#so I’m somehow expected to keep like 15+ things straight

[clingylilhoneybee]

Did not expect something so small to be my breaking point but holy fuck I need out of this job

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 15

This was really popular last WIP Wednesday so it got down before the others did. So tada! The meeting with Vickie!

If you guys aren't getting notifications for my works, could you let me in know in the comments? Because I've been seeing it's been hit or miss lately, thanks!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

~

Steve wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he walked into Eddie’s mansion. Both bands were meeting with their shiny new agent, Vickie Cameron. But whatever it wasn’t the woman sitting on Eddie’s big, black leather couch.

She had a stylish, curly, red bob that framed her angular face. Her bright green eyes were knowing and mischievous. Her clothes veered toward Bohemian in darker shades. Her smile was calm and welcoming.

Steve could feel the tension bleed out his shoulders as he sat down between Simon and Spence.

“You must be Abbadon,” she greeted warmly. “I’m Vickie Cameron, I understand that I called in the nick of time?”

Eddie who had come in behind him, smiled at her. “That’s right. She kept trying to shift blame on Abby here. Bob was awesome, though!”

Vickie looked to Chrissy and Robin in askance.

“The Fallen’s producer,” Robin explained. “He was there to prevent liability.”

Vickie nodded and then clasped her hands together. “I understand that not all of Corroded Coffin is here today?”

Jeff shook his head. “Gareth Hughes is currently in a ninety day program.”

“Eddie had to get special permission to talk to him about changing agents in the first place,” Brian explained. “It’s in our contract that all of us have to sign off on major changes.” He glanced sideways at Eddie and then Jeff before hanging his head.

Eddie sat down on the floor next to Shane, crossing his legs like the bassist. “But he was onboard one hundred percent.”

“That’s good,” she said with a smile. “I’m assuming it was that lovely little clause that prevented him from being replaced on tour?”

Steve looked around at the Corroded Coffin members as tension filled the air. Jeff and Eddie were radiating anger while Brian seemed to shrink in shame.

“I didn’t think it was fair that he would get replaced like he didn’t mean anything to us,” Brian hotly defended.

Jeff’s lip curled. “Dude, Gareth voted for us replacing him! He knew had made a promise and broke it. If we don’t punish him somehow, someway, he’s going to keep doing it!”

Brian’s chin began to wobble and he let out a shuddered breath. “I know. It was stupid. But it’s too late now. Let’s just focus on what we’re here for. Please!”

Steve shared looks with his band before they all agreed to just move on. But Steve made sure to make a mental note to talk to Eddie about it, because it was clear Eddie was really upset by the move even after a few weeks.

“Since you’re planning on touring together,” Vickie said, sitting up straight, “that makes the contacting for venues easy. Getting suites for two big bands might prove a little tricky at the moment as I don’t have the clout yet.”

“That’s fine,” Shane said from his perch on the floor. “We like to bunk all together if we can. It makes harder for people to try and pap us if there’s almost always someone there in the room.”

“That makes sense,” she agreed. “Will Jim Hopper be coming with you to function as your head of security?”

Robin nodded. “He’ll be the only one with knowledge of their real identities. His daughter will also be joining us as costumes director, but she has only dealt with their alter egos.”

Vickie nodded back. “That’s perfect. I’ll be just handling contracts and the legal eagle side of things, which is the main reason I need to know their real identities so no one can forge anything claiming to be a member of the band.”

Everyone nodded or murmured their agreements.

She looked at Eddie. “I know this your home, but would it be all right if I spoke to The Fallen alone?”

Eddie nodded and hopped to his feet. “Come on, Jeffy and Bri-Bri, let’s go raid my liquor cabinet.”

The other two men were to their feet in seconds and followed their lead singer out the door like ducklings in a row.

Vickie smiled after them. “They’re going to be fun. I can tell.” She turned back to The Fallen members. “Do you feel safe enough to remove your masks so that I can meet you properly?”

Steve and the other members looked around at each other before Shane took off his mask first. Then Steve and Spence together. Simon was the only that remained with his mask still on. Steve leaned over and whispered in his ear and rubbed his back encouragingly. After a moment or two Simon removed his mask too.

“It’s hard trusting someone new,” Vickie said with a reassuring smile. “Especially after harrowing experience that Abbadon went through earlier today. Giving that much power to any ex is hard, but if half of what Celeste says is true, she’s the last person in your lives that should have any kind of access to your secrets. So no judgments, okay? If you don’t feel comfortable being unmasked around me, that’s fine. I hope I’ll earn your trust in the future.”

Immediately Simon put his back on. Spence and Shane shared a glance before Spence put his back on, too. Only Shane and Steve left theirs off.

Vickie didn’t comment, only nodded her approval. “I had somethings to go over with you all so we can all get on the same page.”

“Why aren’t you calling us by our real names?” Simon asked, leaning into Steve’s side.

“Are any of the Corroded Coffin boys in on the secret?” Vickie asked, leaning forwards on her knees and clasping her hands together.

They all shared concerned glances, before Robin spoke up.

“Eddie is,” she said carefully, her shoulders squared against the tension in the room. “He guessed though, he wasn’t told.”

“But Jeff Laurence and Brian Martin aren’t read in?” Vickie pressed.

They all shook their heads.

“Then that would be why I’m not calling you by your real names,” she said clearly, sitting up straight. “There is a chance they might overhear a name or two and put it together who you are.”

Steve let out a shuddering breath and his lip quivered. “Nancy–she almost called me by my real name right in front of our producer. She almost outed me without a single thought or care. I–I’d never been more frightened in my life when she nearly slipped up. She had been so mad at me and I just wanted to get out of there, but I forced myself to stay there and listen to her.”

Vickie stood up and knelt in front of him, taking one of his hands as his friends offered their verbal support.

“I hate how much power she had in that conversation,” she murmured. “Agents like managers and PR firms are tools to help you navigate a job which constantly changing. That goes for actors, artists, athletes, comedians, and musicians of all walks of life. They should be supporting you, not making you miserable.”

She stood up. “And that goes for everyone, Corroded Coffin included. This is meant to be a partnership and it’s my job to sure it all goes as smoothly as possible.”

Simon removed his mask and looked her in the eye. “If you’ve got Abbadon’s back, you’ve got my vote of confidence.”

Everyone but Vickie turned to him, impressed. Simon was their Cowardly Lion. He was afraid of his own shadow outside of their personas on stage. It was only under the bright lights of the stage and behind his red mask that he truly came alive.

This was a big deal for Simon and his bandmates and Robin were proud as hell for him.

“So what did you need to go over with us?” Shane asked from his perch on the floor.

Vickie cracked her knuckles with a grin. “What I understand is that because your personal and professional lives are separate you need a little help fend off the trolls and influencers, is that right?”

“Aren’t they one and the same?” Spence asked with a snort. His mask was still on despite Simon’s bravery, he wasn’t ready to take that step yet.

“Only in the way that jackals and coyotes are both dogs I guess,” Vickie replied. “They act similar but have different motives for why they’re doing it. But I’m here to handle that.”

“I’m sorry to make you take on PR duties as well,” Robin said ringing her hands together. “But the more people who know the worse it’s going to be to keep a lid on everything.”

Vickie shook her head. “This is a good thing. Because I don’t have a lot of clients to juggle, I can do the PR for you guys. Simpler is always best.” She looked around the room. “I also understand that one of you is in a high profile relationship?”

Steve raised his hand. “Ish. Eddie and Steve are dating but it’s not public and with Eddie’s past history of sleeping with anything that moved, he can’t be seen with a roadie or the tabloids will explode.”

Vickie tapped her lip thoughtfully. “That is a conundrum to be sure. I’ll put together some plans and meet with Eddie and ‘Steve’ later in the week.” She put air quotes around his name. “Now, here are the other things we need to go over.”

Talk turned to the other things on her agenda and by the time it was over with all four members of the band were maskless, and eager to take her on.

~

Vickie, Robin, Chrissy were all sitting in Vickie’s office, popping the cork of a bottle of champagne to share between them. Chrissy poured the bubbling liquid into the three glasses and handed one to each of Robin and Vickie.

“Here’s to the three baddest bitches!” Robin said, raising her glass.

“Hell yeah!” Vickie crowed.

“Damn right!” Chrissy said, as they all clinked their glasses together.

They all drank and Vickie smirked around her glass. “So the industry is abuzz with news about Nancy Wheeler and Corroded Coffin pulling out of her firm.”

Robin and Chrissy leaned in close, clutching their glasses of champagne.

“Ooh,” Chrissy cooed. “Do tell.”

Vickie took another drink of her champagne and let them sit in it for a moment. “Apparently word is out that Corroded Coffin had vouched for her to The Fallen and when she was rude and dismissive of their unique requirements, Corroded Coffin decided that she wasn’t for them. And now huge acts are pulling out too in solidarity to The Fallen.”

Chrissy winced, but Robin nodded sagely.

“She sounded so sincere when I spoke to her,” she said, shaking her head sadly, “but my boys picked up on her hostility right away. All she had to do was put the past behind her, the way Abbadon seemed to, but she let her prejudices blind her and it led her to this.”

Vickie pursed her lips together. “I can see how some heavy hitters might like the bulldog approach that she took to her work, but not everyone has that tough of a skin. And while some part of me feels sorry for her, she absolutely dug her own grave.”

“Eddie was telling me some of the things she said to Abbadon,” Chrissy said, twisting the glass her hands. “It sounded like to me that she wanted him to absolve her of all her wrong doing without owning up to it in any way.”

Robin nodded. “That’s what Bob said, too. There was no apology and it didn’t sound like she ever intended to give one. So cheers to Vickie Carmichael, who sent the dragon running back to her lair!”

“Cheers!” Chrissy agreed to Vickie’s flush of pride.

“Thank you, ladies,” she said demurely. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with your boys. They all seem like good people. And yes that includes Gareth. I was able to meet with him without the other boys around and while he has some real problems to deal with, he’s a good person at heart who was led away by the high alcohol promised him.”

Chrissy nodded. “I wish Brian had let Gareth heal while they went on tour. I think it would have shaken something loose to see his friends perform without him.”

“To new beginnings!” Robin said, raising her glass.

“To new partnerships!” Vickie agreed, raising her own glass.

“To friends old and new!” Chrissy said.

They clanked glasses and drank deeply to their new future.

~

Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop

[quinnyundertow]

Can I ask what got you into writing? I love your writing style and I'm so curious about your process as well.

This is such a sweet ask. I love it. This may be way more than what you were expecting haha. But I’m alone in the hospital and this feels cathartic.

I’ve always loved to write since I can remember. When I was in elementary school I remember getting yelled at and crying because I had to write a story about a thanksgiving turkeys adventure and mine was like twenty pages. They said it was too long and hurry up and I was frustrated because I wasn’t done!

I think what really solidified my love for writing is I needed fantasy to escape. In middle and early high school my parents divorced and I was bullied relentlessly. Gum put in my hair, things thrown at me, called fat at every opportunity. I had teachers that bullied me too for being fat. I was SA’d multiple times, depressed and started cutting. I’ve honestly tried to block most of it out.

The point is I had found anime and a few friends who loved it too. So any opportunity I had I begged friends to do writing journals with me. We’d make up a crack fic plots then write self insert and pass a notebook back and forth between classes every chapter for the next person to write. We wrote for Yugioh, Naruto, Dragonball Z, Fruits Basket popular ones at the time. I also wrote poetry, fanfics and original stories to try and escape anyway I could. Writing was the highlight of my teenage years. But other than that it was hell and you could never pay me enough money to repeat them.

I dropped out of Highschool from the bullying and my depression. But I studied and took a test for Highschool equivalency and then went to college and got straight As. College is nothing like Highschool. No one cares what you do. At least in my experience. I wanted to be a writer or manga artist but my father told me I wasn’t good enough and I wish I wouldn’t have taken it to heart and listened. I stopped writing for like ten years except for periodic ideas in notebooks until this last November.

Jujutsu Kaisen had become my comfort anime and then chapter 236 happened. I was so depressed I decided to try and read fanfics again. I’ve always read a lot of published books and was staggered to see a ton of fanfic writers were just as good if not better than published writers. After reading a ton of amazing works I decided I needed a fix it story that was ultimately happy for JJK and here we are.

Sorry if this was boring or too much. But if you take away something from this take this. Life is always changing. Tomorrow will not be the same as today. That much is guaranteed. If you have nothing left to live for then you have nothing to lose by trying something crazy or new. I was broken down to nothing by bullies, family issues, mental and physical health and I was incredibly suicidal. Somehow I found the will to try again. I got on depression and anxiety medication (still on to this day), worked for a higher education and took a shitty paying job to claw my way back up. My life is far from perfect but despite everything I worked hard to now have a boss babe high paying career and after restarting writing and meeting you all I’ve never been happier.

As far as a writing process I pretend I’m not going to post what I write and write it just for me. I ask myself what do I think would be the coolest thing to happen? What would I want to see next? Then I write it. Most of the time it sucks, or I don’t feel like writing it but I force it out. I make myself sit for 15 minutes and just write something. Then I rewrite it. Keep what parts I liked toss what feels off. Repeat. Eventually I’m having fun and loving the process.

When rewriting I’ll name them things like WICYG Chapter 12.2 for the second rewrite etc. I’ll screen shot my google doc so you can see the insanity haha. Sometimes I’ll rewrite four plus times. At the end of the day I want to love what I write and do it for me. Then when I find people that like it too it makes me over the moon happy. I hope one day to have the confidence to write my original stories in my head out. Writing fics for yall has definitely helped build my confidence as a writer.Thanks again for the ask anon sorry for the life story but I’ve never told people all that and it was healing to get out.

My messy google docs 🥹 Madhouse is Sanity Last Stop lol.

