#oh and ALSO i bow can finally go through the tags and see what kind of fandom scraps you all have

[catastrxblues]

hi. just finished five survive, i am not okay.

[askinkiskarma]

Illicit Affairs | Chapter VII: Hoax

Pairing: Neteyam x Human/Avatar!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: Tensions erupt when Neteyam confronts you about something he saw. His secret comes out at the worst time, leaving you both in pieces. 

Warnings: (a little) smut (18+, Minors DNI), angst, mentions of blood mentions of death, injury, pills, pill addiction, opioid addiction, disease, cursing, some fluff + all the feels.

Word Count: 9,5k words (holy mother)

A/N: This is it, guys! Where tensions explode and secrets come come out, hearts are bound to be broken. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I put everything into it. I cried whilst writing it, I laughed whilst writing it, pretty sure I experienced the full spectrum of human emotions whilst doing this. Also, I have ignored my actual work to finish it, so if I fail my annual progression review, at least it would have been worth it. Let me know what you think, and as always, thank you for everyone who is reading is and asked to be tagged <;3

"My only one, my kingdom come undone My broken drum, you have beaten my heart Don't want no other shade of blue, but you No other sadness in the world would do"

“There are perks with being an Omatikaya, you know? You can make your bow out of the wood of the Home Tree��� and you can choose a mate.” 

Fuck. 

“Lo’ak… be serious.”

“I am serious, Angel. You’ve been in my life for as long as I can remember. You have always been the only one to see me for more than just a freak, or a fuck-up, or a disappointment. You see me.”

The younger Sully boy gently cupped you face in his hand; he was caressing your cheek with his thumb. Using a little force, he willed your face upwards so you could look up at his face; you were surprised to see the intensity in his eyes. 

You placed your hand on his arm, and you hoped by slowly massaging it, it would relax him enough to soften your following words. 

“Lo’ak… I do see you. You are an incredible person. You have been there for me my whole life, and I will be forever grateful to you. You have been the only one who constantly chose the dark stuffy lab to the beauty of this world because the labs had me in it, you were closest to my mum and she loved you like you were her own. I think you are the most amazing guy there is and I think your mate will be the luckiest girl there is. But that’s not me, Lo’ak. You know that can’t be me.”

His hand dropped from your face and both of his hands took yours in them, squeezing them ardently. 

“But it is you. It has to be you.” 

“Kehe (no). Lo’ak, you are my best friend. I am your best friend. I love you so much, and I know you love me too, but the love we have for each other is not the kind of love one needs to be mated for life.” 

You spoke softly, looking at him pleadingly, hoping that he would understand your words in the way that you intend them. You can see his gaze drop and form deflate, being replaced by a meek one, a shadow of his former self. 

“Oh… I see.” He was now turning his back to you, trying to leave without looking you in the eye. You were not going to let that happen.

“I’m not letting you leave.” You say, keeping his hands tightened in yours. “We will talk about this, and you will recognise I am right.” 

Neteyam was having trouble seeing as he was manoeuvring his way through the forest. He felt sick to his stomach and every heartbeat sent waves of hurt through his entire body, like shards of glass gutting him from inside out. How could his own brother do this? How could you do this? He has spent more than two months with you, every day, sending touches and glances your way that were begging to be seen, begging to be acknowledged. He secretly prayed that you would call him out on it, give him a reason to finally tell you that he’s loved you since he was 10 and yearned for your touch since the second his eyes fell on you again after a whole year apart. He wanted you to finally give him a reason to tell everyone to fuck off and let him finally live his life by his own rules, with you by his side. 

Neteyam was shaking with tempestuous fury at the unfairness of it all. Lo’ak will always get everything just handed to him on a silver platter, won’t he? Freedom, to make his own choices, to live his life as he wished, carelessly and devoid of any forethought or responsibility. And now he got you, the woman of his dreams - and nightmares - and the future he used to fantasise would one day be his. 

His legs were moving without any conscious input from his mind, and before long, he found himself on the way to the clearing you and him used to go to all the time. Your place, just for his and your eyes to see, just for his and your hearts to experience. As he was nearing, he heard soft sounds emerging from the spot, and he slowly, carefully approached with a bow at the ready and all his senses heightened. 

“We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar…

I rent a place on Cornelia Street, I say casually in the car…”

Soft strumming and the most beautiful voice he has ever heard, a voice that he would recognise anywhere, for the rest of time, made him drop the bow he was gripping tightly. That song, Neteyam thought with a wince, and let himself remember.

“This piece of heaven is our Cornelia Street.” 

“What’s Cornelia Street?”

“Well, it’s a place back on Earth where one of her houses used to be, but in this case, it’s a metaphor. Cornelia Street is to them what this clearing is to us.” 

A month before your 17th birthday is the last day Neteyam saw you. He was coming to say goodbye. You didn’t know that, and, in your enthusiasm at seeing him after such a long time because of his training, or so he told you, you suggested coming here. Neteyam remembers everything about that day. He didn’t sleep that night, cried himself to sleep quietly in his family’s tent thinking of the possibility of not seeing you again, for a long time, perhaps forever. He had decided that his mum was right. Being around you was hurting you both, and maybe by leaving, both of you could heal and move on. He wouldn’t have to live with causing you more pain than you already had to deal with, and you wouldn’t have to go outside, something that you were only doing for him, it seemed. It was a win-win, he thought, and yet his heart was torn apart, coming apart at the seams of wounds that barely healed. 

You were sitting on the ground, resting your back on a rock by the river bank, with the same guitar in your hands you have had since you were young. Neteyam thought he probably heard thousands of songs being played on that guitar, countless hours laying just like he was now, hearing you sing. He did not like humans, could not understand them, their world, their traditions, their beliefs, but watching you strum that guitar and singing about your love, a love neither of you could ever say out loud except in this way, he realised humans did some things right. Humanity did you right. 

“We were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go

As if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead, leading us home”

Neteyam watched you intently, and was trying to assimilate the lyrics as best he could, knowing this was always your preferred method of communication, knowing that through these songs you are confessing your true, buried desires. You looked at him as you sang, giving him a big smile.

“And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends

I'd never walk Cornelia Street again

That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend

I'd never walk Cornelia Street again”

A year and a half later, inhabiting a new body, you were not smiling anymore as you were playing this, the strumming on the guitar slower and more sorrowful, and your voice sounded hoarse, like you had been crying. Neteyam couldn’t believe that you would come here, in his and your secret place and sing the song you silently confessed your feelings to, after what he saw. He felt his anger poison his body, as his heart picked up pace and made his heartbeat ring painfully in his ears, muffling the sound of your voice. 

“I never did walk Cornelia Street again after that day, you know? I kept my promise.” 

Neteyam freezes in place, a shocked expression marring his features. You heard him, even with your back to him, even while playing and with the soft hum of the river to dull your senses, you knew. Felt him, his presence that charged this clearing like the air before lighting strike. He, however, does not seem to hear the hint of sadness in your voice, nor the sniffling that accompanies it. 

“It took me a while to figure out you weren’t going to come back. It did not dawn on me right away. I thought you were just training hard, as you had been for years at that point, I didn’t think anything of it. I only figured it out a month after I played you this song, when my birthday came and you didn’t show. I waited all day. Way past eclipse, way past the point everyone else was gone and sleeping peacefully, I waited. I didn’t sleep that night. I was afraid I was going to miss you and no one would be able to let you through the door. It never occurred to me you wouldn’t show - not until the dawn of the next day. That’s when it hit.”

“I remember singing you this song, I was terrified. I mean, we talked around it all of our lives, I sang you songs, and I read you poems, and you’d sleep in my bed and let me attach myself to you in a way no friend ever would. But this song, I thought, would be the one. The one that would make us finally have to talk through it. The night before, I had watched an episode of Gilmore Girls, right? And it’s that episode when Dean pitches up at Rory’s school after she drops him hints that she’s in love with him, and he gets mad for one reason or another and then she screams at him “I love you, you idiot!”. And he drops all the stuff he was holding and rushes to her and kisses her, like really kisses her. And I remember thinking, I’m going to sing you this song, and this will be my “I love you, you idiot” moment.”

Neteyam walked slowly towards your form that was still turned around from him, and felt two forces tugging at him, ripping him apart. On one hand, there was the rage, and jealousy, the monster that wanted to scream at you, to hurt you for breaking his heart without even acknowledging it. On the other, there was deep sadness and grief, for the new information that he is receiving, for knowing what this meant to you, what he did to you, how he left you the day that you confessed, how that only strengthened his resolve. He didn’t know which was going to win. 

“I never had any expectations. I was never delusional enough to think that you would ever choose me. But I did have dreams. And in the dreams, you told me you loved me too, and that whatever it was, we would always be able to work through it together. That day after my birthday, I felt like something ripped apart in me that I’ve never recovered from. I’ve lost so much of myself throughout the years, every time something new came up. I’ve been in pieces, broken and shattered, my whole life, and yet somehow you managed to walk away with the biggest piece. Because I could never put you in a drawer at the bottom of my desk, like all my other pieces. You were never truly gone, you were just far enough that I could never reach you, but near enough that I could never heal. I mourned you, mourned the me that you took with you, every day for months. Losing you broke me, Neteyam. You broke me. I will never forgive you for that night.”

“Well I guess we’re both fucking disappointed with each other then.” 

Neteyam saw you shoulders hunch even more than they were and your head bow towards the ground. You hand raised to your cheeks and wiped something off your face, before you finally stood up and and turned around, facing him. Neteyam’s breath caught in his throat at the new sight. Your eyes were puffy and red, and tears marked your cheeks, so pronounced it was as if they would stain your face forever. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He felt his own tears threatening to spill then, pricking at his eyes painfully, begging to be released. There was so much pain inside of him, pain you caused him, pain for the hurt he knew he caused you, pain that felt like it will never diminish. 

“You’re sitting here, talking about that night and this song, in this place that once meant so much to us, after giving yourself to another man, to my fucking brother, and you want me to feel bad?”

He saw your face slowly register his words, as if you were mulling over every word carefully, turning it in your mind, and saw how your face went from sad to cold and unflinching and a shiver ran down his spine. You rose an eyebrow at him, an expression only he seemed to have the power to coax out of you. 

“What did you just say?” 

“You heard me. I saw you. I saw you in the forest, his hands all over you, I saw you running your hand up and down his arm. I’ve known he has been sneaking in your tent for weeks. What are you doing with my baby brother in your tent late at night, Y/N?”

FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF STAGE II: ANGER

“You honestly have some fucking nerve, Neteyam.” 

“You do not get to come here, come to this place, or any place for that matter and demand an explanation from me. I don’t owe you anything. You fucking left, Neteyam! We’re nothing to each other. Whatever claim or right you might have had once to ask anything of me or from me is long gone.” 

Neteyam stalked towards where you were standing, your words echoing in his mind. He was mad, mad at you for what you did, but also mad at himself. Because he knew you were right. He had no right to come here after abandoning you and the relationship you two had and be angry that you moved on. And yet he was. 

He was so close to you now he could feel your breath fanning over his face as you looked up at him, panting with anger, lips slightly opened. He couldn’t help look at them, those lips he has dreamed about for years, the way they’d feel on him, their taste… your taste. It was driving him insane, being so close to you, knowing what he knew. 

“Why? Why Lo’ak? You could have picked anyone else.”

You chuckled bitterly. “Really? So if I picked Akoa or Tärze, you wouldn’t be here right now, wouldn’t be mad and looking at me like somehow I betrayed you?” 

“Or is it possible it doesn’t actually matter who it is, it’s not the fact that it’s Lo’ak… it’s the fact it’s not you.” 

“You see, I think deep down you know it should have been you. I think deep down it kills you that you are not in my tent late at night. You’re not the one that gets to touch me.” he felt your hand place over his bare chest and run it down his abdomen until it reached his red loin cloth, which you slightly tugged at. He felt his cock twitch in response. 

You don’t know what came over you. You came here to mourn, still reeling after your conversation with Lo’ak. You never expected to see him here, hear his presence while you sang the song that once signified hope and love, and now is just a bitter reminder of all you’ve lost. You definitely never expected him to question you over Lo’ak, or be so angry over something that would never happen anyway. 

You were furious with him, furious that he never told you how he felt for you, and now he was clearly showing it to you by his displays of anger and jealousy. This was not how this was supposed to go. 

You felt a sick satisfaction at his demeanour. You made him like this, this angry, nose flared and panted breaths, you had this power over him. Just the thought of you with another man drove him to this point, and you loved it. He deserved it, deserves much worse. 

“You should leave, Neteyam.”

You started turning your back to him, but he took hold of your arm and kept you in place forcefully. His other hand went to your neck, and you felt him wrapping his hand around it and squeezing. 

“No.” 

You were shocked at his actions, and even more shocked at the immediate reaction your body had to him. You felt throbbing deep within you, and squeezed your thighs tightly together to accommodate for the feeling. 

“I’m not leaving until you tell me. Did you fuck my brother, Atan (light)?” 

He was still squeezing your throat, and you felt your pulse quickening when he moved and took a hold of you jaw, forcing you to look in his eyes. He looked mad, sad, desperate for an answer that would either mend or break him. You felt his intense stare in every cell in your body and felt yourself clench around nothing. 

You wanted to lie, wanted to see him suffer at least some of the hurt he’s caused you. But you couldn’t, not with how he was looking at you, not with how he was holding you. 

“Fuck you, Neteyam. I would never do that. Fuck you for thinking for a second that something like would ever even cross my mi-“

It wasn’t possible for you to finish the sentence, as his lips roughly slammed against yours, and you immediately, as if your body needed no input from your mind, raised your hands to the circle around his neck, pushing him closer to you. 

You moaned into the kiss, and the sound removed any ounce of sanity or self-discipline from his being, and he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss and slide his tongue over your bottom lip, begging for permission. 

He felt his hand drop back around your throat, squeezing, loving the feel of your quickened pulse, knowing he was responsible for it, for your swollen lips and dilated pupils, for the way you were squeezing your thighs together. You were his, to love, to touch, to do whatever he wanted to. 

He was so hard now, his loincloth was constricting around him painfully, and he knew if he kept going, he was not going to able to stop himself until you were writhing underneath him, until he made you beg and scream his name over and over, all night long. 

“Pathfinder, this is Devil Dog, come in, over.” 

Fuck. 

Your body ached at the loss of contact, as Neteyam removed his hand from around your throat and his lips from your own. He was panting, and tried to steady himself before he touched the little button on the radio on his neck, sighing deeply. 

“I’m here, Devil Dog. What’s your post? Over.” 

You turned your back to him, and took a few steps towards the river, trying to compose yourself. What the fuck did I just do? This was bad, for so many reasons, it was making you dizzy just counting them all. You couldn’t hear what Jake was saying to Neteyam, but it couldn’t have been good, it was very rare Jake would use the radio to communicate with his kids, you’ve only seen it once when there was a hunting accident that needed everyone’s attention. 

“You need to get back to the village, now. We have a situation. If Y/N is with you, bring her back, too. Over and out.” 

Shit, this can’t be good, Neteyam thought to himself. He looked over at you and saw you turned your back to him, hiding. You were good at that, pretending, denying, avoiding. Pushing your feelings aside was your favourite defence mechanism, had been ever since your mum died. 

His eyes softened and he felt stupid for having doubted you, for spending so many weeks losing sleep over something that never even happened. Guilt also immediately pooled in his gut from the kiss, the confession, the implications of it, all of which things he would have to deal with sooner or later. The horror at the thought of the consequences of his actions made his skin crawl, but he didn’t have too much time to dwell on it, knowing his dad expected them to hurry.

“Hey… we have to get back, dad said to meet him in the village.”

You nodded weakly in his direction, and started making your way towards the village. Once again, he found himself having to clasp your arm by your wrist and turn you around so you could face him. You refused to look at him, so he cupped your face in his hand and raised you head gently so you could look at him. His thumb was ghosting over your lips, that were still swollen and when his eyes met yours, he saw a sadness so deep it made Pandora’s oceans feel like shallow pools. 

“We need to talk, properly talk.” 

You just nodded silently and removed his hand from your face, and the last thing he saw was your back, walking away. 

You were deep in thought as you arrived in the village, and were pulled out of your musings when you saw a big commotion happening all around you. You have never seen the village like this.

There was a crowd of people by the big bonfire, so that’s where you and Neteyam figured to look first. 

“…and no matter what comes next, we will stand and fight, together!” You heard big screams and ululating as Jake’s voice boomed throughout the village, above all the noise. 

You saw Norm and Max, all the humans and avatars on the right of the Olo’yektan. On his left stood Mo’at, Neytiri and all their children, plus Spider. Lo’ak was screaming and beating his chest, whilst Kiri looked concerned, and Tuk was almost crying, with a tight grip on her mum’s hand. You made your way through the mass of people, reaching the foot of the large tree stump acting like a platform. Jake spotted you and helped you up, and you saw Neteyam following you from the corner of your eye. 

Since the speech was done, people started dissipating, and Jake turned his attention to the pair of you. 

“Last night, Neytiri and I spotted a star in the night sky that shone brighter than it ever had before.” 

Panic rose in your chest at his words, words that you knew could only mean one thing. “The humans are returning.” you said, meekly. 

Jake nodded in your direction with anger flashing across his face, before he composed himself. 

“We knew this day was coming, but it is definitely different when it is finally happening than the image you had in your head.” you heard Norm pitch in from somewhere behind Jake. 

“How long?” Neteyam asked. 

“About a week?” Max said, and the man with such a kind and gentle face was scared, you realised sadly. Everyone was scared. 

“Fuck.” Neteyam’s face was unreadable. The war he trained all his life for was finally on his doorstep. 

“I need you to complete your Iknimaya before then. Tomorrow, you will go perform your first kill. You are more than ready. It’s time. When the humans come, I need you with me. With us.”

You couldn’t swallow the lump that has formed in your throat enough to speak, so you just nodded. You were not ready. The last time you were on an Ikran, you almost died. You felt the phantom pain on your left leg flare up, and you were terrified at the prospect of another flashback triggering as you were fighting for your life on top of the Hallelujah mountains, trying to make the bond. 

The crowd eventually dispersed and everybody went back to their homes. There was a heaviness in the air, no smiles or singing tonight, no communal dinner where people animatedly exchange stories and anecdotes; you saw Na’vi hugging their loved ones, keeping them close at all times, as if letting go would mean letting go forever. The war was upon you, and with it, the possibility of loss and grief settled in the bones of every one of the villagers. 

You felt sick to your stomach. A shiver ran through your entire body, and, at the weakness that enveloped your being suddenly, you knew the effects of all the pills you took to mitigate your symptoms have worn off. The dizziness you felt was more than just a weak headache you could ride out, but a sign your human body was fighting to maintain the neurolink inside the pod. You didn’t have much time. 

“I’m gonna go to bed. See you all tomorrow.” You needed to be in your tent when you passed out, otherwise it would raise suspicion immediately and you couldn’t afford that. 

“Hey, you can’t leave. We still need to talk.” Neteyam said, lightly tugging at your arm. 

“Not today, Neteyam.” You removed your limb from his grasp and left without giving him a second look. 

You were pulled out of the linkpod quite violently by your own body recoiling in agony. You felt a stupid ping of gratefulness at the fact that, although due to horrible news, at least no one was in the lab or adjacent hubs at the current moment. You struggled to get up, and found the walk back to your room excruciating, like no matter how much you walked, it was not anywhere in sight. When you arrived, you went straight to the bathroom and barely managed to make it to the toilet before throwing up, your body violently convulsing in on itself, trying to expel everything from your body. You haven’t had a proper meal in this body in months, so all your body was managing to get rid of was bile, bitter and acidic on your tongue. 

When you were done, you pushed your body weakly towards the sink, and gargled the bad taste away with some water and mouth wash. You peered up at the mirror, and were alarmed by the face that met your gaze. You barely recognised yourself. Your face looked ghastly, the palest you have ever been, the hollows of your cheeks looking like pits of shadows and darkness. 

Your under-eye bags gave away how little sleep you were actually functioning under, how little rest you actually got in the last few months. You looked truly sick, although you didn’t know how much of that was the virus and how much it was just you… ignoring your body like you ignored everything that you had to work through, everything that required healing and spiritual effort, and trading it for a easy-to-digest fantasy.

You made your way towards your bed limply and was comforted by the bottles of pills you saw on your bedside table, that will provide fleeting relief. You passed out on the bed soon after, happy that the suffering could be over for at least some hours. 

You woke up a couple of hours before dawn, with a raging fever and chills running up and down your spine, and instead of struggling back to sleep, you got up slowly and put some clothes on, making your way towards the labs. Today was an important day, and you needed to be focused for it, you couldn’t afford the same thing as yesterday take place. In the medical ward, you scrambled in the drawers until you found what you were searching for. The holy grail, injectable morphine. You hastily grabbed a syringe and a needle, measured out the amount needed, shook the syringe to remove any air bubbles, and directed it to your arm, where you injected it in your vein. Placebo effect or not, you felt immediate relief, and you knew this would put you through the day. 

Norm came to the linkpod to help with the neurolink, and he gave you a worried look as he watched you settle in. 

“I think you should be taking a break from this.”

“Are you serious right now? The humans are literally circling the atmosphere as we speak, I can’t afford to take breaks now, you know this.”

“What I know is that you look about a week away from collapsing in my arms, and your Avatar won’t work without you, Ace. You’re always in the village, and you don’t sleep. You’re always running experiments when you are here. Look, I love your enthusiasm, and I love that you’ve finally getting outside and enjoying your life, but there’s also too much of a good thing.” 

You were started to feel anger pick at your brain, much like the virus you were carrying with you everywhere you went. 

“You made this for me. You made me this Avatar. You guilt tripped me into taking it. Now you’re unhappy I’m using the Avatar. Why don’t you make up your mind and let me know, Norm? In the meantime, I have to go.”

You lay in the on the pod and placed the metal frame on top of your body, and you couldn’t miss the tear that fell on Norm’s face as he closed the lid of the pod. 

