#ship goggles off for a minute | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

zosan-secondchances · 2 months ago

Text

The Pirate King of the North: Part 8

Main Themes: Villain Sanji, Alternate Universe, Zosan Ship

Warning: Long post ahead with One Piece spoilers. Contains strong language and explicit content.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

Sanji

Explain, Commander.

Commander 2

We’d been keeping tabs on Doflamingo like you wanted. But since your… performance… in Sabaody Archipelago, he’s disappeared from our radar completely.

Law didn't look too impressed hearing this.

Law

You've known where to find him all along?

Sanji

Of course I do. Or…I did.

Oh, don't give me that face, doctor. Remember, Doffy and I have an alliance. I only wanted to make sure that he doesn't know that I'm sneaking around with you until we find out more about Corazon. My intel on his whereabouts all but benefits you. However, please understand that it's all on a need-to-know basis. I still have a duty to protect his privacy.

The doctor glares at him, sneering especially after being reminded about the blonde's partnership with his sworn enemy. He's starting to have doubts about saving the man's life.

Zoro begins to wonder himself what this means about the recent development in his relationship with the blonde.

Sanji turns his attention back to the blue-haired commander.

Sanji

So there's nothing at all? Nothing in the usual countries and islands? …At home even? Are any of our agents compromised?

Commander 2

I have in good faith that the reports are accurate and untapped.

And… I really hope he’s not wandering somewhere in the castle. I don’t know if I can sleep like that.

Zoro crosses his arms and legs at the foot of Sanji’s bed, listening intently and observing the stranger. He notices that the blonde's relationship is somewhat domestic with this man, even with the formal titles.

Sanji

Hold on. How in the world did you find me?

Commander 2 pokes the side of his head.

Commander 2

Distress signal. Did you die?

Sanji

Uhm… no?

Law

He did.

Zoro looks at the doctor with a horrified expression but Sanji and the commander look unbothered by the news. Law picks up on the swordsman's concern so he follows up quickly.

Law

Relax. He's still alive, isn't he? We lost him for less than a minute. His heart stopped beating but we got it under control.

Commander 2

That would do it.

Sanji groans, his head falling back against the pillow that's propping him up.

Sanji

I forgot about that damned thing. The last time this happened was when the Marimo sliced off my arm.

Zoro frowns at the memory.

Zoro

You… died then?

Sanji

So I've been told. I only remember feeling like shit. They told me that I bled out from the fight, love. You got me good!

Zoro frowns at the comment as Sanji chuckles casually about it. To him, it’s starting to make sense how the blonde was able to slip away and survive certain arduous battles against him before.

While he can't see the commander's eyes, he could sense that the man is watching him like a hawk behind his thick goggles. Zoro returns the glare with just as much intensity.

Sanji

I think the signal still activates if we hit a critical condition.

Commander 2

Which wouldn’t have happened if you had your Raid Su–

Sanji

DON'T. Start.

The commander closes his mouth shut and tuts to himself, resisting to openly show any signs of disapproval in front of everyone.

Law

Mr. Prince-ya, is there something you want to tell us? We can't have a tracker on you while we're trying to stay under the radar ourselves.

Sanji and his commander share a look. After a brief pause, the blonde speaks.

Sanji

It's a bit complicated, doctor.

Commander, it’s okay to tell them. We need to prove that they can trust us, and that hasn’t changed. Even if the doctor and dear Doffy are enemies.

Commander 2

Fine. I hate that guy too anyway.

Law smirks at the commander’s comment. Sanji can't say that he's not glad to see that they have found common ground at the very least.

The commander turns his attention to Law, then proceeds to explain.

Commander 2

It's Germa tech–a safety precaution, nothing more. The signal isn't something that can be intercepted by anything, including black snails. It can only be sent and received by people who have undergone the procedure to install the proper modifications, and it’s tied to our genetics.

Sanji

Our father had kindly ordered his scientists to open up our skulls when we were very young. It made sense at the time, what with softer heads and faster recovery rate. It’s useful, but we have no control of it.

The blue-haired man nods then follows up quickly.

Commander 2

It's similar to an automatic reflex.

Now that we’ve matured, I believe it will prove fatal to have the mods removed. We can’t do anything about it.

Zoro felt sick at the thought. He wonders what sort of monster Sanji had been raised by. Then he realises something.

Zoro

Curls… are you two brothers?

Sanji stares at him for a second, then laughs out loud, making him and Law look at each other in confusion.

Sanji

Yes! I forget that I haven’t told you anything about my family!

Marimo and doctor, this is my brother, Asshole. Asshole, this is Marimo and doctor.

The commander snarls at Sanji, gritting his teeth.

Commander 2

My name is Vinsmoke Niji, Prince and Commander of Germa.

—

Zoro was selfishly hoping to continue spending time with the recently woken up blonde but this prince commander, Niji, had completely taken over Sanji's time. The swordsman didn't fully understand the conversation that followed but it was a necessary one as it involved the blonde's health.

Niji had provided Law with what looks like a compact first aid kit specifically tailored for the Pirate King. He went on a detailed explanation about how their bodies differ from regular human bodies, pointing out that Sanji, while being one of the Vinsmoke children that had been modified to have superhuman capabilities, is especially unique compared to the rest of his siblings having the only one who retained his emotions.

Hearing the science behind it felt clinical and too much information for the swordsman to fully absorb. He felt like being in the room while Law and the commander spoke about Sanji's body the way they did was too personal and he shouldn't be there for it.

When Zoro tries to leave, he feels a hand wrap around his own. He looks down and finds that the blonde is holding onto him, as if asking him to stay. So he does.

To conclude, Niji proceeds to go through the contents of the kit. One of which is a tubed cream that he demonstrates with. He applies a small amount on the blonde's ripped tendons, miraculously sealing the open wound closed in an instant.

Sanji looked satisfied with the result. He wriggles and stretches his feet poking out of the blanket, smiling at it happily. Now there are scars where the gashes once were, adding to his ever growing collection. Niji's face looks unfazed, but he straightens up and puffs out his chest a bit like he's proud of his work.

To ensure Law's continued interest in working together, Sanji provides him with even more valuable information about himself and his kingdom, offering them as gifts in good faith. He reveals that his four most trusted commanders are actually his siblings, and should anything happen to him, one of them will take over to rule Germa. Their collective efforts ensure that the Pirate King’s reputation is upheld and his orders are enforced by each one of their varying specialties. It gives the illusion that the Sanji is in multiple places at once, and makes sure that his influence and power over the North remain unchallengeable.

Law

Why are you telling me all this?

Sanji

My dear, you haven't played this game much before, have you? I'm laying it all out for you. Don't waste it.

Niji

So you can use the information against him if he's being a dick. He's offering his trust to you for yours.

Maybe sharing a bit too much detail, if you ask me. A lot of people have lost their lives trying to learn what you just did in the last five minutes.

Sanji

Commander Niji, you ass! Let him figure it out! How else is he going to learn?

Niji

He's not a player. Look at him.

He's too soft.

Law

Sh–shut up! I'm not!

So, is this how you hide your whereabouts? By overwhelming everyone with information that is all technically true?

Sanji nods, smiling. He looks almost smug at his own cleverness.

Sanji

Carefully curated truth, doctor. I don't reveal everything, but I give away enough to keep people off my back, or you know, just for fun. I do prefer to work in the shadows.

Law

The Underworld?

Sanji

For the most part. If you're nice, I'll tell you more about it all later.

Sanji gives Law a cheeky flirtatious wink. Zoro rolls his eye in reaction.

Niji

This doesn't explain why you blew your own cover in Sabaody Archipelago with that charity show.

Sanji

Oh, it was all part of a heist but I’ve always wanted to show off my legs in those video shows. I completely didn't see the Celestial Dragon coming and I know that I should have known better. How hot did I look in those heels though?

Niji

Ugh….

Zoro quietly agreed about Sanji's appearance but he's not about to announce that.

Law

There's something I don't get….

Sanji

Ask away.

Law

I come from the North Blue myself. The Marines say that after you killed your own father, you enslaved your siblings, and they are never seen again.

Sanji

Ah.

Law observes Niji's features, taking notes of his curly eyebrows and similar facial structure.

Law

If what you say is true and this man is your brother, then the story from the Marines is false.

Sanji

Bunch of liars, those lot. They're worse than me.

Law

What's the real story?

Sanji glances at Niji then proceeds to explain. This time, his pace is slow, as if trying to make sure that he says the right word every time.

Sanji

Vinsmoke Judge was… there's no way around it–he’s an ass.

Niji

You can't deny all the scientific and military progress he'd made though.

Sanji

Yes, well…thank you, Commander.

Let's just say that I wasn't exactly his favourite. See, that, I could deal with.

But I killed him because he wouldn't let me visit our own mother's grave.

Zoro raised his eyebrows at that. He could tell that the doctor is intrigued by the story himself.

Sanji

I did force my siblings into custody at that time, but I only kept them under lock and key until I named myself ruler of Germa. Then I didn't need to.

Niji and my other siblings are hardwired to follow Germa’s current king or queen's demands so I made them my commanders. They didn't have to like it, but their loyalty is unquestionably clear. They physically can't disobey my orders. All thanks to dear father's hard work turning them into the perfect soldiers.

A lot of our father's faithful followers are against me being in the throne so to protect them, we had to hide their identities for a while. I guess it stuck.

Law

Figures your own father saw you as a threat.

Sanji

No…it's the opposite, actually. He locked me away when we were very young. He said I was uhm…

Sanji trails off at that and looks down. His grip on Zoro's hand tightens.

Niji

A failure. The word you're looking for is “failure”.

Sanji

Yeeees, yes. Thank you, Commander. Ah yes, how could I forget?

Niji

Don't mention it.

Niji is smirking with a broad grin.

Sanji's body trembles in anger for a moment, but it subsides when Zoro gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. He takes a deep breath then turns to Law again after composing himself.

Sanji

He kept me out of sight, to make sure that I didn't ruin his reputation. Until one day he didn't feel just as merciful and threw me away.

Which brings us to the topic of Doffy…. I know you've seen my mark by now. You must wonder why I'm closely allied with a Celestial Dragon–another slaver, for that matter.

Law leans against the far door, crossing his arms.

Law

On the contrary... I don't think Celestial Dragons are all bad. Doflamingo is a special case though.

Sanji

Hah! You can say that again.

Are you aware of his SMILE factory?

Law

All too well.

Sanji

Right. The entire span of its outer walls are lined with Seastones. I needed a steady supply of it and I knew Doffy had his sources.

The stone's unusual properties allow my siblings to feel emotions but they're… heavy and awkward. And with all the combat my brothers and sister go through on the regular…

Law

You constantly need them for maintenance… and Doflamingo is milking your every worth.

Sanji nods affirmingly.

Sanji

I need pure condensed ones to make something more compact and permanent but they're extremely rare. I'm not even sure if that Celestial Dragon in Sabaody knew what they were. We've been gathering everything we can find for years, and finally we may have enough after Sabaody.

Doffy said he'd help with the supply of the regular ones while I go find them but he's proven to be… demanding.

Niji

Demanding is an understatement. Also, he's a fuckin’ pervert.

Sanji

Hey, he's my fuckin’ pervert.

Zoro

Curls…

Sanji

Ah, shit. I'm sorry, love. This is going to take some getting used to….

Law

But the other Vinsmokes are already hardwired to obey your commands. That doesn't make sense. Why would you change that and give them emotions? Everything about it benefits you.

Sanji remains quiet. Law speaks after the sudden realisation.

Law

…Because that's not what you want.

Sanji

You're getting it now….

Law

You want them to have a choice.

You want to give them the freedom of will….

Law eyes the helmet tucked under Niji's arm.

Law

Why aren't you wearing it then? I assume it works whenever you put it on. This means you can choose to abandon your Pirate King anytime.

Niji

A tempting idea. Not that I already didn't think about it.

Law

You… choose to stay? You choose to wear it whenever you want, and you decide to stay by his side?

Niji shrugs, his mouth curls a scowl.

Niji

Don't put it like that. You make it sound gross.

I wear it to gain empathy. My brothers and sister wear it for their own reasons. It gives us better judgement when we need to make critical decisions.

Sanji

And Germa thrives for it–thanks to those decisions.

Niji doesn't look him in the eye, but that way he puffs his chest when he's proud of himself happens again very slightly.

Sanji

The helmet's not the prettiest. And it's heavy. They don't have a good quality of life dragging it around, being stuck with it.

Once this is over, I'll take all the condensed Seastones that we have see what we can make of it.

Speaking of, Marimo…please tell me you have them.

They all turn to the swordsman, who procures the bag that Sanji had given him from under his sleeve. The blonde sighs with relief at the sight and takes it, holding the bag close to his chest.

Sanji

Thank you…

Zoro nods in acknowledgement as Sanji secures the bag away in one of the drawers of the end tables next to his bed.

Law

Mr. Prince-ya…

Sanji

Yes...?

Law

You're… surprisingly... not unkind.

Sanji blushes up to his ear. He pulls his blanket up to cover his face.

Sanji

Yeah, well…what good does that do if they're stuck with those ugly things?

Zoro grabs the blonde's hand that's gripping the blanket and pulls it down. He smiles at him with a softened look in his eye, feeling touched by the story.

Zoro

So you are a decent man after all.

Sanji

NO–!

The blonde swings a leg and hits the swordsman at the back of his head. The momentum sends him to fall face first on the tiled floor. Zoro gets up with a furious expression on his face, a tear in his eye and a couple of large bumps on his head.

Zoro

WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! I WAS TRYING TO PAY YOU A COMPLIMENT!!!

Sanji gets on his feet, blanket dropping to the floor and begins yelling back while in full nude. A drip of blood flow down his nose.

Sanji

YOU CAN'T SAY SHIT LIKE THAT, YOU BASTARD!!

Zoro

WHY DIDN'T YOU HIT TRAFFY TOO?! HE STARTED IT!!!

Law

Don't bring me into this….

Niji

Tch.

Sanji

And what are you tutting about?!

Niji averts his gaze with an unimpressed frown on his face.

Niji

I just find it ironic that the person you decide to be with is a brute with green hair.

Sanji glares at him with a growl at the back of his throat. He stomps towards him, looking like he's about to throw a punch.

Zoro quickly gets up and hoists the naked blonde into his arms.

Sanji

Oi!

Zoro

Don't even think about it. Your feet are fine now but your heart isn't.

Sanji mimics Zoro's last line in a high pitched, mocking voice. The swordsman lays him gently back on his bed, ruffles his hair then proceeds to pick up the blanket to lay it over the blonde after dusting it off.

Niji watches the interaction between the two carefully. He notices their closeness and how they can't seem to let go of each other's hands again when Sanji finally settles in.

The commander reaches under his arm and with one smooth swing, he equips the heavy metal helmet over his head with a ding, covering the entirety of his face but the eyes behind his goggles.

Sanji's eyes widen in horror.

Sanji

That can't be good.

Commander, what are you up to?

Niji keeps his hands on his helmet, staying silent as he's processing information in his head.

Law notices a glint of his eyes behind the lens of his goggles. He thought that he saw a hint of concern on his face but it went as quickly as it came.

The blue-haired commander finally slides his hands off his headwear as he turns to face Sanji. The way he scrunches his face tells the blonde that he's grinning wide behind the metal plate that covered his lower face.

Niji

I think I'll stay, Your Highness.

Sanji

NO.

Zoro and Law

What?!

Niji

Due to recent events, I have come to the conclusion that the best course of action to ensure Our Majesty's survival is to remain at his side for the duration of his trip. At least until you reach Skypiea anyway.

Sanji

FUCK OFF, NIJI!

Law

I don't get a say in this, do I?

Zoro

Calm down, Curls. This isn't good for your heart.

Sanji

He's not good to my heart.

Take it off and go home, Niji.

Niji

Hmm… nah.

Sanji

Nah?!

Niji

You always did say we need to bond more like a proper family.

Niji opens his arms, as if challenging the blonde. Then he speaks mockingly.

Niji

Let's bond, brother.

—

Niji

What the hell is this?

Sanji has dragged Niji all the way to their shared bunk room where mountains of laundry are scattered throughout the floor, waiting to be folded. Zoro is trying his best not to snicker behind them while the blue-haired man stood still, too stunned at the sight.

Sanji

Bonding. This is bonding.

Niji

This is not–

The blonde pushes the blue-haired man into the room.

Sanji

If you're going to stay here, you have to make yourself useful.

Niji

This is servant stuff!

Sanji hurdles over a couple of piles to get to their wardrobe. When he does, he strips off his borrowed hospital gown and starts putting on his casual wear.

Sanji

Yes, you're right. And I hate to break it to you but… you are one.

Niji

I'm a prince!

Sanji smirks as he pats himself down, satisfied with his choice of clothing.

Sanji

And I'm a king and yet, here we are. Stay here, and get some headway.

Keep Penguin's stuff close to the door in case he runs in looking for clothes post-shower again, otherwise everything else gets wet. It's the one with the penguin doodle on the inside collar. Shachi’s ones have shorter sleeves than the rest. Ikkaku’s has a smaller cut overall but sometimes I get it mixed up with Hakugan’s….

To Zoro's amusement, Sanji goes on a long list of do’s and don'ts for each and every one of the Heart Pirates clothes, overwhelming the blue-haired commander.

Niji

This is bullshit. You're just making this up. There's no way you remember that for all twenty of them.

Zoro

No, he's actually pretty spot on. Also, there's twenty-one. Law's too shy to ask so he sneaks in his stuff in the middle of the night. It should be around here somewhere….

Sanji

Watch the feathers on one of his coats! Don't ruffle it up or it will lose its natural shape.

Let's go, Marimo.

Niji

Wait–where are you going?

Sanji quickly grabs Zoro's hand and rushes out the door.

Sanji

Uh–king business! Very busy. Don't follow!

Niji

Fuckin’ hell, San–

The door slams close behind them.

Little did Zoro know that he was about to have the best sex of his life.

—

Thanks to the collective power and experience of the passengers aboard the Polar Tang, the Heart Pirates and their guests are an unstoppable force. They travelled through the Grand Line and covered almost half of the world in the matter of weeks as opposed to years. They dove deep underwater for any potential threat that they wanted to avoid, and having Niji onboard meant that they had eyes and a driving force in the skies whenever they needed it.

There were a couple of reports from the blue-haired commander that Law had stowed away in his memory banks to worry about later. The first one being the sighting of Kaidou’s forces nearby. He wonders what business they possibly could have all the way in the Grand Line.

Secondly, something has upset the merfolk. Whatever it is, Niji reported that fleets of Prince Fukaboshi’s army can be seen on the move from afar. Law makes an effort to keep their sub at a distance so as to not get caught up in their affairs.

The doctor also noticed that the blonde especially took interest in the latter, asking if there's a sighting of the mermaid prince himself but his brother came back without good news for him.

