tarotwitchy

[k0recreates]

spotted  !!!    eighty  -  two  (82)  gifs  of  danielle  galligan  (b.  1992)  as  grace  in  lakelands.  this  is  an  incomplete  gif  pack  i  got  too  lazy  and  wanted  to  work  on  my  other  projects  ,  but  hopefully  i'll  get  back  to  it  !!

like  and/or  reblog  if  you  use  !!  please  do  not  claim  as  your  own.  please  do  not  use  these  gifs  for  taboo/smut  rps  +  irl  celebrity  rps  ,  thx  !!!

content warnings include … smoking + drinking .

[sansaorgana]

— DECEPTION (II)

DECEPTION MASTERLIST

PAIRING — Sauron x fem!Elf!Reader // Adar x fem!Elf!Reader

SUMMARY — You only have a few days to convince Adar that he should keep you alive and choose you as his companion. You get to know him better, which makes you start feeling sorry for him – but not sorry enough to forgive him for defeating your lover. In the meantime, Adar's suspicions about Sauron's comeback give you hope.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — Hello! 🤗 Thank you for liking the first part of this story and I am sorry it's going a bit slower than I expected but I am job hunting at the moment and I might actually get one, which is an opportunity for me. Because of that, I was pretty busy those past few days + I have started a different multichapter fic as well. Please, keep your fingers crossed! 😊 Although, if I don't get the job, I will have more time for writing... 🤣 Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter! 🥰

WARNINGS — forced/arranged marriage, Reader is NOT a good person – she is proud, greedy, fake and corrupted by Sauron, "love" triangle situationship

WORD COUNT — 5,120

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

DECEPTION (II)

You spent the rest of the day in your chambers, watching the courtyard carefully from your window. The orcs were walking around it carefreely as if the saint trees did not grow there. They could not care less about anything holy. And at night they started a fire to sit around it while talking and laughing loudly in the most obscene manner. But because they went to sleep so late, they also were not up early – unlike you.

You got dressed in a black mourning gown, which was a beautiful piece made of velvet and lace. You were grieving in many ways after all – you were grieving your life that you could lose very soon and you were grieving the downfall of the fortress that had been your home for such a long time.

When you were finishing getting dressed, you looked out of the window and furrowed your brows at the sight of Adar approaching the holy trees and sitting on a bench underneath them. Was it possible that he prayed? You highly doubted that – even you were finding it difficult these days after the time you had spent with Sauron. An Elf as corrupted as Adar just could not pray, of that you were sure.

In that quiet moment in the early morning, you found your first chance to approach him but with a different attitude than on the day before. However, you were aware that the change of behaviour cannot be too sudden – otherwise, it would reek of falsehood.

Taking light steps, you walked up to Adar and even though he had to hear you coming, he did not even flinch. Only when you were very close to him, he turned his head around to look at you without a word. You did not say anything either and took a seat on the other side of the bench, clasping your hands on your lap and staring at the tree above you. He eventually stopped observing you and went back to looking at the tree as well.

“Do you pray to the Valars?” You asked calmly but with a hint of curiosity. Your eyes still remained on the benches of the tree, though. You refused to lock your eyes with him. Not yet.

Adar was not answering for a while, which made you grow nervous. But, thankfully, he eventually answered your question. Well, kind of.

“Do you?” He inquired without looking at you either.

“Nobody listens to my prayers,” you said, “but I like to come here and think.”

Adar nodded and the long silence occurred again. You were fidgeting with your fingers nervously throughout all that time but you didn’t mind him noticing that. You knew what kind of person you had to play – tough, mysterious and intriguing in a way. With a hint of darkness that would make him curious but also with a hint of innocence and nervousness that would make him feel compassion. You were sure he was still able to do it since he could treat the Orcs like children. You wanted him to pity you in a way – to pity you enough to keep you alive. And to intrigue him enough to make him want to keep you with him.

“You wore black today,” he pointed out with a smirk and finally looked at you. You turned your head around to meet his gaze and you felt your cheeks heating up. His eyes were intense and so far you caught yourself feeling all the things you wanted him to feel towards you – you were intrigued by him but you also felt sorry.

“I mourn Ostirith,” you informed him and watched his reaction but there was really none. He was as cold as a stone on the outside like he was on the inside.

Adar looked up at the benches with leaves. You looked there, too, following his gaze and from the corner of your eye, you spotted him staring at your exposed neck. You wondered what was going inside his head. Was a man like him ever thinking of women in the same way as other men did? Was he ever craving someone to be by his side? He had to be lonely.

Perhaps, you had to make him realise how much. And that he did not have to be anymore.

“What happened to you?” You broke the silence and looked at him again, which made him furrow his brows with a hint of anger. You expected this sort of reaction, so you quickly backed out. “Forgive me…” You lowered your voice and looked down, nervously.

You hoped he wouldn’t walk away and indeed – he did not. That was part of the success already, you thought. You waited patiently for his next move.

“Morgoth happened to me. Sauron,” Adar explained after a long while of silence. At the sound of your lover’s name, you felt shivers go down your body and you moved uncomfortably. You hoped he hadn’t noticed but why would he suspect you to know any of these men personally? You were only a naive daughter of the Lord Guardian of the Southlands.

“What do you mean?” You laid your eyes on him again and batted your eyelashes, trying to show him compassion with the way you looked at him. Adar hesitated before answering more of your questions.

“I followed Morgoth out of my own curiosity and thirst for knowledge and power. And then I paid the price,” he explained, sparing you the details. You wondered if it was because they were too painful to talk about or was it because he found you too delicate for them.

“Is it justified to blame them for your downfall, Lord Father?” You dared to ask. “Was it not your own pride and greed that caused it?”

Adar chuckled at that as he tilted his head to take a better look at you. You did not shy away this time, showing your inner strength.

“You are not afraid of me, my Lady,” he pointed out.

“Why would I be? I only have a week of life to live,” you reminded him. “For an Elf, that is nothing. It makes no difference to me if you kill me then or now.”

“Why would I kill you for asking questions?” Adar shook his head. “Curiosity is no stranger to me,” he added and looked away, sadly. You remained silent for another long moment, allowing him to make a decision if he should keep talking or not. “I know I have only myself to blame for what happened although I have to admit I was naive. I hoped for more than suffering. There was only pain,” Adar’s voice turned into a whisper and he looked away. 

You felt sorry for him now. You knew Sauron’s nature and you knew it was a result of Morgoth’s training of pain and suffering. You were not surprised to find out that your lover could inflict the pain on others as well. Everyone Morgoth had ever hurt turned out to be broken creatures who wanted nothing but revenge.

“Well, they are gone now, aren’t they? Morgoth and Sauron?” You asked, playing naive.

“Morgoth, surely. I cannot be completely convinced about Sauron. He is of a cunning nature. I have defeated him once but I shall defeat him again if I must,” Adar’s jaw clenched as he explained and your heart skipped a beat.

So there he was – the murderer of your beloved, right in front of you. And even though you hated him with every fibre of your being, you had to play it cool and bat your eyelashes, hoping to seduce him enough to make him want you as his companion.

But the fact that even Adar did not believe in Sauron’s disappearance from this world was giving you hope. He would come back… Of  that you were sure. He would come back and make you his Queen.

Adar’s eyes were filled with fire and hatred whenever he spoke of Sauron, so you didn’t want to continue this conversation for now. You nodded and you stood up to leave after hearing that some of the Orcs were already entering the sacred courtyard and approaching their Lord Father.

“I shall retire for now,” you explained. “It was a pleasure to talk with you, Lord Father.”

“You do not have to lie,” he snorted.

“I do not lie,” you lied. “You are different than what I thought. Forgive my rapid judgement but I was driven by fear. Have a good day, Lord Father,” you bowed your head and walked away.

On your way out of the courtyard, you walked past the filthy Orcs. You were trying your best not to flinch or wince as their eyes were following you with curiosity that was deeply uncomfortable. You did not want creatures of this sort to have any interest in you.

Even though you were trying to view them as any other species of Middle-earth, you simply couldn’t. They were too hideous and too disgusting. You knew how unfair was your judgement but you were sure that all Elves would agree when it came to the Orcs. And so would humans. Perhaps some species had only been created to make others feel unsettled.

You spent the rest of that day with your mother, cheering her up. You felt bad for her because she would pay for the sins she had not committed. You were not pure anymore and in many ways you deserved to die. Your father had turned out to be a vile creature of no backbone. But your mother was pure and innocent and she had been begging for you all to run away. She could have run away alone but she would never abandon her family. And now – because of how dutiful and loyal she was – she would die…?

You could not let that happen.

On the second day you were informed that Adar was in the library, looking through your father’s ancient collection of manuscripts. You pretended that you had not known about it and you entered the room very naturally, without paying any attention to your guest. You picked up some random volume and sat by the table, a few chairs away from the Lord Father. You were wearing your black dress again.

Adar looked up at you for a moment but when he realised you were not in the mood to talk, he just decided to ignore you as well. In the meantime, you were looking through the pages of the book you had chosen and pretended to read it in silence but in reality you were observing him from the corner of your eye.

“Are they your children because they remind you of yourself?” You asked all of a sudden while biting on your lower lip. Adar froze and looked up to lay his eyes on you. He did not say anything, so you explained. “They are damaged and do not belong with any other species. Nobody loves them but you because you know what it is like to not be loved at all,” you pointed out.

“Your father was right about your nature,” Adar cracked a smile. “You have a great intuition, my Lady,” he bowed his head to you and you smiled at his compliment. “That is not all, though. My children and I have more in common. We were all hurt by Sauron,” he explained.

“How?” You asked and titled your head.

“He wanted to enslave my children and use them like mindless tools but they are not… They deserve to live in freedom and peace,” Adar explained to you. In many ways, you felt as if he was your father who was explaining things to you in a gentle and soft manner. He was explaining to a naive daughter how the world worked.

But that was not the dynamic you were aspiring for.

“You speak of peace as if you haven’t burnt villages on your way. As if you haven’t killed the men and women who had denied to follow you. And those who had bent their knees, you have marked them like cattle. Do not talk about peace to me, intruder, when you are the one who brought the war to these lands,” you spat out and closed your heavy volume angrily.

The sound echoed through the walls as the dust raised up and danced in the air. When it fell down and the echo subdued, Adar spoke again.

“If we came in peace and asked for a piece of land to live there, would your people accept us?” Adar asked and you pursed your lips. You knew very well your answer would be a lie. Elves and humans would never accept the Orcs. Even the dwarves would not do that. “Some creatures are born with their right to live and others must fight for it,” Adar added and went back to the manuscripts.

The doors opened with a squeak and one of the Orcs entered the library. He was the one you had spotted many times before around the Lord Father and you assumed he was the closest to Adar.

The Orc took a step back at the sight of you and lowered his head a little. You could not blame him for that because you were staring at him with so much intensity and anger that it would intimidate many. Still, it felt oddly nice to see they respected you just because they could see that your kin was equal to their Lord Father. 

Despite Sauron’s corruption, you still were the bearer of the light. Nobody could tell just yet that the very root of this light was rotting deep inside of you. Especially not a common Orc. To him, you were the beacon in the middle of the ruins.

“What is it, my son?” Adar asked him but the Orc only shook his head, refusing to speak. You spotted his small eyes staring at you and you only smirked. “Do not fear her. She is a friend,” Adar explained and you furrowed your brows at that but you did not say anything.

“Well, then, my Lord Father, I just wanted to bring you the message from our scouts,” the Orc walked up to the table and handed Adar a small piece of paper.

“Thank you,” Adar took it from him gently and read it. The Orc kept staring at you with curiosity.

“I shall retire to my chambers,” you stood up and walked past them to approach the doors.

The Orc bowed his head down after you and Adar looked up at him with a furrowed brow.

“What are you doing, my son? She is not your master,” he pointed out but you didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because you walked out of the library. You wished to hear the rest of it but it would be too suspicious.

You wondered, though, why the Orcs really treated you this way. Perhaps it was not because of the light you were carrying – perhaps it was quite the opposite. What if it was them who could smell Sauron on you? Your lover had been the one who had tried to enslave them in the past. Sauron would never treat them like children and he would never be their father. He had wanted to be their master.

Seeing their fearsome and filthy army profanating your home, you somehow wanted to be their master, too. You understood Sauron now – having such an army could make you feel invincible. They respected nothing and they were hungry for blood. The only thing you could not understand was how Adar was able to trust his own children. Perhaps that should be the next question you would ask him.

On the third day you approached him in the courtyard again, still in the same black dress. This time he was sitting by the fire with the Orcs but when you walked up to him, you froze at the sight of a baby Orc sitting on his lap. You kept staring at this strange little creature with a mix of emotions – the baby was still innocent but it was not pure by any means. Because of its kin, it was doomed like the rest of them.

“Are you quite alright, my Lady?” Adar’s voice made you snap back to reality and you cursed yourself for not being the one to ask him a question first on that day.

“Yes, thank you, Lord Father,” you nodded and took a seat next to him that was empty. At the sight of you getting near the baby, the father approached Adar to take his offspring. It was the Orc from the library.

“He does not trust me,” you pointed out, although you would not trust yourself either if you were them.

“His name is Glûg,” Adar told you. “None of them trusts you. 

“Do you?” You asked and batted your eyelashes while laying your eyes on him. Adar turned his head around to look into your eyes but he was visibly confused, so you changed the tactic. “Do you trust them?”

“I do,” he nodded. “They are my children.”

“I would not trust them if they have so much in common with you,” you teased. “Do you trust yourself?”

“They are all I have,” Adar opened his hands to show you the emptiness of them.

“You are lonely,” your voice saddened as your eyes filled with compassion. It was forced but you were a trained actress and your greatest power was that no one knew about your studies or your teacher.

Adar did not like your insinuation. He moved uncomfortably and sighed as he shook his head.

“I thought higher of you, my Lady… But you are here to help your father’s agenda, are you not? You are trying to convince me,” he smirked. “I am not interested.”

“My father’s agenda is not my own. It has never been and never will be,” you clenched your jaw as your eyes filled with anger and hatred. You despised him being even mentioned and you had been successfully managing to avoid him those past few days. In fact, every reminder of being his daughter was making the blood in your veins boil. “I simply wanted to say I know what it is like to be lonely. I am, too. I have always been,” you looked into the fire, following the dancing flames with your eyes.

That was not a lie – not fully. There had been a time in your life when you hadn’t felt lonely and that was the time you had shared with Sauron. But it had not been a long time, especially compared to your whole long Elven life.

“It must be lonely for a young Elven woman to grow up in Ostirith,” Adar admitted. “Isolating.”

“It was,” you nodded, refusing to look at him again. You were scared that your current vulnerability would reveal your true self to him. “I understand you… In some ways. To have so many children, to be loved… That would surely feel good,” you admitted.

“No,” Adar shook his head. “You do not understand me. You would, if you were able to see them as your children, too. You would not preach to me about war and peace then but you would feel the need to protect them no matter what price,” he said.

“We protect what we love,” you agreed as you nodded. All you could think of was him – Sauron. Dying somewhere, all alone, killed by his own army, betrayed. And you had not been there to protect him but even if you had been… What would you do? You were not powerful enough to do anything but watch. “Even if it is a hopeless case,” you finished.

A short silence occurred and you could feel the Lord Father watching you with curiosity.

“My children are not a hopeless case,” he only said.

You stood up and wiped the single tear that had escaped your eyes before. The Orcs around the fire stopped their conversations and they looked up at you, observing your movements.

“I shall go to see my mother now,” you informed Adar and he nodded at you but you could feel his eyes following you out of the courtyard.

On the fourth day you wore a crimson red gown that had been a gift to you from Sauron. It was a risky move but your parents had believed it was a dress you had gotten yourself in Eregion so why would Adar question it? 

You felt somehow powerful while walking down the hallways of Ostirith with all the Orcs moving out of your way, staring at you with a mix of curiosity, hatred and respect. You were on your way out of the fortress because you had seen through your window Adar walking out earlier. He was probably taking a walk in the forest surrounding the fortress and you missed walking, too.

The Orcs standing by the gate did not want to let you pass, though.

“Lord Father says your family can’t leave,” one of them drawled out as he looked you up and down, pointing his dagger at you.

“I am going to him. To your Lord Father,” you tried to reason with him in a calm manner.

“I don’t believe you, Elf,” he spat out as if your kin was an insult.

“Let her go,” another voice interrupted you. You turned around and spotted Glûg. His small eyes found yours and nodded before looking down again. “Lord Father says Dark Lady is a friend.”

“Dark Lady?” You asked, surprised, but there was no time to question it because the Orcs standing by the gate hesitantly let you pass, so you just decided to use the opportunity to walk out of the fortress.

You knew they were observing you, so after crossing the bridge, you went down the same forest path you had seen Adar taking before. But when you found yourself deeper inside the woods, you actually considered taking another turn and disappearing forever.

Where would you go, though? To Gil-galad? He would immediately sense the darkness inside of you because he was made of pure light himself. And you would never forgive yourself for abandoning your mother.

No, because of her you had to follow the same path Adar had chosen. And so you did, until you found yourself by the cliff. He was sitting on the edge and staring at the Southlands below him. Those were the lands he still had not conquered.

He looked up when he heard your footsteps but he did not question how you had managed to get out of Ostirith.

“Are you not mourning anymore?” He asked at the sight of your dress.

“I have accepted my fate,” you took a seat next to him and took a deep breath at the sight of the Southlands. “Are you going to conquer it all?”

“If I must,” Adar nodded and you looked at his hands. He was holding a piece of paper there like the one Glûg had brought to him on the second day.

“Why do you send the scouts? What news do they bring?” You bit on your lower lip. You were not scared of asking questions anymore because he was not angry at you for being curious, which he had proven already.

“I have reasons to believe that Sauron is back,” Adar looked at you and you flinched. Thankfully, he must have taken that reaction as fear or disgust instead of blooming hope inside of your chest.

“And what about it?” You raised your eyebrow.

“I shall destroy him again. And again and again until my children are safe,” he answered with anger as his eyes filled with rage. Sauron was his weak spot.

“You hate Sauron more than you love your children,” you risked the statement. “You would do anything to avenge what he did to you, no matter the cost. Many of your children will die while you chase him,” you explained.

“I shall not watch him turn my children into slaves!” Adar squeezed his fist with the paper inside of it. His anger did not scare you, though. Somehow, the news about Sauron made you feel more fearless and more peaceful. Everything would be alright, all the pieces were coming together.

“Because if he does… You will be alone again. All alone,” you only pointed out softly and you stood up to walk away and go back to the fortress. “But you do not have to be.”

“Why would you follow me if not to save your life?” Adar asked and you froze after turning around already. You smiled to yourself nervously.

“Why do your children call me a Dark Lady?” You asked.

“They have not met an Elf like you before. You are different. Dark,” Adar explained.

“And you?” You turned your head around, confused.

“I am an Uruk,” he explained and you nodded.

“If I died now, I would still see Valinor. It would heal me and save me,” you revealed, “if I followed you, I would be doomed forever. Following you is not cowardice. It is an act of courage and a sacrifice.”

“Why?”

“I have always wanted more,” you admitted and turned your head around again to take the first step towards the forest but Adar wanted to ask one more question before you would go:

“If you could save only one person out of the whole fortress, who would it be?”

You did not hesitate with your answer. She was the reason for this all.

“My mother,” you told him.

On the fifth day you were sitting in the courtyard on the bench under the holy trees while the Orcs were sitting behind you by the fire. You could feel their eyes observing you but they were not bothering you and you were not bothering them. You were waiting for their Lord Father to join them to continue your game. You knew that you were running out of time.

Sitting there and looking up at the leaves, you were lost in your thoughts. You sighed and then you felt something pulling on the fabric of your dress. When you looked down, you saw the baby Orc staring up at you. At first, you winced out of disgust but you quickly hid that expression and the baby was too little to snitch on you later.

You looked around but you could not spot any worried parents looking for their offspring, so you assumed they still had not realised the baby was gone and you did not want to raise the alarm and bring everyone’s attention to yourself.

The baby Orc tugged on your dress again and then it lifted its hands up. You decided to give it a chance… Perhaps it would make you understand Adar better.

You picked the baby up gently and put it on your lap. The little Orc was actually interested in the leaves of the sacred Elven trees and it made you chuckle. You reached your hand to pick one of the leaves and use it to tickle the baby a little.

You heard familiar and heavy footsteps behind you so you turned your head around and you spotted Adar with Glûg beside him. They both froze at the sight but you did not care about the Orc at all, you focused on the Lord Father. You were staring into his cold eyes intensely as if you were challenging him.

“Forgive us, Dark Lady!” Glûg ran up to you to take his child from your arms. “Forgive my son for bothering you,” he bowed his head down.

You did not say anything to that but you handed the leaf to the baby so the little one would still have his new “toy” for a while longer. When Glûg walked away with his son, you laid your eyes on Adar again and he approached you slowly and sat next to you.

“I spoke with your father,” he started and you winced at yet another reminder of whose daughter you were. “Tomorrow at dawn by this tree,” he said and you could not understand the meaning of his words at first and then you realised he was handing you something.

A silver ring.

You nearly gasped at the sight. He claimed to be an Uruk but the traditions he followed were Elven. Where had he even taken it from? You assumed your father had given him one. You, however, were not prepared.

“I… I do not have one,” you admitted in a whisper.

“That is alright. Just have the golden one for tomorrow,” Adar attempted to actually make a joke and you cracked a nervous smile as you reached your hand towards him. “Are you sure, my Lady? There is no going back from this.”

“I am sure,” you nodded, trying to sound as firm as possible.

Oh, you were sure. You were sure that Sauron would come for you soon and he would be pleased with your cunning schemes that would help him in the end. That he would kiss you again like in the old days, that he would put the crown onto your head and make everyone in Middle-earth to bow down for you. And that he would be grateful for your sacrifice just to bring him justice… You were sure.

Adar nodded and put the ring onto your finger. When the act was done, long silence occurred between you two. Your heart was beating fast in your chest and he eventually held your hand in his, which nearly made you feel sorry for him for a moment.

“The days of loneliness are about to be over for us,” you tried to sound sweet but not too much because it would be suspicious. “I shall serve you with advice and companionship, Lord Father.”

Adar nodded at those words and his cold hand squeezed yours even tighter.

“I shall build a new life for us where we can be ourselves freely, Dark Lady.”

And when he let go of your hand to stand up and walk away, you truly felt bad for him. You hated him for hurting Sauron but he was more than that – he was hurt and sad. His pure Elven nature was twisted and the light of Valinor was gone from his soul. What he truly needed was healing even though it was too late for him now.

You would not bring that to him, though. You were a treacherous bearer of death and all you could think of on that night before your wedding was the moment when Sauron would save you and put a crown onto your head.

MASTERLIST

[chloe-skywalker]

Easter Celebrations - Billy Hargrove

Billy x Fem!reader

Warnings: religion is mentioned if that is a warning?

Word count: 648

Summary: Billy’s family doesn’t really do holiday’s. Not like most families at least. So why not join in and see how his girlfriends family celebrates them. He was invited after all.

Authors Note: Don’t ask me why pretty much all my holiday imagines end up being “Billy Hargrove” imagines. Because I don’t know why it ends up that way. I think it’s because the character just ends up working perfectly for my idea of the story.

P.S - Easter is a religious holiday so if that’s a warning them there you go. Warned, but I only really mention that they go to church not any views or etc…

 Also to those who celebrate it Happy Easter!

Masterlist

Stranger Things Masterlist

Holiday Masterlist

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(gif does not portray what goes on in the story on this one its just different I hate reusing gifs)

“I’m so glad you came.” Y/n smiled at Billy as she opened the front door to let him in.

“I wanted to see how you do Easter. I’m sure it’s a hell of a lot different than how it’s been done in my family.” BIlly shrugged putting his hands in his pockets as he entered her home.

“Well, my little sister isn’t up yet. So no eggs have been hunted, and no basket’s touched.” Y/n told him excitedly, closing the door behind him, pulling him into the living room. “Mom made you a basket too.”

Billy looked at her in shock. “She didn't have to do that.”

“She wanted to.” Y/n smiled reassuring him that it was okay, Y/n reached out for his hand and squeezed. And it did.

^     ^     ^

“So how’s Easter so far?” Y/n asked, nudging him with her arm as they sat next to each other on the couch.

“I’m shockingly enjoying it.” Billy smiled at her. He was enjoying it, more than he thought he would. Watching Y/n help her little sister hunt for egg’s and they even did egg’s filled with treats for the dog’s. Her mom was even nice enough to put together a basket for him like Y/n said. Filled with different chocolates and some other stuff.

“I’m glad.” Y/n nodded with a smile also on her face.

“Billy, hunny. We’re going to church in an hour for Easter service. You can stay here if you want. Catch up on some sleep I’m sure.” Y/n’s mom offered not wanting to force the young man to join them.

“Actually…” Billy stopped Y/n from getting up from the couch and her mom from leaving he says with hopeful eyes. He actually wanted to go, he hadn’t been since his mom was around. Hence the necklace. “I’d like to join you all. If that’s ok.”

Y/n turned to look at him, trying not to show her shock. “Of course it is baby.”

“Great. We leave soon.” Y/m/n sent a smile the boys way before going to finish getting ready and help her younger child and their cousins as well.

“Are you ok?” Y/n asked once they headed up to her room for some privacy.

“Yeah. Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Billy nodded, not sure why it seemed to be a big deal.

Y/n shook her head side to side not wanting him to think she didn’t want him to come. “Just checking. I mean, have you ever been to church before?”

Billy thought for a moment but he trusted Y/n. So maybe he should share a little more of himself with her. She knew more than most people anyway.

“Back with my mom. When I was younger. I remember what I learned there. It’s always stuck with me.” Billy told her thinking back on his childhood, the few good memories he has.

“Does that have to do with the pendant?” Y/n asked curious since he was in a sharing mood. Moving across the room to stand in front of him as he currently sits on her bed.

“Yeah. It was my mom’s, she gave it to me. It always reminds me of her, and that one day I might see her again… Thank you. For inviting me to celebrate Easter with you and your family.” Billy explained, resting his hands on her hips as she played with the pendant around his neck.

“Billy, you’re part of my family. I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Y/n smiled happily running her hands over his shoulders.

“I’ll always enjoy every day of any life as long as you're in it.” He stated pulling her to fall on top of him laying back on her bed, and the two started to passionately make out. After all, they had some time before church.

