#reposting this piece on here because i still like it and am proud of it

[bloodskelter]

"Aftercare"

[rainbow-cheshire]

☆ℓσνє ιѕ ιη ɓℓσσм☆ (dr wedding collab - kirukiyo) (I HAVEN'T POSTED IN SO LONG I FORGOT TO POST ON OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS)

happy valentines day everyone! i am still single (taken by my bed actually) but it still doesn't stop me from joining two valentine collabs! this is one of them hosted by @sploinky-doinkly-shrooms in which we draw dr ships in weddings! and of course i have to draw my fav goths (that i ship for some reason) in a goth wedding! i remember being really proud of this when i finished and honestly it's still a pretty good piece, sadly because of the angles not a lot of the outfit designs showed but hey at least i have a concept sketch lol, and i followed a hack on yt for the stained glass window which actually looks pretty good so yay! hope you guys like this lol i'm here to feed the smol but amazing kirukiyo nation

and uh sadly no full drawings from me until i get a new laptop because i ran out of storage there i can not draw, thank god at least 2 other collabs will be released soon so at least i won't ghost you guys or just post reels for another month

💙if you are planning to repost my drawings/edits, etc either ask for permission in the comments/private message me, or mention my username in the caption AND tag me, or else i will ask you to remove the post for stealing thank you💙

[animalsalvationassociation]

Tunip & Tomminow

[ DO NOT REPOST, ALL ART & CONCEPTS WERE MADE BY ME ]

Illustration Time of All Vegimals: 13hr 54min

Hello I am sick so here is a Tunip and Tominnow redesign . . . You are welcome.

Headcanon:

Tunip is the oldest of the Vegimals and tends to take the role of “leader” out of the bunch. In fact he aspires to be just like Captain Barnacles when he is grown up.

He does his best to take care of his younger siblings and makes sure that they stay safe and out of trouble. He’d never admit it but deep down all he wants is to make his Papa Shellington proud, even if that means putting himself in harms way for his brothers and sisters.

Adding to this you may often find Tominnow following right behind her big brother with a plush copy of her favorite Octonaut held tightly in her arms. Tominnow, unlike Tunip, is pretty shy and actually takes after her big brother Hilbeet. She is the youngest of the Vegimals aside from her twin brother Pikato, and wants to be just like Kwazii when she is older.

Notes:

Decided to tweak the picture just a bit, I really wasn’t sold on the shading. Something was just off, even though I spent a long time on it. So I just covered everything with a base layer and kept the shading beneath it for future reference. This was one of the pieces that ended up accidentally getting deleted alongside the other Octonauts so I’m just glad it’s finished.

(It would’ve also taken too much time to shade ALL the vegimals so I did this to all of them. Honestly I think they all look better this way)

I would also like to thank past me for taking a picture of the original line work and coloring to show to my friend before they all got deleted, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have anything to show for this week sooooooo

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m still extremely sick so I’m going to go lay down.

Next Characters on the Lineup: Barrot & Pikato

The Other Vegimals:

Halibeet & Codish / Grouber & Perchkin / Sharchini & Vegi-Bot

[ This is an Octonauts AU, in no way is this canon to the OG storyline. ]

[vampiretendencies]

IDCNTLIKEDARKNESS MILESTONE EVENT ★

request; congratulations on the milestone. i was wondering if you could do a piece on this lyric, xi. "tell me how did i ever find you, babe, tell me now that you're never gonna' run" - heaven by the neighbourhood. just jj feeling lucky that he has his partner but also a little insecure but the partner reassures him that she not going to bail on him like his mom.

pairing; jj maybank x fem!reader

warnings; fluff, a bit sad, mention of depression

authors note; thank you !! & i love this concept, i changed the 'babe' in the lyrics to 'baby' cause i though it suited jj more. said i wouldn't have time to write cause i was busy but i managed to squeeze this out. this is a repost bc when i posted w the original ask it wasn't posting to the tags.

masterlist — jj masterlist — milestone masterlist

JJ wasn't sure if it was seasonal depression, or just a single day full of justifiable sorrow.

Always being difficult to process his emotions.

He's wandered out to his pickup truck going on an hour ago, saying something of 'needing a moment'— extremely out of the ordinary for JJ. The seedlings of his childhood, coming back to haunt him, moments seeming to strum in when he was actually managing his life for once.

There was this inkling of his father blemishing in his mind, 'your mama' always told me you wasn't gonna' be shit.'

And there were thoughts of what his mom would've been like if she was around.

Why didn't she take me with her?

Was I not good enough for her to stay?

Would she be proud of me and where I am now? Did I really fail her?

Do I look like her?

Why couldn't she have stuck around and shown me everything that it requires to be a man?

She left when JJ was so young, and he couldn't remember a thing. Never being able to wrap his head around that fact that his own mother abandoned him, so that meant anyone could.

His chest is tightening vigorously, those same stitches that you sowed back together for him with time, were bursting back open. He couldn't shead a tear, having wasted numerous tears over the span of his life from this deserted

perception.

Up until he met you, he aquired infatuation a chore for most to give to him. With you, it wasn't forced it was seamless.

The four corners of the relationship neatly folded together to create the most irrevocable, maximal and acme-like love story he could've hoped for.

An exact reminder of that is interrupting his thoughts upon his truck door slinging open, revealing a concerned you to pull him from his thoughts. Now, you knew better than to pester, you always waited for JJ to fully tell you what would disturb his usual mindset.

"Don't leave the door open, baby, get in."

He was ready.

His eyes were reddened from sheer discomfort and irritability, having lost himself. Red hat sat backwards atop his head, blonde tresses poking out of the sides. So saddened, but still so alluring. His chin was propped up on his hand, arm resting on the middle console. Welcoming your interjection with dainty gestures, patting his free hand to the empty seat.

"Been in here for a while, J."

He fears making eye contact, because then you'll see his bleeding soul; yet fully knowing so prior.

"Just had to take a break ... for a minute," he mumbled, speaking above a whisper. "Not from you but this shitty life."

He swallowed hard, swearing that the lump in his throat was there to stay, panicking in such a hallow shell. "But then I realized, that if it wasn't for this shitty life ... I wouldn't have you."

You sympathized for him, struggling to rid himself of the shedded skin his parents left behind.

"And I wouldn't have what we've built together."

Unable to resist any longer, he interlocks his elongated fingers with yours, squeezing in reassurance. Bringing the shared knuckles to his untouched mouth, innocently pressing sweet pecks to each bone. You wailed and weeped on the inside, his vulnerability was elegantly put; rich and tasteful for everything he was pondering on the inside.

"Just-just don't do what she did, my sweet girl."

It was always 'pretty girl', the 'sweet' being something new, describing the whole of what he envisioned on the spectrum of you being his for eons.

"Who?"

"My mom... just don't leave me like she did."

The mystery woman resonated with your thoughts, and two and two were finally piecing together. Your poor lover.

"Wouldn't dare do what she did J-"

"Don't know why you stay, but l'm lucky you've been keeping me around. Tell me how did I ever find you, baby, tell me now that you're never gonna' run."

He sequenced his emotions in such a jarring, heavy-load, you'd always be there to take away the pain even if it was just temporary.

"M'gonna be here until we have wrinkles.’

[cactiired]

I can't find any of your old Grahamscott art pieces, did you delete 'em by any chance? I see works by you on the internet but I can't seem to find them anywhere on your blog

Hi! I get this question quite a lot still which I understand because of the reposts and I should probably issue a disclaimer in a pinned post or something.

Yes I've deleted and archived most of my old grahamscott works because:

A) I'm tired of being seen as the (insert a fandom here) artist. Quite a long time ago I did fanart for things I was passionate about. Since I was like 14 fanart was my creative outlet and source of joy at the time and I just felt like posting them online. People liked the stuff I drew which was amazing! And obviously I still am happy to hear that people liked the way I drew well known characters.

But by now I have been drawing my own characters for years. It's not that I don't still have a soft spot for the video games and books I was into but that they're no longer the thing I spend hours thinking about and drawing.

B) I would like people to follow me not because of an expectation for new fanart about a thing they like but because my original art and stories would be enough on their own. If they're not interested that's fine and I'd rather have people not follow me if life is strange or other fanart is the main thing they wish to see because that's not what I do anymore.

It's also just personally frustrating to have my old work being brought up again and again. While I understand that it's easier to connect with fictional characters that are well known and fanart is an awesome medium in that sense that it brings people together. But I've worked hard to improve in art technically and am proud of where I am today. My old art is okay but my goals in style were much different back then so I don't even see myself in any of it anymore. It's kind of like seeing old pictures of myself at 15 still finding myself. Same happens artistically.

I know I can't really control others finding my stuff since a lot of my works have been reposted to the point I have no authority on who sees it and who does not. And that's the internet I suppose 🤷 whatever you post stays there forever. But maybe some can find me through my old art and stay for the stuff I create now. Because I found my artistic voice. I love what I do. I love my silly little characters and their stories. I love sharing them with the world and seeing people still finding something valuable in the pieces even when they're not of already known characters.

[alexdreamart]

So I have a story for you all. 

This is an art piece that I have done a while back and posted around tumblr under a different account (MythologicalSky). For some reasons I felt ashamed of sharing it anywhere on my main art accounts. I think only one friend of mine knew I made those art pieces as I shared progress with them  (you know who you are!). I am still not quite sure if I felt like I shouldn't or if I didn’t want to post it as AlexDreamArt. I still can’t quite identify why and I’m slightly anxious at the concept. Maybe because of the cultural background of the country I live in or that or the general concept of fan shipping fictional characters being something wrong (which I don’t believe it is!).

Either way I created a completely new account and I drew stuff just for myself without fear of how it will be received by others. At first it felt really satisfying. I did art because I liked it (I still love doing art but often I am self conscious of what I post) and shared it without any worries. In time it still didn’t feel quite right to post it elsewhere as if I was not okay with what I created, even though I felt proud of how I painted then. So at the end of the day I deleted that alternative art account too. 

Some time passed since then and it was a huge lesson to me and something I need to work a lot on, slowly. To stop thinking how well or bad the art will do and just stay true to what I create and what I like. Even if it is just silly fanart, sketch or piece that has meaning only for me, regardless how others may view it. If they like it and enjoy it - that’s awesome but I should stay honest with my art first. I’m not there yet, it may take me a long time before I do. I took the first step and reposted this art on Twitter a while ago but took it down again. So here is yet another attempt at the second-first step I guess. 

Here are two art pieces and sketches that I’m (was) actually very proud of. Maybe for most that see this art it won’t mean much or they could even think it is cool art and scroll down. But for me it is important. The themes I tried to capture with them of forgiveness, pain, failure, trust… What you see in those pieces is up to you. 

I will never be able to satisfy everyone else with what I create so I may as well just do what I enjoy and find people that enjoy it alongside me. So for all total of three people that look at my blog, here is my story time, thank you for reading <3

[herwrittenuniverse]

Happy 1 Year AO3 Anniversary to me!

Yes, I'm that weirdo that remembers the one year anniversary of joining AO3. 23, however, is my favorite number, and it was also the beginning of the school year - I think that's why it's so distinct!

Last year, I was looking to do more things that I love, so I said "fuck it" and decided to post a chapter to a fic I hadn't updated in years and years on a different fanfiction website. A longtime reader/ fanfic author @butterflydreaming-writes-fic contacted me and basically said, "Girl, you gotta get on AO3. It's where it's at!" And one year later, here we are!

Here are some totals for you...

Of course, I know some other authors have higher stats then me, and that's okay. I'm proud that in just a year, I've accumulated over 1000 kudos, over 200 bookmarks, and over 21,000 hits. It's very gratifying.

I have 23 stories in total, but not all of them of new. Some are old ones that I reposted from a different website. Out of those 23, 9 are Cardcaptor Sakura, 2 are Final Fantasy VII, and a whopping 12 are of The Dragon Prince (with more to come on the way! I'm in the groove now.)

My most popular story based on hits is Lunation, my interpretation of the reconciliation between Rayla and Callum. I worked the hardest on this fic and am happy to see it still remains at my most popular piece. (Although, some of the shorter, sillier ones from S5 are quickly approaching its numbers, and I admit I will be kind of sad if it's no longer at the top! 😂) On the other end, my least popular is Red Lite, Green Lite, which is a silly little fic about Vincent Valentine going about Midgar trying to get a cigarette. It's quite funny.

The first not-reposted original story was Promises, Promises - a take on Callum's fatal promise to Rayla. ("You have to kill me.") I've never written such an action-packed piece and I am pretty proud of it. Even when rereading it, I still feel the urgent tone that carries itself throughout the story.

My most underrated fic is definitely To Those Who Crossed Over, a weirdly experimental story about how Touya from CCS - a naturally gifted clairvoyant - comes face-to-face with another medium, causing some interesting in-depth insight about Yue. While it's not the norm, it definitely is an interesting read.

In the next year, I would love to post some other fandoms (like RWBY, for example) and perhaps continue/expand on the CCS fic To Love Another. It's a story about Touya coming to terms with who Yukito/Yue are as a person. It is definitely the most quietly popular fic, with no comments but 96 kudos and 18 bookmarks.

Also, I want to simply continue to write. I put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to fanfiction. Character and canon accuracy are important to me, but I am slowly realizing that fanfiction can be whatever you want it to be. And that's the beauty of it.

Remember, fanfiction writers do it for nothing except the love of our fandom. We take time out of our days to pour our hearts into stories for you to read. I'm so grateful to AO3, as the website allows us a safe space to do that. (I always donate when the time comes, and if you read or write on AO3, you should too!)

In the past year, I rebranded and created my online personal as HerWrittenUniverse because I felt like I was entering another era of fandom. In addition, fanfiction has personally opened up so many door for me. It's giving me a healthy way to express my love for a fandom, challenged me to increase my writing skills, and opened up doors to friendships that I never though possible. So thank you to Cris for kicking my butt and getting me on AO3, thank you to my fellow fandom friends for supporting me (and everyone else!), and thank you to the readers. Fanfiction writers create for themselves - but the support is always nice, too!

Cheers to another year on AO3!

[sketchingstars03]

✨Introduction!!✨

Hello all! I’m not sharing my real name on here, but you can call me Shay or Shaymin!

I’m multifandom you could say, but lately I’ve been on a massive UTMV resurgence, hehe.

I draw art obviously, including many little pieces of my AU story, Splattertale! Or just my character, Splatter, in general.

(@splattertale is the official side blog :3)

I’m autistic and proud✨✨♾️🌈

My various interests other than UTMV include:

Normal UT/ Deltarune ofc

Pokémon

Kirby

Splatoon

MHA/BNHA

Various awesome animated series (like The Owl House)

MLP

Omori

And many more!!

Though, I’m a person with boundaries just like everyone else, so here’s some stuff I don’t wanna see here under the cut (cuz there’s upsetting topics, but still pls read if ur able)

though there’s one boundary that I know doesn’t need a cut before it, and that is

Don’t Repost My Art

okay although I know this won’t always work.. DNI:

Bigots of any kind (Racists, Homophobes, Transphobes/TERFs, Misogynists, Ableists, etc).

Proshippers, ESPECIALLY if you ship Fontcest, Frans, Dreammare, or any sort of incestuous, pedophilic, or romanticized abusive ships.

And now just some general stuff I’m uncomfortable with that aren’t necessarily DNI:

Sanscest. I.. am not a fan of it (especially Errorink). Or any ships like it. The ONLY exception is Zephyrtop AKA Ink’s Dads and that’s only BECAUSE they have a connection to Ink. If they did not I wouldn’t like the ship either. Even then I don’t even primarily focus on the romantic aspects of those two, moreso just the fact that they are, well, Ink’s adoptive fathers (which is adorable). HOWEVER they are still canonically a couple and I will respect that and treat them as such.