It was still before dawn when your consciousness woke up in the blue body you’ve come to love so much, and you couldn’t help feel immense guilt at the words you spat at Norm. He doesn’t deserve any of this; he has been a surrogate uncle for you ever since you were born. He made you an Avatar, he built you a guitar. He helped you go outside and live your life, he was always there for you if you needed to talk, or vent. He has always believed in you, in your capacity to help, to do good, to overcome your grief. You would have to apologise to him come nighttime. 

You saw Jake make his way to you as you opened the flap to your tent. “Hi, kid.” Tensions were running high, you could tell, as Jake did not smile or make light conversation, as he always tended to do. He would always take the time to check in, to make sure you are doing well, which you appreciated massively. You loved having him and the rest of the family around. It felt like you belonged, for the first time in your life. 

“So you, Neteyam, Akoa and Heesu will go and they will watch you perform your first kill. Early tomorrow, we will go take the Iknimaya, and then you will be able to join Neteyam on raids and scouting. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good, boss.” You saw him crack a tiny smile at that, and felt better you could still make him smile, even in these circumstances.

Neteyam came out of the tent looking… so good it made your mouth fill with saliva. He was holding his bow tightly in his hands, and he was adorning new jewellery, you noted. A beautiful black necklace, filled with beads and impressive craftsmanship, his red and green cummerbund tightly wrapped around his ribcage, and his knife tucked on his hip, all came together to bring about Neteyam Te Sulli Tsyeyk’itan, the future leader of the Omaticaya. But what really drew your eye, was a bracelet. A green bracelet that he kept around his arm, whose every bead and stone was imprinted in your mind, for the rest of time. Why was he wearing that bracelet, why now? What was he trying to tell you?

Neteyam found his gaze drawn to the girl next to his dad, the only girl that existed, as far as he was concerned. He barely slept last night thinking of you, of that kiss, of your confession, of the song, and he knew he had to make it right sooner rather than later. The humans were coming, not one of them knew what their lives were going to look like in a few weeks, and there was so much to set straight, the thought made him nauseated again. He had to tell you. Your eyes found his and he saw many emotions passing through them, and was happy to see at least one of them was passion, and yearning. You looked at him like you wanted to do things Eywa would disapprove of, and he felt himself twitch in pain for what felt like the millionth time recently. 

Neteyam led the pack away from the village and towards the forest where you would have to make your first kill. He had no doubt in his mind you would do well, he honestly doesn’t know why it has taken so long to do it to begin with. You’ve been ready for weeks. After stalking quietly through the forest for a couple of hours, you found a herd of Yerik. Neteyam closed his gap on you and placed a hand on your back, smiling to himself at the way you shuddered when he did. 

“You’ve got this. We’ve been through this and you are ready. Remember, keep a knee on the ground for support. Good luck.”

You nodded without looking at him, eyes plastered on one of the animals peacefully grazing on a bush. He saw you, focused and determined, aiming the arrow with precision and power, and he knew then you were made for this. You were made to be here, as one of the people, you were meant to be Na’vi. 

You made quick work of the kill, and immediately got up from your crouched stance and made your way to the now fatally injured Yerik. You removed your knife from where it was placed on your chest, and repeated the words he taught you weeks ago. “Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan, ulte ngaru seiyi irayo (I See you, Brother, and thank you). Ngari hu Eywa salew tirea, tokx 'ì'awn slu Na'viyä hapxì (Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the People).”

Perfect, just like he knew you would do. You were nervous, he noted, but you also seemed happy to have finally done it, after all this time training. All four of you made your way back to the village, the two men accompanying you carrying the animal by its legs. Neteyam wanted to talk to you, wanted to get you alone so he can finally tell you all the things he had to say, that he needed to say, the secret that has plagued him for weeks and that drove a wedge between him and his baby brother. Unfortunately, it seems like the universe fated you to never be alone with him again. Right after you arrived at the village, Jake took all of you to gun practice and through strategy meetings about how to plan an attack once the Sky People decelerated. Those lasted the whole day, and before he knew it, you left to your tent again, leaving him to deal with his dad on his own. 

“Neteyam. Stay, I want to talk to you.”

“Yes, Senpul (dad)?”

“Did you tell her yet?” 

“Not yet. I’m trying to find some time, but it seems like we are never together alone anymore.”

Neteyam saw his dad sighing heavily and was scared for the hell he knew would rain down on him sooner or later.

“Neteyam, you have to tell her. You have asked us to keep your secret, and we have. We have all participated in this, and I am getting tired of lying for you. The kids don’t want to lie to her anymore, your mother doesn’t want for this to be a secret anymore. She deserves to know.” 

“You will tell her by the end of the week, or I will.” 

Your body convulsed as your mind woke up in your human form, and you tried to hide it as best as you could so whoever was helping you get disconnected wouldn’t notice. To your disappointment, it was Max. 

“Hey, sweetheart. How was it today?”

“Good, made the first kill. Going up the Iknimaya tomorrow, which can’t say I am particularly excited about.” 

“Oh, honey, you shouldn’t worry about it. It’s going to be completely different than that dreadful day. You are going to be able to control it, you will be connected to it. Plus Toruk has never been spotted this close to the banshee rookery, so there will be nothing making your Ikran nervous.”

“Yeah, guess you are right.” You said, not wanting to tell Max that rationalising it doesn’t achieve anything except making you feel stupid for being scared. “Where’s Norm?”

Max looked agitated for a second, but tried to compose himself enough to appear nonchalant about the subject. “Um, I think he’s in his room, he told me he wants to read this book he still hasn’t gotten around to, if you can believe that. He's been here for almost 19 years, you’d think there’s be nothing new to do here anymore.” 

You hoped you weren’t as bad a liar as seemingly everyone you have come across recently, otherwise your illness is not as much of a secret as you’d hoped. 

“He told you.”

“Yeah…” 

“I was such a dick. I have to apologise. I’ll go find him.”

“Maybe give him some time? He looked really upset, and I think he just needs to lick his wounds by himself for a while.”

“I didn’t mean it, Max. I am just tired and stressed because of the Iknimaya and the humans returning, not that that’s any excuse.” 

“I know, honey. He will be alright, just give it time. Time heals everything.”

You could only pray that was the case, for Norm….and for yourself.

You woke up the next morning groggy, feeling sick from your illness and sick from all the pills you ingested last night. If this was starting to be a problem, it was a problem you were gonna have to deal with later. Pandora’s box can hold a couple more issues for the time being. You made your way quietly to the medical ward and found the morphine vial you used yesterday. Withdrawing a few more millilitres, you injected yourself in the arm with it, instant relief flooding your system. You sighed happily and thought this was probably the closest you’ve ever gotten to feeling euphoric. 

Your Avatar body looked ready to tackle the Iknimaya, in all new garbs and a new necklace that Kiri made for you recently, as well as Lo’ak’s visors. Tuk and Neytiri were braiding your hair fresh, so you were all ready to go by the end of the eclipse. Feeling how nervous you were, Neytiri put her hand on your heart, and looked into your eyes and she placed the last feather in your hair. 

“It will be alright, ma 'ite. You have done better than any other Dream Walker ever has. Even better than the Toruk Makto. I know you are scared because of what happened in the past, but you have grown so much since then. You are such a special child, a gift from Eywa. There’s light in you no darkness can snuff out, and you were made to be one of us. Do not worry.” 

You let out a small cry and hugged the woman that could have been your mother in these 9 years after you lost your own, who has loved you and protected you every chance she got, that wanted to take you in the village and raise you as one of the people, but who you pushed away out of fear, out of terror at the possibility of more loss, more pain. She never held a grudge, she never turned her back on you, even after shunning them from your life, she understood you and welcomed you back with open arms as soon as you felt ready to join them. She saw you. You will never be able to repay her kindness.

“We’ll be with you. Kiri and I will fly and bring Tuk on one of our Ikrans. Spider, Lo’ak, Neteyam and Jake will come on their Pa’li with you and make the climb. It will be good practice for them. We all want to celebrate with you. We can all join you on your first flight, so this way it will be less scary.” 

You were fully crying in the crook of her neck now, unable to believe the luck you had to having been born somewhere where the Sullys existed at the same time. There was a lot of pain in your life, but this family would always be your good karma, it seemed. 

The climb was the most excruciating thing you have ever had to do. Every muscle in your body was pushed to its limits, and you were beginning to wonder how you were supposed to fight a huge animal after all of this. You understand now this is why this was the ultimate test of becoming a hunter, and why there were not many hunters in the Omatikaya. The thought brought a gust of confidence to your mind - you were doing this. You. You’ve gotten so far, further than any scientist on Pandora ever has. You grew up in a lab with severe agoraphobia and unsolved trauma and you still made it here. You will do this, because you have to. Because you’ve come so far. 

It was taking every ounce of discipline to not continuously stop and stare at the beauty of the Hallelujah mountains, that you have heard so much about, but never experienced for yourself, and you realised you needed to swallow often to compensate for the dryness you felt from your mouth being stuck agape in awe at the beauteous miracle. 

You found yourself peering up at Neteyam frequently throughout the climb, and thoughts about yesterday made your already drugged-out mind even airier. There was so much to think about, so much to talk about, but you couldn’t handle it right now. You couldn’t handle the consequences of that kiss and the hurt that would inevitably emerge from your star-crossed fate. You were dying. Although you didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to acknowledge the reality that your body was falling apart in front of you, it was happening. You probably had another couple of weeks before your heart gave out from all the strain the virus was putting on your whole body, just like it happened with all the other victims. 

As if he could feel you, Neteyam turned around and gave you a nervous look. You wondered what he thought of everything, how he felt. Was he happy about the kiss? Did he regret it? In his defence, he has been wanting to talk to you for days and you avoided him, unable to deal with him at the moment. He will just have to be another trinket in the Pandora’s box until you finished the Iknimaya. Making it to a large suspended boulder before you, he stretched out a strong arm for you, and you took it, happy to have at least some physical contact between you. His touch has always calmed your nerves, from when you were children, and now, as adults, that still hasn’t changed. 

He didn’t let go once you climbed next to him. Taking advantage of the fact you two were the last to climb, he took hold of your arm with one hand, and placed the other on your face, cupping it gently. His thumb found its way to your lips again, caressing them softly and you felt intoxicated from his touch. He brought his face close to yours and brought your foreheads together, breathing you in. You stood like this, staring at each other for a while, and it was like all the words you wanted to say to each other were spoken wordlessly. I love you. I see you. I’m sorry. 

“Are you guys coming or what?” You heard Spider screaming from a higher up boulder, and you reluctantly let go. He squeezed your arm one more time, and then motioned for you to climb in front of him. You weren’t far off now, you realised, and felt your heart picking up pace in your ribcage. 

Soon enough, you were there. You could hear thousands of banshees screaming and cooing, and you thought it was mirroring your internal dialogue quite well, loud and incoherent. Neteyam held a hand in front of your body as you made your way across a narrow ledge behind a waterfall, that connected the cave to the banshee nest. 

“Ok, kid. This is it. Are you ready?” Jake began speaking and you were trying to focus on him instead of the panicked feeling rising in your chest. 

As you were preparing to respond, you heard loud ululating from the sky, and immediately saw two beautiful banshees making their way to the mountain and settling in the cave you just left behind. You smiled at the view, excited that Neytiri, Kiri and Tuk could make it in time. They followed you to the nest and you brought your curled fingers to your forehead, greeting them warmly. I see you.

“Good luck, sister! I cannot wait to fly with you!” Tuk’s enthusiasm never failed to bring a wide smile to your face. 

You looked around at all the people who have travelled so far to come and be with you on this day. Your family, for all intents and purposes. You felt tears coming, but pushed them away with a sigh, trying to toughen your resolve. You gave one last look to Lo’ak, who was watching you sadly, the pain from yesterday still fresh in both your minds. You loved him so much, and hoped he would be able to forgive you in time. You touched his gift, now resting on your forehead, and gave him a grateful smile and a wink. He cracked a small grin and you knew then that your relationship wasn’t totally in ruins. 

“This is it, Atan. Now you must choose your Ikran. If it also chooses you, move quick, like I’ve showed you. You will have one chance. I will be behind you in case you need any help. Please don’t fall off a cliff, I don’t think my heart could take it again.” 

You laughed a little at his attempt of diffusing a situation. It wasn’t his best attribute. 

“Ok then, let’s dance.” 

Neteyam watched as you made your way through the Ikrans, and how they all flew away in fear at your sight - beautiful banshees that made him miss his own and reminisce about his own Iknimaya. You looked ready - powerful and confident, like you have always belonged here, with them. You were swinging your yìmkxa (mouth binder) and approaching each Ikran forcefully, hissing at them to hopefully provoke the right one. Eventually, a big banshee, bigger than his and most others he’s seen around, turns around to face you and does not remove itself from your path in the same way all the others had. It is a beautiful animal, white and gold with purple and pink wings and green stripes on its head, it looked different than any other in the village. Fitting, he thought. This was it.

He heard a loud hiss coming from where you were stood. The Ikran hissed back wildly and charged towards you. His heart was getting ready to exit his body at its speed and power, and he was panting in fear and anticipation, ready to jump in at any moment’s notice, in case you needed it. He saw you remove yourself quickly, skilfully, out of the animal’s way and wrap the yìmkxa around its mouth. Good, first step done. 

You then took a hold of your queue and jumped on the Ikran’s back, placing your thighs around its neck and squeezing with all of your might. The Ikran wrung its neck in an attempt to escape you, but you worked on this for months preparing for this day - you were not letting go. Neteyam saw the banshee make its way towards the edge of a cliff, and you wrapped the arm that wasn’t holding the queue around its neck for more support. 

Neteyam felt like he was going to pass out from the stress, and saw the next moments happen in slow motion, just like almost 7 years ago when you fell mid flight: the ikran managing to drop off the cliff, his wailing scream and immediate desire to join you, the hands of his mother and father wrapping around him keeping him in place, his own ikran dropping from a cliff at the sound of his call, him removing his parents’ hands forcefully and running towards his banshee, scrapping his arm painfully on the rock and the stabbing throb that followed, the feeling of a fresh injury and blood spilling down his arm, and yet still, no other thoughts in his mind than the need to save you, to right his past wrongs. 

He makes the bond quickly and before anyone could stop him, he’s in the air, flying around the rock and beneath it, trying to see where you could be. He was shocked to find you still on your ikran, holding for dear life while the animal was flying upside down, shaking itself furiously to get rid of you. He saw you drop the arm you were using to hold on to it, only managing to hold on by the strength in your thighs, and connected the queues with a loud yell.

“STOP!” He heard you scream. “TURN AROUND, NOW!” 

He couldn’t believe his eyes. You made your Tsaheylu, upside down, mid-flight. He watched as the banshee turned around and made its way back to where his family was, and he still had no words he could say to explain or describe what he was feeling in that moment. It was beyond words. He felt his arm twitching painfully and he quickly looked at it and saw the deep scratch that was leaking blood and staining his loincloth where his arm was laying. 

You did it. You actually did it. This little prick came at you with all her might and you still held on to her. You learnt a lesson or two from riding a banshee as a 13 year old defenceless human, and the most important lesson was: hold on for dear life. Good to see it came in handy. You also made it a point to thank Neteyam for making you hang upside down in trees to shoot down targets, you can see now it helped. You landed at the base of the rookery and watched as every one of your family members was smiling and yelling, cheering loudly for your accomplishment. They looked so happy, and you couldn’t help shed a small tear and the sight. 

These were your people, for the remainder of this short life, and you were happy you got to do this before you went. Happy you got to see them together, for you. You looked around at Neteyam and couldn’t see him, but then heard a loud, excited yelp from behind you. He looked so happy and proud, your heart swelled at the sight. This man would be the death of you, you knew. You loved him so much, and you knew it was time, time to talk through it. 

“First flight seals the bond.” he screams over the noise of the banshees and the waterfall. “Let’s go.”

The entire family called for their ikrans, and in less than a minute, you were airborne. You told your banshee to fly gently and straight, and held on tightly to her neck while you tried to adjust to all these new overwhelming emotions. The feeling of flying was incredible, so much more so than you remembered. Maybe because this time you were in control. The feeling of the Tsaheylu... Lo’ak was right, it was so much stronger than the Pa’li, the connection you had with this animal. You knew you were bonded for life, shared a kinship and bond no one could break until one of you died, maybe even after. The feeling of belonging, as you watched 5 other ikran fly alongside yours and help you through your first of many adventures in the sky. You felt grateful and happy to have made it so far before the inevitable end.

You made it at the village soon after eclipse, laughing and dancing while you walked back, hand in hand with Kiri who was rolling her eyes at you but joining in anyway. Tuk was holding your other hand, and you lifted her up and carried her all the way back while she played with your braids. 

As you arrived to your tent, you saw the rest of the family go into their own, with the promise you’d join after dropping all of your stuff. Neteyam stayed behind, closing his distance to you and only stopping when he was so close to you his chin was touching your forehead. It was only then you saw his arm, dried blood spilt everywhere and marring his beautiful blue stripes. His loincloth was also red, you noted, and saw the gash that was the culprit, high on his arm, still red and bleeding, although not enough to justify this much blood. It must have been bleeding for a while.

“What the hell happened to you?!” You said with a panicked voice.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” 

You raised and eyebrow at him and rolled you eyes, and pulled him to your tent by his uninjured arm. 

“Sit. I will clean and stitch it and then we can go for dinner.” 

He did as he was told, quietly sitting on the ground while you gathered supplies: some gauze, disinfectant, numbing cream, stitches and a needle driver, as well as some forceps and scissors. He squirmed at the sight, and you rolled your eyes again.

“You drive me crazy when you roll your eyes at me, you know? I would kill to be the reason your eyes roll in the back of your head at night.”

You blushed at his words, and sat next to him on the ground.

“You have to stop, Neteyam. We can’t do this again.”

You turned your focus on his wound, and began cleaning it slowly so as to not injure him further. 

“I can’t stop, Atan. I can’t think of anything else. I have so much I want to say to you, so much I need to get off my chest.”

He sounded sad, desperate for you to hear him out, his eyes pleading and pained. 

“How about we talk, after dinner? This time, you can be the one sneaking in my tent late at night.” you said sarcastically, not having forgotten his outburst from earlier and realising you were still angry at him for it. 

“Yes, please.” 

You sat in silence the rest of the time, as you worked with skilled, focused hands. You stitched his wound carefully, so as to not leave him with a scar. When you finished, you smiled up at him, and reached your hand to touch his face, moving a strand of beaded hair from it and pushing it behind his ear. He was so, so beautiful. He brought a hand to your chin and was pulling you closer, when someone entered the tent without making their presence known, making you both jolt back in shock. It was a girl. You’ve seen her before in the village, she was a healer in training. Beautiful and skilled, she was a good singer and a good craftswoman, making a lot of the clothes the Na’vi hunters wore. 

“Oh, Great Mother, here you are! Your mother told me about your injury, and I had to come find you so I could help!” She kneeled down on the other side of Neteyam from where you were sitting and touched Neteyam’s chest, moving him around looking for the bleed, that was no longer there. 

“Oh, it seems much better now than what was described. I guess it’s true what they say, you really are that skilled.” She turned her attention to you and smiled. 

“Thank you. I don’t think we’ve properly met.”

“You’re right, my bad! I’m Tiongli. Neteyam’s mate.” 

It was so quiet in the room now, you were sure they could both hear your heart break into a million pieces. 

Tag list: @nuhteyam @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi @puffb4ll @sassy-persona @simp4ff @mommyneytiri @k----a27s

[krosiefics]

hotel strangers • bangchan [strangers to admirers]

Wc: 2.2k

Summary: Stray Kids goes on a vacation and even on vacation Chan still wants to work. So not being able to focus with the boys in his room he heads down to the hotel’s small cafe in the lobby, where a girl asks if she can sit near him. He leaves her with his hoodie with a little note after she falls asleep.

Tags: fluff, afab!reader, idol!bangchan, changing pov, bangchan is such a softie, he’s so kind :(, influencer!reader, student!reader, basically y/n is an student influencer (slay), workaholic!chan, strangers to admirers(?), idk sorry if I missed one.

This is also my first time publishing anything on tumblr so not rlly sure how it works yet…BUT GO CHECK OUT MY AO3 lol it’s linked at the bottom…I think

Bangchan

“Are we good?” Felix asks in a deep voice, shielding his face from the other hotel guests in the world, our manager nods at us handing us a room key. “Okay, I’ll get the others, you get the bags.” Felix complies and goes towards the cart with all our luggages. “Hey, we’re good.” I say giving a thumbs up to the boys as I walk up to them. “Great,” Seungmin sighs, “I can finally dump myself onto a bed.” I chuckle at his words and gather Hyunjin and Changbin.

“Hyung,” Jeongin pokes at me, I look at him hoping that he just tells me and doesn’t make me guess, “that baby is so cute.” I look over in the direction where he’s pointing, there is a little boy around three or four, yanking an older girl by her clothes, the girl tugs at it so that he doesn’t expose her skin. I chuckle at their interaction, and agree with Jeongin that the kid is cute.

“Chris, wait!” The girl says quickly chasing the little boy who is now tugging at my hoodie. “Huh?” I look up at her in response to my name being called- oh…the kid, right.

“Sorry about him,” the girl apologizes quickly, I just see her soft eyes from behind the face mask she’s wearing. Me still wearing mine, I smile at her- forgetting that she can’t see it but at least she’ll see my eyes- “No, no, no,” I wave it off, “he’s little it’s okay.”

“Hey buddy.” I smile at him, as I squat down to his level, his eyes scan my face looking for a sense of safety (even though he came up tugging my hoodie). He suddenly beams at me. He waves back shyly before tugging at the girl's hand, “Hungry, Auntie.” He pouts and signs to his mouth what I’d assume is ‘eat’ in sign language. His sister chuckles down at him before taking his hand, she apologetically bows once more before walking off with her little brother.

“He was so cute, hyung.” Jeongin coos as the two walk away towards the small cafe in the lobby area. I roll my eyes at him in a playful manner before gathering the others once more and making our way up stairs.