Taglist: @gruffle1 @padawancat97 @starkleila

[vanillabeenflower]

New OC Reference Post

BLOOD TW

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*hands you a weird freak*

This is Syrus, he is another pretty old MGM 2 character that (unfortunately) exists in the same world as Brock, Maxim, and the rest. Idk if he’s gonna play an actual part in the story as a side character or what, I just wanted to finish his design. I think that unless I have another design in mind, there is a high chance that I’ll make any MGM 2 characters have wide hips

Age: 25 (adolescent in his species’ age)

Species: Shifter

Gender + Sexuality: Agender (he/she/they/any, primarily uses male pronouns but doesn’t care, since he’s genderless and pronouns in his culture really only exist for communication purposes), bisexual (no pref)

Height: 6’2”

Voice: He has an androgynous but slightly masc voice. I imagine he sings like L/emon//D/emon/Neil Cicierega

Extra Info:

He usually has this happy attitude, but it's that weird type of happiness that makes it feel creepy or like he's hiding something. He also stares a lot and his voice never changes from its happy tone

I at first made him exist in the same universe as my NGT story, but I have no idea how to implement him so he just exists somewhere, just not in their general area. I might make hem interact outside of the story just for fun though

He loves physically maiming something :) I also might make him eat raw meat just for fun

His species is a carnivore so there's a good reason for his eagerness to kill, and hunting is a big part of his culture and is usually seen as a form of play

His feet aren't normal feet, they're more like claws/paws but more plantigrade in structure

Something that makes him weird is that his body is basically incapable of feeling intense pain or dying and he regenerates from any kind of injury pretty quickly, like overnight. If he has a gash or a missing limb, it regenerates and a scar appears where the gash was originally made, and the scar itself disappears one day later. It doesn't matter how close it is to the next day, or even the same day, if you see him gutted and/or with amputated limbs, not only will he still be alive, the next time you see him he will look like nothing ever happened to him the day before.

His legs purely muscle, he can kick a large dent into the side of a tree and can knock the wind out of you so hard that you might almost faint

Here’s the pictures used in his reference sheet

[theunfortunateplace]

Say you love me (Neteyam X OC!Na’vi) Chapter 2

Read On AO3 Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Pairing (Neteyam X Original Metkayina female character)

Synopsis: follow Luaewe as her world literally gets turned upside down with new na’vi joining her village. Never having to face many obstacles besides finding her way back home. How will she be able to handle the constant jealousy she's faced with and an unwanted love triangle.

Disclaimer: All characters in this fic have been aged up for the convenience of storytelling and to match the aging system up with both pandora and earth

Ages OC Luaewe- 22 Neteyam-23 Kiri-23 Lo’ak-21 Tuktirey-10 Aonung- 23 Tsireya - 21

Warnings for chapter: cursing

“ WHAT! No, you’re joking you never had one before!” He chuckled and sat down on the sand.

“ I’m being serious! I think you forget I just moved here.” I tossed him the hairy fruit and sat down next to him. He muttered thanks as he inspected the unknown fruit.

“ every morning I used to have these as a kid when we would go out hunting.” I beamed while taking a rock close by and smashing it on the outer shell. “ but it's been a while since I had one.”

I held out my hand gesturing for him to give me the fruit “ why did you stop eating it?” he asked while placing it in my hand I scoffed as the memories of my sister came flooding back.

“I had a sister only a couple years older than me but…she died.” I passed him back the open fruit and gave him a slight smile. “ but we aren't here for sad stories that's what late nights on the beach after several bowls of kava is for.”

He chuckled as he scooped some of the insides out and I watched as he placed it in his mouth my eyes happened to get stuck on his lips as he licked the leftover remnants off. his eyes widen as the intense sweetness hit his tongue

“ mhm mhm, yup that's exactly why I love this fruit.” I scooped some in my mouth

“ so what’s up with you and Ao’nung?” I raised a brow looking over at him confused.

“ eh nothing is up he’s just a friend an annoying asshole friend,” I said while putting an emphasis on annoying we might be the same age but I get along better with Reya unlike him she didn’t try to drown me when we were learning how to properly dive.

“ what’s the deal with you and him?” I asked while scooping some sand up in the empty shell. He scoffed and looked out at the sea.

“ I honestly despise him…walking around with his chest all puffed up just because he is the next Olo'eyktan. My father is a great warrior and Ole’eyktan. Back home you never saw me acting so cocky or pushing people around just because I was next in line.” He huffed and finished the remnants of the fruit.

“ as suspected I was correct.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes. Ao’nung always had this thing for “protecting” me from bad people by letting me know who was good and bad but he was always wrong well not that one time that dude actually turned out to be bad.

“ he essentially told me to stay away from you guys, especially you .” He scoffed and nodded his head.

“ I’m not surprised…” he turned to me and rested his hands in the sand “ you know we didn’t come here to start trouble. I- if we didn’t have to leave home we wouldn’t.”

“ I know you didn’t just by looking at you.” I smiled while laying on my back. “ I don’t know much about the sky people aside from the stories that were told but if Toruk Makto out of all people sought out uturu ‘trouble’ is the last thing on your guys' mind.”

He hummed “ thank you… I can see why Reya is a close friend of yours.” I smirked. With his flirtatious antics aside he was pretty easy to talk to abnormally easy to talk to

I watched the clouds move along the sky as I listened to the waves crashing in front of us. “ people spend too much time judging others before they give them a chance. As someone who constantly gets cast to the side and literally gets lost in my own world I know that feeling all too well.” I felt his eyes fall on me as I shared a piece I normally wouldn’t share with others besides Reya but he somehow Made me feel uncomfortably calm.

“How did you even find this place?” He asked while joining me laying down. I chuckled recalling the memories.

“ I was out fishing and collecting different things and ended up getting lost.” I shook my head and playfully scoffed “ and then it became my hideout…I come here when I just need a break from everything.”

He hummed and I looked over to find him looking back at me I shly smirked and quickly looked away. “ you can come here too if you want the only other person who knows about this is Reya.”

“ I honestly would love that…though my siblings keep me on my toes constantly.” I couldn’t help but chuckle that must have been what my sister felt like.

“Really! I always took you for the trouble maker” he grunted making me turn over to look at him only to find his face made up shocked that I even said that.

“ no no no that’s where you are wrong.” He perched up on his elbow and turned towards me. “ my brother Lo’ak is the one who is constantly getting into trouble”

He shook his head and looked down for a second. “ I know most of the time he means well and he’s simply curious and I’m sure if we didn’t have the dangers of the sky people around my father wouldn’t care so much that’s how it was before anyways but we do so he’s extremely protective over us….even me despite the fact that I completed iknimaya.”

“ I’m sure your father means well too…. When my sister passed it took a while for my mom to let me go out on my own.” I returned back to my old position on my back and closed my eyes once again listening to the sounds of the ocean.

“ and your father?” He asked innocently

“He also died but that was many moons ago.”

“ I’m sor-“

“ it’s ok you don’t have to.” I interrupted. “ you did-“ before I could even finish the sounds of the alarm going off on the main island I jump up worried seeing how it’s the ‘someone is missing’ alarm.

Neteyam watched as I urgently stood up and soon followed foot. “ come on we have to head back the alarm….. someone is missing.” I ran out into the ocean with him following behind me and hopped on the ilu.

We both raced back to see a crowd of people with concerned faces it was starting to get dark and others rushed out to find whoever was missing.

“ what-what is happening!” I asked. A woman with a skin tone similar to neteyam’s looked down at me that must be their mom.

“Have you seen Lo’ak?” She asked panicked worried that something bad happened to him.

I shook my head and she let out a worried sigh everyone cleared out and tried their best to search including us.

“ now you see what I am talking about I’m gone for a mere couple of hours and my brother goes missing.” He rubbed his temples as we browsed the island.

“Maybe he just got lost…I’m sure he’s ok we will find him.” Just as I was about to turn back I see Ao’nung off in the distance pacing

Something is not right. I start walking over and his eyes go wide as if he had seen a ghost. “ have you seen Lo’ak?”

He gulped and looked away. “ I do not have time for your nonsense Ao’nung where is my brother!” Neteyam said sternly angered that the man standing right in front of him did something to his brother. We didn’t even know if he did but Neteyam knew better than I did that something was up.

“ shit- FINE me and a couple of friends dragged him out past the reefs.”

“ you fucking idiot why would you do that? You know only skilled fishers go there!”I scolded him who does something like that really unexpectedly Neteyam grabbed his hair and started dragging him back to the main center.

Just his look alone I could tell he wanted to beat him up but he was resisting. Ao’nung KNOWS that it is super dangerous out there, especially with all the different animals that are there

He pushed him forward towards his parents and the Olo'eyktan who was also visibly worried and frustrated “ tell them what you told us!” Neteyam hissed out still having the tightest grip on his braid.

“ gosh, will you let me go already!” Ao’nung said while trying to get Neteyam to let go.

“What is the meaning of this?” Tonowari asked while looking directly at his son “ speak we do not have time for games son!”

I shook my head as he came clean about everything I looked over to Neteyam he was fuming I’m sure if he was alone with him he would be shoving his face in the sand.

“ what the fuck were you thinking Ao’nung?” I asked he just rolled his eyes. Typical I clement fist resisting the urge not to slap him upside his head

“ I hope a crab bites your toe! Do you know how serious this is yet here you are acting as if it’s a big inconvenience to you?”

“ BECAUSE IT IS you thought I was gonna let someone younger than me a FREAK punch me and get away with it?” I shook my head disgusted by his behavior.

“ you are the son of Olo'eyktan! And you dare speak like that towards other na’vi.”

“They aren’t na’vi they aren’t one of us they are demon spawn!” Before he could open his mouth again I slapped him across the face making sure he felt it in his soul.

“ they did nothing to you they came to us for help and shelter and you dare speak down upon them? Is this who we are now?” He looked at me with his hand cupping his cheek shocked at what I did to him

“ you have no right to lay-“

“ YOU AND YOUR FAKE ASS FRIENDS HAD NO RIGHT TAKING A FOREST PERSON ONE WHO IS NEW TO OUR WAY OUT PAST THE REEF!” He jolted back from my voice but quickly clenched his jaw.

“ I hope Neytiri skins you and I pray to Eywa nothing happened to him or I will release a rage NO ONE has seen!” I hissed at him making sure to bump his shoulders while passing by. Unbelievable they have done nothing to him yet he acts this way.

Neteyam dove into the water while I rushed back to my pod and grabbed one of the many spares we had hanging up.

I quickly joined him and called out for the ilu I didn’t waste time connecting my kuru if this were any other clan member we wouldn’t be on extreme high alert but Lo’ak was a forest na’vi

“Follow me!” I called out to Neteyam as I began to dive I knew exactly where they took him it was only a matter of figuring out if he was still there.

“Shit” I cursed to myself as I restlessly searched for him I held the spare between my legs briefly and signed to Neteyam

‘ he’s not here he might be further out.’ He nodded his head and I grabbed the spare once again out past the reef where all the dangers lived only experienced fishers came out this far so it was bold of Ao’nung to do such a thing.

My eye widened as I saw a large beast chase after something as if it were foo-that not food that’s Lo’ak! Not even thinking about the consequences I charged at it hoping to cause a distraction I used all my strength and threw the spare into it’s stomach.

But that’s when my consciousness came back Luaewae you dumb ass I swam away on the ilu hoping to Eywa doesn’t let me become dinner for this thing.

The ilu screamed out in pain throwing me off it’s back I didn’t even have time to set myself straight I was pressed against rocks then everything went black……

I gripped the hard surface turning over and coughed the water out of my lungs “ what the hell!” I managed to croak out.

I looked around trying to figure out where I was only to find Neteyam crouched over me with a worried look plastered on him. “ are you ok?” He swung his leg back over so that he was beside me

I nodded my head and tried to sit up he placed his hand on my back urgently supporting my weak body.

“ fuck!” A sharp pain radiated from the top of my head what could that be? What else is wrong? I hesitantly lift my hand to feel the damage but Neteyam is quick to grab my hand.

“ Kehe! I only recently got the bleeding to stop.” He said while looking at me I don’t even have the energy to give him a confused face I lowered my hand which cussed him to release me.

“wait Lo’ak is still out there!” I practically screamed out I jumped to my feet ready to dive back in but as soon as I was about to Neteyam yanked me back by gripping my waist

“ what the hell! Let me go we have to get your be-“

“ Luaewae!” I jumped from the sudden rise in his voice “ I’m sorry I didn’t mean to raise my voice but you weren’t listening….my brother is fine he is right there.” He pointed to Lo’ak spread out and passed out further down.

My mouth formed an o shape as I slowly processed everything. Just as I was about to speak big droplets of water fell on me. I hissed as the saltwater stung the wound and tried to move away from where ever it was spraying. But what could be doing that

I looked back at him and he gave me a slight smile while rubbing his hand on the hard surface. “ I believe you guys call them tulkun he saved Lo’ak”

You know I normally have a difficult time finding my way back home after getting lost but at least I find it! I have no clue what is going on or what even happened.

“ but when you hit the rock I saved you. Lo’ak told me the tulkuns name is payakan.” He added I slowly sat down trying to process everything that was happening and that already happened.

I ran my hands over my face and let out a sigh. “ ok what happened I’m- I’m just confused.”

“ you got thrown into the rock and started sinking, that big animal tried going after you but that’s when Payakan came I guess he saw that were in danger, I rode out to you as he put an end to the animal and then saved Lo’ak who was trapped in between some rocks.” I nodded my head slowly trying to take everything in.

Well all that matters now is that he’s safe and I’m alive. “ thank you….it was reckless of me-“

“ you were doing what you thought was best and saved my brothers' life…you might be the best weaver here but back in my clan risking your life without thinking to save another is a true warrior.” I looked up to find him smiling at me.

“ I’m no warrior I can’t even go somewhere without getting lost or thrown off track” I chuckled while looking away “ my sister was though she was the warrior” he hummed and gently patted my hand.

“ that may be true but to me, you are a warrior in my eyes.” I felt my cheeks heat up and I let out a sigh trying to calm my heart rate that was rising.

-

“ Thank you for bringing her back!” My mom croaked out to Neteyam as he watched Ronal cater to my wounds. The rest of the sully’s had been here earlier but it was too crowded for all of them to fit in here.

It was quite emotional and I don’t blame them your son gets dragged out to an unknown place and then goes missing and now he’s in tsahìk’s home Jake practically had to pull Neytiri out while Neteyam waited inside. He was there so he would be more useful with answering questions. But that didn’t stop her from waiting outside.

“It’s nothing really we both went out there together and everything just happened so fast.” He says while giving her a smile. I winced as Ronal applied the ointment and she muttered a small I'm sorry. I gripped my thigh trying to handle the strong stinging

“You will have to bare with the stinging a little bit longer I am almost done.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice as she began to wrap my head for the ointment to sit. “ I don’t know what I am going to do with that boy he better pray to great mother that I don’t tie a knot in his tail!”

She gave my shoulders a small squeeze signaling that she was done for now and promptly moved over to Lo’ak who was passed out on the mat.

“ ma’am I will look after Luaewae it is my fault for her getting hurt.” My mom shook her head and got up.

“ it is not your fault.” Neteyam looked down and sighed. “ even if that’s what you think I still feel responsible. I would still like to look after her.”

She looked over to Lo’ak who was getting treated thankfully he didn’t get hurt badly only some cuts that could be fixed with ointment. But I’m sure what caused his prolonged slumber was the state of shock he was in

“ if I wasn’t worried about Ao’nung causing more trouble I would send him to look after you when Neteyam can’t but I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ronal added while moving over to her crushed-up herbs. Neteyam clenched his fist but quickly let go

“ I will look after her.” He said not budging on his decision “ my grandmother was tsahìk I have some experience dressing wounds and applying ointment.” Ronal hummed as she moved back over to me to finish up.

“ I normally wouldn’t say yes but since there is so much that needs to be prepared I will allow it.” My mom said while promptly letting out a sigh she and Ronal talked for a little while longer but she eventually had to leave to help the clan prepare.

Not once did his eyes leave me and I wasn’t the only one that noticed….

“ you know you do not have to Carry me I only hurt my head not my legs.”

He took Ronals advice to me quite literally. “ I don’t want you to fall.” He said while tightening his grip on me. “ Neteyam all she said was to walk carefully if I get dizzy.”

“Exactly and I am eliminating that ever becoming a thing.” I held my hands up in defeat there was no way he was going to let me walk. We arrived back at my mauri and he sat me down gently on the cushion. “ do you want anything to eat I can ask my sister to bring us something?” He asked while looking at me.

“ no, not right now there should be some leftover fruit in the basket over there if you get hungry. Ooooor-“

“I’m not leaving until your mom gets back so stop trying to get rid of me.” He chuckled and leaned over to grab the basket. He took a handful of the Berries and plopped some in my hand. Moving his face like one would do when they are trying to tell you to eat.

I smirked and dropped a couple in my mouth. “Since we have the time now let’s start the lesson that was supposed to be today.” He gave me a stern look and let out a groan.

“ you’re very stubborn you know.”

“ I am not stubborn I just see this as a good opportunity for you to learn what you requested my assistance on. Unless you don’t need it and it was just a plan to hang out with me?” I raised my brow and he smirked.

“Maybe it was a bit of both. Can you blame me for wanting to hang out with someone like you?” I lightly chuckled “ definitely not I’m an amazing person.” I said in a cocky tone. He playfully rolled his eyes and playfully scoffed.

“ but all jokes aside I really enjoy your company Luaewae.” I smirked softly and extended my legs to stretch them out. “ it’s weird I feel as if I can say anything to you?”

My eyes grow wide so he feels it too? “ ah? so I’m not the only one then…” I tap my finger of the floor of my home nervously. How did we even get to this conversation. “ we should get started on your lesson!” I broke the intense eye contact and searched for my supplies I always kept them in a box for future projects.

“ the box behind you…” I pointed and he nodded his head awkwardly getting ip to get it. “ I was saving the material for a new necklace but this is important.” He smirked and opened the box I moved closer to pull out what was needed.

“ you have lots of gems in here I’ve only seen the women wear shells or other things?” I often find gems when I get lost in the forest or find a new island I haven’t discovered yet. “ yeah most save them for hair accessories and sometimes centerpieces in specific clothing for our ceremonies since the edges can be jagged and cut the skin.”

He hummed and watched me intensely as if I was giving important orders the clan. “ but I soften the edges a bit. They are too beautiful not to be worn or used as decorations.” I smiled while pulling out the final pieces needed.

“And would I be bold to assume this was your favorite color and gem?” He asked as his eyes trailed down to the several smooth and jagged yellow and blue crystals. I smiled and looked up at him. “ yes! They are really hard to find but they are very beautiful.”

“ well since it’s hard to find we can make it together I would feel bad using all your stuff.” I raised a brow “ you sure this isn’t your way of getting me to do all the work?” He let out a hearty chuckle and shook his head

“ no, I promise.” He smiled as some of the braids fell onto his face “ ok I’ll hold this part and you start!”

Who knew making a necklace with someone would take so long especially when you were teaching them. “ ok but that doesn’t make any sense why does it have to cross over that way and not this way it’s quicker.”

“Agh! It’s not about quickness it’s about craftsmanship if you do it that way the stone will come loose once you go in the water!” He sighed and crossed the fibers the correct way I could tell he was fed up with the whole thing but it’s funny seeing such a skilled warrior struggle with something as small as this.

“ why would I need to worry about that I could just take it off.” He said while adding another stone. I chuckled and shook my head.

“Yeah, you go ahead and do that. And watch how fast someone swipes it up!” He groaned but he quickly switched to a smirk. Almost as if he wanted to laugh but was hiding it. “ last time I did tha-“

A knock on the door frame interrupted me “ Luaewae I brought you some-“ I look up hearing ao’nung’s voice fill the room.

“ what is he doing here?” He asked in an annoyed tone as he walked in not that I told him to come in or anything. “ I’m teaching and you are currently interrupting my lesson,” I said while moving my eyes back to Neteyam and gesturing for him to continue.

I feel the room grow tense but I shoo the feeling off. “ anyways I brought you some things….my mother told me you got hurt pretty bad so I thought these might help.” He placed the basket next to me “ I’m sorry…”

I sighed and looked up at him shocked that his face was filled with regret. “ ‘nung I am not the one you should nor need to be apologizing to.” He sat down hesitantly and faced me.

“ I have apologized to him and his parents…I was stupid-“

“ damn right you were! You better hope you don’t get decked in the face for it!” He smirked and moved the hair that had previously blocked part of his face only to reveal a wicked black eye. He smirked when he heard me gasp. “ already did.” He turned to Neteyam that was focused on the necklace but was still listening in.

“ your sister has a mean left hook.” Neteyam scoffed and looked up only to shake his head in response. “ she learned from the best.” He said tauntingly almost like a threat.

“ thank you for the stuff but I need to get back to my lesson.” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “ you should be resting instead you want to teach did he put you up to this?” Neteyam’s eyes shoot up ready to say something but I swing my hand back and throw one of the cushions next to me at him.

“Have you learned nothing?” He winced jokingly and I threw another pillow at him “ go before I this box at your head!” He chuckled and swiftly got up holding his hands up to show that he was surrendering. “ I’ll be back tonight to bring you dinner.” He said with a smirk

“ no need Kiri has it covered!”

“ well tell her cha-“ before he could finish I quickly dumped the box out that held all my weaving supplies and chucked it at him.

I let out a sigh as he finally left. Neteyam scoffed and I looked over at him “ persistent is he?”

“ if you would even call it that…anyways let's get back to this.” I smiled at him and he smirked.” I've been working on the necklace you, on the other hand, were catching up with loverboy.” I scoffed and playfully pushed him “ L-LOVER BOY no no no you've got it all wrong.” I reached for the gems and started sanding the edges down. “No, I think I have it all right dude went all googly eyes when you called him that name and threw the cushion at him.” I groaned with disgust

“We are just friends not even close friends I think he was just happy to see that I'm ok.” he shook his head and rolled his eyes as if I was oblivious but I‘m not our relationship might be weird but it's not romantic not even close

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

[caffeineforbucky]

As Time Goes By...(Chapter One)

Post-blip (five or six months later)

A/N: This is my first time writing on this website or anything public really, I usually just write for me, please just bear with me if it looks or sounds janky. Also, thanks for taking the time to read. I deeply & wholeheartedly appreciate you. Enjoy!

Summary: I suck at them but, I'll give it a shot. You- the reader, are surprised by 'old' friends when they show up out of the blue, asking for your help on a mission. (This is just the sum for chap. 1)

Word count: 2,760

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem! reader

Warnings: Angst, swearing, ex-boyfriend jealousy...

The day was coming to an end, a small heatwave conjuring up a sweat as you wiped down your last table for the night. You blew out a breath, brushing back a sheen of perspiration with your forearm, watching the last customer walk out of the restaurant as the bell chimed above their head.

You never understood why people chose to sit inside when there were tables out on the sidewalk. It was hotter in here than out there, especially since the air conditioner had gone out just a few days prior and the fans above the tables were only circling the air inside. It was an actual oven, but they contended.

Your hightops heaved across the tile, dragging yourself with the sufficiency of a person who was only working because they had to. You kicked up the doorstop, pulling the door towards you with a small amount of goodwill and vigor to finish locking up, flipping the paper sign over from open to closed. It wasn't as if you hated your job. You thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of it all. It was the only person working the night shift job you hated with every fiber of your being. You weren't completely alone in the restaurant, having a few cooks and the owner to keep you company, especially on busy nights like the one you just had.

"I'm clocking out, Mrs. Turner!" You call out, reaching behind your back to untie the knot of your apron, pulling it up and off your neck once the ties came undone. Trudging back to the table, you picked up the disinfectant wipe and toss it in the bin, making your way to your boss's office before hanging up your apron on the hook. "Mrs. Turner...?" You murmur softly, poking your head in through the doorway, only to see her counting the profits for the day. "I'm heading home," You chime, pointing behind your shoulder with your thumb as she glances up at you.

"Alright, Honey," She beams, a bright smile pulling at her lips as her eyes meet yours. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Working for the Turners wasn't supposed to be a permanent job, in fact, it wasn't even your original plan, as opposed to the small favors you would complete now and then for the people that were willing to pay a pretty penny for your...services.

But you figured having a stable job was smarter and safer than the alternative. And the help wanted sign was very persuasive, due to the pretty colors and splashes of glitter. It looked like it was made by a child, which you later found out, was decorated by Mrs. Turner's seven-year-old. "Always." You accede, tapping the doorframe as your goodbye before parading into the breakroom to gather your things from the lockers.

You take your backpack off the hook and swing the strap over your shoulder before time punching your card and going straight through the back door. The sounds of the city hit your ears as the heavy door slammed behind you. Traffic honks and tires treading against the grain while you walk further into the busy streets of San Francisco.

As you were about to turn the corner, you were met with the sight of your friend's van, followed by a trumpet rendition of La Cucaracha. You grinned widely, gripping your strap tighter as you jog up the 1972 Ford Ecoline, aka Big Bertha. At least that's what you called it. "Luis!" You rejoice, resting your palms on the ledge. "What are you doing here?"

"Scotty sent me out for a few things," Luis answers, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his head turned to you. "I was just about to go when I saw you. Thought you might need a ride." He shrugs, a cute smile playing on his lips.

You nod, reciprocating the smile at his answer. "Yeah, if it's not too much trouble..." You drag, your voice hesitant, as if he didn't offer at all.

"Nah, get in." He gestures, beckoning you with a wave of his hand. "Your place is on the way," Luis loosens his seatbelt, reaching over to the passenger side to pull up the lock, opening the door for you.

You climb in, plopping down on the tufted leather seats as you pulled the door towards you, closing it shut. "Thanks, Lu," You breathe, dropping your backpack below your feet, then you fasten your seatbelt. "How is Scott, anyway?" You ask as Luis changes gears and presses the gas, the van rolls onto the street.

"Ehh...he's...he's alright, know what I'm sayin'?" He answers, glancing at you before focusing back on the road. "I mean, he missed like five years of his daughter's life. He's just trying to spend as much time with her to make up for years they both lost."

You nibble at the inside of your cheek, nodding softly in agreement as the city lights passed you by. There wasn't much you could say to that, having lost so many people yourself. People you considered family just...gone.

"Yo!" Luis pipes up, snapping you out of your train of thought. "Didja see the news today?!" He shakes his head, whistling at the thought. "I can't believe they would just give some random dude the shield like that, ya know?"

You drew in your bottom lip in contempt, nodding once again at Luis. You had seen the news, and they couldn't have picked a better time to broadcast. If it hadn't been for Mrs. Turner asking you in, you would've hunted Sam Wilson down and kicked his ass yourself.

The van rolled to a stop, brakes squealing as Luis pulled up beside your apartment. You sighed heavily, glancing at the small apartment you shared with your Ex-boyfriend. By the looks of the living room light illuminating behind the curtains, he was home, and you absolutely dreaded when he was. It wasn't as if you wanted to live with him, but you had no other alternative. Ever since dropping your side job, money was tighter, and he was kind enough to let you stay, just until you found a place. "Thanks again for the ride, Lu." You mumble, unclicking your seatbelt as you took hold of your backpack. "You didn't have to."

"Don't even mention it, Y/N," Luis reassures, watching you as you pull at the door handle, opening it to get out. "I know how hard it is to get back into the norm."

You shut the passenger door, shooting him a sympathetic smile. "I'll see you around?"

With a smile, Luis waves goodbye and drives off into the night, the exhaust pipe blowing smoke as he rode off. You shook your head, cracking a smile at the honk of his horn. You turned towards the front entrance of the apartment, your stomach twisting as your smile dropped completely. You swallowed thickly, rolling the tension from your shoulders to prepare yourself before jogging up the small flight of stairs.