[spurgie-cousin]

The few times I’ve overheard them when my husband answers the door is “are you Brother (last name)” and my husband says “no they’re not here at the moment” and then some excuse of “I’m actually just going up to bed/it’s not a good time etc”. He wants nothing to do with religion as a whole so he doesn’t want to talk to them to begin with but they’ll just stand at the door for 10 minutes straight to make damn sure that nobody is home before they leave, so it’s faster to just open the door and send them on their way

One time I was upstairs watching out the window and there was a third person in their car with a computer or an ipad or something in their lap with the brightness all the way up. Once my husband got them to leave, I went around and made sure every door and window on the first floor was shut and locked. Like you show up where I am, after dark, AND I’m not expecting you? I’ve seen too many episodes of Criminal Minds for that, thanks.

Apparently they show up just to talk to my ILs, idk if it’s for actual church goodwill reasons, like how the church that I grew up in used to do home ministry for people that couldn’t physically make it to the building, OR because my ILs don’t go to any mormon church out here and the overarching church wants to keep tabs on them, like you said. I lean toward the second one but I’ve never been at their house when they’re home and the mormons show up (nor do I want to be, I don’t need them knowing who I am to stalk me like that)

Omg the mormons I was trying to ghost did the same thing, it was always young men in their mission outfits and they would stand outside for FOREVER, like 15 or 20 minutes after knocking. And listen, if I'm not expecting someone and they don't look like the mail person or police or someone official, I usually don't answer (the only people who'd do that around here are trying to sell you something). If there's no answer, most people leave in like 30 seconds so it legitimately did freak me out when I'd walk by the a window 10 mins later and catch these guys out of the corner of my eye (and hide lol).

I totally agree, in your ILs case I'm definitely leaning toward the second explanation too. It sounds like the same kind of behavior bc in my case, they were trying to get me to come back after the recruitment thing, and in their case maybe it's the same protocol for mormons who the church knows are in a certain area with a church but not attending.

I don't blame you for not wanting to engage. Don't get me wrong they're usually perfectly friendly, but they have a very vacuum salesman approach once you start a conversation. You have to really be firm and say no so many times, esp if it's not a first time thing and you're involved with the LDS somehow.

Thank you for sharing! That is genuinely so interesting, I wonder what their deal is...

[hexalene]

rant below I’m struggling with my health and mobility and it sucks and I need to get this off my chest

A disk in my spine is herniated and I can’t walk I can’t DO ANYTHING without absolutely excruciating pain

The only thing I can do without crying from pain is lay on the ground not even my bed JUST THE FLOOR

Walking: 13/10 absolute nightmare agony my whole body just collapses to the right and I go down no matter what. I can make it like…5 steps then I’m down for half an hour

Sitting: 20/10 fuck my life literally cannot sit this makes DRIVING near impossible

I drove to the pharmacy to get my meds to try and help this and this is like, a 7 minute drive. 15 with traffic. Literal straight line down the highway. It took me THREE HOURS to make the drive because I had to keep pulling over and putting ice and heat packs on my back and lay down in the seat to try and stop the agony it was AWFUL I was literally crying from pain trying to drive and just PRAYING that nobody called the cops to check on me it was so miserable.

And I’m no wuss, my pain tolerance is high, so I tried to drive to work and I almost went off the road when my leg spasmed and slammed down on the gas, I swear to god I met Jesus for a second because I almost drove straight into a DEEP reservoir. And like holy shit?? Like this shit hurts but I didn’t expect I’d LOSE CONTROL of my leg like holy shit

So now I’m not driving. I haven’t really told anyone in my life what exactly happened, but I’ve been telling them the pain is too bad. I had to email work and be like I can’t make it in, like I literally can’t drive, here’s my doctor’s appointment please don’t fire me

(It’s a government job and I’m a good employee I don’t think they’ll fire me but god the stress of being incapable of working is stressing me the FUCK out)

And it fucking SUCKS because I’ve been doing everything I can??? I did my physical therapy, I exercised I followed my restrictions, I took my meds I did everything I can?????????

I’m so tired.

My apartment has devolved into a hoard

Here’s a SUPER FUN CHALLENGE lay on the floor, on your left side, ONLY your left side, and DONT MOVE YOUR LEGS OR LOWER BODY AT ALL. If you do, you WILL EXPLODE, so don’t move them

Now fold your laundry. Cook. Go to the bathroom.

While you go to the bathroom, make sure you take a railroad spike and start hammering it into the hip joint right at your back.

SIKE you’ve got 24 seconds before your leg spasms out of pain and forces you off the toilet no matter where you are in the process SO WORK FAST YOURE NOT ACTUALLY IN CONTROL OF THIS SHIT

the pain is so bad and you can’t bathe properly from a laying down position and your genuinely loving wonderful parents consider canceling their vacations to come and help you but you’ve ALWAYS been VERY INDEPENDENT like your whole life you’ve always been able to everything yourself so you convince them not to cancel and lie and say it’s all good and it’s not. It’s really not. You can’t take the trash to the dumpster. You can’t carry water over to water your dying plants, you can’t stand and reach long enough to empty your dishes and sweep and wash and you’ve got to eat somehow

You’ve got to eat somehow so you make food and use the utensils you’ve got and now another trash bag is being formed and you CANT get rid of it and you can’t carry anything and

And you know you’re hurting yourself more like this, because the more it hurts the more you aggravate it the more likely it is that your immune system will start EATING YOUR SPINE

I’m so tired.

I’m so tired of being in pain. I’m so tired of living in a messy apartment. I’m so tired of all of this

I can’t get dressed properly. I can’t keep my hair brushed, I can’t do my nails I can’t CLEAN, I can’t WALK I can’t do anything but lie down and just ROT and wait for my doctors appointment and im so tired

I want to clean my apartment and my bathroom

I can’t stand and I’ve been forced to crawl around and it makes me sooooo aware of how dirty everything is

I just want to be normal again I want to be able to walk and drive and go to work and hang out with my friends and see my family and BE THERE for my family without being the burden in pain and I’m so so so fucking tired of my body not working like it used to

This CANT be the rest of my life, it just CANT I CANT be LIKE THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE I CANT

Please pleas please let this end, please let this be something I can fix please let there be something I can do to make it better please let this be temporary please please please let this be temporary

I’m so tired

[writing-forever]

Chapter 9 Playground Picnic

Sorry this took forever, life happened. Such is the curse of the fanfic writer.

First, previous, next

@miss-night

Tw: nothing really

Star got up early the next morning and the first thing they did was make sure the boys were still asleep. They poked their head into their room to find both boys plugged in and powered off. Perfect!

The second thing Star did was rummage around in their closet for the picnic basket they had purchased awhile ago. They found it in the back of their closet, already covered in dust somehow. It looked like it came straight out of a children's movie. It was made of woven wicker on the outside, but had an inner lining to keep food cold. It even came with the stereotypical red and white checkered blanket.

Star carried the basket to the dining room and set it on the table before going to the fridge and grabbing the ingredients for sandwiches. They made a few and put them in the basket along with water (for themself), and napkins. Then they folded the picnic blanket and set it on top of everything else before shoving the whole basket in the fridge to stay cold. It barely fit but Star managed. And just in time too.

Star closed the fridge and jumped when they saw Sun and Moon peeking out from the hallway. They leaned against the fridge in what they hoped was a casual manner. "Hey boys, you're up early."

Moon squinted at them suspiciously. "It's 10:30."

Star glanced at the clock. “So it is.” they rubbed the back of their head. “Must’ve lost track of time.” they had never been good at keeping surprises secret.

Moon peered at them closely. “If you say so.”

Star smiled. They knew Moon knew they were up to something, but he didn't know exactly what they were up to and they wanted to have a big dramatic reveal.

Star ushered the boys over to the table. “So I know this week didn't star exactly as we hoped, but I want to make it better so, I have a surprise for you!”

Moon raised raised a brow and Sun gasped. “A surprise! What is it? What is it!”

Star laughed and got the picnic basket out of the fridge, setting it on the table.

Sun tilted his faceplate. “It’s a gift?”

Star shook their head. “It’s a picnic basket.”

Sun’s eyes widened. “We’re going on a picnic?!” He yelled excitedly.

Star nodded and turned to Moon to see what he thought about it. They had to stifle a laugh when they saw his expression. Moon was staring at the basket with a sort of naive wonder on his face. Understandable he’d always wanted to see the great outdoors. And a picnic was generally quiet and calm. No strange people or bright lights. It was no wonder he was excited.

Slowly Moon turned to Star. “Where are we having the picnic?” He asked.

“I’m taking you to the park.”

Moon smiled. “Neat.”

Star tapped the top of the basket. “When do you guys wanna leave?”

“Right now!” Sun yelled, already scrambling down from his chair.

Star laughed, they really should’ve expected that. They picked up the picnic basket and walked over to the door. “Well are you guys coming or what?” They said, mostly to Moon, Sun was already on his way over. Star unlocked and opened the door, watching as the boys ran outside, racing each other to the car. They both made it at roughly the same time and the immediately started bickering over who’d won.

Sun pulled at Star’s pants as soon as they were in arms reach. “Starlight, will you pretty please with a cherry on top tell my brother that I won fair and square.”

Moon immediately objected. “You did not win, I touched it a millisecond before you did. Right Star?”

Star shrugged. “I dunno guys, it looked like a tie from where I was standing.”

Moon grumbled. “I guess that’s good enough.” He said under his breath.

Star laughed and opened the car door, letting both boys climb inside before heading straight to the park. They got there in less than 15 minutes and Star grabbed the picnic basket before motioning for the boys to follow them.

Star had parked near the side of the park and there just happened to be a mostly empty lot there, save for the trees that were so thick you couldn’t see past them. Star found a little path that they’d been using for most of their life, they led the boys down it and soon enough it opened up into a small clearing.

The clearing was decorated with fairy lights, wind chimes and even a couple sun catchers that caught the sparse light coming through the leaves and dappled the clearing in a rainbow of colors. There was a small fire pit in the middle that still held the charred remains of the last fire that was set there. Which must’ve been months or maybe even a year ago, now that Star thought about it.

Star spread their arms as they stepped into the clearing. “Welcome to the Starlight clearing!” They announced. “And before you ask, no it’s not named after me of purpose. It’s named that way because the park doesn’t have street lamps, meaning there’s less light pollution and so at night you can see more of the stars. It being my name is just a plus.

I used to come camping here with my mom all the time when I was younger, it was technically trespassing at first but we eventually got in contact with the guy who owns this lot and he said we can do what ever we like on it as long as we don’t set it on fire or something. He’s pretty cool like that.”

“Well, we’ll be sure not to set anything on fire then Starlight.” Sun said in jest.

“I’m holding you to that.” Star joked back while grabbing the checkered blanket out of the basket and laying it on the floor.

They sat down beckoning for the boys to join them.

“Your clearing is very pretty.” Moon said as he sat next to Star.

“Thank you.” Star said opening the picnic basket and handing each boy a sandwich. “Mom and I had fun decorating.”

Sun sat himself beside Star opposite Moon. “What did you like to do here?” He asked around a mouthful of food.

Star hummed. “Me and mom used to come camping here all the time. We’d set up a tent and make s’mores and sometimes we’d invite some of my friends and we’d make forts and feed the birds and stuff. It was nice.” Star paused. “Maybe I could bring you guys camping here before you go back to the Plex. What do you think about that? I’m sure I have an old tent somewhere.”

Sun made an excited little sound. “That would be so cool! Can we?”

Star smiled. “I don’t see why not.”

“We could make s’mores! And catch fireflies! The kids at the daycare say it’s really fun to catch fireflies!” Sun said, making little happy stims with his hands.

“We can do whatever you two want.” Star said. They would just be happy to spend more time with the boys, they might not have much left.

Star shook their head, banishing that thought to the back of their mind. They were content for now to sit and enjoy the outdoors and talk about any frivolous topic that came up. So that’s what they did. They talked of the weather, and what movies the boys should watch, and argued about which games were the best. They talked and laughed and when they were all done eating Star gathered up the blanket and put it back in the basket before leading the boys back to the car.

Sun slumped once it came into view. “We’re leaving already?” He whined.

Star shook their head, smiling. “Not quite, we just gotta put the basket away.” They said, opening the trunk and setting the basket inside. “There’s no use in lugging this thing all the way to the playground I’m we’re not using it.”

Sun smiled. “Will there be kids there?” He asked.

Star shrugged. “I hope so. It’s the middle of summer after all.” They closed the trunk and turned to the boys. “Ready?”

“Ready!” Sun echoed.

Moon nodded along, never one to speak more than he had to. Unless he was making fun of someone, then he spoke quite a bit more than he should.

Star led the boys to the nearest playground. There were already a few families there and about seven or so kids all running around laughing. There was even one little girl who looked very familiar, though Star couldn’t quite place where they’d seen her before at the moment.

They waved to the boys as the ran off to play with the kids before taking a seat on one of the benches over looking the park. They watched as the boys introduced themselves to the kids and promptly started a game of tag, which quickly devolved into racing, and then into King of the Hill. The “Hill” being the topmost tower of one of the play structures.

Seeing them here with all the kids, Star could see why they were a daycare attendant. They handled each minor argument and small fall with ease. They made sure each child felt just as included as all the rest and tended to help children who looked confused or were generally weaker than the others. They were in their element.

Soon enough the boys were running back to Star. This time with a small child in tow. The familiar one.

“Look who we found!” Sun said excitedly, gesturing to the little girl. “It’s Shira!”

Star snapped their fingers in realization. “That’s why you looked so familiar!” They smiled. “Hi Shira.” Star gave her their name. “You having fun?”

Shira nodded. “I’m having sooo much fun!” She said, spreading her arms to show just how much fun she was having. “I get to play with robots!”

Star smiled. “Not just any robots.”

Shira nodded again. “I know. These ones are special. They’re my friends!”

Star felt like they were about to melt. That was so cute! “That would make them pretty special wouldn’t it?” They said, reaching out and ruffling Shira’s hair.

Shira nodded and then gasped as she heard the other kids calling out the Red Rover chant. She spun around. “Wait for me guys!” And then she was gone, dragging Sun along behind her.

Moon stayed with Star, watching his brother get dragged away.

Star looked at him questioningly. “You’re not gonna go play?”

Moon shook his head. “Not yet, taking a break. I’m not built for playtime you know.” He smiled.