After showering and eating a few granola bars, I plop in front of the desk that’s in the hotel room and open my laptop, looking at the samples of music and lyrics I have written on the notes app. “Hey Channie hyung.” Jisung plops onto the bed, I hum at him in acknowledgment, “Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin are coming over to watch some TV and maybe play some Switch,” he says as he fiddles with the game console in his hands, “wanna play?”

“No gonna work.” Jisung pouts at me, but nonetheless turns on the TV at low volume and flips through the different channels available.

A few moments later there’s knocking at the door which only signifies that the others have arrived. A few more moments passed, I decided to put on my headphones to muffle the noise of the guys yelling and laughing, but it’s useless. I grow so agitated and annoyed at the sound, I’d never snap at them to shut up. So I just simply pick up my work stuff, shove it in a bag, and leave.

As I’m waiting in the elevator, I sigh, not knowing how to complete these lyrics or how to add the bit of snare and drum me and Changbin had sampled into the song.

I reach the lobby area and scan for a table, I remember the cafe area at the back of the hotel. I pull my hoodie over my head, covering my face. Shuffling out of the elevator to avoid any unwanted attention. I chose the back of the long table that lined the wall, so I’m further away from the ruckus that is still happening in the lobby at 11pm.

Y/N

“Augh.” I groan as I drag myself out of my hotel room with my backpack in hand. I’m so tired right now, I don’t wanna go study- ugh but I guess I’m grateful that my professor let me off with having an important event to go to. A notification pinged at my phone, I reached down to check it- another follower…wow great.

I scroll through my Instagram page and look at all the views I get on my hair transformation videos. I closed my eyes, why did I ever wanna be an influencer again?

I pushed the elevator button and it coincidentally was already on my floor. I walk in and head towards the lobby. As the elevator doors open, I’m met with so many people still in the lobby in bright colored outfits. Guess they’re going partying, I shrug to myself.

I sit near the front end of this insanely long table that lined the wall.

Opening my backpack, I connect my headphones to my phone and I slam my textbooks down onto the table and start reading through them. I do my best to block out the noise of the people in the lobby- but I can’t, they’re so freaking loud, with their laughter and their excited shouting. Ugh!

I pick up my stuff and move towards the solemn corner area where one guy seems to be studying too. I place my stuff a few seats away from him. I guess it might be disrespectful not to ask him if I can sit near him. I walk over and lightly tap his shoulder, he looks up and brings his hand to his ear to take off one of his headphones. “Sorry, can I sit here? It’s too loud over there to study.”

“Oh sure,” He smiles at me, “that’s the same reason I came over here.” He looks familiar, I don’t know from where- oh that’s right, from the lobby with Chris. I thank him before going back to my sitting area and begin my torturous studying yet again.

I sit back comfortably on the booth-like chair, pull my headphones back over my ears and log into my university’s website where I can rewatch pre-recorded lessons on the day's subject.

Bangchan

My eyes flicker over to the girl that’s sitting near me, I recognized her as the girl in the lobby with the baby from earlier. Her soft eyes gave it away. She’s hunched over jotting stuff down in her textbook while simultaneously scanning the computer screen. I guess she’s studying.

I recenter my attention on my task at hand, the laptop screen filled with different beats and random lyrics that popped into my brain at the most random times, they’re just…everywhere on the laptop. I have so many tabs open and so many notes as well. I’m so tired already. It’s been a while since that girls been sitting there…how long? I glance at the clock on my screen, 1:24 am. Damn.

I bury my face into my palms, digging at my eyes that are threatening to close at any second.

Suddenly loud shrieks snap me out of my drifting, I look up and see two excited girls rushing my way. Oh God, did they recognize me? But my mask and hoodie are on. As the girls approached, they stood in front of the girl next to me. “Are you the Y/N?!” One of them says enthusiastically, “Huh,” The girl squints at them before shaking her head, “no, yeah I am…why?” At that, two girls squeal even more, they start rambling on how they love her Instagram reels and how they wish she could style their hair. The girl, Y/N, looks tired but tries her best to respectfully get them to leave her be. About twenty minutes later they finally leave and the tired girl slumps in her chair.

“Sorry about that,” She speaks up, I look up at her confused, “you probably wanted quiet too.” She continues with a weak tired smile, I wave her off, “It’s fine really,” I smile reassuringly, “I thought they were coming towards me if I’m being honest.” Her brows furrowed in confusion, “You an influencer too?” I chuckle lightly at that and nod slightly, “I guess you could say that.”

“What’s your name?” She smirks.

“Chris or Chan, either one really.”

“Y/N.” She states before smiling to herself and turning back to her laptop.

We both go back to the work we had previously been doing. An hour later a thump sound made me look up, Y/N had slumped on her computer and fallen asleep. I rub my eyes and stretch my arms over my head, I tap my phone screen to check the time yet again, it’s almost 3 am. The screen filled with notifications from Jisung and Changbin wondering where I was this whole time. I text them back that I’ll be up in a bit. I glance back over at Y/N, I shouldn’t just leave her here.

The A/C unit rumbled overhead causing her to flinch slightly as cold air blew towards her, she didn’t wake though. I quickly remove my hoodie and place it over her body. I still couldn’t just leave her here, I took a small piece of paper she had scattered on the table, scribbled something before putting it in the pocket of my hoodie.

“God where is she?” A voice suddenly neared us, I flinched away from her, pretending to pick up my stuff. “There you are! Y/N! Sis, wake up.” The girl lightly shook her awake, Y/N stirred in her sleep not wanting to get. I finish packing up my stuff and put my headphones over my ears again before getting up and hoping that that girl is actually Y/N’s sister. Guilt tok over me, imagining something bad would happen to her if she wasn't her sister, so I waited around the corner.

“What’re you doing here?” I heard Y/N say groggily, “You said you would be gone for two hours- it’s been four!” “Okay, okay.” She shuffles, the sound of paper rustling signaled to me that she’s getting her stuff together. ‘She knows her then.’ I think to myself before heading towards the elevator.

While waiting I hear their voices again.

“Oh I guess he left.”

“Who?”

“The guy who was sitting next to me..he was sweet.” Y/N yawned, “When did I get this hoodie?”

The elevator doors and I got in quickly closing it before they could catch up to it. Why is my face feeling so warm? Ugh, my stupid heart’s beating so fast.

Y/N

“When did I get this hoodie?” I yawned, touching the material that wasn’t on me prior to me sleeping. “I was gonna ask you that, you’re more of a flannel and cardigan kinda girl.” My sister, Megan, snorted. I shrug, shoving my hands into the pockets as we walk towards the elevator.

“Damn, one just left.” Megan quirks as she presses the up button. A small piece of paper rubs against my fingers, “There’s something in here.” Megan just hums at me, curiosity taking over, I pull the folded paper out, unfolding it and scanning the words scribbled on the page.

Get back to your room safe, good night.

It was nice meeting you Y/N -Chan

I smile fondly at the note, though something else caught my eye. Under his name it had an @ for Instagram. I pull out my phone from my pants pocket and quickly open the app. ‘What am I doing!? You literally spoke to him once- twice the entire time you were there! But he was cute- Y/N NO- but…’ My mind shouted and questioned many things but I nonetheless typed the username and followed the private account.

I smiled to myself as Megan and I finally reached our hotel room.

After showering I plop down on my bed ready to submerge myself into the happy depths of sleep but my phone lighting up had different plans.

I reached over to flip it upside down when an Instagram notification saying that @CBahngC accepted my follow and followed me back.

Like the weirdo I am, I look through his most recent photos and smile to myself when I see pictures of him smiling with his friends.

Wow, he really is good-looking.

I feel warmth spread through my cheeks at the thought.

The little message icon had a red dot, signifying that I had a DM flashed on the screen. I opened it with a smile, as my heart skipped a tiny beat.

CBahngC: Hi :)

Thanks for reading…this is actually on ao3 if you wanna show it some love over there as well :3

[simplegenius042]

Late Music Monday and Partners-In-Law Meme

Tagged by @imogenkol

Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton @aceghosts @noodlecupcakes @direwombat @voidika @la-grosse-patate @inafieldofdaisies @cassietrn @adelaidedrubman @shellibisshe @josephseedismyfather @icecutioner @derelictheretic @shallow-gravy @strangefable @rhettsabbott @josephslittledeputy @cloudofbutterflies92 @skoll-sun-eater @carlosoliveiraa @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @raresvtm @softtidesworld @starsandskies @ladyoriza @florbelles @minilev @yokobai @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @justasmolbard @alypink and @sledge-in-space + anyone who'd like to join.

Late Music Monday, songs for characters from The UnTitledverse, The Silver Chronicles and Life, Despair & Monsters. Not in that order though. Partners-In-Law Meme for my V, Judy and River. Songs and template below the cut:

Welp, here I go rambling about the parallels of Silva and Paul once more. Alright so, I think by now we've mostly gotten well-aware that Silva (and Paul) have not had good experiences in regards to religion. Most certainly due to the fact they were both born in a cult that abides by puritanism and fascist beliefs, which, by the time of Paul's birth, also gained a militaristic mindset with the introduction of the Enforcers when Adam took charge as their Prophet. The Congregation of Adam's Guard, on surface level, preaches and demands virtue and righteousness from its followers, to effectively become morally pure under their Prophet's watching eyes, especially if they wanted to see Paradise after the world falls to the Collapse when all seven Frozen Omens melt. To not adhere to or display any other qualities other than their "norm" was punished with extreme force, and by the time Adam came into charge, with death. Which explains why under the surface of the cult's message, is a foundation rooted in colonialism and xenophobia, tied up in a bow of hypocrisy that is used to justify all kinds of depraved and heinous actions the Congregation and their Prophet allows. Silva and Paul are both victims of the Congregations persecutions and discrimination. Both had been under the God-fearing foot of the Congregation, with Paul being amongst the segregated Tumultites and Silva enduring under Adam Omar's terror. Both Silva and Paul eventually reject the Congregation, (a) because the Congregation wants them dead, (b) long-term wise, especially under Adam's tyranny, the Congregation and the society it has built through fearmongering cannot survive the inevitable collapse from the insufficient resources that protects them from the environment and the spark of rebellion due to the less fortunate citizens living under the pressure of becoming "pure" and (c) the Congregation sucks. Silva and Paul instead adopt the Tumultite community's values and beliefs, especially of their first revolutionary leader, Jannah, who Paul especially aspires to be like. Finally, Paul and Silva, once in the modern world, while not believers in the predominant religions (especially in America), do not hold any ill-thought towards such groups; Silva rather admires some of the lessons spoken and wishes she could have the same comfort that their God gives to others, meanwhile Paul is only hostile to people who hide behind God to harm and oppress others... otherwise he's pretty agnostic to the whole thing. One things clear though; their experiences with the Congregation had irreversibly shattered their perceptions of being able to seek any kind of comfort under any deity, especially with the associated pain that haunts them to this day. The song below can fit either one of Silva or Paul or even both.

"First things first I'ma say all the words inside my head I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh-ooh The way that things have been, oh-ooh

Second things second Don't you tell me what you think that I could be I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh The master of my sea, oh-ooh

I was broken from a young age Taking my sulking to the masses Writing my poems for the few That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me Singing from heartache, from the pain Taking my message from the veins Speaking my lesson from the brain Seeing the beauty through the...

Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Third things third Send a prayer to the ones up above All the hate that you've heard has turned your spirit to a dove, oh-ooh Your spirit up above, oh-ooh

I was choking in the crowd Building my rain up in the cloud Falling like ashes to the ground Hoping my feelings, they would drown But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing Inhibited, limited till it broke open And rained down It rained down like...

Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Last things last By the grace of the fire and the flames You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh-ooh The blood in my veins, oh-ooh

But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing Inhibited, limited till it broke open And rained down It rained down like...

Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer!

Eden "Evie" Bloodleech, formerly known as Evie Jackson, was picked up and became an experiment for Sir Enigma Malvolio. Unfortunately, she survived the process and became one of his rare human successes, which was a mindset that was further encouraged by her apparent likeness for her "rebirth" and led him to continue his absurd quest to evolve humans to a level he sees as perfect for them, allowing Evie to officially join the Ruins of the Midnight Rise as both a valuable member and a prized success story. He sent her out in his stead for diplomatic purposes, allowing her to use her abilities to charm potential investors and allies to further his illicit research. Eventually she was sent back to her original universe in my An Invite To Wine And Dine WIP (set in The Invitation) to infiltrate the Alexander Family in order to dethrone Dracula and take the three families he held control under her wing... or rather tendril. And... she's rather a show-off (byproduct of being one of Malvolio's rare favorites I guess):

"There's only two types of people in the world The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe Well, baby, I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl Don't like the backseat, gotta be first (Oh, oh) I'm like the ringleader, I call the shots (Call the shots) I'm like a firecracker, I make it hot

When I put on a show I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins Spotlight on me and I'm ready to break I'm like a performer, the dance floor is my stage Better be ready, hope that you feel the same

All eyes on me in the center of the ring Just like a circus When I crack that whip, everybody gon' trip Just like a circus Don't stand there watching me, follow me Show me what you can do Everybody let go, we make a dance floor Just like a circus."

And finally, a I'm sure I've used before, but am gonna do it again because "I'm So Sorry" not only slaps, but fits the main antagonist of The UnTitledverse's first saga, Edward Carmine, quite well, if you squint. He's a menace to society and should not be in charge of any leadership roles, even as a CEO. Edward's the type of man to burn all his bridges and blame a child he manipulated for it. Diabolical man that just won't get the hint and stay dead. Extremely petty and arrogant, as antagonists like him should be. By far, amongst one of my favourite antagonist OCs (though that's probably because he's one of the first ones to be developed). Listen below:

"About time for anyone telling you off for all your deeds No sign the roaring thunder stopped in cold to read (No time) I get mine and make no excuses Waste of precious breath (No time) The sun shines on everyone Everyone, love yourself to death

So you gotta fire up, you gotta let go You'll never be loved till you've made your own You gotta face up, you gotta get yours You never know the top till you get too low

A son of a stepfather A son of a, I'm so sorry A son of a stepfather A son of a, I'm so sorry

No lies and no deceiving, man is what he loves I keep tryin' to conceive that death is from above (No time) I get mine and make no excuses Waste of precious breath (No time) The sun shines on everyone Everyone, love yourself to death

So you gotta fire up, you gotta let go You'll never be loved till you've made your own You gotta face up, you gotta get yours You never know the top till you get too low

A son of a stepfather A son of a, I'm so sorry A son of a stepfather A son of a, I'm so sorry

Life isn't always what you think it'd be Turn your head for one second and the tables turn And I know, I know that I did you wrong But will you trust me when I say that I'll make it up to you Somehow? Somehow?"

And lastly, a Partners-In-Law meme for my V (actual name Min-Ji "Vasilisa" Choi), her new partner Judy Álvarez and her amicable ex River Ward. [Note: I'm assuming affection refers to their feelings for their mutual partner. Also I never romanced River and am just taking taking whatever information I can recall or from the internet in regards to his preferences and sexuality and the information I've found (especially the wiki compared to everything else) is quite conflicting so I'm going with Bi-curious]:

[cephalonserotonin]

Devstream 180 Notes

This is a long one, folks.

brought to you by creative lead Rebb Executive Producer Dick Wolf

New dojo contest to kick off a transition to cross-save dojo world… see forum post

Pride Campaign 2024

is active now until the end of June! a new glyph, display, and wings in lovely rainbows!

Jade Shadows update coming June 18!

features a new cinematic quest: Jade Shadows. It picks up after The New War (so it's got TNW as a prerequisite) where the storyline of the Stalker left off. Rebb and the crew request that folks not spoil the quest for others after playing it. Use spoiler tags if possible! Quest runtime ~ 25 min There's a teaser for the story quest, featuring the Stalker hanging upside down like a bat:

New Warframe: Jade!

Pablo describes her as a support frame. Her passive is two aura mod slots which is kind of crazy ngl

Her kit briefly summarized:

1: throws a little mote with an AOE effect of healing for allies and increasing damage taken to enemies

2: cycle through various squad buffs. The UI art for these is really gorgeous

3: a debuff: enemies in her sight are slowed and lose armor. You also revive any dead allies in your vision.

4: floating and a zappy exalted weapon. It's kind of like Hildryn's four but basically better in every way because you can actually set off large amounts of damage and fly higher and faster. The exalted weapon has synergy with her 1 and 2.

As Pablo mentioned, Jade's abilities provide a lot of combo potential, good for any "min maxers" in the audience.

Jade's three signature weapons: the Cantare throwing knives, the Harmony scythe, and the Evensong bow (a variant on the Dread).

The Ascension game mode: "what if Warframe but up?"

Non-endless There's a giant elevator you have to feed with energy. The team's video crashed so Rebb gave what I'd call an excited 12 year old's description of the game mode instead which I loved:

There's this giant elevator that needs energy to go up. So you have to keep feeding it ionic charges so you rise out of the depths. And as you're feeding, the Corpus are there! *excitable machine gun noises* And then you're like, oh god! And then you have to, like, jump around-- but if you fall out of the elevator, you better hope you're good at parkour, and that you can read the level to get back up! and back up! and back up! And then: you have to make it to the top. But that's not all. Once you get to the top of the elevator, you gotta escape. You gotta make a run for it before the Corpus hold you back! Aahhh! Aah! Ah! …and that's Ascension. :)

Once we finally watch the video preview of the game mode later I think it looks fun. The level looks really neat; I love the graphics of the inside of the elevator. There's a new Jade Light eximus enemy here but I can't really tell any details about it quite yet.

ORDIS IN LARUNDA RELAY!

He's hosting the clan operation Belly of the Beast (featuring above Ascension game mode). In his shop is the Asteria ephemera, which evolves with community participation. Also some arcanes… and a beautiful skin for the Hate.

"If you're a hater, this is for you." Hilariously the arcanes are capped at 42 each because apparently in Gargoyle's Cry certain players went crazy burning themselves out to stock up on arcanes, and the team is trying to prevent that (and players blaming them for their own bad choices, as always). Two full sets each is more than enough, frankly.

Status Rework!

Blast now does a secondary detonation, or if hitting 10 blast procs, creates an AOE explosion. This is exactly what I have been wanting for ages so I, personally, am thrilled.

Magnetic now scales with overguard and shields the same way, and also does a secondary punch of damage (and an electric proc!) once the shield is broken.

Cold should freeze enemies more often now… and came with a free Frost rework! Now Frost's abilities give proper cold procs, thus freezing enemies, which is now standardized across his abilities. His 1 has been buffed and his 3 snowglobe has been modified (to allow shooting from in to out but not out to in). He has a new passive: his armor scales with the number of cold procs enemies have (like the defensive version of Ember).

There's a lot of testing going on right now on the interaction between ragdolling and freezing enemies.

There's a change to damage vulnerability mechanics which I didn't quite follow; seems to be mostly a simplification of the system.

Armor damage attenuation scaling, as mentioned in the last devstream, now has a cap, meaning corrosive procs should be more effective.

Yareli Deluxe

...looks like eldritch coral?

Next round of TennoGen

…finally comes with a Lavos skin, which is plague doctor themed.

Some augments (Protea's is probably OP), decrees (list shown below is incomplete), and arcanes

UI improvements!

In the upgrade screen: duplicate mod config button, indicator for substats, increased mod polarity

Augment list viewer in the abilities screen

Community customization table where you can copy others' fashions. Great news for gamers too unoriginal to make their own fashions, I guess. Coming at first for just Excalibur, Mag, Volt, and Jade.

Quick Access (fast travel wheel) for more areas like the dormizone.

UI autoscaling with resolution (to prevent tiny UI bars for people with huge resolutions), also coming with ability to scale the UI back down.

"Donut numbers" for damage view that do not cover the enemy you are shooting (old way can still be switched back to, called "cloud.")

Awakening quest has a lil fashion preview now!

Loadout hot swaps conveniently directly from the starchart!

QOL!

Cap on adversaries (liches and sisters) at 150. For the sake of database health. The programmer in me is mildly concerned that there was no limit before this.

Semi auto becoming full auto (see last devstream for more detailed description).

Automatic selection of last relic during endless relic cracks.

Streamlining necramech acquisition.

Unifying melee finishers and mercy kills (both with mechanics and appearance).

The return of Heirloom skins: starting with community art this time

First major change (from last year's disastrous heirloom launch) is the heirloom collections will now be released one warframe at a time.

Ember Heirloom is also a purchased fanartist concept!

Two paths to acquire it: a temporary paid path (for money, comes with some plat) and a plat path that will be available until next heirloom launch (and you can purchase the cosmetics individually!)

This is much better than last year's Heirloom launch, which, as aforementioned, caused a lot of community strife.

molten booty

And finally, the TennoCon 2024 schedule:

[hitomisuzuya]

omg askbox is open again ^_^ as your local childe lover i would like just. anything with smut with him & childhood friend fem reader !!

- mielle

Childe x fem!reader. Smut.

a/n: Hello! Thank you for being patient. Anyways, I love writing Childe. He makes my brain go brrrrrr like Scara does lol. Here is the pitch and I hope you enjoy. Tagging @kichikichiko @xxventiswindblumexx

You had grown up together with Childe. You even travelled with him when he did stuff for the Fatui. He wanted it that way. He knew he was strong enough to always protect you, and you were more than happy to follow him.

Childe knew you had feelings for him, and he had feelings for you as well. He'd made it more than clear that he had feelings for you, but he has never opened the window to making anything official.

And that was purely because he likes seeing you get flustered if he sweet talked you. Who could blame him wanting to enjoy that as much as he possibly could?

But now he was getting impatient.

Childe was ready to stop playing this game with you.

Sparring was like foreplay to Childe. Having sparring matches with you was one of his favorite things to do with you.

You were so strong and used to way the moved. You never gave him an inch. The more you evaded, the more turned on he became. He also loves sweet talking you just to see you get flustered and make some kind of mistake, and give him a opening.

And today, Childe was laying on his charm extra think.

"Your hips had some extra sway that time. It was a nice view for me," he chuckled, watching you fumble a bit.

"Childe, please, you are making it hard to me to concentrate," you stammered, dancing away at the last minute from his grabby hands.