You fished your keys from the front pocket of your backpack, taking a breath before shoving the key into the lock, twisting as you pushed the door open with your shoulder. "Joshua?!" You voiced, calling out your ex's name to make sure it was him. You dropped your belongings beside the door, pushing your sneakers off before kicking the door shut with your foot.

"Yeah, in here!" He responds quickly, a slight tremor to his tone.

You frown softly, tossing your keys into the bowl on the console table before sauntering to where his voice was emanating from. "Josh, are you...?" Your voice came to a halt, your footsteps stopping altogether as you walked into the living room.

"Hey!" Joshua exclaims once your figure comes into view. "You wanna explain who they are?" He presses, his face crossed with fear as he gestures to the two men sitting calmly on your living room couch.

You remained quiet, your body tense, eyes wide as your focus shifted between the men on the couch and your ex.

"Well...?" Joshua demands, crossing his arms over his chest, shifting in his stance at the unsettling glare one of the men was sending his way. "I was in the middle of hosting game night-as you can see, when they showed up," Josh drops his arms, hands splaying out to gesture to the coffee table consisting of five different dips, two bulk-sized bags of tortilla chips, and a twenty-four pack of Blue Moon beer. "The guys were just about to come over."

You take a deep breath, closing your eyes to refrain from any and all insults towards your ex. That explained why he was home. "Um..." You utter, pinching the bridge of your nose, "Fucking hell," You curse under your breath, eyes fluttering open to look at Joshua. "Josh," You begin, clearing your throat as you start with the man on the left. "They are Sam Wilson and..." You hesitate, eyes settling on the man to the right, his sight alone bringing back the memories that you swore you didn't want to remember. "James Barnes," You finish, ripping your eyes away from his baby blues to look at your ex. "Aka-"

"The Falcon and The Winter Soldier..." Joshua finishes for you, his eyes flashing with amazement, head whipping towards the guys. "Shit!" He curses, smiling widely like a kid in a candy store. "Can I get you guys anything? A plate? Beer?"

"Actually," You grunt, interrupting before Sam or Bucky could answer. "Can you give us a minute, Joshua?" Insisting while your foot tapped impatiently against the hardwood floor.

"Should I be worried?" He inquires, eyes filled with confusion as he looked between the three of you, trying to piece together the situation at hand. The main reason you and Joshua couldn't work it out was that you kept a lot of secrets, mostly from him. He didn't like the fact that you wouldn't let him in. Sure, you lied to him, the biggest lie being that you were an Avenger, but that was just to keep him safe. There were other reasons why you decided to split up as well. Joshua knew...he knew deep down you were just with him to pass the time. He could see it when he looked into your eyes. There was someone else in the reflection and it wasn't him. If he was honest with himself, he could admit that it did hurt him. That he wanted a chance to make it work with you, but with the way you were staring at James, he finally recognized that reflection.

He should've noticed it early on-like that day he had somehow convinced you to take a trip to D.C for a tour of the Captain America museum. You were hell-bent on not going, trying to make up some elaborate excuse or an alibi of sorts, but alas, you still went. And for some odd reason, you couldn't stop coming back to the Bucky Barnes portion.

"No," You reply, keeping it short to dismiss him.

Joshua's mouth set in a hard line, a foreign feeling forming in the pit of his stomach-jealousy. He never had to worry about it before, especially when his friends used to come over, back when you were still together. Except for that one time, but how could he blame them? You were the kind of person that listened, laughed at the jokes being made, could lend a hand when needed, and your looks were just a bonus in his book. "Uhm, yeah," He coughed, frowning softly while nodding his head at you. "I have to go pick up the pizza, anyway," Josh brushes past you, fetching his keys from the bowl while slipping on his Vans that sat up against the wall ledge that separated the front door from the living room. "Are you going to be okay?" He mumbles, glancing over his shoulder to look at you.

You shoot Josh a smile, nodding reassuringly, his footsteps approaching closer before stopping in front of you, the palm of his hand landing gently on your shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "Let me know if you need anything, m'kay?" Josh's voice is soft, the concern in his eyes making you feel guilty. You knew he cared about you, and there wasn't a time where you'd catch him staring at you for far too long, but you were well past that. "I'm just a text away," He notes, waving his cell in his hand.

"Josh, I'll be fine," You sigh, stepping away from his touch, the sound of his hand hitting his jeans as it dropped from your shoulder. "I always am."

"Right," Josh nods, looking over at the men on the couch before gazing back at you. "I'll see you in a bit, bug." And with that, he turns, opens the front door, and steps out, shutting the wooden door behind him.

You close your eyes, the pet name Josh had coined for you making you sigh. He agreed to stop calling you that all together and it only made you feel that more guilty for ending things. "So..." You pipe up, opening your eyes as you turned to look at the guys. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Bug?"

Bucky is the first to speak, his jaw clenched at the mere sound of the word. Indignant at the way Josh had touched you, even if it was just your shoulder. "I didn't know he knew you like that," Bucky flashes you a taut smile, nodding softly as he shared a look with Sam, but the falcon only shook his head. "How long have you been..." Bucky couldn't even finish the question, his glove-clad hands tightening at the thought of you being with somebody else...someone that wasn't him. Though, it was his own fault. If he hadn't done what he'd done-you'd have never found another.

"Wow," You scoff, padding closer to where they sat. "You don't miss a beat, do you? Just..." You sink into the sofa adjacent to the one they occupied. "-Right into the big stuff."

"I didn't bring you here to question her about her love life," Sam voices, his scolding eyes on the man beside him. "And she sure as hell isn't obligated to answer you, Bucky."

You smile gratefully at Sam before glancing down at your leg that had begun to bounce in anticipation. "What are you guys doing here? And how'd you find me?" You ask, tilting your head in curiosity as you look up at the guys. "When I resigned from the Avengers initiative, they ensured me that I wasn't able to be traced, not by your or any other remaining member. I was supposed to be scot-free," You declare, hitting your thigh with your fist.

"Oh, come on, Y/N," Sam chuckles, shaking his head at the naivety. "We both know that's a bunch of bullshit. The government is always going to have its eyes on us. Especially free agents like you and us."

You draw in your bottom lip, biting down, eyes flickering between Sam and Bucky. You knew it was too good to be true, and part of you sensed the bullshit when the government explained it to you. You just didn't want to believe it.

"You were an ex-assassin. How could they not keep tabs on your whereabouts?" Sam recounts, emphasizing that it was in the past. At least, that's what they thought. "And I had some help from Redwing as well." He shrugs nonchalantly.

You choke out a laugh, shaking your head at the smug demeanor emitting from Sam. "Redwing," You whisper, smiling thinly. "Of course, nothing could ever be hidden from your personal P.I, huh?"

"I hate that thing," Bucky grumbles, folding his arms across his chest. in annoyance. "Invasion of privacy, I'm telling you."

"You love redwing," Sam jokes, playfully jabbing Bucky's arm with his elbow, "It's okay Bucky, you can admit it."

"Can we get back to the issue here?" You interject, "Not one of you has explained the reason you're here. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great to see you...one more than the other," You whisper that last part but, completely aware that Bucky could hear it. "But, you both showing up out of the blue...? That's almost a bad omen."

"I didn't ask him here, by the way," Sam acknowledges, raising his hands in defense, "I just want to get that out of the way. Bucky came because he wanted to. I'm here," Sam gestures to himself, "-For one reason and one reason only..."

"And what's that?" You ask, leaning forward in your seated position.

"I need your help, Y/N."

[darkacademicfrom2021]

Moving day

Based on @lucywrites02's writing challenge, with the prompts "1. You're family" and "8. I have a surprise for you". I wish you a very happy birthday, Lucy!

Pairing: Loki x fem!reader (Tony Stark's daughter, not Morgan)

Word count: 3.2 K

Warnings: fluff and pregnancy :) This was very adorable to write.

Taglist: @lucywrites02, @louieboo87,@jesuswasnotawhiteman, @geekwritersworld, @whatafuckingdumbass, @mysticunicorn7, @toe-vind-ek-jou, @t00-pi, @selfship-mishaps, @sallymagnoliaposts, @deadgirl88, @enderslove

Gif: @moonrainbow

It had surprised Thor greatly how quickly and intensely his brother had fallen for you. He was as committed and truthful as he has never been in his long, long life. He looked at you softly, in comparison with everyone else. As soon as you walked in a room, he followed you with his gaze and invited you to his conversation. It wasn’t a surprise that after a few months of this very silent flirting (that very few noticed, because it mainly consisted in batting eyelashes and repressing subtle smiles when the other was around) you’d come out of the shell and admit you started dating. Thor was ecstatic.

Tony, on the other hand, was not amused. Not amused at all; in fact, he hated the idea of you going around with that God. He said, explicitly “if you ever get in trouble because of him, you solve it yourself. Nothing of coming for daddy to help, clear?”. Pepper had told him to cut some slack, and observe at how happy you were together, but he, stubborn to the bone, had to take a few months more before accepting the fact that his little girl was in love with the God of Mischief.

But the months passed by; almost a year, and you grew closer and closer. You hated to sneak into his room every night, and get interrupted all the time by every single soul in the compound, or mocked to death every time you cuddled on the sofa, watched a movie or read a book together. So, it all boiled down to the same conversation:

“I don’t think he’s ready”, you said while pouring some milk on your cereal. Nat rolled her eyes.

“He’s even readier than you”, insisted Wanda. They were exhausted from having the same conversation over and over, but you couldn’t bring yourself to actually do something about it. “He’s lived much longer, if any of you two were to be unready, that’d be you”.

“Do you think I’m not ready?”, you doubted yourself.

“God, Wanda. You’re planting unnecessary seeds here. The girl’s already anxious enough”.

“I just think… I want him to be with me for the rest of my life. I don’t know if he feels the same”.

“He totally does”.

“Yeah. No doubt about that. Just look at how he looks at you. What are you even waiting for?”.

“I don’t know, a signal?”.

“Of what? You’re impossible. Unless God themself comes down the sky and tells you textually just move in with him, you wouldn’t consider it a ‘signal’”, bitched Nat. But she was right. Commitment was not exactly your thing, even though you were as in love as you could be.

You heard an oncoming scream approaching the room. In silence, you three observed cautiously, and moved away from the middle. The screaming increased its loudness, until a body shattered the roof and fell to the floor violently. Loki laid still among the dusted debris until a second screaming started sounding from the sky.

“Oh, fuck”, he said, managing to get up quickly and making himself as a shield for you three. Thor landed on his feet over the same spot Loki had fallen. Dust flew everywhere and the floor cracked a bit more. “Don’t”, he alerted, pointing at his brother menacingly.

“I’m tired of your whinings, brother. Do something or I’ll do it myself”, spat Thor, grabbing Mjölnir and leaving the room. Loki sighed and sat on the couch, cleaning the remains with his magic. Wanda sighed and put it all back together.

“And what was that about?”, asked Nat, eating a candybar, still on the same spot as earlier. It wasn’t an unusual scene.

“I…”, said Loki, but desisted. You sat on the couch by his side and he laid, using your lap as a pillow. You took out a tissue and started carefully cleaning the blood off his cuts. He smiled softly. “We just had a fight”.

“I can see that. What did you fight about?”.

“He wants me to… well, talk to you”, he struggled to say.

“Well, we’re talking now”.

“Yes. No, wait, no. Like, talk talk”, he clarified, and Nat and Wanda nodded, leaving the room. You could still hear their chattery from the door.

Loki sat up and grabbed both of your hands, making direct eye contact. He was nervous, which only made you even more unsettled. He was never nervous. He was always calm, even in life or death situations. He was unfazed in everything and with almost everyone. Almost.

“What do you want to talk talk about?”, you joked, and he chuckled, releasing some tension.

“I want you to move in with me”.

“Oh. Wait. What?”.

“Like, move out. But with me”.

“To your room?”.

“Out of the Compound”.

“To an apartment?”.

“Yes”.

“Here?”.

“In Midgard, yes”.

“But like, in New York?”.

“Wherever you want, actually”.

You stayed silent for a few seconds, and Loki grew nervous again. You couldn’t help but laugh. He looked at you quizzically, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that… a God just fell down the sky and told me to move in with you”, you clarified, which didn’t actually clarify anything.

“You… what?”.

“Yes, I’d love to move in with you, love”.

And in no time you were already packing things up and going together on apartment huntings.

Tony insisted on helping you out himself, which was hilarious, given the repulsion he had for the idea in the first place. So, you’d go to an apartment by yourself, check it out and talk to the owner for a bit; Loki would arrive later, tensing things up (the owners would usually recognize him, but after a little chat they’d find out he’s a fine man), and then, just after you’d be all calm and good, the owners would see in the papers you’re a Stark, and tense up even more. Easier to say, it wasn’t a normal neighborhood chat.

You had finally decided on a small but very cozy apartment near Central Park; far enough from the Stark Tower, but you could get there pretty quickly for every mission.

You found the place advertised on the papers, and when you showed it to Loki, in sickness and all, you insisted on going to visit it that same day.

“My love, my dearest… you need to rest. I’m afraid you might faint again”, he cooed, trying to get you back to bed.

“A little fever won’t do anything to me, really, I’m f…”, you said, but you felt like vomiting, so you stopped your words and sat on the floor. Loki sat by your side and rubbed your back.

“If you feel better tomorrow, we go, yes? Now, come on, I’m gonna call Banner and you wait on your bed”.

“No, but they might take it, we need to go to make sure…”.

“What about I go, call you on one of those animated images, and you can see it from here?”, he proposed, helping you up. He meant a video call.

“That… sounds about right”.

But you had no actual time to have that video call, for when he was in the apartment, Banner was delivering some more important news.

You’ve been to the examination’s room of the compound before. But this time it seemed brighter. The lights shone so strongly, you had to close your eyes a little.

“What would you like to do about it?”, asked Banner. You were sobbing and trembling.

“I… I don’t know, I’m sure Loki will leave me”.

“What? No, don’t base your decision on that guy’s opinion”.

“Well, I don’t want the kid to not have a father, you know?”, you said as he gave you a tissue. “I want to have it, I’ve always wanted a kid. I think I’m… ready? I’m probably not. Not by myself, and I can’t do this alone. He’ll leave me, won’t he? Why would he want to have a kid with a mortal? We’d die as fast as he blinks”.

“Look, I’m no one to talk about it, but this sounds more like your anxiety and less like something he would do. He really loves you, he has for like at least a year, and I don’t see that going away anytime soon”.

“I know. You might be right”.

“You’re allowed to doubt everything. This is a huge thing, y/n. Think this through, talk to people, talk to your friends, or your parents. Don’t let this eat you”.

“Thanks, Bruce. You’re really… you’re being really nice, I appreciate it”, you sobbed. He handed you another tissue as he rubbed your shoulder.

“This is your call, okay? You have time to think. Text me later how you’re feeling, and have bed rest now. And if you feel too bad, take this”, he handed you some pills, “it should be innocuous for the baby”.

One of those days, that same week, you had decided to make it the official moving day. So, you put every box in the van and drove through the city, to your new home. You haven’t told Loki yet what you knew, and you were terrified he’d get even more upset because you didn’t tell him before the moving. But, to be fair, you didn’t think he’d actually leave.

You had told no one about it, despite Banner’s indications. But it wasn’t eating you. You were enjoying it silently. You were glad; you had your doubts, fears… Hell, you were terrified. But you knew, if Loki wasn’t going to be a part of that, you could do it yourself. You hoped he’d wanted to, though.

Loki and you had started taking the boxes inside, all by hand (to be honest, he was a little scared of the neighbours watching him do things with magic and kicking you two out). You laughed through it, and played races to see who’d finish their boxes first. He was wearing one of those midgardians shirts and pants that melted you completely. He wore that for your anniversary dinner the week before that day, and he noticed how much you loved it on him, so he started wearing fancy casual clothes more often than not.

After about two hours, you were done and completely exhausted. You laid in the middle of the wooden floor, surrounded by boxes and a strong smell of floorwax and fresh paint, and looked at each other fondly.

“Welcome home”, you said, and he showed you the biggest smile he’s ever done.

“I think this place is perfect. It’s away, but not exactly far from your family for whenever you’d want to be with them”.

“Yes, it’s perfect”, you said, getting up and helping him up. “You know, I have a surprise for you”.

“Really? What is it?”.

“Tonight at dinner, shall we? In the meantime, what about we get something to drink before unpacking?”.

“Can’t wait for tonight, then. Would you like some tea?”, he said, surrounding your waist with his arms. You played gently with his hair.

“Yes”.

“I love you”, he said, giving you a small peck over your smile.

“And I love…”, you started saying, but the entrance got filled with noisy people, interrupting you. Four of your friends were already filling the place, giving you an idea of how a small party would fit in there. “... you”.

“Oh my God! This place is so well illuminated!”, said Wanda, marveled.

“And what’s that smell? Have you been cooking something weird?”, said Nat, less enthusiastic, but equally curious. Sam and Bucky were still on the door, and Sam seemed to have brought food. Like a cake, or something similar. Wanda and Natasha were quick to invade the place without further notice.

“Oh, you got one of those hidden drawers! What are you hiding in there?”.

“Probably sex toys”, guessed Nat.

“I’d say drugs. But, like, alien drugs. You know, from his town”, apported Bucky, now making his way in and leaving the cake over the counter.

“I thought drawers were supposed to be for clothes”, said Sam, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, but hidden drawers? Sexy clothes”.

“Actually, I’m saving my daggers in there”, finally said Loki, kissing your cheek before pulling away from you, and appearing a cup of tea in each guest with a movement of his wrist.

“Boring”.

“So, guys, what do you think?”, you said as you started opening one of the boxes.

“I think it’s small”, said Tony, as he walked in. Pepper rolled her eyes behind him.

“Don’t listen to him, you guys chose perfectly. This place will look very nice once you paint it and decorate it”.

“It’s already painted”.

“Oh. Well, it… it looks nice”.

“Thanks mom”, you chuckled. “It’s small but we don’t need it to be big”.

“You better be actually saving daggers in here”, Tony peeped inside the hidden drawer. “Now that is not so hidden. I wouldn’t like to open it up someday and find a…”.

“Dad, please”, you rolled your eyes and went to Loki’s side. “Don’t worry, you won’t find anything weird. Just the daggers and knives of my very innocent boyfriend”.

“Well, you’ll have to think further about having knives so close to the floor, you know”, he muttered. Loki furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why?”.

Tony ignored him and walked to you earnestly, with the most serious face expression you’ve ever seen, and everyone observed quietly. He grabbed you by the shoulders, and inhaled a deep breath. All of the sudden, his eyes got watery, and you realized Banner had told him about the pregnancy. Your heart beat so fast you thought you’d faint again, right there. The corners of his lips formed a tiny smile, and he hugged you tightly. Loki was certainly confused now. As far as he knew, Tony didn’t like him, and why would he be so happy about you moving out? It’s not like you were his only child, either.

“I’m so proud of you”, he whispered, and then Loki had the feeling he wasn’t talking about the new apartment, but didn’t ask any further.

That night you managed to cook something special, even though you still hadn’t gotten the gas installed. You cooked together, and laughed at every minor inconvenience the house could give you. The doors of the countertop cabinets were the perfect height for Loki’s 6’4” ass to stump his head every time he tried to open it.

After some time of silent cooking, absorbed on each’s thoughts, Loki asked about your dad’s pride.

“Oh, he’s… well, he just, gets very emotional with these things”. He chuckled at your very obvious lie.

“No, he doesn’t. Certainly not with me”.

“Come on, he likes you now. He likes anyone I love, because you make me happy, and because he has no other choice”.

“Well… I thought he’d be less amused”, he admitted. “Hasn’t he? Other choice, I mean”.

“I don’t think so. He’d have to deal. Family is family”.

“Oh, do I know about that”, he said, cutting a carrot more strongly than before. You laughed.

“I meant it in a good way”.

“Well, your family is one thing, mine is another… I can’t push yours to like me, as much as I would like to. They’re very nice, and I wish I had a family like that, but I don’t”.

“Love, family is built”, you said, this time a little more serious. He repressed a smile, still looking at the vegetables. “You’re part of this, too, you know?”.

“Of this?”.

“You’re family”.

He didn’t repress the smile this time.

“You’re right. You’re my family, too, my love”.

“You…”, you took a deep breath. It was the perfect moment. “Do you ever imagine us in the future?”.

“Why yes, of course”.

“Really?”.

“I want to spend all your life with you. I didn’t want to rush into things because… I don’t know, scaring you out of anything, but I…”, he said, and the alarm on your phone went off, to take the rice from the fridge. You two laughed at how mundane this conversation seemed. “But I love you, and I want you by my side”.

“Okay. Well I do too. That’s good, right? That’s good”.

“Yes, of course it’s good, why so doubtful?”, he laughed, grabbing a tomato and stabbing it.

“Because I’m pregnant”.

“Yeah”, he chuckled, without actually realizing what you just said. And then, he fell. “Hold on, what did you just say?”.

“I’m… I’m having a baby. Yours, of course”, you clarified. You felt like you had to, but it wasn’t actually necessary. Silence filled the kitchen.

“Oh dear” he paused. He left the knife over the counter and looked at you, looking for any trace of a joke. You weren’t joking, and you grew nervous as he let time pass by without saying a word. “How could you not tell me this before moving in?”, he muttered, still in a bit of a shock.

“Oh. Well… I…”.

“I wouldn’t have let you carry those heavy boxes, love, I’m so sorry”, he said, and cupped your cheeks. “Are you really…?”. You sighed in relief. For a moment you thought of the worse.

“Yes, I am”.

His arms embraced you completely, hugging you as tight as he allowed himself to. He muttered how much he loved you, and how happy you had just made him, for the rest of his life.

Later that night, as you laid in bed, he cuddled you from behind with his hands on your tummy and his lips on your bare shoulder. You could feel his soft breathing grazing your skin, and his warmth keeping you safe.

“Loki”, you whispered, checking if he was still awake. You couldn’t sleep.

“Yes, love?”, he whispered back.

“Are you sure you want to be a daddy? With me?”.

He turned you around, and lowered his head to your abdomen. He sank his face and kissed all around your stomach and hips, leaving a trace of kisses up to your neck, and then your lips.

“How could I not?”, he whispered in a low voice. Burying his nose in the crook of your neck, teased “besides, the word daddy comes out so well from your lips”.

You laughed softly, and after some more silence that was fairly filled with loving stares, a thought crossed his head and you saw the light of his eyes turn to dark.

“What is it, love?”, you put a strand of his hair behind an ear.

“I… I’m just realizing something bad”, he said, and you nodded. “I’m a Frost Giant”.

“Why is it bad?”.

“My actual form is bigger than this. And… colder. And if the baby were Jötun too...”.

“You think the baby might hurt me?”.

“They might. I don’t know. Oh no, what if they hurts you?”, he began to panic, and you shushed him, kissing his temples.

“Don’t worry, Lokes. If that’s the case, we’ll figure it out”, you reassured him. “And maybe it’s not. And we’ll have a little and very healthy half-Jötun running around this small apartment. When have we not solved our issues? We’re good at that bit”.

“You’re right. You’re right, my dear”. He sighed, and then chuckled. “Should we have gotten a bigger place?”.

“We’ll be a very close family”, you laughed.

“We already are”, he whispered, cuddling back to you. “We are a very close family”.

[annie-mit-ie]

Glimpses: Part 13 (Kathryn Hahn x Fem!Reader)

Part 1 // previous chapter <<< >>> next chapter

Summary: Just a casual catch-up.

Word Count: 2k

A/N: I don't even know what's happening with Kathryn anymore. Guess it's all going "downhill" from here. Don't get mad! It'll be better soon, I promise! ;)

Tag List: @danvers97 @zafirosreverie @srtamercurio @wanatag @pulledbythestars17 @plantowl @spacehahn

Playlist! :)

_____________________________________________________________________________

A couple days pass before you get another sign of life from Kathryn. It's the weekend again and you are lying on your bed, looking up at the ceiling. Alex is talking away on FaceTime, currently ranting about something that happened at her workplace earlier this week. She always does that, lets people walk over her and then complains about it to you.

You are just about to sit up and shut her down to make her stand up for herself more as a mail comes in. For a moment, you are confused, as you have never read the mail address it is coming from before. Still, you immediately open it to read through, a move that doesn't go unnoticed by Alex, who has stopped talking by now. 

"What is it?" She asks, looking rather concerned.

You are unsure what to say and talk as you read the mail. "Hmmmmmm, OH. Oh it's from Kathryn! Oh this took me way too long. But, you know, if all those "a prince from god knows where wants to send you money"-mails I wasn't sure what to expect." Both of you laugh as you read on.

Just as always, Alex is the perfect example of a nosy neighbor. "What does it saaaay? Don't keep me in the dark, ma'am!", she says and grins into the camera. Nearly done reading, you look up and shoot her an annoyed look. As a joke, obviously, but really, Alex needs to calm down sometimes. You reread the mail and prepare to summarize it for the both of you.

Essentially, Kathryn is simply talking about how she had broken her phone on the way to Europe as they made their way through the airport and spent a couple days hunting down your e-mail address to reach out to you again. She doesn't have a new phone just yet, because she took it as a chance to dive into the script and prepare for the shooting, but feels like it's about time she updates and checks in on you. Furthermore, to really focus on the movie, she decided to not cope the numbers from her old phone just now. Instead, she got a completely new, empty phone and only handed out her number to a handful of people, so she can really be one with the project.

It takes a while for you to understand that this means you are special to her and she chose you out of (probably) a lot of people to stay in contact with. If it wasn't for Alex, you would probably fall into a hole now and over analyze if this means more or not, but she interrupts your train of thought, as always.

"Isn't that just SO Kathryn? Like, I can totally see her sitting there, choosing not to have a phone so she can read her scripts in peace and become her character. That's how passionate she is, ugh, I love her."

Usually, you would agree and say you love her, too, but as of lately you can't bring yourself to say these words out loud anymore, since they feel way too intimate considering the relationship you have formed with Kathryn over the last couple of weeks. So, instead of saying anything, you simply nod and read the mail again before typing the number she provided you with into your phone.

A part of you is very happy about the mail and Kathryn's update, but you have to admit that there is also a part of you that wishes she would've said something about missing you. You miss her,  mentally and physically. You miss her touch and her warmth and, thinking about it for a little too long, you miss what kissing her lips feels like. And you miss how her hair feels on your skin as she bends over you. If you're being honest, you simply miss everything about her.

Alex seems to sense your thoughts and breaks the silence. "You miss her, don't you?"

You don't want to think about it any deeper as you can feel some tears forming in the corners of your eyes. Instead, you just nod as you bite the inside of your lower lip, holding them back.

"You know, Y/N. You should tell her. I am really sure she misses you, too. Like, in THAT way. If you tell me everything that happens between the two of you at all times, then I'm pretty sure she is in love with you, too, you know?" "I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH HER!", you suddenly jump and get way louder than you meant to be. Or are you? Hell, you don't even know anymore. Fact is, Kathryn is gone and won't be back for a while and there is no way for you to change that and that is why you shouldn't dwell into those feelings because after all you'll just get hurt anyway.