—

They reach the boundaries of the island Jaya at high noon. The Pirate King insists not to step foot inside its village of Mock Town as Doflamingo is known to have men in the area. As per agreement of their alliance, Sanji is not allowed to send his own men or any one of his associates in his territory unless the tall Warlord is notified in advance. Naturally, the blonde didn't care much about it and tells everyone that they can get on the island if they want as long as they don't get seen.

With that information, Law decides to skirt the ship around and dock at the other more isolated side of the island, away from prying eyes, in the boundaries of South Grove.

Once settled, they stretch their legs and sunbathe on the deck for a while until Law orders his men to forage in the forest or fish in the waters to stock up ahead on food, warning them to stay away from the town that Sanji had mentioned earlier.

Law

And try not to show up in the news this time, will you?

Law singles out Sanji, looming over him as the blonde relaxed on his sun lounge chair in his swim trunks. Zoro is laid on the floor beside him.

Sanji

Don't tempt me, Traffy-kun.

Law

It's “Trafalgar.”

Zoro

Traffy, can you stop telling him what to do? This is how it started last time.

Niji

So you're to blame for that, huh?

Law

ACK–

The Heart Pirates all boo in unison, telling off their own captain–all demanding to be left alone, including their favourite Chore Boy, accusing him of overworking everyone and for being too strict.

Law throws a venomous glare at Sanji.

Law

This is mutiny! You've rallied my own men against me. Are you happy?

Sanji giggles, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, leaving Law to walk off grumpily and scout ahead in the forest with a handful of his crew.

Zoro sits up from the floor and leans an arm on Sanji's lounge chair.

Zoro

I'm getting some beer. Need anything?

Sanji plays with his goatee, then smirks, placing his hands back behind his head and closing his eyes for a quick snooze.

Sanji

Would you be so kind as to get me a glass of Pina Colada? I premixed some earlier today. Should be in the fridge.

Zoro

Do you want just a glass for yourself?

…Or the whole jug?

The swordsman gives him a smirk, emphasizing the last word in that sentence.

Sanji snaps his eyes open at the idea, then gazes to the side and sees Penguin and Shachi already looking at them while they fish together by the railing. They grin widely and give them the shaka sign.

Sanji

Fuck yeah. Get the jug.

—

Zoro makes his way down to the kitchen to do exactly that. He knows that the blonde likes making stuff pretty, so he makes an extra effort to garnish the drink with a small umbrella and a slice of lime on the side of the glass. It takes a lot longer than he anticipated but he wanted to get this right to impress him.

There's a sudden nagging sensation somewhere behind him–he senses danger and it’s aiming for his head. In one smooth motion, he spins, safely placing the cocktail on the counter with one hand and whips Wado out from its sheath with the other, blocking the oncoming sword attack just in time.

Niji

You know, I’ve just had enough waiting for the right moment when you’re not snogging each other.

As the blue-haired man spoke, their blades shook and rattled from the constant push against one another. Zoro hovers his now free hand over one of his other swords, readying himself to deliver a counter attack.

Niji reads his movement ahead of him and swipes a low spinning kick against the swordsman's ankle. He doesn't realise that he misses until he sees a shadow above him where Zoro had flipped overhead with ease to dodge his attack.

Zoro

What's your problem?

He unsheathes a second blade at the moment he lands on the ground. He stands firm with a basic stance.

Niji

You are, Demon Warlord.

Bending low, Niji stomps on one leg, creating a powerful surge of electricity from the base of his foot. As it spreads up to his thigh, Zoro's hair on his entire body stands on end and the lights throughout the Polar Tang flicker.

When the room dims for a few milliseconds, the blue-haired man disappears from sight.

The swordsman crosses his swords over his chest to block, and receives a powerful electrical kick at the X of his blades, barely seeing the other man’s movements. Zoro holds his body firm but the momentum sends his feet sliding until his back hits the wall.

Niji jumps and raises his own sword high above his head to bring it down on him.

Before the blade collides with his head, Zoro pushes himself off the wall and uses his own forehead to hit Niji square on his face. The man’s thick helmet bends at the mouth plate then shatters from the stress. Zoro's direct hit fractures both lenses of his goggles and breaks his nose.

The blue-haired commander staggers back but manages to regain his balance. The two straighten up almost at the same time. Niji cracks his neck, then removes broken off pieces of his helmet from his face with his free hand. He grabs the broken bridge of his nose to force it back into place with a loud snap, then spits out leftover blood from his mouth.

Zoro stood expressionless as blood trickled down his face from his forehead.

Zoro

Tough one, aren't you?

Niji

And I thought you'd be stronger.

They exchange another round of hits. This time, it felt more methodical to the swordsman, like he was being studied.

At one point, the aftershock from one of Niji’s kicks nearly tips Sanji’s drink off the counter. As if they had an unspoken agreement, they pause the fight so the blue-haired commander can catch the glass just in time before it falls off. They continue their barrage of attacks then.

Zoro

Enough of this.

The swordsman bites down Wado, enabling him to unsheathe a third sword.

Niji

That's more like it–!

Before Niji could finish speaking his thoughts, Zoro is suddenly in front of him.

Niji

What the–

The swordsman disarms the commander with one sweep of his blades. Without giving the other man much of a chance to counter, Zoro brings his swords across all together to deliver a powerful push, sending the other man flying to the far end of the room, damaging kitchen furnishings along the way.

Niji crashes against the wall with a choked grunt but doesn't fall on the ground. Instead, he catches himself on his knees, wheezing after getting the wind from his lungs drawn out of him.

Zoro

Ready to use your words?

Zoro approaches the man and points the tip of one sword to his neck.

Zoro

Or are you going to give me a reason to kill you?

Niji smirks, then slaps Zoro's sword away from his face casually.

Niji

You couldn't, even if you tried.

Zoro

I would have sooner if you had ruined Curly’s drink.

Niji

Trust me, I'm not the one who ruined it.

Zoro

What the fuck are you talking about?

Niji pushes himself up, swiping a leg at Zoro's direction.

Not wanting to do any more damage to the kitchen than he already has, the swordsman jumps back to avoid the hit.

Zoro

Seriously?! What is your problem?

Niji

My sources are right. You're not that bright, are you?

Zoro

Excuse me?

Niji walks to pick up his sword from the floor. He gives it a suave swing in the air and points the tip at Zoro's direction.

Niji

You actively sought out to kill our king for more than twenty years. And the next thing I know, he's involved himself with you? What a fucking joke.

You may have seduced our brother, but I'm not buying that shit, Warlord. What's your game here?

Zoro's eyebrows furrow at that. Of course Sanji’s family is protective of him. He takes a moment to think about his next move, then finally he makes a decision. He eases his stance and throws down all of his swords between him and Niji.

Niji tips his head up slightly at the gesture. He takes a step forward, charging a ball of electricity in the claw of his hand, then lunges at Zoro.

The swordsman closes his eye and keeps his arms down.

The air suddenly stills. And everything was quiet.

When Zoro opens his eye, he sees the commander's hand hovering just an inch from his face, the electrical surge gone from it.

Niji

Tch. This is just boring now.

Niji puts his sword away then turns to walk to the kitchen sink. He digs through one of the broken cupboards and fishes out a dishtowel which he throws to Zoro who catches it.

The blue-haired commander runs his own towel through the water then cleans himself with it, including the blood off his face. Afterwards, he abandons the cloth on the floor. Without turning to face the other man, he speaks.

Niji

Tell me, swordsman, what are your intentions with my brother?

Zoro's eye narrows as he wipes the blood from his forehead with the cloth.

Zoro

We don't need your blessing to do what we want to do.

As they talk, Niji begins to open cupboards, taking out a chopping board and a knife. He begins to work on something that's out of Zoro's line of sight as his body is in the way.

Niji

Really now? Did he say that?

Zoro

Not exactly. But knowing him, he'll just do whatever the hell he wants to do.

Niji pauses his movements for a second, then continues with his work.

Niji

Do you really think you know who he is and what he’s like?

Zoro

We have known each other for a long time, we've been travelling together for months since Law sought us out, and you know that we're… involved.

Niji

Yes… I am well aware.

Zoro

So what's your problem?

Zoro hears a bang and a squelch from the kitchen counter. Niji gives the knife a spin in his hand then stabs the chopping board with it, leaving the knife sticking out. He turns to face the swordsman.

Niji

If you truly know him that well, then tell me, Roronoa Zoro….

Niji emphasized his name as he pushed himself off the counter. He approaches Zoro slowly and stops just a step away from him.

Niji

What’s his name?

Zoro frowns at that question. He opens his mouth to respond immediately as if it has an obvious answer, but then he slowly realises that it doesn't. He digs through his memories–the blonde’s Marine file that he's read and made reports for a thousand times, their time spent together travelling, and all the instances when they've fought, fucked or both–and come out with nothing. He can’t recall a time when he’d used his first name or learned it. All he remembers is a list of nicknames and titles that he and other people have given him, and that his family name is Vinsmoke.

There and then, the swordsman starts questioning if that even is the case.

Niji tilts his head slightly, waiting for an answer. Zoro sees a glint of deep blue eyes glaring down on him. The other man looked unimpressed. With a lick of his lips, he finally breaks the silence.

Niji

Let’s reiterate what you said, shall we?

You have known each other for a long time. You have been travelling together for months since the doctor sought you out. And now, you’re apparently… “involved”.

Did you ask him even once about it? It seems like a simple question that you ask everyone.

Zoro

I…

Nothing. The swordsman had no good reason to justify why he hadn't asked the blonde for his name.

Niji

Your silence is reassuring.

Do you know why you don’t know his name?

Zoro remains quiet, already feeling berated and extremely guilty.

Niji takes another looming step closer, nearly closing the gap between them. He hovers his angry face in front of his.

Niji

Because, all these years, you either don’t care or he doesn’t trust you enough with it.

Which one is worse, do you think?

The swordsman doesn’t have any good answers to that question.

Niji takes a moment to read Zoro’s defeated face.

Niji

I think I’ve figured it out. It's both. You do care. But mostly, just for yourself.

The blue-haired man stomps to where Zoro had made Sanji’s cocktail. He grabs the drink and downs it in a couple of big gulps.

Zoro

Oi!

Niji wipes his mouth with the back of his hand then steals a fresh glass from the station. He begins to busy himself around the kitchen.

Niji

If he hasn’t given you his real name, then I wouldn’t bother too much, Warlord. You’re nothing but a phase to him. Eventually, he’ll get bored and find a new plaything. Unless you get lucky or have something more to offer like Doflamingo. Once he’s had his fill, he’s not going back for more.

When he turns around, he holds a fresh, more presentable Pina Colada in his hand garnished with pineapple fruit, its leaves and a single piece of cherry on top. It even has a matching straw that complemented the tiny umbrella. The drink has a nice amount of crushed ice in it too. Overall, it’s much better looking than the one that the swordsman made earlier. Niji approaches Zoro and hands it to him. Reluctantly, he takes it.

Niji

This is a warning for your own sake, Demon Warlord. I frankly don’t give a shit what he does to you. You could die in a hole for all I care. But if you hurt even a single strand of his hair, I will personally come down to your doorstep, pull each and every one of your fingernails and teeth, then shove your own balls into your mouth. That’s assuming you actually survive me beating the living shit out of you first.

At that, Niji walks off, leaving a stunned swordsman in the middle of the wrecked kitchen and a fancy drink in his hand.

After a moment of silence, Zoro takes a deep breath.

Zoro

…You can come out now, Bepo.

Bepo opens the pantry door where he had wedged himself in. He looks shaken.

Zoro

You uh… are you okay?

Bepo

You guys are scary when you fight….

—

Zoro finally re-emerges on the deck of the ship with a cocktail in his hand and a jug of premixed Pina Colada in another. Bepo followed closely behind him holding a bunch of glasses in a tray.

Sanji

Took you long enough! Did you get lost in the ship again, Marimo-kun?

Laughing, the blonde sits up and gives them a cheerful smile. When he sees Zoro and Bepo’s faces, his expression drops.

Sanji

What’s wrong? You two look like someone died.

Zoro sets the jug down under the shade of Sanji’s sun umbrella, following Bepo with the glasses. The swordsman bends down in front of the blonde, forcing a smile, offering him the drink that he could have made himself.

Zoro

Nothing happened. Just a little accident in the kitchen. It just took a bit longer to clean, that’s all.

Sanji

Wait, is that for me? How did you know to put it together exactly how I like it?! It looks perfect, thank you!

Sanji grabs the cocktail from Zoro’s hand and gives his cheek a long loud smooch. He returns to sunbathing in the sun lounge chair and happily drinks from the glass. He hums in satisfaction.

After seeing their arrival, the remaining Heart Pirates onboard cluster around them and start asking if they can have some. Sanji waves them to form a line and wait for the swordsman to prep the drinks.

Sanji

Well, whatever it is, if this what came out of there, I say it was worth the trouble.

Zoro works quietly as he tries to get his head back to how it was earlier that day, only to find that he can’t shake Niji’s words off his head. He busies his hands, but not before realising that the blue-haired commander is sitting on the roof of the upper levels of the sub. It looks like he's fixed his broken goggles but he's still sporting the heavy fractured helmet on his head as he watched them closely.

Sanji

Did you get your beer?

Zoro

…Shit.

—

Law stood in the middle of the Polar Tang’s wrecked kitchen, his eyes dark behind the shade of his spotted cap. His knuckles turn white from gripping the sheath of his sword too tight.

Everyone stood behind him near the door to make a quick escape should they need to. Zoro and Niji are at opposite sides of the room after seemingly having an unspoken agreement to keep things quiet after their fight. Bepo looked nervously left and right between them.

Law

I was only gone for an hour….

The tone of Law’s voice sends chills up the Heart Pirates’ spines.

Law turns abruptly and looks at Bepo face to face.

The polar bear freaks and screams. He jumps back to hide behind Sanji, who is the next victim of Law’s hard stare.

Law

I come back… to find everyone tipsy drunk… and my kitchen in disarray….

Sanji

Don’t look at me! I haven’t stepped foot in here since breakfast!

There was a moment of silence. Law takes a step forward. Bepo visibly shakes from fear.

Zoro

It was me.

Everyone turns to the swordsman who’s currently busy digging into his ear with his pinky. Niji watches him straight-faced.

Zoro flicks the dirt from his finger, crosses his arms then looks at Law properly.

Zoro

I tried to make Pina Colada for Curls.

All eyes bore on him. Some looked at him in confusion, some started snickering and Bepo felt relieved to not need to confess anything to his captain. Niji huffs quietly, looking away.

Sanji scans the room, trying to picture the scene that unfolded.

Sanji

Oh, Mellorine…. This is not how you make a drink….

Zoro is banned from the kitchen from that day on.

----------

I'm going through some design reiterations for the Vinsmoke helmets now that the story's more fleshed out and I have a better idea of how they serve the story. I'm thinking, if Sanji's is making them them and his siblings have a say about the heavy things, they'd actually put some effort in making it look cool, and potentially add some extra mods on them. The new designs are meant to really show that Sanji respects and trusts them as his best and highest ranking officers.

#pirate king of the north #villain sanji #vinsmoke niji #one piece #vinsmoke sanji #roronoa zoro #fanfic #trafalgar law #bepo one piece #opfanart #op fanfic #one piece fanart #one piece fanfiction #heart pirates #zosan #zosan fanfic #warlord zoro

85 notes · View notes

lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom · 11 months ago

Note

Hello there! 👋🏽 If you don’t mind, I was wondering if I could make a request with Tech? With maybe a bookworm reader if that’s okay? I feel like it would be a cute dynamic! Thank you and have a good day! 🙏🙌

Bookworm

Tech x Reader

Summary- You and Tech have a moment alone on The Marauder. What better way to spend it than reading! Accompanied by Tech on his datapad, of course.

A/N- It's totally okay!!! I figured the best format for this kind of request was bullet point- but I am not very good at those. So, i compromised with this! Hope you enjoy, thanks for requesting!

Word Count- 990

Hunter, Omega, Wrecker, and Echo had all left the ship to go look for some dinner. A job you all completed recently left you with some spending money. You figured everyone deserved a real meal for once.

It left you and Tech alone in The Marauder. You could have easily went to hang out at Cid's bar, but you couldn't stand to be around her. You hated the way she poked fun at Tech's goggles.

Only you were allowed to call him 'goggles.'

The thought only temporarily distracted you from your book. You quickly resumed reading, only to realize you had to restart the whole page. This time actually process what you're reading! You thought to yourself.

Grumbling, you squeezed your eyes shut and straightened up in your seat. You happened to take a spot in the co-pilots chair. Tech always sat in the pilots.

"Something the matter?" Tech asks, not looking up from his datapad.

It was sweet, that he noticed your small movements. "Just trying to focus, I lost my place." You finally found a comfortable position, situating your book back in your hands.

"It can help to fidget with one hand, to increase your chances of focus." He informed, per usual.

You smiled up at him, he glanced up from the pad when he felt your gaze on him. He flashed a very brief smile- more of a grin, it was all you needed though.

You listened to him rant about his findings on 'focus' for a few minutes, knowing anyone else would have shut him up by now. Him talking never bored you or made you uncomfortable, despite many others complaining.

"Thank you, Tech." You simply said, returning to your book. He seemed pleased enough and went back to tinkering on his datapad.

A newfound silence came over, you read your book in peace. The story of the thieves with powers fighting the government amused you. What amused you more was the fact you had personally been on more dangerous missions, yet the book still captured you.

It was nice to imagine yourself in their place, even when you wouldn't change what you have for the word.

You'd go on a million death defying missions if it meant you were with Tech.

While you typically could put down over 50 pages in an hour, Tech interrupted you again. Not with any other intentions than to please you.

"Yes?" You responded after he called your name.

He reached in a compartment to the left of the console. A place Tech used to store his latest experiments.

He pulled out a neatly wrapped gift. It had swirls of color on the paper that wrapped it. He said nothing, just handed the rectangular item to you.

"For me?"

"That would be correct."

You tried to fight the corners of your mouth rising, but it was no use. Tech watched you violently, showing little expression.

You gently took the paper off, not wanting to make a mess of his careful work.

You slowly revealed it to be a new book, the fourth book in the series to the one you were just reading.

"Tech, I- I thought it was a limited edition! There was only a hundred made across the galaxy!" You looked in his deep brown eyes.

"Yes, it is." He confirmed.

"H-how did you get it!" You were baffled, the thought he put into your gift- and for no special occasion.

"It was not difficult. I was able to track all the shipping numbers to their respective planets, and when we had a mission on one- I located the book through its buyers." He said, nonchalantly. Like he didn't easily buy one of the most rare books you knew of.

"Why? Did I miss an anniversary?" You were slightly confused on why he gave you the gift. You hoped you weren't supposed to also have a gift prepared.

