, placing the pan in the center of the small flame. He grabbed the seasonings that Lena had told him to use, the ones that Keebo usually added to her own food when she was cooking. As he started to measure them out, a soft cough from beside him made him hesitate.

“You’ll want to add more of that red powder,” Chip said. “It adds the spicy flavor she likes.”

Blaze looked down at the mixture in front of him before looking back at the bottle. The label said that it was extra spicy and should be used sparingly. But, he knew that she liked things that were probably spicier than what was recommended.

Once he finished the spice mixture, Chip handed him the bowl of chopped meat, instructing him to mix it into the spices, coating the surface thoroughly. Once Chip was satisfied with his work, he added a little oil to the pan Blaze had put on the stove before taking the meat from him once again. Using a pair of tongs, he carefully placed each piece in the pan one by one. He placed the lid over it and handed the tongs to Blaze.

“In two minutes, turn each piece over and then return the lid. Wait another two minutes and then shut it off.”

“That’s all it takes?” Blaze asked. “That doesn’t seem very long.”

“It will get cooked more when you add it to the other stuff,” Chip explained. “Which you might want to check by the way.”

Blaze lifted the lid on the pot and was hit in the face by a big cloud of steam. He waved the lid in front of his face to dissipate the steam and looked down into the pot. Everything was moving with the rapidly boiling water, like the recipe said it should be. He stirred it with a spoon and placed the lid back on.

“Meat,” was all Chip said as a reminder.

Blaze rushed over and flipped the pieces one by one, admiring the brown look of the slightly cooked meat. When the next two minutes had passed, he turned off the burner. He looked at the recipe again and saw that it wanted him to add the meat to the mixture. He did that and watched as the seasoning from the meat mixed with the water in the pot, causing it to turn a dark red.

“Now just let that sit for about five minutes and then stir it,” Chip said.

The two of them stood there, waiting patiently for the five minutes to pass. Chip turned away from Blaze and went over to the bag of ingredients he had purchased. Pulling out the strange green plant he hadn’t known the purpose of but had been on the list, he took it over to the cutting board.

“What’s that for?” Blaze asked. “I wasn’t sure.”

“You add it in after the five minutes are up and let it cook for another few minutes,” Chip explained. “If you add it in too soon, it messes with the flavor.”

Blaze nodded in understanding before returning to watching the pot in front of him. Once the timer went off to indicate the five minutes were up, Chip handed him the chopped up green things. Blaze added them in and stirred the pot.

“Leave the lid off this time and let it sit for about three minutes,” Chip said. “It should be good then.”

Blaze placed the lid in the sink and went to lean against the counter beside the stove.

“How are you so good at this?” he asked. “I wouldn’t think cooking was a vital part of medic training.”

“I had a good teacher,” Chip said. “More than one actually. One of my trainers on Kamino taught me a few basic things and the rest I learned while visiting Alderaan with Lena. Kalora taught me how to cook this specifically.”

“I hope it turns out good,” Blaze said. “I wanted to do something special for Keebo’s birthday and since she dealt with the bland food on our first date, this seemed like the best thing to do for her.”

“Even if it’s awful, I’m sure she’ll eat it regardless,” Chip said. “She loves you enough.”

Blaze chuckled at that. He knew Chip was right, Keebo probably wouldn’t even say if it was bad or good. She would appreciate the fact that he had tried.

“I won’t even be able to tell if it’s good or not,” he said. “I can’t stand spicy food.”

Chip shook his head in disbelief, muttering something Blaze couldn’t quite understand under his breath. It sounded an awful lot like ‘disappointment’. He knew not to take it personally. Chip’s taste in food was similar to Keebo’s, the spicier the better. At least he knew Sparx was on his side when it came to this matter.

When the timer went off again, Blaze gave the mixture one final stir before turning off the burner. Chip walked over and looked in the pot, his nose scrunching as he sniffed the soup inside. He made a face that Blaze wasn’t sure how to interpret before grabbing a spoon to ladle out a small amount for tasting. 

“Not bad,” he said. “Probably still won’t be spicy enough for her, but it’s good.”

Blaze breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe that meant he would be able to eat some too and he wouldn’t have to sit there without food while Keebo ate. Imitating Chip’s actions, he took a spoonful and, after blowing on it, brought it to his lips. 

The burning sensation in his mouth was something Blaze had never experienced before. Dropping the spoon, he ran to the sink and turned on the cold water. He stuck his entire face under the running water and opened his mouth, hoping the water would wash away the burning feeling. He could hear Chip laughing behind him, but at that moment, he really didn’t care.

“For someone named Blaze, you would think you’d have a higher heat tolerance,” Chip said before labeling some of the soup into a bowl. “This is nothing.”

“Tell that to my mouth,” Blaze said, pulling his head away from the sink. “How can she eat that?”

“How can who eat what?” a voice asked from the doorway.

Both Blaze and Chip’s heads snapped in the direction of the door to see Keebo and Sparx standing there. Chip gestured to the pot on the stove and then to Blaze.