You decide to shoot a quick message to the number Kathryn provided you with and let her know you read the mail and hope she is doing alright. Also you can't help but tell her how incredibly boring life is without her - could be seen as you telling her you miss her, but doesn't have to be read that way if she doesn't want it.

Alex finally rants about work a little longer before you decide to watch a movie together since it's getting late on her end and you usually spend your Sundays watching a movie or two, whenever both of you are available. 

It takes Kathryn until around noon the next day to answer your message and she seems rather stressed, as it simply reads "Let's catch up tonight! x", as if she didn't even get to finish typing it all out. Excited for the night, you plan out the rest of the day and secretly hope she will acknowledged any kind of feelings she might have in any way, so you can finally talk it all out. 

You're sitting outside in your mom's garden in between all of her flowers on a comfy garden bench as the call comes in and decide to take it with your computer that is placed on the garden table beside you. This way, you can sit and act more comfortably and can grab a blanket or pillow with your hands instead of holding onto your phone.

"Hiya Hon! I missed your face!" Kathryn speaks in excitement as her wide grin fills the screen. She is also taking the call with a computer, as she is just putting her phone away when she sees you.

You smile softly and a warm fuzzy feeling makes itself at home in your body. „Hey Kathryn.. you look beautiful tonight, as always.“

Kathryn blushes as a cheeky smile plays along her lips and makes herself comfortable on the couch that's placed next to the hotel room window. You can see the last couple of sunrays cradling her face as she leans back and the sun hits her features through the open window. She is wearing a white loose shirt and a thin golden necklace is resting around her neck. Her fingers caress the cold metal as she looks at you, softly biting the right side of her lover lip.

„How are you doing, Sweetie?“ she says and you don’t know what to reply. You want to tell her that you miss her - more than just physically -, you want to tell her that she is occupying your thoughts and dreams and that you want to be with her and how it crushes you that she isn’t with you right now. Yet, something is holding you back, because somehow, you feel like she needs to be the one to bring it up first.

Your breath hitches as she does. „I miss you, honey.“

Your heart is racing and you can feel it beating in your throat in anticipation of what she might say next. „I miss sitting with you and laughing, yeah, but I also really miss kissing you. I can’t believe we don’t get to do that for such a long time.“ She groans.

Yeah. That. Of course she misses that. You sink back into the couch, slightly disappointed, but at the same time - what did you expect?

She notices. „Is everything alright, Love?“ she seems worried.

„Yeah! I’m good. It’s just been a rough week and not being able to sit and, you know, spent time with you just seems wrong.“ You’re not lying.

She nods. „It does. You’re right.“

„I know.“ For a moment, both of you fall silent, caught up in your thoughts. Kathryn is still playing with her necklace, as she is lying on the couch in a very relaxed position with her foot propped up and, all of a sudden, looks absolutely heartbroken.

You can’t stand to see her like this and decide to change the topic. You sit up straight again. „So… HOW IS IT? Tell me all about it! The set, the project, YOUR COLLEAGUES and like… I know you can’t really tell me anything, but like… TELL ME EVERYTHING.“

Her laughter fills the room. You did it, you made both of you happy. „Alright, well. It seems to be a very suspenseful movie and the cast is just great. Lots of people my age but also a couple young ones that remind me of you,“ she winks. „I enjoy working here very much so far.“

Speaking about other people has your attention, so you decide to dig deeper. „So, they all treat you like the Queen you are.“

She waves it off. „Oh SHUSH. You are crazy. Although… you are not wrong, all of them treat me very well.“ 

A small smile plays around her lips and, for a moment, you wonder why, but she is already changing the topic. “We’re actually going out for dinner in the upcoming week. I am very excited. It’s gonna be just a couple of us, but, you know me, I love connecting with the others. Bouncing off ideas and all.”

You nod. You DO know her. “That sounds amazing Kathryn! I am beyond excited for you.”

In the distance, you can hear thunder and see the clouds getting darker. Looking back at her, you catch her yawning. “Hey you? It’s getting stormy out here," You look around you again. "I think there’s a storm coming.”

“OH NO.” She mumbles, before she yawns again.

“ALSO,” you try to get her attention back. “You, ma’am, seem to be pretty tired tonight.”

Forcefully keeping her eyes open, she scans your face. “NEVER. I am never tired. I always go to bed late.” She laughs.

“Kathryn…” you really don’t want to be a literal mom in front of her again, but she doesn’t actually leave you a choice.

“I KNOW, I know,” she laughs. “I had a night shoot last night and I think I can finally feel the aftermath.” She yawns again. This time, you yawn with her. “See, you’re tired, too, and I can actually hear AND see the storm approaching behind you. I need you to stay save and get inside.”

You nod, already grabbing the things you put on your table. “Don’t go silent on me again, yeah?”

“I promise I won’t.” She says and you believe her.

“Alright then, good night, K.” Kathryn smiles at the nickname.

“Sleep well, Y/N. And again, text me anytime, promise I'll be there as soon as I can.” And with that, all good byes are said and you immediately close your computer and storm inside after hanging up as the first raindrops hit you.

The storm is starting to get heavier and the incoming rain is now hitting the windows hard as the thunder rolls in - a perfect representation of your thoughts and feelings piling up inside of you.

[script-nef]

An actual break | Gojou Satoru

Category: fluff

2.6k words; Beach date [4/6]

← Previous chapter | Masterlist

You haven’t been to the beach in months. So a car trip for hours, where you can blank out and peer out of the window to enjoy the wonderful and ever-changing scenery is amazing. Dipping your feet in the water or eating from food vendors or enjoying the warm summer sun on your skin. Perhaps getting a tan if the weather is perfect. This would all be perfectly enjoyable and possible.

If it wasn’t for work.

“[Surname]-san, why are you coming with us? You said you can’t fight.” Itadori calls from the backseat, nestled not-so-comfortably between Fushiguro and Kugisaki. 

Wouldn’t it be better if Kugisaki is in the middle since she’s the smallest and the skinniest? The thought drifts into your head but you soon understand why. As soon as the words leave his mouth it’s met with a firm and resounding slap on the arm. Itadori’s yelp of pain is silenced under her hiss of “God, you’re so tactless! Now move over, it’s getting cramped with all of the bags.” Ah, she didn’t want to sit in the middle. And what bags? I didn’t bring any.

They keep their banter up and a quick glance to both Gojou and Fushiguro indicates that they have no intention of stopping it. Gojou is actually humming through the bickering. Why do I have to be the adult? He’s like, 5 years older than me. That’s literally what he said as the reason to drive instead of you. 

“It’s fine, Kugisaki-san. I’m coming along because there’s been a lot of cursed spirit activity around here and I need to see if something abnormal is happening. I’m not going to get in the way of the fight so you don’t need to worry.” You send Itadori a smile through the back mirror which he responds with a quick nod, then a confused look.

“Isn’t that Gojou-sensei’s responsibilities?” The mentioned adult laughs and smoothly makes a right turn. You want to slap him.

“Normally, yes, but he insists on being insufferable.” You turn to face them, leaning onto the seat with a scowl. “The report he made was nearly illegible and last time something like this happened, and I had to sit down with him for 3 hours to complete it. Even then, he was going off topic half the time and trying to distract me. Itadori-kun, Kugisaki-san, listen to me. If he doesn’t do his work, you have to practically force him.”

“Doesn’t work.” Fushiguro comments while looking out the window. Gojou has the audacity to laugh again.

“We had a great time! You were laughing your head off by the time we were done.” A light tug on your shirt makes you sit back properly. The scowl stays in place.

“I missed dinner! And I missed the last episode of Haikyuu thanks to that!”

“Fine, fine. I’ll take it up by buying you dinner, okay?” He must be kidding if that makes up for missing your favourite anime. Kuroo came and went thanks to him. The car comes to an abrupt stop just as you’re about to complain again. “We have arrived!”

Salt wafts in the air as the sea twinkles underneath the afternoon sun. It’s hot today, and humid enough to make your clothes stick to your skin, which is gross. Sunny and warm means a swim will be ideal, but you have to take care of the whole recurring curses thing first. Previous reports have said that they were all mid-level, so hopefully Gojou’s students won’t have that much of a problem taking care of them. That also means they, including you as well, might have the opportunity to relax for the rest of the day. 

The actual spot is somewhere in the nearby forest, filled thick with trees and so large that even if someone went missing it would take ages to search. An ideal hunting place since a lot of people visit there. Numbers dropped quite a bit after the fifth person “went missing”. 

The first task is to cover the place with a curtain. Since the place is so large and not encompassing the entire place was deemed too risky, large amounts of cursed energy is required. Hence Gojou’s efforts right now.

“[Name]-san.” Kugisaki calls you. “Are you coming in with us?” Her voice is tentative, like she doesn’t want to offend you. It’s kind of funny because she shows more respect for you than her actual teacher for some reason. Gojou complained about it before. She doesn’t know the extent, or more accurately the lack of, your powers and has a right to be worried. All she knows is that you can’t fight. 

“Ah, I am coming in, but I’ll stay far away from the fight. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“And I’ll be right by her side!” Gojou snaps into thin air, linking his arm with yours.  “Your personal bodyguard! But I’m sure you guys can handle this one.” Still humming a tune, he sends them along their way with a reassuring smile. You smile at Kugisaki and wish her good luck. Shooting Gojou a suspicious glare, she runs ahead to the two boys and starts whispering. They look back at the two of you and get into what seems to be an argument. A bad thing to do right before a possibly life-threatening mission.

You watch the group disappear deeper into the woods, fear gripping at your heart. This is actually the first time in the field after years of being tucked away in an office. Ken-chan specifically requested it due to your unique cursed energy situation. Apparently that was the first time he asked for a favour to the principle and he never asked for anything again. They can handle themselves, you’re sure, but Itadori already had a close call.

“Worried?” Gojou, on the other hand, sounds like he has no concerns in the world. Maybe that’s a testament to how much he trusts his students. It doesn’t alleviate your agitation. “It’s fine, we can just take a break here and if trouble comes, they can take care of it themselves.” You stare at him incredulously. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I’ll step in if something goes wrong. You’re all in safe hands.”

There is no one better than him in terms of fighting with cursed energy. How on earth someone like this gets imbued with endless power, you’ll never know. Sighing, you take a seat on a fallen log. The moss on them tickles your fingers. It feels nice, something to distract you from your brain being its usual bastard and thinking the worst case scenario. Gojou plops himself down right next to you. 

“We can go see them if you’re that worried, mother hen.” Nudging his leg shuts him up. Closing your eyes, you concentrate on reaching out for their cursed energy. Eight signals flicker from where they went, three blazing stronger than the others. One of them is nearly blinding. Sukuna is on a completely different level. If there’s that much of a difference in energy, they’ll finish soon and come back to have fun for the rest of the day. God knows they need it.

Your eyes flit open and come face to face with Gojou’s blindfold. It causes you to fall backwards and you brace for impact with a little yelp. But Gojou’s arm surrounds your abdomen, lifting you into the air and onto your feet. Heartbeats thud in your ears thanks to the sudden adrenaline boost.

“Did I scare you?” His laugh is cheeky. “I’m bored… Wanna play 20 questions?” As usual, his train of thought is impossible to even attempt to follow. A window of hundreds of tabs wrestling to be the first all the time is probably what the inside of his mind looks like.

“Sure, why not.”

Fushiguro, Itadori and Kugisaki all perk up when they receive the news of a day off to enjoy the beach. Since it’s closed off to the civilians, it’ll be like a private party. Something to keep their mind off of another mission that’s bound to come soon.

While they run off to the beach, you go to talk to the park rangers for the paperwork. Gojou asks if you want company but someone needs to supervise the children. The process takes barely 10 minutes anyway.

When you come back to the beach, the trio is screaming in the sea while trying to fight each other. Even Fushiguro is laughing. Childlike innocence is beautiful and long overdue. Two huge parasols and towels are laid out nearby where they’re playing. Gojou is out of his usual attire and in a swimming trunk. His blindfold is still on. Is this what was in the bags?

Now that you look more closely at the students, they’re all in swimwear as well. Looks like you’re the only one that didn’t get a memo. 

“Heya! Done?”  

“No thanks to you, Mr The-Whole-Reason-I’m-Here-In-The-First-Place.” He laughs at the nickname. 

“You should change.”

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit. Nobody told me and I was just thinking of dipping my feet.”

“Nobara brought you one. It’s in the bag labelled ‘If you look inside I’m going to kill you.’” Laughter comes out at the absurdity.

“Why did Kugisaki—”

“Because she wants you to relax. Now come on! Let’s have fun!” he pushes you excitedly towards the car. It’s really weird how someone your senior has more energy than you and his three students combined. Sighing, you trek back and find the bag. It really is labelled that, in caps. Kugisaki is a good kid. 

There’s a bathroom nearby for you to change in. The wind is still pretty strong when you walk out but you’re saved thanks to the school jacket. There’s also a pair of flip-flops. Ken-chan must have helped since they all fit perfectly. 

Itadori is being half-drowned when you come back. Fushiguro and Kugisaki are merciless when it comes to fighting. Gojou smiles as you walk into his line of sight. Scooting over to let you into the shade, he lies back onto the towel and stretches his legs out into the sun with a slight groan. You stay sitting up, watching the three children absentmindedly. 

Sunlight tickles your feet. The sea breeze stops it from being too hot but it’s slowly getting stuffier under the jacket. Quickly discarding it, Gojou catches your eyes while you fold it up.

It’s impossible to tell if he’s awake or sleeping thanks to his signature blindfold, but this is the most relaxed you’ve seen him in years; hands folded behind his head and muscles completely loose. Small scars dot his body, probably gained from fights which he deemed insignificant enough to bother Shouko with or heal himself. In a way, it’s a reminder for all the battles he’s survived. Pretty easily too, you’re guessing. There’s a deep one on his stomach and your hand moves towards it for some reason.

Long fingers intercept your hand just before it touches the scratched skin, entwining themselves to you. One end of Gojou’s lips quirks up. 

“I’m going to be embarrassed if you keep looking at my body, you know.” You immediately attempt to rip your hand back but he’s got you locked tight. He’s not even using Infinity. Heat threatens to explode your face because he’s been awake all this time and you’re going to die from shame. “If you wanted to touch me then you could have just asked.” Your fingers graze against the skin on his stomach for a split second but he loosens his grip and you will be damned if you don’t take that chance. 

Gojou cackles, enjoying your flustered state, and he’s halfway to suffocation because he’s laughing too much. His instincts still allow him to move out of the way for your punch. Doesn’t stop him from laughing though. Even his students, who were screaming and playing like they didn’t have a care in the world, are looking at the two of you. God, where’s a hole for me to die in right now?

Eventually, his laughter dies off. He’s still chuckling though. His teeth glint in the light as he gives you a wide smile. A sense of foreboding washes over you. 

“Up we go!”

“What?” Two arms hook under your knees and back, lifting you effortlessly into the air. Your body bounces in his arms every time he takes a step closer to the sea.

“Wait Gojou, wait wait wait wait!” 

“Gojou-sensei wai—” 

The water is freezing. 

“Gojou Satoru, I’m going to kill you!”

“That’s admirable! I’m sure you can do it!” Fushiguro snickers as you swipe an arm at Gojou, who moves away effortlessly again. Hair is plastered to your face and this rage is not going to subside unless you rip the blindfold off his smirking face and dunk his head into the water. But he keeps dodging you, just barely, as if to taunt you further.

Exhaustion sets in quickly since moving around in water is a lot harder and anger eats away at your stamina. Just as you’re about to give up, Gojou’s face is slapped with a wave of water. Everyone looks to Kugisaki. She has the biggest smile you’ve ever seen.

“Pfft.” Fushiguro’s laughter breaks the silence. Itadori snickers at Gojou’s drooping hair. Soon everyone’s laughing. Then Gojou whips water that hits all three of them straight in the chest with a resounding smack. They immediately retaliate with a wave that you get caught up in. 

It somehow turns into a students vs adults fight. Delighted laughter echoes in the air as everyone yells and shrieks when assaulted with icy water. There’s an unspoken rule to not use cursed energy, which is why your side is being pushed back. There’s no beating three excited kids when they’re on a holiday high. 

Backtracking a bit to get away from the constant surges of water, you don’t realise you’re going deeper and deeper into the sea. A rock shifts underneath your feet and you’re plunged into the cold grips of the sea, not even given enough time to call for help. Panic overtakes your senses as you squeeze your eyes shut, hands scrambling for something to hold onto. 

“[Name]!” Warmth engulfs you as Gojou lifts you out of the murky depth, worry and dread weaved into his voice. You blink rapidly as he gently brushes the hair off your face, and you see his eyes without the blindfolds for the first time. “Look at me, are you alright?”

They’re… indescribably beautiful. It’s the purest and translucent blue you’ve seen in your life, able to beat the colour of the ocean or the sky on its clearest days. It could compete with even the most exquisite sapphire locked up in a vault underground. And they’re clouded with concern and fear because of you.

“[Surname]-san!” Bringing yourself up by hugging Gojou’s neck, you see the trio wading through the water to you, dread clear on their faces. Itadori reaches you and rapidly asks if you’re fine and that he can’t possibly describe how sorry he is. It looks like he’ll dig his head into the ocean floor if you ask him to do it. Like he’s waiting for you to reprimand him.

But all that comes out is laughter, bright and childlike. They all look at you like you’re crazy. You have no idea why you’re laughing either. Maybe you’ve finally gone insane.

But being in Gojou’s arms, seeing his and Itadori’s face relax, brings you so much happiness. Tightening your arms around Gojou’s neck, you rest your head on top of his as he calms them down. 

Maybe it’s the adrenaline from nearly drowning, maybe it’s something else, but your heart thumps rapidly into your ribcage, probably loud enough for him to feel.

Next chapter →

[mandalorewhore]

Hunter (formerly Hunter and Prey)

Cis-Female Reader Insert/ Din Djarin

Gif by @themandaloriandaily

Thank u to @cptnbvcks, @whenimaunicorn, and of course @no-droids for the inspiration and your superior writing skills, whenever i was stuck on a portion i would reread all of u guy’s works and feel inspired again

Rating: Explicit Content Warnings: Exhibitionism, Oral Sex, Rough Oral Sex, Breath Play, Deep Throating, Masturbation, Pining, Depictions Of Violence, Canon-Typical Violence Words: 11k AO3 LINK

Summary: AU where Din Djarin stays with the mercenary group owned by Ranzar Malk. Takes place a few years before Din is contracted for Grogu's bounty. You're a merc trying to make a name for yourself in the group when circumstances end up having you run away with Din. You become his hunting partner in order to support yourself but you cant help falling in love with him, even as trained killers chase you across the galaxy.

FULL FIC:

As a mercenary, you wouldn’t consider yourself an overly sensitive person. 

Maker knows you wouldn’t have lasted a week in the job if you couldn’t handle your emotions. Although you don’t consider yourself entirely void of empathy, having a sense of detachment is useful when your waking hours are spent committing crimes throughout the galaxy.

          So why the fuck are you so jealous right now?

          The obscene moans and harsh slapping that echoes throughout the hangar shouldn’t inspire a larger reaction than disgust as you dutifully continue to repair the blaster marks on one of the rogue-class starfighters. Luckily, it seems that most of your immediate associates have ran off into the deeper areas of the bay to toll your last mission.

Excluding three members, you guess.

          Thank the fucking Maker Migs isn’t here You think bitterly, willing the sparks to fly higher and machine rumble louder as you carefully manipulate your buffing laser on the metal surface. His snarky attitude certainly wouldn’t lessen your misery as you try to drown out the sounds of sex. Raunchy words hiss, bouncing off the metal walls, before finding your feet and slithering up your limbs with a foulness that chokes you. Controlling the hot spinning laser seems to stoke your inner seething more than it distracts you. 

“Mando! Stars, keep-fuck- keep doing that,” you hear Xi’an echoing. Fucking Xi’an. She knows what she’s doing to you. The cruel Twi’lek is far too observant to not know that she is practically comm-station broadcasting her sexual exploits to the entire crew, and with that sheer volume, might as well the entire galaxy. You truly wouldn’t care about her sex life if it wasn’t blatantly obvious that Xi’an was doing this to mock you. You know this is meant for your ears only, a repeat of every other time you’ve found yourself stuck with this chore.  

Even if she wasn’t directly rubbing the fact that she was fucking the Mandalorian in your face, you don’t doubt that she would find a way to taunt your nonexistent sex life just for the fun of it. Another salacious moan echoes in the bay causing you to cringe and slightly jerk the repair tool in frustration.

Fuck, why did it have to be Mando? Aren’t there enough people on this kriffing space station to warm her bed? And how is he being so quiet right now? After a second you remember that’s a stupid question, considering he is probably the quietest person you’ve ever met.

His reservation serves to intimidate your targets, all the while unintentionally stoking that warmth in your belly when you are near him. His all-encompassing presence when he enters a room strikes fear in the hearts of the opposition, meanwhile, you are secretly pressing your thighs together in desire, enjoying the spectacle?.

 You’ve found yourself reveling in the few jobs where Ran’s strategy has you in a decoy-role, weaponizing your feminine charm to lull your target into a false sense of power. The muscle composing of Burg and Mando make quick work of those men once they're thoroughly wrapped up in your wiles. Despite being placed together for jobs on several occasions you’ve never actually had a real conversation with him. 

You’re too scared to talk to him, a near-silent man covered head to toe in Beskar, but you make money killing people and robbing gangs every week. It would be funnier if that purple freak wasn’t so vile. You don’t even know how to casually approach him.. Nice job killing those guys while I manipulated them into trying to fuck me! I’m pretty good with a gun, too. Maker, it’s so ridiculous that you don’t even bother with trying to figure it out. Other fantasies are easier to picture, such as the thought of him strolling across the room to slot himself in-between your spread legs, directing that intensity into your willing, aching body.

  This infuriating crush is why you suppose that your envy wouldn’t be as biting if you caught some sort of noise from the man during these displays of exhibitionism. It would give you something to repeat in your mind while you stow away in the late hours of the night seeking your own release. You guess the inability to hear him is proof of how far Xi’an is pushing her volume. It’s all just to piss you off. 

“Uhg, how miserable..” You mutter to yourself, allowing a little moment of self-indulgent angst. Typically, you wouldn’t allow yourself to wallow like a petulant teen seeing as you’re a literal fucking criminal. 

I’m supposed to be a hardass, dammit you think, spirits low as repairs wrap up far too swiftly. You swear you’ll buff right through every layer in the ship if you keep procrastinating on finishing your job and wandering into the tucked away fresher for a shower. Wandering past….them.

Wherever they are choosing to fuck can’t be that far considering the slap of skin on skin is already fucking loud enough. The sounds seem to be emanating from a vent not too high up the wall, you deduce it connects to one of the bunk rooms not too far from the landing pad you’re working next to. It really is fucking loud with all these metal surfaces to echo off of. Making your way to your small bunk might cause you to go deaf and if the last thing you ever hear is Xi’an wailing as she rubs in the fact that you aren’t fucking Mando, well, you might just take this spinning laser to your head. Unfortunately, at this point, the exterior of the gunship couldn’t possibly get more pristine.

Sighing in defeat, you push up from your crouching position on the metal floor and start to assemble your tools for clean-up while the sounds of Twi’lek pleasure predictably pick up  in volume.

“Fuck, fuck-Ah I’m close, I-I’m going to-“ A literal howl pierces the air as your gut twists with discomfort. Fuck, this is so awkward... and like, weird? Does he consent to this? Does he like that we can hear it? Maker.. Pushing that thought out of your mind you start to jog to your goal of the darkened hall that leads to the station fresher, still so wrapped up in jealousy that you almost miss the rough modulated growl accompanying the scream.

 O-oh.

Oh shit. Was that Mando….Moaning?

The swirling jealousy is suddenly overtaken by a- stars- painful heat, so debilitating that you stumble and almost double over with an intensity that shoots through your groin. Okay well, now you feel like an actual pervert. This display of eroticism was engineered by Xi’an to make you uncomfortable, not so painfully turned on that it’s dizzying. You vaguely register a growing slickness between your legs as you hurry along the cold hallway, desperate to drench yourself in icy water and pretend to forget the sound of Mando moaning.

Shit, Maker, was he cumming? Was that what he sounds like when-- no stopstopnope. Don’t think about that. Your inner monologue is running amuck as you desperately try to block it out. This feels kinda gross, as if you’re a greasy peeping tom spying on Mando’s private endeavors even though this whole situation was shoved in your face to make you ache in countless, longing ways.

That deep growl repeats in your mind as you hum nonsensically under your breath, tapping your skull as if you can knock the sound out of your consciousness despite being well aware that you will go to your fucking grave with every detail. The top of your inner thighs is so embarrassingly slick that you have to resist waddling along the corridor to the showers. Just as you are about to round the first corner, one of the side bunker doors slides halfway opens with a whoosh. The smirking Twi’lek saunters out like the loth-cat who got the cream.

I suppose she did get the cream... Your split-second of sour mirth is further spoiled as Xi’an slides the rest of the door open revealing the gleam of silver beskar and red steel as the ever still Mandalorian adjusting his…thigh armor. You spy a large vent at the junction between wall and ceiling, confirming your earlier suspicions that she chose this location on purpose. Quickly glancing between Mando and Xi’an, your face uncontrollably floods with fire when her giggles pierce the air. You register his helmet tilting toward you right as Xi’an’s tongue slowly extends to liiiick her fingers, any curiosity at his gesture burning away in revulsion.

What does she get out of making everyone uncomfortable? You think to yourself, wanting to squirm away from the obscenity but resolving to hold your ground.

“Xi’an,” You greet the two shortly, hands linked behind your back. “Mando.”  He nods.

“Sorry,” Xi’an offers in a voice devoid of guilt. “Were we being too loud? I would never want to distract you from your… projects.” Her taunting smile curls so widely that it is almost disturbing. “What would the team do without our junior mechanic!”

Her cackle rings through the suddenly freezing hall as you spin on your heel and try to not look like you’re fleeing. Red is tinting the edges of your vision from her insult while tears threaten to flood your eyes out of embarrassment.

You need to get to that shower quickly.

    ----------------

  As the tepid shower rains down on your flushed body, you childishly wonder if you should run away. Or rather, if you could run away considering you technically don’t own any of the ships currently residing in the hangar bay. Although you technically have free reign to pilot most of the spaceships available, that freedom entirely applies to transportation between merc assignments . The thought of running away from your current acquaintances on a stolen ship is not appealing. In fact, the only crew member owning a personal vessel happens to be Mando, his Razer Crest gunship was often subject to your mechanic skills.

Mando, who always offered a genuine “Thank you.” after you’d spend hours touching up the vessel’s damage procured from the rare missions he lent its flight to. Mando, the person who you are presently trying to not think about while naked and still trembling with emotion.

Your sillier fantasies would sometimes involve stealing away in his gunship, hand pressed over his chest and leg thrown across his lower body like a romance novel while he skillfully pilots the ship away. Kriff, you felt like a soft girl whenever you run this scenario through your mind, so cliché and campy that you cringe at yourself. Thus, this particular dive into your consciousness was reserved for special moments such as lying in bed after a strenuous job, or after long days spent working through that junkyard of hangar bay trying to strong-arm your way into earning worth in the company. Private moments where you are finally comfortable letting your guard down to drift aimlessly throughout maladaptive daydreams.

