#rex brown fic

[the-lone-writer94]

We'll Meet Again (Part 5)

Rex Brown x Female Reader

Summary: Finally, the night has come where you and Rex are getting some alone time together... but will everything turn out just the way you had planned, or will chaos be unleashed?

Age rating: 18+ *Mature*

Word count: 2,839

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and I had splashed water across my face about five times already. I constantly peered down at my wristwatch as I counted down the minutes until Rex would arrive. Earlier, I had even found my way into my mom’s liquor cabinet, taking several swigs of whiskey. The poison burned my insides, and made me woozy and funny. 

I stalked to my bedroom where I had spent most of the afternoon changing my bedsheets and shoving the junk I had scattered around my bedroom into the closet. I stood back as I admired my work, and cocked my head to the side, it was the best I could do. 

As I stood in front of my mirror I inspected the outfit I had on, it wasn’t anything over the top. Just a simple black tank top and denim shorts, exposing my bare legs. I remembered how Rex’s fingers liked to caress my thighs, and the way he guided my legs opened. Just the very thought of it sent electrical impulses through me. 

I shook my head, trying to push away the picture perfect moment I had envisioned in my mind. There obviously was one thing that had taunted me the moment I had met Rex. And, it had been something I had constantly thought about. Clearly, I desired for him… all of him. 

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of the doorbell echo through the house. Practically prancing towards the front door, I yanked it open. 

Rex stood before me, he wore a white short sleeve shirt, with the edges rolled up which was unbuttoned revealing his bare chest. It was then that I noticed how hairy his body was, which somehow caused a tingling sensation between my legs. He had on tight blue jeans and leather boots. Rex’s honey blonde hair was fluffier and fanned out, which I could have only assumed he had washed and combed it out recently. 

“Hey,” he said as he stepped towards me and planted a kiss on my lips. 

I stepped aside, to allow him into the house before I closed the door behind me. Immediately, I felt the nerves reaching me and my palms began to sweat, and rubbed my hands against my denim shorts. 

“Do you want anything to drink?” I asked. 

“Sure. A soda, maybe.” 

“My mom’s got some beer… or if you prefer the hard stuff?” I wasn’t sure what I was trying to do, perhaps believing that the alcohol would somehow calm my edge. 

“Yeah, a beer then. I guess.” Rex responded. 

“Alright,” I said as I began to stalk towards the kitchen, I paused and added, “why don’t you make yourself comfortable?” As I gestured towards the couch. 

Moments later, I returned back into the living room with the drinks. I watched as Rex was seated on the couch, his legs wide apart as his arm was slouched on the armrest. I stepped towards Rex and handed him his beer, which he immediately took and slid the contents through his lips. I took the seat beside him as we drank in silence. 

An awkward silence lingered in the air, and I wasn’t sure why we sat beside each other like we were strangers. Although Rex was only a mere inch away from me, it seemed as though we were oceans apart. 

I cleared my throat. “So-” Rex and I both said in unison. 

“After you.” He said and gestured to me. 

I shook my head. “No, no, what were you gonna say?” 

“Nothing.” Rex added. 

I released a sigh. “Why is this so awkward?” 

Rex exhaled. “I have no idea. You’d think that because we finally have alone time together, it’ll be a relief.” 

My lips pressed together, as I contemplated long and hard. “Perhaps, it’s the thrill of possibly getting caught?” I suggested. 

Rex cocked his head to the side. “Maybe.” He agreed. 

I set down the glass of beer onto the coffee table, as I edged towards Rex. “Alright, let’s put it this way… imagine we’re at the Fotomat kiosk right now… what do you wanna do?” I asked. 

Rex’s thick eyebrows averted upwards, as a string of thoughts formed in his mind. “Well… I would do this.” He said, as he closed the gap between us, his hand rested on the side of my face and he planted a kiss on my cheek first before his lips found mine. 

Immediately, deepening the kiss, my lips parted and Rex slipped his tongue into mine. Rex’s hands found its way on my waist, as he drew me in closer towards him. I moaned into him, as my fingers entwined in his hair. Slowly, I shifted in my position as my leg swung over Rex’s body as I straddled him. Our tongues continued to dance against each other, as his hands went up and down, then down and up along the sides of my waist. Whilst my hands cupped his face, I lowered my position so that my crotch was against his as I gently rubbed and grinded against him. 

Rex released a moan and his jaw clenched, whilst his breaths were in low and heavy sighs. Suddenly, his hands were plastered against my ass as he pulled me in closer towards him, as I continued to grind against him. 

The palm of my hand laid flat on Rex’s chest, as my fingers curled against his dark chest hair, the nails dug into his skin leaving faint red marks. My hips continued to move back and forth, then forth and back, as I held in my breath, my grip continued to press down onto Rex’s chest. 

Beneath me, I felt the bulge that formed in his pants as I paused, my hand slowly slithered down Rex’s body as I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his jeans. 

Rex cleared his throat, I stared at him through my eyelashes and I watched as the expression shifted on his face. “Hmm-” 

“Rex?” I asked, as I proceeded with caution. 

“There’s something-'' he began, and then paused, his gaze averted mine. 

“What?” I asked, as my brows furrowed. 

He released a nervous chuckle. “I… um-” 

My gaze locked with his, I watched as his eyes drifted away from me. Beads of sweat had begun to form on his forehead, his lips quivered as he tried to release the words from his lips but no matter how hard he tried, the words just did not form. 

Suddenly, something clicked inside of my mind. I gasped, “Rex, are you a virgin?” 

“Hmm… yeah,” he stuttered. 

“Wha- but, wait… how is that possible?” Finally, I managed to utter the words, “you’re such a great guy, though.” 

“It isn’t that I’ve never had the chance…” he defended, “I just never met the right girl.” He shrugged. 

“Wow… I mean, that’s really sweet.” I responded. 

“I’ve never met the right girl… until now.” He said, as his hand reached up to cup the side of my face. 

My lips curved upwards as I smiled, allowing Rex’s words to sink in. I drew myself closer to him as our lips pressed against each other, before I retreated and removed myself from him. My hand found his as I pulled him up. “Come on,” I said. 

He allowed me to guide him through my house. “Where are we going?” 

“To my bedroom.” 

We reached the threshold of my bedroom, as I pushed open the door. Immediately, Rex’s hands were all over me as he backed me against the wall. His lips found mine, as my lips parted allowing his tongue to slip inside. Suddenly, my hands reached down towards his ass as I grabbed down onto it, which caused him to jump. 

“Woah,” he said and laughed. 

“I love this cute small little ass.” I said as my hands continued to squeeze onto Rex’s ass. 

Rex chuckled. “I have no ass. I used to get paddled every fucking day at school.” 

“No, my poor baby,” I commented, “I guess you wouldn’t like being paddled now, huh?” I asked, and smirked. 

“I’d rather be the one holding the paddle.” He said, as he cocked an eyebrow. 

Before we knew it, Rex and I were seated on the edge of the bed. His hands rested on my waist as my fingers were entwined in his hair, as we our tongues continued to dance against each other. 

It wasn’t at that moment where I suddenly felt a twinge of unease, knowing the road we were heading down. It wasn’t that I hadn’t slept with anyone before, but that act had been nothing but a meaningless encounter, which had ended in a heartbeat. I deeply cared for Rex, and I wanted this moment to last and to mean something. 

Suddenly, I drew back as Rex stared at me in confusion. “Hang on.” I said, as I removed myself from the bed. 

I opened my wardrobe as I drew out a leopard print chiffon scarf and hung it over the floor lamp in the corner of my room, before I crossed over to the other side and switched off the room light, allowing the faint glow to illuminate the room. 

“What are you doing?” Rex asked. 

“Just setting the mood,” I responded, as nonchalantly as I possibly could, and added, “I’m gonna put on some music.” 

I stood before my dresser, which was covered in various items from cans of hairspray to my make-up, as I pushed them aside and adjusted my beat up record player. Flipping it open, my fingers curled over the records I had left in a cardboard box on the floor, which I still hadn’t properly unpacked. Carefully I placed the vinyl record onto the turntable and slid the stylus into place, moments later the rhythmic guitar sounds from Led Zeppelin’s Since I’ve Been Loving You filled the room, as I spun and stalked towards Rex. 

The expression on his face softened and he released a low chuckle. Immediately, we both found our nerves leaving our body, as I straddled him once again. Our fingers curled and entwined into each other. I lowered my mouth onto his, but after several moments his hands suddenly gripped down onto my waist as he turned me, placing my back onto the bed as he climbed on top of me, his beautiful ​​luscious locks hung down as they grazed my skin. Then, his hand reached up and caressed the side of my face. My breathing quickened, as my back arched upwards from his touch. Slowly, his hand draped across my shoulder as his finger hooked underneath the strap of my tank top. 

Gently, he slid the strap down, before his fingers trailed across my collarbone, as he did the same with the other strap. He lowered his head down onto my neck as he left a trail of kisses along the side of my neck. I moaned into him, as my fingers reached up into his hair pushing it behind his ear. His mouth found my lips one last time, before he slowly slithered down my body, leaving a trail of kisses along the way, as he paused by my hips. He peered up at me through his eyelashes, before his fingers lingered on the button on my denim shorts, he carefully unbuttoned them, sliding down the zipper.

I moaned. “Do it.” I breathed. 

He softly pulled away my denim shorts and cast them aside, leaving me in my silky black panties. Suddenly, I was reminded of the time we had spent in the diner, the way his fingers pleasured me, which immediately sent electrical impulses coursing through my veins. 

Then, he removed my panties and suddenly I felt very exposed. His hands planted against my thighs as he guided my legs apart, he stared at me through his eyelashes again before he lowered his mouth down onto me. His warm tongue grazed on my entrance, my back arched upwards and my hand gripped down onto the corner of my pillow, as I felt his tongue continue to go in up and down, then circular motions. I tried to sit up, as my fingers found its way knotted in his hair as I grabbed a fistful and tugged onto it. 

Rex’s hands gripped down on the side of my thighs harder as his tongue continued to glide on my entrance. Moans continued to be released from between my lips, as my thighs gently squished down onto his head, just when I was about to reach pleasure, Rex paused as he pulled away. He wiped the corners of his mouth with his fingertips as he hovered over me. 

My hands immediately went towards his jeans as I unbuttoned them. Once he had removed his pants and shirt, casting them aside, I hurriedly took off my tank top. My hand slithered down his hairy body as my mouth watered as my finger trailed downwards and cupped his bulge. 

His body planted against mine as gently lowered me down onto the bed, just then he shifted as he reached to grab his pants which had been thrown onto the ground. 

“Wait a minute.” He said, as he fumbled in the pockets of his pants and drew out a condom. 

“You came prepared, I see.” I smirked. 

He shrugged and smiled. 

I sat up as my fingers hooked into the waistband of his briefs and pulled them down, as Rex slipped out of them, before he tore the wrapper of the condom. Once he had placed it onto himself, he knelt before me as I spread my legs apart for him. Slowly, I felt him entering me and I grabbed down onto the side of my pillow. 

At first, Rex thrusted in me slowly, until he began to move faster and faster. He grunted and groaned, as his hands gripped onto the wooden headboard of my bed for support. His thrusts grew harder and harder into me, as I felt the headboard continuously slammed against the wall. No doubt that would leave a dent. 

“Rex.” I called his name, as he too breathlessly called mine. 

His hands then gripped onto the sides of my waist, as I continued to feel him inside of me. Rex lowered his body as his locks of hair tickled my face, I wrapped my arms around his neck as I pulled him closer down towards me, as he carried on thrusting. I moaned into him, as he grunted, then moments later we both reached euphoria. 

Rex released a sigh, as his chest heaved and his breathing quickened. He pulled away and slumped down onto the bed beside me. His body was covered in sweat and his hair had matted against the sweat. 

We laid there for what felt like an eternity, as I shifted onto my side, my fingers danced along his hairy chest. 

“I hope that I wasn’t too rusty for my first time.” He commented. 

I leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips. “It was perfect.” 

A smile flashed across Rex’s face as he wrapped his arm around me. The vinyl record had long ago stopped playing, and we enjoyed the silence together. 

In the distance, I heard the faint sounds of shuffling. My body tensed as my gaze drifted around the room. 

“Do you hear that?” I asked. 

“What?” Rex responded in confusion. 

Suddenly, I sat up as my eyes narrowed. “Seriously,” I mentioned, as I grabbed the duvet sheet and wrapped it around my body. 

The sound of the shuffling continued, followed by several thumps. I dropped the duvet and slipped back on my tank top and denim shorts. 

Rex removed himself from my bed as he put on his jeans, and shoes, not bothering to put on a shirt. 

“Yeah, now I hear something.” Rex added. 

I stalked out of the bedroom as I followed the sound which emerged from beyond the hallways. The moment I stepped into the living room, my heart lurched forward. In that second, I didn’t even have a moment to react and stop what was about to unfold. As I watched Scarlet push open my front door.

“What are you doing?” I asked, the sheer panic had already consumed me. 

“You said your mom was outta town, I thought we could have a party.” Scarlet explained, then added, “I know you leave a spare key under your mat. I wanted to surprise you.” 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Rex asked as he emerged. 

Scarlet’s mouth opened, as her gaze jumped between Rex and myself. “Oh my god!” Scarlet exclaimed. 

Just then, I watched as Tom, Rob and finally Billy had entered my house. Trapped like rats, we had nowhere to run, as Billy’s eyes narrowed at the very sight of Rex and I. His jaw clenched and his fists curled into a ball. “What the fuck?” Billy hissed. 

And just like that, the secret had been revealed. The sanctuary and sliver of paradise that I had created with Rex had been shattered.

[throwaway-yandere]

"If the pedestal is beautiful, then the statue must be even more beautiful." (Yandere!Zhongli/reader)

a/n: I do not regret this one bit. while i do feel bad abt yaoyao's suffering, at least i wrote something unhinged again + it aint a zhongli fic without me referencing proverbs lMAO--

unreliable synopsis: “(Y/n) must be a really important person if Rex Lapis made them a statue, right?”

Yaoyao found a realistic statue inside Mt. Hulao.

As she was exploring the area with Qiqi to find herbs, Yaoyao discovered a secret domain that was only accessible to children her size and smaller creatures like Yuegui. It was horribly muddy and extremely narrow. She wouldn't go there on purpose if she hadn't fallen inside after exhausting herself trying to climb a hill just for a stem of violetgrass.

She anticipated a dense mixture of dust and fog inside the cave, with layers of spiderweb adornments, but it was unexpectedly unscathed with the typical filth that embellishes a place over time. The table was piled high with multiple apparatuses that she was unable to identify, but its aesthetics screamed that it was an adeptus' prideful handiwork. Despite not being refused entry as most adeptal abode should do, she came to an unspoken conclusion that this must have been an adeptus' place, and her curiosity grew by the minute when she noticed a life-sized statue sitting in the middle of it all.

Yaoyao was unable to take her eyes off it as a halo of soft yet lurid orange light enveloped it. The statue wore a brown hanfu that was encrusted with citrine jewels fashioned into dragons and the Geo element's symbol. Their clothes looked ruffled on areas near the waist and thighs as though it was frequently hugged and touched around those parts. But what Yaoyao couldn’t forget the most was their black earring with a white tassel that hung on their right ear. She can't recall who she saw wearing that earring when she first saw it, but she had certainly seen it before.

Admittedly, the statue was nearly perfect if it weren’t for the fracture the child had caused upon bumping into it. Yaoyao would have mistaken it for a real person and apologized if it weren't for the diaphanous and stony texture it possessed.

Still, the farrago between real and fake stirred around the lost child’s head as if it was a major dilemma. She swears she had seen that earring somewhere and that chipping its pointer finger off the statue was an inexcusable and grave mistake. Was this statue designed after someone in history or a character from those fictional tales Master loved to talk about? Yaoyao couldn’t decide which is a likelier story, but she certainly didn’t want it to be the former.

In addition, what made it eerier was the anticipation of calamity on their face. It’s a look not at all visible. The majority would undoubtedly dismiss Yaoyao's perspective and assert that the monument exuded a stoic aura. But if such were the case, why does she see the look of a rabbit about to flee in their eyes? The statue’s face exhibited a great firmness that declared that it wasn't as it appeared on the outside.

The statue looked like it was fearing for Yaoyao’s life after what she had done.

To avoid amplifying her trepidation, the young girl focused her attention elsewhere. Near the statue laid a red baize-covered table full of tapestries and books Yaoyao could only reach by tip-toeing and underneath it was stacked with clothes, herbs, vulneraries, and letters without indications of the sender or addressee’s name. If so many offerings were being made, then someone really cared about whoever this statue stood for. A commendable devotion considering how the last letter was only dated about two days ago.

Whoever this statue was and whoever maintained this shrine must’ve mortified a penchant for humorous literature and scientific breakthroughs. It would've been a strange combination if it weren’t for how everything was aesthetically arranged. It was obvious that the domain was kept immaculate out of love and adoration. Under the watchful gaze of this statue, philosophy and science had united into one entity, and Yaoyao was positively enthralled.

However, it was a seasonable night and due to the touch of Nyctophobia children inevitably have, Yaoyao couldn’t tell the murky difference between excitement and fear as she quickly stumbled out of the cave. 

When Yaoyao came back the following week after a busy lantern rite, the domain’s opening vanished. She brought Qiqi along and attempted to show her in quailing distress that asked for confirmation that should’ve been a hole in that wall— but Yaoyao was only met with the zombie’s catchphrase of: “I’m sorry. I forgot.” 

There was no reinvasion of the cave's darkness. Not a single hump was left to indicate that something was concealed behind it.

And that led to Yaoyao hunting a certain “illuminated bird” down.

——————

“Aunty! Aunty!”

“Must you grate One's ears with your incessant shouting, child?”

The bird continued to coast on its two legs while Yaoyao halted in her tracks, gasping for air. Although Yaoyao found it excruciating to attempt to keep up with the adeptus' quick treks in the mountains, it was obvious to any outside viewers that the crane was being merciful with her slow and tiny steps.

“P-Please stop aunty! I-I just want to ask a few questions!”

Cloud Retainer sighed and did as commanded.

After letting her describe the location and what she had seen inside it, Cloud Retainer nodded in the affirmation that what Yaoyao experienced truly happened. Yaoyao felt triumphant when the adeptus did not dismiss her babbling as some silly delusion, but she was unable to completely express it when she noticed a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.

“Of course it was real. One knows that location quite well, but One was never permitted to enter. That statue you spoke of would be none other than Rex Lapis’ depiction of (Y/n), the Wayward Pharmacist.”

(Y/n)?

Softly, the adeptus continued, “oh, (Y/n)… One remembers them rather fondly.”

Cloud Retainer did not raise her chin or adopt her customary condescending tone. Instead, her message matched her voice. Yaoyao was not the least bit confused by this sudden shift in demeanor.

They both know that name.

After all, (Y/n) (L/n) was Streetward Rambler’s first human disciple.

Yaoyao never inquires about (Y/n) with her master. All of Madame Ping's disciples were aware that they shouldn't broach the matter. Grief swarmed against Streetward Rambler so frequently that she bathed herself with distractions to wash away the acuteness of such regrets. She had done the most of what she could to relieve certain difficulties she had over the years, including mastering inventions and raising mortal children. While the majority of these were in her favor, the final diversion was less successful. 

How can it not be painful when Streetward Rambler always sees (Y/n)’s old cheerful and ambivert nature in Xiangling and Yaoyao's eyes?

This was a rare chance to learn more about (Y/n) than just the faceless figure that her Master frequently likens her to. Madame Ping only ever briefly narrated (Y/n)’s deeds. Yaoyao relied heavily on individuals around her for her adepti history knowledge because she wasn't book-learned enough. Hence, inflicting a sense of confidence that she did not fully possess, the child continued to inquire.

“What were they like, Aunty?”

“You must understand how broad that question is.”

“Oh, r-right. Sorry!” Yaoyao sheepishly laughed. “I wanted to ask what was their personality like. Did they have friends? Or, well, what did they do?”

“(Y/n) was…” Cloud Retainer chuckled. Yaoyao couldn’t see a smile, but she heard it from her laughter. “—an obnoxious human.”

“E-Eh?!…” Yaoyao trembled. “S-Should I be worried that Master always compares me to (Y/n), aunty?”

“What nonsense— of course not. Take such compliment with high honor!” The bird towered her gaze above Yaoyao, clearly offended. Effectively, it seemed as if Yaoyao’s needless worries kindled afresh the snobbish Cloud Retainer everyone knew of. “There are only a few humans One regard as almost equals. Their obnoxiousness is what makes them wholly endearing and wholly human. If there was one true flaw One would nitpick out of all their traits, it would be their inherent obsession with longevity.”

Cloud Retainer shook her head. “Rex Lapis often debated with them over this, but (Y/n) was a stubborn mortal. Many occasions led to them being confined in a miniature domain that he keeps in his pockets. We did not agree with their dreams of becoming immortal. But other than that? (Y/n) was a humble loyalist.”