"What's wrong, girlie? You had so much pep in your step before. Does hearing my voice make you that flustered?" He countered, taunting you just to see you blush.

Your eyes widened when his bow dematerialized. "What's wrong? Are you tired? Our sparring matches usually last longer than this. I didn't hurt you on accident, did I? There isn't even a clear winner," you said, immediately concerned. But you were also suspicious. In a good way. In a way that made your heart pound.

Childe never dematerialized his weapon randomly. That showed how much he trusted you.

He continued to walk towards you. "Oh, but I already am the winner. I'm about to take the spar winning point."

"What do you mean?" You asked, starting to back up.

"The final point to be scored is you. I didn't think you were that dense. But it's cute, I like it."

"Do you even hear yourself, right now. You can't be being serious." You could barely hear yourself talk over the sound of your heart thudding in your chest.

"You were so disappointed when we stopped sparring. I am starting to think you want me to sweet talk to you when we spar." He came closer.

You could do nothing but stare at him, flabbergasted. You were already starting to feel wet when you were sparring with him. But now you felt wetter.

"You can barely hold it together." Childe came closer still.

You felt your back hit the wall.

"Gotcha, now you are all mine, girlie. I hope you are ready. Are you ready for me to fuck you like you always fantasized about?" Childe caged you against the wall with his hands on either side of her head.

Your cheeks had never felt so flushed. "How did you know I did that?" You asked, feeling breathless that he was this close to you in an intimate way.

"How could I not? I hear you when you think I am asleep and not around. I hear you every time. And I love the skirt are wearing by the way. It's always been my favorite one. You wore it for me didn't you?" Childe practically purred, pushing your skirt up.

Your body quivered with anticipation. "I thought you would like it," you said, butterflies fluttering through your stomach when you finally could bring your eyes to meet his.

Childe squeezed your thigh and pushed your panties aside. He was always one cut right to the case. You moaned when he pushed two fingers inside of you.

"You are already so wet for me," Childe marveled, hooking his fingers. "I don't even have to prepare you much."

You shook your head, moving your hips into his fingers. "Please Childe, just fuck me." You pleaded, squirming against him.

"Like I was ever going to deny you that," Childe boasted. You helped him peel your panties off.

He chuckled when you helped him take his cock out of his pants. "So needy, but I like that." Groping one of your breasts, he lifted you with to wrap your legs around him.

You gasped in pleasure when he pushed his cock inside of you all at once, hitting your sweet spot instantly. Your legs tightened around him, making him groan.

Childe drove himself home relentlessly, making a bulge appear in your stomach. He stared, transfixed at it while he admired how his cock pumped in and out of you.

Each thrust made you moan louder than the last time. Childe feed off of that, determined to make you cum stronger than you ever had before he claimed you.

More less, he was fucking you up the wall.

When he felt your walls start clamping around his cock, he kissed you, his tongue domineering in your mouth.

When he felt your release soaking his cock, your curling and writhing in pleasure, Childe opted to pull out instead, cumming in your skirt and your thighs. Another show of dominance.

You clung to him, panting in time with him. He nuzzled your neck before he set you down. "Don't worry, my girlie. I'll be sure to drag out the foreplay next time until you beg me to fuck you."

[gege-wondering-around]

Not-wednesday Wip

soooooo, @dontcallpanic and @seaweed-water were soooo kind and tagged me to do this, so without a second thought i poured out whatever came to mind so, let me know if you like this so i'll know whether to pursuit this work or not (i prob will, yet it's be good to know what you think)

so so so, after all of this has been said, i can also say how both their works are amazing and how glad i am to be able to read both your works on this site; you two are amazing writers and i'm glad to be called a writer by both your sides.

so here we go:

They say there’s nothing sweeter in the word than a good mixture of love and acceptance, but sometimes people preferred the way obsessive and dangerous connections felt; a brio running down the spine, creating a deformed smirk on one’s face after something that would’ve made everybody else’s mind go in survival mode. But it wasn’t their case. Stiles always had a peculiar interest in sharp objects, mutilated bodies and myths; it was well known by then that it wouldn’t take too long for him to become the next great sage or spark given the supernatural luring him into the woods almost every night, or some evil but caring wendigo in the forest in which Derek lived. The trees were timid in his presence, curving above him in a silent bow, ‘we greet you once more’ was fearfully expressed in the shaky manner of their branches and falling leaves; Stiles was walking with a high chin and a deer head in his arms, blood soaking his clothes while a shy tray of saliva hanged by his lips mixed with the animal’s blood. Flesh putrid and grotesque, he didn’t once avert his eyes from the sweet present his lover had gifted him that late evening and let him find in front of his Jeep once he had parked it in the Preserve’s parking lot; it was the highlight of Stiles’ day, he was in desperate need to get the flesh away from the bone and enchant the skull with the cursing words Deaton was reluctant to share with him. Oh, Stiles had to cut off one of his arms to get the informations he needed but Deaton was fine, he made sure of it; he still needed a few more information the Druid could provide him, hopefully without having to cut off another limb, forcing the sweet boy to get rid of it with a chainsaw and some trash bags; he would have to stop by the butcher on his way back. Still, the pretty deer head Derek got for him was just perfect. Huge antlers, thick coat, absent eyes… It was just perfect, exactly what Stiles knew Derek could provide for him and the Nemeton; he had to get to it quickly, just in time to rip out the meat and wash the skull in the river nearby before the alpha would arrive and finally put those long fangs of his in his neck… He was ecstatic just at the thought of it; those long, sharp fangs able to cut through skin and end up drenched blood, able to kill, would finally sink in his neck and claim him. He couldn’t wait much longer, he had to get the skull to the Nemeton, so that the essence of the tree could be back in a sweet and beautiful alteration of the classical wendigo Stiles always loved. So he ran. Whistling trees, chiming spirits, dying birds and finally, even the alpha’s stomps could be felt in the ground on which he stood by the time he was a few dozens meters from his destination; by his side, in the corner of his eye he could see a colossal black wolf ran along his movements, intentionally going slower to match his pace with the boy’s. Derek was by his side like he promised he would be. Oh… Stiles was so lost in the way Derek had bared his fangs at him the first time he set foot in the forest. The black wolf was two meters tall and four and a half long, pitch void and restless muscles, bloody claws and even bloodier eyes, red as the full moon in its crimson shining; Stiles had been in love with the creature ever since and knowing that such a being reciprocated his feelings was a devilish feeling. Ah… He wanted to be the alpha’s emissary, his claimed lover even. His everything. No matter the cost.

so so so, i hope you enjoyed this!

no pressure tags @dontcallpanic @patolemus @seaweed-water @oldefashioned @demonicfaerie @hellameyers and whoever wanna share their little work!

[ditaliaa]

I’ll Keep You Warm

Jack Russell x Elsa Bloodstone

A present for @wellyourenotwrong for the Werewolf by Night Secret Santa!! I was so excited to be your Secret Santa and I hope you enjoy this!! I loved writing it for you!! This can also be found on my AO3.

Summary: With Jack wounded and on the run, Elsa leads them to a safe house for the night.

Tags: fluff and angst, domestic fluff, hurt/comfort, taking care of wounds, dancing, kind of an ‘only one bed’ fic, kissing, denial of feelings, tenderness, angst with a happy ending

Word Count: 4.2K

Perhaps Ted had been right when he said Jack had a nose for trouble, but there was little good it would do him now.

Gravel kissed his face in a biting caress as his cheek was shoved into the ground. The boot of the hunter above him crushed his back, digging into his spine as his blade rested against the tender flesh of Jack’s throat. He tried to move, but an agonizing burn tore through him as he was reminded of the wound on his side. A low whine escaped his throat as he shut his eyes.

“Stay down, dog.” The man growled.

“Jack!” His eyes flickered open at the familiar voice, gaze colliding with the cold yet worried stare of Elsa Bloodstone. Her eyes lifted to meet the hunter above him as she leveled her bow.

“Elsa,” he ground out, “it’s ok.”

Her gaze slid to his once more, quick and reluctant, but he noticed the way her bow drooped slightly in her hand.

“Oh, the great Bloodstone heir has a soft spot for the dog, does she?” The hunter crooned and Jack laid deathly still as he watched Elsa. “I think it’s time we put him down, don’t you?”

Before the blade could even move, the man was dead, falling with a dull thud beside him. Jack’s chest constricted, breaths coming tight and uneven as he scrambled away. In a moment, Elsa had made her way toward him.

“Can you walk?” She asked, eyes glancing over him quickly and he nodded.

“Yes.” He breathed. “Are you ok? Once we got split up back there I-“

“I’m fine.” She cut him off quickly.

“There’s a cabin I’ve used as a safe house not far from here.” Elsa spoke, “We need to go. There’ll be more on their way.”

Jack tailed behind her, not entirely aware of what he had managed to find himself caught up in, and trusted Elsa enough to follow. It was snowing by the time they got there, though he had barely noticed, so caught up in adrenaline he could only focus on Elsa, and keeping continued pressure on his side.

The cabin was sparse, to say the least and he was almost certain it didn’t belong to her either, if watching her try to kick the door in proved anything.

“I thought you said you’d used this as a safe house?” Jack asked, “You don’t have a key?”

“It’s been a while.” Elsa ground out, but there was no malice in it, only frustration as she shivered in the cold and cast her eyes about the door’s frame.

“Let me see.” He gently set his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him with a curious glint in her eyes. Stepping aside, she allowed him to take over. He knelt, staring at the door’s knob before his gaze flickered back to her’s.

“Do you have a hair pin, or something long and thin?” Elsa’s brows scrunched in thought for a second before pulling a thin strip of metal from her boot.

“Will this work?”

“It’s perfect.” He smiled, grabbing the proffered pin, “Thank you.”

He placed it into the keyhole and began to gently slide each lock into place, each one snapping happily until the final one. He avoided Elsa’s surprised gaze as the door gave a loud click and opened under his touch.

Elsa quirked a thin brow at him as she walked past. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.” He murmured softly.

Jack shuffled inside the dark room, clutching his stomach to minimize movement.

“We should be safe here.” Elsa said, closing the door behind him. “At least for the night.”

“Ok.” He nodded, taking a moment to breathe and watching as she made her way about the cabin, checking the windows and closing curtains before turning on the light.

As she turned to face him, her gaze finally swept over him. Her eyes widened as she looked at him fully, lips parted as a breath of shock escaped her lungs.

“Shit.” The word puffed past her lips, “You’re bleeding.

“Oh this?” He moved his jacket a bit to reveal the wound, “It’s nothing.”

When his gaze lifted to meet her’s once more, he could see her unimpressed stare even in the dim lighting. He watched as she continued to the kitchen, flipping on a light that barely refused to turn on. It flickered and sputtered to life as he hovered in the doorway.

“Sit.” She called and he followed her orders.

Jack looked around the small kitchen, opting to sit on the table as there were no chairs present. The wood creaked beneath his weight and he froze as she turned to him.

“Let me see.”

Wordlessly, he lifted his shirt to reveal the cut that ran along the length of his side. It wasn’t deep, but it had bled enough to look concerning to any untrained eye.

“Shit.” She ran her hands through her hair. “Don’t move.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” He cracked a soft smile despite the pain and she glared at him for a moment, eyes rolling as she walked away.

Jack watched as she began raiding the cabinets in a violent search. After a few minutes of listening to the sound, he spoke.

“What are you looking for?”

“I need to find a medical kit,” Elsa mumbled from beneath the sink, “or something to at least staunch the bleeding.”

She opened another door to reveal a full bottle of vodka. Her hands wrapped around the neck of the bottle and she looked at him, lips quirked up in a smile that would have been joking had it not been for the concern so present in her brow that belied the expression.

“Fancy a drink?” She shook the bottle and the contents sloshed slightly.

“I lose all control of myself once a month.” He offered her a kind smile, wincing in slight pain. “I can’t say I like to replicate the feeling.”

“Right.” She blinked, “Of course.”

“But you’re welcome to, if you want.”

Elsa shook her head, setting the drink down and continuing her search. She emerged with a tin kit. The box was scratched and banged up and were it not for the knowledge that this was the first aid she had been searching for, he would not have known what she had pulled out from the cabinet.

She set the kit down beside him, opening the tin and looking through it’s contents. He watched her hands as she picked up a suturing needle.

“Are you ok?”

Elsa scoffed, the sound tight and uncomfortable. “You’re the one bleeding out on my table and you’re asking me if I’m ok?”

“I’m not the one shaking.” The words weren’t accusatory, rather concern held in it’s weight.

Elsa reluctantly met his gaze. Sitting this close to her now, he could see the ring of fear around her eyes. He tried a different tactic.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” He asked not unkindly, though he knew the answer already.

She snorted, the sound self-deprecating. “Is it that obvious?”

“Given our first introduction?” He quirked a brow which earned a laugh from her, the sound real and full.

Jack smiled now at the memory of their time in the crypt and Elsa’s shoulders relaxed just a bit. She looked at him again, eyes now shining and warm and he fought the urge to hold her hand.

“Fine.” The smile slipped from her face as she confessed. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, Jack.”

“That’s alright, I’ll show you.” His gaze slipped down as he spoke. “First, you’ll need to wash your hands.”

Elsa looked down as if just now noticing the dirt and slight blood that clung to her nails. “Right.”

As she went to the sink, Jack busied himself by taking his jacket off; the shirt, he would need more help with. His side tugged and burned with the small movements and he seethed at the pain. At his sound, Elsa turned, taking in his half state of undress. She blinked, quickly looking away to dry off her hands and clear her throat. When she returned to his side, her hands were steadier now.

“Stay still.” She admonished and he froze beneath her touch.

Jack watched as she brandished a knife, grasping a fistful of his shirt and tore through the fabric. After she had finished one side, Elsa moved to the next, doing the same thing until what was left of his shirt fell away. She set the knife down and stared at him. Her eyes dragged across his lithe frame, snagging on the wound on his abdomen before trailing up to meet his gaze.

“That was my favorite shirt.” He accused.

“Well, I-“ she began to defend before meeting his mirthful gaze. Her lips twisted in a wry smile. “You arse.”

“It’s ok,” Jack smirked, throwing up his hands in a peaceful gesture, as he looked at her. “I’ll forgive you this time.”

“Oh, you will? That’s a relief.” Elsa rolled her eyes, her shoulders losing some of their stiffness.

Jack’s hands returned to the table as he watched her smile return.

“Next you’ll want to clean it, before wrapping it.” He instructed, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat. “Take some warm water and clean the blood around the wound first. It’s stopped bleeding, so it should be quick.”

Elsa nodded as she grabbed a bowl from the counter and went to work. Her nails drug across his skin in the ghost of a caress as she scrubbed the blood from his side and as she worked, she spoke.

“You’re wrong.”

His brows knit together in confusion and he looked at her. Elsa’s gaze was firmly trained on cleaning his wound and so he pressed.

“Though I’m not going to disagree,” he quirked a smile and crooked his head sideways, “I must ask about what?”

Her gaze met his for a second before returning downward and she spoke once more. “It’s not ok.”

It took him a moment to process what she meant before remembering. Jack closed his eyes allowing a slow breath to push past his lips. The memory of the hunter’s knife resting against his neck still vivid in his mind and the derision in his voice as he had called him what he was: a dog.

“No, I suppose you’re right.” He answered.

There was nothing more to say, what else could he? Nothing would change the fact that he was a monster and no other hunter, beside Elsa, would see him as such. But it was enough just to speak it - to remind him that he was just as much human as anyone else and perhaps even more so when compared to people like Ulysses.

Silence filled the air as Elsa continued to work and she seemed content to let the moment pass. As she finished, Elsa dried off her hands and moved to wrap the wound. Jack stopped her, placing a hand on her own and pausing her in her movements.

“What?” She asked, looking at him once more.

“Where did you put the vodka?” Jack watched as she grabbed it from the counter, turning to look at him once more.

“I thought you didn’t want any.” Her eyes flickered back and forth as she gazed into his own and he watched as realization dawned on her.

“We need to disinfect the wound before it’s wrapped. There’s no saline solution in here, so the best way to do that is with alcohol.” He persisted at her wariness, hoping to assuage her. “I’ll be fine, I’ve been through worse.”

Jack noticed the clench in her jaw at his words. She had no doubt he had been through worse, but there was a difference between witnessing such agony and being the one to inflict it. Her father had no qualms with either, but Elsa could not say the same.

Though her hands were steady as she unscrewed the bottle, Jack noticed the sudden change of her heart rate, only hidden by the forced regularity of her breathing. Elsa avoided eye contact with him as she readied herself to disinfect the wound, but a sudden warmth around her arm stopped her. His fingers pressed into her, drawing her eyes towards him and Jack held her gaze as he gently took the bottle from her hands.

“It’s ok, Elsa.” He whispered, as though trying not to scare her. “You don’t have to.”

“Jack-“

“Wash your hands.” He tipped his head, in the direction of the sink. “I’ll handle it.”

As the warmth of the water rushed over her knuckles, Elsa tried to ignore the agonized groans and shuddering breaths of the man behind her. When she turned back around, his eyes were closed, head leaned back as he breathed deeply. The stench of alcohol pierced her nose, strong and sharp in it’s scent. Elsa’s gaze swept over him, noticing how his stomach glistened, the muscles pulled tight from pain. In this light, despite the obvious suffering he was in, Elsa could almost admit he was-

“Elsa?”

Her gaze snapped up to meet his once more and found his sharp green eyes on her.

“Are you ok?”

She could feel her mask slide back into place. The vulnerability she had allowed herself to show this night was becoming more frequent around him and she steeled herself to return to his side. With a curt nod, she responded.

“So,” She cleared her throat, “I just wrap you up and that’s it?”

Jack stilled, his clever eyes pausing on her for a moment longer before answering.

“Yes.” He spoke, his throat a bit dry. “That’s it.”

Elsa nodded, quickly grabbing the gauze and working to fashion it tightly around his midsection. She ignored the way his breath felt against her neck as she reached behind him, the way the warmth of his body leeched into her skin with every brush of her fingers. She cleared her throat.

“There might be a change of clothes in the room, down the hall.” Elsa spoke as she tied off the bandage. “Take some Advil.”

Once she had finished, she excused herself to take a shower.

And she definitely didn’t think about the way his eyes never left her face as she wrapped his wound.

***

Elsa heard the music before the shower had even turned off, the sound of it growing louder as she dressed and wrung her hair out. The crackling melody of an older song she couldn’t quite name played through the hall, the sound muffled by distance.

“Jack?” Elsa called out as she walked closer towards the noise.

Her heart pitched in her chest when there was no response. She froze, letting out a slow exhale in a controlled breath before she prepared to round the corner.

She raised her arms pivoting toward the doorway… and dropped them at the sight in front of her.

There, standing in the living room was Jack, still shirtless and swaying gently to the rhythm of the music. His back was to her and she watched him, brows pinching together in confusion.

“Jack?” She couldn’t help the frustrated relief in her voice and he spun around to face her.

“Elsa!” He rushed to lower the volume on the record player. “I’m sorry, was it too loud?”

She shook her head, her anxiety on his behalf dissipating as she looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, well, I found this record player and I figured that after the night we’ve had, we deserve to relax a bit.”

She watched as he turned the volume up a bit more and began to sway his hips, the quick guitar strings creating a happy melody. Elsa would be lying if she said she wasn’t mesmerized by his movements. He shifted fluidly despite the wound in his side though, if she looked closely, he did move more gingerly than normal. A certain uneasiness began to creep up her spine.

“Come on.” He smiled, seemingly in better spirits as he waved her over.

“Jack, we’re supposed to be laying low.” She shook her head and he stopped, walking over to her.

“You say we’re safe here, yes?” His eyes glittered feverishly as she met his gaze.

“Yes.” The word barely left her throat.

“Then dance with me.”

Jack smiled as he took her hand and led her into the dimly lit room. She looked down, noticing he had kicked off his shoes and was now barefoot. Her eyes traveled back up to meet his.

This is ridiculous. She thought.

“I don’t know how to dance.” She said.

Jack’s lips quirked into a gentle smile, “It’s alright, I’ll show you.”

His hand grabbed her wrist, lifting it to set her hand upon his shoulder as he grasped the other one.

“You’ll want to step closer.” He murmured and she shuffled forward. A laugh bubbled in his chest. “Closer.”

Elsa stepped forward until she was flush against his body, her face nestled into the crook of his neck.

“Are you sure I won’t hurt you?”

“I’ll be fine.” He spoke, the warmth of his breath ghosting across the shell of her ear. “I’ll lead, you follow.”

She didn’t say a word as he began, his hand sliding across her waist to hold her back as they moved.

“You’re still on edge.” He noted, an amused tint to his voice.

“Because this is what gets you into trouble all the time.” she growled. Elsa could feel how stiff her limbs were, muscles coiled and ready should anything happen.

The sound of his laugh vibrated through his chest, she could feel it before she even heard it.

“What?” She could hear the smile in his voice. “By dancing?”

“Relaxing.” She pulled away to look at him and he let her, his hand slipping away for a moment. Elsa held his gaze a moment longer before returning to her previous position, the back of her mind buzzing at how close they were to each other.

“You let your guard down too easily.” She admitted softly and Jack stuttered in his movements.

She could feel the shift in his body, so close as he was to her and he stilled. The tip of his nose brushed the shell of her ear and he inhaled, a slow, deep breath that held a certain kind of weight to it. Elsa stared ahead, waiting for his response.

“Thirteen yards above us is a nest full of birds. Twenty-eight yards to the right of us is a fox, though it could be a badger, the snow makes it a bit hard to tell. Ten yards from the tree with the birds are a few squirrels. Our greatest threat is the deer a little more than fifty yards away from the cabin.”

Finally Jack moved to look her in the eyes.

“You’re right, Elsa. I do let my guard down easily,“ He conceded. ”but you don’t do it enough.”

Elsa felt as though she couldn’t move, shock and perhaps a hint of anger coursing through her. Then embarrassment flooded her chest, creeping up her throat until it tightened. She swallowed, and without saying a word, extricated herself from his arms. She walked to the record he had put on and lifted the needle, flipping the switch to stop it’s spinning and flipped the vinyl to the other side. Elsa flipped the switch once more and set the needle gently atop the record player.