“Your boyfriend made you birthday soup and set his mouth on fire.”

Keebo ignored the soup and made her way over to where Blaze stood beside the sink. She smiled down at him and placed a hand gently on his back, rubbing it up and down in soothing motions.

“You made spicy soup for me?” she asked. “And you actually ate it?”

Blaze nodded silently and Keebo leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. 

“Thank you, cyare.”

She left him at the sink and moved over to the pot on the stove, ladling herself out a bowl of soup. Bringing a spoonful to her mouth, she blew on it before eating it. A soft smile formed on her lips as she spooned up another bite.

“I love it,” she said before gesturing to Sparx. “Want some?”

“No thanks,” he said. “I choose life.”

A loud burst of laughter escaped Keebo’s lips, almost causing her to spill the spoonful she was holding. Blaze stood up from his position next to the sink and moved to stand next to her.

“Do you really like it?” he asked. “Chip said it wasn’t spicy enough. Although, I’m not sure it’s physically possible for it to get much spicier.”

“You did good,” she said. “Best birthday soup ever.”

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! Please reblog, like, and comment!

Tags: @trixie2023

[sinisterexaggerator]

🍩 [Donut] What's the weirdest thing someone eats in your WIP? What's the best thing?

Thanks for the ask! :D

Well, oddly enough I do not often write about food. In the future, the "weirdest" thing I plan to write about is the fact, to me, Duros mostly subsist ( in ancient times ) on meat and insects. I plan to have Cad Bane consume a live, wild animal, or for reader to find a half-eaten something in his conservator.

But, the best thing may be my current WIP I am working on which is about Hondo Ohnaka. He is presented with a plate of "tea sandwiches" and is delighted ( note the fake name. >D )

“Ah, we meet again, my good woman. And what is dis you have brought us?” He traipsed forward, plucking one of the perfectly cut sandwiches from off the plate held by Jaina, at once taking a bite and savoring its flavor. Hondo was legitimately hungry, after all. He had not had a scrap to eat since arriving on this rocky little asteroid. “Nuna salad!” he exclaimed as you came forward, looking directly at the Arthurian who, as was her custom, had averted her eyes.  “It is truly delightful. The best I have ever tasted,” he emphasized, though you were unsure if he was telling the truth. “Thank you, Hilre, but we do not require your services,” you said tersely, walking past her and around, “Mr. Orenk, allow me to show you the garden,” you lied, knowing very well what your next stop would be. “Certainly,” Hondo acquiesced, though he held out both hands to Jaina who still carried the full tray within hers. “May I?” To your surprise he took the entire plate, leaving your servant dumbfounded as she stood there with an odd expression, dropping her hands down to her sides. She did not comment, knowing it was not her place, but looked to Madam Hilre for guidance, which she was quick to turn and watch as you made to take your leave.

[tlemo]

Nuna Reference Sheet (2024) pt. 1

Reference sheet for the Nuna (because I don't have enough of an audience to need a website). The Nuna in this sheet is a Dommun male. The Nuna are a space-faring species native to Dhaob, a planet in the Ob system. They are one of the most common sapient species in the New Bestiary; imagine the entire human population multiplied across a thousand stars. The most prevalent Nuna ethnicity, the Dommun, gave the species its name and, among other things, popularized an ideology and ethical code prioritizing colonization over diplomacy, resulting in their huge population.  They are part of a family of carnivorous species that have mostly lost the ability to taste anything other than meat. This, combined with their adaptations the the hellish cold of their planet, result in a number of cultures very different from those of humanity. I'll be posting more of these soon. (they do have private parts but I didn't draw them because I wanted people to see the picture without getting an aneurysm)

Posted using PostyBirb

[interactiveterm1bk]

Dreadful Pies- Research

Sweeney Todd Story.

Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a penny dreadful story from 1846, a penny dreadful is a cheap story popular in 19th century England, these stories cost one penny to purchase so they were very affordable. The story follows a barber from London who wants revenge on the corrupt Judge Turpin, who had Sweeney Todd arrested and stole his wife and child. When he arrives back in London after years of imprisonment he starts up his barber shop with the help of Ms. Lovett who owns a pie shop below his barber shop. The pie shop isn't very successful until Sweeney Todd starts killing the customers of the barber shop and putting them into the pies. He met his demise when the smell of all the dead bodies caught the attention of the public and police were sent to investigate.

Human Pies by Ashley Newman and Andrew Fuller

Ashley Newman created these model pies, but they are not edible. These pies caught the attention of Andrew Fuller, a cake artist, who was inspired to make an edible version of these pies.

Although, for my pie i didn't decide to create a face I still really like this designs.

Weird Foods

Theres lots of diverse food around the world and some of them are quite unusual. I decided to go down this route with my pie, not gruesome and bloody but unusual and strange as I think it elicits more of reaction by seeing something that is just not right. Some foods that got this reaction from me when researching were:

Stargazey Pie, a pie with fish in it but the fish are poking out of the pastry. I almost did something similar with one of my designs being a severed fish head in a pie.