"Uh, no. You mentioned exactly 129 rotations ago that you wanted the book. I saw no problem in getting it." He remembered...

You were moved to small tears, now flowing down your cheeks.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, Tech. Of course I am." You rose to your feet, throwing yourself on him in a big hug. He hugged you back. While he didn't completely understand your acclimation to physical affection- he didn't mind you doing as you pleased to him.

He gently patted your back, and you pulled away. "Thank you, i'm going to have to finish this book quickly now. I can't wait to read it..."

"You are welcome." He responded, you let him be and lifted yourself off of him. He grabbed his datapad and clicked away.

What you didn't know was that sometimes Tech would watch you read. In times like these, when you found yourself sitting or laying next to each other. You reading, him on his datapad.

He would study your face, taking in every expression. He would think about what you were reading- was it sad, happy, thrilling? Feelings were a trivial matter to him, but he was always thinking of ways to make you happy.

He loved it when you read, sometimes out loud to him. It was soothing to hear your voice when he worked on a project or was fixing a part on The Marauder.

The way you tapped your foot, or bounced your leg when you got to a complex part in a book. Or, when you were both laying down together and accidentally hit Tech in shock at a twist in the story. He loved every bit of it.

You turned back to your original book, now more determined than ever to finish it.

You did, however, catch Tech staring this time. You met his gaze, a wide smirk on your face. You couldn't help but giggle briefly. He gave you an odd look, but went back to his datapad. Just as you went back to your book.

A/N- Thank you so much for reading! Requests are about to be open, just one more to fulfill! As always, I am open to constructive criticism.

Tags- (LMK if you want to be tagged as well!) @thethreeeyed-raven @knight-of-flowerss

308 notes · View notes

dronebiscuitbat · 3 months ago

Text

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 102)

Welding while three days overdue in a pregnancy is hard Uzi realized.

The inside of the shuttle was warm enough that the wind and weather outside wasn't something to worry about, but the amount of strain the baby was putting on her internals was slowing her down heavily.

Even still… it was almost finished.

All that was left was the internals, the controls and the little bit of air they needed to cool their systems. And it would be ready.

And so right now she was putting in the cramped recharge pods that would be the bulk of the inside, small little upright beds that filled the function of a place to rest and…not much else.

When space is at a premium, it would have to do.

Khan was working on the airlock, big, steel hydrologic doors. His expertise. So they were nearly working side by side.

Uzi stretched upwards to reach the ceiling from the step ladder she was using,sealing up a messily managed cluster of wires within a tube of aluminum. And then doubled over in pain.

She made a wince and a squeak and held her expanded abdomen as a wave of pain shot through her.

Khan was on her in an instant, taking one of her hands in his own and helping her off the stepladder.

“Uzi! Are you alright? Is the baby-”

“N-no! No. Just uh… just them kicking me in the stomach. Ow…” She calmed him. “I almost wish…”

Khan still held her and made her sit in one of the incomplete charge pods, checking her over.

“I'm fine. Dad.” She almost laughed, but it turned into another wince as the baby proceeded to kick the shit out of her insides once more.

“Agh…”

“Maybe you should sit the rest of the construction out dronelette… you need rest.”

“What I need is to get this done. This was my plan and it needs to work and-” She struggles to get out of the pod, legs kicking our uselessly.

“And you have been every single day you have been able. It's just finishing touches, then we start packing what we can.”

Uzi crossed her arms in a huff.

“I don't wanna be useless.”

“No offense dronelette, but I think your body has more say about that then your mouth.” He smiles sheepishly, gesturing to the fact she couldn't even get out of a shallow pod by herself.

“Bite me.”

He laughed and helped her out of the pod, not letting go until both her feet were on the ground and she was steady on them.

“Where's N? Still on patrol?” He asks, hand still on her back.

“Yeah, he'll be out for awhile…”

“I gotcha.” He peered out the door, flagging down somebody.

“Nico! Can I borrow you for a minute?” He shouted, at the purple eyelighted door gaurd, who was deep in conversation with his partner.

“Aye sir!” He rushed over with a lopsided grin. Goggles bouncing on his head.

“Can you lead my daughter back to her apartment for me?” Khan asks, smiling happily at the young man.

“Dad! I can walk on my own!” Uzi protested, but it went in one ear and out the other.

“Sí Mr. Doorman.” Nico replied, getting into place at Uzi's side despite her indignant grumbles.

“Thank you, Varga.” Khan grinned, before heading back inside the ship. Nico and Uzi look at each other.

“After you senora?”

“I'm not that much older then you…” Uzi smirked, raising her eyebrow. And Nico just laughed.

“Hehe… I'm just being polite.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “You snapped at me for my manners once.”

“Huh?” Uzi wracked her brain. “Oh! Were you the same guy who was staring at Tera when she was a pillbaby?”

They began to walk, passing through the doors of the bunker.

“Guilty. Forgive me? Por favor? I was just surprised… you never struck me as someone who wanted kids, at least… at the time.” He grinned.

“I think I was just in a bad mood that day. I was getting lots of stares.” Uzi admitted, feeling a little self conscious.

“Lo siento, aren't you always in a bad mood?”

“Hey!” She snarled as they passed by several residential doors, before she deflated and smiled. “I guess you're not wrong.”

He laughed again. It sounded… familiar somehow.

“If dad's gonna have you tail me, I need to pick up my daughter from a freinds house before I head home.” She spoke, and at her words, his smile seemed to get a little pained.

“Of course. It's Tera right?” He asked, cocking his head. “How… is she?”

“Tera? You mean other then destroying everything soft she can get her fangs on? She's great, she's so energetic, she's a little hard to keep track of.”

He smiles, then looks confused. “Fangs?”

Uzi looks guilty, looking away from him.

“That's�� my fault. My oil is… uh, effected by a condition…” She shows him a flash of her own fangs. “And I didn't realize it was contagious that way until it was too late.’

Nico furrows his brow, Uzi mistakes his concern for judgement. “It doesn't seem to effect her negatively! She's happy and healthy, it's just… she'll look different, is all.”

Nico nods once. “I wasn't judging.”

“So long as she is happy, I don't think anyone will judge. You took her in when… no one else wanted to, or could.”

“If no one has thanked you yet. Let me be the first.” He smiles, for once it seems to go up to his visor. “Gracias, Miss Doorman.”

“Uh… you're welcome?” She returns a confused smile as they stop in front of a door that reads “von Roth”.

Nico nods again before coughing and pulling out a little military canteen, taking a swig of it.

Uzi looks at him curiously.

“Ah, software issue… I go through coolant like my abuelo did battery acid! Hehe.”

Uzi nods, satisfied with his answer before knocking on the door with three quick raps.

A drone with light blue eyelights answers the door with a beaming smile. “Oh! Mrs Doorman! You're here to pick up Tera yes?” His accent is slightly Italian, and he smells slightly of fermented oil.

“That's right.”

“I'm Jason! Nice to meet ya!” He shakes her hand firmly. “My Flower’s getting her now. What a good kid you have, treats my daughter like a princess!”

“Uh, thank you Jason.” Uzi says awkwardly.

Delilah pops her head put under his arm, and he chuckles before moving out of the way for her.

“Hi Uzi! Here she is!”

Tera is handed to her… with a big fat purple bow tied up in her hair and forced into a little grey dress.

She looks defeated. Looking up at her mother with eyes that pray ‘please help me.’

“Oh God! What happened to you!?” Uzi smiled, incredibly amused at Tera's deadpan expression.

“Dress up.” Tera answers, as Delilah squeals.

“Look how adorable she looks! Though it was a lot of effort to get her in that dress…” She shows off the tiny scratches on her hands.

considering that Tera resisted being dressed in anything. The fact the Delilah was not in worse shape was astonishing.

“I'd say… Thank you for watching her.”

“Oh, no problem! She's a sweetheart, any time you need!” Delilah answers, before her husband pulls her into a little head nuzzle.

“Absolutely! Kiara needs more freinds like her!” He waves as Nico and Uzi move off, Tera crossing her arms in indignation.

“Not a fan of the dress chica?” Nico asks with an amused look.

“No.” Tera answers, shaking her head and pouting in her mother's arms. It's not until she does the toddler equivalent of a double take that she notices him and stares, cocking her head.

“Heh, Heya kiddo.” He smiles, face soft. Uzi raises a brow.

“Hi! Like you!” She says immediately, beginning to vibrate. “Name?”

“Ah. Nico.” He replies.

“Hi Nico!” She replies back, grinning visor seam to visor seam. Forgetting for a moment all about her distaste for the dress she was in.

But… too quickly, Uzi was at her door, and it was time to say goodbye.

“Thanks for walking with me. It was nice, even if my dad made you.”

“Don't mention it. You both take care, sí?” He cocked his head.

“Bye Nico!” Tera hollered, waving with all her might. And then; “Adiós!”

Uzi blinked. “Where did you learn-”

Nico was gone very, very quickly.

Who knew languages were inheritable?

Next ->

#murder drones #oil is thicker then blood #uzi doorman #asks #serial designation n #nuzi #biscuitbites #tera doorman #nico varga

60 notes · View notes

ihavethedreamies · 11 months ago

Text

Heat | Wonwoo [NSFW]

Jeon Wonwoo - Seventeen

Rating: M (18+) MDNI

Word Count: ~8.5k

Pairing: Wonwoo x AFAB!Reader

Genre: Sci-Fi AU!, Reader-Insert, Fluff, Smut, Acquaintances-to-Lovers, This One Actually Has Plot

!!This is smut…if that much isn't clear you should probably leave now!! MDNI!

Warnings: She/Her Pronouns used, Minor Background Character Gets Shot (Wow! Plot), Pet Names (Pretty, Pretty Girl, Princess, etc.), Daddy Kink (oops), Swearing, Kissing, Oral (F! Receiving), Wall Sex, Marking/Biting, Unprotected Sex (Use a condom!)

Author's Note: This one has way more actual story than Hoshi's and Woozi's. Wonwoo tends to need time to warm up to people, so I didn't feel like I should do a quick one-night stand deal with him. So, I wrote in some story so he and the reader weren't total strangers.

-> Series Hub <-

-> Hoshi's <-

-> Woozi's <-

-> S.Coup's <-

Revised (1/30/25)

I am cross-posting this on Archive. Please reblog! Share, even if its to the other sites! Let me know if you want to be on the taglist!

"You have GOT to be kidding me…" You grumble, huffing a few harsh breaths, and trying again. There’s something stuck under the sand, and you really want to see if it’s worth anything. However, every time you get close to brushing enough sand from the surface to see the logo, a gust of wind covers it back up again. Adjusting your head covering over your mouth again so won’t sand in your mouth, you also brush off your goggles of the fine particles sticking to it. You’re starting to work up a sweat, the blowing dust and sand mixes with the perspiration and coats you in a horribly scratchy paste. Whatever is under the sand is big, and that’s what you’re looking for. However, you really need to determine the make and model of the crashed ship to determine if it’s worth reporting for salvage.

"Finally!" You groan, getting the metal brushed clean. You quickly snap a photo with your holo-tracker, the blue paint still relatively solid, enough to identify. The device spins, trying to connect to the extranet and you click your tongue as it takes for seemingly forever.

"What?!" You swear multiple times when the device flashes, 'no results found’. Maybe you can show it to someone at the Assembly office that’ll know something. You already have a few pictures and coordinates of a few smaller wrecks you can report, but they probably won’t grant very many credits. This thing is huge though, so at least the scrap metal will be worth something. Another blast of wind nearly knocks you over as you stand back up, trying to climb out of the small crater to get back to your rover. The crappy thing about wrecks on Sierra-Vector-Tango, since the entire planet is a desert, is that they’re quickly covered by sand; even if they create massive craters when they fall to the surface. However, that means more money for finding salvage than some other planets. Bad thing? Sand worms. Their saliva gets into the particles and can make it acidic, which makes digging through the sand more dangerous. This, once again, causes the number of credits to be higher.

"Let’s go back for now." You jerk back with your entire body weight as you pull the handle for the door of your rover. It finally opens and you huff, throwing the end of your head scarf aggressively to wrap it around your neck better. Crawling up and into your rover, you rest back in the seat, trying to catch your breath. Pressing the button to start the vehicle it roars to life and the air conditioning flares to life and you just sit in the cooling air for a few minutes.

"Water!" You gasp dramatically, grabbing your canteen from the passenger seat, and drinking so aggressively the liquid spills out of your mouth some.

"For fuck's sake…" You groan hard, the water mixing with the layer of sand on your skin, thickening it.

"I need a real shower, with water." Shifting the gear of the rover, you start to drive back to the main road so you can start heading to the nearest Assembly office. It’ll be about an hour to Drent, and a little under two for Jaron, but you really don’t like going to Drent. Not only does it have the name of some dude-bro fuck boy, but it’s also full of them too. Drent has one of the biggest…adult establishments in that quadrant. Not only do they have sexy blue alien ladies dancing on tables, but it also allows you to sleep with them. Last time you went you nearly got mugged, and the guy just wanted your underwear. No thank you. Jaron is farther away, but a much nicer place and has a very old-style diner reminiscent of Terra from the 1950s. It’s cool to go somewhere that’s reminiscent of a time over two-hundred years in the past. Plus, they have a hotel with real water showers instead of the air-blasting kind that’s more common. It’ll be more expensive, but worth it.

"This time I wanna rock with you~" You sang along to the song playing over the speakers, drumming your hands on the steering wheel of your rover as you get back to the main road. Turning right to go north toward Jaron, you set the autopilot on and plug in the town, sitting back to watch the view as your rover drives itself. When you can start to see the sign for the town, you shut the auto-drive off and take control again. Large vehicles like yours aren’t allowed in the city proper, so when you reach the entry checkpoint, you pull off to the side and get out. The sun is setting, nearly below the horizon, stars starting to twinkle in the night sky. Getting out of the rover, you slam the door as hard as you can to get it to shut and go around to the back. Grabbing your big pack and smaller bag, you also have a make-shift safe that you keep smaller salvage pieces in. You let it fall to the sandy ground with a thud and jump back out. Keying in the code on the side, the rover beeps as it locks, and you head to the entry booth.

"How old is your rover?" The kid at the booth is at the most eighteen, and his condescending tone is completely unnecessary.

"Doesn't matter." You try not to sneer, slapping your credit chit on the counter and he slots it into the console. He really has no room to talk, his setup is just as old if not more so than you rover. Sliding the chit back out, he grab a small holo-disc and lets the machine stamp it with the time and date.

"Thank you." You emphasize with fake kindness, and he rolls his eyes as he lets you into the town. You let the parking disc fall into your bag along with your credit chit and start to head down the road. Your 'safe' is basically a suitcase that you made more secure and added a few locks to, so you can roll it behind you. The wheels thunk over the creases of the pavement and you wonder why the town is so dead. At that time, most people would be milling about after supper and going to bars and such. As you pass a store, you see a sign blinking on the glass advertising some kind of political rally, must be where everyone is at. At least the hotel is still being manned, though you aren’t sure the old man behind the counter is even still alive.

"Hello, dearie." He smiles up at you, wrinkles so prominent his eyes nearly disappear.

"Hello, sir. Can I get a single room for…" You think, sucking air through the side of your mouth in thought, "how much is four nights?"

"At 250 credits a night, that’ll be about a thousand…If you stay one more night, I will keep it that price?"

"Sweet! Thanks!" You smile back, digging through your bag to look for the chit once again. It’s a bit pricier than you normally like, but it’s worth it to get a shower with water.

"A single bed, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"I think we only have two-bed rooms…this one is two singles, does that work?"

"Sure!"

"Water shower?"

"Please~" You groan, and he chuckles.

"It’s quite slow today for the rally, so I do not think any restaurants are delivering…" The old man works faster than you thought he would and when he slides the chit back to you, he includes the room key. It looks like a glass playing card and has the room 24H-13 on it.

"It’ll be the second floor, take a right to the fourth hall, then its room thirteen." The old man smiles, and you thank him, heading for the elevator, the wheels whirling on the tile floor. Once you get to the room and inside, you put everything in the room hastily before dashing into the bathroom. After relieving yourself, you shed the extremely sandy clothes, and you notice what looks like an old-style clothes dryer in the corner. It only has two settings, one of which is covered with a piece of tape and the handwritten words, ‘FOR SAND,' on it.

"Perfect." You shrug and shove all of your clothes in the drum, shutting the door, and letting it spin and get rid of the dust and grit.

"Oh~" You hum in delight when you see the water heating panel on the wall. You plug in the best temperature and the water immediately comes out perfect. Standing under the spray, you stand for nearly ten minutes just letting the water flow over your tired body. Glancing up at the shower head, you click your tongue in annoyance, it’s fixed on the wall without a hose…

"Need to find a guy…" you grumble and then proceed to actually wash up. The soaps and cleansers all smell of Terra fruits and you wonder what they might taste like. Getting out of the shower nearly an hour later, you wrap a towel around yourself and your hair, heading back to the main room of the hotel. Flopping onto the bed, your stomach rumbles loudly, and you sigh dramatically. No delivery…The only place that’s probably open is the diner and luckily it’s right next door to the Assembly office in the strip mall. It’s always open since the employees of the Assembly will eat there most of the time, but they never deliver anyway. When your skin finally no longer feels wet or sticky, you put on your set of spare clothes and grab your smaller bag.

"Sandy." you mumble, going back to the bathroom, taking your now sand-free clothes out. Taking everything out of your bag and setting it on top of the machine, you put your bag in to get the sand off and while you wait, putting your boots back on. As it continues, you brush your hair out and braid it again. Looking at your face, you have a slight tan line from your goggles, but it’s nearly unnoticeable thanks to your head scarf covering most of the rest of your face. The machine dings and you retrieve the satchel, putting everything back and making sure you have your chit and keycard, you leave the hotel room to go get dinner. Waving to the old man at the desk, you dash out to the street and jog down the sidewalk. The rally is still going, you can hear the shouting and cheers in the distance. Must be a more local election or campaign because you don’t recognize the politician on the flyer. Most of the store fronts are closed, even as you turn the corner to get to the main street. In the distance, you see the light pouring out of the windows of the Assembly office and the diner, shining like a beacon among the darkened stores surrounding it. Like a good child, you look both ways before you cross the road, despite there not being anything or anyone nearby. The doors slide open when you approach the office and the guy behind the counter looks up lazily from where he’s counting something at the desk.

"Can I help you?" He sounds very tired. You dig in your bag once again and pull out your credit chit as well as your ID so he can see you’re a legit scavenger, but also a freelancer. Freelancers actually tend to gets more money than their own employees because they don’t have to pay benefits and all that other stuff.

"I'll let the Salvage Officer know you're here." The guy hands you your stuff back and you go to sit in the empty waiting area. Tapping your toe on the floor, you look into the entrance of the diner through the windows and door inside the office. There’s only one or two customers inside and just one waitress. There’s a guy sitting in the back corner, thin glasses perched on the end of his nose as he read. A paper book? Who has physical books anymore?