Star tapped the bench beside themself. “You can sit with me for a bit then.”

Moon took a seat on the bench, leaning against Star slightly.

Star hummed. “How’s Shira? She seems nice.” Star asked wanting to get to know more about this little girl who treated the boys like people.

Moon shrugged. “She’s cool. She is certainly curious though. Asked me about a million questions in about two minutes.

Star laughed. “I can relate to that.”

Moon smirked. “I bet you could. She reminds me a lot of you actually. You both have the same insatiable curiosity. Although you had a bit more tact when it came to asking questions.”

“So you like her then.”

It wasn’t really a question but Moon still nodded. “She’s alright. I don’t know how I feel about her mother though.”

Star followed Moon’s gaze to the other side of the park where Shira’s mother was seated on a bench directly opposite them. She didn’t look so mean as she watched her daughter play. She didn’t even blink when Shira chose Sun to be on her team during the next round of Red Rover.

Star had a feeling she didn’t actually mind robots. She was probably just hesitant about believing they could have thoughts and feelings. It was a mindset Star had encountered many times at the PizzaPlex. Those types of people usually came around after a conversation and a little bit of time to think. And with what Star knew about her husband and child, Star figured she’d come around sooner rather than later.

Both Star and Moon jumped as the whole of Sun’s team called out Moon’s name, effectively forcing him to join the game. Star waved to him as he skittered over to the line of kids in the silliest way possible. Evidently no one was prepared for that and he broke through the line easily, choosing one of the younger kids to follow him to the other team.

Star glanced back up and stifled a jolt as they realized Shira’s mother was walking over to them.

Star’s mind spiraled. Had she noticed them talking about her? Did she not like that fact that they had patted Shira on the head. Was she going to tell Star to keep their robots away from her daughter? Did she not like the they/them pin Star was wearing on their sleeve? They braced theirself for any harsh words that might be thrown their way.

“Those robots?” Shira’s mother started.

Star tensed almost imperceptibly.

“Did you make them?”

Star blinked. “Er- yeah. I did. At least, I made their bodies the AI was already there.”

Shira’s mother nodded. “You did a good job.” She held out her hand. “I’m Lori by the way.”

Star shook Lori’s hand. This was not how they expected this interaction to go at all. “It’s nice to meet you Lori.” They patted the bench. Would you like to sit with me?”

Lori took a seat on the bench. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Lori sighed. “I’m sorry for how we met at the store.” She said. “I’m usually not that stuck up but I was a little frazzled from my daughter going missing.”

Star nodded. “It’s ok, I’d be pretty frazzled too if one of the boys went missing.”

Lori hummed. “Are they like your children then?”

Star shook their head quickly. “No, they’re more like my friends? Er-caretakers? It’s complicated. They’re actually not mine, they technically belong to the Plex.”

Star saw a hint of surprise on Lori’s face. “They’re from the Plex?”

Star nodded. “They’re the Daycare Attendant.”

Lori smiled. “Shira will be happy when she finds out she’s been playing with Fazbear animatronics. She’s always wanted to go to that place. We were gonna take her for her birthday soon. Her curious little brain is gonna be so happy.”

Star hummed. “When’s her birthday? Maybe I can set up a little surprise for her?”

Lori shook her head. “You don’t have to do anything. You barely know us.”

Star smiled. “Maybe not, but I want to. Besides, it wouldn’t take much more than asking the band to keep an eye out for her. That way she’s guarantied to meet them all.”

“Well then, thank you.” Lori said. “I’m sure Shira will appreciate it. Her birthday is 23 days by the way.”

Star mentally jotted that number down. “It’s no problem, she seems like a good kid.”

Lori nodded and they both fell into silence. The kids had started playing a different game now. Blind man’s bluff, Star thought it was called. They watched the kids play for a bit. All the while the evening turned into sunset. Eventually it was time to leave. Lori called Shira over, smiling as she dragged Sun and moon over as well. Star noticed that Moon kept his distance from Lori, and Sun leaned away from her slightly.

“It’s time to go baby.” Lori said, wiping a smudge from Shira’s forehead with her thumb. “Did you have fun with your new uh- friends?”

Shira nodded. “They’re super cool!”

Lori looked to Star. Well then maybe we could see them again sometime?”

Star gave her a smile.

“But for now it’s time to go home.” Lori continued, standing back up.

Shira pouted, but compiled. “Ok.” She turned to Sun and Moon, giving each of them a hug. “See you soon! Goodbye Star!” She grabbed her mom’s hand, talking excitedly as they walked away.

Star turned to the boys. ”We should probably get going soon as well. It’s getting pretty dark.”

Both boys nodded. “Can we say bye to the kids first?” Sun asked.

Star nodded. “Yeah, sure.” Before they had even finished talking both boys were gone. Star shook their head fondly as they watched them say their farewells. Each goodbye was accompanied by a request for the child to ask their parents about the SuperStar Daycare. Star laughed. They were almost like walking advertisements. There weren’t many kids left, most of them having gone home earlier, so the boys were back at Star’s side in only a few minutes.

They all walked back to the car and Star turned it on pulling on to the road and going home.

[jade-kyo]

Red vs. Blue season 15-17 retcon pros and cons:

Season 16

Oh sweet 16…. Yeah I don’t like this season so expect a very long list of pros to this potential retcon as there are a lot of things I’ll be more than happy to say goodbye to

Pros:

No time travel bullshit

No Donut is Jesus

No gods

Everyone is so unnecessarily mean to Doc. I get that they’ve never exactly been nice and Doc did betray them but somehow they managed to push it to the point of feeling ooc

Oh god the absolute butchering of Tuckers character

The absolute butchering of Sarges character

I’m serious I will never forgive what they did to my boy Tucker

Painfully bad sex jokes

Grif straight up tries to kill himself???? Bro I think I blocked this from my memory 💀

The Tucker and Kai stuff is painful

The whole Sarge recruiting historical figures thing

Jax’s entire movie thing

NO FUCKING GODS

That fucking cyclops

Just… the entire cyclops thing.

I feel like animation is overused in this season

I forgot there was a second cyclops

Trying to explain time travel. Just give up, only one series has ever successfully done it and that is Steins;Gate and you’re not Steins;Gate

The way certain jokes would actually be funny if they were said by different characters. The whole bit where Jax is telling Sarge to hide in the closet but Sarge keeps saying his choice out loud would be way funnier if it was Caboose instead of Sarge. That kind of humor just fits way better for Caboose

King Tucker. I refuse to comment further on this.

Gods

Saying the word penis and seeing if people laugh is not comedy

The whole carwash joke. I get it’s poking fun at how the fans reacted to the “take off your suit” line, believe me I know, I was one of them (shhh I was 15 give me a break) but now it’s just awkward. I’m pretty neutral towards the ship now but I just don’t really care for making jokes this directly about any ship that isn’t canon

Again saying the word penis and hoping people laugh is not comedy. There is an art to a good dick joke.

This weird insistence on explaining the jokes

Saying your super powerful gods that can blow up moons, summon swords from nothing, change peoples physical sizes etc, are AI does not change the fact that functionally they are still basically gods with like one or two limitations. If they’re going this route they should’ve made the gods as powerful as Church was in the floaty ball with just a few extra powers since he never fully unlocked everything he could do with it. Or just follow whatever rules Halo canon has for the floaty ball thing.

Like I get it the aliens worship technology but if you didn’t want them to be actual gods then don’t give them god like powers on that scale

However on a funnier note, all of this being Church’s simulation is VERY funny. Especially when you think about how often he either jokes about being god or has actually been worshipped as a god. This makes everything much more entertaining that’s for sure.

The way Tucker basically just completely redoes his Chorus character development. The scene between Tucker and Kai on the space balcony thing is fine on its own until you realize it’s basically just a rehash of a scene between Tucker and Wash in season 12

Time travel bullshit (can you tell I really don’t like time travel)

Cons:

No Tucker wanting to bring Wash a whole pizza

No Donut is Jesus

That one cop voiced by Jeremy Dooley

Tucker being the one who shot Flowers. I actually didn’t mind that one (can you tell I’m desperate for things to put on the cons list)

there’s actually this really good conversation between Tucker and Kai about missing when things were silly and fun and they didn’t have to worry about messing up. That was nice.

Docs whole sad past with his brother like damn okay I can vibe with that. Was not expecting the tragic backstory from Doc.

I forgot Tucker killed Hitler that actually got a good laugh out of me

Wash and Carolina. That is all.

Wash’s disability

You know what? I like Grif and Huggins dynamic.

Caboose not knowing that women have butts (again I’m desperate to find cons and that joke made me laugh)

Caboose beating monkeys with a stick

As much as I despise what this season did with Tucker, Kai calling him out was very girl boss of her

Donut

Everything with Wash

Wash’s entire speech

Carolina telling Wash the truth about his disability. The entire scene is so good.

“My brain is fuzzy and I do good” Caboose says this line and I have always thought it was an absolute crime that we didn’t get some good Wash and Caboose moments about this

Muggins speech at the end. It’s very good.

DONUT

Donut vs Doc is actually a pretty cool fight

Verdict:

If the retcon is real I am truly not sad to see this season go. I really can’t stand it. Tho I do want to say that if this stuff had happened in the Blood Gulch Chronicles I probably wouldn’t mind it. I’ve always said that you can retcon the goofy stuff but once you do you can’t go back and that’s what this feels like. It feels like it’s trying be Blood Gulch again with how ridiculous and absurd the whole thing is and very simply you just can’t go backwards with this stuff. It doesn’t work.

However this all being Church’s simulation is a VERY entertaining thought and it makes this season much easier to watch that’s for sure.

[menalez]

When these people expect you to tolerate homophobia from 16 year olds because they’re ‘just teens’ and ‘don’t know any better’ they’re asking gay teenagers to tolerate homophobia from their peers. I’m 15 (younger than manhatingfascist) and straight, and I know homophobia is completely wrong like what the fuck is their problem?? I have lesbian moms so being gay has never been weird to me ever, but the straight people I know with straight parents still all know that they’re being homophobic, or they know that certain things (like calling someone SLURS) is homophobic and so on and so forth. It is the EASIEST concept to grasp and and it’s not gay peoples problem to either A) tolerate it or B) ‘teach them’ that homophobia is wrong. i’ll keep in mind that ‘teens being prejudiced are just naive’ ‘they don’t know any better you can’t criticize them’ the next time someone in radblr tries to talk about a teen boy being misogynistic.

its really undermining the intelligence of teenagers. i already knew homophobia was wrong before reaching my teens 💀 and i come from one of the most insanely homophobic regions. but apparently a 16 year old can’t possibly know that it’s wrong to be homophobic, using being a feminine male as a sign of degeneracy, calling gay men the f-slur, using twink as an insult, etc ??? like give me a break. i could at least get where that person was coming from if i was actually going after that girl but i wrote like 5 words amounting to “this is homophobic” and somehow that’s harassment bc the girl got termed by TRAs mass-reporting her and that must’ve been my fault somehow fhdhdh

[grimm-rider]

Entry 15

The Dominion ship had crashed into Ivoryglass, destroying most of the rooms we otherwise would have been exploring. The only room left was the Golemworks. We decided to check it first, as it was one of the rooms left that might have the other half of the key in it. I hoped it would have the key, as that would mean we wouldn’t have to go into the fleshy pulsating Dominion ship.

But, of course, we weren’t so lucky. All we found in the Golemworks were a bunch of corpses Yrax had planned on mashing together into a carrion golem, and some potentially useful scrolls.

Which meant we had to enter the Dominion Dropship if we wanted to keep looking for the key.

Or ‘go in through the butthole’ as Aenland so eloquently put it.

Not an image I needed in reference to a Dominion ship. Mind breaking horrors are not high on my list of creatures whose asses I want to play with.

Regardless, we entered the ship. There was a godsawful alarm blaring, and an alert going off in the Dominion’s native tongue warning of potential intruders. I told the others that they’d be expecting us, since I was pretty sure none of them understood it—I only did since I still had Tongues going.

There were two doors in, and given the size of the ship it seemed reasonable to assume they both led to the same place. We decided to split up and pincer whoever—whatever—was inside.

I joined Aenland on the lefthand side with Greta, while Nestian and Edeya took the right.

…Looking back, I’m glad I decided to take the same side as Aenland. I just did it on a whim, there wasn’t any real plan behind following Aenland instead of Nestian. But I made the right choice, none-the-less.

Aenland and Nevra swooped inside first. They went out of sight for a moment. I heard the telltale crackle of electricity, and the fwip of arrows. Then I heard an unfamiliar sound—similar to the lightning, but different. More intense, somehow. And then Aenland cried out. He sounded severely hurt.

Greta charged forward, around the corner. I followed suit, Talsune flapping under the door then swooping up over Greta’s head. In the room there was a horrible incorporeal mass of tentacles emitting an otherworldly aura. There was a purple lumpy creature with four spindly legs, a single tentacle tipped in a stinger, and four bulbus masses at the end of stalks on its back that held brains. And there was a large vat of what appeared to be a brightly colored ooze.

And there was Aenland, holding a gaping wound in his stomach where a hole had been blasted right through him.

Talsune finished taking a slice at the mass of tentacles and I threw a Flame Strike at the ooze and the purple creature, trying to clear the way to Aenland. But then said spindly legged creature—which looked like it was already on its last legs with half a dozen arrows jutting out of it—pointed its tentacle at Aenland and cast an unfamiliar spell. Whatever it cast, Aenland’s eyes immediately widened, then went dark—the bright purple sheen over them faded to black, and Aenland fell. There was no breath in his lungs.

I didn’t need to be an expert on the dead to know a corpse when I saw one.

Nevra immediately scooped him up, cradling his body protectively from the enemies.

I already had plans formulating in my head, my hand reaching for the bag of holding.

I barely registered Nestian and Edeya entering the room on the other side of the hall, fighting the other mass of tentacles, seeing Aenland’s body from afar.

I barely registered when that ooze in a can shot a powerful beam of fire and electricity at Nestian—which would explain the strange electrical sound I’d heard before. Nestian took the shot head-on like a champ, like he always does, but it still must have hurt. I could smell singed fur, even from the other side of the room.