I don’t consider selfcest as bad as real familial incest bc such a concept can’t happen in real life. Cloning to such a degree or inter-universal travel doesn’t exist yet (we don’t even know if a multiverse is real). So you don’t have to DNI if you ship it, just, don’t send me any content of it (Ink’s dads not included, they are always welcome) and just know I won’t be putting anything of it on my blog (again minus Ink’s dads). 😅

NSFW content. I am not that kind of person 😅. Again, if you are of age and like that stuff, go ham! But don’t expect to see it here and don’t send me any sort of suggestive content or messages!

(also please tag it accordingly, I once saw suggestive art of a character I liked that was only tagged with the normal PLATONIC character tags and got jumpscared by it against my will. So yeah pls tag ur stuff like that just in general)

[kalevalakryze]

College of Geonosis (Repost)

Reposting this one for @barrissday ! It's definitely high up on my list of things to get back into once Whumptober, Ahsoka week, wolfwren week, sabine week, and Sabine Bingo have passed; I have some great ideas for this and I love everything so much

Pairings: Barriss Offee & Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, Ahsoka Tano & Anakin Skywalker

Characters: Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker

Tags: Modern AU - Human, Modern AU - College, Slow Burn, Eventual Fluff, Barriss Offee-centric, Muslim Characters, Good Parent Luminara Unduli, Anxiety, References to depression, everyone is neurodivergent, no real hurt (yet)

Notes: This is one I'm actually pretty excited about, but I do have a few things to point out just so any inaccuracies are purely my own lack of expertise over ignorance.

I'm cis, nonreligious, and white. This has typically prevented me from writing or portraying any characters in any other category for fear of misrepresenting. However, when I picture a humanized version of both Barriss and Ahsoka, I cannot see women in my demographic. I'm putting in the work to try to be as accurate and learn as much as possible, however, if I mess anything up, please correct me, the last thing I'd like to do is butcher a representation and do them any less than the full justice they deserve.

I do not know much about any religion truthfully, so I'm learning with each piece I write, and I don't doubt that I will need to revise the more I learn.

I am also completely oblivious to the college experience, so if this works a little too much in the movies or cliche television, that's why. (personally, fingers crossed that one day I'll be able to get a degree, but with the way things have been working, it won't be doable for a while, so I'm just living my college dreams through these two).

Summary: Barriss was half excited and half full of dread as Luminara pulled up to the drop off at last. The dorm building was tall, the Tribunal building would be her home for the next few years, “I’m scared,” She found herself whispering against the window. Her hands were squeezing Luminara’s, and her mother lovingly squeezed back in a heartbeat pattern. “Fear can be a good thing, Barriss,” The wisened woman started, voice soft, even with all the noise of unruly undergrads outside. “Do it because you’re scared, and when you graduate, you’ll feel better about taking that step, the next ones won’t be as scary,” She pulled Barriss's hand until she could offer a gentle tug, leaning across the center console until Barriss’s head fell into her shoulder. “And, even if this doesn’t work out, I’m still proud of you for everything you’ve done to get here,”

Barriss used to believe things would be easier once she graduated high school. Maybe the pressure would stop, after all, she wouldn’t have to pile on her graduation requirements to her early college assignments, she could actually devote her focus on her pre-med track, where she’d earned enough credits during high school. If she could just stack as many classes into each available slot over the course of the year, including holidays and summer vacation, she could be heading for her Masters and her PhD in no time! At least, those were the hopes and dreams.

Her mother had never expressed any kind of expectation on her, not once, but Barriss had always felt… strange. Luminara Unduli was a healer, and so was her mother before her. Like with her own father, Luminara hadn’t known her own, and while the absence never felt large in her life, her mother’s attempts at pulling her away from her work to bond were a greater stressor. Realistically, the young woman knew that her mother hadn’t wanted to pass on the workaholic trait, but she’d been exposed ever since she was little, and if her mom was so perfect and put together, she could be to, if only she could rush through these classes and get a jump on this ‘stable adult life’ she’d been dreaming about since she was young.

Of course, the world worked in mysterious ways. Barriss Offee was moving halfway across the world to the states, where she would, apparently, be rooming with another undergrad in a mechanical engineering track, with minor lessons in law and politics. It seemed a rather… interesting tuition, but then, from the letters the two had exchanged over the summer since the College of Geonosis connected them, this Ahsoka Tano was an interesting character. The girl had apparently graduated high school early, and was going to be attending the same school as her older brother she only lovingly referred to as ‘skyguy’, who was a senior in the mechanical engineering program.

Ahsoka’s letters often rambled on and on, about her summer, and her excitement for the year, or to meet Barriss, or to tell her about ‘skyguy’ and his wife, or her apparently many brothers, she promised Barriss if she’s seen even one of them anywhere in the galaxy, she would know, apparently, for as many as she’d remembered to list off in the letters, they all looked quite similar. Those letters were the longest, and while exhausting to read, she hadn’t wanted to seem impolite.

Her own letters to Ahsoka were typically short, commenting on something she’d picked from pages of rambling to show she’d been paying attention, and filling in her own information whenever asked. Every time her mother retrieved the mail and dropped one of those orange envelopes at her desk, she would smile in a way that confused Barriss, would make her cheeks heat until she would sink further into her chair, pulling an end of her hijab just free enough that she could hide her burning face from her mothers’ knowing gaze.

This was a posture Barriss took for the majority of the trip away from Coruscant, and along the fifteen hour drive to the Geonosian capital, where her new university, new life, and new roommate would be waiting for her. The traffic to get into the school was jam packed, and Barriss considered herself lucky that the school had allowed her to get her assignments, keys, and badges delivered to her home prior to the semester’s start, one of her final tastes of the perks of having a parent much more extroverted than herself.

Luminara’s hand came to rest on her knee, and with a slow, measured breath, both of Barriss’s moved to cover her mother’s hand with her own. Anxiety thrummed in her veins, as they watched the line of cars into the dorms inch forward, and students taking ages to bid their farewells. “I’ve arranged some work, for the first couple of days,” Luminara started slowly, once Barriss’s fidgeting was directly to playing with her fingers, smoothing over the neat black polish on each fingernail, or the brass metal bracelets that adorned her mothers wrists.

The young woman was unable to hide her relief at this knowledge. If it became too much, she wouldn’t be inconveniencing her too much to ask to come home. This was her first trip more than two hours from home, after all, and she was more than a little scared, something her mother had always been keen at keeping an eye out for, and coming up with a solution that wouldn’t further damage her nerves. “Thank you,” She breathed, barely audible from the thumping of a nearby bass. Four young men pulled up in the car beside them, the driver… with a tattoo on his face? Was identical to every other passenger in the car, in a way that made her look twice, but no. The others did not share the goatee and forehead tattoo as the driver banged his head to a song she would never be able to make out.

She hadn’t realized she’d been squeezing her mother’s hand until Luminara had to reach across her seat, to brush her fingertips over the back of Barriss’s knuckles, to remind her that if she started squeezing any harder it would begin to hurt. Her cheeks burned as she released her hold on Luminara’s hand, but the woman did not move her hand away, simply rested her now free hand back on the steering wheel and inched just a bit closer in line. “You’re going to do perfect here, and you won’t be alone, you’ll have Ahsoka, and I’m sure Professor Vos wouldn’t mind checking in every now and then,” She promised, and Barriss felt some of the tension in her shoulders relax.

“I will do my best to utilize the resources offered,” Barriss promised, missing the frown that tugged on Luminara’s lips as her head turned back to the driveway. Enough cars were starting to clear now, that she was able to make a substantial jump in line.

“The temporary office is only ten minutes away, but I’ll only be here for a week, Master Tholme has requested that I return to the home office to work on one of our newer developed strands and vaccines,” She spoke about her work freely and often with Barriss, part of why she’d fallen in love with the pre-med track in the first place. Her mother’s passion for her career helped Barriss fall in love with the world in a way she didn’t think possible, and while she had many obstacles to overcome, she had to stay positive that she would succeed thanks to her hard work and the resources available.

She was half excited and half full of dread as Luminara pulled up to the drop off at last. The dorm building was tall, the Tribunal building would be her home for the next few years, “I’m scared,” She found herself whispering against the window. Her hands were squeezing Luminara’s once more, but this time, she squeezed back in a heartbeat pattern.

“Fear can be a good thing, Barriss,” Her mother started, voice soft, even with all the noise of unruly undergrads outside. “Do it because you’re scared, and when you graduate, you’ll feel better about taking that step, the next ones won’t be as scary,” She pulled the younger woman's hand until she could give a gentle tug, leaning across the center console until Barriss’s head fell into her shoulder. “And, even if this doesn’t work out, I’m still proud of you for everything you’ve done to get here,”

She inhaled slowly, eyes sliding shut as she cherished her last moment of peace. “I’ll take these ones with you,” Luminara promised, before unbuckling and sliding out of her seat. In just a few long strides, Barriss’s door was opened, and her mother’s hand reached to help her out. Another slow, controlled breath, before she grabbed her hand and rose out of the car.

The sounds hit her like a wall of bricks, but the young woman swallowed, squeezing her mothers' hand once more before she moved to gather her two bags from the back seat. It wasn’t much, but she’d practiced packing light. The heaviest things were most likely the books she’d brought, though if it had been up to her, the entire Unduli home's library would be packed into that car, so the dozen or so thick tomes she stashed was a lesson in self-control.

Luminara took one of the bags before Barriss could sling it over her shoulder, and then nodded her way towards the building. “I’ll follow you,” She promised, offering a reassuring smile. The lobby was crowded full of students collecting keys, complaining to the resident assistants, and students saying lengthy and teary eyed goodbyes. She’d studied every map, and had planned for every single scenario that could alter her course to her new home. It was a big step, but Barriss led the way through the winding mazes odd bodies, up until she came to room 332.

There was music playing through a speaker inside the room, Barriss paused at the sight of two figures that occupied the side closest to the heavy wooden door. And older man, long hair, sharp jawline, blue eyes enunciated with a scar that cut across his right eye. His arms were crossed against his chest as he seemed to be caught in an argument with his companion. The woman was young, younger than Barriss even, with dark skin offset by clean stripes of near white skin, she had wanted to guess tattoos, though it seemed highly improbable, most likely an intricate case of vitiligo that cast diamonds and sweeping lines across her face. White and Blue dyed dreads sat piled on top of her head, and her eyebrows furrowed as he spoke.

“If you didn’t interrupt me, every time I tried-“

“I wasn’t interrupting, I was trying to help you,” Which, Barriss believed, threw off whatever intention he was attempting to convey, considering he’d interrupted the younger woman.

The woman’s hands went up in the air as she shook her head. “Which I’d appreciate, if you didn’t interrupt me to do it! I just think maybe you don’t trust that I can handle this on my own,”

“It’s not about trust, it’s about making sure everything’s right,” He pushed himself off the desk then, and a gentle hand on Barriss shoulder had her stepping into the fray, her brows furrowing as she listened to them go back and forth.

“Oh! So you don’t trust me to do it right!” The woman accused, her finger poking into his bicep, which he batted out of the way with an exasperated sigh. “I knew it!’

His posture relaxed, seemingly defeated. “Snips, I never said-“

Her arms crossed defensively over her own chest, now, mirroring his habit of interruption. “No, no. It’s okay, I understand. I’m the freshman, you’re the aide,”The woman turned away from him, going back to angrily folding a sweatshirt that must have been tossed on the made ben when they started their spat.

Their conversation dropped to whispers neither woman could make out, but as Barriss stepped forward, to make their presence known,’snips’ started back up. “If you don’t trust me, why don’t you just send me back,” She snarked, the shirt tossed once again down onto the bed as she spun to face him once more.

“Don’t tempt me, Snips,” He warned, when his hand pulled into a fist, Barriss took note of the rigidness of his hand, it wasn’t hard to see the mechanics of a prosthetic through the black glove he’d placed over it.

“If you’re both finished…?” Luminara started, growing weary of standing in the entryway. Boredom outwore politeness and she stepped past her daughter, into the room, to set the small duffel bag onto the foot of the unclaimed bed. “Well, Barriss, aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” She guided, once she’d finally entered and shut the door behind her.

She caught the man bumping the younger woman’s shoulder, until she’d turned to acknowledge the newcomers. Barriss stepped forward then, cheeks darkening as she dipped her head and curtseyed. “Kinesiology major, Barriss Offer, at your service,” She greeted, her lips quirking immediately at the way the woman she assumed to be her roommate beamed at her.

Ahsoka and the man shared a look, and she shook her head at him. The younger woman’s hand reached towards Barriss. “Glad to meet you, I’m Ahsoka, and this,” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder, to the man at the desk, who’d rolled his eyes. “Is my brother, Anakin,”

When Barriss took Ahsoka’s hand, both woman offered near hesitant smiles simultaneously, and Barriss caught the way her mother’s lips quirked as she stepped closer to Anakin, and the way the two bowed their heads together and seemed to be passing on a quiet conversation. “Your majoring in mechanical engineering, correct?”

Ahsoka nodded, her hand squeezing Barriss before dropping her hand to turn and grab a notebook. “Yeah of course! I know you mentioned your pre med track, and I have a brother who did medical engineering too, he wouldn’t shut up about it when I asked,” Ahsoka grabbed a messy notebook from a spilled open duffel bag, messy notes scrawled across designs all across the sheets of paper, almost impossible to decipher as she peered over them.

“She’s been up Kix’s rear getting him to teach her everything he knew pre-med, since she learned her track,” Barriss heard Anakin mention to her mother. She paused, hand reaching to grab the corner of the notebook. Ahsoka had obviously put a great deal of time into learning about the stranger’s interests, so the least Barriss could do was pay attention.

“these are…” The woman blinked, her lips pulling into a smile. “Most of these designs aren’t used until more than halfway through the course, and you’ve already figured out their uses,” She was truly stunned, there were instruction diagrams and equipment notes for pieces she’d only ever hoped to use in the practice one day.

“I watched a lot of Grey’s anatomy,” The woman informed with a big grin and a nod of her head. The notebook was shut and sat back on the already cluttered desk. “It’s actually really interesting, the subject, not the show,” And then a half nervous laugh, Barriss turned her face, her hand raising to her lips to cover the smile that pulled at her own.

It was Luminara who finally stepped in, her hand on Barriss’s shoulder. “Perhaps you two would like to join us for a quick lunch, then? I’m sure Barriss would love to hear all about what you’ve learned,” Barriss’s cheeks darkened, but she did not her head and focus her gaze on Ahsoka, who was looking at her older brother for permission.

“Hey, snips, you’re the adult here,” He defended, his hands raised in surrender and a smirk pulling at his lips. The young woman stuck her tongue out at him cruelly, before nodding her head up at both Barriss and Luminara.

“I think that’d be great!” Ahsoka’s enthusiasm was starting to rub off on Barriss, who’d set her bags down with the intent of unpacking later. They’d been in the car for quite some time now, and she’d be lying to say she wasn’t starved.

Together, the four of them exited the dorm, Barriss and Luminara piling into their car once more, overheated with the summer, while Anakin and Ashoka dispersed into the student parking lot.

With the air conditioning cranked, and their car rolling down the road, the sight of a black helmet and a white and blue helmet further up along the busy roadways was enough for Luminara to speak. “How do you feel about your arrangements?” She prompted, eyes flickering from the road for only a moment.

“I… I do truly believe it will be an enlightening experience,” The young woman frowned in thought. “Ahsoka took an interest in what I told her, and learned more about it, it is quite an admirable feat,” A pregnant pause, as their car pulled to a stoplight. “Do you know her brother, Anakin?” Because really, the way she’d caught the two conversing was not entirely unusual for her mother, but she’d never taken politeness to a friendly level before.

“Do you remember Professor Kenobi? From the Criminal Justice department?”

“You two attended university together, correct?”