Yaoyao was inclined to believe that she was right because there were a few biological research sprinkled across the statue's domain. She had even read portions concerning Inazuman beliefs regarding stress and "ikegai" which might be related to a human's lifespan.

“Rex Lapis liked them despite arguing with him a lot?”

“Why, if you were there, you would see how adorable they were whenever they deluded themselves they could win a debate against an Archon,” the bird quipped humorously.

"Immortality had always been (Y/n)'s goal. One often told them to not be afraid of death or die worthlessly, but they never listened. They even tried to curse themselves to accomplish this, and astonishingly, they almost succeeded if it weren't for the Conquerer of Demons' unsleeping vigilance while acting on Rex Lapis' orders. The Archon always has an affectionate expression on his face when they pout over his interferences. One would have jokingly said that her friend is in love with a mortal if One didn't know any better."

“Wow…” Yaoyao covered her mouth with her tiny hands in awe. Neither of them seemed to realize that something was incredibly off about that ‘fun tidbit’. “(Y/n) must be smart if they constantly got Rex Lapis’ protection!”

“Indeed they were— were you doubting One’s abilities?! Had One not said they were close to One’s competency?”

“Ah, right.”

“They were an obnoxiously hard-working individual. Grinding their bones in hopes to grant impediments as a rival to Guizhong and I’s intellectual plays. (Y/n) lived a short life filled with effort and virtue, it is to no one’s surprise that Rex Lapis had conceived a great liking towards them,” she mused.

“Rex Lapis nearly caved and made them immortal at one point. However, he changed his mind after finding out (Y/n) had a human lover…” Cloud Retainer closed her eyes. “Perhaps that was an act of mercy. An Archon’s goodwill so that they wouldn’t have to suffer the fate of grieving for their beloved for all eternity.”

If only she knew the truth.

“They must be really important if they got a statue,” Yaoyao tilted her head, emanating a soft chime from her bell accessory. “Master only said that they were very kind and that they had a lover with green hair, and—”

“And?”

The adeptus was interested to learn what her old acquaintance talked about (Y/n). Did the grandmother compliment them on how cute they were? How, in essence, they were one of her greatest sources of delight and pride? Before Streetward Rambler took up the name “Madame Ping”, these were the typical musings she had over tea with both her and Guizhong. In a sense, Cloud Retainer merely pressed the question because she missed these times—

“And that they had a nice big family around Qingce Village! Two sons, one daughter!”

Cloud Retainer made a choking sound.

Impossible.

“Family?! Goodness gracious, it seemed Streetward Rambler has turned into quite a fabulist over time,” Cloud Retainer shook her head. “No, (Y/n) (L/n) unfortunately did not produce such a legacy.”

Legacy?

“I’m so sorry, I don’t get it, aunty. What do you mean?”

“They did not leave a child for me— for us to look after.”

Cloud Retainer cringed at her uncontrollably bitter tone. There was a point in her life where she cursed (Y/n) for this. Death was not something they can control— yes— but she used to be an ignorant fool who did not respect (Y/n)’s decision to never have children. Perhaps, in a way, this was because she wanted to see a new generation of like-minded people like them, but she will never forget the uneasy looks they gave her whenever she launched into one of her rants.

They may have been Streetward’s disciple but to Cloud? She was like their true mother. Much like most mothers of the old generation, she selfishly wished they left behind even a non-blood related grandchild for her to rear after (Y/n)’s name.

“They… have gone missing. They did not die with a family of their own— we did not even find their corpse. One does not know why Streetward Rambler would tell you that.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry. I didn’t know... It must’ve been a sad loss for the adepti and everyone else.”

Cloud Retainer only looked away.

“There was no pecuniary loss for us when it had happened, sure,” she said. “But yes, it was indeed a sad time for the adepti to lose both Guizhong and (Y/n) at the same time. There could’ve been a new province of knowledge and ventures— these virtues of arts were never grasped because death had stolen their privilege of penning down their strange yet wonderful conjectures.”

“Time and time again, they had failed to accentuate any alterations in their mortal structure,” she continued. “While others sought out their writings regarding their enlightened art pieces, few looked for their progress on human mortality. One only remembers a singular human who came to find (Y/n)’s transcendental medicines. One believes his name was Baizhu. If One’s explanations were inadequate, perhaps you must seek him instead.”

Yaoyao perked up. Well, that’s lucky. She was just about to head to Bubu Pharmacy to look for the pharmacist later.

“Ah, there you are, Yaoyao!!!”

Out of the blue, Ganyu and a face unfamiliar to the adeptus disrupted the scene. This human had indigo braids wrapped up in a tight bow for hair and amber eyes. Had it not been for Ganyu and a cute little bear clumsily climbing the stairs behind her, Cloud would’ve left immediately.

“Marchosius, it has been a long time...”

“♪~?”

“Woah… Is that Cloud Retainer, Ganyu?” The unfamiliar human gawked.

“That is that. One will no longer entertain questions. One shall take their leave at once.” The adeptus did not waste another moment upon noticing Xiangling’s curious gaze. However, Cloud did give Marchosius a look of respect before taking flight.

The little girl frowned.

“Yaoyao?”

���Oh, sorry,” Yaoyao smiled forcefully. “I just remembered I didn’t get to ask her the most important question.”

“Hmm? What question were you going to get an adeptus’ advice for?” Ganyu placed a hand on her chest. “Perhaps I could help? I may not know all the answers, but I do have some connections.”

“I’m just curious…”

Yuguei jumped off the basket as Yaoyao hastily removed it from behind her. The smaller adepti treasure leaped over her head and peered attentively over as if to assist her in locating the object she was seeking. When she did grasp it, she did not do so carefully. Instead, she held it out like a young child showing off a crayon during show & tell.

Ganyu and Xiangling’s blood ran cold as the child presented them with a dismembered finger.

“Ganyu, do statues made by the adepti bleed?”

[jinn-exe]

everything about sith!obi-wan in codywan fics is generally so great bc, you have this man who's been abandoned by everything he has known, has been driven through hell and back that he's forcibly pushed into the dark side, and he meets ONE (1) tired, cranky, marshal commander who's face isn't even his own, with warm brown eyes and an almost-smile that makes him feel something incomprehensible, and obi-wan goes down the rabbit hole thinking abt morality again, thinking about everything good in life because this one clone would do anything for the republic, anything for the jedi, anything for his brothers even if it meant sacrificing his own life. Obi-Wan is literally having a mid-life crisis because he's thinking about going back to the light. Meanwhile, Fox, Wolffe, Bly, and Rex are all screaming at Cody and burning down 79's because he's tumbling in the sheets with a dark side user— really cody what were you thinking? And cody, sweet angel spin kicks and punches a droid cody, is just, "oh i think we're actually boyfriends :/ he's been giving me word about what they plan on doing next, and also he accidentally confessed that he loved me while i was making him scream so uh"

[zoeykallus]

Hello there!

Would you mind giving us something angsty? Like, Reader confesses her love to the batchers (and maybe Rex and Mayday?). They do feel the same, but they react in the wrong way somehow, so that reader gets hurt, but in the end there is something like a happy end? Like separate little short fics or one-shots.

I know that's probably a lot of work, so please don't feel pressured to do this.

Aloha! Yeah, I think I can do that 😊

The Bad Batch/ Mayday/Rex x Reader Prompts – Confessions

Part 1/7 - Tech

Warnnings: Love Confessions/Angst/Hurt/Comfort/Fluff

Masterlist Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

AC: I tried to tackle this one with the thought in mind that Tech is/might be in some autistic spectrum. Now please don't throw any stones at me, I have no real life experience on that subject, so I kinda wrote this one the way I feel Tech after almost three season.

You've had feelings for him for a while now. Your heart beats faster, you feel warm when he approaches you and your eyes meet. You could listen to him day and night, no matter what he talks about. You think a part of him knows this, must know it, because when he discovers something new and wants to tell someone about it, he usually comes to you automatically. Because you listen to him attentively, every time. Your feelings go beyond friendship, you long to be close to him, you miss him every second he's not around. But you know Tech is somehow different. Sometimes he's very forthcoming, seems to enjoy being around you, but other times, he's more distant, almost as if he's trying to keep you at arm's length, as if he can't handle your presence right now. You have no idea how exactly to assess this behavior, it often feels like a roller coaster ride. It's not always easy to deal with and adjust to. But you want to do the right thing, so you don't push him when you realize he's pulling away, even if it hurts.

But one day, you summon up all your courage. Tech and you are working on damage to the outer hull of the Marauder. Until just now, he was telling you about his idea to improve the alloy for the metal of the outer hull and how he plans to make certain modifications to the ship in the future. Now, however, there is a brief pause, and you continue to work in silence. Your gaze wanders thoughtfully from his helmet, which is resting on a toolbox behind him, back to him Your heart is pounding in your throat, your hands are even shaking a little as you decide to finally tell him, to tell him how you feel about him. "Tech?" His name comes over your lips, almost like a whisper. He heard you, though. Normally he would answer you and listen without looking up from his work, but something about the way you say his name catches his attention this time. He pauses, turns his head in your direction and looks at you, his eyes widening a little. "What's wrong?"

His gaze, those beautiful eyes, like dark brown amber. Your knees go weak. You try to hold his gaze, but every now and then, you blink and look to the side before looking at him again as you speak. "There's something I need to tell you" His brows move up questioningly. "Is it something important?" You hesitate for a second before saying, "I guess it's a matter of opinion. It's very important to me" Surprised, you watch as Tech puts down his tools and turns to you. "Then let me hear it," he says promptly. Now you have his undivided attention. Your stomach is tingling, your heart is doing wild tricks in your chest. Your mouth goes dry, and you hastily reach for the water bottle to take a few sips. As you put the bottle down, your hand trembles so much that you can barely put the bottle down properly. Tech doesn't miss this, of course, his brows draw together in concern, but he waits silently for you to tell him. "I have feelings for you," you suddenly say so quickly, with a look on your face as if you were ripping off a band-aid. Then you smile nervously, inwardly cursing at yourself.

He stands there, motionless, and looks at you. Occasionally he blinks. You don't know what you were expecting, but some kind of reaction would have been nice. You nervously hold your breath.

"Romantic?" he finally asks after what feels like an eternity.

You finally dare to breathe again. He sounds thoughtful, confused, maybe even overwhelmed, but you can't quite put your finger on it right now, your own thoughts and your heartbeat are so incredibly loud.

"Yes, Tech. You know, accelerated pulse when you're near me, tingly feeling in my stomach, the need to be close to you, to want to please you. Bittersweet nervousness..."

For a moment, he looks at you as if you have a rare disease that might be contagious, and your stomach tightens at the sight. You regret saying a single word. "I'm not sure how to deal with this," he says thoughtfully, averting his eyes, "I can't... process" You can't help but stare at him helplessly. You feel the blood drain from your face, and your whole body suddenly seems to become much heavier. You swallow and say in a helpless attempt to pretend everything is okay, "It's okay, Tech, we don't have to talk about it" You turn back to your work, avert your gaze, and you miss Tech's confused, questioning look as he asks, "Don't we have to? You said it's important to you" "No," you say and put the tool to work, "We don't have to, everything can just stay the way it was before" He looks at you silently for a while longer, lost in his thoughts, before resuming his work. _______ Over the next few days, you hardly speak a word, in fact you avoid him. You feel like an idiot, hurt and exposed. The thought that Tech knows about your feelings makes you feel like you're walking around naked and every one of his questioning, scrutinizing glances weighs heavily on you.

One evening, as you sit alone in the cockpit, you hear someone walk toward you, and by now you can already tell that Tech is approaching by the sound of his footsteps. You shrink into the co-pilot's seat and focus obsessively on the datapad in your hands. As he says your name, your shoulders shrink down, you try to make yourself even smaller, you don't look up as you answer, "Yes?" His voice sounds soft, but still in his very own matter-of-fact way, as he says, "A few days ago, when you told me about your feelings, you said we didn't have to talk about it and everything could be the same. But it's not. You're avoiding me, avoiding eye contact. I realized that my first reaction made you feel insecure, probably even gave you the wrong impression. I've come to the conclusion that nothing is the same as before and that there is a real need to talk about it" You sigh softly and ask, "Is there something on your mind?" Instead of answering, Tech leans down towards you. Surprised and a little startled, your eyes do wander in his direction. He kisses your cheek gently and chastely, then sits down in the pilot's seat.

Your fingers automatically move to the spot where his lips touched your cheek, leaving a soft, tingling sensation. You feel warm, but at the same time you are confused and can't help but stare at him questioningly. "After some time to process what I've heard, said and felt, I've realized that these feelings are apparently mutual. I hope that's not a problem" You blink several times and straighten up a little in your seat. A soft smile at the corners of your mouth. "That's not a problem, Tech, not at all" He nods, smiling. "Good, so we can explore this new territory together, right?" You resist the urge to fall around his neck, you know that Tech processes things differently, especially in the interpersonal sphere, that he takes longer and values physical contact very differently. You nod, your smile a little wider. "I'd love to, Tech," you say softly. Your heart almost leaps out of your chest with joy as he reaches for your hand, tentatively at first, but eventually with gentle determination. With a cautious smile, he says, "I hope you'll be patient with me" You laugh softly, gently, and beam at him as you reply, "I have all the time in the world for you, Tech"

[kotemf]

Gift wrap banner by: @the-little-moment.

My gift for @lonewolflupe for the @galactic-gift-gathering event is nothing else than a short fic about Commander Fox and his biggest love: caff. Your gift is belowthe cut, I hope you like it!

Fox has always had a thing for caff.

He was a little older than eight standard years old when him and his batchmates decided to sneak out of their sleeping pods after the curfew and wandered to the mess hall. They were there for snacks but the moment Fox laid his gaze on a forgotten cup of the brown liquid on one of the tables, he couldn't look away. There was something about that brown liquid, something that made him take a sip.

There was no way to describe the taste, or the rush of contentment and energy that flooded Fox the moment he swallowed. And he knew in that moment that he wanted more.

His liking for caff hasn't changed. By the end of the war, he was drinking enough caff to show on a drug test.

And then the war ended, Fox was forced to quit his job of a commander until he recovered from the damage Palpatine did to him - not that he actually needed the time off but try explaining that to his overprotective batchmates - and along with his job, he list the option of stealing caff from the coffee machines in the senators' offices.

So he went and tried a coffee shop after coffee shop. And who knew caff could be even more delicious? Don't take him wrong, the plain black liquid he used to drink was good but it was nothing compared to pumpkin spice latte or strawberry creme frappuccino.

He didn't get why his batchmates laughed at his choice of drinks but then, his batchmates has always been weirdos. Fox didn't take it personally and brought them each a vanilla bean frappe with two pumps of raspberry syrup to their meeting in Wolffe's apartment.

"What's that?" Wolffe gave the plastic cup Fox just handed him a weird look. What was his problem? It was aesthetic!

"Looks kinda poisonous. Are you trying to kill us Fox'ika?" Cody joked. Asshole. Next time, Fox was getting him decaf.

"It's vanilla bean frappe with two pumps of raspberry syrup you moron."

"You know, maybe you could open a coffee shop," Rex snickered.

"You know what? I will."

"No, Fox, that was a joke! You can't just open a coffee shop!"

"Watch me."

Fox was nervous. He had exactly ten minutes and forty five- forty four- forty three- forty two- Alright, that's enough, he needed to calm down. He had approximately ten minutes before he opened his very first coffee shop. His worry was unnecessary. He was just opening his first ever coffee shop. What could go wrong?

Fox nervously sipped his iced matcha espresso as he watched the numbers on his watch change steadily. The drink was good. Surely his customers were going to agree. It was so good Fox ran out of the drink before he was supposed to open. He needed something to drink, something strong.

He was in the middle of the process of making a unicorn frappuccino when the door opened. Fox forced himself not to run away as he turned to his first ever customer. He was surprised to see senator Chuchi.

"Hi!" she greeted him cheerfully. She looked perfect as always, her blue skin glowy, robes carefully ironed without a hint of wrinkling, not a hair out of place... What was she doing in Fox's coffee shop. Not that it was Fox's business he was just curious. That... that didn't make it his business, right?

"Senator. What can I get you?"

"Surprise me."

Alright. Fox could do this. Caff was his job. No. No, caff was more. It was his life. He could make a good drink for a pretty senator.

Without even thinking about what he was doing, Fox started mixing ingredients in a cup. He started with some melted chocolate, added ice, almond milk, blueberry juice and mixed it well before pouring some well brewed coffee into it and topping it off with whipped cream and some heart shaped chocolate sprinkles. He looked at his creation. That wasn't any of the drinks on the menu. He did it all on instinct, without thinking. It didn't look bad, though. He handed it to the senator.

"Looks great. I don't remember seeing this one on the menu?"

"It's a... it's a special. Just for you," Fox stuttered.

He watched the senator take a sip. He hoped he mixed it well. An angry senator was the last thing he needed, especially when it was the one senator who treated the clones with respect. What was he even thinking, he should've just fixed her a regular latte with some extra cream and- "Wow. This is... I don't have words for this, this is the best drink I've ever had."

"Really?"

"Uh huh." The senator took another sip. Fox guessed he was lucky. "How much is it?"

A good question. "It's on the house," he blurted out.

"Thanks, Fox." The senator smiled at him. "I'll be back tomorrow!"

Fox watched the senator toss a generous amount of credits into the tip jar as she walked out of the shop. He was still busy wondering if she really just said his name. How did she recognize him? Kriff, how did she even know he had a name? He always went by CC-1010 when in the senate.

He was still pondering over that when he heard his batchmates snicker from the door. So they really came. Sweet.

"Are you going to be standing there or do you actually want to purchase something?" Fox asked impatiently. He was a barista, not a comedian. His job was to get people so hooked on caff he could live out of their orders, not making them laugh.

"Just basic blacks caff," Cody ordered.

"I will let you know that I offer a variety of different-"

"Black caff, vod," Cody asked again, the others following his example. His batchmates were the worst! Why couldn't they just all admit what drinks they really loved? Fox had no problem with admitting that his favorite drink was strawberry cream frappuccino.

"Of course." Fox rolled his eyes as he prepared each of his beloved batchmates a plain, boring coffee. "Two credits each."

"You're kidding, right?" Bly asked.

"No."

"You mean a senator gets a drink on the house and your batchmates don't?" Wolffe looked offended.

"The senator didn't get the most boring drink I offer, did she?"

"We are your batchmates!" Rex argued. It was ironic that it was him of all people, he wasn't even from the same batch, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got kidnapped and later adopted by Cody. Not that Fox cared, no one was getting free drinks if they didn't at least order something interesting.

Fox's coffee shop turned out pretty well. Soon he had more customers than he could handle. Senator Chuchi kept coming every morning and sometimes in the evening as well. The command batch stopped by daily to order their plain coffee and then the di'kute returned alone later to order the drink they were embarrassed to admit they liked. The entire Coruscant Guard frequented the place as well as many other clones. Then there were Jedi and of course the regular citizens of Coruscant. To sum it up, the place was popular.

Fox was proud when he learned how well known his humble coffee shop was. Sure, his vode knew his shop. But nat-borns did too and that was a surprise. And it wasn't just some regulars who lived nearby, no. His coffee shop was a well known place! People would say they will meet at Fox's and their friends knew exactly where. Teenagers would buy caff just so they could spend an hour taking selfies with the cups and let the drink get cold. Fox couldn't be more happy. He loved caff and he loved making it for the citizens of Coruscant.

He heard the door open.

"Hey, Fox," Rex greeted him. He was the first one to return for his alone drink that day.

"Rex." Fox nodded at him. "The usual?"

"The usual."

Fox started making Rex's favorite espresso with milk, dragon fruit syrup, pink whipped cream, white chocolate topping and marshmallows. "Here you go." He handed Rex the cup and watched his vod'ika leave. He shook his head fondly. If only him and Fox's batchmates could admit they weren't all that much into boring, black caff, their lives would be much easier. It wasn't like they could laugh at each other. Rex loved milky espresso with dragon fruit, pink cream, white chocolate and marshmallows. Bly loved pumpkin spice latte. Cody loved affogato with cookie cream and two pumps of extra caramel. Wolffe's favorite was iced matcha tea latte with almond milk, raspberry syrup, seven extra pumps of dark chocolate, purple whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. Fox didn't judge. His batchmates did but they didn't have the right too.

Fox was distracted by the door opening again. He looked up to see his favorite customer. He smiled. "Hi, Riyo. What can I get you today?"

She smiled back. "Surprise me." She always said that. It was more of a game at this point, she could've ordered any of the drinks Fox has served her in the past. But she seemed to enjoy the surprise and Fox liked the challenge of creating new and new delicious and aesthetic combinations.

"Of course."

[tartigglez]

For the 300 follower event. Can I request green with Zhongli as Rex Lapis?

"rest"

・❥・rex lapis x gn!adeptus!reader

・❥・1.5k

・❥・set in old teyvat, reader and morax are in a sort of weird soul bond situationship, half-dragon!li (i've just decided its his base form now so everyone cope), he calls reader "little one" at one point (lol?), reader has horns (that sounds so silly help), reader cries and it's kinda cinematic, (yes i am using this to heal the wounds my ex left me with because he was ashamed of our relationship thank you for asking!), this has gotta be one of my fav fics ive ever written LOL

・❥・HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT IS I, CAEL. today i present you all with: a thing i wrote!