I barely registered Nevra turning on the bulbous purple creature, cutting off its single tentacle, and then spearing it straight through—dead. A fitting end for the thing that had killed her partner.

Talsune and I were flying just within reach of her. I reached down to Nevra, and called out, telling her to lift Aenland up to me. She did as I asked without question. I didn’t have enough time to think through what I was doing—I was on a tight time limit with this spell. I read the spell off the scroll, holding the scroll in one hand and holding out my other hand to Aenland, trusting Talsune to keep me on his back. I felt the burn on my fingertips of positive energy, as if I were holding my hand up to the sun itself as the magic turned from the deep blacks and purples of negative energy to the bright gold of positive energy. Talsune snarled beneath me in reaction, feeling it through me as well. But it had to be done.

I cast the Breath of Life scroll. The positive energy flowed into Aenland’s lungs, and a moment later he gasped in a breath of his own. He was still badly hurt—very badly hurt—but he was alive. That’s what mattered.

Aenland thanked me, and I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I wonder if this is how he felt when I tried to thank him for saving me and Edeya from the Crone Queen back in the heart of the Dancing Hut, and he said of course he did it, because we’re friends. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. I thought the entire notion was ridiculous at the time, because at the time I found Aenland impossible to stand. I suppose now…it holds some merit.

Anyways, there was no time for that just then. We were still in the middle of combat. Nestian attacked one of those tentacle creatures—which I identified as Neshmaal. A moment later Aenland was back in the fray and popped both of the Neshmaal, before Nevra made the executive decision to retreat out of the room before the ooze could train its beam on the severely weakened archer.

It aimed at me instead.

Thank the gods, it must not have gotten a clear shot as it recalculated its aim from Aenland’s fleeing form to me and Talsune, as it just grazed me, and only some fire flicked harmless across Talsune’s scales.

Nestian and Greta began slashing at the vat that held the ooze, while I retaliated with another Flame Strike. Nevra flew back into the room, zipping around the corner into the Captian’s Quarter’s for cover before breathing lightning at the ooze’s vat, followed by Aenland’s arrows. The container cracked and shattered, leaving the ooze that was the heart of the Dominion ship free.

The ooze tried to cast a spell on me—touch of idiocy—and used its other tendrils to try to smash Nestian and Greta. Only Nestian failed to dodge, standing his ground against the large tendril smashing down on him. The ooze held its spell charge, but for the time being it didn’t touch me.

That was all the time I needed. We threw everything we had at it, and a moment later the ooze lost its form and melted away.

We found the other half of the amulet that made the key to the illusory wall. I took it, and we left that awful undulating room.

When I put the pieces of the key together and held it up to the wall, nothing visibly changed about the wall itself. It was still an illusory wall. But when I placed a hand on it, it passed through thin air. As any normal illusion would once you know the trick.

We passed through the wall and found ourselves in the antechamber just outside of Yrax’s true throne room. Unfortunately it was also the disposal pit. Three pillars of ice stood vigilant around the room—which we quickly identified as frozen Elder Water Elementals. And there was something churning within the disposal pit, which we couldn’t see, although we’d heard others say something about some type of ooze.

The elementals knew that their element (ha) of surprise was lost, so they burst from the ice and attacked.

As we fought off the elementals, a white ooze bubbled its way out of the disposal pit. Aenland tried to shoot it with an arrow, but all that did was caused it to split in half. Nestian’s axe had the same effect. Aenland had cleared out a couple of the water elementals, but now we were in a room of rapidly multiplying oozes. I decided to clear the numbers a bit with something I was sure wouldn’t split them, and cast a mass inflict light wounds. Two of the smaller white oozes burst from the negative energy instantly, leaving only the larger half to contend with. Greta took care of the water elemental while Aenland took the Adamantine Warhammer from his bag and smashed the last ooze, leaving the room silent.

Not for long. A moment later the ice above us shimmered, and once again Yrax’s ugly scaled face took up the reflective ice roof, looking down on us. He said, as a gracious host, he would let us leave, even now after all the trouble we’d caused. We could just walk away. Obviously we laughed in his face at the very idea.

Nestian brought up that he was holding our friend hostage. Yrax asked if we meant Cesseer. He called her to his side. She gave us a cold look, but it was a practiced coldness, and she was unarmed besides her sword—all the rest of her equipment was in my bag of holding. She hadn’t come here prepared to defeat us. She wanted us to save her, just like she’d told me. Anything else was just a ruse for Yrax’s sake.

I wanted to warn her about what he might be planning to do to her—maybe even give her an out for her contract if what he was doing was horrible enough to breach it, I didn’t know how Battleflower contracts worked. So I asked Yrax if he’d told ‘his Battleflower’ about what he’d been doing to the other Battleflowers. Yrax had a moment of confusion, then laughed, noting I meant the Dominion’s experiments. Then he, to Cesseer’s face, told her that he’d been giving weaker Battleflowers to the Dominion to use in their experiments.

‘But don’t worry, they weren’t as strong as you are.’

Bastard. Twisted lunatic. If I didn’t swear to Norgorber to kill him, I’d swear to any other god who would listen. That dragon’s head was mine.

While I stewed, Aenland noted that Yrax was scared of us. Yrax refused to acknowledge the notion, and cut the spell short, inviting us to try to fight him if we were so confident.

So we did. We stepped into the next room, and saw the dragon face-to-face for the first time. He was perched on a wall of ice high above us, with Cesseer on one side, and the Bone Sage removing some sort of tube of nasty looking liquid—a similar color to the Dominion ship’s ooze, I think—from his back.

Aenland and Nestian had words for the dragon—very inspirational things about how we were going to defeat him and end his reign, or about how he was a bad host, or something I’m sure. I felt that the blowhard warlord was beneath me. I focused my attention on Cesseer instead. With my telepathy, so that Yrax would be none-the-wiser, I assured her ‘We’re going to get you out of here’.

Yrax roared, and smashed something on the ground. It was an object we’d seen elsewhere in Ivoryglass—a golden egg filled with blood. Smoke billowed out, and there was a terrible flesh rending noise, and when it cleared the white dragon no longer stood perched above us. Instead a far more massive dragon with pulsing marks the same color as the liquid he’d been pumped full of—the same color as the ooze controlling the Dominion’s ship—stood above us, with the Bone Sage riding astride his back. The way they moved so perfectly in sync with each other, it was clear that they had artificially created the same bond between themselves that Dragonkin have with their riders. A bond created through a mutual desire to dominate and destroy.

The thing about Yrax, and most chromatic dragons—he’s plenty powerful, but he doesn’t know how to use any of it. He’ll just take over a plot of land, force some servitor race into doing his bidding, and then sit on a hoard of treasure and call it a day until someone with a sharper sword comes in and slays him for sitting in the wrong spot. Dragons always think they’re at the top of the food chain, and never plan ahead for when they aren’t.

In short, Yrax was a blunt instrument. Unfortunately, that instrument was now being directed by the Bone Sage, which made him a legitimate threat. The Bone Sage was an actually cunning opponent, unlike the self-proclaimed Lord of the Howling Storm. With the Bone Sage’s mind directing Yrax’s raw power, this was suddenly a far more dangerous fight than we’d come prepared for.

That obviously didn’t stop us. Even if Baba Yaga’s geass would have let us turn tail and run, we weren’t leaving Cesseer in his clutches. I wasn’t leaving Cesseer in his clutches. Not when he’d bragged to her face about how he’d let the Dominion hollow out her fellow Battleflowers and use them as puppets, as casually as if he’d been discussing the weather.

Yrax and the Eoxian flew over us. The Bone Sage cast a spell, and in a massive burst dispelled many of the spells we’d had on us in preparation for this fight—putting us on our back foot from the start. Then Yrax breathed in and let out a burst of icy breath that made an Irriseni winter seem positively balmy. Then he strained himself, pulling energy from the Bone Sage to move unnaturally fast back to his perch.

In the same moment, Cesseer vanished from her spot at his side, and reappeared in front of Nestian. I saw her mouth ‘I’m sorry’ before she went to kick him in the stomach. But our bear friend stepped aside. Then he dodged around a second attack as he completely ignored her and drew his axe to fight one of Yrax’s remaining loyal Dragonkin riders instead.

Aenland looked at Cesseer, then flew with Nevra past her, making a beeline for Yrax and the Bone Sage. As he did, I heard him through the Stone of Farspeech. He warned me that there was an Intellect Devourer on her back, poised to strike her neck the second she went down.

Like fuck there was.

As Aenland began trying to lay into the dragon and his undead rider, I telepathically reached out to Cesseer again. As I cast See Invisibility on myself with a scroll I’d been saving for…months now, probably…I told her not to panic, but that one of those experiments Yrax had mentioned was on her back right now. Then I quickened an Inflict Light Wounds, pushed her head aside, and touched the disgusting brain-like monstrosity instead. It reeled in surprise at having been seen and injured.

Using my senses to detect where the invisible monstrosity was, Talsune followed up with a slash through the surprisingly tough alien creature.

On my shoulder, Illivor flared out her wings, using the reflective glittery quality of her fairy-dragon body to our advantage to try to distract Cesseer and keep me from getting punched in the face too much.

I saw the awful brain-thing begin making movements as if to cast. I couldn’t get a good purchase to stab into it, its rubbery hide was too thick, but Talsune brought his blade down on the creature and it spasmed and lost the spell it was about to cast in my general direction.

I heard a distant crash as Yrax threw himself against the wall. I glanced up just long enough to note that Aenland was no longer on Nevra’s back. But I couldn’t focus on that just then. I had to trust that Aenland would take care of himself this time, or that someone else would get him out of whatever pinch he was in, because I had to keep my full focus on Cesseer and that Intellect Devourer on her back.

Cesseer told me she wished this could have been in any other context, before she swung a kick at me—and missed. Then a punch—another miss. It continued like this. She was fighting defensively—far more defensively than was necessary against the likes of me. It was obvious that she was pulling her punches. Not obvious enough to get through Yrax’s thick skull, it would seem, as he yelled at her to fight better, completely oblivious that it was a purposeful ruse. The Bone Sage seemed less than amused at the stupidity, which probably felt contagious with their minds linked like that.

Talsune struck the brain monster on Cesseer’s back again. I decided I’d had enough of this thing. I cast Slay Living, and let the black fires engulf the Intellect Devourer.

Yet still, somehow it clung to life. So I called on one final Quickened Inflict Light Wounds. I grabbed the creature. For a moment it felt like the spell wasn’t going to take against the force of its resistance—so I threw in the last of my power as the Black Rider for the day and forced the spell through. I pulled the Intellect Devourer off Cesseer’s back, whispering to her as I did: ‘I promised you everything would be okay’.

The brain-like monstrosity decayed away and turned to dust in my hand, not even a skeleton left.

The moment was ruined when Aenland was violently punched to the ground from over a hundred feet above our heads, somehow managing to roll to his feet despite leaving an impressive crater in the ground where he’d impacted.

Then from out of the left of my vision, Nestian barreled in and grabbed Cesseer. He told me to go and help the others, and he’d take care of things here. After what just happened to Aenland, I knew my remaining spells would be best spent elsewhere, so I agreed and strode into the center of the battlefield. Aenland had pulled himself back up and onto Nevra’s back, flying up into the air so his partner could breath a burst of lightning at both rider and dragon. A strange cracked barrier absorbed the blow. Then Aenland began shooting arrows, until the barrier broke and the remaining arrows found purchase in the Bone Sage’s flesh.

I snapped a bone in my fist and tried to shatter Yrax’s great draconic bones, but he resisted the worst of it, his bones creaking and bending but never quite shattering. At the same time, Talsune flew over my head and swooped in at Yrax to try a hit and run attack—unfortunately his sword clashed against hard scales, sending sparks flying but not doing any real damage. He flew back a safe distance.

Over my shoulder I saw Greta run in to help Nestian. She transformed into her wolf form, placing a paw on Cesseer to press her into the ground and keep her in place. I wondered if Greta was getting any amusement from holding down my ex-lover.

My attention was drawn back to Yrax and the Bone Sage, as the Eoxian once again dispelled a number of spells on us—nothing from me this time, as all the magic on me had already been used up or dispelled. Then Yrax breathed out another deadly cold breath. Fortunately, Aenland was the worst off of the people caught in it, and he’d had Protection from Energy: Cold cast on him before we went into this fight, so he came out no worse for the wear.

Aenland peppered the Bone Sage with arrows again, and I grabbed him with Boneshaker and tried to rip him apart—but he used a power that looked strikingly similar to when we use the Black Rider’s power to hold himself together.

Then Illivor popped her head out from around Edeya’s neck—where she’d moved to once I was no longer facing down Cesseer. She flapped her shiny little wings and shot out a magic missile, hitting the Bone Sage and breaking apart the power that was holding him together, letting my Boneshaker rip him apart.

All that was left was Yrax.

The dragon laughed, saying he’d planned on betraying the Bone Sage anyways, so this tied up loose ends for him.

Yrax was low enough to the ground for Nestian to charge him in the flying cauldron, and cut into him with his axe.

Aenland shot a flurry of arrows at the overgrown dragon, holy arrows tearing through wings and cracking through scales.

Yrax bellowed out a roar and that same power I’d seen the Bone Sage coalesced around him, allowing him to move with unnatural speed as he lashed out at Nestian.

Not fast enough, as I caught him with Boneshaker, and tried to force the great beastly dragon to bow before me. The stubborn creature resisted. And then there was a ripping, tearing, gristly noise of flesh opening up as his skull and part of his spinal cord were ripped clean from his body.

He never bowed, for all the good it did him.

I was dusting off my clothes and considering if it would actually be possible to take his skull as a souvenir or if I should just take a tooth, when Cesseer jovially challenged us to race to Yrax’s hoard before she immediately teleported herself up on top of that big wall of ice and began running for the huge metal doors in the back of the room. I yelled after her that she was cheating. Talsune had already swooped down to my side without me needing to call for him, and I leapt on his back and began to race after her. The others, in their various methods, weren’t far behind.