“We had, on Coruscant. Anakin and Ahsoka were his charges since they were young. When you mentioned that the university had put you with Ahsoka, I assumed it as a good thing, I’m glad to see that so far, it seems I was correct,”

Barriss cheeks heated, so she reached to turn the air conditioners vent to point at her face. “She is quite thoughtful, and this does ease some of my fears about being put with someone I would not grow to like… I hope the rest of the year turns out to be as fruitful.”

Poggle’s diner was surprisingly slow as they pulled into the parking lot, their sedan pulling into the empty spot between two sport bikes, one black and blue, with the other in a variety of orange, white, and blue. Barriss took immediate notice that the white designs on the helmet and gas tank vaguely resembled her new roommates vitiligo.

“The mosque is nearby as well, I wish to visit with you this afternoon, and help you get acquainted,” Luminara mentioned as the two women exited the vehicle, the car beeping to acknowledge its locked status.

“That would be lovely, I had a difficult time printing the directions at the library before we left,” Because, if there was one person who still used Mapquest, it was Barriss Offee, with an excuse of simplicity, and being able to draw her route along the map to help her stay oriented.

The inside of the dinner was a little dirty, just as spare as the outside, making it easy to see the two young adults, who kept sliding the paper to their straws back on and shooting them at each other. When Ahsoka’s paper projectile hit the floor, Anakin had shot up and declared her the loser, a sheepish smile on his face as the two women approached. “You made it! Hope traffic wasn’t too bad, I refuse to drive a car anywhere in the city this time of year,” He explained as he crumpled up the paper into a ball, dropping it next to Ashoka’s, before reaching into her hair to retrieve his own white paper that had been lost to white dye.

“He is a menace,” Ahsoka deadpanned, taking a sip from the water in front of her. The woman’s legs were tucked up onto the booth with her, childish, but… Barriss couldn’t help but find it endearing, as she slid herself to the inside of the booth across from her new friend. “Anakin said you were an early grad too, right?”

“Oh, yes, actually. I took my classes during holiday, and received credit from the local community college to aid in my enrollment here,” Barriss explained, her hands folding together on the table in front of her. “You graduated early as well?”

“Yeah! Well, kind of! Turns out, with my last placement, I was taking more classes than I needed to, and getting the credits I needed, so when Obi-Wan took me in, everything fell into place, but I did kind of gap it so I could work in Skyguy’s shop. The customer service is trash, but he can get anything working again,” She pointed out, grinning widely at the nudge of her brothers’ elbow into her ribs.

“That is interesting, and I have to say I am quite intrigued on your perspectives, more so education wise, I have not met anyone outside of my desired study who has taken the time to learn about it,”

Ahsoka’s cheeks darkened, and her shoulders shrugged. The waiter came and went, the two girls left alone in their little world. They continued to pass knowledge and stories back to each other, with Luminara or Anakin only chiming in so often to point out an embarrassing discrepancy in the story. Their meals came and went, and by the time they were all getting ready to depart once more, it would have been impossible to believe that the pair had only met that day.

“It was lovely to meet both of you, Anakin, Ahsoka. I will be in town for the next few days for some work, if either of you needs anything, and please, do pass on my well wishes to Professor Kenobi.” Luminara dismissed, her hand on Barriss shoulder as she nodded to the two young adults. “I am going to cool down the car,” And then her mother was walking away, but Ahsoka was stepping up, her hand extended.

“Guess I’ll see you tonight then, roomie?” She questioned with a smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Barriss took her hand, much more confident than she had been upon their first meeting.

“Of course, I look forward to it. It was nice to meet you as well, Anakin,” The man in question raised two fingers to the corner of a split eyebrow in a friendly mock of a salute, before Barriss took her leave back to the cooling vehicle.

“They certainly are different, but.. not in a bad way,” She confided to Luminara as she sat in the passenger seat and secured her safety belt. “I think I will like it here, to an extent,” She didn’t want to promise that she would love the place, but she was now more willing to give it a chance than she’d been before.

“It makes me glad to hear this, Barriss. I’m proud of the steps you’ve taken today,” Her mothers hand did not leave her own the entire short trip to the Mosque, filling with folks all across the city

Even prayer felt more comfortable than it had in the Core. There were less people, she felt like she could breathe, and as the session came to a close, many stayed to converse, to check in. It was certainly more a community than the closed off life she’d come to know.

Barriss would not get to meet the imam, but she did get her name settled so they would know to expect her, if not every day, than at least four times a week. Prayer at home never came as easy to her, especially not as enlightening as it had been that day, and she quite looked forward to seeing if she would fit in to their community.

The return to the dorm was quieter than their first trip, and Barriss had to take a moment to prepare herself for her first true night away from her mother. “I will miss you,” She spoke into Luminara’s sweater as her face buried in her shoulder.

“I’ll only be a phone call away, little one,” The woman promised, her thumb brushing across Barriss’s cheek with her own sorrow painted on her features. “And I will be nearby as well, as you settle. You need only call,”

In the end Luminara did not walk up with Barriss, had guided her to make the hardest steps herself, and she had. The dorm room was dark, and mostly quiet when she entered. Ahsoka was sprawled haphazardly on her bed, with her phone settled by her head and quietly playing music too low for the older woman to make out.

Her belongings were unpacked quietly and carefully. Computer and books organized on the desk, clothes settled into the provided dresser. Her dead phone removed from her bag and plugged in, settled on the corner of the desk as well. When everything was just as she wanted it, and she could complete Maghrib, it was clear two very separate people occupied the space, with her neat organization, and color coded notebooks, and Ahsoka’s mess of books and notebooks opened and sprawled out with diagrams already across the desk.

It was mildly endearing, though Barriss had to wonder if it would ever come to grind on her. She had to hope it would not, as she quite enjoyed her current arrangement. She had many thoughts about the woman occupying the other space, as she retreated once more to the space provided for her fifth and final vesper of the night. She wasn’t necessarily distracted, but she did find herself pondering questions she’d never had before.

Sleep came that night with a new fear, one she had never entertained before, because no one else had ever held such meaning to her life, especially not in such a short time. The fear that perhaps Ahsoka did not like her at all? As sleep found her, Barriss promised, either to the sleeping Ahsoka, or to the ceiling, she was not certain, that she would wish to learn about the types of different engineering as well.

[memoirsofareddittroll]

AITA Shitpost #1: If you're from Africa, then why are you white?

So, here we go with the first one dating back to January, 2022. This one I'm particularly proud of, as it was my first, and it reached over 100 comments shortly before being recognized as fake by the mods. You can find the original post here (although, since it was locked, you won't be able to read it). Luckily for you, though, I still have the account and can thus share the post with you below.

"AITA for not knowing a lot about geography?

I use a throw away, because this situation is apparently embarrassing for me, so I would prefer not to be traced to my real account.

This started when I (24M) overheard some friends M (24M) and G (25M) talking about economics. I decided to join in, because one of them said the phrase “African immigrants,” which I thought was quite humorous, because it is an oxymoron. I pointed this out, and they both just looked at me. G asked me do I know what an oxymoron is? And I answered yes, I think it is a contradictory phrase. G then asked me what was the contradiction? to which I responded that “immigrant” implies to leave ones country, and one doesn’t leave ones country when he or she goes from Africa to the other states. Then M asked me what had I meant by “other states”? I responded that I had been fairly certain that Africa was a state, and that if it was not then it would not make sense to say common terms like “African-American,” as then being African would not make you automatically American.

Indubitably the conversation devolved to M and G mocking me for having thought that Africa would be apart of the United States. It became particularly bad when M said that what I had said was stupid, which obviously angered me, so I told him to shut up, cursed him out, and then remarked that him being a knowitall was the reason why no one liked him. M and G became really defensive after I said that, therefore I have seen neither of them since the argument. Since then, all of our mutual friends have been phoning me and saying I was rude.

On one hand, I feel that I may have been a bit harsh on them. On another hand, I have always considered myself a considerably intelligent person, so I think it rude and dishonest for M to insinuate that I am stupid. So, Reddit, AITA?"

Looking back on my first piece after a year of shitposting, the most striking part to me is that my work has gotten kinda sloppy over time. I put a lot of effort into my first post—here you can clearly see a well-defined character (well, more like a caricature, but in r/AITA terms they might as well be synonyms) which was carefully infused into the writing in a way that I unfortunately haven't been able to replicate since. I'm sure you noticed how pretentious I sounded throwing in clunky grammar and misusing words like "indubitably" and "therefore."

I also had a good bit of lore prepared—my character was eventually intended to whip out the fact that he was a member of Mensa as a last resort (as if that somehow excused thinking that Africa was a state in the US). Unfortunately, this is where I got a bit carried away with the commenting and eventually got my post taken down.

My personal favorite exchange in the comments was my third (and last!) comment here, which I think might have been what gave me away to the mods.

I learned from my mistakes that Africa is not a state in the US, and I now know that it is a country in its own right!

The thread got reposted to r/AmITheDevil, which is one of my main criteria for success in these stories. Most people there were calling me out as an obvious troll (one even dared to call me a low-effort troll, which I took particular offense to), as opposed to the maybe one or two comments on the original post calling it out as a shitpost.

Maybe I leaned into the dumb American stereotype too much, but I guess that's the whole point of these shitposts. Either way I still look back on it as a success, even if it did have some rougher aspects.

Anyway, my second post was more successful and was never removed (and even includes some DM action!) so I might post these out of order to let it stay up for a bit longer. Let me know if liked this, thought I was a pathetic loser with no life, or want to see more, or just generally what you think.

[bubbledabelle]

Thanks for visiting my blog! Here's a little bit about me:

Good morning, night or afternoon - whatever time it is for you - my name's Bubble. Bubble daBelle 🫧

I'm an artist and animator working to get my pieces out there and recognised, like most. I'd like to do my art full-time and that's a goal I'm consistently working towards ✊

What do I do??

Digital art (original and fan-art)

Traditional art (original and fan-art)

Animation (mainly 2D but I dabble in 3D)

Write stories: world-building and characters

Character design

Logo design

Learn programs to apply my skills to

Cross-stitching (currently only premade patterns but I'd like to try expanding into making my own 👀)

Do my best to exist in this world as peacefully as I can 🙃

🌈 I am a LGBTQIA+ Ally! I sincerely hope you consider this a safe space.

Although I don't personally like to go into sexual stuff too often, I still believe anyone can love anyone 💙💜

Stay away from minors in that regard, though.

🧠 Also a supporter of neurodiversity, with first-hand experience.

All brains work differently and I don't judge people based on how "well" they survive or cope on this planet. I personally work very differently to a typical person and it's usually a struggle. I ask for your patience with me! I'm doing my best, and that's all I can do 🦁

Okay, time to face my past 😩

^ that title is 100% clickbait lol but I still wanna share:

Over the years I've had multiple identity crisis when it comes to my "brand" as an artist and I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a chronic restarter ✋

I've stupidly lost sleep about how I want to portray myself online. Being neurodivergent doesn't assist this and probably plays into most of the reasoning: it's personally been hard to commit to *one* sona/portrayal over the years because, due to growing up, maturing or changing my mind, things not feeling as new/exciting, gaining another special interest etc. I've felt like I've become detached to what I had previously worked so hard to put myself out there as.

This leads to me essentially deleting my progress, effectively restarting my journey as if starting a new save file in a videogame. I gotta do ALL the quests again; it's tiring and I've only got myself to blame 🤦‍♀️

Speaking of, you may recognise these aliases:

Fawny Owl (Tumblr, DeviantArt, Instagram)

DaAnim8or2000 (YouTube) - now deleted

@flosflowin-blog

Well... they're also me lol.

⭐ DaAnim8or2000 was my first YT and I posted animations up there from 2013. I eventually deleted it because I stupidly let one measly comment get to me (at the time for my baby brain it was warranted because the comment was from someone I really looked up to in the community but of course, it was a stupid decision). I regretted the decision because even though I stopped posting for a while due to life getting in the way, it was still my work that I was proud of at the time.

This now meant I couldn't show improvement, which grinded my gears and gave me a mental block for posting at all, because I also had a thing where I didn't want to post CURRENT work if I hadn't posted PREVIOUS work. Chronological order and all, y'know... But then reposting my old work meant I had to go through the whole thing of "questioning my worth and skill" again - hopefully that makes sense? It's stupid and I DEFINITELY overthink but I'm working on that perfectionism.

⭐ Fawny Owl was my first rebrand; it was inspired by my love for owls and my discovery of Bambi II, then the idea of a character design emerged and I got SUPER into it. After a while I got detached from the sona because I thought up a whole backstory for her, so she no longer felt like "me" 🤣 so I retired her to be an OC (still super excited about the story, though, and I'll probably end up doing a comic or try to make it into a show in the future)!

⭐ The blog was my first Tumblr and I moved because I made a new email to become Fawny Owl, so instead of sticking with everything I'd become, I decided to up and yeet off to a brand new blog (that "new blog" is now abandoned too because I made THIS one to start completely anew... Again lmao). Probably to also try and run away from my past cringey self (a mass majority of that OG blog was me as a minor - I was still a minor when I created Fawny Owl).

- I'll probably keep those blogs up but just have them as unused archives rather than deleting them, as I already made the mistake of deleting my account once. Unless I think of something to do with them, I won't use them and I'll just be using this blog lol.

Am I over explaining everything? Probably. I just wanted to share my dumb journey to provide at least some understanding 😂

Honestly if you've made it this far, kudos for surviving my essay lmao ✌️

For real, though, thanks so much for reading 💕 I really do appreciate it and I hope you join me as I work towards my dream 🤩🥹

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I make any mistakes regarding communities or cultures, please don't feel afraid to correct me! I'm open to criticism and I believe everyone can always be more educated.

🫧 *pop* 🫧

[jessyhazy]

oh wow, this made my day. I knew you were cooking something so delicious. the way I was just so right! “Really…?” You asked, a bit less defeated. Rex couldn’t help but smile a bit when he saw some hope return to your eyes. “Yes.” Rex replied proudly. “And I think we can use that experience here. We’ll start slow and see what works for you. We’ll learn together.” alduvgiuz, YES! so good. they are so cute oml '' You wished you didn’t say yes to this, but you didn’t want to say no and disappoint him, you liked it when you saw him happy. ''

this right here made me so happy! like reading, that she likes it when he is happy, yes please.

'' Yes, he wasn’t actually going to be shooting you (thankfully) ''

I really love reading pieces with humor and the line made me crack up. '' He was happy to have you. Very happy even, he thought. You made him smile and feel mysterious things that he wasn’t ready to lose. '' aww, rex. he really deserves to be happy. like he deserves so much.

“What? Did you guys get a little too rough with each other while nobody was looking?” & “You really tired her out there Cap!” fives!!! you are such a tease! but please continue, thank you. the interaction between rex, fives, echo and jesse had me cracking up so badly, loved it!! I felt like witnessing them pull this of quite literally.

'' Rex then took a step closer to you, almost too close for what you’ve been used to. Strangely enough, you weren’t opposed to it. You liked the way he looked at you, you could tell he cared. You invited that feeling it brought you, but it was still something you were growing accustomed to once more. '' OMG yes, darling yes! love how much he cares and how much she opened up to him already.

“I know we haven’t been friends for long. But you need to know that you could never waste my time.” me slamming my hand at my desk screaming ''yes'' whole heartily !!! this would make me blush. oh my ... '' Another image briefly appeared in your mind’s eye. It was Rex’s smile. ''

yes, just yes. please think about him. he's a good guy, he won't hurt you. TwT '' He just hoped that you were doing alright by yourself, because he certainly wasn’t. '' The way he just thinks of her got my heart melting, i am genuinely just so happy while reading this.

I had such a good time reading this chapter. (maybe just maybe I hadn't had the best day and your post made it better) thank you for this beautiful masterpiece once again. I am really sorry if I put to much quotes in this repost, but I literally opened my notes so I could give you my opinion. really hope I don't upset you ... TwT i am proud of you.