The soft theme of a guitar played as she turned to face him and as she met his gaze, Elsa allowed herself to relax. As she walked back over to him, her shoulders dropped beneath his touch. Her feet stood between his own, intertwining their legs as his hands wrapped around her waist. She allowed her body to meld into his touch, and somehow, just standing her felt more intimate than anything she had ever done. It was terrifying.

Silently, he began to move, swaying gently to the tune as the man began to sing. Jack hummed along, the melody a low-pitched noise rumbling through his chest as they danced. Elsa couldn’t help the way her head dropped slightly, the heat of his neck brushing her cheek as he tilted his head. She was surprised when he began to sing along, the sound low and hesitant.

“You know Portuguese?” She asked, shifting her head to address him.

“Yes.” Jack nodded. “It’s close to Spanish, so it wasn’t too hard.”

“Do you know any other languages?”

“A few.” He admitted, “What about you?”

Elsa smiled, “A few.” She repeated.

Jack laughed as he stepped to the side and she followed, allowing him to lead.

“My dad insisted I learn.” She spoke, her voice suddenly growing sober. “It’s one of the few things I actually enjoyed.”

Jack stilled, their movements slowing until he stopped, the tip of his nose brushing her neck. His hot breath rustled her hair and suddenly she was all too aware of how close they were.

“Elsa,” Jack whispered her name and she closed her eyes. “I-“

Her lips parted as she breathed, listening to his words. She could feel him pull away slightly and she opened her eyes. His gaze fell to her lips and she froze. The heat of his shoulder leeched into her fingers, warm and soft. His bare chest pressed against hers and she could feel the rise and fall of it with every breath. The last time he had been so close to her was when they were in the cage. Jack paused once more before clearing his throat.

“I think I should clean up for the night.”

Elsa stood silent, letting his words pierce through the heady fog that had surrounded her to sink into her mind. As she stood, he moved, arms falling away from her to step backward. She blinked, recovering and looking away from him.

“Of course.” She turned away, forcing her voice to remain neutral. “The shower is just down the hall through the bedroom.”

Her gaze found the record player, watching the vinyl spin as the needle moved slowly up and down. It wavered as it reached the end of the available songs, a dust filled emptiness now crackling through the speakers. She waited until she could hear his footsteps recede before moving toward it, lifting the needle and flipping the switch off. Elsa ran her hands through her hair, fighting off the sting of tears.

“Bloody stupid.” She whispered.

***

“You should rest.”

The sleep-drugged voice was gravel lined with tiredness and it was a moment before he realized who’s it was.

“I’m not human.” He spoke, “I don’t need sleep.”

“Of course you do.”

“Not like you.”

As he exited the bathroom, his eyes adjusted to the dark of the bedroom, the dim light above the sink barely puncturing the darkness. Jack’s gaze landed on her, laying on one half of the bed, the other untouched. He watched as she sat up, red hair glinting in the soft light.

“Elsa-“

“Just go to sleep, Jack.” She cut him off, shifting in the bed to face away from the other side.

He hesitated in the doorway before moving toward the bed. It was clear she had left the side for him, but even though they had sleep next to each other before, sleeping in the same bed felt strangely intimate. Jack sat on the empty side, the mattress dipping beneath his weight, but she remained silent. He slid beneath the covers, laying next to her and shifted his head.

“I didn’t get a chance to say thank you.” He said into the darkness. “And I’m sorry.”

There was no response for a moment, then she spoke. “‘Why?”

The question was raw, and he could hear the pain laced in the single word.

“For the same reason you can’t dance.”

He closed his eyes, letting her scent wash over him. The crispness of pine needles with the citrus smell of oranges seeping through. The air was heavy with snow and earth and he breathed it in the quiet. If this was as close as he could get to her, he would take it.

“Is the deer still around?”

The question was a surprise and he couldn’t help the smile that tugged on his lips.

“No.” He murmured, “She’s gone.”

Jack lay still as she shifted in the darkness.

“And the fox?” Elsa asked.

A beat longer.

“Gone too.” His throat grew dry as she moved some more.

“The birds?”

She was facing him now. He listened and beneath the pillow of snow he could hear the flutter of wings and their fast heartbeats if he tried.

“Still there.” Jack said, “You’ll hear them in the morning.”

They lay there in the quiet and as he stretched his hands, they met her skin.

“You’re cold.” He spoke, the words leaving his lips in a hushed breath.

Her legs moved in small, incremental movements to intertwine with his and he moved to allow it, his breath hitching at the intimacy. His eyes adjusted, looking down to find her wide eyes upon him, and his gaze flickered down to glance at her lips. Elsa’s hand brushed the bandage, dancing across his side to wrap gingerly around him. The heat of his skin seeped into the sheets. Her lips found his, ghosting across his in a breath.

“Then keep me warm.”

[jerzwriter]

Little Moments

Book:                   Wake the Dead

Pairing:                Eli Sipes x F!MC (Zoe Rivera)

Rating:                 Teen

Category:            Angstish Fluff

Summary:           Eli is reluctantly pleased with the change in the evening's itinerary, but his internal battle continues, and an unrelenting Zoe does nothing to make his task easier.  When she finds an old-world magazine, they put their compatibility to the test.

Words:                 Approx 2,000

A/N:                     OK – totally out of my comfort zone – but I’m giving it a shot.  This was a quick exercise in my attempt to see if I can write for Eli x Zoe.  If I write more, it will likely feel different than this.  I decided to start small, unlike when I began writing for the OH fandom with Delaying the Inevitable. Lol Here is my Meet My MC for Zoe, also some info on other characters, and a mood board that got me going with this. This is all soooo new and different; work with me, OK. :) thanks!

I’m tagging my Perma list – I’m not sure if you want to be on any future Wake the Dead fics, so if you wish to be omitted and put on OH only, please let me know.  Thank you!

@choices-september-challenge-blog  Day 2 – Cliffhanger Ending (I mean, it sort of is…)

Wake the Dead Masterlist Main Masterlist

CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY STUDIOS.

The lodge was eerily quiet as night began to fall on an arduous day. By now, most were happily esconsced in their rooms,  grateful they weren’t the poor fools on night watch this evening. It would take a special kind of idiot to volunteer for the task, and as Zoe stifled a yawn upon entering the main room, she began to think that descriptor just might apply to her.  

Eli was seated on the sofa on the other end of the grand room, the fireplace casting a glow around him. Checking his crossbow for damage, he didn’t so much as lift his head when he heard someone enter, especially since he was anticipating Troy. Night watch with Troy. He shook his head; whoever scheduled this probably had quite a laugh. It wasn’t that he didn’t like him, he did. But they couldn't be more opposite, and after a day like today, a quiet night seemed like the way to go and that wouldn’t happen with Mr. Hassan. Then he heard a voice he didn’t expect.

“Hey,” Zoe said. He didn’t need to look up to see her smile, and already the effect was more than he cared to admit… more than he was willing to show. When he finally lifted his eyes, his expression was blank.

“Why are you here? You should be sleeping.”

“Well, that’s not a possibility, considering I’m on night watch with you.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, fastening his strings, “Troy’s on with me tonight.”

Then a thought came to him, and he raised his head with a slight scowl, “He didn’t push this off on you today of all days, did he?”

“Nope,” she smiled, filled with that radiance he never quite understood. “I told him I’d switch with him.”

“Why?”

“Several reasons,” Zoe shrugged. “I slept more than most last night, and I figured if I left you two alone, I’d have to get up at some point to scold you both anyway, so I was proactive.”

His lips twitched, giving way to a hint of a smile despite his best efforts to stop it, and he didn’t argue her point. 

“Even so, you shouldn’t have done it,” he deadpanned before placing his bow to the side. “We would have muddled through.”

“I’m sure you would have,” she grinned. “But I have a confession….” She trailed off and let the silence hang in the air long enough that Eli raised his brows in question.

“So, are you going to confess?”

“So you’re interested!” she teased.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Hmm, it’s implied when you inquire.”  She poked his arm as she sat on the opposite end of the sofa, grabbing a pillow to hold on front of her. “I also thought it would be nice to spend some time with you. That’s all.”

His body tensed, having her so near. His defenses had already been totally broken down twice now, and he promised himself he wouldn’t allow for a third… no matter how much he wanted to. The kiss on the Ferris wheel was difficult enough, but now… after their time in the woods…. The memory of her big brown eyes, warm and filled with desire, locked on his as he slowly moved inside her. Her golden brown tendrils splayed across the bare earth as the moonlight glistened on her skin. The way she moaned his name, like she was born to say those very words as much as he was born to hear them… it was a sliver of paradise in a swath of hell. But before he even dressed, his walls were being rebuilt.

He couldn’t. It was dangerous for both of them, and he couldn’t allow it. But one glimpse of her deep brown eyes looking his way, and he felt himself falter. He could fight a dozen drones without the aid of a single soul. But, when it came to fighting off Zoe Rivera, he might just be defenseless.

“It’s an awful lot of time,” he finally spoke. “I hope you won’t be disappointed.”

“That’s unlikely,” she smiled, and this time he didn’t turn away. 

Zoe saw the corner of his lip curve, already a small victory. She’d made this man smile before, and she’d do it again. She knew it, he knew it, and she knew that he knew she knew it… and that knowledge made her feel warm inside.

“So, since I’m no longer going to be tortured by Troy all night. Do you have any ideas on how we can pass the time?”

“Oh, I have several,” she purred seductively.

“Uh, ways that will leave us attentive enough to do the job we’re supposed to do?”

She deflated a bit at his fully expected response, but not entirely because the expression on his face said more than his words admitted. She may not be inside Eli Sipe’s home just yet, but she was on the front porch, and he was slowly opening the door.

“I suppose I’ll read then,” she answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm and disappointment. She picked up one of the magazines from the stack she found earlier in the day. Eli had to chuckle at her reaction. You would have thought she spotted gold.

“I’m not surprised. You were pretty excited with that find.”

“Of course I was. I love getting my hands on things like this. It’s interesting to learn more about the old world.”

“I keep telling you, it wasn’t all people make it out to be.”

“I don’t know,” she said, holding up a copy of Cosmopolitan. “Look at this woman in that beautiful dress, holding up a glass of … I don’t know what that is, but it looks bubbly and delicious – and she isn’t the slightest bit worried about a zombie popping out to ruin her evening plans. I bet her night watch would be a little different than ours.”

Eli shrugged. “I guess. But I’m not all that sure I’d enjoy it.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t,” Zoe laughed, “You’d look ridiculous in those heels and that boa!”

There it was again, that half-smile that kept her coming back for more. A feeling she hadn’t been familiar with before spread through her chest.

“Oh, look at this! There is a quiz, and the answers are filled out!”

“What kind of quiz?”

“How compatible are you and your man,” she giggled. “Oh, let's do it! Let’s do this together, Eli.”

She didn’t let her smile falter, not even she watched his body go rigid.

“I mean, I know you’re not ‘my man,’” she assured, and he was filled with relief and utter disappointment all at once. “But we can pretend. It’s just for fun, Eli.”

“I don’t think so,” he insisted as she put on a mock scowl.

“Fine! I’ll just have Troy do it with me tomorrow!”

“Troy?” Eli scoffed. “Why the heck would you do that with Troy?”

Was that… jealousy? Maybe not full-fledged, but there was a little something there. 

“Because he’s my best friend, and he’s a goofball. And since you won’t indulge me in this nonsense, I’m sure he will. So don’t worry, grumpy pants. I’ll do it with Troy another time.”

Zoe turned the page and attempted to understand what the “Best Spa Weekends for the Girls” would be like when Eli scooted a bit closer.

“Fine, ask away.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” he stated. “Before I change my mind… ask away.”

“Awesome!” she said, grabbing a pen from the table beside her. “The first question is, how did you meet, and what does that say about you.”

A deep chuckle emitted from Eli’s chest. “I don’t think this one bodes well for us, Zo. I threatened to put an arrow through your heart. Not too many great romances start that way.”

“Hmm. We live in strange times, Eli. And sure, that is true, but you also just saved my life by killing off a pack of drones. If you hadn't come along… that zombie was right on me… I was a goner for sure.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad I saved you,” he replied sarcastically. 

“Yeah, and I’m glad you didn’t kill me,” she teased.

“OK, enough. Where did the couple in the magazine meet?” he asked.

“Let’s see… they met through a dating app called Match.”  She looked at Eli with a scrunched nose. “You remember some of the old world. What’s a dating app, and what’s Match?”

“Beats me,” he shrugged. “I was a bit too young for that.”

“OK, so we move on. If you were going to make your partner a perfect meal, what would it be? Oh boy. The woman answering this said dinner at a fancy restaurant with all the frills, and he said, burgers on the grill at home.”

“Yikes. Something tells me the zombie apocalypse may have actually been good for these two.”

Zoe let out a little titter. Was that an almost… a joke… from Eli?

“Well, what about you?” She asked. “What would you make me for a perfect dinner?”

Eli tilted his head and sighed. “In our world, just having dinner is a good night. But, I guess I’d make you something nice and fresh – still can’t believe you didn’t eat a real vegetable for the first twenty-five years of your life,” he shuddered.

“Hey! We didn’t have that in the Tower. And, for all its faults, I think the nourishment provided turned me into a fairly acceptable grown-up. Don’t you agree?”

Eli’s eyes instinctively trailed over her every curve, turning away quickly before he was caught. He didn’t answer her question, but his eyes gave him away. Yeah, it worked.

“Next question?” he evaded.

“How many children do you each want. OOFFH. She said two, he said seven.”

“Yep!” He nodded. “Apocalypse was a better option than these two settling down. See, I told you. It’s not all bad.”

Zoe rolled up the magazine and playfully struck him in the chest. “I know you’re joking, but I have to agree. These two were not meant to be.”

“You don’t know that I’m joking,” he smiled… a whole smile… “and you didn’t answer.”

“Answer what?” she said, genuinely confused.

“Children. How many do you want?”  

“Oh,” she laughed sadly, and the light dimmed slightly in her eyes. “You know, in this world, that’s just not something I ever think of. I don’t think bringing a new life into this madness makes sense.”

“No,” he said, folding his hands behind his head and looking into the distance. “It really doesn’t. But that's not always how it works. Some things just aren’t controllable and…” he stalled for a long while. “That’s just one reason I try to stay in control.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, slowly creeping closer to him, “but like you said… sometimes that’s just now how it works.”

Zoe looked up, their lips now just inches away. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face; he could see her body gently tremble. The magnetic force that appeared whenever they were together was at play again, and when she cupped his cheek in her hand, it reeled them in. He held her face in his hands as their tounges intertwined, softly, yet passionately and full of want. 

Their lips parted with a smack, and they rested their foreheads on the other as they backed away. “I’d really like to do that again,” she whispered. 

“Yeah, I would, too,” he breathed. But just as their lips were about to meet again, an alarm blared from outside.

“Aww, shit,” Zoe groaned. “Is it….”

Eli was already peering through the curtain, trying to assess the situation outside. 

“Hard to tell from here,” he said, grabbing his bow. “Let’s go upstairs so we can get a better vantage point.”

“On it.” Zoe grabbed her own bow from the wall. “I bet Cosmopolitan couple didn’t have kisses interrupted like this,” she sighed. “But then I wonder if they appreciated the moments as much as we do.”

“You appreciate them?” he asked sincerely.

“Of course. Like you said, we have to enjoy the moments when we can. No matter how short.”

They exchanged a knowing look as they raced up the stairs, and then the moment was over. They had a job to do, and lives depended on it. But deep down, they knew if they made it through the night… there would be more moments like this. Zoe had already accepted that. Eli had too, and honestly, the drones frightened him a whole lot less.

Perma All (Please let me know if you'd like to be moved to OH only as I may write a little more for Wake the Dead.)

@a-crepusculo @aishwarya26 @animesuck3r @annfg8 @annoyingmillenialnewbie @bex-la-get @binny1985 @bluebelle08 @bluerosesbloom @cariantha @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @danijimenezv @different4strawberry @differenttyphoonwerewolf @dorisz @fayeswiftie @forallthatitsworth @genevievemd @inlocusmads @jamespotterthefirst @jennieausten @kingliam2019 @liaromancewriter @lilypills @lucy-268 @mainstreetreader @mysticalgalaxysstuff @ofmischiefandmedicine @onikalover @peonierose @peonyblossom @potionsprefect @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @schnitzelbutterfingers @secretaryunpaid @socalwriterbee @tessa-liam @toadfrog26 @trappedinfanfiction @uneravine @youlookappropriate @zahrachoices @openheartforeverinmyheart @jerzwriter-reblogs-asks

@choicesficwriterscreations

[strawbxrryneptune]

Level one

Word count: 10k

Cw: pretty tame, just slight descriptions of a dick, play fighting, mentions of almost dying.

This fic and the fics following will contain monster fucking, cucking and threesomes!! If you are not comfortable, try out some of my other works, but if you wish to proceed, remember, sharing is caring.

@miggiisdumb

Next~♡

♡♡

Being a princess was always portrayed as this lush, lavish life. Spoiled rotten with goodies and suitors on you left and right. Everyone respects you, maybe even fears you, and you don't have to worry about a thing cause you have your guards and your secure little tower.

Only one of those things applied to you. The people of the Mushroom kingdom adored you, sending you gifts and bringing their cute little families to meet you. You had moved out of the actual palace ages ago, deciding to reside in a cute little cottage hidden deep in the woods. 

You had some bodyguards, but you kind of doubted their abilities in warding off monsters. You didn't mind fighting by the side though, it built up your strength and courage. 

You knew that you alone were pretty strong, and so were your guards, but it still confused you how you barely got bothered. Occasionally you would hear a growl or roar in the distance, but it was quickly cut off and you would go about your business. 

You finally found out what was keeping the monsters at bay when you ventured out into the forest alone, not wanting to wake up your bodyguard since you were just getting berries.

You had managed to fill up your basket and make it halfway back before you felt a rush of air behind you, only getting a second to blink before you were sent flying, hot breath and saliva tickling your neck and cheek.

You kick and scream, arms flailing when the creature pushes your head down into the dirt.

You start to weaken as your vision swims, struggling to breathe. You go limp, letting out choked sobs when the creature is suddenly ripped off of you. You hear shuffling and roaring, and then the forest goes silent for a moment before coming back to life, birds chirping and wind blowing as you feel someone touch your arm gently. 

You hear a smooth, low voice fussing over you, the stranger lifting you up and assisting you back to the cottage. You try to turn to see their face, but all you can make out is a bright red hat, dark red hair and pretty lips before they're turning you back around.

When you make it to the cottage, you try to once again turn to thank the person, but they're already gone. About to head back inside, you see a bright red object laying on the ground. When you get closer, you realize it's the strangers hat, soft and big with a K patched into it.

You gasped, realizing who exactly this man was.

You came from a long line of royalty, your mother being Queen Star and your sister being Princess Peach. When you were kids, your mother would tell you of an Italian family who were so kind and brave, always looking to serve and expecting nothing in return.

For your mother, it was a man named Papa Mario, and for Peach it was Mario Jr. And Luigi. Around the time you were born, they also were welcoming a baby into the world, and you have fuzzy memories of a little boy with sharp teeth and red hair vowing to protect you even when you were in diapers.

Snapping back to reality, you scurry back inside and throw on a more casual outfit, still in a dress but with more room to move, slipping on some boots and stuffing the hat in your bag.

You take the path down to town, chatting with the residents along the way until you arrive at the Mario Bros Tavern. 

You step inside, greeting everyone and making your way over to the counter, seeing who you assume is the brother, dressed in all green. His name tag reads "Izuku", and you smile at him when he looks your way. 

"Hi, Princess!! What brings you here?"

You dig in your bag and take out the plush hat, holding it in front of you.

"I- Uh…. I found this in the woods, I was jus' wondering if the owner of it was here?"

Izuku lets out a soft, 'oh', and holds a finger up to you to signal you to wait. He disappears into the back room and when he comes back you suddenly wish you were dressed better.

In the forest all you could see what that your "hero" was wearing overalls and red. You didn't pick up on the fact that he was probably almost 7 feet tall, buff and solid with pretty, full lips and a sharp smile, cute spiky hat hair which a deeper shade of red then his clothes, which fit him so perfect it was like he just stepped out of a clothes factory. 

When you met eyes, the stranger gave you a sheepish smile, stepping up to the counter and gently taking the hat from your now trembling hands. 

"Gee, thanks for bringing this back, Prn'cess. I hadn't even realized I lost it."

You search for words, feeling your cheeks heat up when his smile widens, big veiny hands reaching out to shut your mouth, which fell right back open at the feel of his hands on your face.

"I'm, uh, I'm also here to thank you for saving me today…"

"Kiri."

"Kiri. Thank you, Kiri."

He smiles a toothy smile, giving you a silly bow. You giggle, your heart swelling with affection as you realize you could get used to this.

"As a token of my appreciation, I'm taking you on a date in two days, up by the waterfalls."

The red head blinks in surprise before his smile returns, pink coloring his cheeks as he mods vigorously.

"I'll see you then, Princess!!"

♡♡

You trudged through the forest, cursing yourself for putting off your carriage repair. The trail was under construction, so you had to walk you way through the bushes towards the waterfall. 

At least you weren't wearing a formal dress. You were just wearing a simple skirt and a top, some boots and a picnic basket in your hand.

As you stumble along, you start to hear the roaring of the waterfall, but laced within you hear growls and grunts, followed by a shout that sounded all too familiar.

Kirishima.

You pick up speed and come to a clearing, stepping back slightly in shock. 

In front of you is one of the legendary Bowser men, powerful and downright terrifying. They had a tendency to go after princesses, which was the main reason the Mario brothers protected your family. 

This Bowser was the new heir, Bakugou. He didn't have red hair like his father, his was an ash blonde, and his shell was a slightly darker green. He was taller too, looked about 6'9 from where you were standing, but he towered over Kirishima so you figured he was over 7 feet. He was actually kind of attractive, which surprised you given how his dad looked.