・❥・if you want to request a prompt from this event, click on the green title!

the world is quiet when the dragon slumbers. 

at least, that's what you think. 

that's what the adepti think.

the souls of the old deities that have been subdued by rex lapis calm a little when he rests. their empty shells are less vengeful, and they, albeit momentarily, no longer seek to wreak havoc on the people of liyue. 

it was a simple mission you had. go to the cave, retrieve any necessary cor lapis for streetward rambler and do not disturb morax. and of course, none of the other adepti knew, but this rule was an optional one in your mind.

the others would never know of your relationship with rex lapis, which was of a deeper level than you cared to explain. the deep, intricate weaves of your two souls together were much more detailed than anyone could ever imagine, so gently and carefully tied over such a long time that they could never be undone. they were roots so deep that neither you nor him could even tell how much you needed each other. 

of course, when he is resting you shouldn’t disturb him, because he needs it. he works hard to protect his people, and for this reason he should always be allowed to rest when he needs. 

as the few chunks of cor lapis you carried in your bag clanked together, you entered the mouth of a cave in mingyun village. you were fully aware that this was where he would be, since you could feel his presence. but you were only here since this was where the best cor lapis could be found, right? right?

a seemingly small tunnel in the side of the cave led you straight to the sight of him. he was completely still in slumber, tail of brown scales and golden spines lay a little curved on his hoard of various gemstones and chunks of metals.

you walked somewhat slowly to him, tiptoeing your way in to the cave, only to have a look at him of course. he looked quite strange when sleeping. his aura was much more peaceful than usual. 

normally, morax was calm. but there would always be some sort of troubled glint in his eyes, one that it appears only you can see, perhaps it is only for you to know of. 

as you made your way to the side of the cave opposite to the opening, you could see his hair and arms glowing a little in rhythm with his breathing. from deep in his chest came soft, yet low purrs. he was at rest. however, the small smile which appeared on his lips would say otherwise. 

slowly, but surely his eyelids opened, the bright amber irises previously hidden behind them meeting you as you stared at him, not even realising he had actually woken up. instead you were busy admiring his presence. 

“you haven’t been here long, hm?” he spoke with a yawn, pushing himself to sit up upon his hoard. the golden surfaces of a few pieces of mora reflected his sharp features as he took a sigh. 

your expression was one of pure guilt. you had only wished to see him, after all it was rare that the two of you got much time alone, but you didn’t want to actually wake him up when he was so deserving of a sleep. 

“not to worry,” he smiled, “i was due to wake up in a few days anyway.” he got down from the top of the pile, ground shaking a little as he jumped, and was all of a sudden by your side. “why the long face, little one?” he asked gently, tilting his head to the side and placing a loving hand on your cheek.

“i didn’t want to wake you up” you sighed, leaning into his touch. “i did miss you, but i only wanted to see you, not disturb you.”

he moved a little closer to you, his horns slightly touching your own as he moved his forehead against yours, “you are never a disturbance to me, dear” he spoke, closing his eyes and taking a few breaths with you. 

but suddenly, it hurt.

“morax…” you opened, trailing off, unsure of how to convey what you wanted to say. instead, your eyebrows knit themselves together, and completely out of your control, a single tear rolled down your cheek, losing itself slowly to the fabric of your robe after making its way down your neck. 

he felt it, all of the emotions that were happening for you were making their way to him, his senses more amplified after having rested. “dear-” he said softly, voice breaking a little, hands and eyes searching your body for some sign of injury or pain, “did something hurt you, are you well?” his eyes were filled with concern for you, and somehow that made you feel worse. he stroked your cheek with one hand, the other rubbing up and down your arm. “tell me, what troubles you?” he asked quietly.

“you wouldn’t want to know,” you giggled a little, more tears suddenly escaping your face. “it is a futile complaint”

“tell me,” he said, bringing his hands to your cheeks and gently wiping away your tears, “i want to hear all of it” 

you were silent for some time after that, the dim environment of the cave allowing you to lean your head on rex lapis’ shoulder, holding his hand as the other was gently stroking over your hair, and slowly massaging at the base of your horns. 

“do you think we’ll ever be able to tell them?” you said, nothing more than a whisper. so quietly that if morax didn’t have such heightened senses, he wouldn’t have been able to hear it at all.

“tell who?” he said back, shoulder slightly vibrating against your cheek as he did.

“the others. do you think we can ever tell them about us?” you asked, absentmindedly staring at a single coin of mora across from you. upon its shiny surface was painted the image of rex lapis of one and his adepti. no. upon its surface was painted two people who were held in a love that had been finely crafted over centuries, each piece chiselled out like the stone of a statue. 

“do you want them to know?” he asked, turning his head a little to place a soft kiss upon your head, humming a little before turning back to face his hoard, leaning his head on top of yours.

you nodded a little, closing your eyes, unsure of what to say next.

“if you want them to know then we shall tell them. i doubt they will be upset about it. after all, i am the one in charge, no?” he chuckled a little, interlacing his fingers with yours. 

“you’d really tell them?” you asked, moving from the way you were sat, instead sitting up straight to look at him, holding both his hands in your own. 

“if that is what you want, then of course i will. i only wish you had told me sooner.” he smiled at you, standing up and pulling you with him. your eyes shone brightly as you beamed at him, and he moved a little closer to you to ask a very important question…

“would you like to rest with me for a little while?” 

you nodded, and within an instant he had whisked you to the top of his pile. he began circling around, trying to find a comfortable spot before inviting you to lay down by him, tapping on the space beside him, which was rather funny, because a few of his treasures rolled down the side of the hoard, which made him pout a little. 

you keenly moved to lay down beside him, resting your head on his arm. however, there was one major problem.

“this is kind of uncomfortable” you spoke, watching his face contort from being relaxed, to confused, to relieved. through his expressions you could already tell that he had found the solution. 

“here,” he yawned out, swiftly moving you to lay on his chest as he rolled on to his back. “better?”

you laughed a little, cheek against the robe which (barely) covered his chest. “much better”

he wrapped both his arms around your waist, every effort being made not to scrape you with his talons. and in this moment, that was when it hit you, more than ever before. every piece of care that he had for you and you for him, it was all for one cause…

“i love you, morax” you smiled softly, squeezing him a little.

finally, you had put words to it. after centuries, you had finally verbalised on the affection shared between the two of you. for the first time ever, you knew exactly what you felt. it was love. 

it is love. 

sfw masterlist || event masterlist

© tartigglez, 2023. do not copy, translate or repost, reblogs appreciated

[the-kr8tor]

Can I request Hobie Brown to react to his friends telling him how his shy gn crush has been trying to confess to him for the whole week but keep getting interrupted by something like there's a mission that popped up when they're about to confess & they're losing hope for your fluffy Friday?

Thank you for the lovely request! ❤️ I may or may not have gotten overboard with it lol

Pairing: Hobie Brown x gn! Reader/ Spider-Punk x gn! Reader

Word count: 1.7k

Synopsis: The three times you try to confess to Hobie and the one time he did.

Tags: use of Y/N sparsely, no specific physical description of the reader, spiderperson! Reader, shy! Reader, cw blood, cw injury, FLUFF.

It's Fluffy Friday!

A continuation of this fic, could also be read as a standalone

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

Gwen gives you a thumbs up from far away, hiding herself behind a column, with her encouraging nod, you make your way towards Hobie. He sits alone in the cafeteria, arm on the back of the bench, his food tray almost empty, munching away at his lunch.

It's now or never, you thought, hands shaking and heart racing for the inevitable confession. You've been crushing on him since you've joined the society, Gwen noticed of course since she's close to the both of you.

How could she not with your lingering glances and shaky voice everytime Hobie grazes your vision. You've been told that your shyness increases tenfold when you're talking to him. You're much worse when you two get partnered up for a mission, always oh so distracted when he fights an anomaly. His arms flexing to reach for the guitar on his back, a determined look on his face. It's not like you can see it through his mask, but you still imagine it (delusional). Well it always gets to you making you fumble while swinging on your web, almost hitting the side of a building.

Hobie spots you from the crowd of spandex clad reds and blues, a grin spreading on his chiseled face. He waves you over, the simple movement makes your stomach somersault. Oh you're so dead, buried six feet underground, rigor mortis spreading through your fingers.

"Hi?" You cringe internally at your greeting that sounded like a question.

"Where's your food?" he gestures towards the lack of food tray in your hand. "Don't tell me Rex is still up your ass about last time"

You laugh nervously. "No, we're good actually" hands tucked behind you, fiddling with your fingers. "And I already ate"

"Good," he finds your shyness endearing, eyes shining, a lopsided smile on his lips. "D'you want to sit down?"

"Okay" you softly say, too shy to sit down next to him so you sit across, the table providing a barrier between you.

An awkward silence falls, Hobie clears his throat in an effort to pop the bubble of awkwardness away.

"How's your dimension?" He makes small talk, trying to get you to talk again. Hobie likes hearing your voice, especially when you ramble on about your home or the shows you're currently watching.

"Good, beat the crap out of Morbius yesterday"

Hobie whistles, "Hope he didn't bite a chunk out of you, love"

You laugh, music to Hobie's ears. "nope–" suddenly remembering why you're here, you clam up, hands getting clammy. You find courage deep within you. "Hobie I need to tell–"

"Hey! Hobie! Ohh and Y/n!" Pavitr cheerfully greets you two, unintentionally interrupting your confession.

"Hi, Pav" waving shyly. "Hi, Miles" you notice him walking behind the energetic Pavitr.

"Hey, guys! We're not interrupting you or anything, right?" Miles asks, gaze moving from you to Hobie.

From far away Gwen facepalms, internally imagining wringing her friends' necks.

Hobie greets the two, clueless of your almost confession. "Sit down with us"

"Thanks!" Pav exclaims, he sits next to you while Miles sits on your other side. Trapping you.

Hobie tamps down his smile at your predicament, hiding it behind his drink.

—

Sweat slides under your mask, you cringe at how moist the cloth is but you continue on, flipping and swinging effortlessly in the training area. You dodge an incoming attack from Doc Ock's hologram, breathless, you web him up, pulling him down to the hard floor. He dissolves into a pile of pixels, making an eight bit video game dying sound.

Chuckling, you take off your sweaty mask, fresh air cooling you down. You jump when you hear clapping behind you, clutching your chest, you curse at your lack of spider senses. You couldn't believe your eyes that someone could be here this early. You would always train at this hour to avoid people watching you.

Hobie leans on the doorway with a proud smile. Clapping his hands like an audience who just watched the most amazing play ever.

"You're getting better" he saunters towards you, the act making you cover your sweaty and for sure messy face with your equally sweaty mask.

You place it over your face so quickly that the eyes don't match over yours, it looks wonky. Hobie smiles, eyes soft.

"Thanks" you fumble with the single word, voice muffled by the cloth.

He chuckles, hands hovering over your masked face. "Can I?" Asking for your permission to fix it for you.

Through your vision, you could only see half of his face, missing how he gazes at you fondly. You could only nod at his request.

Warm hands straighten up the mask for you, carefully pinching the cloth, avoiding your skin underneath. You couldn't breathe the entire time his hands were on you, completely frozen, heart practically bouncing all over your rib cage.

"There" with your mask fixed, Hobie gives your cheek a loving tap.

"Thank you" you gather your courage. "Hobie, I–"

Sirens wail around you, red lights flickering around the large room. Miguel's booming voice echoes out, calling for Hobie's team for an 'important mission' according to him.

He sighs at the interruption, "see you when I get back?"

"Mm-hmm, okay" he resists the urge to hug you goodbye.

—

That's it, you thought, frustrated at your failed attempts at confessing. You've tried, even fighting against your shyness. Stomping over to Hobie's dorm, you find his door tightly closed. Adrenaline still rushing through you from your recent mission, you clamp down your bout of shyness with a knuckled grip.

Before you could lose your courage, you raise your hand to knock. Metal suddenly slams to your face with a harsh thonk. Ears ringing, your hands fly over to your bleeding nose. White hot pain makes you fall to your knees.

"Fuck!" Hobie hears the crunch, eyes widening, he immediately moves to crouch next to you, guilt wracking his body, his hands instinctively trying to stop the bleeding. The added pressure makes you hiss, yelping, pushing away from him.

"Shit! I'm sorry! Fuck!" He watches as blood gushes out of your nose. Unable to stop the crimson falling on the pristine floors. He doesn't think his spidey senses could've warned him before the door could hit you, Hobie curses himself.

"Owww" You're dizzy, the hallway spinning, there's two (very worried) Hobies in front of you, his voice sounds like he's underwater, unable to hear him through it. Black dots dance in your vision before you fall unconscious.

—

With glazed over eyes, aching pain over the middle of your face, you squint through it, watching two figures talk in the doorway. Eyes adjusting the two blobs turn into your friends. Hobie chuckles at what Gwen said to him. He hides his face with his palm while Gwen rolls her eyes.

Still unable to hear them, you translate Gwen's actions to chastising Hobie. It's either that or she's completely exasperated, you think you heard the word Idiot uttered by Gwen.

You keep watch with half lidded eyes and a dry throat as Hobie nods with what you could make out as a cheerful smile. Your eyebrows knit at his blissful smile, why in the world is he grinning while you're laying in the clinic, pumped full of pain meds?

You probably groaned judging from the rumble in your throat, Hobie snaps his neck to look at you, smile turning into a frown when his eyes stare at the bloodied bandages around your nose. Gwen sighs in relief, pushing past Hobie to get to your cot.

"Hi, are you feeling okay?" Her voice gets clearer with every word yet it stays slightly muffled.

"Hmm" you could only hum because of your dry throat and the dull pain.

"You look a bit better?"

"Hmm" you hum angrily.

Gwen winces, "I'll get you some water, yeah?" You nod, eyes slowly blinking. "Hobie here will take care of you, away from any doors" she glares at the man beside her. Gwen leaves, leaving you all alone with him.

You tilt your head questioningly at Hobie.

He moves your blanket away from the edge so he could sit down next to you. You watch his precise movements.

"I hit you with my door"

"Mm-hmm" you hum that sounded like a 'duh'

"I'm sorry" he cringes seeing your bandaged nose again, hating that he hurt you. "Spider-Doctor said I broke your nose. I really am sorry" Guilt flashes on his face especially after what Gwen told him, confirming his thoughts.

Without missing a beat, you reach for his hand. Hobie looks at your intertwined hands with a faint smile, he squeezes it lightly.

Despite your scratchy throat, you open your mouth to talk. "Why were you smiling?" You're genuinely curious at what Gwen told him, is it a funny joke to help make him feel better? Maybe you can ask him to reiterate it, might make you feel better too.

Hobie chuckles, avoiding your face. Squinting, you can't believe your eyes, the Hobie Brown seems to be shy right in front of you.

Realization hits you, eyes widening, skin tugging when you talk, you ignore the pain. "Fuck"

"She told me why you were there" he backtracks "not like it's your fault why you got hit. It's completely mine"

You nod, heart monitor beeping loudly at your side.

Hobie laughs loudly at the sound, you join in after a second. Wincing when you laugh too hard.

Hobie leans towards you, taking your hand away from your nose, preventing you from worsening the injury. "You know what I think about it?" He softly says, face so close to yours, you could see your face in his eyes.

You shake your head, skin hot. You worry about his answer.

"I opened the door that hard because I realized what you were trying to tell me all this time even before Gwen told me"

Your heart leaps in your chest. Hobie holds your wrist tenderly.

"I slammed it open because I wanted you to tell me without interruption"

You exhale a breath you've been holding. "I like you"

Hobie beams down at you, chuckling softly. "I fancy you too and not because I broke your nose"

You roll his eyes at the joke, a giddy smile on your lips.

"What can I do to make you forgive me?" Hobie cups his hand around the shell of your ear gently.

You lean into his touch. "I can think of one" courage takes over, he knows exactly what you mean.

"Think you can handle it with your nose?"

"Nose is already healing" you lean up, Hobie helps you up with his hand under your nape. Gaze falling to your lips. "Thanks to spidey powers"

"Thank you enhanced healing" he says against your lips a second before he meets yours.

Guess getting your nose broken was well worth it.

[suzukiblu]

Day ten of fic NaNoWriMo, obligatory sugar daddy Tim/sugar baby Kon AU.

The waitress comes over with another steaming mug of hot chocolate for Kon and Tim awkwardly orders not-Robin's-coffee-order, which since he's panicking he defaults to Caroline Hill's usual for. She's a med student, she drinks enough caffeine for his tastes. And also she likes extremely sugary drinks, which is definitely to his taste. 

Look, Robin can't drink an iced brown sugar oat milk espresso with six extra pumps of syrup and four extra shots of espresso, especially in front of the exact teammate who would tease him the most mercilessly for having a finicky drink order, but Caroline Hill can drink anything she wants, and Tim Drake is just gonna be channeling her for this conversation, he guesses. Her Twitter account already got him here to begin with, so he might as well.

“That is a concerning amount of caffeine in one drink, dude,” Kon observes with a raised eyebrow instead of teasing him over either the syrup or oat milk, which is not actually what Tim expected to hear. But, well, he's not Robin right now, so maybe Kon isn't feeling the same urge to start shit that he usually seems to. 

Tim's not sure how to feel about that. But Robin is, technically, an “authority” figure and a fellow superhero, and Tim Drake is just some guy, so . . . 

Actually, Tim doesn't really know how Kon gets along with civilian guys. He's seen him flirt up plenty of civilian girls, obviously, but he doesn't really seem to talk to all that many guys. Like . . . ever, actually. 

Weird, he thinks, repressing a frown. 

“How would you know, you're Kryptonian,” he says. 

“Half-Kryptonian,” Kon says, then waves a hand around the café. “And like, you know, also this entire planet is full of people who can just tell me these things. Five thousand milligrams is the minimum lethal dose of caffeine for a healthy adult, which is something like seventy-five shots of espresso, but more than four or five shots in a day is still not gonna be great for you, and you just ordered six.”

“. . . how the hell do you just know that off the top of your head?” Tim asks, blinking at him in absolute bewilderment, and Kon smirks in smug amusement.

“Dude, I was programmed by exhausted grad students pulling six months straight of all-nighters,” he says, pointing at his own temple. “I know every possible thing there is to know about every possible caffeine delivery system. Including the illegal ones and the ones the government hasn't yet realized should be illegal.” 

“Huh,” Tim says, still more than a little bewildered. That does make sense, he guesses, but since Kon's already told the team he has absolutely no useful background in any kind of science or math past the absolute kiddie-level basics when they were all exchanging information about all their personal training and experience, it's still a surprise to hear. Shouldn't Cadmus have prioritized an actual education over things like safe caffeine intake for baseline humans, especially since Kon's safe intake level is probably different from a baseline human's anyway? Which–well, he guesses Kon did get cracked out of his cloning tube early, but still. They at least should've been building up the basics for him. Like–more than the kiddie-level basics, he means. 

Cadmus is definitely not capable enough to be in charge of Kon. Like, at all. Ever. Tim has fewer and fewer regrets about this whole plan every minute, in fact. If anything, he should've started drafting it the day he met Rex Leech, never mind the fact that Kon hadn't technically existed yet at the time. Or after the Poison Ivy incident, maybe. At the least he should've done up an outline or two after he and Kon and Bart had helped Suzie escape recapture and then collectively lied to the government about it.

“You work for those guys, right?” he “asks” as Kon takes a sip of his new hot chocolate, because while the best time to start this whole plan was months ago, the second-best time to start it is now. “Project Cadmus?” 

"Yeah," Kon replies, looking a little surprised by the question. Tim reminds himself to con the team into brushing up on the superhero version of stranger danger, because Kon answered that question way too easily. "Well, just started to. I'm a field agent. How'd you know?” 

"I've done some research on you since we first met," Tim says, which isn't even a lie; just some careful phrasing. "I really appreciated what you did for me. And to be honest, I think we'd get along."

"Oh yeah? Tell me all about it," Kon says as his posture shifts a little and he flashes him the kind of smirk he normally reserves for, well . . . 

Huh, Tim thinks in vague bemusement.

Kon's flirting with him. 

. . . huh. 

Not actually the angle Tim was intending to take here, but . . . well, he's not above taking it. And anyway, Kon's just a flirt in general, so it's not like it means anything. 

Admittedly Tim hasn't actually seen him flirt with a guy before, but presumably Kon's just feeling out an opportunity to experiment or not ready to be out to the team yet. Tim's not, so he'd hardly blame him for that. Tim's not even out to Steph.

And he's definitely, definitely not out to Bruce. 

Well, ideally he'll be a supervillain before that becomes necessary, assuming his life goes to plan. 

Robin was always going to be a temporary gig, after all. 

"I don't know," he says, and lets the corners of his mouth curl up in amusement. "You just seem like my type of guy." 