Look Towards the Future Ch8: Deceiving Myself, With You

Captain Rex x Jedi!Reader

Words: 12.3k

Summary: You and Rex have a first go at correcting your connection to the force. You lose you patience again, and Rex feels more mysterious emotions as you both struggle with your fondness for each other. But, neither party delves deeper, and instead focus on unrelated, but important details.

Warnings: Poor anger management / A whole lotta half-truthes / Very minor injury / Sexual themes / Slight nudity / Alcohol consumption / Unconsciousness

A/N: Oh wow, this is longest gap I've ever allowed between two chapters. Sorry about the delay, I've been having a lot of personal things happen recently. But, please enjoy!

AO3 Link / Previous Chapter / Next Chapter / Master List

The Resolute was bustling with military personnel, all preparing for the ship’s departure that would occur that next day. Rex kept himself upright, his posture as perfect as it could be. Well, as perfect as it could have been as he fought against his nervousness, it clawed against his throat and pounded against his chest.

What made the Captain feel such a way?

He was about to see you.

Rex was headed to a room upon the ship that was designated for clones. A simple room to allow for close quarters training. Should the troopers ever need to get up close and personal with the enemy, this was one of the many places to hone their skills.

Rex had been thinking about your lack of connection to the Force ever since you revealed it to him during the last mission. Shortly before the war meeting, he was actually looking at the scheduling for this, and some other training rooms that required time slots to be signed out for troopers to train in them. And it was to his delightful surprise to have been asked by you to start figuring out your little problem together. Honestly, Rex felt absolutely elated.

He totally expected to have to bring up a proposal to you himself. But YOU were the one to take that step instead. That had to have been a good sign, right? That you really were warming up to Rex? He wanted nothing more than to finally get closer to you, so why did it make him so damn nervous to see you outside of Republic duties? Why did he mentally comb over his appearance more and more as he got closer to his destination? Why did his heart beat become more and more intense? Was he sick?

No, not sick. Rex was no medic, but he would know if he was sick. He would never allow himself to lead while his physical attributes declined in such a way. Maybe he was just nervous that you’d reject him once more. You had been so open to him ever since the mission. But he supposed that anything could happen. There was no other explanation for him feeling like this. There couldn’t be.

The door made way for the Captain, revealing a room decorated with dull grays, lightly furnished with high-grit carpeting that encompassed most of the room, and benches that surrounded the exterior without carpeting, they looked uncomfortable at a first glance. Rex checked the number for this room, then double checked, and then checked it once more, barely able to convince himself that this was the room he had slotted out, that this was the room where he would hide from his brothers’ snarky remarks. This was where he could define his friendship with you more, where he could hopefully set it in stone. He just had to play this perfectly.

Rex took two steps into the room, hearing the door snap shut behind him as he made himself familiar with his surroundings. He looked to a bench, and made his way towards it with a nervous feeling in his chest, worried that you wouldn’t bother showing up. He approached it quickly, a hunch existing in his neck as his eyes locked onto the bench. Tension began to show in his face as he set his helmet down softly, a thump sounding on impact with the surface. His hands lingered on the object for a moment, as his eyes didn’t focus on anything in particular. Then, he allowed his fingers to let go. His arm remained slightly outstretched as he straightened his back, before he let it relax at his side.

Despite the fact that Rex did not hear the door open, he still craned his neck to look at it. To his dismay, you still hadn’t arrived. An anxiety rang through his chest as he feared that all the progress the two of you had made was lost. But, Rex also knew not to jump to any conclusions, as that was something he had to learn time and time again as a Captain. So, instead of giving into his instinct to ruminate in his negative feelings, he got himself ready for your hopeful arrival. He took one of his pistols out of its holster and examined it briefly, before he turned his wrist slightly and turned on the safety lock.

After repeating that action with his other blaster, he examined the room again, but this time more thoughtfully, ensuring that everything was set up correctly for you. He looked down to the carpet, bending one knee so he may touch it, and fidgeted with the corner of it, ensuring that it was parallel to the walls. Why he felt this was necessary, he didn’t let himself think over, he just knew that he wanted everything to be perfect.

Then he heard the door open.

Rex quickly returned himself to his feet, straightening out his posture and feeling one of his hands automatically comb his hair once over without understanding why. He just as quickly turned to face the door, his eyes focusing right when you walked through. A timid and burdened expression was tightly acquainted with your face as your eyes seemed to look into the void. Once you stepped through the door, however, your eyes found their way to Rex, and most of the negativity seemed to wash away.

“Cap- Rex…!” You corrected yourself. A bright smile filled your face as you pulled your hood down, only the nervousness seemed to stay around, and it didn’t seem as though Rex was the reason behind it. This was a good start.

“Y/n!” Rex responded with a bit too much excitement, your name gliding off his tongue in a way he found oddly satisfying. “I’m glad you could make it.” The excitement he felt when he would see you had clearly not died down. It didn’t bother Rex, per say… but he wished that he could get it a bit more under control, and he hoped that you didn’t notice how excessive it was.

“I’m just glad you found a time where we could be by ourselves…” You began to say as you walked farther into the room, looking behind yourself as you did so. “So you’re sure that we’ll be completely alone the whole time, right…? Nobody is going to find us here?” You asked as your face coiled in worry.

“Don’t worry.” Rex replied, watching as you made your way towards the bench that he was standing next to. “Troopers have to sign out specific times to practice here.” Rex stated, motioning for you to set down your things at the bench. “Sometimes my brothers like to break the rules, but they typically don’t when they know a Captain or Commander has a training room booked out. We should be fine.”

You still looked a bit uneasy, but you relaxed slightly nonetheless. “Alright.”

You approached the bench and plopped the bag you were carrying with you on it. Rex debated on asking you what was in the bag, as it made a very interesting sound when it made contact with the bench, but he didn’t want to stress you out more than you already were.

You then used your arms to move the front of your robe out of the way from your belt. Rex watched as your hands dived towards your waist, obscured by your robe that was in Rex’s way. Once your hands returned, he saw that you had both of your sabers in one hand, and the pistol he gifted you in another. You placed them on the bench, then straightened up and faced the Captain, waiting for a brief moment as Rex’s eyes remained locked onto the blaster, unable to let go as a realization hit him.

“The… the blaster.” Rex trailed off, still looking at the pistol laying on the bench.

“Yeah…” He heard you say. “What about it…?”

“You brought it with you?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I…?”

That question seemed to bring Rex out of his thought-rushed trance. His eyes blinked as they darted back up to see your confused face.

You carried his pistol around with you?

Why did that thought move Rex so much?

“Well-! I…” Rex had to think quickly, he left little energy in maintaining a straight face. “Just assumed that you would only have it on you during missions.” Rex found it difficult to keep his eyes on you, so he didn’t.

“Considering everything, I’d rather keep it with me as often as I can.” He heard you explain, and he relaxed a bit, embarrassment replacing what had left him and a red hot feeling quietly shrouding his cheeks as he believed your words as the full truth.

“Ah, I understand.” Rex’s eyes peaked at you for a moment just to see you looking back at him with a twinge of confusion, and another emotion Rex couldn’t place in your eyes. He could feel the warmth in his face, so he opted to keep his head turned away as he pretended to be interested in the items you placed down in ways other than what he had almost revealed.

There was a brief moment of silence, Rex’s eyes darted as he looked at your sabers and the blaster, frantically thinking of what to say next, despite all of the planning he had put into this meeting.

“So…” You began, prompting Rex to look back at you, screaming at his face to cool down, praying that his face wasn’t noticeably red. Luckily you didn’t seem to notice any of Rex’s poorly hidden emotions, you simply looked focused, and maybe even a bit nervous about the training that was going to commence soon.

“Do you have any ideas on how I can fix my ‘problem?’” You whispered that last word. Your eyes focused back onto Rex's, he swallowed air, but forced himself to lock in.

“I don’t know the first thing about being able to use the force.” Rex said. “I do have some ideas, but I was wondering if you had any ideas yourself?” He asked, hoping that this new dialogue would rid the conversation of the awkwardness it possessed only a moment prior.

“I- I don’t know…” You replied unsurely. You immediately began to collapse in on yourself as your posture worsened. Your confused look left you, replacing it with a look on your face that spelled out a mixture of distress, worry, and shame. “I’ve never been through this before…” Your eyes struggled to remain in one place as they refused to lay on the Captain. “I’m sorry.” He saw one of your hands anxiously grip your elbow.

Rex realized that that was going to be a day where he would have to take the reins of this training session. But he didn’t mind, anything to help you get better.

“Hey, that’s okay.” Rex said, hoping that those simple words would help. But when he noticed that you didn’t react as much as he’d hoped to his kind words, he reached his arm out slightly. It stuck out in the air, fingers slightly separated from each other as he mentally gained the courage to place his hand on your shoulder, the only thing he could think to do in that moment to show you support, hopefully without making you uncomfortable.

He watched as his hand made soft contact with your shoulder, the sensation of the fresh fabric of your robe almost made him shiver. Your head moved quickly as you looked back at him, eyes widened, bottom lip hung open slightly, revealing the white of your teeth underneath.

Rex almost forgot to keep talking.

“L-like I said, I have some ideas. I’ve seen General Skywalker train Commander Tano more times than I can count. I’ve even helped at times as well.” Rex said as un-wavered as he could.

“Really…?” You asked, a bit less defeated. Rex couldn’t help but smile a bit when he saw some hope return to your eyes.

“Yes.” Rex replied proudly. “And I think we can use that experience here. We’ll start slow and see what works for you. We’ll learn together.”

And the two of you looked at each other for another moment. Rex wanted nothing more than to remember the look on your face, reinvigorated with ambition to regain your connection to the force.

But then he remembered his hand was on your shoulder, the sensation of the continued action returned to him all at once. Then came a sensation of embarrassed panic.

Rex quickly relinquished his hand from your shoulder, just a tad bit too intense for it to have seemed natural. And it was obvious you could tell, your eyes looked over to his hand for a second before they began to study Rex’s face. A look of confusion, and maybe even a twinge of unlabeled hurt plagued your expression as well. He prayed at that moment that his face wasn’t as red as it felt like it was.

Why was his face so warm in the first place?

What had been going on?

But Rex had to continue, to make it seem like it was purposeful, to avoid making you worry. He turned towards the bench as smoothly as he could, pretending to study the weapons you placed there, despite already knowing what he was planning to say.

“Let’s try this…” Rex said as he stepped towards your weapons, picking up your sabers carefully, as though they would shatter if he were to put any strength into his grip. He turned towards you, pretending not to notice the look on your face as he prepared himself to produce more words. He presented your sabers to you, outstretching his arms slightly, prompting you to take them. He witnessed you hesitate for a moment, your eyes were trained onto Rex’s for a moment, you seemed as though you had something you wanted to say. But if you did, you said nothing. You simply took the sabers into your hands.

“I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for me to use my sabers with my current… ‘problem.’” You stated as you looked a bit nervously at your weapons, observing them tightly as your wrists turned to allow you to see every nook and cranny. You looked back up at Rex, dropping your hands to your side, awaiting his response.

“Don’t worry, we’ll go slow.” Rex said, pulling out one of his pistols from its holster. “We’re both shooting in the dark to fix this. We have to learn.”

You nodded.

“Okay.” You eyed at his pistol. “What do you propose we do?”

“Well, Jedi excel at dodging and deflecting blaster shots, right?” Rex asked rhetorically, and you nodded.

“I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to try to predict when I pull the trigger of my blaster.” Rex said, raising the hand with the pistol in it slightly to further explain his point. “Move your sabers as though you’re trying to deflect it. My blaster’s safety is on, so we’ll know how accurate you are when we hear it click.”

Your eyes looked to the blaster, before settling back onto Rex. Your eyebrows were furrowed deeply, and your mouth was hung open slightly in deep contemplation that Rex wished you would share with him. But he didn’t want to push.

“Sure.” You said, your expression not changing. “Let’s try it.”

Rex appreciated your willingness to try his idea more than he visibly let on, but he couldn’t help but smile at the gesture nonetheless.

- - -

You stood in the middle of the training room. Your heart was thumping wildly as you awaited instructions from the Captain. You wished you didn’t say yes to this, but you didn’t want to say no and disappoint him, you liked it when you saw him happy.

You were only half paying attention as Rex approached the center of the room, only staying a clean shot’s distance away from you. Training was about to start. You took a deep breath in, and almost forgot to let it out again.

You knew that you had to try again to regain your connection to the force, but you also knew that you already tried something like this when you used the training remote. And of course that ended horribly, and it was just your luck that you were already out of ideas. But, you considered the possibility that training with another person could help you. Yes, he wasn’t actually going to be shooting you (thankfully), but the presence of another person could help where a simple machine couldn’t. Either way, you were way more than grateful that someone was willing to help you. And you were more than grateful that you had someone you felt you could ask in the first place. Maybe this was a good step in the right direction, but the pit in your stomach didn’t let you focus on your positive thoughts for very long.

“Are you ready?” You heard him say in the far distance, snapping you out of your thoughts. Your eyes locked onto the Captain, who was waiting patiently for your response.

“I’m ready.” You mostly lied. Dreading the potential failure that was likely to come next.

You allowed your eyes to close. A darkness shrouded your vision, quickening the pace of your heart beat slightly. You turned on your lightsabers, hearing them ignite loudly in unison. The hum of the sabers squashed the silence of the room, only the tension you felt between you and the Captain remained in unspoken territory. You impatiently waited to sense Rex’s finger pull the trigger, to know when to move when the click would sound. But… you couldn’t. You had no idea when it was coming. All you knew was the darkness that surrounded you.

Click.

You flinched slightly, shocked at the sound you couldn’t predict. You relaxed your pose and opened your eyes, as though gifting yourself sight once more would provide you with the answers you desperately wanted. But all you saw was Rex, with his pistol pointed at the floor next to your feet, his arms outstretched slightly.

It didn’t take long for him to notice that you had opened your eyes. He relaxed his arm, allowing it to drop to his side as a look of concern developed across his face. You huffed out your breath.

“Were you able to sense it at all?” Rex asked. The question made you feel a bit annoyed, but not enough to show it.

“Uh, no…” You managed to reply, unable to keep yourself still as your feet took turns favoring each other as you glanced at your sabers.

“That’s okay.” Rex said. Your irritation dissipated only slightly, just enough to allow gratitude for Rex’s caring words to fill in that hole.

“Let’s go again, close your eyes when you’re ready.”

You nodded quickly, took a very deep breath in, let it out with a bit of force, and closed your eyes once your lungs emptied and coiled.

And it was completely dark once again.

You tried to be more conscious of yourself, how your current state could affect your training. You first noticed your heart beat, it was a bit fast, likely from your heightened emotions. You took another deep breath in and let it out, this time with more patience, with more intent. You felt your heart relax, the stress in your chest disappearing partially. And you took another breath in and out, again and again, until you were more relaxed. Your eyebrows lifted up out of their tense position, your jaw relaxed as your teeth stopped clenching, and your shoulders loosened. You lifted your sabers once more, and re-assumed your battle stance. You were ready this time, you had to be.

You were calmer… but still felt lost. Nothing indicated to you when Rex was going to pull the trigger. Maybe he was going to do it now?

You sliced into the air with one of your sabers, but the clicking sound did not accompany your move, and did not closely follow your prediction at all. Rex did not say anything as well, confirming your suspicion that your guess was incorrect. Well, that’s okay, you could always try again-

Click.

Your eyebrows furrowed once more as the annoyance you felt earlier began to creep back into your chest. Okay… Well, there’s always next time. You just need to keep focusing on the task at hand.

Click.

Seriously?

Your heart rate increased once more as you felt the slight annoyance in your chest become an irritation that began to spread into different areas of your body. This was getting ridiculous, you had to be able to sense one trigger pull during this training session, just ONE. This shouldn’t be that hard.