Then we all stopped dead as we entered into a room filled with more treasure than any of us had ever seen in our lives. At least, as far as I remember I’d never seen this much treasure in my life. It was a true dragon’s hoard. Piles of coins: gold, silver, copper, even platinum. Rare art, fine jewels and jewelry, rare and obscure objects of incredible value. A huge chunk of adamantine. Just a big chunk of it, like a big dense reflective metallic rock.

And, of course, there was the bear-skin rug. The key to the next location the Dancing Hut was to take us to in our search for Baba Yaga.

As we left the treasure hoard, we also searched the dragon and the Bone Sage for their possessions. Obviously, I took the Grip of Death—that strange technological spinal wand that the Bone Sage had used to throw Aenland backwards and rip out a piece of his soul the first time we’d fought. It might only have 1 charge left, but it would be well worth it when I found a use for it. Besides it just fits my aesthetic.

The Bone Sage also had a strange device on him with a large red button. As we didn’t know what it did, we initially left it alone. However as we spoke, the ground beneath us began trembling again and we were knocked from our feet. The Crimson Worms were still making their way steadily towards the Winter Collector. We couldn’t make it to them—and even if we could, we were in no shape to fight two Dominion-touched Crimson Worms. We were running on fumes after that fight. I was completely out of my most powerful spells—and I was almost completely out of Boneshakers too. After that all I’d have were some inflict spells and that’s it. Edeya was in a similar place expect replace powerful death magic with powerful healing magic. Aenland was still badly hurt, too. We were in no position to go hunting down two worms that were far more deadly than the two that very nearly did Talsune in in the caverns beneath this very fortress.

Cesseer noted that surely if the Dominion had released them, they had back up plans for uncase the worms went rogue. I noted that if that were the case, then the Bone Sage had likely had it on his person. The others were about to go through his stuff again, but I had already made up my mind about what the correct course of action was. I pressed the red button on the device the Bone Sage had held.

We heard two very distant noises, like heavily muffled explosions. The rumbling stopped. Aenland declared that they must have been summoned creatures, and that button sent them back to their home plane. I knew that was definitely not how that worked, and if that sound was anything to go off of, the two worms had probably exploded in a gory mess miles below the surface of the ice. But Aenland didn’t need to know that, so I didn’t correct him.

With treasures packed away, enemies defeated, and Cesseer saved, we made our way out of Ivoryglass and back towards our waiting allies.

[samcykle]

i lost my first kiss

I’ve gotten what I’ve always wanted as a young girl. As I sat, reading countless shitty wattpad stories, countless mangas about love and fate—there was no denying it. I was in love with romance. Even now, I spend my summer reading about love and war and the comfort of it all.

I wanted to experience love, romance, passion—I didn’t care if it came with heartbreak, I wanted to genuinely enjoy someone. But my standards were high, probably because of these stories of men sacrificing the world for their immense love. So I had never really been fully interested in a man—or even try to keep one around. Usually I run away, thinking he's not good enough. He’s too boring, he’s ugly, he’s too socially awkward. I wanted to really find someone I would like, someone that I could be irrevocably in love with. Someone I saw no flaws in. Sure people like that existed, but it’s not like they gave me any hope, I didn’t even talk to them. I just sat back, thinking about what could be.

Then it happened. One day of bad decisions and too much trust in a man I’ve never met—he was there.

Just like out of some shitty romance story he took me to see the city view from a quiet hill, and he talked about his life. I had no experience actually talking to men, especially one I was interested in. I was awkward, fumbled a lot. Sometimes I'm not even sure if I was making a point.

We begin the end of the night in the car, he tells me there’s a rhythm, and that I could be a little bit more gentle with my kisses. I remember the way he looked at me. Like he was in love, like I was the only thing that existed in the world. I like to blame it on him. I wouldn’t have lost my first kiss if he didn’t look at me like that. If he didn’t meet all of my standards and expectations from a real life romance book—maybe I wouldn’t have given in.

On the drive back, he sings, his voice is deep and rich. He points out the castles in the neighborhood. His house was impressive, but somehow not the most impressive in his neighborhood.

I pull up to his driveway.

“Hey, now you’ve got a new story to tell.”

I laugh and agree. I’m gonna tell my friend all about this night.

I ask him for one final hug before he’s walking off with mcdonald’s meant for the trash, and nasty thoughts I didn’t let him relieve himself of. I was tired afterwards. Felt like crying, screaming—not all in bad ways of course.

The following hours consisted of telling each of my friends exactly what happened. First, cried out of shock, jealousy, and happiness for me. Second screamed over facetime with me and gave me realistic hopes for next time. Third called me a slut—and then wanted to know the exact details. The fourth bounced off the walls laughing in shock and disbelief. He told me it sounded straight out of some love story.

I woke up the next morning filled with regret and longing for a second time, a second chance to prove that I was worth keeping around. But alas, My message was still there, lingering for another space to be filled by him.

I felt disappointed. He didn’t text me back. He didn’t even like my story where he took the photo for me. I was confused. I was good enough to sneak out with at 2 am. But not good enough to text again?

But as I sit here and write it, it makes me realize, he is just a story.

A stupid romance story that has a beginning and an end to it. One where there is happiness, and then the end. Of course I’m not content with just ending it like that, however, romantic stories don’t show the endings, they don’t show that maybe in the future they drift.

I don’t regret it. He gave me exactly what I wanted—a love story. One that in the future I could tell and laugh about, reminisce on being a teenager. One like the wattpad stories of highschool love. Simple, sweet, and short.

Sure I’ll be sad that this romance isn’t a novels worth of time, but it exists, it was there, for one night, under the stars, surrounded by city lights.

-sam. july 25th, 2:15-4:30 am

[scott-mccall-the-hot-girl]

my ultimate guide to thiam fic !!

( as a new teen wolf stan )

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the classic post war, long ass (multi chapter) fic !!with great development that genuinely made me laugh out loud, they have the best friendship in this & i love it very much. ( like theo teaches liam to drive and i just *happy sobs* ) a fundamental in thiam fanfiction !! all stans have probably already read it but if you haven’t this is in fact a threat ,, go show this vv iconic story some love !!

Airplanes - Captainmintyfresh

Summary: After the Anuk-ite and the hunters are dealt with Liam needs a break. Cue Theo and a road trip that Liam should know better than to think will be peaceful.

Not Rated, No Archive Warnings Apply, Completed, 43/43 Chapters, Words: 236,875 (236k)

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okay okay so this one is also post 6B !! but ,, now we introduce fighting monroe & the hunters again ,, so we get the boys & a new mission !! so if you like an intresting plot 11/10 would recommend !! just to be clear this ISN’T complete ,, if that turns you off i understand but definitely give this one a read !! it litterally have theo doing crossword puzzles & fighting zombies

Vacancy Signs - LovelyLittleGrim

Summary: Theo and Liam are in Manhattan negotiating a pack allyship when the zombie apocalypse breaks out. Now, the two of them have to find their way back to Beacon Hills without getting eaten by zombies or killing one another.

Rated: Explicit, Graphic Description of Violence, Not Completed, 15/17 Chapters, Words: 89,605 (89k)

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Royalty AU !! I REPEAT ROYALTY AU !! a fantastic au where i stan their moms more than i stan them !! genuinely so good at the childhood rivals to lovers trope !! i’m genuinely obsessed with this one. has made me cry more than once ,, hurts in a good way <3 the ending is just *chefs kiss* also one of the tags is genuinely: # theo and liam make bad choices for over 130k straight !! if that doesn’t sound appealing i don’t know what does !!

Artificial Love - songbvrd

Summary: Prince Theo and Prince Liam are forced to spend every Summer together from age five onwards. They hate each other, and usually find ways to make each other miserable as much as possible in their six weeks together. But when they're reunited because of intended unions as adults, things change. They're both supposed to be married to noble women, but neither of them is as interested in anyone else as they are with their childhood rival.

Rated: Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply, Completed, Chapters: 32/32, Words: 172,935 (172k)

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so if you are in the mood for a crack fic that’s not explicitally a crack fic this is for you !! okay so i’m really hit or miss with AU’s ,, sometimes i feel like they don’t quite capture the characters right but this story have the BEST dramatic liam i have ever seen in my life !! basically they all live in the same apartment building & it’s fantastic !! i saw this one floating around a lot but the summary didn’t really unrest me until i have it a shot !! so go read it rn !! also nolan & brett are genuinely fantastic and make me wheeze ,, LIKE ACTUALLY VERBALLY LAUGHING !! all i’m gonna say is that my fav characters are scott & the beetles but that won’t make actual sense until you read it !!

The Neighbors Song - TheodoreR

Summary: “I always hear you singing on your balcony every morning, but suddenly you’ve stopped?”

Or the one where Theo annoys Liam every morning with his awful singing until he doesn’t anymore and Liam is even more annoyed. Liam hates every single thing about his mornings -the fact that they happen in the morning alone is enough. The thing Liam hates the most about his mornings though is the terrible voice of the guy who lives below him. He can’t sing for shit and Liam tried to politely let him understand that by throwing flour and water on his balcony, and also by shouting it to him, you can’t sing for shit!, and then by writing it into a note he proceeded to attach to his door, but this Raeken guy just keeps doing it, every single morning, like a fucking rooster. Liam did nothing to deserve this. He probably didn’t do anything to deserve better either to be fair, he doesn’t expect to open his window and be welcomed by some angelic voice singing him good morning, he’d just be happy with nothing. Silence. That’s something Liam can appreciate in mornings. Just some bark from his dog and the sound of his misery and that’s it. But no, god forbid the new guy lets him have that.

Rated: Explicit, Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Wanrings, Completed, 8/8 Chapters, Words: 42,814 (42k)

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me: i’m not a big fan of AU’s ,, proceeds to talk about ANOTHER au… OKAY BUT THIS ONE !! it’s not complete but the author has been updating regularly ,, vv slow burn !! but in a REALLY intresting way !! i lOVE LIAM IN THIS SO MUCH ,, he is such a diaster of a person and it’s wonderful !! they have a great dynamic & i’m sucker for general puppy pack content ( and erica reyes being a badass ) !! also theo plays lacrosse in this & i really like it ahhhhh ,, also liam is just being an artic monkeys stan the whole time & theo is like *que confused repressed gay noises*

Inglorious Roommates - honeyscape

Summary: A roommate is defined as “a person with whom one shares a room.”

Theo would say a roommate was more along the lines of, “The person who's the bane of his existence. The weirdo that sleeps for days. The spaz that exercises at 3am. The guy with a revolving door of annoying friends. An insufferable human being that Theo has no control over living in his room.”

Example: Theo hates his roommate Liam.

-

okay okay i hate myself but i have another WIP for y’all !! this one is jUST FANTASTIC. i’m genuinely so upset it’s most likely not going to updated again *incoherent screaming ensues*. for this story ,, it’s very theo-centric bUT thats bc it ends right before liam becomes a concrete member of the story !! ANYWAY: basic plot = theo & acquiring not one but two children ,, so #dad theo but he is still crusty & homeless and i love him very much. it’s just so GOOD !! just read if you want to experience my fav theo coming out story & him etching high school musical

Look who's talking - Captainmintyfresh

Summary: Theo had been labeled many things in his life. Evil, failure, monster. He'd never thought Father would be one of those things but as he looked across the table to a six year old with blue smears of bubble gum icecream across her face trying to coax the first words out of her sister. Finger jabbing towards Theo's face as she repeated 'Daddy' again and again he couldn't bring himself to dispute the label.

(Theo accidentally adopts two young werewolves)

Not Rated, Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings, Not Completed, Chapters: 16/?, Words: 48740 ( 48k )

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so here me out: post-canon ( poetry like angst ) summer get away !! just the boys doing cute little domestic things together whilst pining !! theo’s guilt in this is just so powerful & aGjffkgkkfkvkdlv !! i think it’s so interesting to see how they interact in this one, it’s just very heart warming !! and it features one of my favorite niche teen wolf tropes of theo being great with like seven year old girls- it’s just so good ,, very much a wonderful little one shot that just makes your heart happy.

(next time i see you you'll show me) a hundred different ways to say the same things - cherrysprite

Summary: “...You deserve good things,” Liam says eventually. He makes sure not to look at Theo even though he can feel his eyes turn on him. Somehow he can already tell that Theo doesn’t believe him.

Liam instantly makes that the goal of this summer - making Theo believe him.

Rating: Teen and Up, No Archive Warnings Apply, Chapters: 1/1, Words: 28875 ( 28k )

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okay so this next section of fic recs is a bit different !!

two of my favorite authors !! and a compilation of fics i’ve read by them both !!

for context: these two have written some genuinely gorgeous fics, like pure poetry, they explore the real gritty & scary side of our boys relationship in such a wonderful way. they’ve both used some of my favorite tropes & i love them very much !!

whenever i need something soothing but so genuinely intresting & enticing these are my go to !! ( also they both write a lot of good nolan angst & some vv good fics with hayden )

go check out:

eneiryu

as well as fallingforboys

here are some of my favorite fics by them ~

darling i want you here in my arms (kiss the pain away, i know you can) - fallingforboys

even before you touched me, i belonged to you (all you had to do was look at me) - fallingforboys

memories linger like tattoo scars (but your touch on my skin is just as permanent) - fallingforboys

skin, bones, a stolen heart, and an ugly creature lurking underneath -fallingforboys

i don't know how to breathe in the place i called home - fallingforboys

whisper your gossamer truths into the shadow, maybe you'll find the answers you're searching for - fallingforboys

between the mountains and the valley we built a monument to our regret - eneiryu

cracked the hinges of the cage and waited for you - eneiryu

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okay and finally: since i am a self centered whore

my own fic: an rendition of the # elevator scene

it’s basically my version of post canon if we did get the kiss in the elevator. we got a classic liam pov in which he is has 12/10 for extreme bi diaster energy even whilst being shot at !! so go him ig…

Fuck Off, Fuck This & Fuck It! - nefelibata_peach

Summary: Liam thought to himself heart rate climbing, they were bound to be dead by morning. So he thought with everything but his brain and he kissed him.