"Your type of guy?" Kon says, his smirk widening as he leans in towards Tim, who decides to pretend that particular bit of flirtatious implication was actually intentional. Tim is . . . not all that great at flirting, admittedly, but it's not like Kon has particularly high standards past “didn't explicitly tell me to fuck off”, so Tim figures he'll be able to get by for long enough to have this conversation. 

Not much longer, but all the same. He has a plan to pitch, that's all that actually matters here. 

“Yeah,” he says. “And I wanted to thank you for saving me, so . . .” 

“You wanna thank me, Tim Drake?” Kon asks with a slower, wider smirk, leaning in a little more again, and Tim instantly turns bright red as he realizes how that actually sounded. 

Yeah, okay, he is actually the worst at flirting. Fuck. 

“Uh, yes!” he says quickly, very much needing to clarify that statement before his stupid fucking hormones try to talk him into maybe just . . . leaning into that particular miscommunication a little. Not the goal here. Definitely not. “I mean–being a field agent doesn't sound particularly lucrative? And I know being a superhero isn't.” 

“Lucrative?” Kon blinks, expression turning puzzled. “I mean, I guess not. I don't need that much money or anything, though, I just live at Cadmus these days.” 

“You live in a lab?” Tim says, letting himself sound as incredulously horrified as he felt the first time he heard that. “Why?” 

“I dunno, saves me a commute,” Kon replies with a shrug. “Also, like, it's not like I have a credit score to get my own place with. Or a legal identity. Or, you know, money. Landlords tend to want those.” 

“Hm,” Tim says. “Do you want one?” 

“Huh?” Kon wrinkles his nose in confusion. 

“Your own place,” Tim clarifies. “I really would like to thank you. I could help you get a place.” 

“Uh, thanks? But I still couldn't afford rent, even if somebody cosigned for me or whatever,” Kon says, looking puzzled. “I really don't make that much.”

“No, I mean I'd pay your rent,” Tim explains, which is in fact an insane person thing to offer somebody, admittedly, but it's not like Kon has all that reliable a grasp of normal social mores. “Or just buy you a place outright and pay your property taxes. Whichever you'd prefer.”

Kon blinks. Tilts his head. 

“So like, you're just a very extra dude, huh,” he says after a moment, his eyebrows slowly raising as he pushes his sunglasses up into his hair. “Like you're the guy who blows the budget on the friend group's Secret Santa out of the water every year.”

“Possibly,” Tim says, putting on a sheepish smile. Kon laughs and folds his arms on the table, looking amused. 

“You wanna buy me an apartment?” he asks. “What, just for saving your life?” 

“I really think you're undervaluing that particular achievement,” Tim says. 

“I think you're overvaluing it,” Kon replies with another laugh. “No offense, but I didn't do anything but block one lousy bullet.” 

“One lousy bullet is enough,” Tim says, and doesn't think of any bodies he's seen. Kon tilts his head again, then takes a sip of his hot chocolate. 

“Okay, fair,” he allows. “But I'm bulletproof.” 

“I'm not,” Tim says. 

“You were as long as I was touching the same floor as you,” Kon replies with a shrug, and takes another sip. “It wasn't like I did anything hard.” 

He hasn't actually said “no” to the apartment. Tim's pretty sure that's just because he thinks he's either ridiculous or just not being serious, but he's not above pressing the advantage anyway. 

“You didn't have to do anything at all, though,” he says. "And buying you a place wouldn't be all that hard for me either. Besides, you deserve a little gratitude for your efforts, don't you think?” 

"Sounds like supervillain talk, dude," Kon says, his mouth quirking in amusement around his next sip. Tim resolves to dial back on that at this point in his career. He's laying groundwork, yes, but subtlety is still the wiser course of action. 

"You say that like you've never socialized with a supervillain before," he counters dryly. 

"Well, usually ones who wear a bit less," Kon replies, lowering his mug to grin wickedly at him. Tim figures if a little more flirting might soften him up on this whole idea, well . . . 

It's not the most altruistic thing he's ever done for a plan, admittedly, but if it works, it works. 

"So you're telling me I should invest in a crop top before I try to take over the world and remake it in my own image?" he asks still more dryly as he raises an eyebrow at Kon with a little smirk, and Kon laughs and leans in a little closer again, giving him a not very subtle up-and-down with his eyes. 

"Only if you're trying to recruit me for your evil plans, pretty boy," he says, grin turning sharp. Tim feels vaguely faint, and also wants to lick the bastard's stupid perfect teeth. Jesus. "So I dunno, what are your feelings on Daisy Dukes?" 

"I'm going to be honest, I'm not actually that much of an exhibitionist so at this point we're just describing my ideal costume updates for you," Tim informs him. 

"Oh yeah?" Kon asks with another laugh even as he straightens back up to visibly preen at the suggestion. Tim is all for that, personally. Both the preening and the theoretical updates, in fact. And, a little more weirdly, just the idea of having anything whatsoever to do with what Kon might ever decide to wear. Especially whatever he might decide to wear for his costume. 

Yeah, that's probably a later thought, Tim decides. Like, a private-time kind of later thought. Specifically “behind locked doors in an empty house” private-time, actually.

"You're solar-powered, aren't you?" he says reasonably, because apparently he likes to suffer and also make himself low-key insane. "Showing a bit more skin can't hurt." 

"I wonder if Superman would buy that excuse," Kon says musingly. 

"Power Girl exists," Tim replies still more reasonably. "And Supergirl wears a miniskirt, last I checked." 

"Valid," Kon says, putting on a mock-thoughtful expression and tapping the side of his jaw. "Maybe I'll put in some cutouts and go for a lower neckline, tell the big guy he's making the rest of us look like prudes. What do you think, bikini or high-cut bottoms?"

"I don't know the difference," Tim lies, desperately trying not to overheat and die at that question and every single accompanying mental image that his useless brain has so helpfully decided to supply. "You'll have to provide examples."

"Will I now," Kon says, grinning all over again and pointedly striking a very suggestive pose in his seat. Tim valiantly struggles not to melt. "What, pretty boy, you want a fashion show?" 

"Well I did want to be a photographer when I was a kid," Tim says, although it was definitely never that kind of photography he had in mind. Kon laughs again and shifts in closer again, though, so it's worth it. Tim is mortified, but also undeniably into just . . . all of this, really, just everything about this conversation. Robin can't flirt with Superboy, but, well . . . Tim Drake still isn't Robin, now is he? 

He's probably taking advantage of the situation a little, Tim can admit to himself, but it's still just . . . nice. He's wanted to flirt with Kon for way too long, at this point. Indulging in a little bit of it isn't the worst thing he could do. 

And again, it's Kon, so it's not like it's serious or anything. The guy won't even remember this conversation tomorrow, much less anything about Tim Drake. 

. . . admittedly that'd be counterproductive to Tim's long-term goals here, but still. He's willing to take his time on this. There's a plan. It has steps. Layers. Processes. 

"I like you, man," Kon says with a wider grin, which is in absolutely no way whatsoever in the plan. "You're funny."

Tim stares blankly at him as it occurs to him, almost disbelievingly, that he might've . . . made a good impression on Kon? Somehow? 

Well, that's weird.

"I'll never get a fashion show out of you if I'm not at least funny," he says on autopilot, as someone who's been well-taught both when and how to press an advantage. Kon, yet again, grins at him, and gives him another much brighter laugh than usual. 

Actually, he kind of hasn't stopped grinning at him, has he. 

Huh. 

. . . huh. 

Tim really did not plan for this. This is just . . . not at all what the plan was. 

“Well, you definitely are funny,” Kon says, biting his lip around a warm little smile and ducking his head just enough to look at Tim from under his lashes, and Tim decides he can probably just amend the plan.

He's a Bat, isn't he? They know how to improvise when they have to.

[gutterfuuck]

“ANYONE ELSE BUT YOU—☆”

something short, haha 😅 this could be an epilogue to my other rex fic, just a quick few paragraphs as i have had them in my notes.

cws - none, really (i am not sure? will update tags), just fluff! mdni. rex x cecil’s daughter!reader. for my sistas that are reading!!: it is not specified wether reader is biological or adopted child of cecil, you can fill that in if you would like! i personally prefer that is adopted, however you can imagine as you’d like. i’m not too happy with this one because i did not know how to end it, haha. maybe i will have to extend more

rex sloan met you in the summer while he had been training at the guardians’ headquarters, running on a treadmill with sweat sticking auburn brown strands onto his forehead.

you strolled right past him with your arm linked onto cecil’s, excited eyes taking in your surroundings. you had begged him for a job at the pentagon for as long as you could remember, you wanted to be just like your father, ever since you were able to identify what a job was. cecil had finally given in one day,

“whatever my baby girl wants.” he sighed, watching with a smile as you jumped up and down, a shrill scream reverberating off of the walls as you thanked him, your arms thrown around your dad’s shoulders with your eyes squeezed tight, trying your hardest to keep tears from rolling down your cheeks;

and now you were here, having already finished your little tour of your soon to be work place and teleporting over to your well awaited tour of the superhero headquarters you had been so excited to see. you were going to be just like your father, you worked so hard for this. you passed the top of your class, A+++ across the boards, you memorised the layout of your father’s place of work and kept every single secret identity sealed tightly and locked away behind your lips, never to be spoken. you had proved yourself, you hadn’t just been given the job because you were cecil steadman’s ‘spoiled kid’ (even though you were, and it did improve your chances of getting the job), you had put your blood, sweat and tears into this.

rex sloan couldn’t take his eyes off of you, he couldn’t tell wether you were the one making his heart race faster or if it was the fault of the increasing speed of the treadmill. he was sure that if aphrodite had been reborn, it would’ve definitely been you. rex watched breathlessly as you and cecil made your way to the exit door, your image burning into his eyelids. beauty incarnate. the treadmill slowed, he opened his mouth to say something before you left.

silence.

and you were gone, your giggles echoing around in his head. for once in his life, rex had been speechless. he stared blankly at the closed door, blinking slowly with his lips parted.

“i’m y/n steadman, i’ll be overseeing you all today on account of my father getting me a little work experience.” you introduced yourself, white collared shirt tucked into your striped formal trousers, blazer buttoned with a pink tie fastened around your neck. “it’ll be nice getting to meet you all.” you finished, standing in front of the sitting heroes for a few seconds before you realised your mistake; “-oh! ah, sorry, any questions?” you corrected yourself, nervously playing with your fingers. they blinked at you blankly, you cleared your throat. a hand raised, your attention shifted, nodding and pointing at the hero,

“i-.. it’s nice to meet you…!” rex blurted out, monster girl laughed. “that isn’t a question, stupid. do your brain cells blow up when you use your powers, too?” she joked, making kate cover her mouth so she could giggle behind it. “hey! don’t you grow younger every time you transform? you’re the one who’s loosing brain cells!” he retorted, to which she laughed harder. you chuckled, rex’s attention turned towards you, “are you smarter than a 5th grader?” you joined in, lightly poking fun at him. you looked beautiful, your smile was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

rex nodded at you, teeth exposed in a wide smile, “good one, at least we know you’re not as stuck up as your pops.” it were as if he had to recover every time you spoke, his response had come fifteen seconds after a silence that everyone else had found weird. everyone would just brush it off as rex just being stupid and waiting for an applause or something. he had just gotten lost in you, taking in every feature and savouring the way your shocked face looked around before your shoulders heaved with a silent laugh, hoping that your father wouldn’t hear this when listening in.

you met rex sloan in the summer while at your first job, he never failed to make you laugh. you never failed to snap back just as wittily.. and that never failed to make him go silent, face heating up as he mocked your laugh, nothing to rebuttal with. it wasn’t because he couldn’t keep up banter, it was because you looked so goddamn gorgeous with a smile on your face, you’d playfully slap his arm to defend yourself against his mockery.

you and rex met on top of the roof in the summer evening, his head in your lap with your fingers loosely braiding his hair. you both looked up into the pinkish red sky, watching as the sun melted into the hills and switching with the moon, red turning to purpleish blue, finally settling on a pitch black, starry scattered sea of night. rex’s hair would fall over his face as he propped himself up on his elbows, not even having to ask as you pressed your lips onto his, short and sweet. “no fair, if i moved that quickly around you, you’d probably zap me or something with that weird tech shit.” rex shook his head, sitting up fully and pulling you into his lap, “oh rex, you really think i hate you… that much..?” you poked him in his forehead, sticking out your tongue at him. rex could only bring his face closer, nuzzling his nose against yours. “i already know how much you hate me, i can tell that you hate me, that why you can’t sleep without me.” he whispered, kissing you and resting his head against yours, “that’s why i gotta bust my ass climbing up to your window so your dad doesn’t skin me alive,”

“and that’s why you gotta be gone by 5:30am, cuz dad wakes up at six sharp.” you found your hands in rex’s hair as you spoke, stroking through his soft locks and scratching his scalp gently, “and i like to sleep in with my girl for a while.” he finished, his hand rubbing up and down your leg lovingly. it was late, you had to be in bed early to wake up in the morning on time to get back to work and cecil would definitely be asking you questions about where you had been later, even though he was fully aware. your father actually didn’t mind, but refused to give you the impression that he was becoming more lenient. he wasn’t stupid, cecil actually woke up at five in the morning. he could see rex’s legs dangling from the kitchen window one time, watched him closely before he fell onto his back with a loud thump onto the grass, winding himself for a moment and sneaking off of the property with his shoes in his hands. well, at least he took his shoes off in the house.

“you got a boyfriend yet, kid?” your father would ask, sipping bourbon from his little glass while he scanned his laptop one last time, his finger pressing down on the power off button. you quickly stammered to find your words, leaving your space in the kitchen with your yellow rubber gloves still on your hands, soapy bubbles running down your wrist as you stood there, “not a boyfriend, sir. a colleague who i have taken a liking to, sir.” you fiddled with the yellow rubber gloves, eyes avoiding your father’s in an attempt to keep your composure. “c’mon, honey. we’re not at work, we’re home. you don’t need to be so… formal.” he raised an eyebrow, clearing his throat as he fixed his tie. hypocrite. you smiled at his habit. “it’s hard to-“ “hard to break out of, yeah.” he finished for you, shaking his head with a soft chuckle, “you’re my pride and joy, y’know that?” and you’d nod back at him, conversation dissolving as you made your way back to the dishes.

you and rex sat on the roof of your home, setting off fireworks into the sky. you thought it was so cool how he could do that, produce colourful sparks and loud bangs from virtually nothing. it’s the bangs of the fireworks he remembers when he’s on his knees, staring at the remains of his teammates as his life starts to flash before his eyes, the only thing worth remembering being you. he remembers your giggles and gasps when he’d shot off a firework that he’d managed to make look a little like a flower, he’d been practicing to impress you. he remembers the first time he’d seen you, the way you’d made his heart almost burst out of his chest… and that’s when he snaps, just as the gun fires, just as the bullet strikes him through his brain. not now, not when he still had to make it back to you tonight. he still had things he wanted to do with you, you hadn’t even tried out that new ice cream place that opened up, the one just five minutes away from your house, the one he’d promised to take you. one question remained in his adrenaline filled state. how dare you shoot me, how dare you try to take me away from my girl?

if not for his body running on instinct, he’d have probably collapsed and died right there, he should’ve died. it was a blur, beating that green piece of shit to a bloody pulp while he momentarily blacked out each time he landed a punch… when backup showed up, he was sure he’d thrown up a thumbs up, even with his missing hand. you were gonna be so worried about him, he could hardly wait for the earful you were going to give him about being careful. rex just wanted to hear your voice, that was the only thing he needed right now, along with some intensive care. like, soon.

rex holds your hands as you try your hardest not to cry, biting down on your bottom lip with your eyebrows knitted together, glassy orbs observing his injuries. “m’sorry i didn’t make it back to you last night, i bet you thought there was something really wrong when you didn’t see me this morning.” he touches your face with his hand that’s still there and you want to slap him, you want to grab him and shake him by his shoulders so hard that he’d quit being a hero, this was so close! you could’ve lost him forever, never seen him again. your anger translates into a puff of your chest, leaning yourself forward to place your lips into his, hands flying around his shoulders to pull him close. “thought- when dad told me- you were shot in the head and..-“ you sobbed softly, resting your head in the space between his shoulder and neck, wetting his skin with your tears. it was a miracle he’d survived, maybe your boyfriend really was stupid enough to take a bullet to the brain and have almost no changes. you’d laugh about that idea on another day, when the event wasn’t so raw to you. you couldn’t wait to get home that night, you’d finally tell your father about you and rex’s real relationship, if this had ever happened again then cecil would go on without ever being able to know how to comfort you since he only really saw the guy as an employee. you loved rex, you loved his resilience. who else would be able to survive a gunshot to the head and still have enough in him to beat the culprit with a bloody stump for a hand and his vision blanking out?

rex sloan gave you a ring just at the start of fall; nothing too special, not expensive by any means. plastic, pink and it hardly fit your hand. you’d acted offended upon receiving a cheap toy as an ‘engagement ring’, his lips kissing the back of your hand. “i couldn’t find one perfect enough for you. this one isn’t any better, but it’s cute. it’s you. you don’t care about flashy shit, you’re cool like that.” his words make you feel warm inside, he really knew you. he really loved you, you loved him just as much. he couldn’t wait to get back to work, you’d be there to keep him confident.

[lothcatthree]

1. !!!! TELL ME ABOUT PASTRY CHEF CODY !!! Finally he has some peace.

AHHH sorry this took a few days, i was inundated with other WIP's (i'll be answering the other ones soon, too)

@insertmeaningfulusername and @merlyn-bane my darlings, were also interested in this one <3

basically, obi-wan is an exceptionally tired 30yo high school teacher and he begins frequenting a coffee/pastry shop run by cody and rex. ahsoka and anakin are younger adopted siblings (still working out the whole family dynamic). obi-wan gets flustered every time he talks to cody and ahsoka and rex finds it exceedingly hilarious.

this will be a classic strangers to friends to lovers fic and is meant to be fun and wholesome :)

here's a snippet of their meeting ft. gay disaster obi-wan (got a little carried away with it)

“Can I get you anything?”

Obi-Wan is vaguely aware of a voice speaking to him from the counter, but it’s helplessly bouncing around in his empty skull like a ping-pong ball. Any rational thought he had has been sucked out the airlock of his mouth as he’s cut off mid-sentence once he spots the man just behind the register, leaning over a table as he works.

The first thing that Obi-Wan notices is hands. Bronzed long fingers and structured tendons jumping as they knead a slab of dough and Obi-Wan suddenly wonders why he feels warm in the neck. There’s flour all over the man’s knuckles, up his wrists, dirtying the hem of the black sleeves. 

Obi-Wan helplessly watches as the man rolls up his sleeves and grimaces in effort, entirely engrossed with breaking down this piece of dough and, subsequently, Obi-Wan. Rolling up the sleeves would be one thing (and it really is one thing), but there’s miles of black ink swirling around two muscular forearms.

Obi-Wan’s eyes follow the arms up to find broad shoulders and a face with smooth skin, a handsome nose, a jagged scar, and fuck, those eyes. 

He’s just dropped his gaze to the man’s lips when he realizes, far too late, that they've moved.

A sharp elbow jabs into his side and he looks down at the perpetrator.

“What do you want?” Ahsoka asks him with an edge of teenaged irritation in her voice, but her eyes are slightly widened in concern.

Right. He’s supposed to order something.

Something that’s not the devastatingly beautiful man with devastatingly beautiful hands.

Still struggling to get his thoughts into order and feeling an awful blush overtake his pale skin, Obi-Wan stutters.

“Uh..”

“He wants a cup of earl grey and...,” Ahsoka trails off for a moment, scanning the pastry case, “A cinnamon roll.”

Obi-Wan would snort if he still weren’t so flustered and working on averting his gaze from the men behind the counter. The cinnamon roll is, in fact, not for him and entirely for her.

He finally looks up from the way he was burning a hole into the wooden counter and meets the eyes of the man working the register. This one is similarly pretty, though with blonde hair buzzed short and bare arms. Obi-Wan sends a silent thank you for the lack of tattoos, or else he’d be embarrassing himself all over again.

“It’ll be $7.36,” the man tells him and fuck if that isn’t an accent. 

Obi-Wan begins to pull his wallet out of his pocket and distantly hopes the one behind the counter doesn’t have the same one because then Obi-Wan is sure he’d-

“Just charge ‘em for the tea, Rex. I don’t know how good the new recipe is for the roll,” the man at the table pipes up behind- Rex- with, indeed, the same accent and a deep, raspy voice. Obi-Wan promptly drops his wallet.

He curses under his breath and swoops down to grab it, feeling the redness on his skin take on a new, fiery shade. Obi-Wan opens the worn brown leather wallet and pulls out his debit card, thrusting it forward to Rex at a speed that’s certainly not normal.

“It’s alright, I can pay for it,” Obi-Wan clears his throat when his voice comes out weak.

Rex looks at him with a slight furrow to his brows, then he turns around to look at the other man. Obi-Wan follows his gaze and when he locks eyes with the pastry chef (what shade of brown is that and why does Obi-Wan want to bathe in it?), he swallows again.