You tried to take another deep breath to calm yourself, but all it was was a shallow and impatient breath in, followed by a harsh huff to let what little air you let in out. You took another swing. And nothing.

You held back the urge to let out a grunt in frustration, but patience was no longer your ally. You allowed yourself one more chance to sense Rex pull the trigger, it had to work this ti-

Click.

Click.

You reached out to the force, demanding it to come back to you as you felt a bead of sweat develop on your forehead.

Fucking click.

You opened your eyes harshly, about to let out your anger and frustration in front of the Captain. But then you noticed the concern in his eyes as he looked upon your dirtied posture, and you felt yourself hold back as the desire to conceal the part dominated you in that moment.

“Are you okay?” Rex asked.

“This isn’t working.” You said, leaving little space between his question and your answer.

“Let’s not give up yet, we haven’t been going at this for that long.” Rex explained, lowering his pistol to his side. You felt your emotions take you over a bit more.

“No- no.” You replied hastily, lifting one of your arms up to your head briefly before shooting it back down, forcing your sabers to relinquish their blades. “This isn’t working. I don’t care how long we’ve been at this, I have felt NOTHING.” You dropped your blades in frustration. Your hands grabbed on to your hips and you turned your body away from Rex slightly, realizing your anger was getting the better of you. “This was a waste of time, and…” A thought popped into your head, causing you to forget your anger in an instant. “I’m sorry. For, asking you to help me with this.” You looked at the floor in defeat as sadness washed over your anger, guilt and self depreciation infecting your thoughts. You were still a burden.

“You don’t have to apologize to me, y/n.” You heard Rex say. “I understand you’re frustrated, but I think we should keep trying, we still have this training room booked out for a little while longer. What do you say?” Only your head moved to look up at Rex. He wasn’t smiling, but you could clearly see the care he was feeling for this situation, the force would never have had to tell you that for you to know. It helped you feel a bit better, but you still felt hopeless.

“I don’t know, Rex…” You looked around awkwardly at everything except for the Captain. Your eyes then caught on to one of your sabers that you had dropped, and an idea spawned, lighting up your eyes as they quickly flew to meet Rex’s. His eyebrows lifted a bit in a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

“Let’s go again.” You said. You watched as Rex promptly began to ready his weapon once more for you.

“But this time; turn off your safety. Have it set it to stun.”

Rex stopped in his tracks, his arm as only half lifted up to its final position as he froze, his eyes darted back and forth from you to his blaster. After a moment, only his eyes moved to look at you, confusion haunting them as he stared.

“Stun? Why?” He lowered his arm once more, relaxing his posture as he ruminated in his hesitant curiosity, awaiting an answer from you.

“Maybe if there were a bit more stakes to the training, I’d be more likely to connect to the force to protect myself.” You said almost too easily. You knew that this hadn’t worked in the past, both while you were training and during missions. But you thought that if there was even a slight chance that your idea could work, it was worth a try, especially if it meant that Rex’s time would not have been wasted. You felt bad enough that Rex put time aside to help you. You prayed that his time would maybe not have been wasted after all, that you weren’t the burden that your thoughts told you that you were.

You watched as Rex hesitantly lifted his blaster, his other hand grasping it as his fingers delicately fiddled with the safety switch, then the indicator to set it to stun. His hands froze as Rex cautiously observed the primed blaster that was now in his hands, before his eyes made their way up to yours, his concern trying to stab through you, but you wouldn’t let it.

“You’re sure you want to try this…?” He asked, clearly silently begging that you agree to go the safer route once more.

“Let’s do it.” You said, ignoring his pleas and your logic screaming that this was likely to go badly. You picked up your sabers, then swiftly returned to your battle stance one more. You ignited your sabers, hearing their familiar song as your eyes closed, reluctantly returning to the darkness once more.

You couldn’t lie, your anxiety was heightened significantly as you awaited Rex’s blaster shot. No matter how much you tried to ignore it, the anticipation was almost too much for you to handle. The anxiety creeped up your throat, threatening to escape in the form of vomit and bile as the silence kept on going. You didn’t have the force, but you could feel Rex’s hesitation, his war that he was fighting with himself. But, you knew that a shot was going to come eventually. You heard the crackles of the blaster as he raised it up towards you, you heard the way the different parts of his armor and blacks slid against each other softly as he adjusted his arm. There was no going back now.

You tried to reach out to the force, to hear its song. But, after an agonizing moment of silence, you were no longer asking the force to hear yours, you begged. You coiled your being back up again, before you pushed back out even harder into the void, more desperate to find that connection now. This was going to work, it had to. This couldn’t have been all for nothing. You didn’t want to be a burden to any clone anymore-

Then you heard the blaster shot, and you were out like a light in an instant.

You didn’t know it was coming. Of course you didn’t.

- - -

“Let’s do it.” You said to Rex. He didn’t even get a chance to agree with your idea, or even argue with it. You simply picked up your sabers and closed your eyes once more. He watched you as you continued to prep yourself into a fighting stance, a stark hesitation freezing him in place as he rapidly debated with himself if he should go through with this.

It’s not as though he didn’t trust you or your ideas, but this was the first time he helped you with your connection to the force, and he wasn’t sure how many times prior to this you had tried to help yourself. You made it quite clear that you couldn’t sense it when Rex pulled the trigger. Putting yourself at risk this early on was simply not a good idea in Rex’s mind, even if the danger was minimal.

But you had clearly made up your mind, and Rex wasn’t comfortable enough to voice his grievances. He finally achieved some sort of friendship with you, he didn’t want to ruin it so soon after it had started. He was happy to have you. Very happy even, he thought. You made him smile and feel mysterious things that he wasn’t ready to lose.

So he looked down at his pistol, mentally preparing himself to raise it, to aim at you. At first it was as though he were made of stone, he couldn’t seem to move his damn hand. But then he remembered what you had said to him, the logic you presented that showed that there was a chance that you would be able to deflect the blaster shot. Despite the fact that your chances were probably low, it gave him the courage to finally lift up his hand and mostly straighten out his arm, as he aimed the blaster at your chest.

Then he found himself stuck again as his eyes caught onto you. Your nervousness became more and more visible as the seconds slowly passed by. Rex was ready to call the whole thing off, until he noticed a twinge of desperation hiding behind your tense posture. You really wanted Rex to do this, you needed him to trust you in this moment, to show him that you could get your connection with the force back. And he was ready to trust you.

But almost not ready to shoot you. His finger slowly began to squeeze the trigger, but his anxiety grew as the trigger slowly approached its apex. His hand began to shake slightly, sending a ripple effect throughout the rest of his arm and into his shoulder. His head tilted back slightly as his eyes opened more in reaction to his nauseating emotions.

Rex squeezed the trigger harder, and he closed his eyes tightly, turning his head away from you. And he fired, but he couldn’t bear to look. Then he heard a large thump.

He opened his eyes quickly, and saw you on the floor. Your front was facing upwards, your arms sprawled to the sides as your sabers rolled farther and farther away from you, retracting their blades at their own pace.

“Y/N!”

Rex bounded towards you. His knees crashed to the floor, and he immediately took your head into one of his hands, checking your pulse with his other hand’s fingers. Logically, there was no way your life was in any danger, but a stark panic caused Rex to check anyway, the thought of your demise scared him more than he expected it to. But, you were fine. Your pulse was beating at a normal pace, and your pupils danced slightly underneath your eyelids as your breath was made audible in Rex’s ears. Thank the force. He sighed, the panic he felt now replaced with more manageable negative emotions.

Rex hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do next as he looked around the room, as though someone were watching his every move. But then he looked back down at you, and realized that keeping you on the floor like that was probably not how you wanted to wake up.

He moved his hand from your neck and gently slid it under your back, then gently lifted you softly off the floor, allowing most of his arm to support your neck and head. You laid slack in his grasp. If his arm didn’t support your head, it would have lolled to the side, likely to cause a soreness in your neck once you were awake. But he protected you from that pain as he began to lift your lower half into his arms.

But your arms were not supported, the one closest to Rex slacked lazily to the side, allowing the sleeve of your robe to be taken by gravity, revealing your shoulder and the upper portion of your arm. Once Rex had noticed the malfunction of your attire, he knew to be quick to correct that wrong to avoid breaching the boundaries of your privacy. He moved the sleeve back in place as best he could, feeling embarrassed in the process.

Rex moved his other arm back to the bottom side of your legs, and used his limbs in unison to stand up with you in his arms without even breaking a sweat. He looked down at your head, keeping inside all of the guilt and immense sadness he was feeling in that moment, there was no point in expressing it while he was alone.

“I’m sorry.” He couldn’t help but say anyway.

He found that it was hard to look away from your face. Your features, now relaxed in slumber, kept the Captain captivated. He didn’t understand why, but when he looked upon you, your faces so close together, he couldn’t help but want more. He couldn’t help but wish you were awake to feel this moment too, to revel in its mystery. Maybe you knew the answer.

Rex shook his head to remove himself from his dazing thoughts. This was no time to be handling you so carelessly while you were still unconscious, why did he even zone out at that moment anyway? First comes first, getting you comfortable, nothing more, nothing less.

He made his way quickly towards the nearest bench. Once he had approached the edge he bent over and placed you there as gently as he could. He had it so that you were laying down, front facing upwards with your arms folded inwards, one hand on top of the other as they both rested on your stomach. Rex stood up to observe his work. You seemed comfortable enough, and waking up on a bench was logically going to be way better than finding yourself on the floor.

Rex wasn’t too sure what to do after that. There was still some time before the next group of troopers had this room rented out, but not much… Maybe he could try to wake you up? Rex kneeled down next to you and gently took your shoulders into his hands, and began to shake you lightly, trying to ignore the embarrassing feeling that was developing in his chest.

“Y/n…” Rex whispered, giving your eyes a hard look as he awaited for them to open. But they didn’t.

“Y/n.” Rex called out again, this time a little louder, shaking you a bit more intensely, but still quite softly. But it was enough to make your arm that was closest to Rex fall from the position that Rex put it in, and off the side of the bench. You hand laid open as it was suspended close to the floor, your fingers laxed a somewhat wide distance apart, as Rex saw the sleeve of your robe begin to fall, revealing your skin once more, but even more so as gravity took hold.

Ignoring the heat that began to once again rise in his cheeks, Rex wasted no time in moving his hand over to fix your sleeve, but then he paused. His hand stuck out in the air, frozen, as his eyes made contact with the skin that was exposed. Rex felt that knot tie up his stomach again, the same one that he had felt during the previous mission, when he was patching you up. It was gone as soon as it appeared, popping Rex out of his haze. He sighed, before his hand began to move once again, his fingers grasping the cloth of your robe. His other hand moved down to your arm in preparation to fix it back onto your stomach.

But, just as Rex was going to adjust your arm and robe, he stopped again. His eyes were stuck on your skin once more, but this time on something different. He noticed your scars, the ones that your robe concealed, and an image of the first time Rex saw a glimpse of these scars washed through his mind quickly. As he continued to look, all Rex could see was that the scars didn’t end, they started just behind the sides of your arms, and they just kept going… He followed the scars as far as his vision would allow, but was stopped by your robe. They were worse than he originally understood, what happened to you?

Then Rex heard troopers laughing right outside the door. The sound startled him as he shakily readjusted you, fixing your robe and your arm, before he quickly made his way towards the door.

It swished open just as Rex approached it. On the other side were Fives, Echo, and Jesse, all engrossed in their own hilarious conversation until they noticed Rex. They all stopped talking in unison, and looked at Rex in confusion, the silence was palpable, and agonizing for Rex.

“Rex?” Echo asked, tilting his head slightly. “What are you doing here?”

“I have this room blocked out.” Rex replied as plainly as possible, angling himself near the door to prevent his brothers from seeing you. “You’re early.”

Echo checked the time on his wrist. “Oh yeah.” He said as he shrugged. “I guess we’re ten minutes early.”

“Yeah…” Rex said, the ending of the word trailing on for a bit too long as he struggled to come up with something else to say.

“So…” Echo started. “Can we come in anyway and get set up?”

“I’m still a bit busy here.” Rex replied, trying to hide his nervousness as best as possible as he felt sweat begin to bead on his forehead.

“Yeah, but-”

“Hey, is that General y/n?” Jesse asked, almost causing Rex’s heart to explode as his eyes darted to the curious trooper. Jesse had been looking over Rex’s shoulder, Rex quickly moved his body in Jesse’s way to block his view.

“N-yes.” Rex replied. He was slipping.

“What are you two doing in a training room alone?” Fives asked simply, truly just asking a simple question, but the answer was much less simple. Rex had to think quickly.

“Well, General y/n…” Rex trailed off, desperate to think of something to say as his eyes struggled to stay on his confused brothers. “Wanted to show me some battle strategies that she uh, picked up before she joined our battalion.” He forced his eyes to stay on the troopers.

“Without General Skywalker or Commander Tano?” Jesse asked this time.

“They were uh, they were busy.” Rex lied. “Our new mission is tomorrow and General y/n didn’t want this to wait.”

“Sure, but…” Echo trailed off for a moment, Rex looked over and finally noticed that Echo was on his toes to get a view of the training room over his shoulder. “Why is General y/n laying down on that bench? Is she okay?”

More panic coursed through Rex, but he had to prevail.

“Yes…yes!” Rex pathetically began. “She’s just resting-”

Rex was interrupted by Five’s harsh one-noted laugh.

“What? Did you guys get a little too rough with each other while nobody was looking?”

“NO.” Rex stated bluntly, understanding the innuendo almost immediately. The Captain glared at the trooper, attempting to use his gaze to cut through him. But Fives blocked the attack carelessly.

Fives had to stifle another laugh, but purposefully failed. “You really tired her out there Cap!” Rex felt more anger course through him as he processed the pathetic excuse for a joke. Jesse’s stifled chuckles didn’t help much either. Not today Fives.

“FIVES.” Rex said a bit too loudly, causing visible reactions from the three troopers. Rex lifted one of his hands to his nose, using his pointer and index finger to grasp it, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath in. This was not the place to blow up at Fives, hopefully a better time will bear fruit.

“Just…” Rex took his hand from his nose and extended his arm out slightly, opening up his hand as he did so to emphasize the point he was about to make. “Give us a couple minutes okay? We just need to finish this up.”

Echo and Jesse nodded without question. Rex then looked to Fives, who looked to his brothers for council during this now awkward encounter. After a second, Fives shrugged, closing his eyes and letting out a grunt of apathetic approval.

“Whatever.”

Rex straightened his posture back out, trying to seem professional in front of his brothers, and praying that he wasn’t horrifically failing and embarrassing himself. He then noticed the stares that his brothers were giving him, and he immediately shrunk down to himself again.

“So…” Rex started, taking an awkward step back further into the room. “I’ll just let you know when we’re finished…” He forced a closed-lip smile upon his face, generating a sore feeling in the corners of his mouth the longer he kept it up.

Then the door snapped shut, finally cutting off the connection Rex had with his brothers as their stares were swiftly blocked by the moving steel. A moment of silence ensued, irritating Rex as he looked at the door, unsure of what to do. But then he could hear his brothers begin to talk, their voices only softly audible through the thick door. Their words were unintelligible to Rex, but he did not care at that point, they seemed to respect his wishes. He had time to wake you up.

“Rex?” He heard you say weakly behind him.

Rex was quick to turn around to investigate. His eyes were wide when he saw you sitting up, the palm of one of your hands planted against your forehead and you squinted in discomfort and pain, it was clearly quite difficult for you to keep your eyes on the Captain. Your posture was hunched, barely able to keep yourself upright as your other arm rested its elbow on your thigh for support.

He ran to you, immediately dropping one of his knees to the floor to match your weakened height. He leaned in close to you, but was conscious to keep an appropriate amount of distance.