Kirishima has him in a headlock, both of them grunting and growling and you would be lying if the sight wasn't hot, but you shook the feeling off and silently marched over to the two, wanting to "save" the red head like he had for you for the longest time. 

Taking a deep breath, you launched yourself on the Blonde's shell with a shout, quickly realizing how stupid this "plan" was when you could barely hold on, being so small compared to him that when he stood up and reached behind him, he could just pluck you up like a bug, holding by the back of your shirt in a big hand. 

"What happened Bakubro? Why'd you stop-y/n?"

"Well well well, wha d'we have here? Is this the pretty little prn'cess yer were telling me about, Kiri?"

You gulp harshly, not even out of fear anymore now that you realized that they were play fighting, and that they know each other. 

No, you were nervous because Bakugou was hot. Sharp canines digging into his bottom as he watched you dangle in his palm, spiky hair leading down to a bushy mullet, bulging muscles and thick thighs hidden by a ratty loin cloth, blonde happy trail-did something just twitch?

You swiftly look back up, looking into knowing vermillion eyes as he licks his lips and shoots you a smirk, his eyes dark and cheeks slightly flushed. When you feel a slight breeze and begin to rock, you realize that hes still holding you. Up in the air. With one hand. 

This is not doing anything good to your manhandling kink. You can already feel your panties start to get sticky as he gently sets you back down, standing straight back up.

You're now level with his veiny thighs, hands starting to tremble from how guilty and horny you feel. The guy you asked out on a date is right there!! Speaking of, you glance at Kiri and he's already looking at youz something dark gleaming within his eyes but quickly hidden when you meet gazes, rushing forward to trap you in a crushing hug, big hands running up your sides.

You blush as you pull back, about to ask if he wants to get going when he jogs back over to Bakugou, who's eyes haven't left you, and tackles him onto the ground, putting him in a chokehold.

You would be pissed, you planned a picnic and its getting dark, the bugs coming out and the air getting sticky but they look so good like that, muscle on muscle, and Bakugou keeps letting out snarls and growls that go straight to your cunt, slicking up your panties as you think about those big, clawed hands your skirt up and plugging you up with his big dick.

You stop mid thought as you remember what they taught you in Princess survival school, in the monster course. Bowsers can smell really really well. Which means Bakugou….could probably smell you right now. 

You look up at him and let out a breath of relief when you see he's still distracted by the Kirishima, writhing to try and get away from the his grip on his neck. With a sharp movement from the blonde, his loin cloth flutters to the side momentarily and flashes you a peak of his really, really fat cock. You almost pass out from how fast blood rushes to your head when you see so many veins and bumps, and he's obviously not even hard. 

All of a sudden, Bakugou takes a deep breath, preparing to let out a roar to startle Kirishima into letting him go, and chokes on air, gasp getting caught in his throat. Kiri is none the wiser, laughing and joking behind him about how hes strongest, but Bakugou isn't paying attention, eyes blown wide and rolled in his head as his tongue slightly lolls out of his mouth, as if to taste what he's smelling.

To taste you. 

His head rolls to the side, eyes trained on the clench of your thighs and flush of your body, and it make his hips jump, red irises locking onto you as drool spills out of his open mouth. 

Kirishima realized how quiet he is, and attempts to peak over and see if he's okay but Bakugou roughly shoulders him off and stomps away into the trees, leaving you dazed and Kirishima confused. 

"That was weird."

[fandomlit]

neutral, chap. 3 (dream smp x reader)

series summary (in game!au) when an exiled tommy finally rebels against a manipulative dream, he finds safety in neutral territory, a place owned and guarded by you. staying in your safe haven opens up the younger one’s eyes to your way of life, while also revealing your deeper past before neutral; a past that involved a war for your love.

chapter summary after teaching tommy how to make cookies, you surprise him with your archery skills as you fight off mobs swarming outside of your house. tommy comes to a conclusion that makes him slightly ashamed of himself; being neutral doesn’t make you weak.

warnings swearing, killing of mobs (zombies, spiders, skeletons), some mental health talk (kinda)

previous | series masterlist | next

gif cred belongs to @netheriteaxe

it was storming the next night. after a nice dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, y/n proposed that tommy help her make some dessert for them to enjoy.

“you sure i can’t mess this up?” tommy asked warily as she opened her small, self-written recipe book and placed it in front of them.

“im sure,” she assured, patting his cheek endearingly. he made a face. “your face is gonna freeze that way, kid.”

“whatever,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes as she laughed. “what are we making?”

“cookies!” she smiled. “one of the easiest things you can make.”

tommy sighed. though it was embarrassing to admit aloud, he couldn’t help but feel nervous about the experiment. “what do we need?”

“well...” after thirty minutes of patience from y/n, frustration from tommy, and unhelpful side commentary from ghostbur, the cookies were nearly ready to place in the furnace.

“how big should i make them?” tommy questioned, looking up at y/n from the baking sheet she had spread out for him.

she shrugged, placing her hand on the back of the chair ghostbur sat in. “however big you want. measure with your heart.”

“you also said that about the chocolate chips,” ghostbur commented. “now we’re all going to have cavities.” y/n whacked the boy on the back of the head, keeping her expression kind as she looked at tommy. 

“however you want them,” she assured. tommy nodded in return, turning back to the baking sheet just a loud banging came from the main entrance of the house. y/n peeked out of the kitchen. “oh, wow, that’s a lot of mobs..”

ghostbur leaned back to see. “goddamn!”

“tommy, you go ahead and portion and pop those into the oven,” y/n spoke, running a hand through her hair. “i have a feeling my door’s not gonna last much longer.” she rushed out of the room without another word.

“having fun yet?” ghostbur questioned as tommy began to portion out the blobs of cookie dough.

“kinda,” he shrugged. “y/n’s a good teacher.”

“she is,” ghostbur agreed.

“it’s also kind of nice to have a break from more chaotic things,” tommy continued as he worked. “you know, y/n surrounds herself with peace. she’s not a fighter like you were and i am. so, it’s nice to do as she does.” ghostbur chuckled and tommy looked up just as he finished portioning out the dough. “what?”

“whoever said y/n wasn’t a fighter?” ghostbur teased. just then, said girl came back into the kitchen with a bow in hand and a quiver full of arrows slung over her shoulder.

“cookies in yet?” she asked, eyes gleaming with excitement he hadn’t yet seen from her. her words were rushed out, and he stuttered to reply quickly.

“y-yeah, well, about to be,” he managed out. “what are you doing?”

y/n grinned at him as he lowered the tray of dough into the furnace. “someone’s gotta deal with the mobs out front.” before she disappeared, tommy called out to her.

“wait, y/n!” he called. “can i come with?”

“sure!” she laughed. “ghostbur, set a timer for fifteen, please!” tommy rushed to follow her as she practically raced up the stairs. ghostbur grinned after them.

“where are we going?” tommy huffed out as y/n led him down a hall he was yet to discover.

she slowed down, opening up a door that revealed the stormy night to him. “right out here.” tommy stepped out onto the small balcony. tarps covered the sides, preventing them from being pelted by the brunt of the rain and wind, but allowed them access to viewing the main entrance from the side.

“are you good with a bow, tommy?” y/n asked, still smiling as she delicately plucked an arrow from her quiver.

“uh- not really..,” the boy admitted, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

“that’s alright,” she smiled reassuringly as she lined up the arrow in her bow and pulled the string back. “i assume you’re better with a sword?”

“much better,” he nodded. she let out a hum before releasing the string from her fingertips, and tommy could barely keep up with the arrow that flew through the air and lodged itself in between a skeleton’s shoulder and collarbone, causing the mob to collapse into a pile of uselessness. tommy’s mouth suddenly felt dry as y/n loaded another arrow. 

he had never seen someone take down a skeleton in one shot, not even dream.

tommy watched as she closed one eye, aiming at three zombies lined up. she took a breath before tugging harshly at her string, then letting the arrow zoom through the storm and cleanly through the three’s heads. they all crumbled into a mass of rotten flesh.

“four mobs and two arrows?!” tommy managed as y/n reached for another. she looked over and laughed at the surprised boy. “how the hell did you do that?”

“i’ve always been good at aiming,” she spoke casually as she worked to load another arrow, aiming now at a spider working its way up her walls. she managed to lodge the arrow into its leg, effectively tearing it off of the creature and causing it to tumble onto the zombie below. they heard it hiss just before another arrow pinned through its heart and the zombie’s head, rendering both creatures silent. “not so much with close contact fighting.”

“i think this makes up for it,” tommy spoke distractedly, shaking his head with amazement as he watched her fingers move with instinct and practice. she launched another strong arrow into the hoard.

she laughed as she continued to work. “i fumble when im up close..” arrow after arrow whizzed from her bow. “from this distance, i can take my time. i can breathe, i can calculate.” mobs went down, pair after pair sinking to the cold, wet grass below. “and when we can do those things, our work only shows it.” she knocked down one last skeleton before she dropped her bow to her side. there were now only a few creepers and spiders mulling around.

“that was amazing,” tommy spoke after a moment of silence, looking at her with wide eyes. she gave him a smile. “i.. wow.”

she laughed just as ghostbur peeked his head out. “five minute warning.”

“thanks, ghostbur,” y/n nodded. “come on, kid. let’s towel off and eat some cookies.” tommy nodded, following her back into the house. he stayed behind with ghostbur as she went to grab towels.

“so?” ghostbur spoke with a knowing grin. “how was that?”

tommy shook his head, still processing the skill he had just experienced. “she’s the best archer i’ve ever seen! she didn’t miss a single target, she knew exactly where and when to aim, i-” he let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “i can’t believe i thought she couldn’t fight. of course she can fight.”

“neutral doesn’t mean weak,” ghostbur spoke wisely, placing a hand on tommy’s shoulder. the boy looked up at him with pursed lips, guilt weighing in his chest. “y/n is the strongest woman i know; she cooks, she welds, and she can work a bow like you’ve never seen. never expect anything with her, tommy. she’ll never stop surprising you.”

tommy nodded. “neutral doesn’t mean weak, eh?” ghostbur gave him a smile. “of course it doesn’t. it’s not like she chose this life.. there was a war.”

“right,” ghostbur confirmed. “it’s alright to be wrong sometimes, tommy. especially about someone you’ve known and lived with for what, a week?” he nodded. “see? you don’t have to know everything all the time.”

“okay,” tommy nodded, his voice quiet as ghostbur squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “wow. it’s strange to be able to hold myself to a lower standard.”

“y/n is teaching you some amazing things about mental health, tommy.”

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[mandos-sluts]

The Visit

This is Part One of a three-part series

The Visit Part Two

The Visit Part Three

The Mandolorian x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word count: 3.5k

Warnings: Smut, dubious consent, fingering, dirty talk, mentions of sex work

Summary: You are Luke Skywalker’s Padawan, training directly under him at his Jedi Academy. Din Djarin is staying at the compound for a few days to visit Grogu.

A/N: Please message us or comment if you want to be on our tag list!! Also we love feedback <3

“What does he look like?”

“He’s a Mandalorian. Big silver shiny armor. Can’t miss him.”

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

Boy was he right. You spot Din as soon as you step into the cantina. He’s standing at the bar, leaning over it slightly. His visor catches your eye from across the room, and he stares at you for a while, looking you up and down, before turning his head back to the bar. He’s never seen someone so beautiful in this parsec before.

Your Master, Luke Skywalker, told you to meet Din at the cantina and escort him to the Jedi Academy. Luke had similarly informed Din that he was sending his Padawan to rendezvous.

You know all about Din Djarin. You know his whole deal with Grogu and the Darksaber, and his run-ins with the Empire and the Guild. The story of his miraculous rescue of Grogu made its way around the school after Luke brought the child back to the Academy.

The cantina that you’re at is located in the town that lies right outside the Jedi Academy compound. It’s a place that many students go to blow off steam and hang out.

You find yourself surprisingly nervous as you walk up to the tall intimating Mandalorian. “Excuse me.” You say.

“Not interested.” He says shortly without even looking at you.

”What?” You asked, confused.

“I said I’m not interested.”

“Not interested in what?”

”Your services.”

”My services?” You don’t understand. Is he wanting to travel to the grounds by himself? That’s not an option....he wouldn’t be permitted on the estate without an escort. Didn’t Luke tell him of this arrangement?

Din exhales, clearly annoyed, and finally turns to look at you. “Do I need to spell it out for you? I’m not looking for a whore.”

You stand there, completely dumbfounded, your mouth slightly open from shock. A whore? What the fuck?!!

In his defense, you are wearing a rather skimpy-looking outfit. You have on what is essentially a tennis skirt and a bandeau; it’s the hot season on the planet. Even so, this guy is an asshole.

You take a breath and put a fake smile on your face. “My apologies….Din Djarin.” You say in a suggestive manner. Turning around to leave, Din whips around and grabs your upper arm tightly, yanking you closer to him.

“How do you know that name?” Din loudly whispers in a demanding, low voice.

You’re not stupid, you know that his name is known only by a few. “My industry has very skilled people.” You respond, hoping he will get the hint that you are in fact not a sex worker, but actually the person he’s supposed be meeting.

”Are you telling me your brothel somehow got a hold of my name?” Din is pretty pissed. Is this what he gets from doing dealings with Jedi? His name gets leaked to brothels?

You let out a sigh as your eyes roll. You snatch your arm out of his grasp and move swiftly out the door into the street. What a jerk. This guy can find his own way to the compound.

Din tries to follow you, needing to know how a random whore got his name, but the streets are pretty crowded.

”Oh, Mr. Djarin!” Din hears someone say. He looks over his shoulder and sees Luke Skywalker approaching him.

“H-hi, Master Skywalker.” Din says, deciding to give up on his pursuit of you, after all, that’s not the reason he’s here.

“I’m surprised to see you here, did my Padawan not pick you up?” Luke asks.

“No. He never showed.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that. Let me take you to the Jedi Temple.”

************************************* You hear your Master’s voice and footsteps nearing the empty lounge you’re sitting in. It’s a pretty big, dark lit room. There’s a conference table on one end, and an arrangement of couches and chairs spread across the place. It’s always empty, and you often use the area to meditate or exercise or just hang out. You pretend to look busy, eager for what’s about to occur.

“It is strange that my Padawan did not show up to greet you.” You hear Luke say behind the wall. He pokes his head around the door. “Ah, here she is.” He says walking into the lounge.

She? Din walks a few feet behind Luke. He turns the corner and walks through the door, freezing in his footsteps as soon as he lays eyes on you. There you are, the woman who approached him at the cantina….Luke’s Padawan.

You stare into his visor with a smug half smile on your face and slowly rise from your seat. You’re reveling in how taken aback he clearly is.

“Y/n, this is Din Djarin. I thought we discussed that you’d meet him at the cantina and escort him to the Academy? He says you didn’t show.” Luke says innocently as he stands between you and Din.

“Oh. I did go to the cantina. I guess I missed you.” You say slowly with your eyes locked on his helmet. “My apologies, Din Djarin.”

Din clears his throat. “Um n-no worries at all.” He chokes out. Shit! Din can’t believe he called you a whore. How did he not see the laser sword on your hip?

“Alright, well I’m gonna get to my meeting. Y/n, show Din around, alright?” Luke says.

“Of course Master.” You say with a slight bow of your head. You plant your gaze back on Din’s helmet as it rotates to watch Luke exit.

He slowly turns his look back to you, staring at him confidently with your hands on your hips.

“I’m sorry.” He says flatly through his modulator.

“For being such an asshole?” You say tilting your head.

“Yes. And assuming you were a prostitute.”

“There’s nothing wrong with sex workers. I’m not offended that you mistook me for one.” You say. But….why does it kind of turn you on that he thought you were a whore? Ugh and why does it turn you on that he is such a jerk??

There’s an awkward pause as you both stand there examining each other.

“So, you’re also a…Pawa-don?” Din asks, trying to fill the quiet. He has never been uncomfortable with silence before, in fact, he more often than not preferred it. But right now for some reason he feels different.

“Padawan.” You correct him. “And yes.”

“So are you doing the same training as the kid?” He further probes.

“Kind of. Grogu is more in the elementary stages of training. His focus is mainly on developing and fine-tuning his sensation with the Force. Most of my training nowadays centers around my lightsaber mastery and combat.” You inform him.

“Hm. Wonder when you’ll be good enough to battle me.” Din says casually as he takes a breath.

“What?” You ask.

“I said I wonder when you’ll be good enough in combat to put up a fight against me.”

Is he serious? Is he trying to provoke you? Even after the predicament he just found himself in with you? “Ha….um….I was good enough to fight you years ago.” You declare

Din looks at you for a moment. “I’m a Mandalorian.” He says simply.

“.....”

“The Mandalorian who wields the Darksaber. So you’re either overestimating your own ability or underestimating mine.”

You take a deep breath and take a step closer to him. “I know most people think that Mandalorians are the greatest warriors in the galaxy, but that’s because they don’t know of the Jedi Order. My connection with the force gives me strength that you will never know, that you will never be able to comprehend.”

Din takes a step closer to you. “That may be, but I have decades of combat experience that is simply unmatched by you, not to mention the most imperishable armour in the galaxy.”

“So what I’m hearing is that you would like to duel.” You say as you remove your saber from its holster and activate its blade. It’s a light lavender color, thin and sleek.

“That’s cute.” Din says. “Just a reminder, little girl. You were given that light saber. I won mine in battle.” He proclaims as he detaches his saber from his belt. *see gif*

“I made it. But fair point. Now enough talk, Mandalorian, are you ready to duel or what?” You say as you get into a battle stance.

Din holds his hand out. “If, by some miracle, you do happen to overpower me, don’t touch the saber. Bo-Katan is already mad enough that I have it, I can’t imagine what she’d do if a non-Mandalorian gets their hands on it again.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m well aware of the bizarre way that the ruler of Mandalore is chosen.”

“Alright then, princess, I won’t hold back.”

You feel heat rush through your core at those words. Princess. He won’t hold back. Uggh... focus! This guy has been demeaning you since the moment you met him, show him how powerful you are!

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

You and Din battle for a good seven minutes, the two of you are pretty evenly matched, neither one of you gains the upper hand for very long. Just as you’re feeling your strength falter, you’re able to knock his saber out of his hands, and you push him onto the ground. Din tries to get up and reach for his saber but you plant yourself on top of him, straddling him. He looks up at you in defeat.

He takes a deep breath as you stare down at him. That’s when you notice the tent in his pants. You’re sitting on his legs so that his bulge is right above your crotch.

Adrenaline is pumping through your veins from your victory and a smile stretches across your face. “I have another quality that puts me at an advantage that I forgot to mention: your attraction to me and your primal desire to fuck me.” You say as you slowly place your hand on top of his clothed erection. You lean down and bring your face close to his helmet. “I bet your face is just bright red underneath this helmet of yours. Not only did you lose the battle, but your urges got the best of you.” You say in a condescending tone.

Din stares up at you, his chest moving up and down as he breathes.

“That’s where you and I differ.” You say. “A real warrior has self-control and self-restraint.”

Din moves his hands to your thighs and runs them up to your hips. “Who said I was trying to restrain myself?” He says in a raspy voice.

You’re a little caught off guard. You were teasing him, and this was not the reaction you were expecting. You thought he’d be embarrassed, you thought he’d want to get out of this situation as soon as possible.

“Face it.” You say after a pause. “You can’t repress your arousal, and your lack of self-control is a disadvantage to you.”

Din’s hands are still on your hips, and he pulls you up his body ever so slightly. “So since you have such great self-control, your panties wouldn’t happen to be wet right now, would they?” He inquires in a low, sultry voice.

You’re taken aback at his shameless words. “O-of course not.” You stutter as your confidence recedes.

“Let me see.” He demands flatly.

“What?” Did you hear him right? Your heart beat is pounding, you can’t tell if he’s joking around with you or not like you were doing with him.

“I said let me see.” Din says moving his gloved hands to the bottom of your skirt. “C’mon, pull this short little skirt up just a tad more and show me that your panties are dry.”

“N-no I–”

“Fine.” Din cuts you off. “I’ll do it myself.” He says as he removes one of his gloves. He then moves his bare hand under your skirt up to your pussy, easily pushing the thin panties you're wearing aside and planting two fingers inside your sopping wet folds.

You jerk at the contact of his soft skin on your sensitive pussy. “Din!” You exclaim. You grab his hand, but don’t move it.

Din chuckles. “Looks like you don’t have as much self-discipline as you claim.” He brings his other hand and cups your cheek. “Awwww, your face is just bright red right now.” Din mocks.

“W-whatever, you still lost.” You say out as you’re overcome with humiliation.

“Mmmmm. Congratulations.” Din says lazily as he removes his hand from your cunt and grabs your hips once again. “So, y/n. You showed me how Jedi fight. Let me show you how Mandalorians fuck.” He says as he pulls your hips and grinds you against his bulge.

Your panties are still pulled aside and the friction of his clothed erection against your clit makes you whimper.

“You– you wanna fuck me?” You ask hesitantly.

“Ha. Of course I wanna fuck you. Look at you.” He says as he lifts you off of him to stand up. Standing tall, he towers over you and brings his non-gloved hand to your chin, pulling it up gently to meet his gaze.

The unexpected and prompt shift in the power dynamic has you all turned around. Just moments ago, your confidence was through the roof. You were giddy claiming your victory against him, making fun of him for getting a boner during a duel. But the tone between the two of you has completely changed. He has you weak and timid, he’s looking down at your wide doe eyes as if you’re his prey.

“Come on, little Padawan. Practicing self-control is great, but let me show you what it’s like to lose all control over yourself.” Mando says as he wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer to him. “Cuz I would just love to tie you up and have my way with you.” He mutters. Dins hands slide down to your butt as he gropes your flesh, pulling you flat against him. “Let down your guard for just a moment and let me show you how rewarding it can be.” Din slips his bare hand back under your skirt to find your cunt even wetter than before. You let out a whimper and bat your eyes at him.

He starts slowly circling your clit, and moves his other hand up to caress your cheek softly. “Come on.” He whispers in your ear. “I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

High-pitched breaths are escaping your lips as he gently runs his thumb up and down your cheek bone.