“Really, it’s ok. These ones are for testing,” the man replies, offering a warm smile. Obi-Wan can’t stop from dropping his eyes to the soft-looking lips as the man shifts his gaze from Obi-Wan to Ahsoka, “As long as you tell me what’s wrong with it, yeah? I have a feeling you’re a professional.”

Obi-Wan turns to look at her and he’s half-shocked when her signature pubescent scowl is replaced with a genuine smile that she usually reserves for Obi-Wan or Anakin.

“I will,” Ahsoka nods and bounces on her heels.

Obi-Wan fondly smiles at her and resists the urge to ruffle the top of her hair (last time he did that, he received a bite mark on his hand that took a week to heal).

Rex clears his throat and says with a polite smile, “Alright, Cody says it’s $3.25, then.”

Cody. CodyCodyCody. 

Obi-Wan hands him his card and darts his eyes to Cody just behind Rex’s shoulders.

“Thank you, Cody,” Obi-Wan says with a small smile, trying the name out on his tongue.

Cody gives him another dazzling grin that makes Obi-Wan’s stomach flip before he goes back to aggressively kneading the dough. Obi-Wan feels his mouth dry up again as he takes his card and receipt from Rex, allowing Ahsoka to not-so-lightly shove him away from the counter and towards a table.

"What is wrong with you?" Ahsoka mutters under her breath as she herds him into a chair.

Obi-Wan sets his bag on the table and helplessly looks over his shoulder to watch Cody begin separating the dough into chunks.

"A lot, I think."

[the-lone-writer94]

Youth & Whiskey

For the anon :) I hope you enjoy this little piece.

Rex Brown x Female Reader

Summary: Set in 1988, you (female reader) have been going out with Rex for a month now. He's everything you could possibly imagine, he's patient and sweet. You've just never gone all the way with him, or anyone for that matter, will Rex be the first?

Age rating: 18+

Word count: 2,855

25th November 1988

Somewhere in Fort Worth, Texas. 

I coughed violently as the thick layer of artificial fog clouded the air around me, leaving a bitter taste at the back of my throat. I pressed down onto my chest as I continued to cough, hoping that it’ll somehow push out the taste. 

“Jeez, Crystal-” I managed to release the words from my lips. 

Crystal paused, setting down the can of hairspray on the table. “I need it to keep my hair in place.” She said, as she lowered herself down towards the mirror as she poked at her beehive curly hair that stood about six inches. Her hand patted against the table that was sprawled with makeup and music magazines. Crystal managed to locate her red lipstick as she carefully painted it across her lips. “Seriously, you couldn’t have asked Rex to send a car or something?” 

Whilst Crystal was my best friend in the entire world, there were moments where she certainly made me question some of my life choices. 

I sighed. “He did offer to pick us up, but I didn’t want him to do that. He’s got a lot of prep before the show.” I explained, then added, “plus I don’t feel comfortable using him like that.”

“Oh come on, you’ve been going out with him for a month now.” Crystal whined. 

I had met Rex at a party which Crystal had dragged me to, at some dirty club which I was so paranoid of touching anything. She had been going on about this badass band called Pantera, which frankly wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea. I was more of a Suzi Quatro and Fleetwood Mac sort of a girl. So I didn’t even realize just what a big deal it was that Rex, the bassist of the band had asked me out. 

“It’s not even that far. We’ll be fine.” 

Crystal shrugged. “I guess so,” then added, “but please get Rex to introduce me to Phil.” 

“Phil?” 

Crystal spun around, her mouth dropped open. “Phil! The new sexy lead singer… how do you not know that?” 

I cocked my head to the side. “I don’t know.” I murmured. 

“Seriously, what do you and Rex even talk about?” She asked, then shook her head. “Never mind. I guess there wouldn’t be a whole lot of talking involved.” She said, and smirked. 

I averted my gaze, my cheeks flushing bright red. I had never actually told Crystal that I still haven’t gone all the way yet, with Rex or with anybody. Rex was incredibly understanding and patient, but there was always a sliver of me that felt it probably wasn’t enough. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, there just never seemed to be a perfect time. 

The distance between us also didn’t aid our relationship. Rex was constantly on the road, and what little time we managed to share was often cut short. 

“I’ve heard of the famous trailer and how he brings girls in there to… you know.” Crystal teased, as she raised her eyebrows. 

“Hey, come on-” I said, changing the subject, “you ready to go? I want to at least say hi to Rex before he goes on stage.” 

“Yeah, yeah. You can say hi to your boyfriend.” She said, as she rolled her eyes and waved her hand nonchalantly. 

—---

We finally managed to make our way to the Savvy, after we had secured a parking spot about five blocks away from the club. However, the moment we had gotten backstage, Crystal had immediately stopped complaining. 

I snake my way through the sea of bodies as my gaze tries to locate Rex, with Crystal at least several paces ahead of me. She was like a child in a candy store, with a huge smile that flashed across her face as she tried to locate her next prey. 

“Oh my god, Phil!” Crystal screamed. 

Phil flinched and staggered backwards. “Hi.” He said nervously. 

I stepped beside Crystal and lowered myself towards her ear. “Be cool.” I whispered. 

“Of course.” Crystal said. 

“Where’s Rex?” I asked Phil.

“He just stepped outside.” Phil answered, as he gestured towards the fire exit in the corner of the room. 

“Thanks.” I responded, as I spun on my heels. 

“You have such big muscles.” Crystal said in the far distance.

I smirked, as I continued to push my way through towards the back. After several moments, I finally reached the end of the room, as I pushed the heavy duty doors. 

Rex’s body was leaned up against the wall, as he reached his hand towards his face and took a drag of his cigarette. Rex had taken off his shirt, revealing his hairy chest and a trail of dark hair that extended down his stomach. I bit my lower lip, thinking about where that trail of hair would lead to. He wore tight black pants with a wide belt fashioned with a huge metal belt buckle and metal plates surrounding it. His long beautiful brown hair reached down to his waist, the top part of his hair was slightly teased with hairspray and his bangs had slightly covered his eyes. 

Immediately, my fingers tingled, wanting to run my fingers through his hair, but soon fought the temptation. 

“Hey.” I said. 

“Hey baby,” he said as he towered over me, as he stepped forward and wrapped his arm behind my neck, pulling me closer towards him. He leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. “I’m glad you made it.” 

“Yeah, it took us ages to find a parking spot though. We parked all the way by the bodega.” 

“You should have let me come get you and Crystal before. She’s probably gonna complain isn’t she?”

“Nah, it’s fine. Plus she always complains.”

Rex chuckled. “She does, doesn’t she.” 

“When are you guys on?” 

“Any minute now.” He said, as his fingers caressed the side of my cheek and he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. I felt my face flush. “After the show, do you wanna hang somewhere?” 

My heart skipped a beat. “Hmm, yeah I guess.” 

He must have somehow detected the hesitancy in my tone, as he immediately interjected. “Obviously only if you want to- or we could just hang with the guys, drink some beer. Vinnie’s most likely gonna order a buttload of pizzas.” 

“No, of course Rex… I want to be with you.” 

Rex smiled, as he lowered himself and planted another kiss on my lips. “Alright then. Time for the Cowboys to go onstage.” He said. 

—---

“That was so fucking amazing!” Crystal screamed at the top of her lungs. 

I pressed down onto my ears as the ringing had still continued to pound. “It was cool- but shit, I think I lost my hearing.” 

“Worth it though.” Crystal said, “and did you see. Phil totally pointed at me.” 

“Sure.” I said, as my eyes narrowed. I didn’t have the heart to burst her bubble, after all there were about several hundred other people in that club.  

“We gotta hang out with the band now.” 

“Rex said we might go somewhere.” I added. 

Crystal raised her eyebrows. “Of course,” she said and smirked. 

“Stop it.” 

“I guess, I don’t have to wait up for you tonight,” she said, then added, “actually you probably shouldn’t wait up for me either.”

“Why?” 

Crystal cleared her throat. “Depending if Phil wants to go somewhere too.” 

“Sure,” I answered, trying to hide the skepticism behind my voice. 

Moments later, we found ourselves hanging out backstage. Rex and I were propped down onto the couch, my legs draped across his legs as his hand caressed my bare thighs. 

Crystal was nowhere to be seen, most definitely she was probably following Phil as if he were her target and she was like some fucking Terminator. 

The overlapped sounds of chatter filled the room, drowning out the sound of the music that seeped out from the speakers, then  followed by a cloud of cigarette smoke that hung in the air. 

“How did you like the show?” Rex asked. 

“It was great. My hearing is slowly coming back.” I said. 

He released a low chuckle. 

Nervously, I continued to chug at the drink from a red plastic cup. Crystal had made her famous drink which she liked to call the ‘kitchen sink’, which was a little bit of every alcohol ever known to man, mixed into one disgusting putrid liquid. I had never enjoyed drinking them, although the act of having something to do gave myself some sort of ease. 

After all, parties were never necessarily my scene. It had taken Crystal long amounts of begging for me to even attend the party a month ago when I had met Rex. 

All of a sudden, I downed the entire contents of the drink, immediately feeling the acidic burn course through me, poisoning my insides. 

My vision began to blur, as I felt the effects of the alcohol possessing over my body. 

“Are you okay?” Rex asked. 

I nodded. 

Abruptly, my hands found its way towards Rex’s face as my fingers traced his jawline, then they moved its way to his hair as I twirled the ends of his hair and giggled. 

“Are you drunk?” He asked, with a smirk painted across his face. 

“A little bit.” I said and snickered. 

“I think we need to get you out of here.” He said, as he removed himself from the couch, and I slithered down like a snake. 

Rex wrapped his arms around my waist as he pulled me up in one swift motion. His hands gripped down onto my sides as he held me close to his body. I felt his hot breath graze my skin, and all I could possibly think was to press my lips against him. 

“Come on.” He said softly, as he guided me through the bodies and towards the exit. 

Once we had stepped into the parking lot, the night breeze brushed at my skin, and I immediately shivered. 

“Where are we going?” I said, and noticed my words had slurred. 

“Getting you some rest.” 

“But, I want to go back to the party.” I whined. 

“Maybe later once you’ve had a lie down.” 

“Will you lie with me?” I said, and laughed. 

“You’re drunk.” He said. 

“Shhh,” I said, then burst into laughter. 

We reached a trailer, as my footing stumbled. Rex grabs onto me tighter as he hoists me back up. Before me underneath the gleaming parking lot lights, a busted up white trailer with blue lines on the bottom is parked amongst a row of vans and cars. 

“Oh my gosh, is this the trailer?” I asked. 

“What?” Rex responded, as his brows furrowed. 

Rex stepped towards the trailer and yanked the door open, as he assisted me into crawling up the stairs. 

The interior of the trailer was pretty much what I had expected to look. If it hadn’t been for the mountainful of stuff sprawled in every inch of the trailer, it would have been rather spacious. On the right hand side of the trailer was a built-in bench with a hardwood table that was covered in knife markings, a small cooker and cabinets were on the other side of the trailer, although I was pretty certain the boys had never once tried to cook anything. Then, in the far distance I eyed the bed, with an array of blankets and duvets. Immediately, my cheeks flushed. 

 I crawled further into the trailer, as my shoes stepped over empty beer bottles, and takeout boxes. The stench of cigarettes and whiskey lingered in the air, and my nose twitched.

I slumped down onto the bed, trying to push the images of what may have happened on this very spot. 

Rex lowered himself beside me as I found my head pounding, my vision blurred and the world around me began to spin.  

Suddenly, I drew closer towards him, the sweat which matted against his hair was almost drying now, as I ran my fingers through his hair. Our gazes locked, and he lowered his face towards me, his hands reached up towards me  as he cupped each side of my face. 

Our lips found its way towards one another, as he deepened the kiss. My lips parted and he slipped his tongue into mine, as our tongues danced. My breathing quickened, as my arms wrapped around his neck, then my hands found its way down his chest as I dug my fingernails into him. I wasn’t sure how much pressure I had applied, as he didn’t so much as flinch, but I knew it’ll leave a mark, which it turned me on even more, almost as if it were showing the whole world that he belonged to me. 

Rex’s fingers grazed against the side of my neck, as he drew them lower caressing the side of my breasts, he gently cupped them and squeezed down onto them. I released a moan, as I deepened the kiss.

I shifted in my position, raising one leg over to straddle Rex. He pulled me closer towards him, as we continued to make out.  

Then, his hands lowered down my waist before resting them on my thighs. Slowly, his hand slipped higher, as he reached down underneath my skirt, squeezing down onto my ass, then his fingers hooked into the waistband of my skirt as I felt him try to pull them down. 

All of a sudden, consciousness waved over me, pushing me back into reality. I flinched, immediately removing myself from Rex, as I pulled back and sat beside him. 

“I’m sorry,” I said, as I buried my face into my hands. 

Fear washed over him, as he shuddered, “I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry, I got carried away. I know you’re not ready.” 

“No, Rex. I want to,” I affirmed.

“Are you sure?” He asked softly. 

I nodded. “I’ve just never…” I trailed off, and paused. 

His hand reached up towards my face as he cupped the side of my face, he leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips. “It’s okay.” He said, his hot breath upon my skin. 

I allowed Rex to deepen the kiss as he gently lowered me down onto the bed, he towered over me as his long beautiful locks brushed against my skin. He pushed his hair aside, as his fingers trailed down the side of my neck, and then tracing over my collarbone. His fingers hooked onto the straps of my top as he pushed them down, which revealed my breasts. His hands cupped them, as his hands trailed down my body, resting upon the waistband of my skirt. 

“Can I?” He asked. 

I nodded. 

Gently, he pulled down my skirt, which exposed my pink panties with florals on it. Feeling embarrassed, I closed my legs together. 

He released a low chuckle. “This is cute.” He said, as gently poked at my entrance. 

My cheeks flushed, as he lowered himself, his lips crashing down on mine. He slipped his tongue inside my mouth, as I pressed my tongue against his. I felt the bulge in his pants as he rubbed his lower body against mine. 

My hands trembled as they reached down towards his pants, as I stroked over his bulge. He drew back, and I sat up, my hands extended towards his belt buckle as I fumbled with it. I pulled down his pants revealing his hard cock. He then fumbled underneath the mattress as he drew out a condom, tearing it open with his teeth, he then placed it upon himself. 

With his fingers, he gently rested them on my entrance as he massaged the area. I moaned out in pleasure, as I chewed down on my lower lip. 

“Take them off.” I said, as he then pulled my panties away, casting them aside. 

He then hovered over me, as I slowly felt him entering me. “Is this alright?” He asked. 

I nodded. 

He slowly thrusted against me, as I moaned and cried out his name. My fingers found its way into Rex’s hair, as I tugged and pulled at his hair. He continued to thrust into me in slow and gentle movements. 

He grunted as I watched his hand grip down hard onto the pillow. I moaned, “Rex.” Slowly, I felt the orgasmic pulsating through me. 

Then, Rex removed himself from me as he discarded the now used condom. He sank down beside me, and draped his arm around me. 

“Oh my god.” I moaned into him. 

He planted a kiss on my forehead, as my hand caressed his chest, forming circles with the tip of my finger on his hairy chest. 

We laid together, an entwinement of limbs for several moments, before I finally broke the silence. “We should probably get back to the party.” 

“Yeah? You don’t want to lay here any more?” He asked. 

 “I do, but I’ve been gone for so long, Crystal is probably wondering where I am.” 

“Oh yeah, she might be worried.” 

“Honestly, I’m probably more worried for Phil.” I said, and chuckled. 

[annoyinglyhardsong]

Codywan Week 2024 Day 2: Beating Rival Suitors off with a Stick

Author Note: Hello again lovelies! Here we are with day 2! This was I believe one of the art prompts for @codywanweek but I am not a talented enough artist yet to do this prompt any justice past some awkward stick figure creatures. So to writing it goes. I had planned on going full crack fic with this because the idea of Obi-Wan literally beating people away from Cody seemed so hilarious, and maybe I'll get around to actually doing that, but for now this was the closest I could get to it. As always, likes, reblogs, comments, are all very much welcomed and appreciated! Happy Codywan Week! Divider by @saradika-graphics, if you are looking for any cute graphics or dividers they have tons of amazing ones!

Tags/Warnings: Mostly SFW, a few suggestive themes, protective Obi-Wan, jealous Obi-Wan, clueless Cody, a highly amused Rex, alcohol.

Mando’a translations: 

Cyare- beloved

Jetii- Jedi

Kriff - fuck

Dank farrik- some kind of curse 

This was supposed to be a nice relaxing night out with friends, but was slowly becoming anything but that. As the night went on Obi-Wan could feel his eye starting to twitch more, and his blood pressure rising. He tried to hide his scowl behind the rim of his glass as another woman slid up next to Cody and Rex and started flirting with his partner.

This woman was a beautiful golden skinned Twi-lek with striking orange freckles, and was the fifth woman who had tried to flirt with the Commander. There had been some men too, and Obi-Wan couldn’t blame them. Cody was a striking man even out of uniform. He was tall and broad, with kind brown eyes and a soothing voice and demeanor. 

He couldn’t hide the self satisfied smirk that spread across his features when the woman slunk away after a few minutes of conversation with Cody. A few had tried to flirt with Rex when they realized they quickly weren’t going to get anywhere with Cody, but Rex could be prickly on the best of days and I guess this woman decided not to press her luck too much and cut her losses. 

But still the almost never ending string of suitors was starting to get to Obi-Wan. Noticing his glass was empty he ordered something a little stronger. A double of Corellian whiskey on the rocks. 

He and Cody had been together for a year and a half at this point. They were stable and happy in what they had for each other. Obi-Wan surely had never felt like this towards anyone else before and he tried to make sure that Cody knew just how much he meant to Obi-Wan. He would worship the ground that man walked on if able to. And he always felt complete and confident knowing Cody was his loyal commander and right hand man when it came to strategizing and charging into battle. 

In fact Obi-Wan would probably say this was the most secure and confident about himself he had ever felt. There was almost always a little bit of doubt lingering in the back of Obi-Wan’s mind that he wasn’t good enough. That he wasn’t dedicated to the Code enough, that he needed to meditate more, that his ‘saber techniques weren’t sharp enough, his battle plans not thorough enough, that if he had even an ounce of time for himself that he needed to be using it to help others and support the Order. He never felt selfless enough, even though he gave almost everything he had and was able to, to those around him. 

But with Cody those nagging thoughts stopped. Almost completely. Cody was able to calm the storm inside his mind with a glance or a touch of the hand. Cody helped inspire a confidence in him that he so rarely actually felt, and on the days when his anxiety started to eat at him or he felt like he had failed his men after a particularly rough mission, Cody was there to catch him and remind him of how much he did right. Of how many men he was able to save, of how he is able to fix almost any negotiation and find some common ground, of how his troops look up to him and trust him, and of how much care he shows them when most other nat-borns treat them like nothing more than flesh droids. 

He was confident in his relationship. So why was this stream of suitors making him so uneasy? Surely he wasn’t one to stoop so low as to be frazzled by possessive jealousy like a hormone addled padawan. 

But as another suitor sidled up to Rex and Cody, nothing hiding the lust in their gaze as they eyed both men, possibly in the hopes of taking both of them home tonight, something in the older man snapped. 

Cody was his, dank farrik. How dare others think they could flirt with his cyare? That was his beloved, and he was going to make sure everyone in the galaxy knew it. 

He knocked back the rest of his drink in one go, wincing momentarily at the burn. He threw down an amount that he thought was enough credits to close out their tab for the evening and purposefully walked up to the trio. 

Sauntering up behind Cody, he slunk an arm around the trim waist of his boyfriend, placing a kiss on the back of his neck mischievously, before propping his chin on the slightly taller man’s shoulder and fixing the interloper with an icy glare that would scare shinies out of their boots. 

Cody brought his free hand up to loosely clasp around Obi-Wan’s. “Hello love, is everything alright?” Cody greeted gently. 

“Perfectly fine darling. Just missed you is all.” Obi-Wan responded keeping his eyes leveled at the interloper.

The housewrecker squinted his eyes at Obi-Wan slightly, gauging what type of threat Obi-Wan was going to make to his evening’s prospects. But little did he know he had just come toe to toe with a durasteel wall that would not be intimidated. He had stared down sith and other nightmares on an almost daily basis his whole life. This was a training exercise. 

“I believe I was just about to buy you boys a drink,” the challenger tried to draw Cody’s attention back to himself.

 Rex had backed away slightly from the stand off that was happening in front of him, not wanting to get any more involved than he already was and with a look on his face that made him appear to be in pain, when in reality he was minutes away from busting out in a peal of laughter at the entire thing. 

Cody went to answer for himself but Obi-Wan beat him to it. Hand tightening further around Cody’s waist as he answered, “Oh really? I thought you had mentioned you wanted to leave soon dear.” A slight edge to his tone. 

Cody’s face had started to flush from the blatant display Obi-Wan was putting on. He was never this forward or possessive, usually allowing Cody to handle himself, while watching from a safe distance in case anything were to go awry. But tonight something had ignited a fire in his other half that he had never seen before and he would be the first to admit he thought it was sexy as hell. 