“Hey! Are you feeling alright?” Rex asked you, keeping his voice down in fear that his brothers could hear him.

You groaned as you thought of the words to say in response. Rex watched as you rubbed your forehead once more, before allowing your hand to drop to your lap, finally focusing your eyes on the Captain as he awaited an answer with care.

“I think so…” You replied with a tired rasp in your voice. Your eyebrows furrowed as another thought popped into your head. “I’m assuming it didn’t work…?”

Rex looked down to the floor for a moment, before placing his eyes back onto yours with a look of regret forming on his face. “No…” He finally replied. “You went down after one shot.”

Sadness gently morphed your face. Guilt began to rise in Rex’s chest. “I see…” You replied pathetically. You both looked at each other for another moment. For Rex, it was largely because he found that he simply couldn’t look away, no matter how sad you looked. He was transfixed without even realizing it.

Then, the muffled laughs of his troopers could once again be heard right outside the door, knocking Rex right out of his trance.

“Oh, uh…” Rex blinked a couple times before he turned his head towards the door for a quick second. “Are you feeling well enough to walk? We need to find a better place to talk.”

You looked at the door concerningly. “Are they supposed to be here?” You asked, only your eyes moved to look back at Rex, before you looked at the door again.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Rex replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Can we go?”

You nodded quickly.

- - -

You were slow to walk at first, but you only needed a moment to be able to walk confidently on your feet again. You seemed about perfectly normal by the time you made it to the door, only needing to hide a slight headache and dizziness from your impending audience.

Rex was slightly ahead of you by the time you both stopped by the door, just far enough away to avoid setting off the motion sensor so it wouldn’t open. He looked back at you, face full of questions and unspoken sentences that needed to be said. But now wasn’t the time, and he knew that. His eyes silently asked you if you were ready, and you nodded in return. Rex nodded only once to show his understanding, before he turned to face the door once more.

You both took another step, and the door didn’t wait for you to calm your nerves. It opened quickly, revealing the troopers to you. The loud swish of the door almost took them out of their amusing conversation, their smiles dropped slightly and they all looked at the two of you in unison, straightening themselves out as they were laying against the wall.

Once the door was situated, you both wasted no time in making your ways away from the troopers, praying that none of them noticed your slightly weakened state. You followed Rex, passing each trooper one by one, each of them acknowledging you politely. You nodded to the brothers, keeping your eyes in front of you. You couldn’t see them, but you could hear one of them talking through a smile. Maybe one of their jokes was funny? You couldn’t put together the fragmented pieces you were presented with, but you were too worried about getting away to some form of privacy to really care. Once you had passed the troopers, you found yourself relaxing out of the posture that you didn’t realize was causing you so much tension in the first place.

More and more distance was being made, thank the force. Luckily, Rex seemed just as in a hurry to get out of there as you were, he always stayed right in front of you. Honestly, he was almost walking too fast for it to not look suspicious, you struggled to keep up with him while you kept up your act. But, you could tell that he was also relaxing the farther the two of you were down the hall, away from his brothers. He slowed his pace slightly, and you took the opportunity to catch up and walk right next to him. As long as the two of you turned the corner and found somewhere with little foot traffic, everything would be fine, your secret would still be safe.

“Hey, Captain!” You heard one of the brothers yell in your direction.

“Hm?” You looked over at Rex to see that he had slowed his pace considerably. You immediately matched his speed, keeping yourself a couple steps in front of him, watching.

Apparently it was Fives who had spoken up, the other two troopers had already entered the training room. Fives was halfway in the room, his hand grasped the edge of the wall as he leaned outside the training room slightly. A wicked smile was plastered across his face.

“Don’t forget that we have plans tonight! Your ‘training session’ better not have made you too tired!” Fives said.

“What? Oh.” Rex rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, Fives… I’ll be there.” He replied, a touch of annoyance extremely clear to you as he lazily waved his arm in regretful understanding.

You looked upon Rex as he walked faster to catch up with you, a new tension cursed his face, he seemed pretty stressed out at what Fives was saying, and maybe even a little… embarrassed? But you couldn’t exactly pinpoint why as he hid his face from you. Rex just kept walking, refusing to look back as the two of you were approaching the end of the hallway, both desperate to turn the corner at this point.

Then the corner came just as swiftly as it went. You felt the view of the training room door disappear behind you, and you sighed greatly, finally able to relax yourself and speak truthfully once more. But just as the relaxation hit, anger began to bubble up within you. You failed, AGAIN. You couldn’t even detect a single shot or trigger pull the entire time. You approached one of the walls of the hallway, arms crossed tightly, your fingernails marking your skin under your robe. You were pathetic. Useless even. No matter how hard you tried to make things better, life laughed in your face again and again and again. You were still the burden you feared everyone saw you as. And that made you mad.

“SHIT.” You exclaimed quietly, kicking the wall, causing a loud and metallic WHACK to resonate from it. You turned quickly, before leaning your back against the wall, softly banging your head against it repeatedly to let out more frustration, causing more metallic sounds to be made. At that moment, you didn’t care if anyone could hear as you ruminated in your feelings. How embarrassing, you finally make another friend after the incident, and all you’ve done so far with him is FUCK EVERYTHING UP-

“Hey…”

“WHAT.” You looked quickly over at the Captain. Your eyes were wide with fury, and he took note. His face reeked of anxious confusion as his eyes struggled to stay on you. As you were now in public, he was trying to maintain a professional posture, but your response to him clearly made it waver. Regret immediately overtook most of your anger as your eyes widened slightly. You closed your eyes, and took a deep breath in, before letting it out quickly, flaring your nostrils as you let out the loud breath. You turned your head away from the Captain as you felt yourself relax slightly, you looked up at the ceiling.

“I-I’m sorry.” You finally said, your awkwardness towards the Captain rapidly returning to you. “I just…” You curled one of your hands up into a fist, and hit the fall with it. “Really. Need ‘THIS!’” You really emphasized that last word intensely. “To get FIXED…” And your head fell back to the wall again, using your hands to rub your temples, determined to not let this bout of anger get the best of you like it had in the past.

“You clearly felt quite tense while we were training.” Rex said politely, likely to avoid reigniting your anger. “And I’m not trying to tell you how to feel… but, is there anything you like to do to feel a little more relaxed?”

You thought for a moment, re-living many happy moments from your past in only a couple seconds, it made you feel better.

“Actually, yes, but…” You thought again. Your face soured, Rex clearly noticed.

“I uh…” You didn’t know how to put your thoughts into words, you didn’t want to tell Rex too much. “I did those things with the troopers of my old battalion. Before… before everything happened…” You kept your eyes on the ceiling, fearing how the Captain would respond to your words. Your feet refused to keep steady, and you began to twiddle your fingers anxiously.

It was quiet for a moment, you could feel Rex wanting to say something to you. You guessed he couldn’t find the words either. You could understand that, you just hoped that he wasn’t hurt by the lack of yours. You weren’t ready to burden another person with what you knew.

“Did you want to talk about it…?”

Your eyes returned to Rex slightly widened. Despite his endless kindness, you honestly didn’t expect him to offer his ears to you. But, he asked anyway. Could you be ready?

“Maybe later.”

Not yet.

“Ah… I understand. No worries.”

Rex tried to hide it, but his eyes couldn’t lie to you. They sang a song of sadness as they darted between you and the floor. His smile, while obviously coming from a good place, was artificial from the start. Guilt bubbled up in you again. You tell him everything, you feel like a burden. You tell him nothing, and he’s sad, and you feel like a burden. There was no winning now, but maybe it was possible at a later time. But for now, you had to make sure that today didn’t end so bad. Maybe it could end well.

You looked at the ground nervously, before placing your eyes onto the Captain.

“T-thank you.” You wished your sincerity didn’t come out so awkwardly.

But, his eyes stopped, finally settling onto you.

“For… what?” He genuinely looked confused as he stood there. You would have to borrow more courage to keep this up.

“For helping me today, despite…” You looked down the hallway. Luckily, you and Rex were the only inhabitants as far as you could tell. “Despite the fact that it didn’t work…” You sighed. “I’m sorry if I wasted your time.”

“You didn’t waste my time.” Rex said without hesitation. “I want to help you with this, you are a part of this battalion, and I’d never hesitate to help one of my own.”

Rex then took a step closer to you, almost too close for what you’ve been used to. Strangely enough, you weren’t opposed to it. You liked the way he looked at you, you could tell he cared. You invited that feeling it brought you, but it was still something you were growing accustomed to once more.

“I know we haven’t been friends for long. But you need to know that you could never waste my time.”

You looked at each other as you felt your heart rate increase, as you felt yourself become swept up in the platonic care the Captain was so generously feeding you. At least, you assumed Rex intended it to be platonic, what else could it be?

“Thank… you.” You finally heard yourself say, taking a moderate pause in between the words as you found yourself coming back into focus.

Rex blinked a couple times before he backed away a bit, clearing his throat as his fist covered it. He then put that free hand on his hip, clearly trying to act natural as he turned to face away from you. But you didn’t notice, you were too busy straightening yourself out to care, your mind too riddled with bliss as Rex’s kind words replayed in your head. More proof of having what you had once lost.

“But, anyway… I think we can consider today as some sort of progress.” Rex said, keeping his hand on his hip as he turned his head to you. “Like I said, it would definitely be worth looking into ways to relax, especially before we head out for the next mission tomorrow.”

You nodded in response. “I’ll try that.”

The corners of Rex’s mouth curled into a smile. “Great. I’d help you if I could but-” Rex rolled his eyes. “I forgot that I apparently am expected to babysit my drunk brothers, so I need to get some other responsibilities done before then.”

You wished that he could stay and help, but you didn’t allow yourself to indicate that to the Captain. You simply watched as he readjusted his posture and double checked that his armor was positioned correctly, as he made sure his helmet was facing forwards in between his arm and hip.

“So…” The Captain faced you once more, looking poised and proper for his role in the Republic. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” His face was your window into seeing Rex, not just the Captain. It was riddled with an expression that was at a loss of what to actually say in this moment, and you could tell.

“Yeah…” You didn’t exactly know what to say either. But you did know this, you could feel that there was more that wanted to be said, that Rex was holding something back. Or, maybe he just didn’t want to go? You weren’t entirely sure, but you were sure of that energy that the both of you felt, and you weren’t sure if it all came from him.

“Great.” And he smiled a bit. Then he turned and started to walk away. You couldn’t help but look at his back as he grew smaller. You almost wished you would say something to make him stay, but you knew not to be selfish for your own sake. You’d see him, and his kindness the next day.

“And let me know how things go tomorrow! Alright?” You heard him yell at you without looking back.

“Y-yeah!” You stuttered. Again with the awkwardness. Why couldn’t you just talk to him straight more than half the time? Whatever, now is not the time to be thinking about that, you had to find a way to get out of your own way before tomorrow’s mission.

Totally doable. Right?

- - -

The door opened swiftly to reveal the dulled room that you would once again call home for the next ambiguous length of time. You sighed as you entered the room, feeling the tension in your forehead form into a slight headache. You took the palm of one of your hands and rubbed the pain as your other hand tossed your bag next to the bed. You slowly unequipped your robe, feeling the fabric run against your scars that you’ve been desperate to ignore, but are always painfully reminded of their existence.

Although you felt tempted to drop the robe behind your feet, you forced yourself to take the time and effort to fold the robe neatly, before you placed it on your bed, perfectly lining up the corners of the robe with the corners of your bed, allowing them to run parallel.

You sought the comfort of your bed, swinging one leg over, then the other. Once you were on top of your bed, you adjusted your position so that your legs crossed each other, your back was straight, and you were satisfied with how comfortable you were on top of the soft material as you sank down into it slightly.

As you commuted to your quarters upon the Resolute, you struggled to think of much for you to try to relax. Honestly, you found yourself thinking a lot about the troopers who have made you happy. Both the ones you have lost, and the first one to revive some sort of positivity within you. During this commute, you realized that you had been suppressing your memories of your old battalion as much as possible. While yes, many bad memories have come about when you weren’t suppressing them, there are an endless amount of fantastic memories that have come from your times with those men. Why miss out on those memories? They may help.

Once you were situated, you took a deep breath in, taking in the air, tasting it in the back of your throat as your lungs expanded greatly. You could feel your heart rate relax as you let the air out slowly through your mouth. You closed your eyes, and breathed deeply again a couple more times, feeling yourself relax further. Eventually, the deep breaths became second nature to you. You no longer needed to focus on maintaining the monotonous rhythm.

You haven’t felt this calm since before you lost your connection to the force.

For the first time in a while, you allowed your mind to wander to the past. You made it a point to not force a specific memory into focus, you waited for one to make itself known to you. You waited patiently for a moment, until images began to appear in your mind.

One was a celebration, after the Separatists were finally forced to flee a long and arduous battle, leaving only you and your troopers in the battlefield. The memory became audible, cheers and excited chatter could be heard all around you as the blackened battlefield could finally be seen as well. You looked to your left to see Gamble and Saks, two troopers that you had come to know very well, chest bumping then wrestling each other to the ground as their ecstatic hollers and laughter could be heard. You heard yourself let out a chuckle you could almost feel in your throat, and you turned to your right, and you saw your Commander, Rory, standing quite close to you. Once he had seen that you noticed his presence, he took off his helmet, revealing his face that you had known almost all too well due to the war. The Commander smiled, the scar on the side of his mouth warping to the warm gesture.

And you felt yourself smile, but not only in the memory, in the present too.

Before Rory could speak, the memory faded, leaving you in the darkness again. You allowed it to happen as your calmness continued, awaiting another memory to form in your mind’s eye.

‘Hey, I got you this.’

An image faded in of Rory, he was clearly handing you something out of your view, but you couldn’t look down to see. That didn’t bother you, however, you simply felt grateful that he had thought of you during the mission.

‘Thank you, Rory.’

It was one of the many things you would add to your collection.

The image faded.

You saw your troopers wrestling in the barracks, followed by collective laughter.

You saw glasses clinking together in celebration.

You saw a beautiful sky, feeling someone hugging you tight.

You felt someone holding your hand as tears obscure your vision.

More memories faded in and out, relaxing you deeper. You hadn’t felt this way in a long time, so it was easy to let it take you.

Another image briefly appeared in your mind’s eye. It was Rex’s smile. The memory made you feel so familiar, but you still didn’t know where to place it. It vanished just as fast as it appeared, not allowing for deeper thinking, but you didn't mind.

Before you knew it, you were asleep, dreaming of the troopers you would do anything to see again.

It was nice.

- - -

The music was loud, pounding into Rex’s ears each passing second as the neon colors that decorated the club made him want to vomit rainbows. Rex had wanted to invite you out tonight, as a way to help you hopefully feel less tense, but he didn’t. The reason why? Well, one part was him being too nervous… And the other?

“REX!”

Was pretty self explanatory.

“Hm?” Rex vocalized.

“You haven’t even taken a sip of your drink yet!” Jesse unfortunately pointed out, mildly slurring his words.

“What gives, Cap?” Fives asked, taking a sip from his glass shortly after, also clearly a bit drunk.

“It’s nothing really.” Rex said, carefully going over his words in his head before he said them out loud. “Just a bit stressed, is all.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow. “About what?”

In reaction, Rex took his glass into his hand, putting it in front of his mouth as though he was going to take a sip, hiding part of his face in the process as he looked down at the table.

“We have a mission tomorrow, don’t we?”

This was a lie, of course.

Rex could hear Fives chugging the rest of his drink, before slamming the glass on the table.

“Then take a shot and forget about it, man!”

Rex rolled his eyes. “You know I don’t drink, Fives. I don’t understand why you people keep buying me drinks that I will never finish.”