Where Liam Dunbar is very confused, slightly traumatized, and just a bit scared but hey, aren't they all! Bad decisions ensue as two boys fight in a war they never did sign up for.

Rating: Teen and Up, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Chapters: 1/1, Words: 3558 ( 3k )

[dreamwritesimagines]

Burn The Witch 15 - Liar Liar [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful support and feedback my loves ! ❤ Here’s the next chapter, I hope you like it as well and please let me know what you think! ❤ Thank you! ❤❤❤

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Warnings: Enemies to lovers, fake dating, mentions of blood, sex, violence, death, manipulation, language, guns, knives.

Summary: Dishonesty requires practice.

Series Masterlist

Every spy knew things could go downhill on a mission. Considering how your last mission had ended with your ex, you weren’t exactly unfamiliar with the idea of your cover being blown but—

None of the targets were as dangerous as this one.

For a moment, you thought about pushing that button on your wristwatch and calling your whole team here because there was no way you could take down the legendary Winter Soldier in a fight, but through the haze of panic, a voice in your head told you not to.

It was just a mission.

As long as you kept your calm, you could fix this.

“Bucky,” you heard yourself say, “I can explain.”

He stared at you and the gun in his hand, then raised his brows.

“Okay,” he said, “Yeah, please explain why you have a gun.”

God damn it.

Okay, you had to think. Your cover was the naïve sweet civilian girl so any sentence you formed had to fit the description. The spy in you was already trying to come up with something, you had been taught to lie without even blinking but somehow it felt almost—

Wrong.

You tried to pull yourself together, shaking your head.

“I—it’s—“ you took a deep breath, “Yeah I have a gun.”

“I can see that,” he said drily, “Why?”

Good question.

Why would the small town sweetheart have a gun?

The cover story didn’t have anything like that, so you had to come up with a believable lie based on—

Oh. Bingo.

“I was going to tell you,” you said. “I’ve actually—I’ve had it for weeks.”

“For weeks?” he repeated, “Why?”

You ran a hand over your eyes, then crossed your arms and shrugged.

“I’m going to need more than that, Y/N.”

You gritted your teeth and raised your glances to look up at him. “After I got mugged,” you started, “I told one of my friends back home about what happened and she’s—she came up with this idea that I should maybe buy a gun because I—I don’t know. I don’t know why I bought it, I just bought it.”

“You bought a gun because your friend told you to?”

You tilted your head, “No Bucky, I bought a gun because I got mugged and got shot within the first month of moving here.”

His gaze on you was fixed, as if he was trying to see whether you were lying or not but now that panic wasn’t taking over you, you could think straight.

Bucky was a legend among the espionage world and he was unstoppable and you probably didn’t stand a chance against him yes, but you had one advantage.

Bucky was a soldier, not a spy.

Spies were different. Bucky had the physical training to go after a target, but he never, ever had to manipulate them emotionally. You were one step ahead on that and if there was anything that could get you out of this mess, that was it.

“Listen I know that you’re concerned, but you have nothing to worry about,” you waved a dismissive hand, “The guy at the shop was very helpful, he even gave me his number—”

His head shot up, “What?”

“Yeah in case I needed anything with the gun. Or if I had any questions.”

A shadow crossed his eyes and he scoffed, shaking his head.

“Did he now?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “And besides, I watched a bunch of tutorials so I think I got it. I’m a very quick learner.”  

“Tutorials?”

“Yeah, videos.”

He blinked a couple of times, and looked down at the gun before looking up at you.

“You watched videos.”

“Mm hm. One of the guys even had a deer head mounted on the wall behind him, it’s very clear he knows what he’s talking about.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself and you had to remind yourself not to smile.

“And I know how to take the safety off,” you added, “After that point it’s basically point and pull the trigger, that’s what the video said.”

“I don’t even know where to begin— sweetheart,” he turned to you, “Forget what the video said, I can teach you if you want, but for what it’s worth, I think it’s a terrible idea.”

Hook, line and sinker.

“I hate guns,” you insisted, “It’s just that—Stacey said it’s a big city and after I got shot… I don’t know. I know I should’ve told you, I just didn’t want you to think I’m some kind of a paranoid person.”

He heaved a sigh and reached out to tug you by the hand so that he could pull you closer.

“I don’t think you’re paranoid,” he said. “I just think that you could hurt yourself or someone if you don’t have any training.”

“The guy made it sound pretty easy.”

“Yeah, I don’t think selling it was the only thing he wanted.”

You rolled your eyes at him, “Now who’s being paranoid?”

“I’m just being observant.”

“Jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” he said and you scrunched up your nose

“Right,” you said, “Of course you’re not.”

“So is there anything I should know about?” he changed the subject, “Anything at all? I won’t judge, I swear.”

You pressed your lips together as you looked up at him. What could you say to that?

I’ve been manipulating you all along.

I’m working for the same government that is looking for you to slip and make a mistake.

When this is over, I’m probably going to hate myself much more than you hate me.

Yeah. There was absolutely nothing you could say.

“Nothing I can think of right now,” you shrugged your shoulders, “So, can we go now?”

                                    ***

You could barely remember the last time you had been to a funfair. It didn’t even matter that you already knew where you were going, you were still quite excited despite the earlier panic you had gone through. Thankfully, Bucky seemed to have bought into your story but it didn’t mean you weren’t taking mental notes about what to do by the time the date was over.

Or when you were out of his sight, whichever.

“Thank you!” you said what it felt for the hundredth time as you put a piece of cotton candy into your mouth, enjoying the sweet taste melting in your mouth and Bucky smiled at you fondly.

“No problem darling.”

“No seriously, I haven’t been to a funfair in…I don’t know, forever!” you said, “Wait, so it was a thing back then?”

“Hm?”

“Bringing your date to a funfair?”

He nodded, walking beside you, “Yeah. There wasn’t much to do and you know, lots of people.”

“So no gossip?”

“Lots of gossip,” he corrected you, “But at least—“

“No one’s virtue got damaged.”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope,” you grinned at him and gasped when something caught your eye, making him turn his head.

“What?”

“Oh my God!” you pointed at the huge neon sign and he followed your gaze, then scoffed a laughter.

“Seriously?”

“I want to try it.”

“Shoot The Ducks.” He read out loud, “You know what, let’s see how good you are if you watched that many videos.”

“I’m going to get that teddy bear,” you pointed at the biggest teddy bear sitting on the top shelf while he looked like he was fighting a laugh.

“Are you sure you can carry that?”

“You’re going to carry it for me,” you said as you handed him the cotton candy, your nose in the air and tugged him by the wrist to lead him to the shooting range. You took a look at the paper ducks with bullseye on them, then turned to the man behind the counter.

“Excuse me, how many of those should I shoot to get that?” you asked, motioning at the teddy bear and the man looked up.

“3 sets, all bullseye.”

“Okay,” you said and reached for your purse but Bucky had already paid the man by the time you could get your wallet out. He gave you the toy rifle and you had to remind yourself you were supposed to be terrible at it no matter how much you wanted that goddamn plushie.

The good thing about being an expert sniper was that you knew exactly how to miss and look like an amateur. So you pointed the rifle slightly to the right and took your shot, and as expected you missed.

“No!” you whined and Bucky stifled a chuckle, but adapted a look of seriousness as soon as you turned around to look at him with your eyes narrowed.

“I said nothing.”

“That was just bad luck,” you insisted, then took your shot again, deliberately missing once more. You lowered the rifle, pouting.

“I’m pretty sure this is rigged.”

“Or maybe the guy with the deer head on his wall had no idea what he was talking about,” Bucky pointed out, “Almost like watching videos isn’t enough to figure out how to shoot, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”

“On the contrary, I am a little terrified now that I know you have a gun," he taunted you, “And seeing this…”

You glared at him and took your shot, missing again and you heaved a sigh, lowering the rifle again.

“Better luck next time miss,” the man said and you offered him a small smile. Bucky heaved a sigh as if he was fighting himself.

“Which one did you say you wanted again?” he asked and you pulled your brows together, then pointed at the huge teddy bear. He nodded at the guy and handed him some cash after giving you your cotton candy back, then grabbed the toy rifle from the man and in only a couple of seconds, he had hit every single bullseye, making your jaw drop.

Okay.

You were so screwed.

You knew that he was a great super soldier but seeing it was something else. A shiver ran down your spine as what you had read on his file flashed before your eyes. You were right earlier, you had to make sure to avoid any kind of combat with him by the time this whole mission was over.

“Y/N?”

Your head shot up and you tried to pull yourself together, letting out a breath.

“Wow,” you managed to say and the man behind the counter gawked between you two.

“Um— that one please?” you said and he blinked a couple of times, then reached out to take the teddy bear down to put it into your arms. You let out a small squeal of glee, then beamed at Bucky.

“Thank you!” you said, trying to keep your nervousness hidden and he smiled.

“No problem,” he motioned at you and you gave the teddy to him so that you could hold your cotton candy better. You shook your head slightly, distracting yourself with the sweetness on your tongue but a small laughter escaped from your lips when you took a look at the sight beside you.

The scary Winter Soldier holding a huge teddy bear in his arms.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you managed to say, “I’m going to name him Bucky.”

“No you’re not.”

“Fine, I’m going to name him Grumpy,” you said, “Same deal.”

“Hey!” he protested and you giggled, then looked around.

“Come on,” you said, grabbing his hand, “Let’s go to the Ring Toss!”

                                ***

It was as if the time was going faster on your every single date with Bucky. Even after spending hours in that funfair until midnight, you were still quite giddy when you and Bucky reached your building. You let out a giggle as you turned around and took the huge teddy bear from him, hugging it tight.

“Thank you,” you said, looking up at him, “Really. I…I think it was the best that I’ve ever had.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!” you said, “And now I have to find something equally amazing for a modern date, so no pressure.”

He chuckled, “You don’t have to find anything,” he said, “I’d be happy just being with you, not doing anything.”

Warmth filled your insides and you smiled.

“Really?”

“Really,” he nodded and you put the teddy bear down, then stood on your tiptoes to pull him down to a kiss.

His arm wrapped around your waist and you found yourself sighing as his other hand cupped your cheek. A fire – a very, very familiar fire started burning at the pit of your stomach as you felt yourself melt at his touch, every single doubt about the mission and the strategies and everything else wiping out of your mind until desire was the only thing left. He brushed your hair behind your ear as you pulled back and looked up at him, the same fire burning in his eyes but he was better than you at hiding it so a gentle smile pulled at his lips.

Fuck what the strategy report says.

“Um—“ you took a deep breath, “Would you want to come upstairs for...a cup of coffee or something?”

He looked almost surprised at the suggestion but for what it was worth, he overcame that quite fast. His gaze stopped on you for a moment before he nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah I’d love to.”

A nervous laughter escaped from you and you nodded,

“Okay—“ you started but before you could say anything, his phone started ringing. He closed his eyes for a moment and took it out of his pocket to answer it.

“This is not a good time man,” he said, but his frown deepened as he listened to the other line, “Right now? Are you serious?”

You tilted your head and he heaved a deep sigh while the person told him something you couldn’t hear.

“Fine,” he muttered, “I’ll be there.”

Oh God damn it.

“Let me guess,” you said when he hung up, “Change of plans?”

He ran a hand over his eyes and nodded.

“Sam says there’s this group of people in need of help…” he grumbled, putting the phone into his pocket, “But somebody better be dying because if not, I can fix that really fast.”

You let out a laugh, “Don’t be like that,” you said, “It’s fine. I told you, I’m not going anywhere. Go save lives.”

“I’m really sorry darling.”

“It’s fine,” you repeated with a smile and pecked him on the lips before picking up the huge teddy bear. “But be careful, you hear me?”

“Yes ma’am,” he saluted and you blew him a kiss before walking into the building. You took the elevator, still holding the teddy tight and as soon as you got to your floor you stepped out.

“What the hell is that?” Keith’s voice reached you and you tilted your head to look around the teddy’s arm to see him by his door, as if he was just leaving.

“It’s a teddy bear,” you said, walking to your door to open it, Keith following you into the apartment.

“What’s in it?” he asked, “Weapons? Guns? Knives?”

“…Fiber.”

“Y/N—” he started but you put it on the floor and took a step back.

“Where are you going?”

“General gave me a mission,” he said, “You seriously want me to believe you just got a teddy bear just because?”

“I was on a date.”

“Oh,” he said, “Romantic. It would be a great way to hide weapons though, even you have to admit—”

“Bucky found my gun.”

Keith stopped talking and stared at you for a couple of seconds, “I beg your pardon?”

You rubbed at your eyes, “You heard me. He found my gun.”

“Why the hell did you not alert me?”

“There was no need.”

Keith threw his head back, “Are you serious right now?” he asked you, “This is the freaking Winter Soldier we’re talking about, you’re not supposed to take any chances! For God’s sake, I live next door for a reason!”

“My cover wasn’t blown,” you insisted, “If you or the team got here, all this would’ve been for nothing. I handled it.”

He crossed his arms, “Still an unnecessary risk to take,” he insisted, “Anything could’ve happened, Y/N. You’ve read his file.”

You nodded, “I handled it,” you said, “You should go by the way. You’re going to be late, the General hates that.”

“Do you want me to say anything to him?”

You thought for a moment and shook your head.

“No,” you said, “Good luck.”

“We will talk about this when I came back.” he pointed at you and left your apartment. You took a look at the teddy bear, then grabbed your phone to touch Chloe’s name.

“Hey there!” she answered on the first ring, “How was the funfair?”

“It was good,” you said, “Listen, I need you to make sure my background is solid.”

“What?” she asked, “It is, I made sure of that—“

“Bucky found my gun,” you said, “Earlier.”

She took in a sharp breath, “God damn it.”

“No it’s fine, I came up with this story of buying it from a shop after the mugging, but…”

“You need a document just in case,” she completed your sentence, “Got it. Do you think he would check?”

“No,” you said, “But Wilson might, he and Bucky are pretty close. It would be much harder to trick him.”