Flustered he tried to respond calmly, “Oh? Is it getting late already? It really isn’t much of a bother if you wanted to stay longer. Rex and I were just catching up since we haven’t been deployed together in a while.” Cody realized he was rambling and wasn’t entirely sure who he was trying to placate at this point. 

Obi-Wan hummed and started kissing and nibbling up Cody’s neck to the sensitive spot just behind his ear. “Hmm. I would agree with you dear, but I believe we had additional plans for the evening that I am very eager to get to.”

Cody’s blush had deepened to a shade of maroon and stretched from the tips of his ears to where his neck disappeared beneath his blacks. His brain was not working anymore, too distracted by Obi-Wan’s ministrations to his neck trailing fire that seemed to zip down his spine and pool low in his belly. “O-Other..plans?” he almost squeaked out. 

“Oh yes. I believed it involved getting you out of this armor and seeing how quickly I can get you screaming my name.” Obi-Wan stated, voice pitched low and husky, still attacking Cody’s neck and giving a small bite and a tug to his earlobe. 

If the interloper had had any hope left to woo and sway Cody and Rex to coming home with him for the evening it almost immediately evaporated at the display in front of him. One trooper he had targeted, a deep blush coloring his skin nicely, eyes blown wide with lust and desire, sending small smiles at the man wrapped around him. The other trooper he had hoped to woo, was far too entertained by the entire situation, and he had more self respect than to embarrass himself by still trying to entice him to bed. Given the strong reaction of the ginger man to the trooper in orange, he would rather assume that the blonde in blue was spoken for in a similar manner. 

The interloper decided to cut his losses, at this point the ginger might actually bed the trooper he was wrapped around with the entire bar as witnesses, and well after this display he had lost his desire to try and find someone to bring home. Clearing his throat awkwardly and bowing in a quick apology he walked away from the trio and disappeared into the crowd. 

As soon as Obi-Wan lost sight of the person who had been trying to make a move on his cyare, he relaxed just a little and stopped the intense assault on Cody’s neck, but remained wrapped around his boyfriend. Enjoying the presence and warmth of the other man. 

Cody, recovering a little from the onslaught of attention, whipped his head around to glare at Obi-Wan unsuccessfully. No matter what he couldn’t really be mad at the man, at least in this situation. “What. Was that all about?!” Cody asked Obi-Wan incredulously. He really had never seen the man react like that, and bringing up their bedroom activities was a new level of public openness that neither of them ever really breached. They both preferred to keep their private affairs private and sacred between the two of them. 

Rex, seeing the hungry look in Obi-Wan’s eye, decided to silently slip away, giving the two a bit more privacy, and feeling awkward as a third wheel. “I got tired of people flirting with you and trying to make a move on you. You’re my cyare and kriff it, I’m going to make sure everyone knows it,” Obi-Wan practically growled. 

Cody was starting to put the pieces together now. Obi-Wan could be insecure and he couldn’t have his Jetii feeling that way about their relationship. “Obi-Wan. I love you. No matter how many people try to flirt with me or make a move, you’re the one who has my heart. Always,” Cody said seriously. Obi-Wan looked ashamed for a few seconds before Cody continued, interrupting whatever train of thought the ginger had picked up, “But I will say I do like this side of you. It’s kinda hot,” he finished softly.

“Oh yeah?” Obi-Wan started, mischievous glint back in his eye, “Well I guess I better get you home then and follow through with those plans,” before closing the gap between the two for a quick kiss on the lips as he whisked his commander back to his rooms in the Temple. 

[corroded-hellfire]

Big Brown Eyes - Eddie Munson x Reader, Part 4

Summary: It’s time for your first date with Eddie and your nerves almost get the better of you. Everett also becomes a big hit at the kid’s high school graduation. You can read part three here!

Note: I feel like I need a permanent spot in all of my fics to thank @munson-blurbs for all her help 💚

Warnings: language, anxiety, near anxiety attack, I think that’s it?

Words: 9.5k

[Big Brown Eyes masterlist]

“This one? No, wait. This one?”

Nancy rolls her eyes at you as she sits cross-legged on your bed. She watches as you dig through your drawers and closet, tossing different articles of clothing around the room. A pair of shorts have landed in her lap, two bathing suits are flung over your mirror, and a pile of t-shirts sits by your feet. 

“Do you really want my opinions?” Nancy asks. “Or are you just talking to yourself and I’m fortunate enough to be here to hear it?”

“Help me,” you beg, turning from your closet to face her. 

“Okay, okay.” Nancy pushes herself off the bed and walks over to you. She guides you by the shoulders and gives you a gentle shove until you’ve taken her previous spot in the bed. The blue and green bathing suits are pulled from your mirror and Nancy tosses the green one to rest on your dresser and the blue one on your lap. “This one. First of all, the color looks perfect on you. Second of all, Eddie won’t be able to stop staring at the cutouts where your skin will peek out.”

“Now what do I wear over it for lunch?” you ask. 

There’s a squeal from down the hall and Everett’s ferocious giggling brings a smile to your face. When you left them in the living room ten minutes ago, Steve and Everett were surrounded by Legos and toy dinosaurs. You’re afraid to see the state of the room now. Steve may be an amazing dad, but he’s a horrible maid. 

“Simple denim shorts,” Nancy says, bringing you back to the matter at hand. There are a few pairs scattered around the room, so you take a look around and decide on a pair that landed just short of the bed. You scoop them up and put them in the pile with the bathing suit in front of you. “Now, tank top or tee?”

“Um… T-shirt,” you decide.

“Here. This Grateful Dead one.” Nancy tosses it to you, and you catch it with a smile. You weren’t a big Grateful Dead fan, but last Mother’s Day Everett saw the t-shirt with the colorful bears on it at the store and told Steve that’s what he wanted to get you. 

Nancy leaves the room so you can change into your outfit for the date, and you quickly apply some waterproof mascara once you’re dressed. The living room is noisy as you walk in. Nancy’s on the floor with Everett and Steve and you’re sure all Everett had to do was flash those wide doe eyes at her and she agreed to play as the T-rex. 

“The bears!” Everett says when he sees your shirt.

“They look good, right?” you ask him, looking down at your outfit. 

“Yeah! Pretty!”

“Thanks, baby.” You kneel down to give your son a kiss, but he tries to thrust a Stegosaurus doll into your hand. “Aw, Ev, I can’t. Remember? I told you I’m going out and you’re going with Daddy and Nancy tonight?”

He huffs, dropping the toy to the floor, and you know he’s more upset that you won’t play than the fact that you’re going out. 

“Want us to head out?” Nancy asks and you shake your head.

“No, just lock up when you leave. I think I’d get a hissy fit if I insist the dinosaurs be moved elsewhere.”

“Have fun,” Steve says, accepting a Pterodactyl from your son.

“Yeah. Have fun,” Everett echoes.

He reluctantly takes his attention from his playtime to give you a hug and kiss goodbye. Nancy squeezes your arm and gives you an encouraging wink before you stand. As you head for the door, you can’t help but wonder how Everett would react if he was a little bit older. He’d never known you and Steve together as a couple, so the concept of Daddy having Nancy and a different home has always been normal to him. But in a few years, he’ll come to realize that his home life isn’t typical. Would Everett be mad you’re going out on a date? Would he throw a fit? Cry? 

You realize you’re borrowing unnecessary trouble and force your thoughts to stop where they are and head out the door. Jogging down the steps and walking over to your car, your mind decides it needs to stress out about something. Not only is this the first date you’re going on since you had Everett, but it’s the first date you’re going on that’s not with Steve. Who you already knew before you dated. This is a brand new experience and you don’t do well with those. 

Turning up the radio as you pull out onto the road, you’re hoping the music will let you relax a little. The hope was futile though, as you feel your heart rate increase and your breathing speed up. Part of your brain is yelling at you to turn around, go home, where it’s nice and safe, and hide away from the world. But that’s not what you really want. 

“Shut up.” Talking to your anxieties out loud might not be very helpful, but what’s the harm in trying? You want to see Eddie. You want to spend time with him. You’re not going to let your traitorous brain deter you from that. 

Thumbs beating an erratic rhythm on the steering wheel as you pull up to Lover’s Lake, you can physically feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins. With a deep breath, you put your car into park. A movement out of the corner of your eye catches your attention, and you turn your head to see Eddie climbing out of his van. He’s wearing black swim trunks and a black Black Sabbath t-shirt. He hasn’t seen you yet, so you take the moment to just look at him. He’s so effortlessly beautiful. You study from his slightly frizzy hair down to the old canvas sneakers he’s wearing on his feet. When you’ve finished admiring him, you’re startled to realize that your body feels perfectly calm. There was no more rapid heart, shallow breathing, or dizzying feeling of anxiety. It brings a smile to your face, and you take it as a good sign that just looking at Eddie has a calming effect on you.

At the sound of your car door opening, Eddie turns and a grin lights up his face when he sees you. He comes over to meet you halfway, instantly pulling you into a hug.

“Hey there, beautiful,” he says as he squeezes you against his chest. “How are you?”

“Much better now,” you tell him truthfully. You pull back and the way he looks into your eyes makes your legs turn to jelly. “How are you doing today?”

“Also much better now.” He hasn’t taken his arms from around your body, and you don’t mind one bit. Deciding to take advantage of it, you lean into him and are rewarded by his smile becoming even brighter. 

“So, what’d you bring?” you ask. “If I recall, you said it was going to be something even better than fast food.”

“I am a man of my word,” Eddie says. He slips your hand into his and brings you over with him to the back of his van. The doors are already open and there’s a blanket neatly folded next to a large picnic basket. “I’ve got bread with all the sandwich fixings you could want. Potato salad, white wine - or lemonade, because I wasn’t sure if you drink or not. And, not to brag, but I actually made our dessert from a recipe I found.”

He hands you the blanket and he slides the basket over his arm so he can close the doors.

“I’m impressed,” you tell him as the two of you walk closer to the water’s edge. “What did you make?”

“Cherry cobbler bars.” 

You shoot him a smile as you spread the blanket down over the grass. Eddie sets the basket down on one corner and you take a seat opposite each other. The yellow blanket is softer than it looks, the cotton comforting against your bare legs.

“How’d you know cherry is my favorite?” you ask. 

“I must just know you,” he says with a wink. 

A flush comes to your cheeks as Eddie starts to unpack the food from the basket. He gives you a choice of drink and you decide to have one of each. Eddie mixes the wine and lemonade together, saying he’ll see how it tastes, but the face he makes when the concoction touches his lips has you giggling so hard your stomach hurts. He pours the cup out on the grass and refills it with just lemonade. 

Making sandwiches with Eddie shouldn’t be as fun as it is, but he makes you laugh constantly as you both sift through the meats and toppings scattered around the two of you. He scoops some potato salad on your plate, then his, and you both tuck into your food as you keep up a stream of steady conversation. Eddie tells you about his old job back near Evansville, how much of an asshole his boss was, and how the garage here in Hawkins was Heaven compared to that place. You tell him how you always had your nose in a book in high school and how that naturally led you to start your job at the library, since the staff there had known you since you were about six. 

“What’s your all-time favorite book then?” Eddie asks. “Or is that too hard for you to pick?”

“Oh no, it’s definitely Pride and Prejudice. Is that too cliche of an answer? Aw well, it’s the truth. What about you?”

“Another cliche answer coming at you,” Eddie says between bites of his turkey sandwich. “The Hobbit.”

“Oh, I’ve been wanting to read that to Everett at bedtime,” you tell him. “He’s in his Dr. Seuss era though, so I think we’re still working our way up to Tolkien.”

Dirtied plates back in the basket, you and Eddie stay on the blanket talking well after the thirty minutes that are needed before you go into the water. The day is warm with a nice cool breeze, only a few wispy clouds in the bright blue sky, and the surface of the lake shines and glitters like it’s been sprinkled with thousands of small diamonds. 

“Would you like to go for a swim?” Eddie asks, tilting his head at you, his dark eyes drawing you in. 

“That sounds nice,” you say.

Eddie stands and strips his shirt off, leaving you speechless. It’s not the first time you’ve seen him without his shirt, thanks to the surprise visit by his place yesterday, but seeing him in all his ridiculously gorgeous glory would take you a lifetime to get used to. He glances down at you, doing a double take when he sees you staring. A smirk dances on his lips and there’s a dusting of pink over his cheekbones.

“Staring might not be polite but it sure is flattering.”

“O-Oh, sorry,” you stutter, an embarrassed smile coming to your face. 

“Please, don’t be.” Eddie offers his hand down to you, which you happily accept. He helps you stand, but you're suddenly self-conscious about stripping down to your swimsuit. Eddie stretches his arms over his head as he looks out at the lake and you’re not sure if he’s giving you a moment of privacy on purpose or not, but you take advantage of it and slip out of your t-shirt and shorts. 

When he turns back to you, he’s a gentleman, not obviously ogling you like you’d just done to him. But he does smile, pulling you closer to him and resting his hands on your hips.

“You look good in blue,” he says. His thumbs rub over bare skin where they come across a cutout in the bathing suit, and it sends a rush of goosebumps over your skin.

“Thank you,” you say softly. Your hands have nowhere to rest but on his bare skin, so your fingertips brush over his collarbones. The black widow spider tattoo attracts your attention and you run your forefinger over it. 

“You like spiders, too.” The words are almost mumbled under your breath, but Eddie catches them.

“Hmm?” he asks.

You blink a few times, eyes coming up to meet his.

“That was the first thing I heard you say,” you explain. “Everett told you he wasn’t afraid of spiders, and you told him that you like them too.”

“Oh yeah,” Eddie says as he remembers. “He said that Spider-Man is his favorite.”

“He is.” You look back down to his tattoo and rub your finger over it again. “That why you got this tattoo? Because you like spiders?”

“Partly.” There’s a mischievous glint in Eddie’s eye that makes you raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugs sheepishly. “One of my buddies from high school, Jeff, thought it was weird that I liked spiders. Because he’s afraid of them. So, I got this like a few months before I knew his family was having a Fourth of July barbeque at his house. Then I whipped my shirt off and he looked like he was going to shit himself.” 

“Such a good friend,” you say with a giggle. “Teasing the poor guy like that.” 

“Mm, he got over it,” Eddie says with a shrug. He starts walking backwards towards the lake, leading you along by your hands. “Come on, let’s get in.”

Eddie’s feet hit the water first and his face scrunches up, making you laugh.

“Cold?” you ask.

“Only a little,” he says, but he keeps walking backwards. Soon the water hits your toes and you let out a small squeal at the cold bite. It really wasn’t too bad, more of a shock after sitting in the nice warm sun for so long. 

Eddie lets go of your hands once the water reaches his small waist, and he has to wade further. He doesn’t take his eyes off of you though, and the moment that you’re at the same level as him in the water, he swims over and wraps an arm around you. 

“Hi,” you say as you relax your body against his. He feels warm and safe, and it makes you never want to let go of him. 

Eddie pulls you out until it’s a little deeper and your toes have to stretch more and more just to be able to walk along the riverbed. When it’s starting to become too hard for you, you pout, and Eddie is instantly there, holding you up to his level with his arms around your middle. He starts to keep moving deeper though, bringing you out where he knows you can’t touch the bottom. You’re about to huff at him for it when you catch sight of the smirk he’s trying to suppress. He likes that you can’t touch here. That you have to hold onto him for support. Deciding to give into him, you wrap your arms around his neck and bring up your legs to wind around his hips. 

“This what you were looking for?” you ask.

“Pretty much,” he admits. 

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” you tell him as you rest your forehead against his. 

“How many guys do you say that to?”

“Two. You and a three-year-old.”

“So, I’m in good company,” he says. 

Eddie slides his thumbs over the cutouts in your bathing suit, hands holding you firmly by the hips. It’s nice to just wade out in the water together like this, enjoying the nice weather and being held by one another. 

“I’m glad we’re finally on a real date.” Eddie breaks the peaceful silence after a few minutes.

“Me too,” you tell him. “To tell you the truth though, I was nervous on the way here.”

His brow pinches together in a frown as he looks up at you. “Why? Nervous to see me?”

“No, no,” you say with a shake of your head. “Me wanting to see you is basically the only thing that was able to break through my anxieties and get me here.” You shrug and start to play with the wet hairs at the base of Eddie’s neck. “I’m not very good with ‘new’ in my life. It stresses me out. Even the good new, like this. But honestly? Once I pulled up and saw you, that all went away. I didn’t feel stressed or anxious. Just excited to see you.”

The smile that lights up Eddie’s face has your stomach doing somersaults. He takes one hand from your hip and cups your jaw with it.

“I was really excited to see you, too,” he says. “More excited than I’ve been for anything in a long time.” 

“Yeah?” you ask as you rest your forehead against his.

“Mhmm,” he hums. 

Eddie’s thumb strokes over your cheekbone a few times before he leans in and softly presses his lips against yours. It feels as if your heart has stopped in your chest as you move your lips against his. Eddie’s arm tightens around your waist, and you pull yourself closer to his body with the arms you have wrapped around his neck. The feeling of Eddie’s tongue swiping across your top lip has you instantly parting them for him, letting him lead this kiss deeper. You and Eddie only break the kiss because you can’t stop smiling, but you quickly lean back in for another taste of his lips. 

“I feel like a teenager again,” you muse. “Just making out wherever and whenever I get the chance.”

Eddie smirks, but it’s endearing, never mean. “Well, if you want the full experience, we can always makeout in the back of my van.”

You gasp. “Eddie!” you scold him, swatting at his bare chest. 

“Is that a yes?”

“What happened to ‘there were never any girls in high school,’ Mr. Munson?” you tease. “Doesn’t sound like it was your full teenage experience.”

“Well, maybe I have some making up to do,” he says with a waggle of his eyebrows. It makes you giggle and lean in to press another kiss to his lips. The jolt it sends through your body is so strong that you wouldn’t be surprised if Eddie could feel it coursing through your body under his fingertips.

“Mm, okay,” you hum against his lips. “Let’s go make out in the van. But then we have the cherry cobbler bars.”

“Deal.” 

Don't need nothin' but a good time

How can I resist,

Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time

And it don't get better than this

Everett dances in his car seat, banging his little head to the Poison song playing on the radio like he was born to be in a mosh pit. It makes you chuckle when you watch him over your shoulder in the passenger seat. Steve keeps glancing at him in the rear-view mirror, bringing a smile to his face as well. The little boy looks even more like his dad’s mini me in their matching green polo shirts. You hadn’t planned on dressing him identically to Steve, but it was the only way to convince him to wear a nicer shirt than an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tee.

Telling him he was going to see his aunts and uncles graduate got about the reaction you expected it would. He’d asked if that meant he could play with them. When you explained that he was going to sit with you, his dad, and some of his other aunts and uncles to watch them walk across a stage, he seemed to care less than he already did. You already knew he wouldn’t sit still through the long ceremony, out in the heat of the June Hawkins day, sitting on uncomfortable bleachers. But you were hoping there were enough people in the crowd that he knew that would be able to keep him occupied. Hopefully they’d humor him as he bounced from familiar face to familiar face. 

Nancy had stayed the previous night at her family’s house so she could help set up for the graduation party taking place there this evening. But as soon as Everett gets out of the car, she’s the first face he sees. She’s getting out of her dad’s car with Holly right behind her and Everett starts bouncing on his toes in excitement.

“Nanzy!”

She looks at the call of her name and smiles when she sees the miniature Steve excitedly waving at her. You scoop him up in your arms and meet Nancy halfway in the parking lot, handing Everett over as he makes grabby hands for your best friend.

“You missed me? You saw me yesterday,” she tells him.

Everett just shrugs and lays his head on her shoulder. “Yeah.”

“Are you and Daddy matching today?”

Her notice of this gives him an extra boost of energy and he nods his head enthusiastically. 

“Yes! I look like Daddy!”

Steve gives Nancy a kiss hello and you walk with them and the other Wheelers to the football field, where the ceremony will be taking place. Robin, Vickie, the Sinclair’s and Mrs. Henderson are already there, so your gang joins up with them. Everyone fawns over Everett, much to his delight. He soaks in all the compliments about how cute he is and shows off his dimples just to prove everyone’s point further. Joyce and Hopper join you soon, Jonathan trailing behind them, and Everett makes his move on them as well. He happily sits in Hopper’s lap and asks to see the shiny badge he knows the police chief always has on him. 

“This seat taken?” 

You look up, having to squint because of the sun, and see a familiar face smiling down at you. It’s pure instinct to stand up and wrap your arms around Eddie’s neck. He chuckles as he hugs you back, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Hello to you, too,” he says. 

“I didn’t know you were coming,” you say. And it wasn’t from lack of communication. You and Eddie had talked on the phone every night since your date last weekend. He even came by for lunch at the library on Wednesday. 

“Thought I’d surprise you.”

“Mission accomplished.”

Max’s mom comes up behind Eddie, along with an older gentleman that Eddie introduces as his Uncle Wayne. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Wayne says, making a pink tinge appear on Eddie’s face. You’re about to respond when there’s a bump against your thigh. Everett’s holding onto your leg, peeking out shyly at the man he’s never met. “And you must be Everett.”