White Ant Egg Soup, from Loas contains ant eggs, any embryos and baby ants. I also put an embryo in my weird pie so I chose this one because that and it also looks gross and looks like maggots.

Airag is from Mongolia and is fermented horse milk. It's a kind of beer that they make by fermenting horse milk in a slightly alcoholic liquid. They have been drinking this in Mongolia for centuries.

Weird foods are also present in media, especially Sci-Fi. In franchises like Star Wars you have the Mos Espa market place on Tatooine. In Sci-Fi series food will look very different as its apart of the world building, to be as far away from reality as possible to make the idea that they're on another planet strongly come across. And especially on Tatooine, a desert planet the food is going to be whatever little creature they come across.

Nuna Meat from 'The Book of Boba Fett' Chapter 3- The Streets of Mos Espa.

Both fiction and non-fiction can be used as inspiration but I didn't want to make my pie food an alien would eat otherwise it would be justifiable that its weird as its extraterrestrial, so by putting a human baby in the pie instead of an alien creature its recognisable that this food item is meant to exist in our world to make it seem even more gross.

Other stories that contain humans in food are 'Snowpiercer' originally a graphic novel released in 1984 by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, then adapted into movie by the same title in 2013 starring Chris Evans and then a three season TV show, starting in 2020 and ending in 2022.

The story takes places on a frozen over Earth and the remaining survivors live on a train the Snowpiercer. Although the resident living at the front of the train live in luxury whilst at the back of the train they live in poverty and sometimes have to resort to cannablism to survive, the starving passengers rebel against the rich and selfish and force they're way to the front of the train.

The Platform is a Spanish movies about a prison and each level of the prison is an individual cell with two people. A platform full of food makes its way from the top of the prison to the bottom, but of course by the time the platform reaches the bottom there is no food left so the inmates on the lower levels on the prison have to result to eating themselves or their cellmate

[new-beastiary]

Herders and ranchers exist here on Earth, but they're not like the ones on Thaobo. The Nuna are carnivores and almost never eat anything besides meat. This means the connection between man and cattle is strong for the average Nuna. It also makes the role of ranching a very important and highly revered one. Dommun herders tend to serve as queens and matriarchs. Intobu leads one of her city's largest ranches. While she isn't the queen, she is a highly respected member of the city's council, and the wife of Zhovvuv, another one of the city's chairs. At the end of the day she looks over her ranch, thinking about what to do next.

Posted using PostyBirb

[sweetwolfcupcake]

Hi, I tried to think about more unique plot about King Yoongi flash fiction, but can only come up with generic one. But it's okay I guess, my thirst will still be quenched anyway.

How about yandere Emperor Yoongi and a palace servant or concubine, later become his queen.

I just could not hold back. Please accept it as a tribute to 'His Pet'. The original character here is inspired by @amoc94's 'His Pet'. Please check out the amazing book if you have not yet.

The Fragrance of Love #1

Yandere Emperor Yoongi x Original Character (Jang Yuri)

Warning- Threats of murder, manhandling, implied royal brutality.

It was already winter and the waning moon was nowhere in sight. The clouds hovered ominously over Yuri and her little brother’s head as she rushed in loading the horse with the essentials she had brought with her. The horse was stable and strong, it had cost her almost half of all of her savings.

But her prime concern was on getting herself and her brother, her only family as far away from the palace, from the capital as possible.

“Wherw are we headed to Nuna?” she gripped her brother’s tiny body tighter as she set him up on the horseback before holding the reins

“Somewhere far, Bonhwa.” she kissed his head gently before proceeding to tie a cloth around his stomach and her waist, keeping him firmly attached to her. Bonhwa was her world, and she would not live a day if any harm comes to her family due to her selfishness.

She was a lowborn, and thus, a maid of the imperial palace. People called her fortunate for being chosen as Empress Dowager’s chambermaid. The pay was better and Bonhwa cold have more meat. Thrice a month! And it was incredible for Jang Yuri.

But fate was a curious little schemer. A single visit of His Highness, the Emperor to his mother’s palace, and one glance, it all took one glance to set the spark and put her heart ablaze, like his fiery gaze, the charcoal orbs and his gold-bathed hair. All had her transfixed. She had never known of the power of one glance until the day she had locked her gaze with Min Yoongi, the seventh Emperor of the Min Dynasty.

And like blooming lotuses, love blossomed between them. He had often declared how he would never let her go, he always needed to hear that she belonged to him from her lips. She had woven a dream of their forever over cherry blossoms.

Cherry blossoms were not forever-blooms. They were seasonal, just like their love.

It was not long before the Empress Dowager found out.

“Either you leave the palace, go far away from the capital itself, or we bring you your sweet little brothers head. And I will make sure you watch it all.”

The words still rang in Yuri’s head, making her shiver.