Not so soft fantasies exist in your mind as well. Once again that modulated groan springs to the forefront of your mind causing your clit to throb softly. The conflicting feelings of embarrassment, rage, and painful arousal serves to create an energizing cocktail that goes straight to your pussy.

‘Fuck it,” You whisper breathily to yourself, “Nows as good a time as ever..” your fingers are trailing down your stomach as you say the words out loud. You adjust the water to be slightly warmer and sigh as the comfortable heat compliments your tickling fingers. If only you could replace your hands with the significantly larger leather-clad ones of a certain bounty hunter. The thought spikes your arousal as you lightly brush against your mound, choosing to tease yourself as images flash through your mind. The armor-clad Mandalorian gripping the back of your neck to you press facedown on the floor of his ship and take his cock. Or your legs spread wide across his hips, crushing your pussy on his groin while he’s seated in the pilot seat of his ship.

Your fingers dip slightly into your slick hole then drag up to your clit causing you to bite your free palm and hold back a moan. Eyelids heavy, you give in to the fantasies and begin to earnestly rub at your clit.

“Mmf Maker, f-fuck..”, you whine into your hand at the thought of him breaking your pussy open. You just know he fucks hard -- it’s a given that the crazy Twi’lek would be one for rougher sexual affairs. Someone who spends nearly every moment of life feeling nothing but the weight of fabric and beskar on their skin must be so fucking touch starved. You bet the opportunities he’s had to feel a tight cunt wrapped around his length would completely overwhelm his restraint. Muffled moans begin to fill the fresher as your fingers speed up between your legs, head hanging forward into the metal wall and water dripping off your brows.

Your eyes flutter shut as you pull your hand from your lips to tug at your hardened nipple, other hand still between your legs, imagining a dark visor being trained on your soaking wet, writhing body. The image sends a shooting pleasure up your spine as you spin around and press your back to the wall. Imagining his dark form watching you from the other side of the gathering steam, you open your thighs and spread your labia apart, sighing at the wet sound it makes. “Like what you see, hunter..?” you whisper into the empty room wishing he would find you in this shower.

Removing your fingers from your nipple you reach down to your crotch and greedily fill yourself with two fingers, pumping in and out as your other hand works at your swollen clit. The volume of your now unmuffled pleasure is likely overheard by anyone on this section of the station, but you can't find it in yourself to give a shit. If Xi’an can screech out her orgasms at any given opportunity to fuck with you then let them hear.

Let him hear.

Your imagination runs rampant at the notion that he could hunt down your gasps and take care of you himself, causing you to gasp louder. S-shit people can hear you, you just won't say his name out loud, it's fine, it's f-fine- The thought of him discovering you here is so hot that it's blinding, and suddenly your orgasm is rushing up to crush you entirely.

Your lower half is locked tight then suddenly your knees buckle and you’re cumming hard. Your choked gasps cutting through the steamy shower like blaster fire as you peak higher, uncontrollably calling out for the Mandalorian while white-hot pleasure wrings you dry. Let him hear you crying for him as you gush around your fingers, convulsing in bliss.

     In the shuddering aftershocks, you don’t hear the uncharacteristically loud padding of leather boots retreating away from the fresher door.

    ------------------------------------------

    You’re good at your job. You wouldn’t be doing it if you truly couldn’t handle the ordeal of being a mercenary. The whole point of the job is to take care of the dirty work, so those far disconnected wouldn’t have to dwell on their choices too hard. You’re used to not asking questions, motivated by credits and reputation alone. But in moments like these, a job going this awry… well, you just feel like pure shit. This hit was way too easy and far too filthy even for your career mostly consisting of professional filth. It was so glaringly obvious that even if your associate’s numbers were sliced in half, you would still sweep the ground with your winnings.

And what meager earnings they are.

The crew’s assignment this round was to hit a casino shipment just outside the outer rim planet of Cantonica. Due to the Razer Crest’s ability to fly under the radar of both Imperial and New republic records, Ran rudely allotted that Mando should allow his ship’s use for crew transport. You’re surprised he agreed at all, but perhaps the prospect of gain motivated him. His motivations are rarely clear to you. You’re guessing the price of a wealthy city’s supply sounded frankly too tempting for everyone involved; Ran was practically salivating over the drawing board for this particular errand. One would imagine a hull stacked to the top with credits and the finest luxuries for Canto Blight’s flashy tourists. It is Catonica’s main attraction after all.

But once the team’s resident crime droid, Zero, breached the cargo ship's record, the whole team is  informed that the cargo-freighter ship only contains “organics”.

Slaves.

          In the end, Migs remarked that there may still be something of worth to obtain from this job, and thus the plan morphed into an robbery on the surface once the cargo landed at its isolated dock. You reluctantly agreed to continue while Mando shortly nodded, both of you last to assent on this change in direction.

----------------   

Some hours later you’re crouching in a derelict warehouse while the lessening blaster fire showers spark like fireworks across your corneas. The fighting between your crew and the dockyard guards has almost died down at this point and you take the moment to catch your breath behind a large stack of cargo boxes.

          “Holy stars,” you gasp out, head falling between your knees as a wave of guilt consumes you momentarily. This job fucking blows. It’s so much easier robbing Imps and gangs because they are inherently bad fucking people. Robbing a group of slaves is the lowest point you think you have ever hit in your life. This is so wrong, this is so so wrong, they don’t even have ownership of their own lives and here your crew of fucking mercenaries swoops in with a vengeance over being cheated out of something that we didn’t own in the first place.

The last straw was when you witnessed a young bedraggled woman fearfully tossing the Twi’lek sibling, Qin, a small wooden necklace, the last possession from her life before slavery. You ended up turning tail and running deeper into the dock while Qin needlessly hissed at her just to enjoy her terror. You’re sure he’ll just toss the thing after the job is over.

“I never would’ve agreed to this…” You breathe out shakily to the empty air, hollowness swallowing your ability to compartmentalize your humanity from the nature of this work. You are still fighting the impulse to give in to that deep pit of sorrow when a large shadow makes you start and grip your blaster before relaxing in recognition at the chrome gleam.

          “Oh, hey, Mando,” Smiling tightly in his presence as he approaches silently, his helmet tilted down at your crouched form. His gaze makes you straighten up quickly, realizing that you probably shouldn’t look so stricken in front of your crime associate. Gotta look tough, can’t let people think you’re too soft for this work. Man, didn’t he help start the company? That thought motivates you further to stand up and face him head-on.

 “Not what we expected huh? Certainly no Canto luxury here..” you quietly murmur to his cheek groove.

If you looked directly where his eyes might be he would likely catch the sparkle of moisture threatening to pool at your bottom lashes.

          “No,” he breathes shortly through the modulator. “Not this.” Something in his voice inspires the bravery to glance at his T-shaped visor. Compared to his usual tone of speech he almost sounds …stricken right now. Distraught by this display of debauchery your crewmates have shown the slaves and few people manning the dock. It's not noticeable unless you’ve been around him enough to read him on some level but deep down you know he feels the same way. You try to recall him taking part in the violent takeover and realize he was barely present for the ordeal. Aside from the initial violence that broke out during landing he hardly did anything and was noticeably absent once the slaves were targeted. In the back of your mind, you pray that he won't be reprimanded for the lack of effort. The thought is ridiculous but you’re scared anyway.

Stars, this is all too much, your head is swirling with grief and stress as your heart rate picks up and suddenly you are so desperate for humanity, for empathy  that you lose your filter and-

          “Couldn’t stomach it either?” You blurt out to him, desperately hoping he understands and will not judge your deep sorrow for the enslaved people affected by this brutal takedown. Your mind catches up in panic half a second later when Mando doesn’t immediately respond. Did you just seek sensitivity from the Mandalorian? Fuck. Wait. That sounded like an insult too. Fuck um-

“Ah, um I-I mean. I just mean I don’t remember you firing on anyone helpless and I um- I didn’t either, I didn’t fire my blaster at all to be honest I-Fuck- I hid. They’re just slaves not Imps, Mando. The guards were taken out in seconds and-” You hiccup and stutter as tears gather at the edges of your eyes and begin to fall. You feel so overwhelmed with anxiety and guilt that all of a sudden you forgot about his open show of emotion.

Pull it together, don't do this in front of the Mandalorian. He is the very picture of a stoic, hardened mercenary and now you’re kriffing crying in front of him? It briefly registers that this is the first time you’ve ever spoken one on one with him, the both of you were almost always alone or with members of Ran’s party during time off. You internally curse your existence for thinking you could tearfully word vomit in front of a fucking bounty hunter and get comforted by him. Your knowledge of Mandalorians is limited, despite knowing one, yet you think the point of his whole creed about giving up your identity and giving yourself to war. Why the fuck did you cry in front of a damn Manodlorian? You’re just starting to unfreeze from your panic-stricken muscles to dab at your cheeks when a gloved hand swiftly brushes just below your eye to catch a tear.

          ‘This wouldn’t have happened if that Droid could do his job,” You glance up at him in shock at his biting tone juxtaposed with the gentle gesture, but he’s already turning away, voice rotating with his visor. “The worst is over now that the shooting stopped. Let’s round up the others.”

          He pauses with his back turned and you take that moment to compose yourself. You’ve only shed a few tears so your eyes can’t be that red.

“O-okay.. .” You reply, trying to inject your usual backbone into the tone of your response before moving to follow him around the piled boxes and regroup. Staring into your warped reflection in the back of his helmet you try to find the words to thank him but they get lost in the ghosts of today.

          Your mind is still swirling but the clouds of despair have mostly cleared away. You know you don’t have time to dwell on your short interaction yet your mind is fully absorbed in his every move, both present and past. Coming from anyone else his reaction would seem shitty and dismissive but coming from Mando... well, you're honestly shocked. Those two sentences were fairly long for someone usually so silent. And what about his reaction to the way this job has gone? Him brushing away your tears?

You are gazing down at your feet deep in thought when you suddenly bonk into the back of Mandos broad back, wacking your forehead on the base of his helmet.

          “Oww.” You groan lightly, rubbing your forehead and stepping to the right of his body, “Why’d you stop so sudde-'' It is then when you notice the muffled whimpering coming from the clearing in front of the both of you. A crimson pool of blood laps at the Mandalorian’s boots, its kiss staining the leather a deep black.

Now you are truly sickened, bile rising in your throat as a ragged gasp leaves your mouth.

          “Why…? How can you..”

          “Xi’an!”

          Your choked whisper leaves your lips at the same moment the Mandalorian fucking barks the Twi’leks name.

A crumpled form adjacent to her body is the source of the whimpering and bloodshed, their contorted limbs looking less than human as muscles strain against metal binders. Xi’an’s triangular blades are dripping in her grip as she spins on her toes like a dancer and flounces childishly in the direction of your frozen form. Tearing your gaze away from the shell of a human you meet her eyes with open hostility. She stops several yards away from you.

          ‘Aha! So good to see you two. Isn’t this job sooo disappointing?” She calls out to the two of you casually. When no one responds her body deflates as she twists her knee inward and clutches one arm peevishly. Performative. “What? No hello? I could’ve died today!” She cackles at the notion.

          Mando is a statue at your side. You can feel the rage radiate in waves off his body like a heater and you wonder what's going to happen if Xi’an pushes this further. Your heightened stress from moments before is vibrating throughout your nervous system, compelling you to step forward and speak up.

          “Xi’an… this-this is completely unnecessary. The only thing required to complete our hit was taking out guards! What the fuc- and they were clearly incapacitated by you before you decided to take your blade to their skin!” Okay, that came out a little shakier than intended, but it feels like a disservice to hide your revulsion for her actions with the victim lying right there. “You could’ve just hit em’ in the skull with a blaster shot if you needed them out of your way!”

          “Guards? Oh, I already took them out. This-” Xi’an punctuates the word a kick into the person’s stomach causing them to groan weakly, “Well, this is just an Organic as Zero would put it.” Organic? Fucking- You jump slightly and glance to your left when the Mandorlorian makes a shocked exclamation at her words. Maker, you’re so sickened you forgot he was with you.

“You mean a Slave? From the shipment?” He hisses the question through his teeth. You can’t see his face but you can hear the tension in his jaw, his body still a ridged form at your side. Xi’an pokes her tongue out and runs it lightly over the pointed edge of her teeth while she considers her response. She seems to be measuring her response to Mando with a little more care than she bothered with while speaking to you. You’re guessing that she cares far more about his perception of her than your personal attitude regarding the Twi’lek. Wouldn’t want to piss off her fuck buddy.

“Answer me!” He snaps when her response takes a millisecond too long. Your purple associate sighs, exasperated now.

“Yes a slave,” she hisses, drawing out the word in contempt, “Really I’m doing him a favor. From the looks of him, he was picked up on Tatooine. I doubt he even had a family to mourn him back on that shitty dustball of a planet-” Her eyes suddenly bulge as she clamps her mouth shut, gaze fixed on the armored man betraying a twinkle of... fear?

Slowly, you turn to him. The pit in your stomach is somehow weighing heavier than ever when you take in his body language. If you thought he was emanating white-hot rage before Xi’an’s response then you don’t even have words for how he holds himself now. You take a half step back in trepidation as the air around you seems to warp around the Mandalorian’s gravitational pull.

“A foundling?” His tone is unexpectedly quiet for someone who is manipulating the very atmosphere of this desert planet. Time seems to freeze. Shadows are ebbing at the edge of your vision and your head feels like it is going to pop in the pressure. You want to do something, anything, to relieve the pressing wall closing in on the three of you, to somehow end this interaction so that you can crawl in on yourself and bury the ghosts in the back of your mind. Fuck, your mouth is so dry, heart palpitating with a painful squeeze. Shit, fuck, what do you do? What did he mean by that question and why is Xi’an freaking out? You’re still fixated on the gleam of his helmet, rushing to find appropriate words when-

A flash of red explodes in your peripheral-vision, sparks seeming to fly 20 feet in the air. The words die in your throat in shock.

Did he? Did he shoot her? You barely saw him move yet as your mind races to catch up on this turn of events, you realize his blaster is drawn low on his hip, while the rest of him hasn't shifted an inch. The pressure cooker disappears in a sweeping wave of silence.

You swallow and turn awkwardly back to Xi’an. Oh.

He shot the slave.

Xi’an is just as stiff as you, her arms slightly raised as if she instinctively tried to ward off the blaster fire before realizing its trajectory. You are still processing his actions when a gloved hand wraps around your wrist and pulls you swiftly as he runs from the scene, tossing a flash bomb behind the both of you.

Without question, you run with him.

  ----------------

  “Hey!” Within minutes your chest is burning from keeping up with Mando’s relentless pace. You’re fit from your job but he's twice as big as you and probably more than twice as fast. You get the feeling that he's moving slower than usual so you aren’t left behind. Struggling to control your breathing, you attempt to make sense of the jumbled thoughts by wheezing out, “M-Mando what are we doing?”

“Running.”

“Okay, fucking obviously!”

“To the Crest.” He clarifies just as shortly. Okay. Okay, once you reach his ship maybe you’ll get more answers. Right now, both of your priorities align with getting the fuck away from Xi’an before her vision returns and she comes after the both of you. But you can’t yet push some of the recent events to the side.

“You shot him.” You mean to phrase it like a question but it comes out more accusatory than intended with how breathless you are. “The slave you shot-“

“I ended his suffering.”

Oh. That makes sense, even if it makes your chest contract in duress you recognize his killing the slave came from a place of empathy. What exactly did he say right before drawing his blaster, something about… foundlings? You don’t know the term exactly but contextually you can guess it means orphan or alone. Fuck, this is so bad. Just what are you going to tell everyone? He may not have directed his shot at the Twi’lek but he temporarily blinded her. That still counts as an attack on a member of the team. Your chest is burning unbearably now so you slap at Mando’s vambrance to signal your need for a break. He drags you gasping around a corner into the shadowy edge of the warehouse.

“Listen, hey, look at me.” His large hand reaches out to gently grip the side of your face, warm against your skin and smelling sharply of blaster residue. Looking into his visor you realize your cheeks are damp again as hysterical hiccups threaten to make themselves known. “We are going to run. You don’t have to come with me of course but I unintentionally put you in the position of being complicit by attacking Xi’an. That-that wasn’t the plan… but I was leaving the company anyway”

His chest suddenly deflates as he rids it of air.

You realize you were holding your breath at the same time as him as you gasp out, before rubbing at your cheeks and asking dumbly, “Y-you were… leaving the company? Is Ran pissed?”

Stupid question. Of course, he’d be pissed at losing the one Mandalorian in the group. Mandos' presence gave him cred. 

“Ran doesn’t know.”

“Ran doesn’t… what? When was this happening then?”

Mando’s visor turns away from your gaze and looks off into the middle distance. His gloved hand on your face is still gripping gently to lock you in place. “Today. That’s the only reason why I agreed to let him use the Crest for this job.”

He shakes his helmet slightly and turns back to your face, the metal covering his face becoming your main focal point while the room spins. You can't see his features, and never would, yet you feel as if you are looking directly into his eyes. Your body has impeccable timing when you feel your cheeks heat blushing.

However, your senses return in an instant when a familiar piercing howl echoes off the walls. The glove drops and he is gripping your shoulders,

“Can you run again?”

Adrenaline springs your limbs into action as you spin around, catching his wrist and pulling, roles reversed as you lead him in the direction of his ship.

Dust is billowing from below whenever your feet meet the ground. The steps sound like thunder in your ears as paranoia begins to worm its way into the forefront of your senses, every corner, every shadow, every blindspot could be hiding one of your former partners. Xi’an is an excellent assassin; time and time again her main skill has proven to be stealth, targets dropping dead expectedly. The Crest isn’t very far thankfully. It sits right on the back of the targeted freighter since Zero requires physical contact to hack the other ship systems for paths. Oooohh shit you forgot about the droid- 

“Mando, Zero’s in there.” You puff out shortly in between breaths. 

“Fuck that droid. I’ll take care of him, just back me up.” You both slide around a corner as he responds, bringing the two ships into your field of view. You are facing the rear end of the larger vessel, thankfully leaving the coast clear as far as you can tell. Mando’s helmet scans the area then nods, indicating the go-ahead with his fingers before running ahead of you. You follow him, casting fervent glances behind you for any signs of life. You reach the ship a millisecond after he does, his vambrance held high to lower the rear ramp. As the ramp begins to lower he grips your shoulders and spins you around dizzily.

“Stay right outside here. The second I enter the crest I’m dropping the Droid. I’ll call you once it’s safe.” You gulp quickly and nod in assent right before he leaps into the opening of the ship.

Seconds pass. 

Your nerves are plucking way more than they normally would.. You never particularly liked Zero, but the sudden turn of taking out your ex-allies is making you high strung and nervous. Zero’s voice cuts through the silence, making you jump.

“Mandolarian, you are back early. Were the prospects plentiful despite being Organics?”

“No.” You twitch when a shot echoes in the hull followed by the clash of metal on metal.

 The Mandalorian sharply calls your name springing you into action. You enter the ship immediately spying Zero’s body under the cockpit ladder, blaster wound still smoking with red-hot metal ringing the edges. Your eyes linger a little on the droid’s body, slightly leery at the death of someone who was your backup only hours ago, then you sigh and duck to get a handle on under his shoulders, dragging him to toss out the open entryway. 

Grunting with effort you direct your voice at the cockpit, “Tossing the droid! Take off when read- Shit.”

One of the droid's hip joints gets stuck on a portion of the hull wall, preventing you from moving his corpse. Something wizzes above you at the exact moment you duck down to adjust the body, right where the back of your head was a second ago. One of Xi’an’s triangle blades ricochets off the wall and slides across the floor, stopping right under your nose. Oh f-

“Fuck! Fly, fly, she's here Mando!” You lurch to the floor as the thrusters kick in, twisting your head to try and get eyes on the clearing. Through the rapidly closing ramp, you see a flash of purple skin, but before you have time to react the Crest door snaps shut. Heart thudding at what feels like a million beats per second, you try to get your bearings on the floor. Twisting sideways you suddenly find yourself face to face with Zero’s corpse, revulsion whipping through you like lightning as you scramble backward on your hands and feet.

    You can’t do this right now. 

    The last thing you want is to seem weak and needy in front of the man who just selflessly saved your life, for reasons still unknown, but you can’t do this right now. A creature of habit, you fold your neck between your legs, the same reaction you had to the violence on Cantonica. A minute, you just need a minute, a minute and then this horrible drone will go away, and you can deal with this, you’re a fucking mercenary…  the blackness swarming at the edges of your sight overtakes you all at once and you slide limply to the floor.

  ------------------------------------------

  You aren’t sure how much time has passed once you rouse. At your request, Mando tosses Zero's body before kicking into hyperdrive right about 120,000 feet in the air. You stare at its flight path until the speck disappears in the taupe shithole that is Cantonica. Feeling shaky as your adrenaline finally dips, you decide that the Crest could do with a once over before the long journey. 

After performing a quick analysis on the Crests systems it’s determined that the two of you are lucky this hunk of metal can fly. Hyperdrive operating at 67% capacity, weak communication signal if it even works half the time, plus more damage than you can currently process. If there weren’t five million different stressors weighing on you, your mechanic brain would probably explode at the current state of Mando’s ship. He probably should’ve taken it to you, or anyone else handy with tools if he wanted it to be in proper form for departure, but it makes sense that he didn’t want to draw too much attention. Hopefully, his pilot skills will compensate for the Crest’s sorry state. 

 To be fair, the whole blow-up-your-coworker-and-run-for-your-life aspect didn’t seem to be in Mando’s original plan. 

“So… where are we going?” You’re on the floor in the cockpit, back facing the passenger chair while the Mandalorian is seated pilot. After crawling under the console for a while you couldn’t bother to lift your aching muscles on the chair, resigning to scoot on your butt over to the closest object that could support you. As a result, you end up craning your neck to look up at him, his back straight in the chair. 

“My original plan was to head to Nevarro to take on a few quarries. I’m still with the guild and Karga doesn’t give a shit whether I’m running with Ran or going in alone.” You bite your lip anxiously. Oh yeah, you kinda forgot your presence threw wrench in his plan. He notices and tilts the helmet sideways at you, “You’re not in the way. I’m not concerned about you joining me, someone of your skillset is helpful to have around. I’ll introduce you to Karga so you can get on your feet.”

The compliment lifts your spirits enough to make you playful, poking at his boot with your toe, “Gee, glad I’m useful enough to keep around. All I have is my blaster and the clothes on my back, so if you drop me, I’d be  pretty fucked.” 

You giggle quietly but you know it’s the truth. All of your possessions are back on the space station, but you didn’t own too many personal artifacts, aside from some clothes and weapons. The only thing of use would’ve been your credits. You worry again at the realization, dipping your head before continuing to speak,

“Shit Mando, I don’t have any money on me. It was all back in my bunk, I don’t know how I’ll help pay for things around here unless Karga decides I can take on a quarry right away. Even then I’ll have to bring it back before I ever have a lick to my name.”

“You can make it back. I’ll split the profit from jobs that you assist me on. Cut depends on how useful you are and once you prove yourself, Karga will give you the decent pucks.” He swivels the chair and faces you, knees slightly spread as he leans forward in the chair, “Deal?”

You swallow and nod your head, mind blanking at how your head is level with the bend in his hips. You don’t think he's trying to come across as suggestive but the effect, intentional or not, invites a flutter of desire in your tummy. The Mandalorian leans back on his leather backing and sighs, the sound gentle despite the modulator warping his natural tone,

“You aren’t in my way. I swear it. If I had more time before leaving I would’ve asked you to join me anyway, you're good with your hands and always had more… compassion? Than anyone else in the company. I admire that quality.” That makes you straighten back up to meet his visor. He sounds nearly shy.

“O-oh…” You never even thought he noticed you aside from when you touched up the Razor Crest. The compliment sends warmth throughout your body, as languid as sex pollen in the near feverish effect. You don’t know how to respond at all, you’re feeling disjointed, like you may reveal too much if you don't change the subject soon. You wish you could be snappier but you’re exhausted. Maybe try for a joke?

“I g-guess you value girls good with their hands, huh. H-haha?”

Silence. Hm. 

That was the absolute worst thing you could’ve come up with. 

It didn’t meet even a single one of your simple ass goals, which entail the following:

Thank him.

Change the subject.

Not reveal how much his words make you want him to rail you.

    Wow, what the fuck- kill me. He hasn’t moved an inch, much less reacted to your shitty joke. The positioning of your bodies that you found so hot ten seconds prior is now a place you’d try anything to escape from. It’s almost comical how his height advantage serves to emphasize the disappointment in the small room. He hasn’t responded so you’re guessing he won’t bother to try. Heavy silence suffocates you to the point of desperation, you need to fill it with something right now or you swear you’ll die. 

    “I-I jus-t mean like- Well you had certain- ah- habits, you’d adhere to in your free time. Li-like um, I mean you didn’t hide much. Kinda obvious if you- listen, uh, I didn’t mean t-to say that I-I was joking around-”

“Get to the point.”

“I-” Your tummy fills with heat at his command. “Umm..” You wipe your hands on your thighs and glance down from his voice. The hours of on and off adrenaline must be majorly messing with your head. It’s kinda weird that you want him this badly after everything that went down today. Wasn’t your most recent concern something about avoiding death at the hands of a bitch you hate most in the galaxy? To be honest you can’t recall. 

The proximity of his groin is suddenly at the forefront of your mind. Again.

He slowly tilts his helmet to look at you, arms bending to settle in a relaxed position on the armrests. You are extremely aware of how you’re blatantly staring at him but your mind is slow to come up with a valid response, blankness written in the reflection on his visor. His position on the chair is mountainous, looming over your body in a way that boxes you in between the passenger seat and the Crest console. You feel like a prey animal... In a sexy way? Maybe?

Although, when he leans back into his seat, helmet still trained on your face, you are unsure if you’re actually pissing him off or not.

“Say what you mean.” 

Okay, the sexy is mixing a little with anxiety. 

“Ah- Um well, I just mean like. It’s not like you hid it from me- everyone else too. In the company. Ran’s company? ‘Cause, I- We… always overheard you and Xi’a- Her…” Fuck, your mouth is so dry that last part came out like a squeak. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling again um, I kinda thought you were doing it on purpose. With Xi’an. Making me hear when you’d...fuck her.” Cheeks blazing, you duck your head back down, which doesn’t help at all since you’re just face to face with his crotch once more. 

    “You say ‘always’...” Mando’s inflection is lost somewhere between statement and question, his tone confusing enough that you end up lifting your head from its bowed position below him. 

“Y-yes?”

“As in this was a common position you found yourself in? Did you overhear me multiple times?” Now he poses not one but two questions for you, neither of which you feel brave enough to answer steadily. You can’t deflect further at this point so you answer him with a sigh.