The boy hides his head fully behind you and you give his hair an affectionate pat. 

“C’mere you.” You pick Everett up and hold him on your hip. “This is Eddie’s Uncle Wayne. Can you say hi?”

The toddler perks up, just realizing that Eddie’s standing there. You’re a little surprised he remembers him after that brief encounter a few weeks ago. But his eyes light up and he gives Eddie a big grin.

“Eddie!” His voice is full of joy, and it warms your heart.

“Hey, little dude! I missed you.”

“Missed you,” Everett replies, causing you to get slightly misty eyed.

The speakers crackle to life, the feedback making Everett cover his ears. The Vice Principal approaches the podium, and you take your seat on the bleachers. Steve is on your left, Eddie on your right, with Everett perched in your lap. He’s already antsy and wiggling around so you can only imagine how restless he’s going to get over the next two hours. 

Eddie’s lips against your ear surprise you and you let out a little squeal, making Everett look back at you and Eddie chuckle.

“I missed you, too, you know.”

“That’s good,” you tell him. “Because I missed you. Are you here for any graduate in particular?”

“Um, I think the only one of the gang I haven’t met is El. But I’ve heard about her from everyone. Plus,” Eddie pauses and leans in closer to whisper directly to you, “Wayne is pretty in love with Max’s mom. He doesn’t believe me when I say the feeling is mutual, but it definitely is.”

You giggle and sneak a peek over Eddie’s shoulder where Ms. Mayfield and Uncle Wayne are talking, heads close together. 

“That’s adorable,” you say. 

Everett hops off your lap and moves onto Steve’s, little face already painted with boredom as some school official drones on. Steve looks at you and raises his eyebrows. It takes you a moment to realize what he’s trying to communicate.

“Oh!” You lean back so the men on either side of you can see one another. “Eddie, this is Steve. Steve, this is Eddie.” They’ve heard enough about each other that they need no more introduction than that.

“Nice to meet you,” Eddie says, extending his hand to your ex.

“Likewise,” Steve says as he shakes his hand. 

Everett catches sight of Eddie’s rings again and leans across your lap to grab his hand before he can take it away. Eddie chuckles and lets him inspect them, watching him with an adoring expression on his face. Your son doesn’t seem to notice that his bony little elbows are digging into your thighs. 

The speaker at the podium switches out for another and the list of student’s names starts rolling. 

“Gotta pay attention now,” you lean down to whisper to Everett. “They’re going to call names and we’re going to clap.”

He reluctantly lets go of Eddie’s hand and straightens himself in Steve’s lap. His brown eyes stare out at the field, waiting for a name he knows. 

“William Byers.”

Everett doesn’t realize he knows that name until everyone around him starts to cheer. But he quickly gets into the spirit and claps his hands together so fast he stings his own palms. Now that his interest has been piqued, Everett is anxious for the next person he knows to walk across the stage. He squirms in Steve’s lap, small attention span kicking in.

“Hey,” Steve says in his ear. “Do you see Aunt Max out there?”

His little eyes squint as he scans over the sea of students donned in green caps and gowns. After a quick assessment, he pouts and shakes his head.

“No?” Steve asks. “Look for her red hair. I think she’s the only redhead out there.”

Everett takes another look and gasps when he spots his favorite aunt, pointing at her and bouncing up and down on his dad’s legs.

“Aunt Max! I see her!”

“Good job, buddy,” Steve says. 

“Dustin Henderson.”

That name Everett recognizes right away and beams as he watches his Uncle Dusty Buns, unruly curls tucked in his cap, walk across the stage and take his diploma. 

“Yay!” Everett yells out as the rest of you clap and cheer.

“He’s about the cutest thing ever,” Eddie says to you. 

“Dustin?” you reply with a playful smirk. “Adorable, right?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, a fond smile gracing his features, and knocks his shoulder against yours. His hand twitches where it sits in his lap and your eyes notice as he goes to reach for you, but quickly pulls his hand back. It’s understandable. The two of you hadn’t talked about any affection shown in front of Everett because you hadn’t thought they were going to be in the same place at the same time for a while. 

“El Hopper.”

As you clap for your friend, your son wriggles his way out of Steve’s lap. Hopper lets out a loud whistle as his daughter makes her way to get her diploma, and Everett giggles at the sound. He turns towards you and you’re ready to help him into your lap when he walks right past you and stops in front of Eddie. He smiles up at the man in front of him, big brown eyes meeting bigger brown eyes. Eddie doesn’t hesitate and helps Everett onto his lap when he struggles to climb. 

“Hey, buddy,” Eddie says. 

“Hi,” Everett answers. 

Out of the corner of your eye you see Steve watching Everett. Or is he watching Eddie? You lean in to whisper in Steve’s ear.

“Everything okay?”

Steve nods and leans in to reply.

“How many times have they met?” he asks.

“Just once before.”

“And Everett isn’t still shy around him?” Steve asks. 

“He never has been. Walked right up to him at Dustin’s like he’s known him all his life.”

“That’s weird,” Steve says.

Your face pinches up in a frown as you turn your head to look at Eddie with your son again. Everett is as happy as could be, talking animatedly about something - you’re not even sure what he’s going on about, so you know Eddie has no clue - but Eddie is listening intently, smiling at the babbling boy.

“Why weird?” you ask, turning back to Steve. 

“He’s always shy around new people. Why not Eddie?”

“You’re making this sound like a bad thing,” you say. 

“Just weird,” Steve says with a shrug before returning his attention to the ceremony. 

A sigh escapes you as you look back over the field as well. Steve’s always had a jealous streak in him. It didn’t rear its head often, but you could tell that’s what’s happening here. Not jealousy over you dating Eddie, but of Everett showing Eddie so much attention so quickly. Sure, Steve’s never been the only adult man in his son’s life; he has more uncle and grandfather-like figures than you could count. But Eddie is someone Steve’s age and he isn’t “Uncle Eddie.” He’s just Eddie. A guy who is dating his mom, even if the toddler doesn’t understand the concept of dating. But you’ve been on one date with the guy. You’re not putting all your eggs in one basket when it comes to being with Eddie, no matter how much you like him, so why is Steve acting like Eddie’s about to become Everett’s new dad?

“Maxine Mayfield.”

Eddie’s cheering alerts Everett to his aunt’s name being called. He claps his little hands together and lets out a string of “woo woo woo’s.” 

“Want me to take him?” you ask Eddie as Everett keeps wriggling around his lap.

“No, I’m okay,” Eddie says with an easy smile. “Unless you want him?”

“No, you’re fine with him as long as you’re okay with his squirmy little butt.”

Everett wrinkles his nose up at this term and you boop the tip of his nose with your finger. Your son shakes his head, as if to dispel your touch from his face. 

“Lucas Sinclair.”

Erica’s loud cheer from the row behind you catches Everett’s attention and he looks at her over Eddie’s shoulder. She gives him a wink that makes him giggle and start to clap his hands along with everyone else. 

You’re surprised at how well behaved the little boy is being. He’s generally a well-tempered child, but a graduation could be boring for adults, let alone small kids. You were afraid you’d miss some of your friends’ names being called because you’d have to take Everett out into the parking lot or bathroom. 

“Mommy?” 

Maybe you thought too soon.

“Yes, baby?”

“M’hungry,” Everett says. 

This you were prepared for. Everett’s favorite snack was always packed in your purse. You’d only made the mistake of not having food for the hangry toddler once, and it’s not something you’d ever want to repeat. 

Everett’s eyes get wide when he spots the small red box of raisins. He makes grabby hands for them, but you hold them back once you’ve opened it, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Please?” he asks.

“There we go.”

“Thank you,” he sing-songs. 

Little fingers go digging inside and he sighs in contentment once he’s popped one in his mouth. He fishes out another one and you’re about to remind him only one at a time, but he lifts the raisin up, offering it to Eddie. 

“Aren’t you the sweetest?” Eddie asks. “But those are yours, you enjoy them. Thank you for sharing, though.”

Everett just nods his head as he finishes chewing what’s in his mouth.

“Michael Wheeler.” 

Mike takes his diploma and fist pumps in the air as he comes across the stage. You hear Holly giggle somewhere around you, and you don’t even have to be looking at Nancy on the other side of Steve to know she’s rolling her eyes at her little brother. 

Finally, the ceremony comes to an end and Everett watches in delight as all the green caps go flying into the air. You scoop up Everett from Eddie’s lap when you all start for the exit. He struggles in your arms, wanting to be put down, but there’s too many people to let him wander freely - even if he was holding your hand. 

Once the group of graduates that he knows meets you in the parking lot though, he’s like an entirely new kid. He wants to be held by all of them. He wants to give each of them a hug and try on Will’s cap. It’s far too big for him, obviously, but it makes for a funny picture as Karen Wheeler snaps the camera as the cap falls over his eyes. 

Everyone takes photos with each other; their families, friends, and each graduate wants a picture with Everett as well. He’s delighted by the attention and giggles as he’s passed from uncle to aunt to uncle to aunt. Max presses her lips against his cheek for their picture and Everett squeals in pure delight. 

“Can I keep him? Please?” Max asks once the photos are done. She’s still holding him and he’s happily fiddling with the tassel from her cap.

“Sure,” you tell her. “But you’ll give him back.”

“Never,” Max declares.

“Try and get him to go to bed on time and see how well that goes. Then we’ll talk.”

“Nah, I don’t believe that,” Eddie says from next to you. He’s giving Everett a playful smirk, who giggles in return. “Everett, you’re always a good boy, aren’t you?”

“Yep!”

“You can help Max out then,” you say, nudging Eddie with your elbow. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“We’d have fun!” Eddie says. “Play some guitar.”

“Guitar?” Everett’s interest is piqued and he’s staring at Eddie with wide eyes. 

“I told you,” you say to Eddie. “Guitar is his favorite.”

“Yeah!” Everett cheers.

“I’ll play it sometime for you, little dude.” Eddie’s grin at the boy falters and he turns towards you. “Uh, I mean, if that’s okay with your mom?”

Part of you doesn’t want Everett to get too attached in case it doesn’t become something more serious between you and Eddie. But another part is saying that he’s already so engrained in your friend group, that even if it doesn’t work out for some reason, he’ll still be around and in Everett’s orbit. 

“That sounds nice,” you say, giving Eddie a reassuring smile. 

His dark eyes light up and his body relaxes in relief. You didn’t realize how anxious he was for your answer to that question. He knows how much Everett means to you, and he clearly has an affinity for the little boy as well, so it makes sense that you being okay with him and Everett interacting takes some weight off of Eddie’s shoulders. 

“Hey, stop hogging my God son.”

Dustin walks over and puts on a pout as he looks at Everett in Max’s arms. 

“I’m his favorite aunt,” Max says. 

“I’m his favorite uncle,” Dustin shoots back. 

“Don’t put my poor boy in the middle of your squabbling,” Steve says, walking up and slinging an arm around Dustin’s shoulders. 

Everett watches all of his favorite people around him with wide brown eyes, looking from person to person. He seems content in Max’s arms, but you’re pretty sure he’d be happy in any of the people next to you’s arms. 

Nancy comes up behind Steve and puts her hands on his hips. She peeks her head around his torso and smiles.

“Everyone ready to go?”

“We’re heading to your place now?” Max asks.

“Mhmm,” Nancy hums. 

“You’re riding with me, Red,” Eddie says.

“Why?”

“Because I drove your mom and Wayne here. Forest Hills carpool.”

Max sighs and squeezes Everett in her arms, making him protest when she hugs him too tight.

“I’ll see you soon, kid,” she tells him. She sets the toddler down and he’s immediately unhappy. 

“Want Aunt Max!” 

“You’ll see me in a few minutes, Ev,” she tells him. “We’re going to a party together.”

His face lights up like a firework.

“Party?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Dustin adds. “We’re all going.”

Everett claps his hands together and does a happy little wiggle. 

“Come on, you,” you say as you pick him up. “Let’s get going.”

Instinctively, Eddie leans in to kiss you goodbye, but stops, again unsure of what you’re comfortable with in front of your son. Not quite ready to answer any questions Everett might have before you can sit down with him and talk about Eddie being in his life more, you turn to give Eddie your cheek to kiss. He happily does so, a smile on his face. Everett wants one as well, and sticks his cheek out towards Eddie, who obliges him with a chuckle.

You catch Steve watching the interaction - Nancy as well, but she seems to think it’s cute, while her boyfriend has a look on his face like he’s trying to do calculus in his head. He’s your ride to the party so you’re sure some sort of conversation will happen on the ride over. 

Max heads off with Eddie, Dustin to find his mom, and Nancy to catch a ride with her parents. She may have been intending to drive with you and Steve, but she clearly senses there’s going to be a talk happening as well. 

You make sure Everett is buckled in tight and hand him one of his toy dinosaurs to keep him occupied. It was unlikely there was going to be a full out argument, but you still didn’t want Everett to be listening in. Once you’re buckled into the passenger seat and Steve has pulled out onto the main road, he opens his mouth.

“So, uh, we should probably talk,” he says.

“Okay. I don’t really know what to say, though.”

“Well, I mean.” He sighs and runs one hand through his hair while keeping the other on the wheel. “Is he, like…your boyfriend?”

“I don’t know,” you tell him honestly. “We’ve technically only been on one date, but we talk every day and he drops by my work for lunch sometimes.” 

“And you’ve, um…” Steve waves one hand in the air, making a vague gesture, and your face blooms scarlet.

“That’s none of your business.” It comes out sharp, maybe the harshest you’ve ever spoken to Steve.

“Jesus, no, not that! I was going to say kissed. Cause I saw him lean in and then not know what to do.”

“Oh,” you say, face cooling down a bit. “Yeah. But he and I haven’t talked about how we’re going to be in front of Everett yet. I wasn’t really planning on him being around Everett yet, but I didn’t know he was coming today.”

“They seem to like one another.” Steve doesn’t sound particularly happy about admitting that.

“What, you’d rather they didn’t?”

“What? Shit - uh, sugar. No. That’s not what I meant.” He lets out another sigh and you can see the frustration drawn on his face. “It’s just kind of weird for me.”

“He’s not trying to be his dad, Steve,” you tell him. 

“No, I know. I just-I guess I just never really thought about this before. Like, how you felt when Nance and I got back together.”

“No,” you say with a frown. “Didn’t really bother me. Only in the very beginning when she came home for the summer and was around him so much. I felt like this surge of protection and wanted to be like, that’s my baby. But it passed pretty quickly. She’s never tried to be his mom; she’s just someone else in his life who loves him. I like seeing her and Everett together.”

“She’s also your best friend,” Steve says with a shrug, as if he’s explaining this to himself. “Jesus, I don’t know why I feel like this. I know it doesn’t make sense.”

“Feelings sometimes don’t make sense,” you say. “Hopefully this passes quickly just like mine did.”

“I guess,” Steve mumbles.

“You could always try getting to know Eddie,” you offer. “Or you could wait until he and I are more serious.”

“So, you think it’s going to be a serious thing?” Steve asks.

You can’t help the grin that tugs your cheeks up. 

“I think so. I don’t want to jinx it, though. But I really like him.”

“Good. I’m happy for you.” He reaches over and gives your leg a pat. “You deserve it.”

Thank God that the Wheeler’s have a huge backyard. There’s enough room for the tables and chairs set out for the guests, the food tables all set up, and for Everett to run around without knocking anything over. Yet. 

The three-year-old tornado tears through the yard, stopping at every familiar face to say hi or to see if they’ll play with him. Holly is kind enough to get out her old Hungry Hungry Hippos game and play it with him for a while. 

The small round table you’re seated at holds a few toy dinosaurs that you’re sure he’ll come back to eventually. Steve, Nancy, Robin, Vickie, and Eddie are the others at the table with you. Eddie’s arm rests against the back of your chair and you take advantage and lean into his body. 

“Would you look at them?” Eddie says with a shake of his head. “They’re like clueless teenagers.”

Everyone at the table keeps stealing glances at Wayne Munson and Susan Mayfield sitting next to one another a few tables over, smiles on both of their faces as they’re immersed in their conversation.

“Having Max as a cousin should be fun,” Robin says to Eddie with a teasing look. 

“She and I kept giving one another looks on the ride over here, trying not to laugh at their attempts at flirting.” 

“Not everyone is good at flirting,” Vickie says, and Robin’s jaw drops open. Vickie laughs at her girlfriend’s affronted face and ducks out of the way as Robin tries to playfully smack her arm. 

Steve’s unusually quiet and your awareness of that keeps you slightly on edge. There’s nothing you can do about it, but you blame your maternal instincts for just wanting to make everything okay. Or maybe that was your anxiety. Either way, you try to let it roll off your back. 

“Burgers are done!” Jonathan calls from over near the grill. Everett barrels over to you as you and your friends stand to go get your food. 

“Whoa, easy there,” you say. He raises his arms up and you let out an “oof” as you pick him up. You walk behind Nancy towards the grill, but Everett leans in to whisper in your ear.

“Gotta go potty.”

“Okay, babes,” you tell him and press a kiss into his hair. “We’ll be right back, just going to go inside to use the bathroom.”

“I’ll grab Ev’s burger,” Steve says. “He still doesn’t like-.”

“Pickles, right,” you finish for him. 

“Want me to grab yours?” Eddie asks, and the offer damn near melts your heart. 

“Yes, please,” you tell him. “Ketchup and lettuce, please!”

“Got it.”

“Thank you!” you call to him as you disappear inside the house to find a toilet for the toddler.

Vickie and Robin are filling their plates when Karen taps Nancy on the shoulder and asks her to come help her bring something out from the kitchen. It leaves Steve and Eddie alone, waiting in line for food.

“So, uh,” Steve starts. “You two have another date planned?”

“Oh, no, not set in stone. But I was going to ask her before the party ends,” Eddie tells him.

“And you’re like…serious about her?” In his gut, Steve knows this is wrong. He knows he’s overstepping; he knows it’s not his place. But it doesn’t stop him. 

“Well, yeah,” Eddie says. “I mean, as serious as someone could be after really only having one date and knowing each other for a few weeks.”

“Good,” Steve says as he grabs two hamburger buns: one for him and one for his son. “It’s just I see how Everett really likes you. I don’t want him to get hurt, you know, if he becomes too attached and it doesn’t work out.”

Eddie hadn’t thought about it that way. Yes, he had every intention of being with you for as long as you allowed him to be, but things happen. Life happens, as Eddie knows far too well. Just the very thought of hurting you made his stomach sick, but he didn’t think about how Everett might feel if something were to go wrong. Eddie knows he and Everett have been getting along great, but it never occurred to him that Everett might already be becoming attached. So attached that it would hurt if Eddie just disappeared from his life. Hurting either of you was the last thing he ever wanted to do. 

The sound of Robin’s raucous laughter jars Eddie out of his thoughts and back to the task at hand. He grabs two buns and two hamburgers, building them for the both of you. He adds ketchup and lettuce, just as you requested.

When you come back to the table with Everett, Eddie’s arm is no longer hanging off the back of your chair. You think that maybe he’s waiting for you to sit down first, but when you do, he still doesn’t put it back up there. He hunches forward over the table and takes a bite out of his burger. Everett climbs onto Steve’s lap and munches on his food right alongside his dad. 

“You okay?” you lean in to whisper in Eddie’s ear. 

“Mhmm,” Eddie assures you through bites. It doesn’t convince you, though. 

He remains quieter for the rest of the party than he had been before. He’s more subdued, looks less comfortable being here. Yeah, today was the first time he met Robin and Vickie, but they were chatting away like old friends only an hour ago. 

As the sun begins to set, Wayne and Susan say they think it’s time for them to head out. They say their goodbyes to everyone, as do Max and Eddie, but you pull Eddie off to the side before he can leave.

“Hey,” you say, pulling his hand into one of yours. “Um, I was wondering if you wanted to go on another date? You know, whenever you’re available?”

“Oh, well, sure,” he says, but he won’t meet your eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

“Wait,” you say, gently grasping his chin and making him look at you. “What’s wrong?”

He almost says it’s nothing. It almost comes out, but he doesn’t want to lie to you. You deserve so much more than that. 

“It’s just, I’ve never dated a mom before,” Eddie says with a shrug. “I, uh, I mean that I’m not sure about…” Eddie’s brain has lost the ability to make words function properly. I don’t want to move too fast for you or Everett. I’m scared he’ll become attached to me and it would hurt him if things don’t work out. But those thoughts won’t form on his tongue. “I like you a lot. A lot. It’s just…”

Your heart drops in your chest. Of course this is happening. It was too good to be true, this thing you had going with Eddie. He’d not seen you really be a mom before today. Yeah, briefly when you first met, but today he had an up close and personal look at the mom part of your life. Obviously, he didn’t like it, right? That’s why he’s saying all this? He’s realizing the full weight of what dating a woman with a child is like and it probably intimidates him. You don’t blame him though, that’s a lot of responsibility and baggage to chain yourself to at 23. 