He was the flame, and she was the moth. She would always want to be one with him, but she knew the cost. And she was not ready to pay the price. She loved the Emperor, she loved him with all of her heart, mind and soul, but she loved her little brother the most. And in the palace of vipers, she knew that a girl like her was only the prey.

She was a commoner, thus, an illiterate. The Emperor had been kind enough to teach her to read a few things in their time spent together. She could manage to read, but she could not write.

She knew that the Emperor would never let her go if she told him, he would cause a ruckus, he had professed his love for her so many times, he had refused to take any concubine, refused to meet virtuous ladies, princesses for marriage, Yuri had no choice but to believe him. But how could have she forgotten, she was a mere commoner and he was the Emperor? Their love was doomed from the beginning.

She wished to leave him a letter. But alas! She had not yet learnt to write.

“Nuna, Nuna!”

Yuri was startled out of her thoughts, looking down at her brother, she smiled at him.

“What is it Bonhwa?”

“Thirsty Nuna…” he whined

“Just a bit more, Bon, we will be by the river soon. I will fill the sack with water then. Why don’t you try to sleep?”

“I can’t Nuna, I want watew.” the child was only four. What would he know of the storm brewing in their lives?

The Emperor was a man of passion, and the passion drowned her, made her so blind to the consequences that she did not see the wildfire spreading until her own nest was on the verge of burning away.

A nest made of cherry blossoms. But cherry blossoms soon wither away. They symbolised the fleeting nature of life and love.

Yuri pulled her brother closer before urging the horse to move faster, her brother was thirsty, and she could not even hear the river. It was the dead of the night, the freezing weather that turned the place quieter.

----

“Stay here, okay? Do not move much, just keep your hold on the seat,” she instructed her brother while tying the horse to a tree trunk.

The water was glacial, but it would do, if she kept it in a warm place for some time, it would be-

The sound of the movement in bushes was distinctive. She stilled, regulating her breathing to hear clearly, until…

Hooves!

Gasping, Yuri rushed towards her horse. Freeing its rope, she lept on it. She held her brother close with one hand while the other caught the reins.

No, no!

It was already too late, the royal guards surrounded them.

“Jang Yuri, the Emperor has demanded you to be brought to the Imperial Palace.” one of the guards declared.

But she knew that no one could be trusted. What is it was the Empress Dowager who had changed her mind? Yuri knew that the woman would be more than happy to have her and her brother beheaded.

But when Kim Namjoon, the most trusted of the Emperor’s Council appeared, high on his majestic horse, she was partly relieved.

“Yuri, you need not fear anyone, I am here to escort you and your brother safely back to the Imperial Palace.”

“Your Grace!” Yuri was quick to jump from her horse and be on her knees, bowing to the aristocrat with her head on the ground “My Lord, I am afraid that I cannot do that.”

“Are you disobeying the Emperor? The man on the throne by the will of gods!” she could already envision Lord Kim’s eyes narrowing in displeasure as he came down from his horse as well and marched towards her.

“No, No, I shall brook divine fury if I ever dare to…”

“Well, then you must not waste another moment and hurry. The Emperor waits for you with waning patience. He has ordered you to be brought back to the palace.” Lord Kim stated firmly.

And Yuri was left with no choice but to oblige.

-----

The sight of the Imperial Palace made her stomach twist in knots. Her palms were sweaty even in such freezing weather conditions. She let out a quivering puff of breath, and she could see the cloud forming in front of her as she heaved a sigh.

She was not ready to face the Emperor, he despised when she addressed him formally, but she was habituated with that, and as much as he hated it, she could not dare to…

The distinctive figure in black robes caught her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat. The golden dragon embroidered on the silk gleamed under the brightly lit torches. And she could already feel his burning stare, the heartache increased with every movement of the horse. She clutched her brother closer to herself as she fought back her tears. He was standing still and powerful, his pale tresses chasing the winter wind.

Finally, when her horse was right in front of the Emperor, with his burning feline eyes boring holes into her form, with stilled breathing, she waited for his command. He said nothing, Lord Kim did

“Emperor of the world, I bring you, Lady Shin Yuri, as commanded.” Yuri frowned at his words. That was not her name. Why was she addressed like that even? She was a damned commoner after all.

Emperor Min tilted his head, his gaze flickered over Lord Kim once before returning to her. She could not even keep up with his fierce stare. It made her feel naked.

Emperor Min Yoongi had his hair tied in a loose ponytail, the absence of his usual headband somehow made him seem primal. There was indeed something primal about his gaze. His scar was more visible, most people in the empire saw it as a bad omen, an emperor who carried a scar. But not her. To Jang Yuri, the scar only enhanced his otherworldly beauty.

There was something so dark, almost carnal about it. And she was not sure if she should fear it or give in to her temptations.

His tongue pushed against his cheek. At last, his body moved, with his robes swishing, he marched towards her horse and she stiffened, pulling Bonhwa closer to herself, the poor boy was confused but dared not to let out a sound.

Defying all her expectations, he instead offered his hand to her, as if she was a royal, Yuri was left stunned. Yet, her hand seemed to have grown a mind of its own as it reached out for his hand. His grip was iron-bound as he helped her down the horse but his warmth, welcoming.