“No, I only heard you once. Xi’an always wanted me to hear her though. It was gross.” Mortified, you gather your legs under your body to stand up from the floor. You think the hyperdrive issue is fixed well enough to hold until Nevarro. When your hand reaches for the edge of the armrest to pull yourself up it is abruptly enveloped in warm leather. Half crouched, your arm jerks back a little in surprise at his touch. 

“I wasn’t asking about myself specifically. And I wouldn’t force you to participate in her games, had I known.”

Maker strike my ass down. Can humans die from embarrassment? You wish it were possible if it got you out of this conversation. He’s correct, he didn’t specify whether you had heard his moaning. If you weren’t nursing these stupid feelings for Mando you never would’ve given away the fact that you memorized every tantalizing second of what you overheard. Not only is this embarrassing, but you don’t want him to think you’re a sicko who wanted to eavesdrop in the first place. The clarification about his awareness of Xi'an's timing is comforting but not enough to erase what you already admitted to him. You somehow feel sweaty and bone-dry at the same time, a flush spreading over your face.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I heard you too.”

You both speak at the same second, and a beat passes before either of you process what the other said. He- what? What is he talking about? Are we having two totally different conversations right now? When did you ever fuck someone on that space station anyway… unless he means… in the fresher…

This time he is the one who breaks the silence, “You’re sorry for… overhearing me?” 

“Y-yes, I really, really, don’t want you to think I’m a creep or anything. Anything I heard was involuntary, I swear. Xi’an w-wanted to make me… Um…” You trail off shyly, sitting down again. His hand is still over yours.

“Get to the point.” His voice is filled with heat now, so low and compelling that you’d tell him anything just to keep it that way. You whisper your response, lifting your eyes to his dark visor wishing you could meet his gaze.

“She wanted to make me jealous. Over you.”

“Mm… You wanted me instead?”

“Maker, yes.”

The climate between you and the Mandalorian made a 180. Nerves dissolving like honey in tea, all at once being taken over by a hum of sexual tension while his fingers caress a warm pattern over your knuckles. Exhilaration builds within you, though in the back of your mind you are calculating the possible motives behind his advance. 

You know sometimes, after a particularly rough day, people are compelled to relieve their pent-up stress through intimacy. There’s a reason why the market of sex work thrives under wartime, terror existing constantly in a fighter’s life must be paired with the softer, inner-most comforts of knowing another living being, or they’d go mad with sorrow. Brothels made a lot of money during the last stages of the Empire’s rule from both Imps, Rebels, and neutral parties alike.

It’s not out of the ordinary for you to seek each other out right now, yet can’t help but dream that this might mean more. 

The Mandalorian’s hand currently encasing yours flips your wrist to trace the lines of your palm. Sighing you tilt your head to the side, a curtain of hair cascading across your features. His free hand reaches out to brush the strands away before he gently grips your jaw, hand large enough to press his thumb on the front of your chin while his fingers wrap lightly under your ear. 

“I heard you too, pretty girl. You called out for me in the fresher… just what were you doing in there? Describe it- please.” He speaks with such allure that you break under his voice, pressing your cheek to his palm.

    “I-I thought of you watching me while I touched my pussy. I was so wet thinking about how I want you to feel me after being under all your armor, Stars, even the wind can’t touch you Mando. I thought about how you must crave the feeling of something so soft… can I show you how soft I am?” Your free hand raises to rest gently on his knee, fingertips hesitating at the edge of his thigh piece. He is still fully suited for battle, explosives strapped to one boot and rifle across his shoulders. 

You wish so badly to help him unwind, you would never disrespect him by trying to remove his armor, but you want to help him move past the experience that was Cantonica. Mando continues to stare at you for several tense seconds before melting into your touch.

“H-helmet stays on.” He breathes out shakily, a slight tremor running through his legs as your fingers lightly explore the fabric under the edge of the piece of metal. “But the rest… the rest can come off.” 

He’s already moving to undo the magnetic connectors holding his cuirass in place so you scramble to follow his movements. The rust-colored armor on his body has complex enough attachments that you don’t really know where to begin. Your hands clamber around, mostly following his deft movements. Slowly a man of flesh and blood is revealed, and as his impenetrable exterior melts away you find the true shape of him. 

The armor serves to add a few inches of bulk on his features, enhanced proportions making out a dramatic silhouette designed to be spotted from miles away. Without it his body is still so powerful, built hard as stone and broad, hard angles melding enticingly with a hidden softness. Not hidden- you realize -it compliments him completely. The pieces fall away and you’re left with the unexplored bareness of him. He is human and warm, evidence of this betrayed in rare moments where his hands travel lightly up your arms while you work at his pauldrons, brushing through your hair here and there before finally returning to your jaw to hover in front of your lips. 

“Off.” He instructs shortly, brushing the seam of his thumb over your bottom lip. Your mouth falls open to explore him with your tongue, tasting salt, blaster residue, and a hint of the heat he holds in his body. Satisfied, you bite down gently on the glove ridge, watching as he pulls off the leather encasing his hand and drinking in the sight of golden skin as it is revealed to you inch by inch. All you’ve seen of him is one bare hand and somehow it is the sexiest thing you’ve ever laid your eyes on. Flames lick your body, spreading from your white-hot core, energy gathering with such impassioned motions that at any second now it will burst from your skin, a reaction so immense that you could birth another galaxy.

You want to taste his skin too.

“Fuck baby-” You take his middle finger down to the knuckle, emboldened by his slurred reaction, noises startling to babble out of the bounty hunter as his stoicism falls apart under your tongue. Humming around the digit, you start to bob your head gently, eyes locked on his impassive visor while filthy, filtered noises drift through the beskar. It’s like there is no barrier at all between you, the air thrumming with a longing so great that you feel one with the man crumbling before you. If you're not careful you will fall with him. 

“Mando, Plea-se,” You stutter around him, voice shaking more than intended. “I want to f-feel more of you, let me touch you, please-” You squawk, mouth empty when he suddenly rips off the other glove, tossing it behind him before reaching down his torso to pull the hem of his trousers south. You gulp in trepidation, unable to tear your eyes away as enticing dark hair displays itself, leading to the base of his cock. He pauses, but you’re so caught up in discovering him that you don’t notice the tonal shift.

“Before I show you this-” dark words enunciated by palming his cock through the fabric, “I need to know where to put it.” 

What kind of question is that? You’re honestly bewildered, mind blank before you realize that the options are overwhelming. In his own way, he is asking you to verbalize consent, which is very much appreciated. You want him in your pussy, to work his way deep in your body and in turn, discover just how human you are... yet… You feel oddly unprepared. It’s not that you don't think you can take him, in fact you can't recall ever being this wet in your life. It’s just… after today… you want to help him unwind but you’re still not fully there. You still want to please him, but you’re not ready to let him know you that way, not until you come back to yourself. 

So in that case…

“I want you in my mouth, hunter.” 

Mando growls then grabs your wrist, guiding it over the edge of fabric and onto his throbbing length. He shudders while you process the feeling of him. He is thick, the width of his cock so wide that your middle finger and thumb are straining to meet each other. You release him from his pants then try to pull at the hem to wiggle them down his thighs. He obliges and lifts his hips so that you can reveal more delicious olive skin, but he makes no move to assist you with his hands. You get the feeling that he is drinking in your efforts to touch him, the sensation of your jerky movements giving away how much you want him. 

You kiss and nibble at every possible moment, one hand drifting lightly over the length of him, twirling at the base dusted with short, dark hairs, cupping his balls then moving back up, your mouth traveling to meet your fingers. Hissing, his hand flashes up to meet the back of your head, fingers tangling in strands to tug tightly on your scalp. With a light moan, you tongue along the side of him, teasing hot air more than actually licking him. 

“Look at me- fuck - pretty thing, s-so fucking willing for me, I want to see you take my cock as far as you can, s-show me how much you can handle-” He pulls harder at your hair, dragging you roughly enough to control your neck, back up from where you were sucking at his hip to the head of his dick. “Are you going to show me yourself before or after I gag you on it?”

Fuck, you never realized how tantalizing submitting to another person could be, not until that came out of his mouth, rough enough to clip through the modulator. You elect to show him what you can handle. Leaning forward to meet the swollen tip, you part your plush lips and kiss at the drop of precum gathered there, before relaxing your jaw to take him halfway. He groans and nearly doubles over at the sudden sensation, holding you there for a second before you draw back up to spread your saliva more thoroughly. Lips rewet, you sink back down on him, gliding smoothly as you pull his cock deep within your mouth, drinking in his breathy groans.

“Maker, yes … that’s it, fuck-” You attempt to sink even further down on the Mandalorian’s impressive length, but stop short a few inches from his base, blunt head pressing in your throat. “-so good, s-so good for me baby, you look perfect like this.”

He’s so far back inside you that you can’t access your vocal cords to produce any noise at all, otherwise you’d be whining at his praise. Your hands are free to assist you at any time, you could circumvent his daunting length if you wanted help. But you want to impress him. Besides, your palms are warm on his torso, traveling under his shirt to feel the ropes of muscle there. You don’t want to remove them. 

You surface to the tip, taking a deep breath in preparation before ducking to take him as deep as you can manage. He watches you, entranced at the sight of a face so lovingly strained to please him. Your gag reflex spasms but you will it away, determined to fully engulf his cock at least once even if you find you’re unable to handle more. The noises rising from your throat are brutal and raw as you choke around him, his helmet blurring when tears fill your eyes. You bob a little then almost give up when the urge to retreat floods your senses but then he starts talking again- so filthy that you can’t stop yet.

“You’re trying so fucking hard, fuck, I love seeing you wrapped around my cock, Maker, you feel so fucking good, I can’t imagine how your little pussy must feel, you’re so warm, so, fu-fuck, tight…” The stream of filth serves as your motivation to bob for as long as possible on his length, throat stretched obscenely around him. You realize hazily that there are tears streaming from your eyes, but the urge to pull off is lost in dizziness as the oxygen in your lungs depletes. You keep going and going, your high at its peak as you recognize that your body is starting to fade in black. You should pull off and breathe, one quick breath is all you need, but the way he’s filling you is more addicting than the purest Spice. He notices when you start to slump into his lap and pulls you up gasping for air. 

Nearly fainting never felt so good.

“Shit, are you alright?” You nod and rest your cheek on his thigh, face turned on its side to meet his visor as he spins little circles in your vision. A soothing hand brushes against your cheekbone, tracing a gentle pattern on its height. “You were doing so good for me baby. No need to hurt yourself.” Mando’s voice is still breathless, offering you tenderness through a cloud of stimuli.

“I’m okay- I’m… I just need to catch m-my breath.” You’re still heaving unevenly but you want him so bad, you want him to finish for you, your wants translating into weak pawing at his dick trying to give him more sensation. He catches your wrist with an airy laugh and guides your uncoordinated movements to better stroke him. The sound fills you with light.

“Pretty thing, I know you want me. Try to not die on my dick before I’ve had the chance to feel your cunt.” His hand leaves yours on his length and reaches over your ass to cup the apex of your thighs through your pants. You jerk up and almost crack the crown of your head open on the chin of his beskar but his other palm is pressed between your shoulder blades, keeping you bent over in his lap. A garbled noise tears from you when his index and ring finger spread on either side of your outer lips, allowing his middle finger space to travel up and down your seam, so wet that you can feel the slickness gathering through two layers of fabric onto the tip of his finger.

“Ah, Fuck! Mando, I-I- wait please, please, wait-” He draws his hand up away from your wet center, reaching your asscheek before you yelp and snatch his forearm to stop him from retreating farther. “I s-still wanna, I wanna make you come. You first, before-before me.”

“Baby, you’re… fuck okay. Can I still touch you?” Mando caresses your hip at the fold where it meets your thigh. 

“Later, let me d-do this, please.” He allows you to lift his arm from your spine and rest it on the crown of your head as you move forward and try to meet his cock again. Pulling his thighs to the edge of the chair, you settle back on your knees and stroking him one-handed while he hums low in his throat. You wrap your lips around the swollen head, sucking and swirling your tongue before taking him deeper, this time using a palm to stroke the last few inches instead of opening your throat. Starting up a rhythm of bopping and stroking his velvety length that pulls incredible noises out of the Mandalorian, each one going straight to your swollen clit. 

Coming up for air you start to jerk him off faster with your slick hand, meeting the T of his visor with your heated gaze, hoping that you are finding his eyes. He must enjoy the sight of you jerking him off because his moans start to tighten, hips thrusting into your palm. 

“K-keep fucking doing that, good girl, fuck I-I’m close, where-where do you want it, baby?” You respond by settling low near his thighs, putting his cock above you with your tongue sticking out, wetting the tip while your wrist moves faster. Somehow he’s harder than ever and-

Mando curses through his teeth as his cock convulses, warm spurts of cum painting your tongue, cheeks, and nose bridge, rivers of him flowing down your chin and dribbling on the swell of your chest. He grips the back of your head tight enough to hurt, then rips one hand down to stroke himself, smearing the mess across your features. 

The fingers on your scalp loosen then graciously begin rubbing at the base of your neck to soothe the soreness on your head. One of your eyelids is sealed shut due to a rope of his cum crossing from nose to eyebrow, the other eye unfocused, hazy with pleasure as you listen to him come down from his peak. A low noise rises from your throat as he massages your scalp, feeling tingly all over as blood flows back to the area.

“T-Thank you… that was great, I-“ he breaks off when you start to gather his cum off your skin, licking it off your fingers while studying his visor through your lashes. “Hey, let me…” 

He surprises you by wiping at your face with his cape, still hanging off the arm of the pilot chair from when you detached it. You giggle, “Is there a way to wash that on here? I can’t even tell if that hole in the wall includes a shower.” 

“There’s enough to work with.” 

You laugh louder at that, “That’s encouraging. I hope there’s ‘enough to work with’ so that I don’t meet Karga covered in cum.” Pausing to consider your current position, you add, “Actually, that might help my case.” 

Face wiped mostly clean, you're able to open both eyes now, taking in his posture. A jolt shoots through you when you realize he’s holding himself differently for some reason, he looks almost predatory but maybe that’s just the effect of Beskar’s harsh angles... Nope, he’s leaning forward now, caging you in again.  

“You want to look sexy for Karga?” Gulping, you try to figure out the best response but he continues before your slow-ass mind can catch up, “You’re right, that might help you get better pucks. But I don’t know if I want my hunting partner to be introduced that way. I still need to return the favor…” 

He lifts your body with ease, pulling you sideways onto his lap. Mando’s warm hand slides along the bend in your knee, slow and sensual on your body. He caresses you aimlessly, relaxed in the afterglow of cumming so hard. You’re still tightly wound, energy balled in your body as his movements serve to wind you up even more. But he’s not moving any faster so you relax into his broad chest, enjoying the feeling of his bare skin. 

Time blurs with your senses. His touch pulls you to a place right out of your daydreams, where everything is draped in velveteen and silk. You’ve honestly forgotten his original goal in the first place, and as his arm begins to drag on its path, it seems like he has too. The stroking on your arm has lowered your arousal to a simmer, leaving you content to stay laying across his lap, the glow of hyperspace streaking over your bodies. All at once, you realize he’s no longer moving over your body, his chest rising and falling deeply against your shoulder. 

He’s asleep. Surprise registers sleepily somewhere in your exhausted mind, the realization behind layers of warm fuzz. Didn’t even think he slept. 

There’s a full day of travel until you reach Nevarro. Snuggling closer into the warm crook of his neck to resolve to live in this dream for as long as possible. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

[lovemesickly]

plastic hearts - prologue

plastic hearts masterlist

a/n : this is my first ever fanfiction that i’ve written on tumblr, so i hope that most of you if not all of you enjoy reading my story. also quick side note if you didn’t know before but during this book (much later) i plan for the main character to have a love interest. based on what you’ll know about the mc, please feel free to share your opinion on who you think her love interest should be.

chapter warning(s) : none so far

prologue : job hunting

song : sunlight by hozier

It was days like today that made it hard to get up, the woman’s body, who was laying in her bed, ached with every breath she took. She was tired, exhausted and if she had it her way she’d go back to sleep, but it seemed that every time she closed her eyes she was plagued with the feeling of terror. Stretching her arms out, she pulled the warm covers off of her just to rest her feet on the stinging cold hardwood. Trying to wake herself up she took a moment, running her palms over her eyes trying her hardest to rub the sleep out of them.

Though she ended up taking more than a moment as she got lost in her thoughts, lost in the feeling of the coldness that enveloped her in a hug. Finally after trial and tribulation, she managed to stand up on her feet. Some how her body caring for itself as she was dressed and ready to go about her day. Stepping out into her hallway, she ended up shutting her front door with her wallet and keys in hand. Double checking that her apartment was in fact locked, she looked down at her watch covered wrist only to see that it was fifteen minutes to two.

Racking her brain she calculated the time in her head, estimating that she should be back home at the latest by six thirty. Tucking her hands in the pockets of her jean jacket, she started her journey of trying to get outside, her feet themselves carrying her down the stairs. Once making her way outside, she started to trek to her destination. She had one objective today and that was to find a job. And with the rate she was going she honestly wouldn’t be able to survive off of the money she had left in her bank account.

By now an hour had passed and she hadn’t had any luck with jobs. Continuing to search the streets of Washington D.C. to find help wanted signs, the corner of her eyes seemed to catch a blur of black. Sharply turning her head, the woman got whiplash as she looked down the street only to see a black suv with tinted windows pointed in her direction entirely. She wanted to get a closer look as she couldn’t see who was in the car but knew someone was as the engine was running.

Trying to not look into it too much, she started to walk again turning her head back to it’s original position only to take a quick glance back at the suv. Though the moment she did, she was filled with surprise as the spot it previously occupied was now vacant. Huffing under her breath, the woman received weird looks as she spoke to herself silently but not as silent as she had though, “it’s nothing Alek, it’s nothing.”

Continuing with her task for the day, (the now named woman) Alek walked down every street of the metropolitan area. With that, her luck had gotten better as she managed to score a couple of interviews on the spot. Though, with every interview she was only told that they would call her in the next couple of days with the news if she got the job or not. And to be honest with how everything has been going lately she’d be surprised if she actually somehow got hired.

Furthering her quest, the sun had now set as it was close to six pm, the city of Washington D.C. busier then it had been before. By now Alek just wanted to get back to her apartment and take a blistering hot shower as her whole body was numb from the frigid cold weather. Trying to get some feeling back in her feet, she started trekking back to her apartment.

About to cross the street, Alek looked towards her right and left to make sure no cars were near by and that it was safe to cross. Looking around it was clear to the naked eye that the street was safe to cross but only to that of the naked eye. For a second she too had thought it was safe until she saw something reflect in the darkness of the night.

As her eyes couldn’t depict what exactly she had seen her feet started to carry her towards the reflective object. Alek had only taken about 3 steps when all of a sudden she seemed to realize that the reflective object wasn’t an object at all but it was actually a car. The black suv that she had seen earlier in the day to be exact. Usually, she wouldn’t be so concerned about the suv but having seen the exact same one more times this week than she really has with any other cars, it bothered her greatly.

Shaking her head, she knew exactly what the source, causing the suv to follow her every move, was. Knowing that it wasn’t going to stop until she put an end to it, she ended up turning around changing her destination to that of a bus stop instead of her apartment. Alek honestly couldn’t believe that it had to result in this, at first when she noticed the black suv she wasn’t at all worried. It was pretty normal to see suvs all around Washington D.C. it was a sight everyone sees everyday.

Though, to have seen the same suv multiple days in a row and to see it almost everywhere she went, irked her in more ways than one. Reaching the bus stop, Alek was fortunate enough to have arrived right as a bus pulled up. As the doors opened, she climbed on in only to see more than a dozen people occupying the seats.

“Where to”, a voice called out causing her to snap her head towards the direction the voice came from. Her eyes stumbled across the face that went with the voice, recognizing them as the bus driver.

Pulling a five dollar bill out from her right back pocket, Alek handed it to the burly looking man. “Virginia”, she said but she could tell that wasn’t enough from the look on that of the man now holding her once five dollar bill. Swallowing hard, she set her shoulders back while looking the driver in the eyes with a look that could only be described as blank. Though it was hard to tell as her eyes were covered by that of a baseball cap but that didn’t matter as she finished her sentence, “Quantico, Virginia”.

Just as she had uttered her sole destination, the driver closed the doors and started driving again. Seeing that almost all of the seats were taken, Alek ended up heading towards the back and taking a seat that was up against the window. As soon as she sat down she closed her eyes, taking a second to just relax and let everything soak in.

It wasn’t that she was feeling overwhelmed it was just the fact that she still wasn’t use to this life. The life of an everyday normal United States citizen, where people have real 9 to 5 jobs and don’t have to worry about the enemy. Overall, it was too much sensory overload for her body, it wasn’t just the change in environment but the people along with it. Going about their day as if everything was fine and dandy, they had families that they could go home to, people that would miss them.

Just thinking about it she got a little jealous, it was an emotion that Alek haven’t experienced that much in her life until she moved to the D.C. area. Trying to shake it out of her body, she opened her eyes and scoped around the bus. Casting her eyes to the left of her she could see that there was a middle aged man who kept tapping his foot on the floor of the bus.

By the looks of it, he had just gotten off work as he was covered in a grey tailored suit with his briefcase resting at his feet. To everyone else he might look well off that of a wealthy man and he probably was. But upon seeing his left ring finger Alek seemed to notice that there was a slight tan line accompanying it. That in and of itself was enough to tell her that he use to probably be wealthy, but all his wealth was taken away in the divorce.

Hence the tailored suit, the leather oxfords obtaining his feet, the bright silver diamond watch on the inside of his left wrist, along with his sleek black suede briefcase. It seemed that whomever he was married to, had gotten to keep everything including his car because it wasn’t everyday you saw a man like that on a bus like the one both the man and Alek were occupying.

Having glanced at the man long enough, she turned her attention back towards the window that occupied the right side of her body. She sighed as she watched the streets of D.C. wiz on by, though it turned into a blur as she was now lost in thought. She hadn’t even realized what was going on until the bus stopped and out yelled the bus driver, “we’re here”.

Slowly she lifted her head, expecting to be met with many faces only to be met with one and that being the driver of the bus. Getting up, she made her way to the front, thanking the burly looking man as she made her way down the steps and out into the crisp cold air. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her watch for the third time only to see it was closer to eight pm than it was to seven. Wow, a total of about two hours and she still didn’t even realized how long she had been on that bus for.

Pulling her denim jacket tighter around her body, Alek started her journey to her now almost reached destination. It took about 15 minutes to arrive, but once she had she couldn’t pull the door open any sooner. Stepping into the building she was met with warmth, the one thing her body had been lacking all day. Making her way towards the elevator she was quickly stopped short, “excuse me miss, but where are you going”.

Pivoting on a foot of hers, she looked at the woman who stopped her. “I was told to just make my way up, I’m here for a meeting”, Alek lied to the woman in front of her causing the unknown woman to bunch her eyebrows in confusion.

“Meeting with who? Im sorry but that can’t be visiting hours are over”, the small statute of the woman was now just getting on Aleks’ nerves.

Hearing the elevators open Alek started to walk backwards towards them. “My meeting”, Alek said just before taking a step back into the elevator, “is with SES Erin Strauss”. With that, she watched as the other woman’s face turned bright red. Whether it was from the fact that Alek was now standing in the elevator or the fact that Alek had a meeting with Strauss, she had no idea. And she didn’t stick around to find out as the elevator doors closed and she was now headed up towards the floor of the BAU.

Honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time she was in the FBI headquarters, but she knew that it was long ago. If her memory serves her right she hadn’t stepped foot in the building since she was in middle school. All in all it’s been almost two whole decades since Alek has seen the inside of the building and she wasn’t unhappy about it either. Before she knew it the doors to the elevator slid back open and she was now one step closer to her destination.

Walking towards the glass doors that led to the bullpen of the BAU, Alek swung it open only to be greeted by the stares of strangers. Minding no business to it, she continued her journey up the steps of the bullpen and walked down one of the long corridors that led to Strauss’ office. Stopping in front of her office, Alek raised her hand and knocked on the door lightly only to be met with a, “Come in”.

Opening the door, she shoved her body into Strauss’ office. As she was now in, Alek watched as Strauss looked up from her paperwork and pointed to the door behind Alek, “please shut the door and take a seat”.

Doing as told, she shut the door and sat herself down in one of the chairs opposite of the SES herself. “So to what do I owe the pleasure of you being here”, Alek could just see the cocky smirk Strauss had on her face the moment she got done asking Alek that question.

Shrugging her shoulders, Alek clasped her hands in front of her. “I don’t know, you tell me”, she wasn’t going to play Strauss’ game if that’s what she thought, “first the phone calls now the suv, what do you want from me Strauss”.

Taking her reading glasses off, the once cocky smirk on the SES’ face was now wiped off clean. “I didn’t want it to go that far, but how else was I suppose to get your attention? I tried calling bu-“.

Right as Erin mentioned the phone calls Alek cut her off, “The phone calls should have been enough of a clue that I didn’t want to talk, that I just wanted to be left alone”.

“Well you should have known that I wouldn’t stop just there”, by now Strauss had a pointed look on her face her eyebrows raised all the way to her hairline. Both of the woman were now just staring each other down while sitting in silence until Strauss let out a deep breath and continued from where she left off, “I want you to join the team”.

Shocked would be a pathetic word to describe the emotion that passed over Alek. She was more so bewildered, why on earth would Strauss say such a thing. “What, why”, where the only words that Alek could get out of her mouth at the moment.

“You’d be a great asset to the team, we could use someone like you especially with your background”, by now Alek still didn’t know how to process this all. As she still had yet to say anything Strauss decided it would be best to ask the woman opposite of her a question, “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it?”

The moment that question left her mouth, Alek was all too quick to respond, “I haven’t”. That seemed to shut the SES right up as she now looked flabbergasted. Shaking her head Alek stood up, her heart was racing through her chest almost caught in her throat, “I can’t do this”. Making her way towards the office door, Alek ended up practically slamming it open and hurrying down the corridor as she could feel the walls closing in on her.

Just as she was about to step on the floor of the BAU bullpen Alek was pulled back into reality as the voice of the person she was just speaking with rung out behind her, “Miss. Vultaggio, I understand that you’re going through some things right now but please give it one day, that’s all I ask”.

At this point Alek was fuming with anger, clenching her fist so tight she cut off the blood circulation only to turn around looking SES Erin Strauss point blank in the eyes. “I mean no disrespect ma’am, but going through some things?”, Alek all but spat out at the woman. “You have no idea what I’ve been through, the things I’ve seen, the things I’ve....done”, Alek had uttered that last word with what some could think was disgust. At that Alek closed her eyes trying to calm herself down before opening them up again, now calm Alek took a deep breath, “But, I’ll think about it”.

With that, Alek didn’t have the time to see the look on Strauss’ face as she just wanted to get the hell out of there. Turning back around Alek made her way towards the doors of the BAU only to catch out of the corner of her eye the stares of four people.

From the looks on their faces it seemed clear to Alek that they had caught the conversation or I guess the banter she just had with Strauss and to say that they were pleased would be an understatement. They probably have never heard anyone talk to Erin that way before as she was their superior, one that they weren’t very pleased with.