“Got it,” she said, “I’ll get the document ready, maybe some footage… And I’ll go over your social media just in case.”

“Great.”

“But are you okay?”

You paused only for a moment,

“Sure,” you said, “I’m fine, I handled it. It’s all going according to plan.”

“Alright,” she said, “I’d better get to it. Be careful!”

“You too,” you said and hung up, then went to the kitchen to grab a couple of knives before going back to the living room.

“Sorry about this Bucky number two,” you murmured as you turned it around, stuck the knife into it and started ripping it, “But you really would make a good place to hide weapons.”

Chapter 16

[absolutepokemontrash]

MC’s half Demon, and they look AWFULLY familiar...

‘Kay guys, I got a different kind of stupid Headcanon to throw at you. Get ready!

Part 2 Lessons 1-5 Part 2.5 Group Retreat Lessons 10-12 Lessons 13-15 Part 3 Part 4

*ahem* picture if you will, it’s the day the exchange program is set to start. The student council (nix Mr. Kill All Humans, Weeb-supreme, and our Scummy Sweetheart) have assembled to welcome the new human student. All is going according to schedule, the portal opens up at eight am sharp, they hear the pitiful screams of the selected human who was not given a heads up about the whole thing, and the poor little human falls straight onto the marble floor.

There’s something a tad... off about this human don’t you think? After they’ve peeled their sorry ass off the floor they observed the assembled student council with an air of sophistication and self importance that no one expected. Their posture was perfect, their eyes sharp and calculating... they bared a striking resemblance to-

“Lucifer,” Diavolo looked to his right hand man, then back to the human. “The human kind of looks like you!”

And out popped four pitch black wings from the human’s back and two small horns out of the sides of their head, one horn was a bit bigger than the other. They even still had some of their down feathers! How cute!

((Content warning: Swearing (I have a potty mouth, forgive me), but that’s it.))

Luci-dad

So, the MC is Lucifer’s kid! Of course Mr. Prideypants immediately tries to recall exactly what little romp in the human world uh... spawned this half-human half-demon child of his. Good thing MC’s got the other parent on speed-dial.

“Please note, MC,” Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose upon hearing Asmo take even more pictures of his newly discovered hellspawn. “I was not aware of your existence, if I was I’d-”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not upset.”

Lucifer blinked a few times in surprise. “P...pardon? You aren’t upset?”

“No, my parent told me that my father was a high ranking demon, and they bare no ill will against you. Though, I am looking forward to this whole... exchange program thing.”

Oh wow, that was easier than Lucifer thought. Damn. Well, he was a father... (let’s be real, he’s been parenting his brothers for thousands of years, and a good chunk of you sinners call him daddy)

MC is probably the most protected student at RAD, despite the fact that they have no visible security detail whatsoever. They didn’t want to be seen as... weak and pathetic.

Something about this human just... set the lesser demons on edge. Any talk of eating them was stamped out on the first day when they walked by. It’s like Lucifer himself was staring at them, daring the demons to try and bother the human. MC’s powerful presence kept them protected and feared.

...at least until dear uncle Asmo decided to do their hair one morning. All those ribbons may have looked adorable but they kind of ruined the intimidation factor.

MC loved to mess with the other students, keeping their lineage a secret for the first little while just made it so much funnier when the other demons tried to scramble out of MC’s way without looking like they were running from the ‘weak little human exchange student’.

Oh wow, what a sadist. Like father like child

Flying lessons are a must. Poor MC isn’t terribly good at controlling their wings, and their horns are still growing in so when they pop into their demon form the first thing they get is a sore skull. Ow... it sucks that Lucifer isn’t outwardly very sympathetic.

“Ow!” MC crashed face first into the grass in the backyard of the House of Lamentation. “Father! My wings are cramping! Can’t we practice this tomorrow?”

The sight of seeing his dear child crash face first into the ground had lost its hilarity after the first three times. Lucifer slowly lowered himself to the ground and crossed his arms as he stood over his incredibly grass-stained kid.

“MC, we’ve been ‘practicing this tomorrow’ for the past month. If you want to learn to fly you’re going to have to actually manage to stay in the air for more than three minutes.”

MC shot Lucifer a withering glare that only preteens were capable of, Lucifer matched it with his own much more sophisticated glare.

“You’ve been flying for over a thousand years! Don’t you have any tips that can actually help other than ‘don’t panic, you’ll look ridiculous’?”

Lucifer dragged a gloved hand down his face and looked around, the two were alone as far as he could see.

“MC,” Lucifer began. “When I was a young angel, I needed to learn how to fly with someone else.”

MC perked up. “Who?”

“Michael. The smug bastard picked up flying quicker than I did.”

“What’d you do?!”

Lucifer smiled at his child’s intense investment. “I practiced flying every day for five extra hours until I could do everything that Michael could do, just better.”

MC’s starry eyed interest died almost instantly upon hearing about the extra five hours of practice. “Humph, I bet I could outfly younger you and Michael with only two hours of practice a day.”

“Really now?”

“Yes! Watch!” MC shook off their wings and took off in a running start before shakily making it into the air. Their form was decent enough, and they weren’t shaking as much as the previous attempts. “SEE?!”

“Yes MC,” Lucifer smiled. “I can see.”

You know what else Lucifer could see? MC crashing right into a tree.

“Ouch...”

Okay... maybe they could halt practice a little early and order a treat from Madame Scream’s. A little sugar to refuel is needed when the end goal is crushing a mutual rival beneath their heels. Just some good old fashioned father/child bonding time!

MC has a smaller seat right next to Lucifer’s seat in the Assembly Hall. I will not compromise on this one.

For all your fluff needs, I give you: Lucifer teaching MC how to play the piano. He has a proud little smile on his face when his kid finally starts getting it. That’s all. Enjoy the image.

That one Uncle who gives you Alcohol at Family Gatherings (Mammon)

Yeah, when Mammon burst in late to the party and whining about everyone’s spamming him with texts to haul his scummy ass to the Assembly Hall, the last thing he expected was to see a mini-Lucifer.

“What the fuck am I lookin’ at?!”

The glare the two Lucifers gave the poor Avatar of Greed was enough to make him want to turn tail (uh, wing) and book it down the hall.

“Mammon, this is MC. They’re my child.”

“Hello.”

“...whaaaa..?” Mammon looked between the two, same glare, same intimidating aura, same annoyingly good posture.

Mammon scratched the back of his neck and looked over at his older brother. “Do I uh... still gotta babysit em’ if they’re not human?”

“The lake of Cocytus will melt the day I let you babysit without supervision.” Lucifer grumbled.

“I don’t need a babysitter!”

Despite Lucifer’s initial denial, Mammon and MC ended up spending a lot of time hanging out when Lucifer was busy with paperwork. Of course Mammon’s first thought was ‘how do I profit off this situation?’

MC is now Mammon’s designated babysitter after they caught him picking up their feathers that had fallen off with the intention of painting them white and claiming they were Lucifer’s from back in the Celestial Realm.

Mammon does end up spoiling MC a little. Just a smidge. They’re the kid of his totally not his favourite brother after all! How could he not? Whether or not these gifts are obtained legally or are legal at all is subject to scrutiny.

“Mammon, I can’t drink this!” MC placed the bottle of Demonus back on the counter of the kitchen.

“Why not? That’s a bottle of the good stuff! We gotta celebrate you gettin’ an A on that test somehow!”

“I’m underage! Incredibly underage. I’m not legally allowed to drink.”

Mammon wordlessly plopped a silly straw into the bottle. “...does that help?”

“No.” MC then inclined their head to the bottle. “And I don’t want to get hung from the ceiling, that bottle was in my father’s study yesterday, I’m above theft.”

“How old are you s’posed to be anyway? Never mind... uh...” Mammon wracked his brain for something else he could do for MC that didn’t cost anything (don’t judge him, the poor bastard was flat broke!). “I could... teach you to drive!”

“Driving?”

“Yeah! Drivin’ is awesome! We can take my car!”

The bills for the damages done to the car and the Devildom were mailed to Lucifer the next day, and MC and Mammon got to keep each other company as they hung from the ceiling. Ah well! At least MC wasn’t upside down!

Mammon wasn’t that good of a flight teacher either, he also crashed into a tree (the same tree MC crashed into, actually) when he was cheering for MC. They were finally able to do a loopdy loop! He was proud and distracted! Okay?! Lucifer! Stop smirkin’ at him! It’s not that funny!

At least the vantage point from the tree was decent and the branches didn’t scratch him up too badly. Oh hey... that person walking by was wearing a very nice watch... he’d be right back-

That Uncle That is Always Absent From Family Gatherings and When He is Present He Leaves Early (Levi)

He missed everything. That is not an exaggeration. He was in the middle of an online raid battle and couldn’t look at his phone! No Lucifer he can’t pause an online game! That’s not how it works!

Okay, the human exchange student is half demon? WOAH! THAT’S JUST LIKE THAT ONE ANIME- W A I T. THE LITTLE NORMIE IS LUCIFER’S KID?!

Okie doke, he was fully convinced that MC just had to be an anime protagonist.

They binged every series that Levi compared them to. Sure MC might have missed a few assignments because of late night anime binges, but they were too good for this school crap anyway, right?

Nope. Lucifer put a ban on the two watching anime until both their grades improved. Surviving that hell brought the two together.

“Ugh!”

The sound of a pencil case being haphazardly thrown across the room made Levi peek out of his bed-tub. If his figurines got knocked over so HELP HIM-

“This is stupid!!I shouldn’t have to catch up with this!” MC crossed their arms and gave their Demonology textbook their best disapproving glare.

Lucifer Lite (tm) was having a hell of a time trying to claw through their missed work, and Levi sympathized, he really did, it’s just... he was playing Animal Crossing-

Levi paused the game to placate his anime-buddy when their wings popped out and he feared for his rare merch’s safety.

“H-hey, MC? Do you need help?” Levi’s offer was met with a bone chilling glare that lived rent free in his nightmares ever since. He had pulled a Mammon and forgotten he was talking to Lucifer’s child. Lucifer’s allergy to help must have passed down to MC.

“No! I don’t! It’s just... dumb!” MC hissed, she turned and looked over at the fish tank. “Right Henry 2.0?”

Henry 2.0 did not respond.

“MC, you need to finish your homework or we can’t watch anything together,” Levi sighed, he had finished his work over an hour earlier. He had mastered the art of all night anime binges and managing to do most of his work in the fifteen minutes between the time he woke up and the time school was supposed to begin. “We haven’t even binged all of volume 4 of TSL yet!”

“Mmm...” MC grumbled. “Fine...”

MC picked up their pencil case and began continued their work. Levi breathed a sigh of relief and went back to Animal Crossing.

The tiny normie did in fact finish their work, only after they caved and asked Levi for help. Swore him to secrecy, they did... very intimidating, they were.

Just saying, he most definitely sent that one Keanu Reeves meme with big Keanu and little Keanu but with Lucifer and MC to the wrong group chat. Poor bastard.

Flying lessons? No. Levi hadn’t flown since his time in the Celestial Realm, he had no advice to give other than: “Flap your wings!”

“THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING YOU-”

MC didn’t get to finish that thought, they lost their balance and fell right into RAD’s fountain. Ah well, Levi had a head start on running for his life that he squandered by laughing at MC. RIP.

The Uncle/brother/whatever the fuck that Starts a Fight With Your Dad at the Family Reunion. (Satan)

Oh... another Lucifer? Eugh. Gross.

Satan gave the kid a wide berth when they first met. Everything the kid said or did ticked him off. “Tsk. Look at MC. Making an omelette. So annoying.” “Oh wow, MC vacuumed? Roll out the red carpet, we need to celebrate their existence!” “Look at them. Breathing. Disgusting.”

MC’s pride wouldn’t ever let them admit it but... they knew Satan didn’t like them, and it hurt their feelings.

“Shhhh,” Satan whispered into his backpack.

“Meow.” The backpack replied.

“I said shhhhh.”

The backpack did not reply after that, which was a good thing considering the little princet of the HOL was nearby.

“Satan?” They asked. “Who are you talking to?”

Satan coldly brushed past them as he made his way to his room. “No one you need to concern yourself with.”

When the little calico kitten was safe in his room, Satan quickly realized a mistake in his foolproof ‘sneak a cat into the house’ plan. He didn’t have any toys for the kitten, and he didn’t want his books getting scratched...

It was alright, he’d just rush out to the a store that sold cat things and rush back! Five minute trip tops!

Well when Satan got back the cat was no longer in the room. Oh dear. He discreetly tore apart the house looking for the poor little thing until he ended up finding it in the library, happily chasing around a loose feather being held up by MC.

“Oh, hello Satan.” MC chirped as the kitten batted it’s adorable little paws at the feather.

“My... my door was closed. Did you let the cat out?”

MC shrugged. “I heard meowing.”

Satan ran a hand through his hair and grumbled. Stupid smaller Lucifer. Stupid original Lucifer. Everyone sucked.

“Let me guess, you’re going to run to Lucifer and tell him all about the meowing and the rule breaking.”

MC shook their head and glared at Satan. “Of course not. I’ve already gotten way too attached to this little guy anyway. We’re co-parenting this kitten like mature adults.”

With some coaxing, Satan did sit down and play with the kitten, maybe MC wasn’t... so terrible.

The two watch Unsolved Mysteries together, that’s their show. “This guy did it.” “Satan, we’re two minutes into the episode-” “Trust me.”

Thirty minutes later.

“He did it.” “See MC, what’d I tell you?”

Lucifer did find out about the cat, but with enough pleading, MC and Satan managed to warm up the cold spot in Lucifer’s chest where his heart should have been. The cat’s name is Detective Toe Beans (or just Bean).

Satan can’t fly, he has a tail, but he did read up on wing anatomy and how flight actually works in demons, his advice would be good in theory, but it’s full of so much technical jargon that MC can’t understand it.

At least MC didn’t crash into something, they barrel rolled through one of the HOL’s windows. Good thing it was the window to their room. The broken arm still hurt like hell.