But his one command shattered the illusion of calm and peace.

“Take her brother away Namjoon,”

“What? No, where are you taking him? Wait! My Lord, please do not do this! BONHWA!”

His grip on her did not loosen as she watched helplessly her little sobbing brother being picked up and being taken away by Lord Kim while she struggled in the Emperor’s hold relentlessly but in vain.

“Please, please not my brother, he is innocent, he is innocent!” Yuri begged, she had no clue what was to be done with her brother, that tiny life could be crushed by the cruel forces of the palace and no one would even bat an eyelash.

Never in a hundred years could she envision Emperor Min Yoongi doing this, but he was noble after all, and nobles did not know kindness.

Seeing no other choice, she fell on her knees and begged him.

“Bonhwa is innocent, please!”

“Get up, Love.” his voice was soft but cold.

She opened her mouth to protest but got yanked up back on her feet instead. His grip was punishing as he dragged her with him instead, tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued to beg for her brother’s life, but he responded with nothing but heavy silence.

Finally, reaching a chamber, he kicked open a door, for the first time expressing the boil within.

“For once…” he finally began, his deep, raspy voice ould have been a blanket on her scarred heart had she, not been dragged away from her brother like that “For once I had expected you to not walk away, to believe in me instead of my mother.”

Yuri froze at his words, he knew.

“Yoongi is my son, he would always choose his family, his empire, his throne. Only a lunatic would even compare it all to a mere commoner. It would not even take him sundown to find another girl to warm his bed.”

Empress Dowager’s callous words rang in her head as she stared into the Emperor’s stormy orbs.

He smiled. The smile lacked any warmth.

“But you tried to run away like a coward, the Empress Dowager’s venomous words outweighed my honest declarations of love.”

“M-My L-” her words were cut off by his fingers clasping her face, his grip was painful, making her tears spring up,

“Try again, Love.”

“Y-Yoongi!” she gasped out as he finally let go of her. She gasped, unable to look back at him. His touch felt alien to her. She had known of him as nothing but a gentle lover.

“Bonhwa shall remain under Kim Namjoon’s care until I decide otherwise. Meanwhile, my love, you will train to be a proper lady of the court. You are Shin Yuri from this day, daughter of a noble far in the northern mountains.”

“B-But I am not...I am a commoner what are you planning? Where is my brother?” Yuri spluttered, disoriented and afraid.

“Not anymore. I believe that it is time for you to learn the ways of the court and the world. To see all of me. So that you do not repeat this mistake again.” his tone was clipped, and although he did not raise his voice, it was far more terrifying. Because now Yuri could see a new side of the man she had loved so deeply. She feared him.

Yoongi turned his head to one of the chamber guards and nodded before the guard stepped out, and moments later, four chambermaids hurried inside the place.

“I claim all of you as witnesses to me declaring Lady Sin Yuri as my chosen beloved.”

The Emperor declared before taking off one of the many precious rings adorning his fingers and slipping it on her finger instead, before clasping the back of her neck and pulling her into a passionate, melting kiss.

And Yuri felt her heart stop.

****

@trishadgrn-blog @angryperfectionpersona

Unedited

Also, I have no knowledge regarding the historical facts and elements concerning this fic. Kindly treat it as pure fiction.

Also...There would be a second part since *clears her throat* we all are hoes for Daechwita Yoongi.

[one-desperate-duros]

*Shriv snickers at @man-with-a-big-cape's little love confession, pointedly ignoring it. However, he tunes back in once he confirms he plans to take precautions, although Shriv isn't so sure he trusts the man to get the job done right the first time and the comment about his big blue head doesn't help.*

I'll stop worrying my big 'ol head as soon as you stop wearing that big 'ol cape, and I'll have you know without my big 'ol head you'd probably be dead by now, considering I'm the brains of this here outfit.

Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it. *Shriv says dismissively to the offer of helping navigate, waving the General off for the time being as there is absolutely no way in hells he is going to try to do computational mathematics on an empty stomach. He had tried that once before and nearly sailed into a star.

The Duros takes in a deep inhalation of the smells coming from the kitchen as he steps foot inside - if anything, at least Lando can cook. He grabs an empty plate, loading it down with salad, fresh fruit, Ronto and Nuna meat. He foregoes the Chyntuck, not a fan of the stuff, having actually offended Chewbacca by literally spitting it back out at their last social function, which was few, far, and in-between.

Shriv turns on his heels, meaning to sit down at the table, but @a-big-hat had followed him silently, as per usual, into the kitchen. He nearly jumps, though it's less a show of nerves than he has displayed in the past, getting somewhat used to the bounty hunter slinking around. He sets his plate down and motions Cad forward, gathering and holding out an empty plate for him to fill.*

Eat up, Killer. It's a pretty decent sspread... *he trails off, frowning for a moment before trying to perk himself back up. He wishes he could do something to make Bane feel more at ease.*

Hey, the beach, eh? Guess we get our wish after all. You promised to take me anyway after Florrum, if you don't recall.