"(Y/N)." Your name is called by a familiar voice, and you smile at the owner.

"Junmyeon!" He motions with his head, and you follow him into his personal office.

"Didn’t know you’re working here now." You sit in front of his desk, and he chuckles, relaxing back into his office chair.

"I just transferred. What have you found?" He takes the holo-tracker from you when you hand it over and plugs it into his console.

"Most of them are small…" You dimple the corner of your mouth, looking at the monitor the best you can from your angle. He shifts the screen so you can see better, and you point to different marks and give more details.

"What one is this?" He’s looking at the blue logo and you shrug.

"I have no idea; it’s huge though. Looks like a Meteor-class size ship, maybe bigger. It’s totally covered and left a huge crater." You emphasize with hand motions, and he pans the picture out to get the measurements before he taps the logo so the computer can analyze it. As it spins you dig through your bag, looking to see if you have lip balm or something. You don’t notice your business friend simply watching you, more like staring. His eyes flash to your lips as you paint the balm on your lips with your ring finger. When the console dings, it brings both of your attention back to the machine.

"Oh, wow." He leans in to read the information.

"I need to make some calls, can you come back in a few hours?" He looks at you and you nod, standing.

"I can grab something to eat in the meantime!" You wave goodbye and don’t even notice when he tries to calls after you. Heading back to the front of the office, you go to the door leading to the diner and the door slides open with a ding.

"Just you, girlie?" The older waitress calls from behind the counter, and you nod, going to sit at said counter.

"What can I get for you?" she asks, sassily chewing her gum. You look over the menu and make your choice, pulling out your holo-tracker to play a game as you wait for your food. You glance over to the back corner over your shoulder, looking at the guy reading.

"Who is that?" you ask the waitress when she comes back with your drink.

"He's been hanging around here for a few days. I'm not sure what he's doing, but I know he's waiting for something. The secretary in the office might know." She nods back to where you had been, and you tell her you’ll be right back. Leaving your bag on your stool to save your spot, you jog back into the office and the guy at the desk casts you a tired glance.

"Who is that guy?" You point toward the back corner, leaning your elbows on the ledge of the front desk.

"He's a bounty hunter of some sort I believe. He’s looking for someone for some reason, and is waiting there for leads. He's offering money for any information." He shrugs and you nod in acknowledgement and head back to the eatery. Your food is ready by the time you get back, and the waitress chuckles at how fast you shovel it in. When you’re done, you hand her your chit and meander on over to the guy.

"I heard you're looking for someone?" You start casually and he looks up at you over his glasses and your eyes widen. He’s freaking gorgeous. His left eye is highlighted red, it seems he has some kind of hologram-like contact in it or something. His black hair is styled half up, his bangs resting over his brow. He’s got a few ear piercings, his left nostril has a simple loop ring, and a matching one in the middle of his bottom lip. A chain hangs around his neck with a pendant on the end that’s some kind of upside-down triangle design. He simply hums in response and puts a slip of paper in his book and shuts it, taking his glasses off. You sit on the end of the booth, a big gap between the two of you since he’s sitting in the corner of the circular seat. He slides his holo-tracker across the table showing you a blurry image from some kind of security feed. It’s a person, that’s about all you can tell, and they have a hood up over their head and only the bottom part of their face is visible.

"This it?" You look back at him, and he’s sitting there stiffly, just looking at you. He’s really hot, actually. He has a tan, old-style button up on with the top few buttons undone. His pants are a brown leather of some kind, and he’s got a belt on with an attached thigh-holster that holds a pistol blaster.

"They stole some schematics. I need them back more than to find the person." He taps the screen as he looks at it upside down and it shows a second image. The person has a cylinder with a strap hang over their back.

"It’s a set of old maps, they were stolen from the archives at the museum in the Capital." he explains, and you slide your finger over the full image, zooming out to see the area.

"You a bounty hunter?" You slide the holo-tracker back to him and he puts it back in his pocket.

"Not really. I'm a Ranger."

"You're a Ranger!?" You perk up and he seems taken aback by your sudden excitement. Rangers are a small and elite group, they’re essentially vigilantes, freelancers. They tend to do more things like rescues or arrests, or other odd jobs. They have a pretty strict rule of not killing.

"So, you want the maps but don't need the thief?"

"Yes. It would be nice to get both, though."

"Hm. I'll ask around and see, I travel quite a bit-"

"Scavenger?"

"Y-yeah." You chuckle nervously under his intense gaze.

"Be careful out there, if you get a lead, message me." He gets his tracker back out and you scanned his with yours to save his ID.

"What's your name?" you ask.

"Wonwoo…"

"(Y/N)." You smile and get up from the booth, going to retrieve your chit.

"I'll let you know!" You grin and wave goodbye, heading back in. Your timing is perfect because Junmyeon is finished and he tells you the first wrecks aren’t worth a whole lot, but the last one is.

"Two million credits?!" You balk at the number.

"Yeah. Seems it was some kind of cargo vessel, and they think it might still have all of the packages on it still. You can get even more depending on what's inside." He smiles at your gawk, and you finally shut your mouth.

"Woah..."

"I can get you the two million now-"

"Really!?"

"Yes." He chuckles and you dig your chit back out and he slides it into the console so he can transfer the credits.

"Shit…" you whisper, your hand shaking a bit as you take the chit back.

"Are…you staying in a hotel tonight?" Junmyeon asks as you scroll on your holo-tracker, admiring the giant number registered in your account.

"Yeah! I might upgrade my room~" You giggle, and he takes a breath, trying to psych himself up, but no words come out before you stand to leave.

"Thanks, Myeon! I'll make sure to come here when I can, kay?" You wave goodbye and he sighs as you dash out of his office. As you leave to head back to your hotel, you see that Wonwoo has left his booth, and you wonder why. Getting outside, you realize the rally has gotten out, floods of people now walking the streets, a big crowd heading toward the diner.

"Ew." You sneer at the globs of people and dash back to the hotel. When you get in the lobby, you skip up to the front counter, ready to ding the bell and call the nice old man out for assistance.

"Oh?" Someone is sitting in the lobby, a book in his hand.

"Run away from all the people?" You speak a bit louder so he can hear you and he glances up over his glasses again. His face isn’t quite as cold as before, but he isn’t smiling either.

"Yes." His tone is also lighter.

"There's about to be a bunch more. The campaign team is staying here and will be back soon." The old man comes out of the office, and you sneer as he laughs.

"Are you staying here too?" you ask Wonwoo who puts his book away and takes his glasses off.

"I hadn't checked in yet."

"We don’t have any more rooms available, sir. We just had an influx of online reservations since the rally got out so late…" The old man sighs, and you hum.

"I have a second single bed in my room…?" You suggest not meeting his eye as he comes to stand by you. He has a small duffle over his shoulder. His eyes finally meet yours, and he seems a little nervous, but you can only see it in his eyes, past that red glowing contact.

"Is that alright with you?"

"Yes? I wouldn’t have offered otherwise…" You huff and the old man hums.

"Here, I will get you a key as well." You both wait and when Wonwoo receives the clear keycard, you both scurry to elevator, people starting to enter the lobby. Neither of you say anything till you shut the door to the hotel room.

"Are you sure this is okay?" you ask him, he’s even stiffer than before.

"Y-yes." He clears his throat, and he goes further into the room, taking the bed near the window since your stuff is on the other one. He tells you he’s going to shower, and you nod as he dashes past you. Sighing, you shake away some very impure thoughts, and go to your safe, rolling it over to the bench under the clothing rack and hauling it up onto it with a grunt. It takes two physical keys as well as two padlocks and a dial lock. You click each one open and then you’re able to open it. The air seal 'shunks' as you open it, and you carefully rest the lid on the wall so it won’t scratch it. Looking over your objects, you have some small crystal-like artifacts that you’re worried just fakes from some kind of gift shop. You also have some intact parts for ship consoles and even jewelry. There had been just a random case you found washed up on the shore of an oasis once that had gold and silver necklaces and rings inside. It’s never reported missing, so you just kept them. Other bits and pieces are inside as well, and your mind goes back to the image Wonwoo had shown you. The hood was what caught your eye. The person was experienced, knowing how to hide their face from all angles, so they’re probably an experienced thief. Who would want ancient maps though? Especially from Terra.

"What is all that?" His deep voice startles you; you hadn’t even heard the bathroom door open. Glancing up, you swallow hard at the sight. He’s put most of his clothes back on, but his shirt is still unbuttoned, allowing you to see his toned torso. He’s flops a towel onto his head to dry his hair and puts his glasses back on. Trying to ignore how freaking sexy he is, you clear your throat and start to point things out. When you get to the crystals, you let him pick up the one that’s shaped like a pyramid.

"I don’t know if they’re worth anything, they might be fakes.”

"Have you shone light through them?" he asks, and you hadn't even thought of it.

"No?" He hands it back and you dig through your bag and find your flashlight, holding it to the crystal.

"Woah!" You gasp as a map of the stars shines on the ceiling as the light passes through the crystal.

"Is it worth anything?" you ask him. It’s cool but could still theoretically be from a gift shop.

"The fakes have a button to turn on the light, that's the real deal. Where did you find them?" He’s buttoning his shirt up, unfortunately, picking up the three other crystals and coming to sit on his bed across from you. There’s a sphere, one that looks like a big diamond and an obelisk. You hand him the flashlight and he shines it through the other ones. The sphere shows a projection of a globe, but it isn’t S.V.T or even Terra.

"Mars." he mutters, and you look closer, recognizing the small dots over the surface as the towers that hold the barrier around the planet. The diamond one lights up a bright aqua blue, but that seems to be all it does. The obelisk projects the time and date, but it seems to be from Mars as well.

"I found them in some cave. How the did does they get all the way out here?"

"Were these the only things in the cave?"

"Yeah…So even though they’re legit, are they worth anything?

"Hm. Maybe to a collector. I can take them to the museum when I go back-" he halts, "If you're okay with it, I'll pay you back." If he wasn’t a Ranger, you’d be more hesitant to allow it, because he could just pocket the money. You don’t think he would though, not with the reputation of his group at stake otherwise.

"Sure." You shrug and he takes them and puts them in his own pack, and you go back to your safe and lock it up.

"Thank you for letting me stay here." He calls suddenly as you try to figure out how the holo-screen works and what channels there are.

"Sure. I'm not a fan of big groups of people either and this is the best hotel in town." You smile at him, going to hand him the remote.

"Oh, no, you can choose. I'll just read." You nod and don’t press to continue the conversation. While it’s quiet between you two, it’s companionable and before you know it, you have drifted off the sleep, listening to some show and the flipping of his book pages. When you awake, he’s gone, but it’s like ten in the morning, and there’s an unread message on your holo-tracker.

Sorry I left without saying goodbye. Thank you for letting me stay in your room for the night. I am heading back to the capital for now and will get your crystal projectors estimated. Please let me know if you get any leads on the map thief. - Wonwoo

You sigh, a little disappointed he just left, but he seems quite shy and closed off. Whatever. For the rest of the day and the next few you laze about and do some fun things to spoil yourself after your big payout, enjoying your little vacation. Over the week afterwards you’re having trouble finding anything significant and have stopped at a small tavern set up near a small oasis. You sit at the bar, laying on it dramatically. The bartender has moved the fan closer to you so it could blow straight on you as you lazily sip from the straw in your fruity drink. You glance casually at the entrance when another person enters, and you zero in on their face. They have a hood on, but that doesn’t mean it’s for sure the person Wonwoo had been looking for. After he got the money from the crystals, more than you thought but not a huge amount, he’s sent you more information. It was a woman, presumably, and she’s pretty tall and even always wears heeled boots. Your gaze shifts to their feet but can’t see for sure and you can’t even tell it’s a woman. You and Wonwoo have actually been messaging some even past leads on the thief. You don’t have many friends and while he has the other rangers, he says it’s nice to talk to someone new. As you sit at the bar, you watch her, pretending you aren’t. You casually take out your holo-tracker and take a picture of the person as discreetly as you can, then head out. You continue to wait and watch in your rover, ready to take a picture of their vehicle when they leave. You think you know which one it is, but don’t know for sure, so you wait till they come back out. They get in the one you’d been eyeing, and so once they head off, you send the two pictures and a few more details to Wonwoo. He thanks you for the update, then asks where you are. He then tells you to meet him in the next town of Falko, and since you’re headed there anyway…

The town is much smaller than Jaron, so there’s only one small motel, so it’s easy to find where he is and get to his room. He’s on the first floor in room three. You knock and barely wait before he opens it. He’s…smiling. You didn’t know he could do that. You forgot how gorgeous he is.

"T-thanks." You smile bashfully and follow him inside. It seems he’s been there awhile based on everything spread out across the room. There are a few consoles set up as well as tablets and other tech.

"What's going on in here?" You motion around the room.

"While I'm looking for the map thief, I'm also trying to get the Ranger's new communication array set up. I'm making the program myself so it can't be hacked by outside sources." Wonwoo shrugs, moving various tablets from one of the beds so you can sit down. He sits at the small desk and turns to face you. He asks a few questions about the person you saw, and you give him more details from the pictures. It wasn’t a whole lot to go on, but if it is them, then he now has their vehicle information. Before you can talk past leads on the thief, his holo-tracker goes off and he read the message. He sighs.

"What's wrong?"

"My partner is coming back. It might be better if you leave." He stands to lead you out and you grimace.

"I-It's not…I just don’t want him to meet you…" He mumbles and you want to press the issue. His cheeks are slightly red, and he flashes another genuine smile as you leave the motel room.

"I'll let you know if the lead pans out." You nod and before you can turn and leave, he’s holds something out for you.

"What's this?" You take the little holo-card.

"Um…it's my address. If you are ever in Ratalla…I won’t be back home for a few more days, but I should be working from there after…" Wonwoo rubs his hands on his pants, then shoves his hands in his pockets when you notice.

"Thanks." You give him your own smile, then leave giddily.

~θωθ~

Nearly another month passes before you see him in person again, but you’ve messaged back and forth quite a lot. There was once you were near his hometown, but he wasn’t there, so you missed the chance of seeing him again.

You’re currently meeting with a repair man in a city called Guro; your rover hasn’t been driving straight. It seems he’ll need it for a few days to even determine the issue, let alone what to do after. At least you’re in a place with lots of activities. You had actually gotten another half a million credits from the giant wreck you found and had more funds than you know what to do with. As you leave the shop, looking up on the extranet for the nicest hotel, someone catches your eye. Despite the heat of the desert and the midday sun, there’s someone slinking around with a hood on. You watch them, eyes glancing at their feet. Heeled boots. It’s also a woman, and her height matches the parameters. There’s even a cylinder vessel hanging over her shoulder. It’s her. The area has mostly warehouses, and she might be meeting a buyer, so you decide to follow her. You send Wonwoo a message with your coordinates to see if he can send someone by as well, or better yet, call some Guards. You trot behind her, trying to stay out of sight and remain quiet. Hiding quickly around the corner, you watch her go into an unmarked warehouse after looking around for followers. Not well enough. The thief goes in through a large open garage door, so it makes it easy for you to follow. Crouching against the wall right near the edge of the door you peer around the corner and see she’s alone, probably waiting for someone. She glances at her holo-tracker, then goes further in, toward the garage door on the opposite side that opens to a scrap yard. Looking for another hiding place, you dash forward and hide behind a column. When you peer around though, she’s gone.

"Why are you following me?" A voice calls from behind you, and you spin to see the thief, holding a pistol blaster aimed at you. Your heart falls and sweat breaks out on your brow. Those maps must be really valuable if this person is willing to shoot you to prevent the interruption of the hand-off.

"I-I was just trying to figure out who-" The woman pulls back the hammer on the weapon and your stomach drops.

"Shit!" You scramble up and try to at least get around the column when you see her finger going to the trigger.

"Fuck!" You slam your back against the column, seeing a smoking scorch mark on the ground.

"(Y/N)!" a familiar voice shouts, and you’re shocked by Wonwoo's presence, distracting you.

"Stupid bitch!" The thief is back behind you, and you spin to see the gun nearly at your head. You yelp when something yanks you back and you fall into a hard body. Leaning into him, you watch in terror as the woman falls back onto the ground, a hole in her head. Then you notice not only are you breathing hard, but so is he. He spins you around to look over you, his hands on your shoulders, one going to your jaw to adjust your head so he can look you over.

"Are you okay?" He’s nearly frantic, his face and tone full of panic.

"Y-yes." You aren’t sure if you should be more surprised by his sudden appearance or the clear worry he has for you. It makes your heart thud but for a much different reason. When he’s finishes looking over you and determines himself you are okay, Wonwoo pulls you into a hug. You return the embrace, more trying to comfort him than anything.

"Fuck, I was worried..." He sighs right in your ear, his deep voice rumbling through you.

"You were?" He pulls back enough so he can meet your eye and huffs.

"Of course. You didn’t reply when I messaged you to stay away…" His hand goes back to your jaw, his thumb brushing over the skin of your cheek, which is rapidly getting warm and red. When you meet his eyes again yours widen, he gets close again and presses a soft kiss to your forehead.

"Are you okay?" You chuckle a bit, kind of worried. He’s never shown this level of emotion before.

"Yeah." Wonwoo pulls way, petting your hair then goes to the body of the woman. You try to avoid looking at her as he takes the map holder from her and soon the Guards show up. It’s another good hour or maybe two before you both are finally allowed to leave after giving statements and answering questions.

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" he asks you as you leave the warehouse district.

"Not yet. I was just about to find a hotel when I saw her…" You drift off, pointing with your thumb in the general direction of where you just were.

"I got a crap ton of money from a wreck I found so I’m going to go somewhere fancy." You smile wide and he gives you a smaller one. Wonwoo takes a step closer, looking a bit nervous, his voice has a slight waver when he speaks.

"Wanna get a room together?"

~υ3υ~

From everything after he asked that question, till your back hit the door of your hotel room, was a blur. You got one of the deluxe suites of the nice hotel, so the bedroom is separate from the living area, and there’s a small kitchen even. As soon as the door closes, he presses you against it, his lips swallowing yours. His big hand goes to the back of your head, making sure it doesn’t hit the wood of the door. When your lungs start to burn for more air, he finally pulls his mouth from yours. As you catch your breath, just looking at each other, Wonwoo leans in to whisper in your ear, "I'm going to fuck you on every surface in this place." He promises. Your head swims at the statement and you whine.