Though just as Alek was about to turn her attention back to getting out of there, she ended up catching the eye of the youngest one in the group. She could feel him profiling her as soon as their eyes met, though he wouldn’t be able to profile much as he probably had no idea where to start. Having been through enough during the day, Alek ticked her jaw in agitation and set her eyes forward again just to walk out of the BAU and back into the elevator.

Looking at her watch for what should be the last time that day, Alek slightly chuckled under her breath. How wrong she was about the time she would make it back to her apartment only just seemed to annoy her more than ever.

[wild-karrde]

The Quarry - Part 4

Master List | Previous Part | Next Part

Thud.

His entire chair jolted forward. He ignored her.

THUD.

“What do you want?”

“I gotta pee.”

He rolled his eyes under his helmet, heaving another deep sigh. “You shouldn’t have drank all that water.”

“Oh, come on, I’m pretty sure ‘stay hydrated’ was one of the first things they drilled into our heads as foundlings.”

“So now you’re following the creed? Funny I didn’t see your helmet anywhere when I picked you up.”

“There’s a big difference between ‘drink water’ and ‘keep a helmet on for the rest of your life and never show anyone your face or you’re unworthy of our entire culture’. Pretty sure one of those things is just good advice.”

“Unless you’re caught by a bounty hunter who now gets to decide if he’s going to let you use the ‘fresher.”

“Din, I will pee right here. Don’t think I won’t. Might even be an improvement to whatever’s coating this seat right now.”

He stared at her before getting up and hauling her to her feet. “Fine.”

He helped her down the ladder and stood in front of the refresher door. She turned to face him, holding out her wrists expectantly. He just stared at her.

“Are you serious? You’re really going to make me go with these things on?”

“You seem to think you have some sort of negotiating power here.”

“Oh come on!”

“Don’t whine. Just do your business.”

She huffed and he heard her stomach rumble. She looked up at him again. “I don’t suppose I could ask for something to eat when I get out of there.”

“You can. We’ll see if I’m feeling generous.”

She rolled her eyes, stepping into the tiny room and slamming the door shut behind her. He could hear her grunting and muttering from within as he walked over to his food stores to see what he had to give her. He opted for a ration bar and stood, waiting for her to finish up. After what felt like an eternity, the door clicked open and she stumbled back out. There was a sheen of sweat on her face and she looked even more annoyed.

He extended his hand with the ration bar, and she snatched it away, tearing it open with her teeth before biting into it. He leaned against the wall and she stared back at him as she munched.

“You do realize it’s creepy when you do that,” she said around a mouthful. “No one can see your eyes, and it’s weird.”

“That’s the point.”

“I don’t like it.”

“You’re not meant to.”

She watched him as she finished her bar and handed the wrapper back to him. “So, you gonna let me sleep in your bunk? A nap would be nice.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight unless you want to get chained up to the truss again.”

“But I’m tired.”

“Maybe you should have actually slept instead of trying to sabotage my ship.”

“I could kick a single panel too hard and sabotage this ship, Din.”

He gently started corralling her back towards the ladder to the cockpit. As she hauled herself back up with his hand bracing her, she turned to talk to him over her shoulder. “If you were me, you’d do anything to get off this bucket of bolts too. Especially if you were getting turned over to Boros Farr.”

Din froze. “Boros Farr?” He’d heard the name. Farr was the head of a more extreme faction of bounty hunters, a known rival of the Guild.

“Yeah, that’s who’s put the bounty out on me.”

He climbed the ladder up after her and they sat back in their respective seats. She swiveled hers so she could brace her feet against the back of his chair. He reached down and pushed her feet off, and her boots landed with a dull thud on the floor.

“What makes you so sure he’s after you? The bounty was anonymous when I took it. And why would Farr hire a rival organization to hunt you?”

She sighed. “Not all bounty hunting organizations are as forgiving as the Guild, and Farr probably is trying to save face by hiring you. His own people likely don’t know I left, and he’d like to keep it that way.”

He chuckled at that. “You know the Guild tried to kill me once? I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘forgiving’.”

“You’re still alive, right?”

“Yeah, but it took some work.”

Her eyes dropped to her lap. “There’s nothing that’ll convince Farr. He’s not the forgiving type.”

Din turned his helmet to look at her again, and he saw genuine fear in her eyes as she fidgeted with her fingernails. “What did you do to piss him off?”

“I left.”

He scoffed. “You really haven’t changed.”

“Yeah, well the Mandalorians didn’t try to kill me for leaving the corps.”

He grunted. “So, why is this time different?”

“You don’t get to leave Farr’s organization. You don’t just get to walk away. That’s just not who he is. You’re supposed to be a lifer.”

“And why weren’t you?”

She raised her head to look at him again, and he could tell she was searching for where she could look to meet his eyes under the visor. “I got a lead on Jon.”

She’s still looking. It’s been more than twenty years, and she’s still looking. He shook his head in frustration. Jon was Versa’s older brother. The morning of the attack on Aq Vetina, he’d left to head to the port with plans to travel to the next system over. They’d never known if he made it off world or not, but Versa had never given up hope. Jon was the reason she’d left him the first time, and now, here she was, still chasing what he thought was a fantasy. He’d known Jon, and while they’d never been as close as he and Versa were, he had no doubt that Jon would have gone looking for Versa if he was alive. He was resourceful and fiercely protective of his younger sister. Even over his years with the Guild, Din had kept his ear to the ground for any sightings or information that would lead him to Jon, but nothing ever materialized. He didn’t necessarily blame Versa for not giving up, but it frustrated him that she couldn’t see what he thought was obvious.

She was still watching him. “I know what you think,” she whispered. “But I can’t stop until I find him, even if he’s dead.”

He didn’t say anything, but the familiar tug of guilt that he’d felt when he’d turned Grogu over to the Imperials was creeping into his chest, and he didn’t like it.

------------------

As they came out of hyperspace near Tatooine, Din felt his chest tighten. He looked over at Versa who was actually fast asleep in the chair next to him this time, her knees curled up to her chest. She didn’t stir until they entered the upper atmosphere, and suddenly she was sitting upright, her eyes wide with fear. “Din, I know I have no right to ask this of you, but please, please reconsider this. It’s a death sentence if you turn me over, and you know it.”

He stared straight ahead, not answering. She took a deep shuddering breath next to him as he brought the ship into the main port. It landed with an unceremonious clank. He wished he could land at Peli’s for maintenance, but she hated having the Guild men walking around her shop, so he avoided stopping there with quarries in tow. She’d shouted at him the first time she accidentally walked into his hold and found an especially grotesque carbonite casing of a Quarren that had gone into the carbonite chamber fighting. After that, she made him promise never to bring a ship full of quarries around again.

Without saying a word, Din stood, grasping her arm gently until she yanked it away from him. He bent down until he was inches from her face. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Versa. Either way, you’re going to be in that hold when the Guild Master’s men show up to collect my quarries.”

He could see she was contemplating her options, so rather than let her sit there and come up with any ideas, he hauled her to her feet and moved her towards the ladder. Versa’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest as her eyes stared at the floor. The last time he’d seen that look was when she was getting reprimanded for losing her helmet in the quicksand, and it broke something within him. She remained silent as they stepped down the ladder and she trudged into the hold. He held her arm firmly, and moved her to stand near one of the trusses that stuck out of the hull. He felt her flex her hands as he took her wrists and knew she was trying to gauge how tightly he was holding her. He gripped her harder as he slipped the binders around the truss again, leaving her hands in front this time to not strain her injured shoulder. She never looked at him, keeping her eyes on the floor as her breathing hitched in her throat. He and opened the cargo bay door and the bright sunlight illuminated the interior of the ship.

“Din.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He turned back to look at her. Versa was staring at him with tear-filled eyes, and she gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I hurt you, and that was never my intention, but I’m sorry.”

He nodded and turned to go, but something stopped him. Dank Farrik. Din let out an incredibly deep sigh, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. I can’t believe I’m going to do this. Quickly, he turned back towards her, closing the gap between them. Versa’s face rippled with confusion as he came within inches of her.

“Din?”

“Shut up and listen closely. They cannot find out we know each other, understand? And you had better wait until you’re handed off so that I get paid. I’ve already burned my bridge with the Guild once, and I’m not eager to do it again.” He pulled the gag back into her mouth, tightening it behind her head before he pulled a binders key from his pouch. Holding it in front of her face, he whispered it again. “Wait until you’re handed off. Then go. I’m giving you a chance. That’s the best I can do.” She met his eyes and nodded slowly. Reaching under her shirt, he pulled out the chain with the pendant he’d made her on it and clipped the key to it before tucking it back under her tunic. His hand lingered at her collar half a beat too long before drifting up to cup her cheek. Gently, he rested his helmet against her forehead, letting his thumb stroke over her cheekbone.

“Good luck, Vers.”

Without another word, he turned and walked out of the hold and into the scorching Tatooine sunlight.

------------------

“Mando! It’s so good to see you again my friend!” Guild Master Jesar, the head of the Tatooine Guild faction was in his usual cantina booth with his usual bottle of spotchka sitting within reach. He poured himself a glass as Din slid into the seat across from him, tossing the fobs on the table. Jesar was portly and had a friendly demeanor, but in his short time knowing him, Din had seen him slam a bottle through an Arcona’s eye socket for trying to take more than his share.

Jesar raised an eyebrow. “All of them? In record time if I do say so myself.”

“My ship needs a lot of repairs. It was in my best interest,” Din replied casually. “All five are in my hold, but one of them isn’t encased.”

Jesar’s eyebrow went higher. “A live one? That’s uncharacteristic.”

“She broke my carbonite chamber’s controls. Was pretty determined not to wind up in one of the blocks.”

“She? The expensive bounty, I take it. Must have put up quite a fight to have broken that chamber on your watch.”

“It was needing an upgrade anyway.”

Jesar watched him for another moment before his commlink buzzed. He answered it, speaking quietly as Din glanced around the cantina. “My men have unloaded all of your quarries. The girl apparently put up quite the fight, but she’s been taken care of.” He slid a stack of credits for the other bounties across the table towards Din.

“Taken care of?” Din’s heart leapt into his throat, but he kept his voice steady as he tucked the payments into his pouch.

“Don’t worry, she’s still alive. You’ll get your ten thousand.” He motioned to a Rodian in the corner that had been speaking into a commlink as well. The Rodian nodded and approached the table, setting a case on it.

“We thank you for your service,” he said. “Here are your ten thousand credits, as promised.” Din nodded. The Rodian bowed slightly before turning on his heel and exiting the cantina quickly. The Mandalorian watched him all the way out the door.

He turned back to Jesar. “What have you got for me?”

The Guild Master spread his hands wide. “Not much, if I’m honest. You’ve been cleaning things up in record time, bringing them in faster than I can find new ones. And I’ve got the feed the rest of the Guild here as well.”

Din stared at him through his visor. “Come on, Mando. You’ve made a ton of credits in the last month. Take some time. Take a vacation. I’ll have work for you when you come back.”

“I prefer to work.”

Jesar leaned forward confidentially, lowering his voice. “We all do, Mando, but I honestly don’t have anything right now. You’ve tracked down fifteen quarries this month, and I’ve given all of the other ones I had away to other hunters. At this point, I’m actively having to look for more bounties, and I’ve never had to do that before. You’re good and bad for business right now. You and I both know you’ve brought in enough credits to float yourself for a while, and I have to feed the rest of the Guild. Take a break.” Jesar’s voice was calm, but Din could recognize a warning when he heard one.

“Very well. I’ll be back in a few weeks.”

Jesar nodded, apparently satisfied with that response. “I’ll be sure to have something for you by then.”

Din stood, slipping the case off the table and strode towards the exit. Outside, he spotted the Rodian a block or so away, frantically yelling into a commlink.

“What do you mean you LOST HER? Farr is going to KILL US ALL FOR THIS!”

Under his helmet, Din smiled.

------------

The ship was quiet as Din stepped back up the ramp and into the hold. Too quiet. He whirled, but felt the hard metal barrel of a blaster press into the side of his neck. He sighed in frustration. “What are you doing here, Vers?”

“I need a favor.” She slammed her fist against the door panel, bringing the ramp up and closing the hatch.

“Was risking my reputation and my neck by giving you an out not enough for one day?”

“Not to sound ungrateful, but you dragged me all the way out to this hellhole of a planet. The least you can do is give me a lift, Din.”

“You know, you really shouldn’t threaten someone with a blaster if you don’t intend to use it.”

“Who says I wouldn’t shoot you?”

Lightning quick, he dropped the case and pinned her against the wall, the blaster pressing even further into his throat. “I say you wouldn’t.” She was staring at him evenly, but he didn’t miss how shallow her breathing was with him standing this close. He also didn’t miss the familiar tingle that ran up his spine as he plucked the blaster from her grasp, tucking it into his belt.

Versa swallowed hard. “I need to get to Raxus.”

“I’ve got work, Vers.”

“No you don’t.”

“What makes you certain?”

“You don’t have any new fobs. You didn’t pick up new work for some reason.”

“Fine, what’s on Raxus?”

“Maybe Jon.”

He sighed deeply. “Versa-“

“Din, I know. I know you don’t think he’s still alive. I know you think I’m chasing the wind. But I got ahold of an Imperial prison discharge record from after the war. As of five years ago, a male human that matches Jon’s description and age was on Raxus. His biometrics are as close a match as any that I’ve found.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small data stick. “It’s all on here. Take a look if you doubt me.”

He stared at the data stick before taking it out of her fingers. Turning it over in his hands, he felt a slight spark of hope in his belly. He knew what this meant to her, and as much as he doubted it to be true, he had always wanted it to be for her. “Jon was never the type to get himself thrown in prison.”

“Getting thrown into an Imperial prison wasn’t hard, Din. I spent a year in one because I wouldn’t let an officer take me to dinner.”

“You were in prison?”

“Yeah, was kind of sad no one wrote me,” she joked, shoving past him. “To be fair, I did wind up punching the guy, but he deserved it. Just look at the data, Din. If you aren’t convinced, I’ll hop off this ship and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Ok, you don’t have to be a jerk about it.”

He turned the stick over in his hand a few more seconds. “Alright. Let’s go up to the cockpit. Once I get coordinates laid in for Nevarro, we’ll look at this together. If it’s not as promising as you say, I’m dropping you off on Nevarro and that’ll be it.”

“Why Nevarro?”

“I can’t resupply here with a fugitive hiding on my ship, and I’d like to get out of here before the Guild gets rehired to find you.”

She followed him up the ladder. “I doubt Farr will rehire the Guild. He’ll probably just come after me on his own since I escaped.”

“That’s not really better,” Din muttered, sliding into the pilot’s chair and starting up the pre-flight sequencing. “Why did you even join up with him in the first place? His reputation is well known.”

She stood next to him as he plugged the data stick into a port on the console. “I know. I was…desperate. I’d spent years looking for Jon, and I was wanting someone that would stop at nothing to help me. Farr promised me work and resources to look, but what I didn’t realize is that I wouldn’t actually be allowed to pursue anything I found without his permission. He manipulated me, and by the time I realized I’d been played, it was too late. I kept looking of course, and when I got this information, I knew I had to bail. I knew the potential risk.”

Din felt his chest tighten as he punched in the coordinates for Nevarro. “You should have come to me.”

“I tried that once,” she said quietly. “It didn’t go as I would have hoped.”

“We were kids, Versa. You were asking me to leave the only place I’d been able to call home since Aq Vetina. If you’d come to me a few years ago, I wouldn’t have let you go to Farr.”

“Yeah, well what’s done is done.” As the ship lifted off the ground, she reached across his shoulder and tapped a few buttons to bring up the holo display. Punching a few more keys, she brought up the file she was searching for. Din couldn’t deny that the man in the records bore a striking resemblance to Jon. The file also included a DNA sample that had been taken for biometric tracking.

“Did you check the sample against your own DNA?” he asked.

“Yes. The biometric file was corrupted, but from the data I could recover, it was a likely match for a family member. Not a guarantee, but promising.”

She sat on the arm of his seat, watching his reaction closely. He could feel the heat of her gaze as she waited for him to render his verdict as to whether her cause was worthy of his help.

“Alright. I’ll take you to Raxus. But that’s as far as I go, understand?”

He could tell she was trying to mute her reaction, but her eyes were alight. She reached down and squeezed his gloved hand. “Thank you.”

Din silently nodded as he eased the ship into hyperspace. “Get comfortable. It’s going to be a long trip.”

[psychemeanscure]

PART 13{ A part with a one whole of Jang Taeyoung. Yayks! Enjoy reading y’all~}

“Good day, Mr. Jang.”

“What’s good in a day when I can only see your ugly face Mr. Kim.”

The prosecutor groan in defeat indeed. It was his third day to be summoned on interrogation and as usual had to deal with the annoying interrogator who just only getting on his nerves every time with its lame question which even too obvious to be needed explanation. Thus with a bored breath he insults. “Can we just start your uninteresting play so I can go in peace, Mr. disloyal prosecutor?”

But seems like the latter got used to it already that he only got a smirking shaking of head instead of its irritated retractions that usually leads him to face its attacking hand who can’t even push through because of his threatening defense from the one-way tinted mirror, voice connecting to an in-charge officer behind it.

“Oh no, no, no. You would rather not do insults until today Mr. Jang, especially now that a solid headache will get you busy for the time being.”  

A different counter he heard from the prosecutor somehow. ‘What lame evidences this disloyal dog has to bark again?’ as a simple thought slip into its mind but not too long to laze him later. “Oh yeah? Let me see then, Mr. Prosecutor.” Thus the latter starts then.

And before Mr. Kim could finish his set of litany?

He was already laughing tremendously. He never gone wrong of his instincts with the Prosecutor indeed. “What the hell! That’s it, Mr. Prosecutor? The last time was because of a certain connection from a gang syndicate who’s no longer existed, and now about an old news of SIESTA drug which people involved was long gone? Come on sir, don’t you have more to give to excite me other than this? I’m getting sleepy already.”

Piercing eyes starts to bore from the prosecutor as it only takes a second for a shift of expression. Dropping the document, it holds with vigor. “Okay. Since none of this wavered you still Mr. fearless guy. I might just share the last card instead. Are you ready?”

It caught his interest indeed as a twitched brows came after him. “And what is that, Mr. Kim?”                  

Thus its clasping hands initially rest on the table after purposely turning off the button for voice over, facing him with confident arrogance. “Zilo Alcaziar. I’m sure it rang your bell, pretty isn’t it?”

His thoughts say it is, yes. He was not surprise either since he knew she’s obviously the one who tip it off, so he only waited sternly in silence to his proceeding sentences. “Son of the greatest gambler Veeros Alcaziar who’s apparently became your business partner. A treacherous partnership or shall we say, with Sung Eunyoung?”

A flick of his brows came in then as he leans a little forward as if to make sure he wasn’t ghost out by his own instinct. “Come again, Mr. Prosecutor?”

Something’s off and he can feel it. From the mere mention of her name he knew there is. If he’s truly working for her, he would rather not involve her name in any means. Unless...  

“Who told you that?”

His cold words right then only to be responded by a success laugh from the prosecutor as it leans as well enough to create a whisper to his face. “Sung Eunyoung. Who else would it be? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor you Mr. Jang. I tell you, she’s one hell of a b*---“

“I’m asking, who told you filthy dog?”

 The latter has been dragged closer onto him definitely as he forcefully grabs its necktie. Nevertheless, its confidence still unbothered by his actions. “Why? You cannot believe it? You’ve been accustomed to her? Oh my, you shouldn’t have trusted her too much Mr. Jang. Look what happened to you. Seems like she became your weakness as well.”

It even starts to tap his shoulder following another words that may surely stirred him. “Let me give you an advice, Mr. Jang Taeyoung.” Its first word which he intended to halt after a closer lean by his ear. “If you go on a hunt down, it’s always the other as the best option.”

And he confirmed it. Finally, as he grips its necktie tight enough for choking, earning a panic grant he expected. Burning eyes fixated to the stubborn dog, gritted teeth resurfaced. He speaks. “I might be reckless in some way but I’m not stupid enough to understand that, moron. Now if you don’t want to die right here right now, then better answer my f*cking question. Eh?”

The prosecutor was struggling, no doubt. Unfortunately for him, his assaulted angle isn’t obvious to the officer in-charge’s CCTV monitor that it looks like he was the one dominantly threatening him, given its bending body block Jang Taeyoung’s move and the voice over button he turn off under the table. “A-ahck. Wa-it. Mr.—Ja-ng. A-ahck.” Had no choice but plead to him. But Jang wouldn’t dare. Why would he? Instead, he chokes him much tighter. With surrendering tap with his gripping hands, it gives in.

“A-alca-ziar. V-vee-ros A-alca-ziar.”

It only takes a second then before he let go. Hearing the gasping sound of Mr. Kim who is still trying to catch his own breath the moment it sits back to its chair. “See? It’s easy Mr. Prosecutor. Now tell me more.”

“W-why should I?” still half catching air prosecutor that only made him decide for another assault. “Why? So you would not be getting more like this?”

“A-Argh!”

Earning another grunt as he vigorously steps on its shoe under the table indeed. “F*ck! Fine. Fine, alright.”

So the rest follows as one thing’s for sure.

This game they were playing is one hell of a dangerous pit ride.

~  

*Beep*

“Bullsh*t! Screw you, woman. Tss. Whatever. Why am I concerning you though? You even expose me anyway. Ugh. F*ck off!”  

Tossing his phone with irritation by a nearby couch from her unanswered calls as he glances his own portrait which she also saw last time. Passing his own banters on it as if it was a different person to scold that he even points a finger with assertion. “This is what I’m telling you sucker. On so why? Why did you have to get sti--- F*ck! The hell will I admit either.”

He shifts into firmly punching its side wall when he decided to stand up, appearing like a strict lecturer. “This is all because of you, woman! You, Sung Eunyoung. I swear you’re going to p—sh*t! why can’t I even cursed you! See, Jang Taeyoung? You’re in fault here. F*ck!”

His proceeding soliloquy indeed for he can’t help but to clench a jaw out of frustration as he moved by the glass window. And with a hard slam of palm on it and a following voice of his assistant, he’s obviously pissed.

“What?!”

The deafening reply he did that made the latter being surprised yet only takes a second to regain composure. “Zilo Alcaziar is in the VIP lobby, Boss.”

Its simple word which gives him a scorching deep breath as well. Cursing another headache, he needed to deal with. Thus he responded a piercing nod to his assistant before leaving him again.

~

“Brother!”

The thrilled greeting from Zilo which only came back from entertaining itself to talking with female receptionist by the counter. Unbothered by his impatient glare trailing its every move till occupying a seat across him. “I was informed that you’ve been waiting on the lobby only to find out you’re actually lurking for bitches instead? Tss. You are wasting my time then.”  

“Oh come on brother. As if you didn’t miss it either. Like hey, you’re a single man again. Right? Unless you can’t move on with sister. I bet you do.”

A frown came to him then. Groaning with irritation. “Can you just shut up, or am I going to pull your tongue in a second. Why are you here anyway?”  

His straight banter just to be responded by a nonchalant behavior of the other as it even leans comfortably with the seat it occupied. “What do you think?”

“And what is that?”

“Tss. Of course brother, I’m here to continue as your ally.”

Thus a silence came after. He was halt by the thought, yes but not long enough to give the young Alcaziar a stern look. “I’m not in the mood for joking Zilo.” His threatening words then just to be responded by its shaking of head. “Brother I know you’re tempted, don’t deny. Besides, watching your situation right now I’m the only one you’ve got. Punch me if it isn’t true, eh?”

Truth. He’s the only one he got. He’s been calling the investors of the Casino Hotel, trying to convince at least half of them to side him and obviously got declined. Majority of them aren’t even answering. Hell that Sung Eunyoung’s power, who else can he control when she already got them all. Dammit!

“What makes you decide otherwise then, brother?”

“Because as you said, I’m fighting against my father and I truly am. So why not give it a try. I’m getting bored anyway. Father with sister and you with me. Isn’t it glamorous? We’re fighting each other’s past comrade. I can actually imagine the results. Wohoo.”

Zillo was even whistling while gesturing a blow like a bomb on his hand, arrogantly gullible of his own idea. Right there for some reason, the prosecutor’s advice pop into his ears. ‘Guess the disloyal dog makes sense after all.’

His thoughts finally decided. He’s considering the challenge indeed that for the last time after their talk ended, she called her once again yet for the nth time she remains unanswered. If it this what they call war, then war it is.

“Let the best venturer win, Sung Eunyoung.”

[quentinblack]

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 3: Hestia - Obliviate 

Featuring: Hestia Jones, Dedalus Diggle, Dudley, Vernon and Petunia Dursley

Word Count: 3.4K words

Hestia breathed in the cold, wintery Welsh air.

It was only 4pm, but the sun had already started to set - she had a very pleasant view of it, as it escaped its hiding place from behind the garden’s large beech trees. It was good to get out of the house at regular intervals, even if it was just into the grounds outside.

To say that The Dursleys were getting restless would be a huge understatement. They’d been in hiding for the best part of 8 months now and it was safe to say that they were not too happy about it. In some ways it didn’t help, that Vernon especially, still seemed to have no real concept of how much danger he was actually in, although in some ways, perhaps it was better that way.

To some extent their agitation was understandable, as Hestia had gotten pretty fed up of being in hiding herself. To go from working five times a week as an Obliviator, whilst juggling all of her extra-curricular Order activities, to then suddenly hiding away in the middle of nowhere in a safe-house in Wrexham - well, it was certainly a shock to the system.

Hestia always longed for a break from her job and Order life, but now she had been given it she missed nothing more than being busy. The endless rants from Moody about constant vigilance. The endless orders to wipe the memories of crazed or confused muggles that had seen something they shouldn’t have. The endless excuses to avoid going on a date with whatever man had asked her out that week.

Tonks always teased her whenever she told her friend about the latest rejection. ‘All the good men will be gone, you’ll end up having to settle down with Podmore if you keep bein’ so bloody fussy Hest,’ she’d say to her. Hestia would laugh along, never quite having the courage to tell her friend that it wasn’t that she was particularly fussy with men, but rather that she just wasn’t particularly fussed about men.

She wondered how Dora was getting along. If her calculations were correct she’d be about 7 months gone by now, with the baby well on its way. Hestia hoped it would be a baby boy. They were always the cutest ones.

It was no fun missing out on her friend’s pregnancy journey, but she had a job to do, even if the adaption into isolation was becoming increasingly difficult for her.

It was easier for Dedalus, he’d been retired for a few years and was a bit of an introvert anyway, so he was a bit more accustomed to a quieter life. He spent the first few weeks writing journals and reading old books, but he’d then become fascinated with the Muggle television programmes and would watch them all religiously with Vernon, Petunia and Dudley.

Dedalus had taken a real shine to Dudley in the last few months.

It had begun when the willy old wizard had taught him how to play Gobstones, which was a real passion of Diggle’s – he’d even represented England in his youth. Once they had grown tired of that he had shown him Wizard’s chess, with the violent magical twist on the game certainly capturing Dudley’s imagination.