*Shriv clears his throat and leans back against the counter.* Might be fun, right? *he asks with a nervous laugh, though Bane doesn't seem in the mood to joke around.*

Or ... or not.

[bellsyafterdark]

Oh Boba and Paz... Paz figures out what he's up to and Boba thinks he's going to be upset because Paz's priority has always been the safety of their pack and now their child and surely he'll blame Boba for not looking into this before so he knew if he needed to take precautions. But Paz just settles in to help. They need to know for their baby's sake, just in case, but they need to know for Boba's well-being. That's part of taking care of the pack too.

Paz has barely crossed the kitchen’s threshold when Fennec is on him, crowing as she scoops the sleepy baby from his shoulder.

“Who’s been sleeping all day?” Nipping her chubby cheek, Fennec smirks at the little one’s shriek of glee, startling awake. Their baby's high squeal of laughter pierces the air as Fennec peppers her with more playful bites to her neck and arm.

“Just changed her,” Paz says. “She’s hungry.”

Fennec rubs her soft belly, eyes narrowed teasingly. “Poop and sleep, poop and sleep. Is that all you’re good for?”

“And eat. She’s hungry.”

Helmet lifting with a hermetic hiss, Paz’s hand encircles his fellow alpha’s waist and Fennec tilts her head for the kiss Paz plants on her cheek. Beside her at the preparatory table where the pack has taken their meals for a break from the formal dining room, Din is carving a roasted pair of nuna.

He greets Paz with a tired smile and leans into the kiss for his temple.

“Did you rest today?” Paz asks, fingers threading in Din’s short hair.

“Yeah."

Paz glances at the fresh coil of steam as the nuna’s meat parts under Din’s blade. “Did you hunt those yourself?”

Din’s mouth tugs in a poorly hidden smile.

The frustration that Din did not take the afternoon off as planned is eclipsed when Paz notices Din and Fennec stand in the kitchen, absent of the usual attendants. It’s nice to have the privacy to remove their helmets, but if Din and Fennec prepared dinner by themselves, it’s an honour but....

“Am I gonna survive this meal tonight?” Paz teases, though the concern is somewhat sincere. The modest meal with carefully nurtured vegetables smells delicious but Din, in particular, was not famed for preparing more than hydrated rations.

Fennec hums skeptically, bare pinky nestled in their baby’s mouth where she suckles on the flavour of pureed vegetables from the bowl before the master assassin.

“You’re welcome to starve,” Din says.

Paz frowns. “No Boba?”

Fennec and Din tense and exchange a shrewd look. In Fennec’s arms, the little one burbles, chubby fingers wrapping around her mother’s wrist.

“I’ll get him.” Paz is already donning his helmet again.

“He’s been in the study since yesterday,” Fennec says.

Paz had just thought the head of their pack had come to bed so late and left too early for him to notice. If Boba was absorbed in a project, it could be something very good... or bad for all of them.

Fennec looks up at the tap on her orange pauldron, then scowls at the way Paz offers his hands expectantly. She clutches the baby tighter to her chest. “No.”

“If he says no to me, he can’t turn away his own ‘ad.”

Din’s hand closes around his wrist. His brown gaze creases, warm and gentle. “You don’t need her to buy your way in. Just talk to him.”

Paz glances at their other partner for support, but Fennec just inclines her head, conceding Din’s point. And bounces the baby in her arms, happy not to relinquish her claim.

Arms dropping to his sides, Paz sags with a weary sigh. Fine. He’ll try.

Din pats the armour over his kar’ta. “And tell him to hurry up. We’re almost ready here.”

///

“Come.”

Paz doesn’t know why he hesitates. He and Boba no longer harbour bad blood, past arguments about boundaries and duties long negotiated (but often revisited). He no longer looks at Boba with jealousy for the love they share of the beroya Paz lost, then found again in the sanctuary of this other alpha’s family. Boba no longer glares him down with suspicion of attempting to turn Fennec, his first mate and master assassin, against him.

They can even be tender with each other without the prelude of any conflict. Paz would be lying to say he didn’t enjoy it. There’s just... something about the way Boba makes the ground feel unsteady under his feet. How he sometimes makes Paz’s heart skip a beat faster with the slightest chuff of frustration or displeasure. It’s that he can make Paz want to sink to his knees with the right look. It’s how Paz has developed a shorthand with Fennec and Din, that he doesn’t yet share with Boba, and Paz often finds himself stopping to watch, assess and re-calculate.

When the door to Boba’s private study slides aside with a hiss, Paz is confronted with the wall-to-wall projections of internal bioscans, gene sequences and what looks like an expansive bloodline record flowing from the common tongue to Mando’a and back again. It isn’t a great leap to arrive at his conclusion.

“Whose bloodline are you studying?”