"Please~" As soon as he gets permission, he grabs and turns you around, your front pressed to the door and his nose nuzzles behind your ear. You let him do as he wishes, running his hands under your thin top, starting to suck on the skin in the crook of your neck. You’re a bit worried about him having to stoop over so far since he’s so much taller, but if he isn’t complaining, neither will you. You can tell he’s marking your skin as he licks, sucks, and nibbles over your neck and shoulders. His hands quickly get your shirt off and as his hands dance over the skin of your stomach, you toed your boots off, shoving them to the side. Before he completely removes it, Wonwoo slips his hands under your breast band, palming the flesh, making you shiver. Undoing the latch, he takes the wrap off and it falls to the floor as well. Not turning around to see for sure, you hear more fabric rustling and assumes he’s removing his own top. You sigh when his arms wrap around you, holding your back to his bare chest, the right hand cupping your left breast, and his other hand skating over your stomach. He smiles at the whining moan you let out when his hand finally goes into your pants, long fingers stroking the wet patch on your panties.

"So wet, pretty girl." He kisses behind your ear, fingers tweaking your nipple.

"Wonwoo~" You whimper when his bare fingers finally meet your folds, and he groans.

"Let's see how tight you are." Every time he rumbles words in your ear, it makes your entire body shiver. Sighing when his finger slides inside, he huffs, his hips twitching as your gummy walls suck his finger in. You can feel his hardening cock through his pants, pressing into your back side. When Wonwoo adds a second finger, crooking them up and pressing hard into your back wall, your legs buckle, and the only reason you don’t fall is his arms around you.

"Need to get your pussy ready for me, pretty." He smiles against your neck when your groan fades into a whine.

"Fuck~" You practically cried as his palm dig into your clit and you’re already close.

"No!" You gasp when his fingers left right as you’re getting to the edge.

"Wonwoo?" He’s pulls away entirely, you only knows he’s still behind you because his hands are on the waist band of your pants. He pulls them along with your underwear down and kneels behind you, helping you get them off without falling over.

"Hold on, pretty girl." While you aren’t sure what he’s about to do, your fingers dig futilely into the wood of the door. Your breath escapes you when he, without real warning, shoves his tongue into your cunt, his thumb flicking your clit. Your legs immediately begin to shake, a mewl escaping with each rapid breath. You’re done for when his lips seal around your clit, barely flicking with his tongue, and your nails dig into the wood as you cum on his tongue. He chuckles, your cunt dripping release onto the floor.

"Gonna have to clean this place good…" You joke, breathless and he laughs harder. Wonwoo hums, standing back up. There’s more shuffling as you rest against the door panting. You sigh when his arms come back to you, pulling you back into his now completely naked body. His cock is wedged in the crook of your ass, and you swear under your breath, why is he so freaking big? He’s tall and his shoulders are broad, and apparently has to have a fat cock as well.

"Fuck!" You groan when the head of his cock goes to the entrance of your core. One of his arms wrap around your ribs, the hand resting under your breast, and the other is at your hip.

"Ready?" His tone shifts, it’s playful and cocky, a slight laugh accompanies the word.

"Please!" You gasp as he starts to push in, your legs shake as his dick stretches you open. You hadn't been fucked in a long time, and longer still fucked good. You pant out little whines as he keeps filling you, and it seems like he’s going to end up in your throat. Your entire body is trembling when he finally bottoms out, his strong hips pressing against your ass.

"God, your cunt feels so good, princess." His groan rumbles through both of you. You can’t see, but his head is thrown back, adam's apple bobbing as he tries to get used to how tight you are. When he realizes you’re on your tip toes trying to compensate for the height difference, he shifts to ease the strain. He backs up so you can lean forward more, and he angles his hips down. Your feet are no longer burning, and his new angle seems to get him even deeper somehow. Your cunt is burning too, trying to accommodate his size, slick walls fluttering from the stimulation. He still barely moves, letting you adjust, but you’re growing close again.

"Move…" Your request is very quiet. You’re trying not to moan likes a bitch in heat even though that’s exactly how you feel.

"Slow? Fast?"

"Fuck- Wonwoo, just-" He pulls out about halfway and thrusts back in, the head of his cock kissing your cervix. You both moan, his hands leave their original positions to grip the flesh of your ass, and he chuckles when you nearly sob as he starts. Only pulling out part of the way, he’ll fuck back into you hard, grinding his pubic bone into you each time.

"Fucking hell, Wonwoo~" You end up back on your toes just from the pleasure and you hope they won’t fine you too bad for the scratches your nails are carving into the wood. All your breath gets fucked out of you when he finally gives a full thrust, your orgasm slamming into you.

"Shit-" Wonwoo grunts when your already tight cunt squeezes him even more, he has to slow down just to keep himself from cumming as well. He smirks, watching your fingers twitch as you claw the door, your head flopping forward between your shoulders.

"No, no, no!" You babble as he pulls out all the way, huffing in amusement at your whining.

"Come here, pretty." Wonwoo easily lifts you, somewhere between like a sack of potatoes and a princess. Your head is still swimming from your orgasm, so the move to the next location is a bit blurry. You shiver and mewl when he sets you on the counter in the mini kitchen of the suite, the marble very cold on your bare thighs and pussy. He laughs at your yelp when he pulls you so your butt is right at the end of the counter, and doesn’t hesitate to bury himself back into you. The thrust is harsher and faster than the first and your hands fly to his shoulders to steady yourself as he restarts the brutal rhythm that he’d fucked you against the door with. The man groans when your nails dig into his skin instead of the wood, so he decides to mark you himself.

"Wonwoo~" Your voice wavers, eyes starting to tear up at the feeling of him fucking your brains out. His mouth goes to your own shoulder, at the base of your neck. He starts with open mouth kisses, then sucks the skin before lightly sinking his teeth in. He can feel your whimper against your throat, and you feel his responding hum from his lips. Wonwoo tightens his grip as well, wanting to leave bruises shaped likes his hands on your skin. He’s struggling to hold you upright enough, so you don’t bang your head against the counter, and his knees keep knocking into the cabinet.

"Hold on…" He grunts, and you squeak when, without withdrawing, he picks you up, holding your legs around his waist. Not going far, one hand holds your butt and the other goes to hitch your leg over his elbow as he pins you to the wall. Luckily the paint on the wall isn’t textured, your back rubbing over the surface as you bounce on his cock. Wonwoo looks even more gorgeous than normal like this, naked, sweat covering his brow, pupils blown wide. The red, dancing hologram of his eye contact contracts and spins, and you wonder what it does, if anything. With hazy thoughts, you glance down at his body, whining at the sight of his abs, clenched to work his hips and hold you up.

"Fuck, pretty girl-" He exhales harshly, his thrusts getting less regular as he grows closer to his orgasm.

"Inside, please, fuck!" You plead and he has no desire to argue. His forehead lands on your shoulder, and he moans higher than you thought he could go as he pumps his cum into you. In the silence, cutting through both of your panting breaths, your combined release drips onto the tile floor. Your head is so empty you nearly don’t realize you’ve cum again as well. You try hard not to slump like a rag doll since he’s completely holding you up, but you nearly have no strength.

"Let's get to the bed." Wonwoo stands up straight, staying inside, his cock still rock-hard and he carries you to the separate bedroom of the suite. While he means to set you down on the bed gently, you flop onto it, letting yourself finally go boneless, your muscles and mind are mush. You aren’t sure if you can go any longer, but despite a bit of sweat on him, he’s unaffected.

"I've been waiting to fuck you since you came to my motel room in Falko." He admits, shifting you higher on the bed, following suit, his hard cock covered in both of yours cum resting between the folds of your cunt. You barely registered the confession before your back arches, his cock finding its home inside of you again. It’s hard to fully catch your breath, he’s battering his cock into your dripping cunt without any mercy. As he rolls his hips just right to hit every single good spot inside of you, his hands grip your thighs, maneuvering your weakly shaking thighs so they press to your chest, knees at your ears.

"D-daddy, go slower!" You cry out and his hips immediately stops. You’re too far gone to feel anything but a bit of respite, head flopping so your cheek rests on the pillow.

"Fucking hell, princess." Somehow his voice has gotten deeper, and he starts the brutal pace back up, snapping his hips even harder than before. If you have the strength to scream you would, but your throat is hoarse, so you just mewl and squeak, drool pooling from the corners of your mouth, tears down your cheeks.

"You love daddy's cock ruining your sweet little cunt, huh?" He huffs when your glassy eyes meets his. The red hologram spins and dances, and while you can’t see, through the lens he has a much different view. Little numbers and labels show in the air around your body, telling him how and where your brain is firing, your heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure. He can even highlight where blood pools to the bruises his hands have made.

"Yes~!" You gasp as his thrusts slow down, but just as hard, he barely pulls out before grinding down into you. Different sensors from his lens flashes on and he can tell you’re getting close already. Even without it, he can feel your walls pulsing, more of your wet dripping from where your bodies meets.

"You wanna cum, pretty?" You nod rapidly, whimpering positively.

"Cum for daddy, then." And with one more thrust you fall over the edge. Not just from his words, but also the rough friction of his pelvic bone meeting your clit. Wonwoo chuckles as he feels your pussy spasm, more of your cum squirting from your quivering folds, coating his skin as well. He has a feeling you’re spent even though he knows he could keep going. He’s still inside of you, so he doesn’t overstimulate you too much, and he isn’t for sure you’re still conscious. Your eyes are closed, arms resting on the bed up by your head. He smiles warmly, cooing at your fucked out state, letting your legs go so they can rest onto the bed as well. When he pulls out you shudder, a long shaky whine floating from your parted lips. He’s shocked at the globs of thick, white cum that drip out of your swollen cunt and he’s still unfortunately still very hard. After feeling your core milk him dry, he isn’t sure even a cold shower will calm him down. Though, seeing you laying there, he feels a little bad he’s caused you to become so worn out and doesn’t want to be selfish.

"Oh, princess." Wonwoo leans back over you, kissing your cheek, the corner of your mouth, then softly presses his lips to yours. You sigh and it makes him grin, you’re at least conscious.

"You're still hard." Your voice is quiet, higher than normal, almost whiny.

"It's okay, pretty, you're tired." Wonwoo nuzzles the side of your neck under your ear, lightly sucking on your ear lobe. If he wasn’t careful, he won’t be able to resist sliding back inside you. With the little strength you have returned to you, you push him back just enough that you can flop over onto your stomach.

"(Y/N), we don't-" You don’t let him finish, grabbing a pillow to shove under your hips, lifting your butt a bit higher.

"Please, daddy~" You look at him with shining eyes over your shoulder, and who is he to resist?

"Oh, fuck, princess. If you insist…"

-> Series Hub <-

Master-Master List

Seventeen Master List

Taglist: @gaslysainz

259 notes · View notes

laughhardrunfastbekindsblog · 8 months ago

Text

Okay, my one and only major complaint about Bad Batch is that I don't think they handled Tech's death properly (I still don't think they should have killed him off at all, but here we are; and even if they intend(ed) to leave things open-ended to maybe bring him back later, the titular characters in the show wouldn't have known that); and with all the reasons I've seen floating out there as to WHY Tech's death was handled the way it was and why the characters reacted the way they did (or didn't), I just want to explain why none of the "reasons" cut it for me. If you're satisfied with how Tech was handled in season 3, I am genuinely happy for you (and lowkey jealous, ngl 😉). I've just been thinking about this a lot and need to spell it out!

Reason #1: "Why do we need to see more of the characters mourning? What we got was enough. We don't need a 2 hour episode that's all about the characters grieving." (Yes, someone actually used "2 hours" in their argument.)

Let's recap what we got: 1) A scene where Echo looks sadly at the Marauder's pilot seat, Wrecker actually sheds some tears (bless him), Omega's in denial, and Hunter tells Omega they're going to retire on Pabu because Tech is gone... followed up almost immediately by the villain dropping off broken goggles as the only proof that Tech was ever on Eriadu; 2) a scene where the audience is shown Tech's goggles but Hunter doesn't interact with them- instead, he looks at Lula, proving that his driving motivation is recovering Omega (which is fine when taken from the perspective that he can't do anything about Tech, whereas he can do something for Omega; but that perspective is ultimately just headcanon because the show never reiterates or follows up on this); 3) Wrecker alluding to Tech (not by name) to try to convince Hunter to be more cautious; 4) Omega name-dropping Tech (wait, does Crosshair even know what happened?... yay for context clues, I guess); 5) Echo name-dropping Tech in relation to data decryption with the team looking down sadly for 5 seconds (I timed it) before Crosshair changes the subject; 6) Phee name-dropping Tech in relation to her not knowing what m-count is; 7) Crosshair referring to Tech's information on Ventress; 8) Omega leaving Tech's goggles in the Archeum with none of her brothers around (hot take: it kinda bothers me that the goggles are given the same treatment as Lula, I totally understand the context/deeper meaning of Omega leaving her childhood behind by leaving Lula, but we're talking about the one relic they have of their fallen and irreplaceable brother being given the same emotional weight as a doll); 9) Phee referring to Tech having a discussion with her about Crosshair while Tech's goggles are in the background (and, noticeably, Crosshair doesn't react at all and just changes the subject back to needing a ship); 10) Crosshair says the squad died with Tech, Wrecker says Tech understood the risks, and that's that.

So, what we got was enough to establish that the characters were sad in the immediate aftermath of Tech's death, that some of them may have stayed sad about it all through season 3, and that the show didn't completely forget that Tech had been a main character at one point.

What we DON'T get is any real reference to what Tech meant to the family as an individual and a brother, any real indication of how the loss of Tech (distinct from the mission to save Omega) influences his family's actions or the story's overall narrative, any actual acknowledgement in the show of Tech's sacrifice having any meaning or the family moving past grief to express any form of gratitude for Tech's presence and influence on their lives, any reference to Tech having a true impact on 4 of his 5 siblings (Omega is the closest we get to witnessing Tech's continued influence on any of his siblings and even seeing that involves squinting/head tilts at times)... in other words, we get a few minutes of sadness, but never any catharsis. We see they miss him, but never does this truly inform the narrative or their decisions in season 3, AND it's left frustratingly vague where the characters are in the grieving process (more on that later).

Besides, no one (that I have come across, at least) was ever asking for a 2 hour episode. At most, Kanan got a 22-minute "eulogy" episode, and most of us aren't even asking for that. I'd have been at least minimally satisfied with a "Mayday moment" for Tech - and that scene lasted a grand total of 20 seconds. What would have been more satisfying would have been the show taking all those superficial name drops and converting at least a few of them into meaningful mentions indicating what Tech means to his brothers and/or how he continues to have an influence on his family and/or how his sacrifice is a motivating factor for them.

Reason #2: "There was no time."

Leaving aside the fact that there was apparently plenty of time and opportunity to make Tech (among others) a red herring...

Let's assume that the showrunners were not only told they only had 1 season left to wrap everything up, but were given highly specific time allotments for each episode to where they weren't allowed to add any scenes (I highly doubt this is what happened, but we're rolling with the "no time" thing here). You know what you do in that scenario when you're talking about something like following up on a main character's death that clearly has left your entire fanbase in an uproar? You MAKE time: you trim down the action scenes, you make the characters walk a little bit faster, you decide whether an extended scene of Echo giving Omega a crossbow that is never going to show up again is actually worth saving (I actually like the scene, by the way; just giving an example), you cut out a few of the extremely vague lines of dialogue Fennec and Asajj indulge in. What you DON'T do is kill off a beloved main character and then rely on convenient time lapses/time skips to just brush over all the fallout apart from a few name drops that do nothing to establish just how important said character was to the other characters in the show.

What's more, they could have EASILY included some true closure with ANY of the Tech name-drops/scenes that were already in the show. Have Hunter look at Tech's goggles before looking beyond them at Lula in 3.02. Have the brothers be present with Omega when she decides to leave Tech's goggles in the Archeum in 3.11. Have any of the brothers say one meaningful line about Tech while they're otherwise silently basking in the sunshine in the end scene on Pabu in 3.15!

Reason #3: "They're soldiers."

Of all the reasons given for why Tech's death was mishandled, I dislike this one the most. What does CF99 being soldiers have to do with the aftermath of Tech's death being reduced to perfunctory allusions? (If you want to get into the argument that soldiers in general have to figure out a way to "move on" and The Clone Wars didn't really spend any time on the clones processing losses after battles, let me just say I don't care for how this topic is covered in The Clone Wars either, and Bad Batch was a golden opportunity for the Star Wars franchise to move past this unfortunate trope.) Fallen soldiers in real life get memorials/funerals too, even if it's months after the battle. Fallen soldiers are honored and remembered by their families and those closest to them. If the show is trying to push the stereotype that soldiers move on from tragic deaths of comrades by being "stoic" and holding it all in and never talking about it, I strongly disagree with the perpetuation of this stereotype; and if the characters as soldiers actually DID grieve Tech in a healthy way, why didn't the show depict it?

Reason #4: "Star Wars writers don't know how to write meaningful scenes/payoff regarding death and characters dealing with death/loss."

The Bad Batch writers proved time and again how brilliant they are at writing emotional storylines with maximum payoff. Case in point: Mayday. Enough said (I'm writing too much on this general topic as it is).

Reason #5: "They got over it."

Maybe I'm reading things wrong, but a rather drastic change in behavior for one character (going from cautious and weighing all risks, to reckless and jumping headfirst into situations without proper backup), and another character including Tech's death as just one reason why he "deserves" to go on a suicide mission, does not read to me as the characters "getting over it." It reads to me as "avoidance behavior" and "continued internal conflict." (Granted, Hunter's more reckless behavior in season 3 likely had as much to do with the Omega situation as it did Tech's death, but the point still stands. And if the point DOESN'T still stand, then I've got even MORE issues with how this plotline was handled, so we'll just keep assuming it does.)

Furthermore, if the characters had truly "gotten over it," there shouldn't have been any hesitation or issue with them discussing and honoring Tech in meaningful ways.

Reason #6: "They DIDN'T get over it."

Right, and we ended the show that way, with no clear resolution to them actually coming to terms with Tech's death and honoring his memory. Great.

Reason #7: "Whatever. It's good Tech stayed dead. Tech's sacrifice meant something."

... Did it? Did it really? I mean, I know I say quite frequently that Tech's sacrifice is what made the happy ending possible for the others (because that's the only thought that got me through a rewatch of season 3). But the show, the narrative itself, certainly doesn't act like it really meant anything. Hunter says in the season 2 finale that they "weren't going to waste Tech's sacrifice" because they were going to retire on Pabu... and that discussion promptly gets forgotten and never brought up again, not even when the squad is trying to stay off the Empire's radar in season 3 after Omega returns. Never is there any discussion that "not wasting Tech's sacrifice" by hiding on Pabu to make sure no one else dies (a very understandable reaction, of course) also goes against the very mission Tech pushed for in the first place: rescuing Crosshair. Never do we hear Omega tell Crosshair, "Tech didn't give up on you, I'm not giving up on you, that's why you ARE going to escape with me." Never is there any talk about "Tech wanted us to live and stay together, so that is what we are going to do." Never is there any acknowledgement at the end of the show that they are all going to live in peace on Pabu because Tech made sure they could live.