However, by far the most entertaining chapter of their blossoming relationship had been when Dudley had taught Dedalus how to play muggle video games. It had been a completely alien concept to him at first, but he managed to get his head around it after a while.  

The game they played most often was a racing game called Mario Kart on Dudley’s Nintendo 64 console. Dudley would always race as his favourite character, Donkey Kong, who was a big gorilla that loved to throw bananas. Diggle’s character of choice was Wario, a beefy brute with a wild moustache – he often joked (but only when he was sure that he was out of earshot) that he looked just like Vernon.

Hestia heard some footsteps coming up the path, glancing back she saw that it was Dedalus, dressed in his ostentatious purple robes. He had a smile on his face as he pranced along merrily.  

“Enjoying yourself, are you, Dedalus?” she quipped.

“Oh yes yes! We just finished watching today’s edition of Bargain Hunt. Funny old programme. Two teams of muggles go around buying things that other muggles don’t want anymore, then they have to try and sell them on at a profit. Sort of thing that young ‘Dung likes to get up to. Very entertaining, it is. Dudley says that the muggle who presents it reminds him of me a bit. David Dickinson he’s called. Quite a handsome old chap he is.”

“Same initials too, ehh? Spooky stuff,” she said in a fairly disinterested manner.

“Yes I have to say I’m actually quite enjoying this being in hiding malarkey. Not all fun and games of course, got to be on our toes a little just in-case. But a little bit of fun lets you take your mind off of it all I find.”

Hestia nodded in agreement. She was envious of the old man in some respect as she wished she could do the same.

“How do you think they’re doing, Dedalus? Harry and the Order. Do you think they’ll manage to do it? We’re sat here completely in the dark to what’s going on, but do you think they’re any closer to killing off Vol-

“DON’T SAY HIS NAME!” Diggle squeaked softly.

Hestia exhaled heavily. She wasn’t scared of saying his name, never had been.

“Fine. Do you think they’re any closer to killing off You Know Who?”

“I… I… I don’t know, Hestia, dear. We have to hope that Harry and everyone else can figure out a way to do it. Dumbledore trusted Harry Potter and that’s enough for me! When’s Dumbledore ever got it wrong before? Never!”

Severus Snape instantly popped into Hestia’s head. Dumbledore had also inadvertently let Voldemort live at Hogwarts under his nose for months on the back of Quirinus Quirrell’s head, not noticed that his close personal friend Alastor Moody was actually being impersonated by a Death Eater for a year – and also hired that absolute fraud Gilderoy Lockhart.

“You’re right I suppose, Dedalus…”

It would do no good to dampen Diggle’s spirit by sharing her worries with him. Hestia of course did have full-faith in Harry Potter, but she was growing tired of being stuck in hiding now. It had been well over six months and they’d had absolutely nothing to do, surely Dedalus could have handled this by himself.

She wondered if she’d have been more use to The Order if she was still working her Ministry job, but Mad-Eye and Kingsley had both warned her that given her muggle-born heritage - it might suit her to quit before she was pushed out. They seemed convinced that the Ministry would fall at some stage, which seemed inconceivable to her, but she supposed they knew better than she did given the vast experience they shared between them.

Perhaps the scariest part of their situation was that if Voldemort and his Death Eaters did win the war, then they would be completely none the wiser.

The very thought kept her up at night at least once a week. Harry, Mad-Eye, Tonks, Sturgis, Kingsley, the rest of The Order – for all her and Dedalus knew, they could all be long dead by now. It could have all been over weeks, if not months ago. There was simply no way of knowing and neither of them dared risked disobeying their orders and leaving the house to try and find some news, even though it was very tempting sometimes.

Hestia’s thoughts were interrupted as she heard a loud shout come from inside the house. She turned to Dedalus, who looked at her tensely before reaching for his wand. She did the same.

“I swear…” she began, as they turned back towards the kitchen door. “If it’s just Dudley kicking off about that poxy diet again I’ll-

“HELP!!!!!!!! HELPP!!!!!!!!!!!” came a loud scream from inside. Hestia didn’t even recognize Dudley’s high-pitch panic-stricken voice at first, it was only on the second help that she clocked it was him.

“Come on!” she barked at Dedalus, as she sprinted into the house with her wand gripped firmly in her hand.

It was happening. It was finally happening.

They thought their defensive spells and cloaking charms would keep them hidden for a while – and they had, but deep down she knew if Voldemort set his sights on taking The Dursley’s hostage, then it wasn’t a case of if his Death Eaters would break through their defences, but when.  

Hestia thought back to her training.

She was no Auror, but had a fair amount of offensive and defensive experience both in her role as an Obliviator and working with The Order. There had been a few duels here and there, but she’d never truly been involved in a fight to the death.

If this was to be her first, would she crack under the pressure?

She felt somewhat reassured to have Dedalus by her side. He was no Alastor Moody or Kingsley Shacklebolt, but he’d still seen his fair share of battles in the First Wizarding War and lived to tell the tales, when many of his peers had no such luck.

As they reached the edge of the living room the screaming got more pronounced. Dudley was still frantically screaming for help and Petunia was in hysterics. Hestia couldn’t hear Vernon, perhaps they’d killed him first or were holding him hostage. She raised her wand and prepared herself to dart out into the unknown.  

“Hestia, wait,” whispered Dedalus. She turned to look at him and saw a quiet, determined fury in his eyes. “You stay back. Cover me,” he ordered.

Hestia obeyed the old wizard without question. She’d never seen him like this before, such was his sudden intensity he actually almost did remind her of Moody.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” screamed Petunia from the top of her lungs. Dedalus stormed into the room before Hestia even had a moment to think about covering him. She rushed in after him, half-expecting to be blinded by a flash of green light that had inevitably struck him down, but when she made it into the room it was only Vernon Dursley who was on the ground.

“HELP HIM!! Please help him! I tried phoning an ambulance but I can’t get through to 999!” pleaded Dudley, who was crouched over his collapsed father, with his mother beside him holding one of her husband’s hands whilst she cried uncontrollably. Vernon’s face was blood red, his eyes lingering in the back of his head and his other hand grasping at his heart.

Hestia froze in shock, such was her surprise at the scene which had greeted her. Dedalus however was already scampering Dudley aside to get closer to the boy’s fallen father.

“Corremedium,” he murmured softly, aiming a swish of his wand towards Vernon’s heart. Petunia watched on dumbstruck in terror, not saying a word. Dudley had his head in his hands.

Dedalus carefully swished his wand back and forth for a while, such was the carefulness of his strokes that it was almost as if he was playing a violin in a symphony orchestra.

Vernon’s eyes returned from the back of his head. He began breathing normally again, although he still looked a bit weak.

“Dad!” Dudley squealed in relief.

“Easy. Easy does it,” Dedalus muttered assertively. “Big heart attack your old man just had. No trouble of course, simple spell really. If I had the right potions with me he’d be back on his feet in a few minutes, but given the circumstances I think a day in bed or two with plenty of rest should sort him out.”

Vernon nodded vaguely, but still didn’t quite seem all there.

“You saved him! My Vernon, you saved him!” Petunia gushed at Dedalus, as she dabbed a handkerchief at the eyeliner that had run all down her face.  

“It was nothing! Really!” he smiled. “Heart attacks I can do, easy. No problem! Just don’t go getting dragon pox on us… now that might be a bit-

But Dedalus Diggle didn’t get the chance to finish, as Dudley Dursley, tears in his eyes, had embraced the pint-sized wizard in a big, bear-like hug that took his little legs right off the ground.

Six Months later

It had taken them the best part of five hours to get from their Welsh hideout back to Privet Drive, but at least now it was all over.

They’d all woken up very early to the sound of Kingsley’s beaming voice echoing out from his corporeal patronus. He hadn’t said much, but he’d told them the good news that the war was won and they were to return Harry Potter’s relatives to their home.

The Dursleys were understandably very happy to be going back to their normal lives. Dedalus too jumped for joy at the news and let out lots of sparks from his wand in celebration. Hestia had been delighted too of course, but there had been a solemnness in Shacklebolt’s voice that hinted that the victory had been bittersweet. How many had paid the ultimate price for The Order to come out on top?

The sheer fact that it was Kingsley’s lynx breaking the news to them, rather than Moody’s bat, meant that the latter had probably fallen. Hestia hoped that not too many others had died, but knew deep down that they had probably paid a huge cost for this victory.

Dedalus popped his head out from inside the house having helped the muggles unload the last of their possessions.

“You ready then, Hestia, dear?” he asked politely.

“Of course,” she responded quickly.

“Very well! Come dear, quickly now. I’ve stunned them gently so they’ll stay fixed in a daze on the sofa for a few minutes,” he said as he guided her into the living room.

Hestia made her way through to where Vernon, Petunia and Dudley were sat in silence, not moving a muscle between them. She retrieved her wand and mentally prepared herself to cast the spell.

The act of obliviation was to remove the memory of any magic in the muggle’s mind. A very simple spell, especially since on a typical day the muggles in question would have only witnessed one short event that they shouldn’t have.

The case of the Dursleys was of course, far more complicated than that, as they had been aware of magic for many years. Thus, this specific spell was a little more complex than the standard obliviation, but it was still one that Hestia had performed many times before with no bother.  

It was pretty standard stuff. Once a muggle-born witch or wizard came of age, then their parents or guardians, as well as the rest of their non-magic family were to have their memory wiped of any knowledge of the wizarding world. The same exact charm had been performed on her Mother when she’d come of age herself.

Of course, many moderates in the Wizarding world considered it a quite draconian and over the top policy, but Hestia couldn’t argue that it wasn’t in the best interest of protecting the statue of secrecy.

You couldn’t be too careful these days.  

“A shame really isn’t it… not a single photo of Harry anywhere on display. Poor lad,” Diggle mused to himself, but Hestia dwelled on his words.

It was a shame.

It was a damn shame that Harry Potter’s only living relatives had never seemed to care for him at all. He’d brought so much hope and freedom to the entire wizarding world, but couldn’t even get a look in on his Aunt and Uncle’s mantelpiece.

Her thoughts drifted back, back to her memories of being a bullied little first year Hufflepuff who felt lost and lonely in a world that she didn’t belong in. She was naturally gifted at charms even back then, but was severely lacking in confidence and didn’t see the point in bothering – like her Slytherin classmates said, she was just a worthless muggle-born loser who would never amount to anything.  

Then one day, Professor Flitwick announced a special guest. A pretty young red-haired witch, with piercing green eyes - an Obliviator, from the Ministry of Magic, who would be shadowing him for a few months whilst she completed some research for her training.

The Ministry witch then gave a rousing monologue about the importance of hard-work, studying and persistence if you wanted a successful career in charms or any other magical field. Hestia had been listening intently of course, but it wasn’t until the end of her speech, when she revealed that she was in-fact a muggle-born too, that Hestia truly became inspired.

The red-haired witch took a real liking to Hestia and became something of a mentor to her. She regularly boosted her confidence by praising her when she did well, or offered to help her when she wasn’t quite getting something.

There was even the time when she spotted Hestia sitting alone hiding away reading in the empty library on a Saturday. Hestia had hoped she hadn’t noticed and didn’t want her pity when she came over towards her, but instead of saying anything, Lily simply sat down opposite Hestia, smiled, then pulled out her research books and began working on them.

It was a simple gesture that she didn’t have to make, but the red-haired witch stayed sitting with her for the rest of the day, even occasionally engaging in friendly chit-chat. Hestia had thanked her later when she got up to return to her dormitory – and had then been crestfallen, when the young woman she looked up to had told her that she would be returning to work the next week.

The next time she saw Lily Potter was a year later, when her face was on the front page of The Daily Prophet after being murdered by Lord Voldemort.

Lily Potter had died to protect her only son – and he in turn had given everything to protect wizarding Britain.

That was when Hestia decided to do it.

It would be her way of saying thank-you to him, to Lily. It was the least he deserved. It would be the best present she could possibly give to the boy who lived.  

“Obliviate” Hestia said firmly, waving her wand at Vernon, Petunia and Dudley.

They blinked and then seemed to regain themselves.

“Well, we best be off now. Lovely meeting you all,” Dedalus chirped, doffing his top hat at the Dursleys. Vernon nodded vacantly. Dudley wished his old video-game partner a safe journey home.  

“Thank you again, Doctor Diggle. For all you’ve done for our family,” Petunia said.

“Don’t mention it dear!” he replied, giggling to himself at being referred to as a doctor as they made their way towards the front door.

“I hope we meet again sometime,” Hestia added. “I’m sure Harry will be in touch once everything has quietened down.”

There was a slight pause for a second.

Hestia thought maybe they hadn’t heard her, but then the youngest Dursley spoke – and what he said would haunt her until her dying day.

“Who’s Harry?” Dudley asked blankly.

[benhardyorbust]

The Trip of a Lifetime PT 10

Recap: You had just graduated from college, but you had one last trip to go on for one of your classes. You were going to London with your intercultural media communication class for two weeks. The first night you matched with a boy named Ben on Bumble. The second night of your trip you go on a date with him and go home with him. You are now on a weekend trip to Paris with him after you had gotten into a fight. 

A/N: sorry if this is super short or really bad lol, I wrote it in the car on a road trip and it might be terrible. ALSO I listened to this playlist while writing this, so if you want to listen while you read feel free! 

1612 words 

Read Part 9 Here

Before you leave the makeshift picnic that that Ben set up, you of course make sure that Ben gets the perfect Instagram picture of you.

“You know I haven’t looked at my phone all day really,” you say. “I wonder if those pictures of us at the airport have surfaced yet.”

“Why don’t we look at see,” Ben suggests.

You first just look at your messages, you have texts from all your friends back home and like a million from your mom. She had so much to say, from “what the hell do you think you’re doing” to “glad you finally found a man”. You laugh, that’s pretty typical of her.

“Ben! My mom said we did get on E! Wow we did it. I can finally check that off my bucket list,” you say laughing.

You open Instagram so you can post your picture, and notice you have 350+ new followers and counting and hundreds of comments.

“Well, they definitely found my Instagram,” you laugh as you show Ben your phone and he laughs.

“You’re so popular! I can’t wait for you to start selling Fit Tea,” he laughs, teasing you.

You post your picture and then head over to Twitter to see if anyone has said anything. You check the what’s happening section and you are shocked.

The headline reads “British Actor Ben Hardy Finds Love Again” with a picture of you guys kissing at the airport. You turn your phone around and show him.

Ben laughs, “Y/N, you’re Twitter famous!”

“All my dreams are coming true!” You laugh along with him.

You click on the moment and see what people are saying. You read the the description out loud to Ben; it reads:

“After an E! News UK interview with British heartthrob Ben Hardy where he stated he found a new love, the world has been on the hunt for who the lucky girl is. Good news, we found her. Her name is Y/f/n Y/l/n and she just graduated from the University of Nebraska. Take a look at their new found love. ”

There’s then a series of tweets some various UK and US based tabloids and, of course fans.

One of your favorite tweets was from People magazine (you’ve always wanted to be noticed by People so you’re kinda fangirling over this) reads: “Bohemian Rhapsody star Ben Hardy and his new bae have officially joined the Mile High club! According to a source on the plane, the couple disappeared for 15 minutes from their first class seats and returned looking ‘pleased’. Congrats to the happy couple!” Two pictures were attached: you two holding hands on the airplane from the back, and the two of you kissing in the airport.

You laugh and show Ben. “I guess someone did notice!”

He laughs as he reads the tweet, “you’re absolutely wild!”

Over the course of roughly twelve hours since you got off the plane to now you had gained 300+ twitter followers and had too many notifications to count.

“Ben this is so crazy!” you say as you scroll through the twitter moment.

“I hope this isn’t too much for you,” he says, sounding serious. “I know it can be a lot to handle, it’s one of the reasons my ex and I broke up.”

He looks so concerned, you kiss his forehead and take his hand in yours.

“Of course not, babe! I knew what I was getting myself into as soon as I figured out who you were. If I didn’t think I could handle it, I wouldn’t be here right now,” you say. “Your career is not a make or break for me. Is it super cool? Hell yeah! Would I still be in love with you if you were a clerk at a gas station? Absolutely.”

Ben kisses your hand and looks at you.

“I just want to be sure this isn’t overwhelming for you or anything. I know it can be a lot, and you’re probably going to get a lot of hate comments and stuff, but ...” he trails off.

“Ben, I have a thick skin, I think I can handle it. Anyways, I would do anything to be with you. Mama didn’t raise no bitch,” you say laughing.

“Well in that case, I have the Hollywood Foreign Press Association dinner thing on Tuesday night that I would love you to accompany me to. I was going to go alone, but now that we are official, and apparently public, I would love to have you on my arm,” he says smiling at you.

“Oh my god, I would love to!” you say. “But I have nothing to wear.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll have my stylist pick some stuff out for you.”

“Are you sure? That’s too much Ben.”

“Absolutely! It’s no problem for her, she’s always bugging me that she wants to dress a woman for me,” he says laughing.

“Well in that case, I can’t wait!”

“Let’s get out of here, shall we?” Ben says.

~~~

When you get back to the hotel room, you tell Ben to close his eyes because you have a surprise.

You grab something from your luggage and to go the bathroom to change. You want to have a grand reveal.

“Can I open my eyes love?”

“In three, two, one”

Ben opens his eyes to see you standing in front of him in lacey black lingerie. He smiles and pulls you closer to him.

“I told you I’d repay you” you whisper into Ben’s ear. You starts to lightly kiss behind his ear and down his neck.

“You drive me bloody mad,” Ben says. He pulls you onto his lap so you are straddling him and kisses you passionately. He kisses your forehead, nose, lingers on your lips, chin, down your neck and down your chest.

“As lovely as you look in this, let’s get it off, shall we?” Ben pulls the black garment off of you, you shake out your hair and smile at him.

“Your turn,” you say as you take off his shirt. You run your fingers down his chest. You push him down and climb on top of him kissing down his body. You start to unbuckle his belt.

“I love you” he whispers in between breaths.

“I love you too,” you say back in between kisses.

~~~

You roll over and see that Ben is still asleep. You look at your phone and it’s 9:56 already. Wow you both must have been tired.

You get out of bed, take a shower, brush your teeth and slip into one of Ben’s t-shirts. Then you slip back into bed to see Ben still sleeping.

You don’t want to wake him up because he looks so peaceful when he’s asleep, so you decide to spend this time texting back everyone they texted you about your new relationship.

Almost everyone you’ve ever met sent you a text along the lines of “is this you?” with a screenshot of the picture of you two. As much as you are embarrassed that everyone knows you and Ben fucked in the airplane bathroom, you also think it’s hilarious, as long as no one tells your grandparents.

Jake, the guy you had an on and off “thing”with texted you. Ugh what does he want. The message reads “you were always the one that got away” with the picture of you and Ben at the airport.

“Ugh what the hell,” you say. This caused Ben to wake up.

“What’s wrong love?” He says, with a groggy sleepy voice. He sees you glaring at your phone. He comes closer to you and wraps his arms around your waist and rests his head on your lap.

“I used to have a weird thing with this guy and he texted me about you,” you say, obviously annoyed.

“Really? What did he say?”

You read the text message to him and Ben rolls his eyes.

“He sounds needy .... and annoying.”

“Oh he was. He could never commit to being in an actual relationship but always wanted to be able to control me. I eventually had enough and told him to stop contacting me and he lost it. He sent me messages until I finally blocked him. Then he sent me messages on like every social media platform, and even sent me an email on my school email. It was so obnoxious.”

“When was this?” Ben asks, he’s now sitting up and looking at the room service menu. “Also, how does a bagel sound?”

“First of all, you read my mind,” you say laughing. “Second of all, it was like a year ago ish. I unblocked his number like 6 months ago and this is the first time he’s contacted me.”

“Hold on, love,” he says as he orders the room service. After he’s done he gets up and puts on his pajama pants and gets back in bed with you.

“So he’s just texting you because of what he saw online?”

“Oh yeah. He’s always been a super jealous and controlling person. After I broke it off with him, I’ve ...” you trail off, not wanting to finish your sentence.

“You’ve what?”

“I dunno, it sounds dumb, but I’ve just had a hard time letting people in. Being vulnerable with anyone is already hard for me, but he kind of took advantage of me being vulnerable and used what I told him to control me,” you say, looking down. “It’s just been hard to let go of that I guess. Until I met you.”

Ben looks at you and smiles. He kisses your forehead and pushes a hair out of your eyes.

“You’ll never have to worry about that with me, love.”

Part 11

Tags:

@isabella-bby

[dcubtless-blog]

𝖘𝖆𝖜𝖞𝖊𝖗 "𝖘𝖚𝖑𝖑𝖞" 𝖏𝖆𝖒𝖊𝖘 𝖘𝖚𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖓. → INTRO.

hey y’all, it’s emmy again !! remember when i said i was gonna wait a little while before picking up a second character ?? yeah ,,,, well ... (▰˘◡˘▰) pls click that read more if you’d like some info about my hunter baby SULLY, and smash that like button if you’d like to plot with him !

( chris evans. cismale, he/him, the things we do for love + 10cc. ) well, would ya’ look at SAWYER “SULLY” SULLIVAN this year? i believe they come from a family of hunters, and have been training for 20 out of their 36 YEARS of life. this makes them the HIGHLY SKILLED hunter of their family. during the night, you can always find them going home to QUEENS by MOTORCYCLE.

tw: death, alcoholism, general assassin fuckshit

sully was born into a lower-class family to a single mother and an absent father, coincidentally right here in queens, nyc. he has two older siblings ( who i may or may not put up some wc’s for, we shall see ) and despite her efforts to care for them ( which weren’t very big efforts in the first place ), their mother fell neck-deep in alcoholism shortly after sully was born. as a result, he was essentially raised by his siblings until he could effectively take care of himself.

by the time sully was twelve, their mother was essentially incapacitated; when she wasn’t sleeping, she was drunk, and when she was drunk, she was belligerent and angry. both of his siblings worked to keep them afloat, and they made sure sully stayed in school. in his sophomore year of high school, he decided that once he graduated he would join the military in an attempt to secure a more stable life once he was finished with his service. so, he joined a preparation program at 16, and the week after his high school graduation, he enlisted in the military.

sully spent ten years in service, working his way up the ranks at an alarming rate. by his fifth year ( age 23 ), he had far surpassed any other soldiers of his age, and by 24, he had been selected by the government to join a covert group of specialized soldiers tasked with highly classified missions.

he went through two years of GRUELING training ( ages 24 - 26 ) -- at some points, he was made to stay awake for days on end, training endlessly and running simulation after simulation. one by one, his fellow trainees were either dropped from the program because they were incapable, or dropped out themselves because they couldn’t handle it. by the end of the two years, sully and three others were the only ones left, and the four of them formed an elite squad of soldiers completely separate from the ranks of the military. 

when they had finally selected these four soldiers, sully included, it was revealed that they would be hunting supernaturals -- creatures beyond the laws of physics and biology unlike anything they had ever seen before. of course, sully had never seen these creatures before, and with the way they were described to him and having gone through near-torture to get to where he was, he was brainwashed into believing that he was doing the right thing.

he was only ever tasked with hunting dangerous and harmful supernaturals -- such as those who murdered innocent people. in fact, he was always given the MOST dangerous and the MOST harmful. and since supernaturals weren’t known to exist by the average american population, he and his squad of soldiers were always required to finish missions as quickly, quietly, and efficiently as possible.

he spent two years in the program ( from ages 26 to 28 ), and his final mission was a werewolf chase in mexico where he met his hunting partner ( and best friend, though he’d never admit that ), myles heartfield. on that mission, he was injured pretty badly to the point where he had to go dormant, retiring from his position in the assassination squad with an impressive track record and a guarantee from the government that he’d never have to worry about money for the rest of his life in return for his service. 

alongside myles, he was comfortably set up in london to recover to keep a distance from any enemies he may have made back in the states, and spent some time recovering from his injury before getting back to work as a contract mercenary. 

during his five years in london ( ages 28 - 33 ), he began to have some doubts about being a hunter. he’d been on his own from a very young age, and he didn’t really know what it was like to have somebody to care about or have somebody care about him. now, with myles in his life, he was beginning to see the ugliest parts of his job and how he had been conditioned to be a killing machine ( think the winter soldier ) 

keep in mind that sully isn’t a founding family member, so he doesn’t have access to the serum that gives the hunters the strength & power they use to hunt; sully’s expertise comes strictly from years and years of training and conditioning

pretty much right after joining the military when he was a teenager, sully cut off his entire family. his mother passed away while he was in the military, but he didn’t find out until he settled down in london. his siblings haven’t heard from him since he graduated high school. 

three years ago, at age 33, sully moved back to nyc after a connection in the government informed him that there was more mercenary work to be done back in the states, and that he would be relatively safe to come back, as most of the people who would be after him were either accounted for or dead. sully’s doubts about hunting had grown, but regardless, he missed home, so he made his homecoming back to nyc and lives comfortably in a condo ( with myles ) in a nicer part of queens.

because of everything he’s been through, you can probably imagine sully is an INCREDIBLY jaded person. he keeps to himself and shuts pretty much everyone out, especially now that he’s begun to see the mistakes he’s made.

he’s not rude, per say -- he’s just not very approachable. he spent two years essentially isolated from other humans training to be a heartless killing machine, cut him some slack !

occasionally, he’ll suffer from life-shattering breakdowns when he gets too far in his head, or when he thinks too much about his time as an assassin. ( myles usually gets the brunt of them. ) after he comes down, he’ll be much colder than usual, and what little emotion he’s learned to show completely vanishes for some time

he’s honestly sort of wholesomely clueless sometimes ?? for example, if anybody does anything remotely selfless for him, he’ll be completely astonished and confused ( “why are you giving me this ?? what do you want ?? -------- oh.... well.... thank you.” )

he’s pretty paranoid and anti-social, but you might find him at the bar some nights, usually hiding behind myles with a broody look on his face ( he doesn’t do much without myles tbh ) 

as a hunter, he specializes in doing things quickly and efficiently, usually with hand-to-hand combat and close-range weapons

DO NOT call him sawyer

infinity war cap = sully

wanted connections !!

former assassin squad ( 0/3 ) → i’ll be putting up a wc on the main for this in a bit, but i’d LOVE to see the other 3 soldiers who made it through that training. they disbanded after the mexico mission ( in which sully was injured ), so it offers some creativity for where they’ve been since then !

past love interests ( 0/? ) → sully’s never been involved in anything definite ( he’s got serious commitment issues ), but i’m soft for anybody who’s tried to get under his skin

supernaturals he’s been tasked to kill ( 0/? ) → recently, sully has been given missions to hunt suspicious supernaturals, but since he’s been doubtful of hunting, he’s had a hard time actually fulfilling these missions. so, he could’ve come close to doing it and spared their life, or even gone out of his way to protect them from harm ?? 

others ( 0/? ) → bartenders who has heard a few too many drunk honesties, past govt officials who oversaw his missions, people he knew in the military, people he knew in high school, and MAYBE even some younger characters he could learn to care for ( like pseudo-kids ? ) ?? 

that’s all i’ve got for sully !! i’d love to plot, so pls hmu or like this and i’ll come to u !! v excited to write with u all <3