Bowed with both hands planted on the desk at the study’s center, Boba is squinting at something on an older monitor that Paz can’t see. He’s not wearing his armour, which still makes Paz internally flinch from a lifetime of being armoured every waking moment for protection.

“Mine,” Boba says.

Paz approaches the desk, ephemeral blue-white lines of the projections wrapping and shivering around his broad shoulders. “Something wrong?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

At Paz’s left, one of the images with what looks like a family tree blinks, updating to render two of the lowest nodes red: deceased. He looks back at Boba with a frown, recognising the concern in his face.

“Fett, are you sick?”

A wry smile twists Boba’s mouth. He finally glances up from the monitor. “Some have found my tastes objectionable.”

Paz snorts a soft laugh under his breath and nods back the way he had come. “Enough research. Food’s ready and the ad’ika’s hungry.”

A cloud passes over Boba’s expression, eyes flickering to the updated family tree. Paz follows his gaze, suspicious. The family tree suddenly takes on new meaning.

“Are... you doing this for her? So she’ll know where she comes from?”

Paz’s chest tightens with fear. They had all agreed when the little one was born that it didn’t matter who her other sire was, they had each other, and... they loved each other, so they never checked, but had Boba taken it upon himself to find out? Was he the other half of her DNA?

Boba sighs and sinks into the large seat behind his desk, arms sprawling wide, somehow making it look like a throne. He looks at Paz with some reluctance.

"We should... determine the child's paternity," Boba says, tone affecting that slow, deep resonance that makes Paz internally flinch because that voice was reserved for court, for outsiders and enemies. Or when something was very seriously wrong.

The ground beneath Paz feels unsteady and a sick feeling churns in his gut. He takes too long choosing his next words because Boba gestures to the projections.

“Did I ever tell you about my brothers?”

“No.”

“They were different. They didn’t live long. The way they were built, I’m afraid.”

‘Built’. Paz turns the word over, mulling its meaning. He often forgets that Boba is a clone of a man because he looms larger than most natural-born Paz has ever met, he doesn’t really know the difference. The idea there could be... or once have been a galaxy of men out there just like Boba is... intimidating.

“Not like you?” he asks.

“I was unaltered, but I’ve feared... how different from them I really am. If perhaps there is programming in me that could skip a generation.” Boba points to the family tree again. “These are the vode I’ve been able to track down. Those with children of their own.”

Paz feels his blood chill. “How did they die?”

“That... is what I’m trying to find out,” Boba repeats. His face falls with regret and he stumbles for his next words, something Paz has only witnessed one other time: when making amends with Din. “I should... I didn’t... I....” He sighs, shaking his head.

Paz frowns. “Go on.”

“If I knew there was a risk Din could carry even with the beskar... the anchor was meant to....”

“So you’ve said,” Paz reminds him. They don’t need to rehearse those old conversations. None of them thought Din could get pregnant with the properties of the beskar anchor in his womb, but no measure was absolutely certain.

Boba’s mouth presses in a tight line. “If the little one is mine. I don’t know what she’s inherited from me. I don’t know what lies ahead of her.”

“... I see.” Paz shifts his weight, hands finding his hips as the mental cogs turn over the new information.

“I’m sorry,” Boba says, hoarse.

"What for? You didn’t choose your lineage.”

And what a poisonous web that has been for the two of them to untangle, the descendants of House Vizsla and Mereel deciding to leave their families’ old wounds in the past.

“I could have taken precautions. Spared any possible child from this risk.” Boba stares at his hands, brow tensing with guilt.

Crossing the remaining distance, Paz comes to Boba’s side, studying the cloud of data floating before them. Boba is, indeed, an anomaly, but one that warrants his own sterilisation?

“Stories say my father’s temper was legendary, and his ambition worse. But people have told me he loved his own legend more than our people’s cause. He destroyed families. Maybe even...” No, to think how much his father may have led to their people’s downfall is still too painful to contemplate aloud. “I don’t know how many I’ve trampled. But Din was the last.” Paz swallows thickly, eyes fixed on the rotating bioscan of an anonymous subject. “Do you think that sort of trait is hereditary? That one day... she could destroy everything we’ve built here?”

Or that Paz still might?

Boba tilts back in his chair, turning to look up at him. Hesitantly, Paz meets his gaze.

“If it is... it’s clearly curable,” Boba searches his face, eyes firm with that look that makes Paz’s knees want to buckle.

You won’t be the end of us.

Paz bites his tongue hard against the abrupt sting at the back of his eyes. This is not at all what he anticipated to encounter when he came to bring Boba down for dinner. “Maybe yours is, too.”

"Hn.” Boba sits back in his chair, looking ahead. His shoulders drop when Paz reaches out, carefully curling round the nape of his neck, fingertips brushing the scars of bonding marks long healed.

“If you still want to find out, I will help you.”

Boba’s mouth pulls in what might have been a smile, but he ducks his head, face turned away. At last, he sighs, straining in his chair, then pushing to his feet. Paz’s hand drops back to his side.