The last half of season 4 of Rebels is full of references to Kanan's sacrifice actually meaning something and having direct tangible consequences not only for the family but for Lothal and the Rebellion. For one thing, the show itself literally spells out that the mission to shut down the Imperial factories on Lothal was actually a success because all the fuel reserves were destroyed - Kanan had died, but the mission had succeeded and directly led to the success of the bigger mission to completely free Lothal, and while this is very poor consolation for the loss of Kanan, at least the show openly acknowledged it. Kanan and his influence is also openly credited for Ezra foiling Palpatine's plans with the Jedi Temple and the WBW, Ezra learning to let go and again disrupting Palpatine's plans in the finale, and doing what was needed to ensure Lothal was fully freed.

Imagine how different Rebels would be if Kanan's death had been treated like Tech's: no mention that his role on the mission had any impact whatsoever. No reference to Ezra or any other member of the Ghost crew living up to what Kanan had taught them all - or, at best, there's a perfunctory reference in the epilogue that Ezra decided to keep using the Force the way Kanan had taught him to. No depiction of Ezra or Hera or Sabine or Zeb accepting Kanan's death and letting go of the pain while holding on to the memories. Nothing to show that any of the Ghost crew members act in memory of Kanan or that he is a motivating influence on them. No indication that Kanan's sacrifice drives Ezra to decide to follow up on their initial success with the factories and ultimately completely drive the Empire from Lothal.

Rebels just wouldn't be nearly as fulfilling.

Now, imagine if Tech's death had been treated like Kanan's, and maybe it will become more clear why I have a REALLY hard time agreeing with the argument that the show itself actually depicted Tech's death as "meaning something."

#the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #i guess this is fandom salt #because i just don't see any reason why tech's fate couldn't have been given the care and attention it deserved #tbb tech #tbb season 3 spoilers #star wars rebels #star wars rebels spoilers

99 notes · View notes

empresskylo · 2 years ago

Text

beneath the mask ✩ chapter 4 ⬅ch. 3

➠𝐌𝐃𝐍𝐈; 𝟏𝟖+ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓; 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 ➠SIMON "GHOST" RILEY X AFAB!READER ➠CHAPTER TAGS | afab!reader. kinda mean!ghost. forced proximity. blood, war, and death. wc 5.3k. ➠AUTHOR'S NOTE | this one was fun to write!! it's a bit longer than previous chapters too. thank you for all the messages and ideas for this fic, i hope i do it justice! and as usual, feedback is appreciated <3

𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✩ 𝐜𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✩ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

...al mazrah…

you sat trembling on board the razor-1, your bag tucked between your legs, wedged nervously between two insanely muscled marines that made you feel minuscule in comparison. ghost stood as the aircraft began to land and soap gave you a reassuring look from across the terminal.

you undid your seatbelt and you felt your fingertips vibrate as they clung to your tactical vest, all of your adrenaline was starting to make you feel sick.

“this is capture or kill,” soap had said to you. “but we need him alive.”

“that’s where i come in,” you mumbled under your breath.

soap nudged you on the shoulder. “don’t worry so much. you’ll hang back while we infiltrate the base hassan is camped up in. then you can swoop in to save the day when i have him bleeding out on the floor.” you rolled your eyes at soap’s confidence. “easy.”

“right,” you mocked, trying to hide the terror that was slowly seeping into your bones.

ghost began rambling off orders, the aircraft shaking as it made contact with the ground, and you tried to instill it in your brain that you had nothing to be so fearful about; this was just another mission for the guys. they did things like this all the time for the sake of their country. but the fact that you had never been on the frontline before kept niggling your mind. you began to wonder if you were really made for this kind of shit.

it wasn’t that long ago you had wanted nothing more than to join the military to help wounded soldiers when you realized you had nothing left for you back home. after your friend died in combat, an injury that could have been mended if they had enough medics in their arsenal, you decided to put on a brave face and save soldiers just like him. regardless of what you thought about war, you wanted to be a medic, meaning neutral ground. you were there to mend the fallen, it didn’t matter to you what side they were on.

and as much as you didn’t like to brag or be filled with a sense of pride–it always made you uncomfortable–it was just a technicality to say you were at the top of your class. the best of the best , as price had said.

“keep up,” ghost grunted to you as he turned to exit the craft, walking down the ramp. you shook yourself out of your head-pounding thoughts and quickly followed the group of men out of the ship, leaving team alpha behind.

you stumbled onto the ground, the strays of your hair that stuck out from under your beanie beneath your helmet fluttered in the wind as the ship took off to take team alpha downrange.

“razor-1, all bravo deployed. moving to secondary hlz,” the pilot said over the comms for everyone to hear.

your eyes locked onto soap’s, his gun at the ready. he nodded his head, urging you to follow him. you both made your descent with the rest of bravo, willing your hands not to shake as you held your gun up, your night vision goggles set over your eyes.

“all stations- razor-1 is bracketed, we’re getting lit!” the pilot’s anxious voice echoed in your ears. “incoming- flares! flares!”

you watched as the horizon lit up in front of you, hustling to stay beside soap.

“shit that was close!” another voice spoke.

and then, an urgent “second missile!”

you tensed, scurrying after the group of men who crept down the small incline. things were picking up fast. you had barely been out of the ship–it was certainly less than two minutes–and explosions and gunfire were already filling the air.

“oh fuck…!”

“razor-1 going down! we’re going down!”

your teeth clenched as you switched into a run, all your gear slowing you down and making you huff your breaths.

“stay close!” you heard soap yell in your ear.

you nodded even though you knew he couldn’t see you. the smell of ash began to fill your senses.

“hold up,” ghost commanded. the team stopped, a small explosion erupting at the bottom of the hill where building 1 was located.

“alpha, what’s your status?”

coughing and wheezing breaths harrowingly echoed on the comms.

“alpha, how copy…?” ghost said with a bit more urgency.

“bravo- alpha is immoblie. multiple critical!” a brief pause sounded between the man’s reply. “oh, shit! we’re taking effective fire!”

you clenched your gun. what if you, or soap, or ghost had been assigned alpha? you sucked in a breath of air and tried to calm your racing heart.

“alpha, we’re moving to building 1. hold tight.” ghost’s voice was so smooth as he spoke like this type of shit was a regular occurrence to him. the same candace as someone who was greeting a friend in a coffee shop. his nonchalance sent shivers up your spine.

“ghost, we need to secure that crash site now,” soap spoke.

“first, we clear for hassan, that takes the heat off alpha. then we secure the crash site. clear?”

“roger that.”

“let’s move.”

ghost, hustling towards the rocky house, swept into your line of sight. soap turned his head and when he saw you were close behind him, he took off after ghost.

“force up to the house.” ghost whispered.

you stumbled over the uneven terrain, the weight of all your gear and the obstruction the goggles caused was making it difficult to see.

the sound of shuffling pants, boots crunching the pebbled earth, and the slight hum of machinery was the only sound in your ears when no one was speaking. you felt your chest tighten with nerves.

suddenly, with your body realizing the height of the situation, you began to steady. you were good under pressure. exceptionally good. this is why you were here , you told yourself. you could do this .

you heard an enemy soldier shouting something in the distance that you couldn’t quite make out–he must have been speaking arabic.

the group rounded up outside the house and ghost scaled the edge of the building. a man handed him a sledgehammer. “breacher up,” he said faintly before he slammed it into the wooden door. you felt a chill catch along the hairs of your arms as he broke open the door in one swift motion, you could see his muscles taut even through his thick layers of clothes.

“sweep through,” ghost called. soap was at the doorway and began shooting.

you tried to pay attention to your surroundings as you waited for soap and ghost to clear the way. the blazing fire in the distance sent eerie shadows along the buildings and barren trees.

“first deck clear! negative on hassan,” a bravo said.

another replied, “copy that, second deck’s clear!”

“rog,” ghost grunted.

you slipped into the building behind the men, watching as they scanned their surroundings and made themselves safe behind barriers.

“contact! building 2!” a voice shouted.

you stumbled back against a storage cabinet as gunfire ricocheted off the walls.

“they know we’re here!” ghost shouted. in a startling motion, he turned to you, spying you immediately as you shifted your weight. “stay down!”

you nodded and huddled behind a workbench. the men began shooting rounds at the men in building 2. the sharp metallic clank of a bullet hitting a metal desk off to your right made you jump, the shell clinking on the floor like a fallen coin. you felt your eyes widen slightly.

“all bravo, move on building 2!” ghost stated, his voice a welcoming sound through your headset. you tried to focus on his voice instead of the shouts of men and blasting echoes of weapons.

ghost and someone from alpha spoke to each other as the men started their way towards building 2. soap appeared beside you and helped you up. “you alright, lass?”

you nodded, “m’good.” you brushed yourself off and followed soap as he led you out of the building and towards another that was roughly 100 feet before your squad. you could see ghost already approaching the second building, his feet shuffling as he stayed out of the line of sight of the open doorway.

shouts in arabic made you stagger as you walked. gunshots in the distance followed by the occasional explosion filled the otherwise gorgeous night. you slid your goggles up and glanced at the starry sky. if it wasn’t for the bloodshed unfolding before you, you could easily see yourself laying out on one of these hills, the cool night air ruffling your hair as you watched the stars–they were so bright without all the light pollution.

soap slid up to one of the open doors and motioned for you to huddle beside another fellow sergeant. soap was bundled in his uniform, his sleeves rolled up, and his night vision goggles on–same as you. you wondered if you looked as intimidating as he did.

“prep for breach,” ghost said.

“7-1 moving interior,” soap responded.

he quickly shot down three enemy soldiers before disappearing inside the building. you followed in pursuit, your heart hurting as you saw slouched bodies pool with blood, even if you knew they were the enemy. you hurried after soap and caught a glimpse of ghost using his knife to slice into a man with barely any effort. blood began to coat his gloves.

you crept behind soap as he slowly moved up the stairs to the second floor. gunshots repeatedly fired in front of the two of you.

“i’m hit!” a bravo shouted.

you dashed up the stairs but soap pulled you back before you reached the top, gripping your utility vest to bring you into him. “hey! wait till i clear it!”

“okay, then hurry up!” you huffed as soap went ahead of you and leaned around the corner, taking out the men in the other room.

you used that time to scurry off behind him and out onto the terrace where the injured soldier had crawled in order to get out of firing range.

you crouched beside him and slung your bag off your shoulder. “here,” you said as you pressed a cloth to his bullet wound. “hold pressure!”

a loud shotgun in the next room made you jump. you turned to look, your hands deep in your bag. you spotted soap and let out a breath of relief knowing it wasn’t him at the end of the barrel.

you heard soap’s footsteps return out onto the deck. “one’s in the hallway,” the soldier said to soap.

you worked deftly to pack and wrap the wound as soap slid off down the hall and you heard a strangled cry as he knifed someone.

“ghost, enemy rockets down,” soap said in your ear.

“thanks,” the man before you mumbled as his hand replaced yours where he began to hold the bandage. you heard soap speaking in the next room.

“the house is clear. time to go,” ghost muttered in your ear.

“it just grazed you,” you said to the sergeant. “you should be alright as long as we limit the bleeding.”

soap appeared beside you moments later, helping the man up as he limped. “you good to walk?”

the man nodded.

“all bravo circle up outside,” ghost commanded.

“let’s go,” soap said down to you.

you ran after soap down the steps and out into the field. you spotted the crash site not too far ahead and you felt your ears ring seeing the formidable tower of flames in the backdrop.

it didn’t take long to approach the ship and you followed soap and ghost as they entered the terminal.

“we got five k.i.a., one wounded. it’s just my gun and i’m low on ammo.”

you slid past soap and rushed to the man on the ground. the sergeant was knocked out cold and you quickly tried to make a mental note of his vitals. you tried to remember his name, but with everything that was occupying your brain right now, it eluded you.

you knew the others were talking, but you didn’t hear them as you honed in on the man bleeding out before you.

“get your gun on that tree line,” you finally deciphered through your hazy thoughts as ghost spoke.

you looked over your shoulder as loud explosions went off and shook the craft.

“fuck, man! fuck,” the alpha said.

“you called it, lt.!” soap said as he aimed his gun out the ship’s window.

as you bandaged the man, ghost and soap began firing rapidly.

“they’re getting close. secure the ramp!”

your heart felt like it was in your throat. another bomb went off and the craft shook violently. you yelped, falling sideways.

“sergeant!” ghost called. you pushed yourself up and tried to orient yourself. ghost shouted your name when you wouldn’t reply. you looked up at him. “you alright?”

you stared at him before your eyes flickered to soap who was shooting his gun out the window.

“are you alright?” ghost said more forcefully, his frame bending in half, his face now in your direct line of sight to grab your attention. it hadn’t registered that ghost was talking to you. you were only frazzled from the rocking of the craft, the explosions ringing in your ear, but you were otherwise safe behind ghost and soap, so you weren’t sure why he was so set on making sure you were okay.

however, ghost seemed to not be able to accept that you were okay until you verbally told him.

“yes,” you said faintly. ghost turned back to aiming his gun out the window without a second thought.

after another minute of gunfire, there was a lull.

“we clear?” soap asked.

“for now…” ghost replied.

you finished wrapping the arm of the bleeding soldier, and assessed that he had hit his head and had knocked himself out.

“alpha, you’re with us.” ghost commanded as he took off out of the ship. you and the men followed. you spoke over the comms to let the others know you left a soldier back in the crash site. he was wounded, but would be okay.

“those fuckers used us as bait, didn’t they?” alpha 0-2 said.

“they’re well supplied and fighting relentlessly. thanks to hassan,” ghost said unhappily.

soap looked back at you. “keep up. we’re gonna need ya.”

you hustled behind him, your pistol at the ready.

the lot of you ran a wide berth, sprinting towards building 3, hoping hassan was inside. the sharp whistle of a bullet spiraled past you.

“a.q. sniper on the roof! get down!” ghost shouted to everyone. before you even had a chance to move, ghost was pushing you down into the grass. you gasped as you were squashed beneath him, laid out on the dirt. he held his gun up and aimed at the roof as he lay beside you.

“soap, take out the shooter. rest o’ ya stay low until we’re all clear!” ghost said, not acknowledging the fact that he had just pressed you flat to the ground, his body half covering yours.

soap shot a bullet. “sniper down!”

ghost rolled off of you and stood up, giving you a quick hand as he heaved you upright. he didn’t even look at you before he took off running towards building 3. your entire body was tingling.

it looked like a gallant eruption of fireworks above the building as enemy bullets fired toward you. air support lighting up the sky. soap was a few feet behind you and picked off the snipers one by one. you followed close behind the others as you approached the building.

soap was quick to follow, coming up from behind and going up the stairs and into the decrepit house. “7-1, moving interior,” he said.

glass exploding rippled in the building and you peeked inside to see soap shooting someone down.

“check the bodies, we need positive i.d. on hassan,” ghost said as he slid off to go in the right-side entrance.

you hunched over slightly as you followed behind him, looking down at ghost’s trail of corpses as you did, checking for hassan.

“anyone have eyes on hassan?” ghost asked after a minute.

“negative on hassan,” soap replied.

you tripped over rubble and fell to your knees with a huff. “shit,” you muttered to yourself. your foot was lodged in the concrete chunks. you tried to pull it free but that just shifted the rubble further, a large piece falling over your ankle. it was too heavy for you to move yourself. the house shook.

“sergeant,” ghost said, making you look up. he had backtracked when he realized you were no longer behind him.

“i can’t get my foot loose,” you said.

arabic echoed down the hall making your head snap up in alert. ghost began moving faster, squatting down as he approached you and heaving the rubble aside to get your foot out in one easy motion.

“ow, fuck,” you said, biting your lip to try and muffle your sounds.

ghost’s eyes flickered to yours before he moved the last piece that set your foot free.

the rest of bravo had already moved to the antithetical end of the house when the voices began to close the distance.

“shit,” ghost mumbled, pulling you up. he did so with such force that you collided into him, your hands landing against his chest with a gasp.

the men sounded close and you counted at least four different voices. their candace rose as they edged closer, like they were right around the corner when you were moved by ghost and suddenly faced with darkness.

“wha–”

ghost’s hand covered your mouth to silence you, pushing you against a wall. your eyes adjusted and you saw a sliver of light pour in through the slats of the door. ghost had pulled you into a closet. a very tiny closet at that.

your chest was pressed flesh against ghost’s, the room far too small to hold yourself and ghost–who was already too big to fit in a closet on his own, let alone one with you.

you could feel his chest move up and down as he steadied his breathing. your hands were on his utility vest. the voices of the men were now right outside the door. your fingers gripped tight on his vest as you tried to be as quiet as possible. he slowly let his hand fall to his side when he could trust you to be silent.

why wasn’t ghost attacking them? you’ve seen him take down trained men in less than two seconds. so why did he decide to hide now? was four too many for him? you doubted it, but you also tried not to think of the logistics because all that swam through your mind was how close ghost was to you. there was almost no space between your bodies, his front flesh against yours as he pushed you against the wall.

a rectangle of light slid across ghost’s face, illuminating his eyes which were visible now that his goggles were turned up on his helmet, making the brown in them gleam. like he could feel you staring, he looked down at you and you felt your face heat. you shifted your stance, trying to widen the distance between your bodies but your back was already flat against the wall. there was nowhere to go.

“what’re you doin’?” he said quietly.

you glared at him in response as you continued to slightly shift your body, wanting to at least have it so your side was pressed against him and not your front. you tried to shuffle your feet, wanting to turn, to push him back a bit, but you ended up just rubbing against him instead.

“quit squirming!” he finally hissed, his hands coming out to rest on either side of your head.

well now you were just stuck in an awkward stance so you tried to move your hips a bit, wanting to pull them away from ghost and back to how you were originally standing, but with the limited space, you were essentially just moving your hips against his own.

ghost growled in his throat and you stopped moving and let your breathing steady. you felt something hard press against your stomach and your eyes widened as you stared at ghost’s chest.

oh my god, you thought.

you couldn’t help yourself as your eyes flickered to his own, his eyes already pouring into you. your breath got caught in your throat. “i told ya to quit fuckin’ wiggling ‘round,” he said as if that made things more appropriate.

a flash of heat ebbed through your core. you told yourself that this was purely a physical thing– men could get turned on by a goddamn gust of wind if it hit them the right way. this had nothing to do with the fact that it was you pressed against him. this kind of bodily response would have happened no matter who it was against him.

you went to clench your thighs together in nerves and heat but you were stopped by ghost’s thigh. you realized the ceiling in there was too short for him and he had to hunch over, his knees bending and leaning on the wall between your own legs. oh my god , you thought again.

your face went red hot. fuck, of course you were stuck with ghost in the world’s smallest closest.

ghost’s eyes traced your face when he felt your legs press against his own, a sudden flare igniting in them.

oh no, did he think you were… you quickly worried. you wondered if ghost could tell you had been squeezing your legs together to subdue the quick sweeping sensation of arousal you got–this was not the time or place!

ghost’s head shifted ever so slightly closer to your own and his eyes were now disguised by the shadows of the closet. you could feel his warm breath against your face as he panted through his mask. you were trapped. he had you pinned, his large arms encasing your head, his leg between your own, his face inching closer to yours.

you felt your breath get lost in your throat, your mind suddenly going blank.