“Can– can you not–” you breathe, sliding your hands up his chest.

“What. What is it?”

You pause for a moment. “Can you not be so gentle with me?” You say with slight embarrassment.

Din scoffs, “Oh baby girl, you’re gonna regret saying that.” He says as he grabs a fist full of your hair and roughly pulls your head back, exposing your delicate neck to him.

This harsh action sends shocks to your pussy. “Didn’t you say something about tying me up?” You purr with a slight smile, looking up into his visor.

“So I was right about you being a filthy fuckin whore.” Din spits as he shoves a finger inside of you, his thumb rubbing against your clit.

“Y-yeah, but only for you.” You whine as your eyes fall closed and high-pitched moans begin escaping your lips.

“Ohh that’s right baby.” Din praises. He’s so turned on by the way you’re speaking and responding to his touch, and he loves the impact he has on you. How you so quickly went from a confident fighter when he lost to you, to a shy little girl when he started teasing you, to a dirty slut once he got his hands in your panties.

He starts pumping his finger faster and you can hear the lewd noises your obscenely wet pussy is making. Your mouth opens even more with your moans becoming more pronounced and your back arches. You’re standing pressed flat up against him, he’s basically holding you up on your toes with one arm as his other hand drives into your cunt.

You can feel your orgasm just beginning to climb when you suddenly hear a beep on your watch’s intercom. It jolts you back to reality.

“Y/n, are you at the lounge? I’m heading back there now.” Your Master says through the intercom.

“Shit.” You say as you push Din’s chest, pulling yourself off of him. “I should have shown you to your accommodation by now.” You say as you frantically start looking around your feet for your saber. By the time you grab it and look up for Din, he has already made his way out the back exit.

You attach your saber to your hip as you try to steady your breathing, disoriented from the abrupt conclusion of whatever it was you were doing with Din. You hear Luke’s footsteps approaching as you quickly try to put your panties back in place, growling at how soaked they are. You’re praying that your Master doesn’t notice the wetness that has been smudged on your inner thighs.

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

You cannot believe what you did with Din. No one has ever done anything like that to you before. You get hit on all the time— you’re gorgeous— but you are almost never interested enough to give them the time of day. But Din? He had his fingers in your pussy after knowing you for ten minutes. How did he do that!?

It’s the early evening. You lie in your bed visualizing the events over and over again, heat pooling in your core as you replay the dirty things he said to you.

While it fuels your arousal, you also feel uneasy about the interaction. He left so quickly, and he left without saying a word to you, almost like nothing had happened. You hope that Din doesn’t think less of you, that he doesn’t think you’re some hussy who is easily persuaded into letting guys she just met finger fuck her.

You are pulled away from your anxious thoughts when you hear your intercom going off. It’s your friends talking about what they’re doing tonight. You don’t really care to pay attention, but you sit straight up in your bed when you hear something about that “Mandalorian who’s visiting the Academy,” and how he’s “at the cantina in town.”

You jump out of bed and without even thinking, you grab a sweater and head toward the parlor.

Your heart is beating on the chilly walk there. You hope he’s surprised to see you, you hope he’s excited to see you. You’re gonna act casual, yeah, like you didn’t even know he was there. No big deal! You’re just going to the cantina to hang with your friends. And then you see eachother, and bing bang boom, you guys are back in your room fucking while he calls you his little slut. Yes. This is gonna go great.

It’s a Friday night and the cantina is bustling. People are dancing, drinking, and gambling. It’s so loud that you can barely hear yourself think. As you make your way through the rowdy crowd, you spot Din’s helmet over the hordes of people. He is sitting in a somewhat secluded booth in the corner of the restaurant.

You proceed a few steps forward, lightly pushing people to get through the crowd, and then, your heart drops. He’s not sitting alone. There’s a girl, a woman, a sex worker, wrapped in his arm.

You stand there for a moment as everything goes quiet, you stare at Din and the beautiful woman in a tight short dress sitting beside him. She’s talking to him, saying things into the side of his helmet as he sits there looking forward with his arm casually draped around her, man spreading and all.

Din’s head turns and that’s when he notices you, standing there among the crowd of people in that same short high waisted skirt and a cropped sweater of the same color.

You feel something fall deep in your chest as you realize that he sees you. You blink a few times as the rest of your senses come back, humiliation and embarrassment overcoming you as you quickly turn around and stumble out of the bar.

You make your way into the dark street and take a few deep breaths before running back to the Academy. You're fighting off tears as you feel the cold air pinching every bit of your exposed skin.

You can’t believe that you let yourself become smitten by someone who was such an asshole. He mistook you for a whore, he insulted your combat skills, he pressed you to let him fuck you! You should have expected this.

A tear rolls down your cheek. Why did you think he liked you? He didn’t. He didn’t like you. And he didn’t want to fuck you, he just wanted to fuck someone, and you were the closest one to him. You let him use you. He must do this kind of shit all the time with women, you were nothing special.

You get back to your room and bury yourself under your covers, wanting to escape so badly from this reality.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Visit Part Two

The Visit Part Three

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

Masterlist

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Taglist:

@pinkninja200 @raspberrymama @stevie75 @tacticalsparkles @kenoobiwan @shark-s @theamuz @blackrose8425 @beskarboobs @beskarboobs @smutslutz @princess-djarinn @spideysimpossiblegirl @riot-rotten

[theinternetisfulloftrash]

My Dearest Trashy,

In honor of my sprained ankle, which is particularly angry today, can you write me a FLUFFY little number where Dylan takes care of his injured girlfriend?

Love,

Your BFF Mischief

Happily. Gladly. Eagerly.

This one goes out to my bestie and her busted ankle. Much love, beautiful human! - Trashy, your filthy enabler ;)

Tags: SWEET AS SHIT FLUFF. DEAL WITH IT, SMUT LOVERS.

Authors Note: Established relationship with a girl named Rachael. Rachael is my go-to for one-shots. If that's your name, I suppose this is an insert? Enjoy? ;) Also, here's some recommended listening, if you're into that kind of thing <3

As Long As You're With Me

God, what a long day. What a long-ass day. Rachael’s ankle ached and throbbed when she finally sat down on the couch. She winced as she reached down to rub at it.

“You’re supposed to be resting that, you know…” Dylan said, walking out from the kitchen into the living room. “Even at work…”

When she’d left that morning, he was still lazily walking around the house shirtless in a pair of grey sweats, so she was a bit surprised to see him looking so pulled together, especially since he said he’d be spending the day at home. He was wearing a dark blue sweater, and a pair of his favorite khakis. His hair was that perfect disheveled he managed to achieve on a fairly regular basis. He looked good, but he always did.

“No rest for the wicked,” she smiled at him, but she was sure it wasn’t convincing him.

He shook his head and sat down next to her, placing his hand on her thigh. “I really wish you’d taken another week off before you started going back into the office.” He looked down at her feet.

“I know, but...they needed me in there and the new guy is a fucking disaster.”

He sighed in resignation with a small shake of his head. “Well come on then,” he said, patting his thigh. “Get ‘em up here.”

“You really don’t have to—”

“Yes I do. So, shut up and gimme the hoof”.

Rachael laughed sliding sideways a bit on the couch so she could swing her legs up over his knees. She rested her back against the arm of the couch, watching him as he peeled off her little ankle socks and balled them up before he set them on the back of the couch.

Dylan ran a long finger down the side of her swollen ankle, stilling over the slight bruise that still discoloured it.

Rachael could see the way his brows knitted together like he was feeling her pain when he touched her skin. He loved her. She could see it in everything he did—everything he said—and she loved him too.

“I should have been there when you slipped,” he said, looking up at her as he laid his palm on her skin, the heat of his skin soothing the ache a bit. “Could’ve caught you.”

She smiled with a sigh. “I would have found a way to bust my ass with you holding my hand, and I think you know that.”

He laughed, wrapping her foot up in his hand and rubbing his thumbs into the arch. “The clumsy does run deep, huh?” he grinned, his hands working over her aching joints, but not stressing her tender injury.

She could feel the tension easing, some of the swelling in her foot and toes calming down under his touch.

“So how was your first day back?” he asked, swapping his attention to the other foot.

Rachel paused for a minute, watching the careful way he held her, the gentle way he worked his fingers against her skin. “I mean...it could have been better? Could’ve been worse?”

“Ah,” he said before he pressed his lips into a thin line. “So on a scale of one to workplace-fuckery, you were sitting around a ‘meh’?”

He had a way of making her feel like nothing was worth sweating over too much. That whatever it was that was bothering her just shouldn’t. That he was there for her, and that they’d get through it together. That she could lean on him and he’d gladly shoulder the extra weight.

“Yeah. ‘Meh’ sounds about right.”

“So,” he said, shifting the conversation “I was gonna cook for you, but I figured you’d actually like to enjoy your meal after a long day.” He flashed her a wink.

“Mmm, very astute of you,” she teased.

“Hey!” he reprimanded, his hands stilling on her skin. “I’m allowed to self-deprecate, but no one said you could pile on.”

“Sorry, sorry, go on…” she encouraged.

“So…” he drew it out, teasing her even more with the way he exaggerated the start of his sentence, “I ordered in…”

“Little Duck!?”

He huffed in feigned annoyance. “The art of surprise is entirely lost on you, isn’t it?”

“You act like I shouldn’t know that you’d order pad thai for such an illustrious occasion.”

He gave her foot a small squeeze before he spoke. “Fair.” He continued working over her sore joints with his strong hands, both of his thumbs driving the tension out of the arch on this foot too. “But, I think I can still surprise you,” he waggled his brows.

“Oh, really?” Rachel grinned.

“Mhm,” he hummed, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.

“We’ll see…”

He didn’t respond, he simply shook his head. “I’m gonna go grab some ice for this, because...while I know I have a magical touch with these,” he held up his hands and wiggled his fingers. “This bad boy,” he pointed to her swollen ankle, “needs the frozen peas treatment.”

She chuckled at him as he carefully lifted her feet from his lap and sat them down on a pillow he tucked under them.

“One sec,” he said, skipping off into the kitchen.

Rachael heard him digging around in the freezer, whistling and puttering around in the drawers for a minute or so before she heard the sound of a bunch of ice skittering across the kitchen floor. “Dyl! You alright?” she asked, sitting up a bit, holding her weight up on her palms.

“I got it!” he said, poking his head around the corner as he chased down an ice cube that had bounced through the threshold into the dining room. “Nothing to see here...don’t get up. I got it under control.”

“All right…just don’t hurt yourself. We can’t both be laid up,” she covered her eyes for a moment with her forearm, clearing her head before she laid back and relaxed, listening to him laugh a little bit before he started to whistle.

“Gotcha, you little fucker,” he said, presumably to an ice cube he’d tracked down in the kitchen. He strode back out into the living room, proudly holding a ziplock bag of ice and a tea towel. “M’lady,” he bowed, presenting the bag like it was a glass slipper on a velvet pillow.

She scooched along the couch to make a bit more space for him to sit down when the doorbell rang.

“Thai!” he almost shouted, wrapping the bag of ice in the tea toweL. He rested it on the pillow and set her ankle on it. “Hold that there,” he said, rushing for the door and flinging it open.

“Will do.”

Their dinner was sitting on the doorstep. “God. Don’t you just fucking love DoorDash?” he asked, plucking the bag from the ground before he shut the door. “Gone are the days of awkward conversations with food-peddling strangers. I couldn’t be happier about it.”

“Are you saying you don’t miss that long minute of awkward silence while you’re waiting for the transaction to finish?”

Dylan walked over and sat the bag on the coffee table. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Fair enough,” she agreed.

Dylan walked past her to the kitchen and grabbed some drinks before he snatched the remote control off the end table and turned on the TV. “Dinner and a movie?” he asked, looking over at her.

“Sure,” she smiled, sitting up a bit.

“Ah, ah,” he tisked, walking around to her side of the couch, standing over her and grabbing a pillow from the chair to place behind her back. “Rest,” he said, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her forehead.

Rachael sighed at the sweet gesture, but she wanted a little bit more than sweet. When he pulled back from her, she reached and pulled him down to her so that she could kiss him properly. His mouth was quick to adapt to the sudden need hers had for it. He leaned down even more to deepen their connection and his hands were soon knotting into the waves of her hair.

When she felt like she needed a breath, he cradled her face in his hand and peppered her lips and cheek with small kisses until his lips were brushing against the skin of her neck below her ear.

“Someone’s hungry,” he teased.

She smirked, brushing her lips over his ear. “Yeah...but mostly for thai food.”

“Ouch,” he laughed as he stood, “way to hurt a man’s feelings,” he feigned a gutshot as he walked back around the coffee table.

She tucked her legs back long enough for him to flop down onto the couch and adjust the cushion so that it was propped up on his thigh before she rested her ankle on it again.

He turned on the TV and opened Hulu. “Never Been Kissed?” he asked, pausing on the preview screen.

“Really, Dyl?”

“What!?”

“I thought you were going to surprise me?” she teased

He turned to her, looking less than impressed. “Alright, smartass. You pick.” He tossed her the remote.

“Fine,” she said, picking it up as he leaned forward and started taking the food out of the bag. He set her box of pad thai down in front of her, along with a pair of wrapped chopsticks. She grinned when she found the perfect movie. “This one,” she said clicking on it.

Dylan looked up at the TV, and his expression turned to indignation before he turned to her. “Really?” he asked before he ran his tongue along the inside of his lower lip.

“You said I could pick!” she whined. “I’m injured and sad…” she pouted, batting her lashes.

He narrowed his eyes, but she knew she had him wrapped around her finger.

He drew in a long breath and sighed it out before he spoke. “Fine..”

She smiled and pressed play, grabbing her food from the table as the title sequence for ‘Love and Monsters’ began to play.

[celestialarchon]

The Celestial Archon

Chapter Two: The Moonlight Phenomenon

Genshin Impact x F! Reader

Warnings: major Genshin Impact Spoilers! Possible grammar errors.

Tag list: To Be Added. (sorry it needed to be published!)

With the return of a mysterious archon, celebrations began! The night was filled with laughter, food, and memories being made. One person was amiss during the celebration, Mona still found herself unsettled and unable to be as excited as the others. An eerie feeling of unrest and anxiety has settled over our esteemed astrologist as our beloved heroes celebrate.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“I’ve finally found you,” Mona’s intense astrology session was interrupted by a cheery high pitched voice.

“Hello, Seraphim.” Mona turned to greet the beautiful woman.

She nearly gasped as the woman walked in, her hair now styled and her eyes shining brighter than before, the mysterious tattoos seemed to have faded and though she was still striking she looked far more human than before. The Celestial Archon merely smiled at the woman’s surprise and stepped towards her, hand out.

“We should talk, my child. Fate had brought us together, an astrologist with a water vision instead of a celestial vision is strange enough.” The woman was calm but not cold as Mona took her hand.

Mona was warm as the gentle archon interlocked their fingers and led her to the corner of the room, sinking down into a comfy chair and pointing at the one next to her. Disappointment creeped up in the astrologist as her idol released her hand. It was quickly replaced with embarrassment and a soft flush across her cheeks. Mona was wholeheartedly captured by the mystery goddess.

“I’m sure you’re aware,” The bright eyes goddess sighed, “That my arrival in Teyvat has stirred up some trouble.”

Mona frowned slightly, “There was already trouble, your sudden appearance is not the cause of it.”

“That’s good, but I still feel that my presence is going to stir the pot a bit. I am connected to all the stars and spaces of this world, I can feel and see things so deeply and I am well aware that there are challenges coming. It’s annoying in some ways.” Her eyes were distant again.

Words were lost on Mona for a moment. She couldn’t begin to imagine how stressful it was to feel so deeply, to constantly be overwhelmed by information and one’s connection to the world. Every piece of text written about the Celestial Archon was very vague. Information on the god of stars was hard to find and many details had been lost, yet one thing seemed to stay the same in ever piece of information Mona had consumed.

Even when the world was teeming with elemental energy and gods were far more common, the goddess of the sky, Seraphim, was an oddity. Before the Archon war, Seraphim was a lone wolf being without many ties. The last god of stars kept to herself and had no desire to interfere with the other’s problems, despite knowing so much of them. It was incredibly lonely and sad.

“You said it’s strange that I have a water vision,” Mona finally spoke.

“Yes,” The archon clicked her tongue, “Had I been around, somebody like you would’ve received a vision from me. However, you did not receive one of my visions and ultimately that should’ve impacted your abilities over astrology but it did not. You are quite the gifted character, aren’t you Miss Mona?”

Mona’s face was tomato red at the words of the beloved celestial archon, “I am honored to be complimented by the goddess of stars.”

“You’re very formal,” The starry eyed goddess laughed.

“Excuse me,” the two were interrupted by none other than the acting grandmaster, “I would like a word with the Lady of the Stars.”

Mona was hesitant, not wanting her idol to slip away but nodded and escorted the woman to the door. She was a bit dissatisfied with the conversation they’d had, wanting to know more and more of her long awaited god. The woman turned back to Mona, eyes twinkling, and embraced her. The normally level headed and somewhat haughty astrologist stiffened in shock but returned the warm hug. A sigh escaped Mona’s mouth, but she didn’t mind. The goddess was warm and something about her affection put Mona at peace.

“I am so lucky that somebody as beautiful and gifted as you awaited my return, Mona Megistus. Until we meet again, my darling.” The woman’s grasp around Mona tightened as she whispered in her ear.

The water mage watched as the strange goddess gracefully glided away with Jean. She was ethereal with the moonlight filtering in from tall windows, her skin illuminated as she hung on to every word Jean said. Even the confident and ever busy acting grandmaster found butterflies swarming her abdomen at the sight of the goddess. Jean felt as if she could be swept away by the young woman.

A part of Jean felt guilty for several reasons. As acting grand master, it was her duty to know about the citizens of Mond, it was her duty to work without personal emotions interfering, and her duty to oversee the safety of all the wind borne citizens. The Celestial Archon was challenging all of these duties. It was only natural for an astrologist to be obsessed with a god of stars, and Jean had interrupted the conversation. The Dandelion Knight couldn’t help but feel an innocent sort of crush on the goddess, she was kind and beautiful and she really seemed to want to get to know everyone. Ultimately, Jean was also aware of the danger a new archon posed.

Even so, the beautiful knight couldn’t help but want to push all those thoughts aside and capture the attention of the goddess for hours. She shook off that thought, attempting to focus on her duty as Mondstat’s respected Grand Master. Jean explained the general politics of the city of freedom and the individual jobs of the knights of favonious. She even went as far as to explain the adventurer’s guild and the recent trouble with Storm Terror. The Celestial Archon hung on to every word, nodding and asking occasional questions.

Jean took the time to explain the place they were in, a place between Mondstat and Liyue, and the teleport points that marked both countries. She was diligent and had already prepared some documents for the 8th Archon, maps and other things needed in the world. Jean had even communicated with others to ensure each safe place for the archon was marked. The allied domain was the middle ground, but Mondstat welcomed the new Archon with a living place and much to do. Liyue had also prepared a small home in the city for her.

The archon stared in wonder at the map. The knights of Favonious had prepared a room for her in their own head quarters, even the esteemed Tycoon had set aside a room. Wangshuu Inn welcomed her and Liyue Harbor gave her quarters close to Rex Lapis. Small notes were written for her, both Xiao and Diluc noted the stars were best seen from where they were while the traveler and Paimon had starred their favorite places to eat.

“Ah, Master Jean.” The Goddess spoke slowly, bowing.

“Please, Seraphim, there’s no reason to be so formal!” Jean’s voice rose nervously, “You are an archon after all.”

“Yes, that’s true. You do not serve me though, please refer to me as my chosen name. Formalities aren’t my taste much.” The Archon remarked bashfully.

Jean nodded, rose dusting her cheeks.

“I,” The Archon sighed, “Really need an open space so I can, uh, deal with my weapon situation.”

“Oh, oh!” Realization hit Jean.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” Jean babbled nervously, “Here let us go out to the cliffs, it should be okay, right?”

“Mhm,” The goddess followed the knight to the exit.

Aether and Paimon were also by the exit, turning at the sound of approaching foot steps. Aether grinned and waved at the Celestial Archon, she waved back and beamed. Paimon immediately took off, throwing herself into the Archons arms as the woman giggled. Jean���s face was priceless, attempting to process how this small otherworldly creature could just tackle and archon without shame.

Aether and his companion followed the two women, curious about the weapon another archon would wield. The group made their way to the edge of the cliff, the stars seeming extra bright and the moon full. The goddess lowered herself, feet on the lush grass and put her hand forth, palm out. Swiftly, she struck the air in front of her with her pointer finger, an unfamiliar constellation connecting at each point.

“Return to your master, Destroyer of Divinity.” Her words were clear and calm.

The constellation burst into a ray of white light, Aether covered his eyes as Paimon whined. Darkness fell again and he opened his eyes, gasping at the sight in front of him. The goddess held a long weapon close to her body, above her shoulder was a large opalescent curved blade, below the hip on the opposite side, another shimmering curved blade could be seen. No weapon in Teyvat was even similar.

“I-Is is that a scythe?!” Jean sputtered.

“Aha, well yes,” The goddess blushed at their reactions, “Destroyer of Divinity is an unusual weapon, meant to slice through dimensional and spatial barriers. I didn’t mean to shock you.”

Aether stood, mouth agape, “Even its name is terrifying! What the hell?”

“Ahahaha,” the archon continued to laugh nervously, “Well, its existence is basically to bring judgement from the heavens upon those deserving so yeah it’s a bit intimidating.”

Aether nearly screamed. How could she say something so casually?

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The traveler was feeling a bit nervous, as anybody would if an Archon decided to tag along for their daily commissions. Paimon and the Celestial Archon chattered away as Aether spoke to the Katheryne in Liyue. It did not help that the three had left before the others awoke and the Celestial Archon had left a note declaring it as a “friendly date.”