But his words fell upon deaf ears. Two Twi’leks had already approached the table, making themselves as enticing as possible to their two selected victims; Fives and Jesse. Rex tried his hardest to look at his drink, pretending to be interested in the brown liquid. But sometimes he couldn’t help but sneak a peek. First he saw one of them rub Jesse’s shoulders. Then, the other put the tip of her pointer finger under Fives’s chin, directing his head to look up at her, a grin forming on the trooper’s face.

“Care to dance?” He managed to hear one of the girls ask seductively over the loud music.

Rex looked up again in an unexpected anticipation to hear how his brothers would respond. This was when he got a better look at the girls. They uh, didn’t leave much to the imagination, as Rex would put it. They wore pretty similar outfits. Short skirts, high heels that Rex once thought was impossible to walk in. And they also wore these crop tops that were made of thick fabric that were sewed into a fishnet pattern. Once Rex noticed that their nipples were visible, he immediately averted his eyes, almost unable to hide the gasp he so naturally wanted to let out. His nose instead opted to blow out into his glass, upsetting the liquid slightly in it, but not enough to spill it over the rim. Echo had clearly noticed as he began to eye Rex, who was unfortunate enough to have looked back at the trooper, quickly averting his eyes back down to his glass as Echo turned his head back to his other brothers. His brothers were all very used to this sort of… sexual interaction. But Rex had always been completely in the dark. Just like with drinking, he always chose to not engage. He had never had a problem with that choice. So… why was it bothering him tonight?

Rex was too occupied trying to distract himself from what was happening to hear what his brothers said in response to the girls, but they seemed absolutely enthralled by them. Another peek revealed Fives’s hand wrapped his girl’s waist, and both of Jesse’s hands holding his girl’s waist. Jesse’s legs were slightly spread apart to give her some room to get a bit closer as his pointer fingers gently tapped at her sides.

Rex looked down at his glass again, feeling tension begin to brew on his forehead.

He looked back up, and they were already walking away. He couldn’t help but watch as they slowly decreased in size, as they were a little too close to each other for what they were about to do to be merely about dancing. For a reason unknown to Rex, he envied them. And he hated that he was feeling that, it wasn’t like him.

“Rex?”

“Hm?” Rex was taken out of his thoughts, and his eyes landed on Echo.

“Are you okay?”

Rex looked down at his drink again.

“No.” He found himself saying the truth.

Echo adjusted himself in his seat awkwardly, before taking a sip of his drink.

“Does it have to do with what you were doing with General y/n earlier? In the training room?”

Rex closed his eyes as he sighed, before placing his drink on the table. The clink of glass was barely audible over the music. Once again, Echo was right on target.

“I don’t think I want to talk about that right now.”

Echo shrugged in reluctant, but genuine understanding. “Alright.” He returned to focusing his eyes on his drink as he took another sip.

“But-” Rex cut himself off, unsure of how to continue. “Can I… ask you a question?”

Echo looked to Rex once more. “Shoot.” He put the drink down, pivoting his body to give his Captain his absolute attention, curiosity bleeding into his drunkenly laxed expression. Rex took a deep breath in through his nose, before letting it out loudly.

“Have you ever… been with a woman…?” He asked, mentally cringing at his own vague wording.

“What? Like romantically? Or… sexually?” Echo asked, confusion thick in his tone.

“Yeah.” Rex didn’t exactly know what he himself was referring to either. “Sure. Both.”

“I mean, I’ve shown interest in women before. And they’ve certainly shown interest in me as well.” Echo said nonchalantly. This surprised Rex.

“How did you know you liked them, more than as a friend?” Rex inquired deeply. If Echo noticed Rex’s desperation for an answer, he did not make it obvious other than extending his stares at the Captain before answering.

“It was a lot of things really.” Rex anticipated more words from his brother, but none ever came as Echo lifted his glass to his lips.

“Like?” Rex said, hoping that Echo would provide some wisdom, not caring as to how strange his questioning was sounding as much.

“Well…” Echo trailed off as he thought for a few seconds, placing his drink back down. “I wanted to be around them all the time. Even when I couldn’t be, I almost constantly thought about the next time I’d see them.”

Rex nodded.

“And I thought about them a lot, other than when I’d see them next I mean. They seemed to just… take over my thoughts.”

Interesting.

“And I found myself infatuated by them. Everything they did seemed to capture my attention in more ways than one.”

Echo took another moment to think as he took another sip of his drink. He then seemed nervous to continue, but he didn't leave Rex waiting for much longer.

“And, well… sometimes I’d get this certain feeling. One that I don’t really have a specific name for. I doubt anyone really does.”

Rex was very curious now. “Like… what?”

“Sometimes certain things would happen when I was with them, and… I’d get this feeling in my stomach. It’s pretty intense at times. You would think it’s unpleasant at first, but you’d want to feel it again. But it’s something that you can’t force.”

Hm.

“Certain things would happen? Like what?” Rex inquired. Echo seemed bothered by all the questions about this.

“I don’t know, Rex. Sexual things? I guess?” He shifted in his seat again. “You’re lucky I’m drunk. I doubt I’d share any of this sober.” Echo took a bigger swig of his drink. “Hopefully I don’t remember telling you this at all… Why are you asking me about this anyway?”

Rex had to come up with something fast. “Just curious, is all.” Echo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in response to Rex’s excuse.

“So… did anything work out with anybody? I never even knew that you were involved with another person.” Rex asked, trying to gear the attention away from himself.

“Well, no. Nothing ever became serious.”

“Oh.” Rex felt bad for asking. “How come?”

“I’m a clone, and they obviously weren’t. It simply wasn’t meant to be, ya know? We’re not exactly supposed to be in relationships, and we don’t live that long… war or not. It just isn’t in the cards for us clones.”

Oh. Right.

“Right.” Rex looked at his drink again, sliding the tip of his finger around the rim of the glass awkwardly. Those words made him upset in a way he didn't expect.

Rex began to consider his brother’s words. The silence that persisted between the two soldiers didn’t bother Rex one bit, when it usually would have. Eventually, Echo decided to get himself another drink, claiming that he’d be right back. But, Rex saw him interacting with other troopers at the bar, laughing, roughhousing, and showed no indication that he’d be back soon. Rex was alone, but he had a lot of thinking to do.

Rex lifted his drink into his hand, twirling the shallow drink in his glass, threatening to set it overboard, but never letting it. He carefully considered what Echo had said to him about… feeling for other people, in his head again and again.

First Echo brought up always wanting to be with this other person. Rex had found that he wanted to be around you more than ever since the two of you became friends. But that can be explained in many different ways. He had made a new friend, of course it’s natural to want to spend time with them, even if he should be focusing more on his own responsibilities, right?

Then he brought up how he would always think about that other person. Rex supposed that you came up a lot in his mind. But like he had just thought, you just became friends. And you can’t use the force! You clearly need someone’s help, and he was willing to give it to you. It was natural that he would think about you so much, he had to, it was important to.

Echo also brought up an infatuation for the other person. Infatuation? Rex had obviously found some interest in you. But it couldn’t be for any reason other than a platonic one. Romance was not something Rex was interested in. He just had to be sure that he knew what he was feeling. That’s all.

And he didn’t even want to think about the ‘intense feeling’ Echo referenced. He remembered your scars that he saw earlier, how they were much worse than he had originally thought. Maybe the intense feeling was nausea? Maybe? Echo was absolutely talking about a different thing. He had to have been. He refused to look at you that way.

Then why did Rex feel such envy when he saw Fives and Jesse… enjoy themselves? An image of Cut Lawquane flashed through his mind, and more envy, but also confusion, ensued.

Maybe Rex was platonically lonely. That was the only rationalization his brain would accept. Maybe he just needed to loosen up around his brothers, allow himself to fit in more at outings such as this. He looked at his drink, but felt nothing compel him to even take a sip. That wasn’t what was wrong with Rex, but he let himself believe it nonetheless. He just hoped that you were doing alright by yourself, because he certainly wasn’t.

[imkittyjustkitty]

Kitty's Daily Pride — Day 8

prompt ; (gender) envy

pairings ; Ethan Green x Bestfriend!Reader

summary ; It's been more than a day since you've last heard from your best friend Ethan, or from anyone for that matter. Something's not right.

+ reader is gender neutral & no mentions of y/n

warnings ; none i think, reader's freaking out, its just kinda spooky but no violence or anything like that, although the death of many characters is implied/speculated

genre ; angst

word count ; 902

A/N ; are people noticing how obscurely my fics end up relating to the original prompt bc i am nsndfsjk, its okay though because im proud of this ! :D also im trying to include more queer aspects to the stories bc this is for pride after all, sometimes tho i just get an idea i like and run w it lmao !!

also i plan on writing a part 2/bonus little thing either today or tomorrow which i'll link here once i post it !!

do not steal, repost, or redistribute my work in any way.

The last time you’d heard from Ethan was one day, 2 hours, and 38 minutes ago. The longest you and Ethan had been apart or not messaged each other up until now was like 8 hours, at the very most a day. To say that you were worried would be an understatement.

It was just past 7 at night. The amount of times you'd tried to call Ethan's phone was astronomical, but every time you were met with an automated message, not even his voicemail message that you'd grown used to, which somehow made you even more worried.

It was 8:06 now. Not being able to reach Ethan (although you did still try every half an hour or so, just in case), you tried calling anyone else you could think of. The obvious choice was to call his girlfriend Lex, maybe the two of them finally got on their way to California and Ethan had just forgotten his phone, not a very likely occurrence but you were clinging to the theory like it was your lifeline. So you called her, quite a few times, maybe too many, but she never answered. If you weren't worried before, now you definitely were.

But it'll be okay, you hadn't even called his parents yet, so he was probably just with them. Maybe he was grounded and that's why he wasn't answering, right?

It was 8:41 now, and you called his parents, his dad first. You were gripping the phone so hard that your hands started to shake, the ringing of the phone echoing through your head as you quietly pleaded for Ethan's dad to pick up.

No answer. At this point the only thing keeping you sane, the only reason you hadn't completely lost it, was unlikely reasoning. You'd pulled out a scrap piece of paper with a list of names, and why they wouldn't have picked up, it gave you a feeling that was something like hope. So far your list read: Ethan - grounded, Lex - with hannah or maybe phone bill expired (?), Ethan's dad - at work ??

They were reasonable explanations, all things that on any other day you wouldn't so much as bat an eye at. All things that you wouldn't question were there not a pit of suspicion swirling through your stomach and anxiety aching your every bone. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

But if something was wrong, you had zero fucking clue on how to handle it. So what did you do? You continued to call people in the hope of reaching Ethan. This provided the only string that kept you tied to reality, holding onto the hope that the next person you called would explain everything and all would be back to normal.

9:01. You called Ethan's mother, a woman who you'd always relied on to pick up calls straight away. No answer.

9:13. You called Frank fucking Pricely, a person you'd met maybe twice, once when applying for a job at Toy Zone, and for the second time (which really didn't count), but who you'd seen briefly when picking Lex up from her job. And of course the asshole didn't answer your call.

You were running out of what little hope you had left, when you remembered perhaps the one other person Lex (and by extension Ethan) associated with. Your old shop teacher, Mr Houston.

9:34. You rang his number, listening to the dial, waiting for the inevitable 'the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable' message. Once, twice, your phone rang, until...

It stopped ringing, and you were staring right at a screen where the call timer started counting.

You froze. You didn't want to of course, your whole being was begging you to just scream out all your questions, but your throat was blocked and your hands shook so much that your phone dropped right out of your hands. falling, falling until it hit the ground.

You heard a crack but couldn't bring yourself to look down.

"Hey there."

Your eyes widened.

A laugh crackled through your now half-broken phone speaker, "Don't be afraid."

Okay fuck that now you were definitely afraid.

"Who," your voice wavered, revealing just how terrified you were, whoever this was, they sounded eerily familiar, "Who are you."

"Mmmm good question..."

A knock on your bedroom door. Your body flooded with terror.

The door flew open, crashing into the wall, right of it's hinges, revealing a shadowed figure.

The figure was the same height as Ethan, the figure's hair looked just like how you remembered Ethan's to be, the figure stood like Ethan would, with a carefree appearance, hands in it's pockets as it grins at you. And that's what breaks the illusion, that sickening grin. It's the kind that screams ill intent, the kind that makes your blood boil and stomach churn.

That is not Ethan Green.

And now you know, Ethan's not coming back, you can feel it, the truth floats through the air, palpable and headache-inducing. No matter how many people you call desperately, no how matter how many dial tones ring through your phone, no matter hard you wish for this to all be some sort of fever dream.

The feeling you were trying so hard to hide under layers of conspiracy and empty hope is now flung in front of your eyes unwaveringly, Ethan's gone, and he's not coming back.

reblogs are appreciated so much !!

[orieriee]

Genshin men giving you nicknames pt. 2

Author's note: So I have this old pieces of headcanons or imagines that I'm gonna repost here because it's still fun to read in my opinion :0 and I added new characters too so yeahh

Pairings: Arataki Itto, Thoma, Xiao, Albedo x gn! reader (separate)

Warnings: petnames, nicknames, fluff

Arataki 'Numero Uno' Itto

✸ SUNSHINE!!! Have you heard his morning voiceline?? UGH I'M OBSESSED

✸ morning sunshine~ I MIGHT SIMPLY PAST AWAY EACH MORNING

✸ Other than sunshine, maybe my moon and my stars are two that I can actually picture him calling

✸ He likes to give you sky objects nicknames. He might even call you mini mars at some point 🤩

✸ My little onikabuto is a weird nickname but sure itto, however you want it for you

✸ He uses them A LOT like a lot, he adores you so much that he gave you so many cute nicknames

✸ He uses babe sometimes but he likes to use sunshine more, 100%

✸ Give him a cute or loving nickname back, he'll love it more than anything.

✸ I pull itto because of his personality please he's so funny I love him 😭

Thoma, my malewife:

✿ I am still furious that he didn't come home during his banner😡 I wasted my primos for C4 xiangling and somehow C4 rosaria and I don't even use them

✿ He's a literal gentleman, I would want to date this guy 100%, he gives you respectful nicknames

✿ He doesn't call you with nicknames unless you want him to because he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable

✿ "Oh, uh… You gave me a nickname? D-Do you want-? W-what should I give you back then?" WITH BLUSHING FLUSTERED FACE BECAUSE YOU JUST GAVE HIM A CUTE LOVING NICKNAME

✿ My prince/princess is one of his candidate for a nickname but I think he's more of umm

✿ milady, milord. Yes. That's it. But srsly Thoma, just give me any nicknames and I'll be happy 😭

✿ For more intimate sessions, he likes to call you with 'my love'

✿ Just imagine, while cuddling, "Oh, you just got out of the hot bath?" sniffs you 'you smell amazing my love.'

✿ AND THE FACT U DIDN'T COME HOME IS AN INSULT THOMA, COME HOME AND KISS ME AND WE MAKE OUT AND I'LL FORGIVE YOU

Xiao and Albedo are under the cut!

Call out my name *tetetetet* Adeptus Xiao

❃ NOPE. Don't get you hopes high up on this man. Don't even dream I think 🤡

❃ He almost never calls you with your own name let alone giving you cute nicknames✋😃

❃ No, I don't hate Xiao. I sacrificed all of my primogems for him. I main him. I'm just stating (un-canon) facts here

❃ It would be like "Hey… So… You're back from your adventure." "yeah" "You're not…. hurt or anything, I see." "I have some... Uh... Spare almond tofu. Eat it. You look malnourished from the long journey." Xiao😭

❃ But he does treasure you by his heart though. He's just a huge tsundere. Come here Xiao, lemme give you a good big ol' hug.

❃ He loves you but just doesn't use nicknames. Not even the teensy tiny bit of babe, baby or honey, dearest, no.

❃ But would be internally SO proud if you defend him by calling him yours though.