“ghost! ghost, where are you?” soap’s voice broke through both of your ears.

ghost halted any and all movement, his eyes flickering between your own. you realized you no longer heard iranian voices and wondered how long the men had been out of range.

it was as if ghost realized that at the same time you did because he pushed away from you and slid out the door, into the dusty and war-torn living room. now that he was away from you and not clogging your brain, you thought you might have imagined the way he had been edging toward you.

“deck one secure. any i.d. on hassan?” ghost spoke, his voice strained.

you slid out of the closet behind him. “negative, lt.” soap replied.

ghost turned to you as you stumbled into him, your ankle giving out at the most opportune time.

“ shit ,” you grunted. ghost turned his head to look at you, his eyes glowing in the flames that brewed inside the building. “sorry,” you muttered.

“keep close,” he said to you. you felt your chest ignite. you had to control your eyes from shifting to his waist to see what you felt moments earlier. you were surprised your willpower was strong enough.

ghost led you around the bend and up a set of stairs, soap appearing beside you both. “pushing second deck.”

you slid on your night vision goggles and watched as ghost scurried to the side of a door when he made it to the top of the steps. a man opened it and walked through, ghost grabbing him and slamming him against the wall, the man’s gun pressed to his chest. in two swift motions, ghost shot his abdomen then his head, letting the body sink down.

jesus . you always knew ghost was a ruthless killer, but that was more so knowledge in theory. it was another thing entirely to watch it unfold before your own eyes.

you followed the men as they stealthed into the next room. you heard soap’s gun go off, and then ghost’s voice. “clear. hassan’s everywhere…”

you could hear hassan’s voice as it played in the distance, seemingly from every room. a video on loop of him speaking nonsense sat in the shadows like a horror movie. you felt a chill run down your legs realizing that no matter which way you turned, hassan’s voice was not far off.

“everywhere but here,” you mumbled. ghost’s eyes scanned you up and down before trailing on into the next room. you swore every hair on your body stood on its ends.

“the perpetrators of general ghorbrani’s execution must be sentenced to the death penalty and the world must witness the death of those responsible!” hassan’s iranian accent sang through a crackling radio.

you and soap poked around, not finding anything of use, apart from soap spotting hassan’s uniform, meaning he had recently been here.

“so he was here,” you muttered.

“lost him when we secured the crash site,” ghost spoke, looking between you and soap.

“are you sayin’ we shouldn’t have helped?” soap asked.

ghost averted his eyes on his next words as if he didn’t like what he was about to say. “choices have consequences…” his eyes gazed over to yours, burning holes through his skull mask. you could see the disappointment and guilt that was attached to his statement. you were surprised at how much emotion he was able to exude through just his eyes. you wondered if he knew that.

“all bravo- we got movement out here,” someone said over the comms.

ghost reached up to click his receiver, his eyes still on yours, “on the way.”

you followed behind the two men as the continued to speak. as you made it out behind the house, ghost spoke, “what do we got?”

“a warehouse. roll up doors open. heard somethin’ inside.”

ghost spoke with a sense of assuredness, “copy, let’s clear it.”

you trailed the men as they all took off towards the large warehouse, ghost and soap hoping that hassan was nestled inside.

you rested your back against the building as the men started inside, gunshots and smoke bombs going off as they fought the enemy planted in the warehouse.

“all alone?” a husky voice with a thick iranian accent spoke. you looked to your right, your hands grabbing your gun, startled, when a man disarmed you in a quick, fluid motion.

you yelped as his hand wrapped around your neck, pressing you forcefully to the exterior wall. you saw static stars begin to spread across your vision.

shit, shit, shit.

your legs flailed as you tried to kick and squirm your way out of his grip. his hand held you tighter. you swore your feet began to lift off the ground. recalling all the training you had done the last two weeks, you propped your knee up, bending it as much as you could against your chest, then shot it out with all the strength you could manage. the man stumbled, releasing you, as he collapsed onto the ground.

“eahira” bitch . he scrambled to get up and you panicked, trying to get your knife out of it’s sheath.

before the man could grab you again, his body just a hair from your own, a bullet pierced his skull. flecks of his blood squirted across your exposed face like red freckles. you stood in complete shock, the man sinking to the ground with a thump.

it was ghost that replaced the dead man, his hands resting on your shoulder, his deep voice saying your name repeatedly.

you finally looked up at him. “are you okay?” you swear you could see a bit of pride in his eyes as he took you in.

you nodded weakly, wincing as your neck muscles throbbed in pain from the small movement.

ghost yanked your mask up to look at your neck, already beginning to bruise.

his eyes darkened as they met yours again. “if that fucker wasn’t already dead, i’d tie him up and rip off his limbs one by one for that.”

you couldn’t help the astonished laugh from escaping your lips at the exorbitant threat. then a pang of heat surfaced when you realized ghost had made no such threats as his other men were picked off. he also didn’t seem to rush to their aid immediately. yet here he was… with you.

“hassan,” you said meekly.

ghost’s hands left your shoulders as he straightened. you felt a bit of sadness at the loss of contact.

“not here. found an arsenal of ballistic missiles. american missiles.”

your eyes widened at the information. “and shepperd…”

“already alerted.”

you nodded. “so that’s it then?” you asked, referring to the war trail you and your men left behind with nothing to show for it.

ghost gave a nod back. “we’re one step closer. we’ll find him.”

you don’t know why you took his word with such ease, but you knew he meant what he said. ghost wouldn’t rest until he had hassan in his clutches.

day broke by the time a humvee arrived to carry you all back to base. the injured men were loaded on one, the rest of bravo and alpha on another. there were significantly fewer men than when you started this hours ago. you felt a heavy feeling swarm your chest.

you were busy making sure your bag was closed and that you had all your things in it when you looked up and saw ghost step into the back of the vehicle.

you scurried to catch up, the last one as you climbed into the back. as you went to stand, the humvee took off, making you stumble and lose balance.

fuck , was the last thought you had as you felt yourself falling backward out of the vehicle. your arms flailed, trying to grab onto something, when a hand gripped your vest, yanking you forward and onto the humvee.

you looked up in relief to find ghost glaring at you. his hand was still tight around your tactical vest, the other men closest to the back were out of their seats in an effort to grab you. but of course, ghost got there first.

his eyes bore into your own, an odd wave of spite in them.

you knew it was your fault for dilly-dallying, but was he really going to be upset at you for almost falling out of the vehicle? it should cause more annoyance than anger, really.

you gulped and ghost released you, moving back to his seat. you stared after him until you felt soap touch your wrist. “sit,” he mumbled.

you focused on him instead of your lieutenant and sat in the empty seat beside soap.

you shifted your bag so it was on your lap, the men around you silent, all of them exhibiting a mix of disappointment in their mission and exhaustion.

you felt his eyes on you–something that seemed to happen a lot lately. you tried to resist, but you looked in his direction and met his gaze. you thought he’d look away, but he held you in a challenge across the truck. he still had all his gear on when most others had stripped some of theirs off.

he sat a bit forward, resting his arms on his knees as he glared at you.

you felt your heartbeat race and you felt like you might be sick with all the adrenaline running through you today–it couldn’t be healthy.

you finally coward away and looked down at your bag. a looming feeling coursed through your body. for whatever reason, the moment he pulled you into the truck felt like it was a breaking point for him. he was right back to hating you. despising everything you did. you felt yourself shrink in on yourself.

you never felt his eyes leave you the entire way back.

chapter 5 ➡

#ghost #simon riley #smut #ghost cod #ghost x reader #ghost mw2 #ghost smut #simon riley smut #cod #ghost fanfic #simon riley fanfic #ghost call of duty #ghost angst #cod mw2 #cod fic #call of duty fanfic #mw2 fanfic #beneath the mask

1K notes · View notes

99tech99 · 8 months ago

Text

gif by @moonstrider9904 !!!

A/N: I originally wrote a fluff piece as a submission for Summer of Bad Batch. But it’s Tech and the prompt is “Need a Hand?” How can I not be a lil spicy?? 😏

Original here.

Warnings: hand job, getting caught.

2.2k words under cut

You first met the group of siblings you learned to be Clone Force 99 when they stopped at your shop in Ord Mantel. You were rewiring some components at the counter when the little blonde girl had come dashing over first. “What’s a…Certified Preowned Assorted Parts Emporium?” she asked you, reading the sign over your stall. She had expressive brown eyes and a heavy accent.

You laughed. “Fancy name for a junkyard, kid.”

The rest of the group had caught up. Despite the fact that they were with such a sweet young girl, they seemed like an extremely rough crowd. The one with the long hair a had half his face tattooed like a skull, and the one glowering at you with a toothpick in his mouth had a sniper’s crosshair tattooed around his eye. One had lost an arm and replaced it with a scomp. There was also an absolute giant of a man who looked like he could snap anyone or anything in half without effort. Last, though, came was someone who didn’t look like he belonged at all. He didn’t have any visible tattoos and seemed to have all his appendages. He wore goggles and was walking along with his nose in his datapad. When he spoke, it was in a crisp, matter of fact tone.

“Hunter.” Face Tattoo turned. “I sincerely doubt any of the second-rate establishments on a backwater planet such as this would carry the precise components we need for the Marauder.”

“Hey nerd,” you called, only mildly offended. “Fortunately for you, you found the only first rate establishment around.” You winked at the girl. She giggled.

“The definition of first rate is debatable,” Nerd replied, fidgeting with his goggles.

“Alright, then. Let’s deal with the objective,” you shot back. “Give me the list of parts you need and if I don’t have them in stock or I can’t get them with in a standard week, I’ll settle for second rate.”

You held out your hand for his datapad. Nerd looked at Face Tattoo, who nodded. With a heavy sigh, Nerd handed it to you.

“You’ll have to excuse Tech,” said Sniper lazily as you scrolled through the list of parts. “He’s always convinced he has the only brain cells for a radius of 100 clicks.”

You had every part in stock. “C’mon,” you told the group, leading the way to your inventory out back.

After you were able to win your wager with Tech, the Batch started coming around a lot more.

Omega had been the first to capture your heart, and no wonder. She saw the best in everyone and every situation, but was still tougher and more resilient than most adults you knew. Wrecker was almost just sweet but had a knowledge of weapons and explosives that far surpassed your own. It took a minute to figure out Crosshair, but he respected someone who could dish out the sarcasm as well as they could take it. Echo and Hunter were fiercely protective of their squad, and as soon as you demonstrated that same loyalty, you were as good as one of their own. You had even accompanied the Batch on a few missions when your technical expertise would come in handy.

But Tech…It was almost a year since you had met the Batch, and despite the trust and friendship you had with the rest of the squad, you were still getting nowhere with him.

At first it seemed like he should be the easiest for you to get along with. You were both mechanically minded and loved ships and flying. But he almost never even looked up from his datapad when you were around, and when he did, he was always annoyed whenever you tried to help.

It wouldn’t have bothered you so much if you didn’t have such a silly crush on the man. He could rattle off facts for hours on just about any topic in the galaxy. You hadn’t known him to encounter a technological problem he couldn’t resolve. You were tall, but Tech’s lean body still towered over yours. And he was just as much a super solider as any of his brothers. Some of the missions you had accompanied the squad on had gotten pretty rough. Tech was right in the middle of the action, taking tactical risks and scoring hits as much as any of his brothers.

You had spoken to Hunter about your concern a few months ago. “I just don’t understand why he dislikes me so much. I don’t know what I did to offend him.”

Hunter sighed. “Nothing. That’s just Tech. Usually he might have warmed up to someone by now, but I would try not to take it too personally.”

“I’d take it personally,” Crosshair sneered as he walked by.

“Yes, you definitely should,” you quipped back grinning, “since everyone dislikes you on a personal level.”

“Want me to talk to him?” Hunter asked.

You considered. “No, it’s ok. If it really starts to bother me, I’ll bring it up myself.”

You tried to push the issue to the back of your mind, but to no avail.

When you received a message from Omega saying they had returned from their most recent mission, you made up your mind to talk to Tech about it. You headed over to the usual docking bay to welcome the Batch back. The ramp of the Marauder was closed, but you heard the metallic clicking of tools coming from underneath.

“Hello?” you called.

Tech’s voice answered. “Down here.”

Instantly you felt the sensation of butterflies in your stomach. You knelt down, leaning your head under the ship. “Need a hand?” you asked brightly.

“I do not,” he said in a clipped tone.

You held back your disappointed sigh. “Where’s everyone else?” you inquired, still trying to sound cheerful.

“Supply run.”

“And I bet Omega and Wrecker are getting their celebratory mantel mix after another successful mission.”

“That would be a logical deduction based on their past patterns of behavior.”

You examined the underside of the ship. There was quite a bit of carbon scoring.

“Oof, glad you made it back in one piece!” you exclaimed. “Looks like the last mission got pretty hot!”

“Hence the repairs,” Tech replied.

You scooted under the ship to see what he was working on.

He was trying to rewire a circuit board, but his hands were too big to access the compartment properly to remove the panel. He was holding the screwdriver at an angle. Instead of loosening the screw, the tool just kept slipping.

You leaned over him slightly, extending your hand for the screwdriver. “Here, my hands are smaller, I bet I can do it.”

“I do not require assistance,” he said stubbornly.

“I know you know how but that doesn’t change the physics of your hands. Just let me…Ugh, you’re gonna strip the screw, Tech!” you said frustratedly. You tried to take the tool from him but he held it out of your reach.

“What is your problem with me?” you demanded angrily.

“You make everything much harder than it has to be, regardless of what you do, just by being present,” he replied immediately.

You were shocked into silence. You were embarrassed to feel your eyes stinging with tears. “Well, fuck. I’ll go,” you said, starting to wriggle out from under the ship.

“Wait. Will you allow me to clarify what I mean?”

Great, you thought. Hearing in excruciating detail exactly why Tech hates you. “Fine,” you mumbled, blinking furiously to try to keep from crying.

Tech didn’t look at you, but stared up at the underside of the Marauder.

“It is hard for me to say goodbye to you before we leave on missions. While the squad does have an undeniable success rate, there are always variables that cannot be accounted for, and there is no guarantee we will return unscathed, if at all.

“Similarly, it is hard for me to watch you leave at night to return your domicile. I am well aware you are capable of looking after yourself, but I am concerned for your safety and I do not want any harm to befall you.”

Wait. This was not what you were expecting.

“It is hard to watch you interact with my brothers and sister. You have an ease with them you have never had with me. I am quite certain the issue is with me, but I am equally uncertain how to fix it.

“It is hard for me when you seem to know as much about the mechanics and systems of the Marauder as I do. I both resent and respect you for that, and I cannot comprehend how I can harbor both conflicting emotions.”

A pink tinge was apparent in his cheeks now. You could tell he was steeling himself to say something. “And in the spirit of full disclosure…um, yes…THAT gets, uh, hard too on occasion.” He cleared this throat. “Particularly one day when you were performing repairs in a certain pair of pants. I’m inexplicably drawn to you physically. But I don’t know what to do or how you would react to such a gesture.”

He lapsed into silence. Your heart was beating wildly at the implications of his lengthy speech, especially the last bit. “Tech…” you whispered.

“Thank you for your courtesy in listening. You may leave if you like.” he said returning to his usual brusque manner. Tech turned his attention back to the repairs.

“Conduct an experiment,” you suggested with a sly smile.

“An experiment?” he asked, confused.

You rolled over placing one hand on either side of Tech’s head so you were leaning against his chest. You could feel his heart beating through his armor. “Sure. Conduct an experiment and see how I react.”

He looked unsure.

“If it helps,” you whispered mischievously, “I know the pants you mean. I’m wearing them today.”

Hesitantly, Tech reached up. He ran his fingers through your hair, tucking the loose strands behind your ear. Your smile widened.

His hand lingered on your cheek. Slowly he raised his face to yours. Behind his goggles, his beautiful eyes searched your face, settling on your mouth. You couldn’t wait any longer. You pressed your lips to his. For a moment he didn’t react, but then he was kissing you back.

“How do you find the results of your experiment?” you asked, slightly breathless, when you finally broke apart.

“Very favorable,” he said. “However, tests often need to be run multiple times to verify the validity of the original results.”

You laughed softly. “I think that’s a good idea.”

He pulled you back to him.

“So…” you murmured against his lips. “You said I make that hard too?” You grinned, blushing. “May I?”

“You want to?” he asked in disbelief.

“I want everything with you,” you breathed.

Tech fiddled with his goggles. “Yes you may.”

You slid off his chest, lying sideways next to him on the ground. Your hand made its way down his chest and abdomen to the waistband of his pants.

You palmed his erection straining against his pants. He felt huge. His cock twitched under your touch. For a moment you fumbled one-handed with the closure on his pants.

Tech moaned softly as you freed him, running your hand up and down his length with a steady pressure.

“Am—am I of sufficient size?” he asked hesitantly.

Gods he was adorable. “Yes,” you said emphatically.

Tentatively his fingers wandered up your body, pausing just under your breasts.

“Here,” you said softly. You tugged down the zipper of your leather vest.

“Mesh’la,” he whispered. Gently he cupped your breast. His thumb traced a gentle circle around your nipple, causing you to shiver in delight.

His brown eyes met yours. “So beautiful, cyar’ika.”

You didn’t know how long the two of you lay there, basking in the touch of each other’s hands and lips. Neither of you were paying any attention to anything else. Not even even when the sound of voices came floating across the landing pad. Or when a pair of boots appeared. A moment later Crosshair’s head peered under the Maurader.

“Found him,” he drawled, making you both jump. “Ooh, look, if it isn’t our favorite little mechanic giving Tech a hand,” he added in taunting delight.

You heard Wrecker’s booming laugh.

You sat up to tell Crosshair off, but smacked your head on the underside of the ship. You rubbed your head, already feeling a bump. “Crosshair!”

Omega’s cheerful voice rang out, “I’ll give Tech a hand too!”

“Omega!” barked Hunter and Echo in unison. “On the ship!”

“Ookayy,” said Omega, simultaneously annoyed and mystified.

“For kriff’s sake Cross, go away,” you snapped.

He didn’t. He was very obviously staring at your tits with a sly grin. “Kitten, I’ll volunteer to give you something to really get a grip on.”

“Ugh!” you quickly zipped your vest back up and threw yourself back down on the ground.

Meanwhile Tech was struggling to contain himself back in his pants.