The last thing Aether wanted was to piss off literally any of the adepti, the Geo Archon himself, and even Jean who had taken a very noticeable interest in the goddess. A cloud seemed to look over the blonde but Paimon didn’t notice. The eighth Archon gave the teenager a sympathetic smile and put her hand on his shoulder, attempting to ease his nerves. Only one thing could make the situation worse, and unfortunately that particular thing was heading straight towards Aether.

“Let’s run,” Aether grabbed the startled archon’s wrist and dragged her to the teleport point nearby, ignoring the calls of a certain troublesome individual.

The archon chuckled, “I didn’t know daily commissions would be so exciting!”

Aether smiled sheepishly and let go of her wrist, trying to focus on which commission to start with. He was distracted by a sudden commotion, people yelled out as a hooded figure darted past the trio. Liyue Harbor’s guards thundered after the thief, knocking the poor panicked goddess off her feet.

The eight archon shut her eyes and prepared for the impact of the fall, but was yanked back by a pair of strong arms.

“Hey, girlie. Hold still.” A charming voice said.

The goddess watched as the lanky ginger haired man moved forward and shot an arrow, narrowly missing all the guard and hitting the suspicious character in the back. Aether’s eyes were filled with shock and panic at the sight of the man. Immediately, the goddess side stepped away from her hero, on high alert.

“Now,” He turned to her beaming, “What exactly is such a beautiful young lady doing with this kiddo?”

Her starry eyes met his azure eyes, “I’m just a new adventurer from Mondstat, learning the ropes from the best.”

“Hmm?” His gaze was questioning, “Well then, I’m Childe. Number 11 of the Fatui Harbingers. We should definitely get to know each other.”

The goddess moved to Aether in a quick swift movement. Suddenly, she wanted very much to escape Liyue Harbor. The Fatui were trouble, the goddess was new to the era but even she knew that they were dangerous. It was one of the first matters addressed at her arrival. She no longer knew the Cryo Archon, and this Tsarita sounded troubling.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” an annoyed voice chimed in, averting the red head’s attention.

A shorter man with a large hat and ominous aura stood behind the tall harbinger. Aether tensed up and the goddess wrapped her arm around his shoulder. Slowly, the trio made their escape at the expense of Childe. The older harbinger was chewing the younger man out for flirting and wasting time, both harbingers bickered as the traveler and his companions fled.

“You shouldn’t be wasting time on trying to get laid you, fool.” Scaramouche scowled, still ripping into his subordinate. “Especially not that woman, even from a mile away I can tell she’s trouble. You’re a harbinger not a host, get your shit together, Tartaglia.”

Childe smirked, looking down on his superior, “So you noticed her, too. I wonder what someone like that is doing with my favorite traveler.”

“We should alert the Tsarita of that girl,” Scaramouche mumbled, avoiding the earlier comment.

“I actually agree,” Childe’s eyes narrowed, “I was hoping to see for myself what she is, but that kid stopped me of course. There’s something strange about her but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe I can charm it out of her?”

Scaramouche slapped his comrades back, “Let’s go you useless fucking playboy.”

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Wangshuu Inn looked beautiful and the aroma of food was far too enticing. Aether sighed as he watched his small, chubby companion chase after the eighth archon. The woman was supposed to be divine, yet in some ways he reminded her of a puppy or a kitten. She was somewhat moody with her affections and spacey like a kitten may be, and still somehow clingy and energetic like a puppy.

Luckily for the two, Aether had a commission from Verr Goldet. The blonde tried to maintain composure as he saw a familiar dark haired yaksha speaking with the Inn Keeper, not wanting to admit he’d accidentally led the Fatui straight to the Archon. The traveler watched in fascination and amusement as Verr’s face twisted from composed to horrified when Xiao was knocked over by the goddess. The conqueror of demons merely grunted and stood back up, clutching the ethereal woman to his chest.

Xiao’s eyes were cold as they met Aether’s, clearly annoyed with the boy, but his expression softened at the yawning goddess in his arms. Once again, the traveler was overcome with curiosity at her behavior. Only moments ago the woman was bubbly and hyper, now her eyes were fluttering and she was snuggling up to one of the most dangerous beings in Teyvat. Without a word, the tattooed man spun around and carried the goddess upstairs.

“I’m here for your com-“ Aether began.

“Who was that?!” Verr Goldet burst out, “I’ve never seen Adeptus Xiao so damn agreeable. What just happened? Is this a dream?”

Paimon giggled, “He loooooves her! That person is the one we told you about before! Even Xiao can’t be in a bad mood around her, it’s amazing!”

“Oh,” Verr blushed at Paimon’s words, “She’s that person? No wonder he’s been so restless.”

“Wait, restless?” Aether questioned.

Verr Sighed and beckoned the two to a guest free area. The two followed her into a small back room, exchanging glances. The boss lady pulled out an old book and brushed the dust away. Aether and Paimon peered down at the book, puzzled by its appearance. It was a dark leather with carvings of the moon and clouds on the front.

Carefully, Verr flipped the book open and turned it to the two. Paimon shot up, shrieking. The book looked like a book you’d find in a library but was strange. Instead of ongoing text, the pages had scraps and pieces stuck on the pages with various notes scribbled around. Verr turned to the first page, placing her middle finger at the beginning text and giving Aether and expectant look. The traveler leaned down and began to read the text.

“The moonlight phenomenon: Legend of Liyue.

It is said that there was once a ruler of the stars, one who ruled over the sky as the Gods rule over our land. When tides of war overcame Liyue, Rex Lapis sought out the monarch of the sky to form a contract.

Seraphim granted Rex Lapis the moonlight phenomenon. Liyue’s skies were never to dim even on the darkest of nights, the moon and stars would remain as guides for Liyue always. It is said that this contract assisted in bringing the evil gods to their doom, the sky illuminating the way to victory for Liyue and all of Teyvat.”

Verr flipped the page as Aether exhaled trying to wrap his mind around the strange passage.

“The Contract: Seraphim and Rex Lapis.

The circumstances of the moonlight phenomenon still remain unknown. It is an ancient mystery that many still attempt to solve, what exactly did the Geo Archon barter for his people?

Nobody knows, still. However, the most common theories are that the contract has not been fulfilled or that there was no contract to begin with. Many believe that Rex Lapis and Seraphim were secret lovers, and this was Seraphim’s gift to her beloved. Others hypothesize that Seraphim’s wish was never fulfilled, as her death sealed the victory for The Seven Archons.”

Aether shuddered. People in Liyue believe that The Celestial Archon died in the Archon war? Verr flipped to a page in the middle of the book.

“Liyue’s Priestess Seraphim

It is said that a woman with eyes vast like the galaxy beyond and mysterious astrological powers once enchanted all of Liyue.

Seraphim, the last Celestial wielder was Liyue’s last hope. Though she is not honored as an archon, she is known vaguely as a priestess. The woman who captured the attention of the archon’s themselves and was adored by the Adepti. Few remain, but Liyue’s legends claim that the priestess of the stars was the lover of Rex Lapis, the lover of the Vigilant Yaksha, or the lover another adepti.

Even fewer discuss the devastation that occurred when she fell from grace. Her death was the catalyst of the only known battle between Liyue’s very own Archon, The Anemo Archon and his people, and the Adepti. A lesser known battle that almost forced both Mondstat and Liyue into Civil Wars.

When the dust settled, all that stood was the full moon. Many Adepti still honor the priestess under the moonlight by fighting evil spirits and demons.”

Aether’s eyes widened at Verr. She solemnly shook her head as the traveler’s face fell. Xiao, Ganyu, Zhongli, Venti, all of them suffered so terribly. It was confusing to the boy that every text described the Celestial Archon as deceased. His head began to hurt from the information. Verr sighed and led him back out.

“Once you finish commissions, why don’t you two stay here? I’ll prepare a room for you,” The boss was sympathetic.

Aether grimaced but nodded, leading Paimon out to finish their duties.

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Somewhere in the shadows of Wangshuu Inn crept a Fatui agent, slipping away as the traveler set out. The shadowy figure grinned at the piece of paper in their hand.

“Protected by the traveler and the Adepti. Master Childe will be interested in this,” His eyes were dark as he approached his fellow Fatui agents, “She could be very useful to us, this (Y/N).”

The suspicious shadows began to slink away, overcome with desire to inform their boss of the new information. Only a few feet away, a strange creature ducked down to avoid being seen by the agents, fidgeting.

“The angel is here!” The creature shrieked as the cult like group left it’s sight, “(Y/N) will be ours.”

[tsunderedoctor]

Here’s some more Law for you hun! ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ ) What about Law finding out he’s going to be a dad!, some soft daddy Law for ya Oh, and you can talk to me about your troubles, I’ll be there for you and do what I can to help you feel better ♡

Pebbsie, I bow before thee- I had too much fun with this and maybe wrote a lot--

You are so kind omg, I love you so much!! 😭😭💖💖

TW: Mentions of Pregnancy

Babe Below~!

Trafalgar D. Water Law

(This would totally have to happen after defeating Kaido and whatnot, cause let’s be real, my boy ain’t ready for a kid right now-)

When he had first heard the news, his heart dropped over the possibilities of birth defects or a miscarriage. He had done enough research over Amber Lead Disease and from personal experience he knew it was technically possible to give his own child the disease. 

You had to reassure the man, that he had gotten the lead out of his body, and that no lead could pass through from him to the child. It took many sleepless nights from both of you to finally convince the man it would be okay, that it was possible and okay for him to start a new life.

He makes sure to go over every precaution with you and the new life growing inside you. You are on a strict eating schedule and aren’t allowed to help the crew work anymore. If he can’t physically be near you, someone else is by your side. I know it sounds cheesy and typical, but he doesn’t want to risk you losing the child, he managed to get this far in life, he wasn’t going to lose anyone else to fate.

If you ask him if he wants a boy or a girl, he won’t answer. It makes him think back to his time when he was with his own family, and it scares him yet again of losing something precious, eventually he will warm up and mutter a “as long as it’s healthy” to your ask.

When the months get closer to the due date, he is preparing more and more, diapers, clothes, toys, all the galore. I think he would want a winter-like theme for the nursery, with a polar bear, penguin, orca, and a cute snow leopard seal! 

When it’s finally time for the child to be brought into this world, he goes into doctor mode on the spot. He sees your pain and wants to do everything in his power to help you, so lover mode is out the door for now. Once he’s introduced to his own flesh and blood, Law is back to reality and he can’t help but cry. Cry for the loss of his family who will never get to meet and love his child and cry over the fact this child will never know how important their birth is. 

He’s the type of father, who watches from afar. He loves his child and wants what’s best for them, but he’s also scared at first of the possibly his child will hate him or be scared of him. However, as time goes on and he gets to know his child, he gets a bit stricter, less scared of his child fearing him and his parental side kicking in. 

I like to think if he had a boy, he would look like the spitting image of Law, maybe with the other parent’s eye color (totally not biased-) and if he had a girl, perhaps the same, but takes some characteristics from his mother and Lami too, especially when she gets older.

Could see him having one, maybe two kids, but that’s it. He’s just happy his child is healthy and can live a long life. Will not tell his kids about his family, only states they aren’t here anymore. He’s scared again of what they will think of him once they learn more about his upbringing and choices he made. He hopes to keep them as innocent of the cruel world, as possible! 

(again biased- but could see his child growing up to be a doctor in both physical and mental health! They eventually learn on their own about what happened to their family and father, and wants to work hard to not let a situation like that happen again.)

Tag List: @chloe-abbacchio @musical-apple @macdonaldsmanager @luxiditea and whoever else wants to join in! 

[elles-writing]

Daughter Moments

Request: Hello! I’ve read your imagines they are sooo good! I was wondering if I can request a Kili x daughter reader? The ploy can be anything you want but the reader has to be kilis daughter pls? Thankyou!!❤️

Requested by @imagines4everyone

A/N: First of all, thank you so much!! I hope you will like it!

Then also...The ending is my favourite.

Triggers: mentions of injuries, scars, angst, feels (if there's any more, let me know please!)

Tags: @guardianofrivendell @dumbassunderthemountain @imagines4everyone

Kili took a deep breath, as he looked over Dale. The town was beautiful, and he was lucky to be able to look at it during sunrise, every day, before he had to get back to his duties.

He felt the soft wind, running through his hair, and sun glittered in his deep brown eyes. He thought of his wife and daughter, and his mouth had soft dreamy smile in second.

When Kili came back to their shared chambers, he noticed Tauriel, gently stroking their ten months old Y/N's cheek.

"How are my two beautiful girls?" He chuckled, and his eyes were soft, as he looked down at his daughter and wife.

"Papa!" Y/N suddenly let out, and Tauriel and Kili looked at each other in shock and surprise. Their daughter just said her first word!

"You did it, Y/N! You did it!" Kili cried out, and started dancing across the room with his daughter in his arms. You giggled, and Tauriel watched the moment with tears in her eyes.

Five years later

"Papa?"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing?" You frowned, when you noticed your father.

Kili was trying to make a surprise for Tauriel - his wife's birthday was a very special day to him, as well as your birthday - and this year, as any other, it was something sweet. Last year he made her a pair of twin daggers and got all her favourite sweets from bakeries around Dale.

This year, he decided to bake a cake.

Needless to say, it was very funny.

To watch, obviously.

You sat up on the chair, and Kili put his hands on his hips. You looked into the bowl, and giggled. You tasted a bit of it, and frowned.

"Uncle Fili said you can't bake, daddy." You shook your head. Kili nervously looked at you.

"What did uncle Fili say?" You looked at your dad, and decided to tell him everything.

"Well, Uncle Fili said you cannot bake, and that you only eat in the kitchen, and he was right," you said. Kili looked at the light-coloured dough.

"It is salty," you said, and Kili's eyes widened. He slapped his forehead.

"I really switched sugar and salt," Kili sat down to the table, and put his chin on his hands. You wanted to say something, but you noticed his eyes were filling with tears. You jumped off of the chair, and walked to him.

"Why are you crying, daddy?"

"I'm not crying," he said, and got up.

"Can I help you?" You gave him your best puppy-eye look, and Kili sighed.

You just had to get this from him.

"Okay."

When you finally finished the cake, the sun was rising, but you and Kili fell asleep, sitting by the table.

The finished cake was, however, worth it.

Twelve years later

"What did you say?" Kili frowned at you. You shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Kili's usually kind brown eyes had a spark of anger in them.

"That I don't care about you."

"Oh, this. Well, because it's true! You literally make any guy run away from me, and then you make me stay inside! How am I supposed to get to know at least one?"

"You have still enough time for boys." Your father shook his head, as if he tried to get out the idea of dating out as quickly as he could.

"Fine. But if anyone asks, it's your fault," you said half-upset, half-joking.

You almost opened the door, when you heard your father speak.

"You know I want you to have someone who truly loves you," you turned around.

"I...I, um..." Kili deeply sighed. He felt a bit of guilt about the misunderstanding.

"Sit down, please." You did as he said, and he gently took your hands to his.

"When I met your mother, I knew she was...the One. My One. I fell for her even more, when we talked for the first time. And a few years later, there was also you. I was holding you after you were born, and I promised I will make sure you will have the same kind of love, the person you will roll your eyes at, but know you wouldn't want them any other way."

"Dad, I-"

"I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just worried about you and want the best for you, but...the problem is, that in my eyes, nobody is good enough for you. I know you think it's the other way, but, it isn't. At least to me." You felt tears in your eyes.

"What do you think...mom would say?" You quietly whispered, as you felt tears in your eyes. He took a deep breath, probably to try to stop tears, too.

"Your mother would...secretly agree with me, but let you...let you go on an adventure, as long as you promise you are safe." Kili blinked to stop a tear, and sadly chuckled.

"You never know who you meet on an adventure."

You took his hands into yours, and gave him sad smile.

"She is alive. Trying to find her way back, from the orcs. Mom is a fighter."

"I believe too," he said, and looked outside. The sun slid across his face, and made his eyes spark, and showed you the way they used to shine when your mother was still there.

It's been a few months since you and your father talked, and you were on a ride from Hobbition. You liked to visit Bilbo and Frodo, and, as always, told each other news. When you almost got to Rivendell, you noticed someone lying down - with red hair. You stopped your horse, and jumped off of it.

You felt a rush of shock, when you realized who it was. She was full of cuts, but breathing.

You got to Rivendell safely, and when Lindir saw you, you let out just a whisper.

"Help her,"

You had no idea how did you end up in the working space of lord Elrond.

But, having soft blanket over your shoulders and sipping warm tea, after the shock, you wouldn't complain.

"Can I see her?" You whispered. Lord Elrond talked to a healer, and both of them looked at you.

"Your mother is asleep now," the healer carefully said. You nodded.

"Is she-"

"She is alive. We cleaned her injuries, and luckily, they were not even infected yet. You found her just in the right moment." You let out a breath. It felt like a huge weight fell off of your shoulders.

"Get some rest, princess Y/N. It will be good." The healer said, and helped you to get to other chambers, you guessed for guests. You laid down to bed, and fell asleep. You didn't even notice the healer turned around in the door, and slightly bowed, before he walked away.

You woke up into bright sunlight. You realized it was afternoon, and when you properly woke up, you found out you slept almost whole day and night.

When you took a bath and changed into light dress, you decided to go ask healer how was your mother doing.

You carefully knocked on the door. Someone slowly opened the door, and you realized it was the healer you already knew. After a short talk, he told you to get some rest. You decided to listen to him.

You didn't expect to fall asleep next to the bushes of lavender in Rivendell gardens, but the sweet, calming scent was strong.

You woke up with slight headache, and sat aside from the plants. You watched the sunset, and yawned. You also realized you haven't eaten whole day, and looked around for some fruit. You got up, and soon you found a few servants, who were actually looking for you, and as they mentioned dinner, you had no more questions.

At the dinner, you noticed the male healer you met earlier. You blushed when he noticed you looking at him, but he didn't do anything. Later, he catched your eyes again, and send you a tiny smile. You felt yourself smile as well.

After the dinner, Lindir walked you to your chambers. You took a bath, and when you got dressed, you opened your window and put a pillow and a blanket on the floor, to continue watching the sunset, and look at the stars. The sky was bright, and the fresh air made you feel lot better.

You got back to bed, but left the window open.

Your felt familiar smell, as you woke up. For a moment, you were five again, in your chambers in Erebor, and it was your birthday. Only other thing was the itchy feeling on your arms and legs.

Damn mosquitos.

"Mum?"

"I didn't mean to wake you, wildflower," you gasped and sat up, wide awake.

It was really her. Your mother, her red hair shining in the morning sun, looking at you.

Her face was full of cuts,which were in process of healing, and fading scars. Her hair was literally chopped off, now down to her chin.

Her green eyes were, however, full of motherly love. Just as you always knew them.

"This-this is a dream!" You let out a cry. She hug you tightly, and let out a cry too.

"I'm so glad you're safe..."

"What happened to you?" You whispered, as your arms tightened around her, afraid of it being just a dream.

"The orcs prisoned me, I tried to escape, but I was weak and didn't have any weapons. This time, I was finally lucky," she whispered, as she brushed your hair by her fingers.

"I'm here, Y/N. I promise it isn't a dream. I was fighting to run away every single day, and nothing could keep me away from you anymore."

Later that day, you sat down, to write a letter to Erebor.

Dear father,

I had to stay in Rivendell for longer, but, as you will find out - it was worth it...

Two years later

"Kili," Tauriel frowned at her husband. Kili looked at his wife with raised eyebrow.

"It's a boy, Tauriel!"

"And?"

"She's my little girl! She was born like...yesterday," Kili wiped off a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Well, our little girl is having a lovely partner. You will like him." Kili's eyes widened, and Tauriel tried not to laugh.

"You already met him? And didn't tell me?!"

"Well..." Tauriel would roll her eyes. Her husband was literally freaking out.

She didn't have the heart to tell him the reason you went to Rivendell or Mirkwood was because of your love, not because of political...anything.

Before she answered, you walked in, nervously smiling at both of them.

"I have, um...someone I want to introduce to you," you said. Your mother nodded at you with smile, and you sighed and patted your father's shoulder.

"It's fine, dad." You opened the door, and 'the elven healer from Rivendell', as you knew him two years ago, walked in.

"Mum, dad...this is, um, my boyfr-"

"Nice to meet you," Tauriel said, but looked at her husband by the corner of her eye.

"So...you are the elf my daughter is courting," Kili said, and you looked at your boyfriend. Him and your father were watching each other, and you gently took your lover's hand into yours, worried they might start fighting. Until...

They both broke a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Prince Kili. Y/N has told me a lot of good things about you."

"Y/N, would you come and prepare some tea with me?" Your mother asked you, and you both got out of the room.

You listened their conversation, talking about your meeting, and, your dad's, and your lover's, favourite - archery.

"I can't believe it!" You said, whispering.

"I know," your mother tried to hold in laugh.

"They literally-"

"Yes. Seems like they go along well."

"Now my dad will spend more time with my lover than I do," you pretend to be dramatic, but secretly you thought if it wouldn't be better if they didn't like each other.

You walked back in the room, with cups with steaming tea.

"Don't worry. Both of them know who are the best archers in the family," Your mother gave you a smile, and you proudly nodded, as you placed the cups down on table.

"That's not true, I always let you win!" They said at the same time, and you and your mother shared a look.

Later that day, you were with your father in the gardens. He was enjoying the quiet evening, and you were reading.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"You know...you said, about boys...that nobody would be good enough for me. In your eyes."

"Yeah." He nodded, and turned towards you.

"So, um...what do you think, now when you met my boyfriend?" You nervously waited for his answer.

"I think...I would never expect to say this, but...I approve him." You let out a laugh.

"Just because you're both good at archery?" He rolled his eyes.

"I wanted to say he seems to be very nice, but that too. We gotta keep the skill in family, don't we?" You shook your head and snorted with laugh.

"As well as recognizing elf men and elf maids." You started laughing when you noticed your father's wide eyes and flushed cheeks under his beard.

"Who told you that story?"

"Well...Uncle Fili has told me many interesting stories from your adventures," you said. Your father quickly stood up.

"Uncle Fili will quickly be reminded of what does it feels like to have younger brother," Your father muttered, as he walked inside the castle.