❃ "If you ever disrespect my precious xiao again, I guarantee you'll never see the sun rise again." with a d3ath glare

❃ Xiao: "y-yours?? Ugh- forget it." *pride is there but hides it so well*

Albedoooooo ALBEDOOOO u SUS

✧ I don't think you should get your hopes high too on this man.

✧ Perhaps like Diluc (read part 1), would only call you nicknames in private AND when he feels like it

✧ 'My dear' for fluffy intimate sessions and 'sweetheart' for flirting

✧ And when you want to give him nicknames, just don't mention his height. I feel like he would be less appreciative if you mention that

✧ Actually likes it when you nickname him with something around his passion like artsy boy, smarty pants, mr. painter, mr. alchemist, smarty boy, mr artist, etc.

✧Just imagine ruffling his hair out of the blue and calling him, 'smart boy or good boy' after he figures something out or succeeds a difficult task/experiment

✧ He'll be boom, a blushing mess, but then try to regain his composure

✧ "Cough ehem thank you dear. Couldn't have done it without your support."

[imaginesntingz]

Imagine Gaara comforting you when the depression and anxiety hit

Trigger Warnings: Depression, Anxiety, Swearing(?)

A/N: Hey y’all! This is my first post on this blog. I hope you all enjoy it <3 Please don’t copy any of my works. It’s all originally written and I put a lot of time and effort into my pieces. Please ask me before reposting.

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You were curled up in bed staring into nothingness. The past week or two you’ve tried to keep it at bay, but you felt the ever lingering depression creeping its way in. Nothing in particular happened. It was just always there. There wasn’t a time you could remember it not being there. Sometimes it was muffled like background noise and other times the volume was turned up so loud it was the only thing you could hear. It was your constant companion following you like a shadow. And to top it all off, anxiety was right behind it. You thought about overthinking and overthought about thinking. Racing thoughts kept you up sometimes until the sun shone through the blinds.

Everyone wondered why you were so quiet at times, but they couldn’t hear the ass beating you were getting from your own mind that made it almost impossible to be in the present moment. Nor could you find the energy, the language, nor a fuck to give to even begin to explain the war going on inside you. Temari invited you out to what you thought would be a small kickback yesterday that ended up being a full blown party. Gaara, who was supposed to go with you, was inevitably called in for village business. You ended up socially tapped after just a few hours in. Although Temari was with you and you met up with some chill friends . . Although you were surrounded by people, you still felt completely alone. Although you heard the words coming out of their mouths, you couldn’t keep up with what they were saying. Although you were physically there, you weren’t there. You wanted so badly to just enjoy yourself like everyone else, but it was what it was. After pleading with your sister in law, you finally went home only to find that Gaara was still in the office. One final push that sent you

Spiraling

down

And there you were exhausted but painfully awake in the darkness of your shared room. You didn’t know how long you were lying there. There was no time, only the bottomless ocean that swallowed anything and everything you tried to drop into it. No amount of journaling, affirmations, meditation, prayer, movement, walking, entertainment, pet cuddling, food, water, medication, vitamins, herbs, epsom salt baths, incense, face masks or any of the methods you’ve tried felt tangible to you in that moment. What was the point when you didn’t even have the will to move? How could you think of going on a mission next week when you couldn’t guarantee you’d attempt to leave your room tomorrow? How were you going to take care of your hair if you couldn’t even braid, twist or put it up for the night? How could you call yourself a caring friend when you’re thinking about canceling the dinner you’ve already rescheduled twice?

“My love? Why are you still awake?”

Your husband’s soothing voice jolted you out of your inner dialogue. You hadn’t even heard him come in, too lost in the wall in front of you.

“ . . . Can’t sleep.”

You heard the sound of the door closing and hushed shuffling as he moved around the room. A few moments later, you felt his weight dip the mattress beside you. A warm arm wrapped around your middle, gently pulling you to his chest. His hand moved to intertwine with yours as he spooned you from behind.

“How did it go with Temari? Again I’m sorry I wasn’t able to go with you. I hope you had a good time.”

“It’s fine. It was fine.” you replied flatly.

Gaara caressed the back of your thumb with his own as silence filled the space between you. His lips met the skin of your shoulder and you felt your body gradually relax into his embrace. He was never one to push you when you weren’t ready to talk and always made you feel grounded back to earth with his very presence. Even amidst his many responsibilities as Kazekage, he always made sure to check in on you and provide whatever you may want or need. He would do anything for you if it meant you would feel loved, safe, balanced and happy. Gaara, sweet Gaara, was the love of your lifetimes and you, his. He knew you better than he knew himself and picked up on every detail. Your likes and dislikes. How you took your tea in the morning. Your sensitivities. Every expression. Your body language. The tone in your voice. The slightest change in your eyes. So it was no surprise that he picked up on the shift in your mood right away.

“(y/n) . . . Sweetheart, It’s alright if you don’t want to talk about it right now, but please know that I am here. I love you more than words can express. I am here to listen and support you in any way that I can. I always will be. You know that, right?”

And with that, you couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Your body trembled as he maneuvered you to face him. He wrapped his arms firmly around you, cocooning you into the safety of his hold. You buried your face into his chest and the calming scent of earth and cinnamon enveloped your senses. Your tears and running nose wetted the shirt he wore, but he didn’t care. Soft kisses were pressed to the crown of your head as his fingers trailed up and down the length of your spine, occasionally drawing soothing circles. You turned your head to listen to the steady rhythm of his heart pressed against you before finally catching your breath to speak.

“I-I’m just so tired of fighting just to be okay all the time. I’ve been taking steps to take care of my mental health, but it still feels like it isn’t enough. It’s like one day I’m fine and a couple days later it feels like I’m back at square one. I just want to exist sometimes. No expectations. I don’t want to think. I don’t want to feel. I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to be anything. I just want to be.”

He squeezed you gently at your words, pausing thoughtfully before responding.

“You once told me that your dream is to become the peace within and despite the chaos inside of you. The chaos all around us. You said that you wish to heal yourself and pass on healing to others. I know it is easy to lose sight of it when you’re in the midst of what feels like a never ending battle, but I wanted to remind you of it because I never want you to lose hope.”

Your eyes widened in shock and turned glassy as he continued on.

“You have brought me out of the depths of the greatest despair and have played a huge role in supporting me in healing from my past. Your love is medicine to my heart. There were times when I was lost that you reminded me to never lose sight of my dream. To never lose sight of what truly matters. Even in the most difficult times, you have always found hope where others have felt hopeless. That is one of the many reasons I love you. I am your husband, so let me be your strength when you are tired and feel you can’t go on because you are my strength, dear wife. We can get through this together. Remember that healing is a lifelong journey, not a destination. So take it one day at a time. Hour by hour or minute by minute if that’s what it takes. You’re so hard on yourself sometimes, but look how far you’ve come to be here. Right now. How much you’ve grown. I want you to know that I am so proud of you, sweetheart. I hope that you can come to be proud of your accomplishments too.”

A fresh wave of tears came over you, but for a completely different reason this time. You practically tackled your poor mans onto his back and your lips met in an intense yet equally loving kiss. His hands worshipped the expanse of your hips and time fell away. Vibrations hummed throughout your body as you pulled back to look into those seafoam green eyes. His red hair and pale complexion highlighted by the light of the moon peeking through the window. He was ethereal.

“I love you, Gaara. So much. I am so happy that you exist. Honestly when you speak so openly and directly like that I feel like my heart is gonna burst through my chest . . . fuckkkk. In a good way though! But seriously, thank you for being you. I never thought I’d be able to say this to someone without fear, but . . when I am with you, I know that I am home. You are my home, love. ”

His eyes softened before a huge grin spread across his now blushing features. Gaara didn’t smile often, but when he did it was a sight to behold. It was like feeling the warmth of a sunrise for the first time. An all encompassing glow.

He sat up and cupped both of your cheeks in his hands, tears now mirroring your own. “I couldn’t have put it better myself. Do you know how beautiful you are? Truly? Your beauty radiates from the inside out. Honestly, what have I done to deserve you?”

“Sir, have you taken a good look at yourself lately? That’s my line. Fight me. Right now.” you deadpanned playfully.

A look of genuine concern crossed over his face. His hands settled on your waist and his posture noticeably drooped.

“(y/n), I would never fight you.”

“ . . . Gaara, I was just joking. I know you wouldn’t.”

“Sarcasm?”

“Mhm.”

“ . . . Right. I should have known. I’ll do better next time.” he sighed dejectedly.

Your body shook with laughter at your man’s adorably serious face. He’s always trying his best. Only Gaara could go from holding space through your tears of sadness, to making you cry from happiness, to having you doubled over with laughter within a matter of moments just by being authentically himself.

“I love you so fucking much, my sweet Gaara.”

“And I, you. My beautiful (y/n).”

You both slept soundly that night in a tangle of limbs, not knowing where one ended or the other began. Two, who together, are one.

[chiwhorei]

ctrl

paring: h. shinsou x fem!reader

genre: smut, dark content, 18+ minors dni

word count: 1.4k

warnings: noncon, coercion, mind control, inappropriate use of a quirk, choking, a smidge of dacryphilia, a little degradation, mentions of a strip club, reader is an exotic dancer

a/n: so this is only day four five of kinktober and i’m already late. truly, not surprised but still sorry. i would rather finish pieces that i am proud of than just posting something within the barriers of a 24 hour period that i don’t like.

hymn: irl (ft. prelow ) by dsny

kinktober 2020 - noncon

It’s no secret that Shinsou Hitoshi is an exceptional hero. Passing him on his patrol, you’ll be met with a sweet smile and wave. He keeps Toyko safe and secure with a certain Kennedy-like charm. But Shinsou has a secret predilection he would rather keep from the general public. A vice he likes to let out at a dusty, rundown strip club on the unsavory side of town. A vice he likes to unleash onto you.

“Come on now kitten, I know you want to make me happy.” His voice rings from behind you, that familiar, rough tone makes every hair stand on end like exposed wires. The club is empty and sad for a Friday night, exactly the atmosphere that attracts the presence of a certain pro-hero. You want to tell the violet haired casanova to fuck off, but you know much better than that.

“What’s the matter, princess? Cat gotcha tongue?” He tuts, wrapping deft fingers around your arm. You’ve heard this song before, and you don’t want to dance. His grip is bruising, turning you around to face him.

“There’s my sweet girl. See, how hard was that?” His questions are always specifically grating, and you know it’s purposeful. You glare at Shinsou as best you can through the dimmed lights, pulling your arms from his hold. He laughs at the show, amused at the fight you always put up.

Shinsou pulls you forward by your hips and you stumble into his chest. He reaches behind you to grope your ass roughly. You’re smart enough not to let the sounds bubbling up in the back of your throat actually escape.

“You always wear the cutest little outfits when I come around. Did you pick out these panties just for me?” He asks, skimming his fingers across the purple lace on your hip, snapping it against your skin. Trying to walk away is pointless, and Shinsou revels at the knowledge that you aren’t going to get a chance to escape. All he has to do now, is get you to answer him.

“I don’t know why we play this little game of petulance every time. You know how tonight is going to end.” Shinsou’s head dips right by your ear, brushing his lips against the shell. The fingers skimming your ass move to flit against your pussy, making your head fall onto his chest, you fist the fabric of his crisp dress shirt. It’s pathetic how easily he can get you. Every fucking time. The few patrons of the club around you are either ignoring the two of you, or enjoying the show. No one is going to stop Shinsou, no one ever does.

“You always cream so pretty for me when you let me take control. Just say the word darling, and I’ll take care of you. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His words drip onto you like syrup, sounding sweet in a way that makes teeth rot. As Shinsou’s digits press against your core, an unfortunate, pitchy moan rips from within you.

Damnit.

You can hear Shinsou’s laugh like he’s submerged you in water. The world around is both the most silent and the most loud in these moments. This feeling, his quirk wrapped around you, a blanket of stiff wool. It’s familiar, it’s terrifying and comforting. You can feel everything acutely, the stroke of his hand on your cheek, brushing away the tears that have started to escape.

“No need to cry, kitten. We’re gonna have some fun. Follow me.” His command has your feet moving, you can see your hand in his in front of you, but everything is detached and foggy.

Shinsou likes the private room at the very end of the hallway, second to last door on the left. Every time. He directs you inside and sits on the plush couch. You stand in front of him with glassy eyes. So beautiful, so tame.

“You know what comes next, kitten. Take off the bra and panties. Slowly.” He says, unbuttoning his pants to release his already throbbing cock. As you drop the offending lace garments, lavendar in color and frilly, in your cloudy vision you see Shinsou stroking himself. He’s not one to waste time.

“Come here, princess. Take a seat.” Shisou pats his leg, reaching out to grab your hand, steadying you as you climb on top of his thighs clumsily. He places your palms against his chest to keep your rigid form balanced. His cock is upright against his abdomen, centimeters from your cunt. He likes you best this way, completely naked and drooling on his pant leg.

“You always put up the cutest little fight, but here you are making a mess that I’m going to have to clean up.” One hand holds your hip, thumbing circles into the soft flesh while the other moves towards your pussy. Your violet-haired captor crooks his middle finger in between your folds, teasing your lips before moving up to your clit, pinching harshly. The feeling would make your hips buck if you had any autonomy. Shinsou rubs melodic circles into the bundle of nerves, igniting your body in frozen fire. There’s no way to shy away from his touch, he is holding your hand over an open flame with no ability to jolt away from the burn.

Two of his long, thin fingers push into your tight, uninviting walls with an ease that makes your blood boil. It’s infuriating how good he is at this, and it’s even more infuriating how your body reacts. Because it feels so good.

Shinsou pulls his fingers out to examine, strings of your slick covering his digits and reflecting off of the reddened lights of the private room.

“Such a sloppy little cunny you have.” He says, rubbing his fingers together, “Here, have a taste baby. Open your mouth.” You head his command, opening wide so he can shove your own arousal past your lips.

“Go on kitten, suck.” As you swallow around the obstruction, Shinsou pulls you up by the ass to angle himself at your puffy entrance. He pulls your hips to crash downwards, fully burying his impressive length inside. Your pussy tightens at the intrusion, and you would scream if you had ownership of your voice. It hurts, it always does. But the lines of pain and pleasure are just as foggy as your mind.

Always the generous lover, Shinsou gives you a moment to adjust before he begins rutting into you. His fingers still find a home in your mouth, pressing down on your tongue so that spit pools and escapes onto your chin. You gag around him, the feeling of being so full makes you clench around his shaft. His pace becomes relentless, putting both hands to your hips to bounce your body against him harshly. His head rolls back in pleasure, twitching at the feeling of your helpless, conquered body snug around his cock. You can feel that familiar tension in your belly. Another stolen orgasm crawling up your throat and coating your tongue.

Just as the first wave of pleasure is creeping around you, your head comes up from underwater. You can move again, you feel the fog evaporate around you only to be replaced with the feeling of Shinsou’s hand wrapped around your neck. He administers pressure to your throat and you can’t help your eyes rolling into the back of your head. You’re no longer at the behest of the pro-hero’s quirk, but there’s still no sovereignty. Not with the chasing feeling of release on your doorstep.

“Be a good girl for me and cum, I know you want to.” Before you realize it, your hips are grinding down desperately. The coil wrapping tightly through every muscle-fibre snaps, propelling your body into a type of bliss that feels like drug-use. You pulsate around Shinsou, milking his own orgasm to follow closely with a resounding wail of your name. He releases into your swollen cunt in thick spurts as you ride out your own, sick high.

Exhausted, your body falls slack in Shinsou’s arms, body slick with sweat and tears, wetting Shinsou’s shirt under you. He holds your shaking body tightly to his own, breathing slowly returning to normal.

“See? I told you I would take care of you, kitten.”

You want to bang your weak fits against him, you want to protest, argue, scream. But you can’t, because he’s right.

Shinsou is always right.

all writing is dymphnasprose’s original content, please do not repost or modify. do no read my content as asmr.©️