“Crosshair,” Hunter growled. You could tell he had grabbed Cross by the scruff of the neck and was shoving him onboard.

Another pair of boots appeared. “When you’re both, uh, decent,” said Echo’s voice, “come aboard for a debriefing. And please hurry up about it,” he added.

You turned your head to Tech. He was blushing furiously. For a moment you stared at each other, unable to believe the entire series of events that had transpired. Then you both burst out laughing.

“Next time, we’re going to my place!” you declared.

“Next time?” he asked hopefully.

You grinned and kissed him on the nose. “Mhmm. Lots of times.”

My Master List

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #tbb tech x reader #tbb tech #star wars star whores #99tech99 writes

120 notes · View notes

leapingbadger · 1 month ago

Text

One of Us

This is a gift for @lonewolflupe for the @galactic-gift-gathering. A bit of Bad Batch downtime fluff. I hope you like it!

This will likely be my last gift, but I've loved writing for these prompts and seeing what everyone else came up with. Thanks so much to the organizers for putting this together! hope to take part again next year!

Beautiful Batch banner by @blackseafoam

Read on AO3

“No, I do not think it should go there, Echo.” Tech said pointedly.

“Give it to me,” Crosshair said, snatching the brush out of his new brother’s hand.

“Crosshair, it was my turn.” Tech protested with a scowl.

“Actually, it was mine,” Echo’s deep voice said as he watched the commotion with a wry smile.

“You take too long, Reg. Look, there…”

“No, you did it wrong, give it to me.” Tech said, leaning over his brother’s arm, reaching for his right hand and the brush clasped hard within it.

“Get off me,” Crosshair hissed, his left knee kicking out at his brother’s ribs to keep him at bay.

“If you bite me again, Crosshair I promise you will not be prepared for the consequences.” Tech spat.

“Fella’s, Theres plenty of time. Tech, get off of Cross. Cross, give Echo back the brush. It’s his armor, it can look how he wants.”

Tech settled back on the floor with a huff, adjusting his goggles that had been pushed sideways on his face. Crosshair reluctantly handed the paint brush back to Echo, his scowling face not leaving Hunter’s gaze. Echo gave the Sergeant an appreciative nod as he methodically carried on with his task.

The Marauder had been covered in pots of paint and pieces of wet armor for the last few hours. Clone Force 99 had been waiting for their new orders after their second successful mission as a squad of five. Hunter grinned as he watched his brothers clustered on the grated floor, dabbing at bits of plastoid.

The requisition had finally come in for Echo’s new and improved armor. With some suggestions from Tech and quite a bit of tinkering, the plastoid fit perfectly around his cybernetic enhancements, if you could call them that. The white armor of the GAR, however, wouldn’t really work with the squad’s aesthetic, which Crosshair had been quick to point out.

“You look like a reg.” he had said, hand on his hip, toothpick hanging languidly in the corner of his mouth.

“I am a reg, Crosshair.” Echo said calmly, looking down at the shiny white armor.

“Not anymore,” he said, reaching into a storage compartment on the ship, removing a small pot, and smearing a large black stain on the chest of the brand-new armor.

“Was that really necessary?” Echo asked, his large amber eyes rolling in frustration.

Crosshair smirked and handed him the paint, “yes.” He said, before collapsing into a nearby chair.

It hadn’t taken much convincing for the rest of the brothers to get involved. All offering their advice on design ideas.

“How about a giant skull in the middle of your chest. ‘Cos you faced death and survived,” Wrecker said enthusiastically.

“Erm,” Echo started before being interrupted by Tech.

“I do not think Echo needs a giant skull to remind him of his ordeal, Wrecker.”

“Yeah, that’d be like Tech having a datapad painted on his chest,” Crosshair said sarcastically.

“And what would you have? A toothpick?” Tech said with a sideways look to his silver haired brother.

Hunter chuckled before his brothers rounded on him.

“What about Hunter?” Wrecker asked with a smile.

“Hunter has already fully committed to the squad by having our emblem tattooed on his face. Anything more and it may come off as parody,” Tech said seriously.

“Or stupidity,” Cross followed up.

“Need I remind you, Cross, that you were planning on getting the same tattoo on the opposite side of your face, until you backed out at the last minute?” Hunter teased.

“Only ‘cos I saw how stupid it looked on you.” The youngest brother spat.

“It’s better than the stick and poke you ended up with.” Hunter said with a chuckle.

Crosshair crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, heat climbing to his cheeks.

“Aw, you’ve hurt his feelings now,” Wrecker called from the far end of the ship.

“Grow up, Wrecker.” Crosshair hissed.

“Aw do you need a hug from Lula to cheer you up?” Wrecker asked teasingly, on his feet with his tooka doll in his shovel sized fist.

“Get away from me with that. I don’t need a doll.” Crosshair said, hands up in defense as his enormous brother tiptoed around the pots of paint to smash the toy in his brother’s face.

“I told you. She’s. A. Stuffy.” Wrecker said with a chuckle, smacking Crosshair across the face with every punctuated word.

Hunter stole a look at Echo, giving him an apologetic shrug as his brothers descended into chaos. After a quick mele, a few knocked over pots of paint and Hunter threatening to trap them in binders together until they sorted things out, Wrecker and Crosshair settled back on the floor to finish up the final touch ups on their armor.

They looked comfy in their blacks and he smiled thinking back to their time as cadets and the late night slumber parties they’d have after lights out, blankets spread over their room to make a fort, string lights Wrecker had made suspended from a pully system of Tech’s own invention. Hunter would smuggle snacks from the mess while Tech read them stories he’d found on the holonet.

“I need the red,” Wrecker barked from the far end near the gunner’s mount, “who’s got the red?”

“Here you go.” Echo said, putting on the lid and throwing it like a thermal detonator down the end of the ship.

Wrecker caught it easily in one hand and started dabbing and the blood red of his helmet, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth as he did so.

“Do ya think I should add some blood on the teeth?” Wrecker asked the room at large.

“I do not think you need to strive to look any more intimidating than you already do. A separatist wet himself at the site of you a few days ago.” Tech said seriously, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

Hunter chuckled and finally sat down between Crosshair and Echo, the former shifting away, likely harboring resentment that Hunter would pay for later.

Echo held up his chest plate, running his hand over the black paint tentatively. He lunged to his left to take the white paint from Tech. His left hand hung suspended over the right side of the plate.

“Need a hand?” Hunter asked quietly.

Echo smiled, casting a quick look at the other brothers, momentarily distracted by the red paint spilling dangerously close to Lula.

“Quick, move her, move her” Wrecker cried, leaning over Tech to get to her in time.

“Thanks” Echo said looking embarrassed “…it…ah…I’m not really left-handed…” he said, a faint pink stain coloring his sharp cheekbones.

Hunter smiled and took the chest plate, “Don’t worry about it. I painted the other skulls too.” He said with a nod to his brothers’ armor littering the ship.

Echo grinned, “I guess it makes sense that you’re the resident skull expert with the…ah…tattoo…”

Hunter shrugged, unashamed, “I drew it when we were cadets. I just kind of stuck, I guess.” He said.

“What about the 99?” Echo asked, curiosity finally getting the best of him, “did you know him?”

Hunter closed his eyes and sighed, smiling as he thought about his older brother. “Yeah, we knew him. He…ah…kind of adopted us…kept an eye on us, when he could. You know. He was like that. Kind.”

Echo smiled back, “Yeah, I know. I fought with him. I watched him…I was with him. When he died.”

Hunter’s eyes flicked to the others before boring into Echo’s amber gaze. “I know.” he said quietly, dabbing gently at the armor as he completed his first pass at the white skull. “I read the report. After he died.” He felt his shoulders slump and tried to pull them back, to pull himself back from the memories.

“How’d you get hold of that? I thought all reports on the attack on Kamino were sealed?” Echo said, his voice full of admiration.

Hunter chuckled and nodded to his brother, “there’s nothing Tech can’t get into. We… we needed to know. ‘Cos we weren’t here to help, you know. We were off world. Training.”

Echo nodded his understanding.

Hunter took a deep breath and Echo paused, perhaps expecting some deep, emotional revelation but he just blew on the white paint on the armor before handing it back to his new brother.

“Want to add anything else?” he asked.

Echo paused, resting the chest plate on his scomp and running his left hand over the left side.

“I dunno, maybe a handprint?”

“A handprint?” Hunter asked, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

Echo laughed, “it’s a throwback from my first mission. Rex put a handprint of eel blood on my armor to make a point. I kept it. Had him do it with paint when I became an ARC.”

Hunter laughed, “Hey Tech, any idea where Captain Rex is right now?”

Tech adjusted his goggles, putting down his paint brush and picking up his datapad, never too far from his hand.

“Hmm…It appears he is on a classified assignment with General Skywalker.”

Echo smiled, “It doesn’t matter. Maybe you should do it.” he said, offering his chest plate back to Hunter.

The Sergeant stiffened, taking hold of it tentatively. “Are you sure? I’m no Captain Rex” he said.

“You got that right!” Crosshair hissed.

“Hey, be nice” Wrecker said with a playful bonk to his youngest brother’s shoulder from the back of the ship, Lula crammed into the neck of his blacks to keep her away from the paint.

“You’re my new boss. Makes sense to me” he said with a shrug.

Hunter looked back into Echo’s eyes, they seemed to glow in the low light of the ship, impossibly so. Hunter took off his right glove, carefully painting the palm of his hand in red paint and kneeling in front of the chest plate on the floor.

The other brothers had stopped what they were doing to watch, and Hunter felt their eyes on him. He looked up at Echo one last time before turning the chest plate over and placing his handprint on the inside.

“What are you doing?” Echo asked as Hunter used his left hand to press down on his right.

“Saving room for the Captain” he said quietly, pulling away his hand to reveal a blood red print, “it’ll be the best of both worlds. You can have Rex do it when we see him next.”

Echo picked up the armor and looked at it closely. “I like that idea,” he said, handing the chest plate to Tech and reaching to shake Hunter’s hand. “Thanks, Sarg.”

“Welcome to the Squad, Echo.” he said.

#galactic gift gathering #gift fill #wish fill #sw tbb fanfic #the bad batch #star wars #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #sw tbb #clone force 99 #tbb echo #tbb #the bad batch fanfiction #tbb fanfic #tbb fanfiction #tbb fandom

41 notes · View notes

spacebaby1 · 6 months ago

Note

Okay hear me out. OK so yn and Ace been best friends in their childhood (sweethearts). But when yn set out to see she got into a fight and loses her memories. So later on yn joins whitebeard crew and she doesn't recognize Ace at all. Just imaging his sad face 😞. So he tries to get yn to remember him.

I could write a whole series of this! Enjoy!

The last thing you remembered was falling in the deep ocean as everything went black.

Blinking awake, you tried to figure out where were you, it was a ship indeed, but who's ship?

The door opened, letting the sunlight in, which made you groan in annoyance as you tried to shut your eyes. "Ah, you are awake. How are you feeling?" A man in glasses asked, placing down water glass. "Where i'm I?" He helped you sit. "On the whitebeard ship, do you remember what happened to you?"

With a groan, you held your head, trying to remember, "I-I don't remember anything, who I'm I?" You asked, looking at him. He was taken aback by your question, "You don't remember anything?"

You shook your head, not able to remember anything at all, not even your name. A meeting was held and you sat in front of "pops" as he spoke about how you were welcome to stay if you'd want to because he saw great potential in you and you're also welcome to leave if you feel uncomfortable being around pirates but not a minute you felt uncomfortable. "If it's not a trouble, then I'd wanna stay until I find out who I'm I?" You asked. And he smiled, "Absolutely."

Everyone treated you like you were their little sister since you were the only girl and the youngest of them all. You had figured out that you were great with drawing maps and sometimes would have vivid dreams about faceless boy saying something or calling you certain name but it always went unheard and you'd always wake up in the middle of the night. They all named you, "Aya!" Because everytime you'd get annoyed or messed something up, you'd say, "Ayy!" In an annoyed tone. It was fine since you didn't even remember your own name; there were nights you'd stay awake thinking about what your name was? Do you have a family? Is there somewhere someone out there looking for you?.

It was just another day for you on the ship when Marco had asked you if you'd like to join the others on the deck since they were playing ""fight"" with the new member. You groaned, then shook your head, "I'm reading this book." It wasn't strange for pops to suddenly find another crewmate out of nowhere. You could hear them cheering outside, but it wasn't anything new.

After a few hours, you decided to go back to completing the sketch of the ship, putting your goggles on, and you picked your parchment papers and pens. You saw them on lower deck playing fight with the rest of the crew gathered around in a circle. Not minding them, you started to work on your drawing. When you were halfway done, you saw the crew disturbed as they took a break, so you went on drawing the side of the ship. "Another sketch?" Marco ruffled your hair as he walked past you, making you nod, not taking your eyes off your drawing. You heard a new voice talking and turned to find a dark haird guy talking with one of your crewmates. All you saw was his back, so yoy shrugged and turned back to continue drawing.

The guys behind you didn't see you, so they accidentally bumped into you, causing your things to drop from your hand. "Oh, no. I'm so sorry I didn't see you there - " Ace immediately got down to gather your papers, and his head dropped when he looked up as you were still gathering the pen of the deck. You smiled, "it's okay. I shouldn't have just sta -" You didn't get to finish talking when he dropped the papers and wrapped his arms around you, taking you by surprise. Everyone on the deck was looking at Ace and you now. You blinked in surprise and immediately pushed him away with a yelp. "What are you doing?" You screamed at him, Ace reached for you, but you were quick to get up as Marco reached you two before grabbing Ace, stopping him from approaching you, "what are you doing, man?" Marco asked before turning to you, "Aya, are you okay?" Nodding, you gathered you things and turned to leave when Ace called out, "Aya? No! Y/n! Wait!" You stopped at the name. It sounded exactly like the name you heard in your dreams, but you just stood there clutching your things closer as you looked at Ace with a confused look.

"Stop it man, you are scaring the gi-"

"No! That's my girl, that's my Y/n! Y/n, it's me!" Everyone was looking at you now, Marco turned to look at you as you shrugged, not knowing what to say. "Y/n?" You asked, and Ace nodded. Marco turned to talk to Ace, "Don't approach the girl like that. Stay here." Ace didn't listen, but he only walked a few feet in front of you, his eyes begging you to recognise him as he reached his hands for you, but you only stepped back, and he immediately stopped. "Y/n, please, it's me. Don't you remember me?" You shook your head, making Ace's lips quivered. "I'm sorry." Was all you said before rushing away to your room and shutting the door.

You didn't leave the room and fell asleep before being awakened by the nightmares in the middle of the night. After calming down, you went outside for fresh air but stopped on top of the stairs when you saw Ace standing alone looking at the night waves. You were about to get back to your room, but something in you told you to talk to him. If he was lying about knowing you, then why would he be so desperate for you to recognise him. Slowly approaching him, you stood a few steps away, hugging yourself. You cleared your throat, and he turned immediately, gasping, holding his steps from reaching you, but the look in his eyes was yarning for you to approach him. "I uh, I don't really know what to say actually," you spoke honestly, "can we sit down? Want me to make you tea? Coffee? I drink tea when I can't sleep. I wanna talk." He just nodded, following you to the kitchen. He stood by the fridge watching you make the tea, "Don't stare like that." He chuckled, feeling embarrassed, "I missed you, I-I I'll sit down there." He took one of the seats on the table, and you placed the tea cup in front of him before grabbing one for yourself. You reached for the sugar, but he pulled the small jar away, and you looked at him, "suger makes you cough. You don't - "

"How did you know?" You blinked at him. You didn't tell anyone that, but it was true. However, you'd still sometimes eat it. Ace didn't know what to do because he was on the verge of tears, "I know, of course I know. I know a lot about you. We grew up together. I lo -" He stopped talking and looked at his feet, not trying to overwhelm you. But you needed to know, taking the seat beside him you pulled it closer till your knees were almost touching, "I don't remember what happened, I woke up on this ship one day with injuries and barley remember who I'm I. Marco said it's probably because I hit my head or something that caused my memory loss. Please don't lie to me, if you know me please tell me who I'm I?"

He smiled and nodded frantically, "I-I we lived in the same village, foosha village. It's a very small village and there wasn't much but me, you, Sabo and Luffy were always running around to find things to do."

"Sabo? Luffy?" You asked. "Yes! Luffy, uh, how do I describe him he was a handful and really loved being around you. He was a little mouse," he laughed, making you smile. "And Sabo?" You asked as you saw his smile drop slowly, "he was a good friend, my brother. Very smart, ambitious, and always taking your side. He's not with us anymore. You cried for days when he passed." You gasped, "I'm so sorry, I wish I could remember him. Tell me more, please." Ace smiled a little, "well, I can lie and say that you liked me the most as kids, but I was always head over heels for you." Your cheeks burned as you chuckled nervously so did he as he continued, "I well- what I mean is that we've liked each other a lot like we uh what I want to say is th-"

"That you're my boyfriend?" You asked even though you were dying of embarrassment, but he nodded, ear and cheeks bright pink. "Oh," was all you said before both of you just sat in awkward silence, not knowing what to say. Your heart was beating so fast and loud that you were sure Ace could hear it. "If you still think I'm lying about it all then I know something else, if I'm lying then I won't know that you have a birthmark in the shape of heart on your right side." You shook your head forwarding your right arm, "I don't have any birthmark, see?" He blinked before pointing at your stomach. You both blinked at each other, and once again, you could feel your face burning before you asked, "o-on my stoma-HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT? I DO -" You sat down, looking at your hands resting on your lap. "I know because I just know. I'm your boyfriend." He whispered the last part."It could be a lucky guess, " you whispered.

He shook his head, "You have two moles together on your inner t-"

"ACE!" You said and gasped, slapping your mouth with your hands and wide eyes as he looked at you concerned, "Ace?" He blinked, waiting for you to speak. Then it hit him. All this time, he didn't tell you his name, nor did anyone else.

"Ace?" Your lips quivered.

"Y-yes, beautiful."

"ACE! OH ACE" You jumped in his arms as he held you tight, "Ace, Ace. Mine, Ace." He chuckled with tears filled eyes holding you tight. "Ace, it's you. Ace, I remember, A-Ace."

"Don't stop saying my name, please." He held your head with one hand and squeezed you closer with the other as you kept mumbling his name, afraid that you might forget everything if you stopped. Suddenly everything came back like a wave, You remembered it all.

"Ace,"

"My heart"

"Ace"

"My beautiful beautiful girl"

"Ace, I love you."

"I love you more than anything in this world."

#one peice #one piece headcanons #one piece imagine #angst #ace angst #ace d portgas #ace one piece #one piece ace #portgas d ace #ace d portgas x you #ace d portgas fluff #ace d portgas headcanons #ace d portgas x reader #portgas ace x you #portgas ace x reader #ace x you #ace x reader

130 notes · View notes