“It’s fine, Eddie.” You let his hand drop from yours and you stick both of yours in your back pockets. If you look him in the eye, you know you’ll cry, so you focus on the front of your sandal digging into the grass below you. “I get it. It's a lot.” 

“Yeah, i-it is,” Eddie says. He takes a deep breath and licks his lips. Slowing things down with you is hard because you’ve already become such a presence in his everyday life. But he knows it’s the right thing to do for everyone involved. Best just to come out with it, he figures. “That’s why I think we should sl-.”

“Right,” you interrupt him. Hearing him say the words out loud would absolutely crush you, so you don’t give him the chance. Knowing Eddie doesn’t want to be with you is hard enough but hearing that voice you’ve come to love so much to actually say it would erase all the sweet things he’s ever said to you in your mind, only to be replaced by the searing painful goodbye. “Eddie!” Max calls impatiently, waiting by the Wheeler’s gate. Eddie glances at her over his shoulder but turns back to you and opens his mouth to speak.

“You should go,” you say, still not letting him talk. “They’re all waiting for you.” Your voice is wobbly, and you reach up to wipe away a traitorous tear that’s escaped. Eddie’s eyes track the tear down your cheek, and he frowns, both in confusion and concern. He leans in to reach for you, but you step back and out of his grasp.

Head ducked, you turn away from him and make your way back over to Steve at the table. Eddie watches you walk away, wondering what just happened. 

“I want to go,” you tell Steve quietly. Everett is fast asleep in his arms, but he manages to rise from his seat without disturbing him. 

“What?” Steve asks.

“I want to go home,” you repeat. “Now.”

“Um, okay,” Steve says, frowning at you. “Let me go say bye to Nance.”

“Fine. I’ll take him to the car.” You open your arms and Steve carefully transfers your son to you. “Tell everyone I said bye, okay?” You don’t wait for an answer before you head into the house with Everett, making your way through the house and out the front door. Going out of the gate would’ve been quicker, but Eddie was over that way. Trying not to jostle the sleeping boy too much, you manage to open the backseat and buckle him in. Steve approaches the car as you slide into the passenger seat. He eyes you warily as he gets in and starts the car. Arms tucked across your chest, you stare out the window. 

“Everything okay?” Steve asks. Obviously, he knows it isn’t. He knows you better than almost anyone in the world though, so he knew you wouldn’t just come out and say anything without a little prodding. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” you say as Steve pulls the car out onto the road. 

He gives you a few minutes. Clearly, you’re trying to work through something, and he decides to give you a little time to digest it before he tries again. 

“Eddie, what the hell was that?” Dustin asks after he watched you hurry out of the house with Everett in your arms. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” Eddie says, ignoring Max’s huffiness from the gate. “I’m not sure what just happened.”

“What’d you say to her?” Dustin asks.

“She didn’t even give me a chance to finish talking.” Eddie rubs his hands over his face. “I might’ve fucked up, man.”

Dustin sighs and motions for Max to hold on for a minute.

“Tell me what happened.”

Eddie doesn’t feel like he should reveal what Steve said. Next to his parents, the person who loved Everett most in the world was Dustin. Of course Dustin would agree with what Steve said; that going too fast and having Everett become attached could end up being terrible. It makes total sense, after all. Eddie doesn’t want to seem like he disagrees and thinks he’s trying to move in on Steve’s place as his dad or anything.

“I was just trying to tell her that maybe we should take it slow because of Everett, you know? I don’t want him to be confused or think I don’t care about him if this doesn’t work out.”

“Is that what you said?” Dustin asks. 

“Not really,” Eddie admits. “I wasn’t sure what exactly to say and then she cut me off and seemed to get upset. I was telling her how I like her a lot.”

Dustin closes his eyes and rubs at his temples.

“What the shit is happening?” he asks no one in particular. 

“You can talk to me, you know,” Steve says once you’re about halfway home.

“What’s to say?” you ask, eyes never leaving the road in front of you. “I got dumped.”

“What?” Steve asks, too loudly with a sleeping child in the back. He winces and glances in the rearview mirror to make sure he didn’t disturb him. Ev’s still out like a light, though. “What are you talking about?”

“Eddie started saying how he likes me a lot but how dating a mom is hard, so…” You trail off and shrug your shoulders, refusing to cry before you get into your apartment. 

Steve’s brow furrows as he turns the car into your apartment complex. Shit, this may be my fault, he thinks to himself.

“It’s whatever,” you continue when Steve stays silent. “Should’ve known, right? Who’s going to want to date a young mom?”

“Hey,” Steve says, your words breaking him from his previous train of thought. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not? A young dad is cute to girls. They fawn all over him when they see him simply taking care of his own child. But a young mom? Guys don’t want to be tied down like that. Be with a girl who has so many responsibilities and they can’t just swing by whenever they want to hook up.” 

Steve doesn’t have an answer for that. He parks the car in front of your building and turns off the engine.

“Do you want me to take him tonight?”

“No,” you answer. “I’ve got him.”

As gently as you can, you get out of the car and maneuver Everett out of his seat without waking him up. His head lolls on your shoulder and you shut the back door with your hip.

Steve steps out of the car but you only call out a quick goodbye over your shoulder before you’re headed up the stairs to your apartment. It’s hard to unlock the door, but you manage, and get you both inside. You kick your shoes off and head to Everett’s room. You’re about to set him on his bed when you realize you don’t want to let go of him. The rocking chair in the corner of the room catches your eye and you make yourself comfortable in that, adjusting Everett where he lays against your chest.

His hair is soft where you press soft kisses to it. It smells like his bubble gum shampoo, and you close your eyes and focus on it. You wrap your arms around the small boy and hug him to your chest tightly, without squeezing him too much. Tears start to leak down your face and drops plop into his inherited Harrington hair. Releasing a shaky sigh, you rest your cheek against the top of his head. Rocking yourself back and forth in the chair, you’re not sure if you’re trying to keep Everett soothed in his sleep, or you in your current state. 

You’d really had hope with Eddie. He seemed as close to perfect as possible, which you guess should’ve been your first clue. But maybe this is for the best, you try and tell yourself. Maybe you’ll be a better mom on your own. Alone. The tears start to fall heavier, and you squeeze your eyes closed, focused on feeling the warmth of your child in your arms. His soft breathing is the only sound in the apartment, other than the occasional sniffle from you. He makes a soft cooing sound and snuggles his face into your neck. It makes you smile, and you press another kiss to his head. Everett was all you really needed after all. If life is just you and him, you think to yourself, that wouldn’t be so bad. 

[pinahallowsevecloneparty]

Pineapple's Halloween Clone Party 2024 MASTER LIST

October was crazy, so if you see something missing from this list or find a bad link, please let me know! 🍍

Demon Haunted by @reader6898 (fic-NSFW)

Devil You Little Devil by @tlmtwelve (art-NSFW)

Dragon Dragon Howzer by @tlmtwelve (art) Sea Dragon Crosshair by @noblelightfighter (art)

Fae Bad Batch Toxic Love/Ferngully by @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf (art)

Frankenstein's Monster Frankenstein Echo by @cloned-eyes (art)

Ghost, Haunting, or Thing Unseen Bloody Crosshair by @tlmtwelve (art) The Ghost of You by @lightspringrain (art) Gree in a Dark Forest by @tlmtwelve (art) Haunted Jesse by @clonemedickix (art) Hissing Tooka by @tlmtwelve (art) Fox Just Wants to Forget by @tlmtwelve (art) Nightmare on Clanker Street by @lonewolflupe (fic) A Powerful Read by @apocalyp-tech-a (fic) Stir of Echoes by @lonewolflupe (fic) Tech with a Book by @apocalyp-tech-a (art)

Greek Mythology Centaur Wrecker by @tlmtwelve (art) Demigod Crosshair by @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf (art) Dryad Mayday by @tlmtwelve (art) Erinys Dogma by @tlmtwelve (art) Gorgon Tup by @tlmtwelve (art) Healing by @clone-anon-after-dark (fic) Satyr Jesse by @tlmtwelve (art) Sphinx Tech by @tlmtwelve (art)

Headless Character Headless Aayla by @tlmtwelve (art) The Headless Guardsman by @eclec-tech (fic) The Headless Guardsman by @lonewolflupe (art) The Headless Guardsman (headshot) by @lonewolflupe (art)

Halloween Movie AU TBB Halloween Town, Part 1 by @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf (art) TBB Halloween Town, Part 2 by @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf (art) TBB Halloween Town, Part 3 by @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf (art)

Mad Scientist Apple Alchemy by @apocalyp-tech-a (fic) Candy Apple Tech by @apocalyp-tech-a (art) Dr. Techyll and Mr. Snyde by @apocalyp-tech-a (fic) Tech with a Drink by @apocalyp-tech-a (art)

Merpeople Merman Hunter by @tlmtwelve (art)

Murderer Vibroblade Hunter by @tlmtwelve (art)

Pumpkins, Parties, Costumes, and Candy Candy Rex by @tlmtwelve (art) Clones in Costumes by @tlmtwelve (art) The Great Tech by @apocalyp-tech-a (fic) Holidays in Hyperspace by @frostycatblr-fandom-files (fic) It's the Great Lurca, Charlie Brown! by @apocalyp-tech-a (art) A Murder of Corries by @wolviecat (art) Mute Button by @tlmtwelve (art) The Operational Brains by @apocalyp-tech-a (fic) Precious Moments by @letsquestjess (fic) Pumpkin Omega by @the-little-moment (art) Tech-'o-Lantern by @apocalyp-tech-a (art)

Snake Naga Nemec by @tlmtwelve (art)

Spider The Spider and the Fly by @crosshairs-dumb-pimp-gf (art)

Unicorn Unicorn Omega by @cloned-eyes (art)

Vampire To Thine Own Self Be True by @biscuityskies (fic-NSFW) Vampire Crosshair by @cloned-eyes (art) Vampire Hardcase by @lonewolflupe (art) Vampire Kix by @tlmtwelve (art) Vampire Tech by @cloned-eyes (art)

Werewolf/Shapeshifting Clone Phases by @clonemedickix (art) The Fox and the Hare by @523rdrebel (art) Full Moons by @lonewolflupe (art) Thire's Emotional Support Werewolf by @haybellewrites (art) Werewolf Echo by @tlmtwelve (art) Werewolf Wrecker by @cloned-eyes (art)

Wizard Tech with a Kitty by @apocalyp-tech-a (art) It's So Wizard by @apocalyp-tech-a (fic)

Wraith Something Goes Bump In The Night by @vodika-vibes (fic)

[cyberwhumper]

Woah. Rex doesn’t remember getting drunk.

        But he must be, right? He’s gotta be fucking plastered to be this dizzy. He feels like he’s on a boat. Fuck, the whole world is spinning, tilted all diagonal style, lights way too bright. He winces, pulling back a little at the spike of pain behind his eyes. Vicky always insists on going to just the trashiest fucking clubs, way too loud, way too many lights—huh. Vic. There he is, the bitch.

             Rex tries to say something, to call him out for the stupid fucking look on his face, big brown eyes all wide and panicky looking, but his tongue feels like lead and the words just won’t come out. No big deal. Vicky yaps enough for the both of ‘em, always has.

“Cap?” he’s saying, getting up in Rex’s face. “Rex, bud, can you hear me?”

Of course Rex can’t hear him. The music is way too fucking loud, bass thundering in his ears and making his skull prickle. Or—huh. Wait. There isn’t any music. That’s just his pulse. And there aren’t actually any strobe lights, just fluorescent glare. They’re not at the club. Hell, he’s not even drunk. And he’s lying down on the…oh. On the ice.

Oh, fuck.

“Easy, dude. Don’t move. Trainer’s coming.” Vic’s got his glove off, fingers warm on Rex’s cheekbone. Rex whines in the back of his throat; Vicky shouldn’t be touching him like that, not here, not where everybody can see them, but goddamn if it doesn’t feel good, a little anchor, safe harbor in the storm.

Vic looks scared, though. He’s chewing on his mouthguard like a dog, and Rex wants to tell him to quit it, stop being a bitch and give him a hand up, but Christ, he really can’t figure out how to make his lips move. The spinning keeps happening, making his stomach clench, and the pain in his head is intensifying, a burning in his eyes and a dull ache at the base of his neck. Fuck.

Rex is…Rex is maybe a little scared too.

“Look at me. Hey. Hey. Cap, c’mon, look at me, baby, don’t close your eyes, Rex, Rex, FUCK, get the medic over here NOW—”

Doesn’t matter that he’s not drunk. Either way, he blacks out.

[Fic by the exceptionally talented @bxtterflystxtches , who I have the honor of collaborating with for this event. Please show him some love!]

[OC INDEX]

COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN!

Tag list: @whumpsday // @demondamage // @squidlife-crisis // @whumpedydump // @cyborg0109 // @whumpfish // @astrowhump // @the-scrapegoat // @whatwhumpcomments // @dustbunnywhump // @why-not-ask-me-a-better-question // @dokidokisadness // @moss-tombstone // @lambofmine // @maracujatangerine // @pinkraindropsfell // @writereleaserepeat // @blood-and-regrets // @littlespacecastle // @snakebites-and-ink // @unforgiven235 // @lonesome--hunter // @atomicsandwichprince // @writereleaserepeat // @whatamidoingherehelpme // @skittles-the-whumpee // @the-blind-one-speaks // @i-eat-worlds // @devourerofcheesecake // @theauthorintraining // @otterfrost // @mommymarichatfurever // @whumpifi // @catnykit // @bitchaknso // @softmutt444 // @yet-another-heathen // @blackbirdsinatrenchcoat // @burnticedlatte // @violent-ultraviolet // @limitlesstrash17 // @inspiral-rl // @coyotehusk // @mis-graves // @caffeinatedscorpio // @defire // @badluck990 // @unforgivenn //

If you’re interested in being added to the tag list, please let me know!

[skellymom]

"Return To Pabu" Part 1

The Bad Batch CROSSHAIR Fan Fic

Companion piece to "Cup Of Caf"

To read "Cup Of Caf":

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/735755898541277184/a-cup-of-caf-the-bad-batch-crosshair-one?source=share

Background: The Batch returns to Pabu with Crosshair in tow. How will he adapt?

The reader (main character) from Cup Of Caf is mentioned. This story is from the point of view of The Batch and Crosshair.

(My OC Maadienne "Mad Momma" Dax makes an appearance as Hunter's love interest. Since this story takes place in an alternate universe from "Vagabonds", Love, Sil, and Tiggy do not make an appearance.)

Word Count: 1.1K

Warning: None. Angst, sadness, fluff. Passionate kissing and types of romantic relationships other than Cishet.

Lovely dividers by the talented @saradika

The Havoc Marauder skimmed over the jewel toned waters of Pabu. Echo was at the controls, humming to himself. The only other sound than Wrecker snoring from the seat behind him. Omega had been snuggled up in his arms securely but lovingly after the escape from Mt Tantiss. When Wrecker had passed out, she climbed into the copilot's seat next to Echo. He occasionally smiled and stroked her hair. 

Behind them sat Crosshair with Hunter passed out in his lap, both brothers in embrace and sleeping. Hunter immediately fell into a deep sleep as soon as the Batch was out of harm’s way. Cross rested his cheek on the top of his shorter brother’s head and fell back asleep. Occasionally, Crosshair would awaken to make sure Hunter was still with him, give his brother a gentle squeeze...then drift off. Hunter sighed in his sleep and squeezed back.  

Phee Genoa trailed behind the Marauder in her ship. Tech rested on a stretcher next to her, holding hands, fingers intertwined. He babbled nonstop to Phee about everything: The mission to Mt Tantiss, his fall, his infiltration of Hemlock’s laboratory. She listened intently peppering in the occasional, “Mhmm” “Yeah” or “Oh Brown Eyes.” 

Both ships arrived at the island and touched down. Hunter awakened and sleepily stood. Omega hopped down and hugged Echo fiercely. 

“You’re staying with us...right?” Her large brown eyes pleading with him. 

“For a little while. At least until Rex needs me.”  

Omega squeezed Echo HARD and held on. He embraced her gently. 

Hunter stooped down and kissed the top of Omega's head then poked Wrecker awake. 

“Huh...uh...here SO SOON?” Wrecker stretched and cracked his back. 

“Been out for quite some time.” Hunter chuckled. “C’mon, let’s help Phee get Tech off her ship.” 

“Yep, I got it.” Wrecker stole a glance at Echo and Omega. He smiled then playfully smacked Crosshair on his shoulder. “Come check out your new home.” 

Crosshair refused to open his eyes. “I’m in no hurry.” He sneered at Wrecker as his brother exited the ship. 

Hunter glanced down at Crosshair. Cross opened one eye to stare back at Hunter. They both grinned at each other. Then Hunter followed Wrecker to Phee’s ship. 

She had yet to lower the gangplank for entry...which seemed strange. 

“Their heart rates are elevated. Hope everything is ok.” Hunter was concerned. 

“Here, step up.” Wrecker stooped down on one knee, allowing Hunter to step up. He grabbed Hunter’s feet and lifted him high enough to see into the ship’s cockpit. 

“OH!” Hunter gave a surprise gasp and chuckled... 

Phee and Tech were locked in a passionate embrace, neither one aware of Hunter peeping through the ship’s windscreen at them. 

“Bring me down, Wrecker.” 

Wrecker caught Hunter’s flushed face and burst out laughing, while dropping the sergeant to the ground. “WELL, IT’S ABOUT TIME!” 

Hunter cleared his throat...then felt a familiar presence behind him. He spun to face...Maadienne Dax. She was leaning against the Pabu Archium Tree and had been watching the whole interaction with a sly smile. 

“Hey Hunky.” 

Hunter was love-struck and relieved that she was still on Pabu and waited for him. He knew her restless nature. The Nomaadi never stayed in one place for too long.  

They tentatively stepped toward one another. Then swept up in an amorous embrace, gently rubbing noses, leaning in for a serious deep kiss, mouths parted. 

“Omega!” Lyana and a group of other children ran up to the ships. 

“Lyana!” Omega released Echo, jumped out of the Marauder to greet them.  

They mobbed past Shep who waved in greeting. “Hello Miss Omega. Relieved to have you back!” 

“You too, Shep! Sorry, gotta go!!!” as the children dragged her away towards the town. 

Shep stopped and met Wreckers gaze. “Hello to you, too.” 

Wrecker grinned from ear to ear and gently took Shep Hazard into his arms and lovingly kissed him. 

Crosshair and Echo watched all of this silently from the inside of the Marauder. There was a palpable yearning in the air. 

“You have someone here on this planet too?” 

Echo was taken aback that Crosshair would suddenly ask that type of question. 

“No...” Echo sighed longingly. “She’s back on Coruscant. Well, she’s not MINE per se...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “...a VERY close friend. You leave anyone behind...back there?” 

Crosshair’s expression changed to intense sorrow. Echo immediately regretted his inquiry. “Apologies. None of my business...” 

“Back on Barton IV...he didn’t survive The Empire.” 

“My condolences, friend.” Echo hesitated, then reached out to put his hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. 

Cross gazed up at Echo with moist eyes. “Thank you, Vod.” 

Phee eventually lowered the gangplank and engaged Tech’s hover stretcher to bring him out. Both wore flushed complexions with a twinkle in their eyes. Mad hugged Phee and was introduced to Tech. The women picked up where they left before the mission with an enthusiastic gaggle of conversation. Reunions with Wrecker and Echo commenced. Shep informed everyone a large dinner was waiting at his home on the patio, after everyone freshened up of course. 

Crosshair, being the last to exit the Marauder, timidly stepped out. He didn’t feel like part of the merry group and unsure how to make his entrance. He quietly stood and took in each interaction with his snipers calculating eye. Shep stepped up to Crosshair and offered his hand. 

“Finally get to meet the famous Crosshair. Glad to have you here on Pabu.” 

Crosshair nodded quietly but didn’t take Shep’s hand. Shep was a good sport about it, chuckled, shrugged, and followed up with, “Look forward to you joining us for dinner tonight.” before stepping away to reunite with Wrecker. 

Hunter put his hand on Shep’s arm “Don’t mind him. He’ll come around.” 

“Understandably he needs time. Most of the inhabitants here did when they first arrived too.” 

Dinner was lovely. 

Crosshair sat quietly and ate very little, while taking in the conversation around the table. He watched the happy faces of the couples and friends interacting with each other. The loudness, emotion, intensity of it all. 

His head hurt, heart ached, and yearned to escape it. Cross silently excused himself and sat alone on the patio overlooking the island. Hunter paused from his drinking, concerned.  

Echo leaned in, “I’ve got this. Enjoy your time with Mad.”  

Hunter nodded, still concerned, but snaked his arm around Mad and squeezed. She unconsciously reached up and caressed Hunter’s cheek while laughing at the table conversation. 

Echo poured two stiff after dinner drinks and took them to the patio. He settled into a seat next to Crosshair, handing him a cup. Cross nodded in thanks. They both sat silently nursing their drinks and watched the sun set over Pabu. 

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To read "Return to Pabu" Part 2

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/740838054339723264/return-to-pabu-part-2?source=share