“Enough for tonight.” Boba echoes his earlier sentiment, surprising Paz when he steps in, reaching for him, and Paz obediently lets his helm be drawn down to rest against Boba’s forehead. Boba’s eyes sink shut and Paz draws the breath deep, sharing the heat of air and life in the kov’nyn, even with Paz’s buy’ce between them. The lingering tendrils of fear dissipate in Paz’s chest and he reaffirms their early conviction. It really doesn’t matter who the little one’s other sire is. They are all her parents.

Boba’s hands hold the sides of his buy’ce and he’s smiling when he pulls back. "You mentioned food? I hope it’s hot.”

“Din prepared dinner.” Paz holds onto Boba’s wrists, lingering.

The way Boba freezes with trepidation is almost comical. “By himself?”

“Fennec may have helped.”

Boba’s gaze darts away as though searching for an exit. “Oh.”

Paz keenly sympathises. “We should at least make a show of gratitude. It did smell edible.”

Boba arches a skeptical eyebrow and claps his free hand on Paz’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Well. Let’s at least hope the little one doesn’t take after Din in the kitchen.”

[elsquibbonator]

Purr-fectly Eco-Friendly?

This article is respectfully dedicated to my cat Lyra, who passed away today.  Cats are adorable. They just are. It’s no wonder America is currently home to over 65 million of them. However, from an environmental perspective, cats raise many questions, some of which are more easily answered than others. It is estimated, for example, that over a billion birds a year are killed by pet cats, plus a similar number of small mammals and reptiles. Many cat owners let their cats outside to wander their neighborhoods, and even a cat that has eaten well will hunt by instinct. 

Responsible owners, however, will keep their cats indoors, as my family did. Our two cats-- Furiosa and Lyra, the latter of whom is sadly no longer with us-- were strictly indoor cats, and were not allowed outside under any circumstance whatsoever. This is safer not only for our local wildlife, but also for the cats themselves. There are studies that show pet cats live much longer on average if they are kept indoors than if they are allowed to roam outdoors. Doing this keeps them safe from such hazards as being hit by cars, killed by wild predators, or getting in fights with other cats.  There is another unspoken awkward issue that many environmentalists who own cats have to confront, sooner or later. Namely, the fact that these animals are carnivores. As such, the production of their food, be it a high quality brand like Fancy Feast or a more generic brand, is inherently linked with greenhouse gas emissions, as is all production of meat-based foods. For a lot of us, this is a burden we just have to live with, no different from where our own food comes from or the fact that the electricity we use comes from fossil-fuel-burning power plants. We may be able to change whether we keep our cats outdoors, but we cannot change biology in any meaningful way. A cat on a vegan diet is a sorry sight indeed (although my dearly departed Lyra was partial to a bite of lettuce now and then). 

Is there a solution to this? Potentially, and some people are working on one. A startup company called Catit Nuna has developed a brand of cat food that is made out of processed crickets, and its production is far more sustainable than that of traditional brands. Cat owners who wish to minimize the environmental impact of their beloved pets thus have a number of options to choose from. Some of these solutions are as easy as keeping your cat indoors, while others, like the switch to sustainable foods, are much harder to implement on a practical scale. But there is definitely room for us to love both our pets and our planet. 

[azertyrobaz]

Dank Farrik Drabble #12

That prompt stumped me for a bit, I have to admit, but in the end I had the most fun! Bonfire/Bewildered, let’s go! Hoping to see more of you playing the @dankfarrikdrabbles​ game soon! :)

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His father was going to be so proud of him.

He had returned exhausted from his negotiations and told Grogu he would take a quick nap before dinner, removing various armor pieces before crashing into his bunk with a groan. Grogu was fine with this, it wasn’t the first time he was left to his own devices while the Mandalorian slept and he knew how to behave and not cause ‘mayhem’, whatever that word meant.

But then it wasn’t everyday he was promised nuna legs. He’d had them once before, and they were delicious. They were supposed to roast them over the fire and his dad had even prepared the fire pit outside and everything. He’d assured him before going to bed that preparing food would take next to no time. They’d just have to start the fire and grill the meat and that was that.

So really, it made sense for Grogu to start things off. That way he’d be the one doing the cooking for once and his father would wake up to some wonderful food. Surely nothing would go wrong.

Starting the fire would be the easy part. He’d grabbed the left vambrace his father had discarded, and even if the thing weighed a ton, Grogu just had to drag it outside, place it near the pit, and activate it the way he knew from experience and –

Success! Fire! He’d made it!

Grogu admired the flames engulfing the branches and twigs that had been placed at the center of the pit…then the other branches piled next to it…then a couple of bushes further away. Maybe he shouldn’t have pressed that button for so long. But it was so pretty! All those swirling warm colors and that wonderful food they were soon going to eat and –

“Kid, what have you done?”

He couldn’t really read his father’s expression. His hair was standing every which way and he still had a pillow crease on his face. That was the look he equated with him reaching for a fresh cup of caf. But surely there was some pride in that look as well. Because really, he was getting quite hungry now, and he’d been very helpful.