The Best Dressed Bitch Who Brings The Booze to The Reunion. (Asmo)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lucifer’s kid was SO CUTE! A thousand pictures commemorating that adorable moment needed to be taken! Wait- Lucifer- GIVE BACK THE PHONE-

Asmo, surprise surprise, absolutely adores little MC! So cute! So small! He was just so excited to announce to all his Devilgram followers that Lucifer was finally a certified DILF.

That post disappeared five minutes after it was made but the damage had already been done.

Asmo made sure MC looked their best at all times, if they needed help talking to anyone? Asmo’s got their back!

Sure, maybe he’s a little pushy, but pushy’s a good thing sometimes, right?

“Asmodeus-”

“No, these shoes wouldn’t fit you...”

“Asmo-”

“No, not these ones either...”

“ASMODEUS.”

Asmo squeaked and jumped upwards, Geez Louise... little MC’s voice could sure be scary when they wanted it to be...

“I don’t need any fancy new shoes.” MC huffed, sitting up straighter in one of the chairs in Asmo’s room. “I thought this was supposed to be a sleepover.”

“Hmmm...” Asmo pouted. “Makeovers are an essential part of sleepovers... what’d you do with your human friends up in the human world that could possibly be better than a make-over?!”

MC began to list things off. “Ordered junk food, talked about people we hated, watched movies,”

“Greasy food is so bad for your skin...” Asmo cringed and shook his head violently. “But I’m totally down to watch a movie and bitch about people I hate!”

“Ah yes, human sleepovers, a tradition I never quite had the chance to enjoy.” Solomon said from Asmo’s bed. “Who are we bitching about?”

“Remind me what Solomon is doing here.” MC muttered as they sat down in front of Asmo’s TV.

“Because, I wanted to hang out with my two favourite humans.” Asmo cooed, reaching over and trying to pinch MC’s cheek, which they awkwardly dodged.

“Can we watch The Exorcist?” Solomon asked, propping his head up with his hands.

“Ew, no.” Asmo made a face at him. “That scene with the vomit? Hell NO.”

“Mm.” MC mumbled. Asmo turned to look at them.

“MC? Are you doing okay? You don’t look like you’re having any fun...”

“I’m fine.” MC grumbled.

Asmo pursed his lips, as much as it made his little narcissistic heart break, he nudged MC. “Why don’t you pick the movie, sweetie. I’m sure Solomon and I will like anything you pick!”

MC noticeably brightened. “Let’s watch Scream!”

The strangled noise that came from Asmo was... concerning, but to his credit, The Avatar of Lust held his tongue about his distaste for the movie, and the three slumber-party goers had quite the lovely time.

After the movie ended, MC went back to their room, sure it was a sleepover but their bed was right down the hall.

Good for Asmo and Solomon. Horny fuckers. We stan.

Asmo just claps and tries to cheer MC on when it comes to their flying lessons. (The idea that Asmo came up with to wear his cheerleader costume from the previous Halloween was immediately shot down by Lucifer)

“You’re doing wonderful, MC- WATCH OUT FOR THE POWER LINE!”

MC didn’t hit the power line, but Asmo’s scream of terror caused them to fall butt-first into a dumpster. Their injured tailbone served as a tragic memory of the incident.

Oh well, good thing Asmo had nice smelling soap to give that could mask dumpster-stink.

The Uncle that eats everything and tells you to eat your veggies while you angrily pick at your broccoli at the kid’s table. (Beel)

Lucifer... has a kid?! Beel choked on the cheetos he had snuck into the Assembly Hall when the kid’s wings popped out.

Oh wow, that’s nice :) maybe they can eat together. Belphie would probably like them.

Wait what is the gender neutral term for Niece or Nephew?

...Nibling? Uh... let’s not say that around Beel. We don’t need him to get hungrier and begin associating MC with nibbling on things.

The Underground Tomb incident probably went a little differently, but after all that nonsense, the two are closer than two peas in a pod!

Mmm... peas...

“Beel?” MC stepped into the Avatar of Gluttony’s room.

“Hi MC.” Beel was doing push-ups in the middle of the room, on the ground right beneath his head was a massive bowl of spaghetti that he bit into every time he completed a push-up. “Can you come stand on my back? I need the extra weight.”

“On your back?” MC padded closer. “Are you sure? It’s not going to hurt?”

“No, it’ll be okay.” Beel assured them. “Belphie and I did this all the time. Except Belphie is normally asleep.”

MC tentatively stepped onto Beel’s back. It was a balancing act to say the least, they eventually gave up on standing and ended up sitting cross legged between Beel’s shoulder blades.

“You did this with Belphegor?” MC asked.

“Yeah,” Beel sighed. “He was always too tired to exercise, but he’d let me bench press him sometimes...”

MC frowned and hugged their knees to their chest. Knowing full well that Beel’s twin wasn’t in the human world like Lucifer said was absolutely ripping them apart from the inside. Guilt felt just as rotten as their pride did when they were being belittled...

“Maybe you’ll see him again sometime soon.” MC whispered. “Maybe my father’ll come to his senses and let him come back down to the Devildom.”

Beel paused his push-ups for a brief moment, then nodded and went back to his eating exercising combo. “I hope so. He’ll like you, MC. I’m sure of it.”

MC nodded. “I... hope so.”

Beel’s a pretty decent flight teacher, but his wings are just so different from MC’s that it renders any tips he had next to useless.

“MC, maybe your wings aren’t flapping fast enough.”

“Beel, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not a hummingbird. Or a fly. I don’t need to flap my wings a million times a minute to stay afloat.”

Ah well, MC tried to take some of Beel’s advice, but their lower right wing cramped up and they ended up flying in circles until Beel was able to catch them. Ah well, better than the dumpster incident the previous week.

The Uncle That Passes Out in The Basement and You’re Not Allowed to Wake Him Up Even Though All Your Toys and Video Games Are Down There. He Also Picks a Fight With Your Dad’s New S/O Before He Passes Out. (Belphie)

Sitting in the attic was quite a drag, and this supposedly weak little human was quite the annoyance to try and call out to. It took a lot longer than expected, but when he heard little footsteps coming towards his prison, Belphegor nearly jumped with joy.

Oh... it... looked like Lucifer. Smelled like Lucifer. Stood like Lucifer. Quacked like Lucifer. Or... trilled..? Whatever sound a peacock made, this brat sounded an awful lot like Lucifer.

A... half-demon. Hmph. Belphie honestly thought Lucifer had actual standards. Not anymore, he guessed.

(Man I could fill a whole-ass fic with the Belphie betrayal thing, but for now let’s skip to post attic nonsense)

Okay so maybe MC wasn’t disgusting. They made a good nap buddy. It was cute when their wings came out when they were sleeping sometimes. Well... it was cute when they didn’t hit him in the face and make him wake up with his mouth full of feathers.

What Beel said had been true, Belphie made a good substitute when weights weren’t available, but Beel didn’t want MC to feel left out, so Belphie and MC ended up sitting on his back while he did push ups. MC once got bored and started playing Go Fish with Belphie on Beel’s back while he exercised.

Yes. MC is still a member of the Formerly-Anti-Lucifer League.

“Are you sure he’s not going to be too mad at us?” MC asked for the dozenth time that day. Detective Toe Beans was wrapped around their neck like a scarf (he had gotten so big!!!) while MC nervously sat in one of the Library chairs.

“Positive.” Belphie said with a toothy grin. “Besides, he’s like putty when it comes to you. Just give him your best puppy eyes and we’re not guilty on all charges.”

Putty..? Really..? Lucifer..? How strict was he before MC got there... they wondered.

“Sh! He’s coming!” Satan stuck his nose into a random book, it was the Oxford English Dictionary... and it was upside down.

Belphie pretended to pass out and MC decided that the best course of action was to stare deeply into their cat’s eyes. Yeah... that looked casual and not weird.

“Satan, MC, Belphie.” Lucifer nodded to the three of them as he walked towards the entrance to his study.

“Lucifer.”

“Afternoon, father.”

Belphie let out a cartoonishly loud fake snore that nearly caused both MC and Satan to break cover and start laughing.

Side note, Bean had adorable widdle eyes! That cute little face was just to die for-

“You three..!”

Belphie, Satan, and MC peeked their heads into Lucifer’s study, their handiwork was perfect. Everything was covered in red post it notes. Perfectly not harmful, but SO inconvenient!

“You’re all cleaning this up or so help me-”

“GO!” Belphie and Satan each grabbed one of MC’s arms (Satan also grabbed Bean) and sprinted out of the House of Lamentation. Maybe they’d move back there in twenty years... they hoped that Solomon and The Angels would let them crash at Purgatory Hall...

Belphie had used up his physical energy supply for the next four years. He passed out the moment they stepped into sanctuary. Time for a nap...

Flight practice? Ha. Belphie’s napping. Though, he was suspiciously awake and filming whenever MC did something stupid.

“Try not to suck so bad.”

“GO TO HELL BELPHIE!”

“I’m already there. Hell is every second I’m stuck here watching you fail.”

“YOU’RE GOING TO GET IT FOR THAT!”

Well... MC mastered the dive bomb that day. Lucifer bought them a cake.

Bonus! Your Dad’s New Husband! That Has Managed to Somehow Make Everyone Hate Him Despite the Fact That He’s A Cinnamon Roll. (Diavolo)

A mini Lucifer? A mini Lucifer!

Diavolo dotes on MC like he’d dote on his own kid. MC wants a crown? They’re getting a crown! A damn nice one too! MC wants a title? Here! MC is now... idk Ruler of the area between Majolish and Hell’s Kitchen.

Poor Uncle Mammon’s got some financial insecurity, he’s still the cool uncle... right?!

He is very much that ‘how do you do fellow kids?’ Meme.

He tries to do stereotypical ‘dad’ things but he’s not very good at them. Once he tried to host a barbecue...

Barbatos saved the day, but Mammon’s hair was still singed, Solomon’s cooking still gave Beel food poisoning (SOLOMON EATS TOXIC WASTE I SWEAR-), Luke still got hit in the face with a frisbee, and Simeon got an unhealthy dose of DAD NERVES and got so stressed everyone was almost blinded by the holy light he suddenly started blasting. We do not mention the water guns.

(Seriously whose bright idea was it to give Belphie and Satan water guns while they were in Lucifer’s presence?)

Praise Barbie. He’s too good for them.

“Um...” MC awkwardly held up the baseball, trying to look at it from all angles like it was a completely alien object. “Lord Diavolo... are you sure you want to play catch?”

Diavolo clapped his hands and bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yes! It’s a thing human fathers do with their children, correct? We must make up for lost time between you and Lucifer, right?”

Lucifer massaged his temples and nodded. “If you two would like to play catch...” Lucifer grimaced. “I will too.”

“Okay! MC, throw the ball to Lucifer!” Diavolo instructed.

Lucifer half heartedly held up his baseball glove as MC tossed him the ball. He caught it, and looked over at Diavolo, who was applauding like he just witnessed the greatest feat in sports history.

“Okay! Throw it to me!” Diavolo waved his glove in the air, Lucifer rolled his eyes and smiled. He threw the ball at Diavolo with... a lot of force. Enough force to probably dent steel... Diavolo caught it like it was nothing.

MC suddenly feared for their safety.

“Okay MC, catch!”

Diavolo threw the ball with enough force to break the god damn sound barrier. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the ball sailed way over MC’s head and crashed right through a window.

“Oh my...” Diavolo put a hand on his hip and surveyed the damage to the window. “This isn’t so bad, I believe in human world TV shows this happens quite often. Look! The glass broke in a perfect circle!”

“Yay... property damage...” MC murmured.

Lucifer sighed and pulled out his DDD. “I’ll phone someone to replace the win-”

“Lucifer no! Now according to human world customs we must,” Diavolo took a deep breath, rushed forward, grabbed both Lucifer and MC’s hands and started sprinting away from the Demon Lord’s Castle. “RUN FOR IT!”

“Di- Diavolo!” Lucifer gasped.

“Who are we running from?! That’s your castle!” MC squeaked.

“I don’t know! Just run! That’s what the human TV show says to do!”

Weirdly enough, Diavolo was the best flight instructor. MC’s ability to fly increased tenfold after Diavolo found out that MC was learning to fly.

“You’re doing amazing MC! That was a perfect turn!”

“Thanks Lord Diavolo, I’m surprised I haven’t crashed into anyone or fallen yet!”

“Well, I highly doubt you’ll be crashing into anyone anymore, your flying is practically perfect now!”

Mammon proceeded to fly past them holding what looked like Lucifer’s wallet.

“M-mammon?!”

“Oh... I wonder what he’s doing. Look, MC! It’s Lucifer! Hello Lucifer dea-”

Lucifer ended up colliding with the two of them and sending them all crashing to the floor.

That was the last time MC fell during flying practice.

(We currently have a Go Fund Me set up for Mammon to get the funds necessary to flee the Devildom after that incident. Please donate to save- oh shit hi Lucifer-)

[writefightandflightclub]

I see you (Din Djarin x GN reader)

Summary: Din is hurting, don’t look at him. No REALLY, DON’T LOOK AT HIM.

Genre: Angst / fluff + hurt / comfort.

Author’s note: This takes place after the events of Chapter 15, therefore SPOILERS if you keep reading!

Of course, I don’t know what will ACTUALLY happens in the rest of the series, but in this version, Din + Reader + Grogu are safe on a spaceship after Those Events Happened in Ch14, and after THAT happened on Moskar in Ch15 (reader was present on Moskar). Din is dealing with some trauma following That Event.

I wrote this in one go in a tired yet enthusiastic frenzy after watching. I didn’t want to spend ages on it... but I hope that it’s coherent and that you like it!

Warnings: nightmares, angst but it turns out okay. Final warning: spoilers for S2 esp. chapter 14 and 15. Meant to be GN but not sure if the Mando’a confuses that. Pls forgive.

GIF: a non-chapter-specific adorable GIF so that I’m not spewing spoilers onto my dash. By @calsblueponcho​

You hear him stir again. For the third night in a row.

You hear his groans start to build from within the cot opposite you - the sound wrung from his chest and strangled in his throat. You hear him thrashing, limbs and elbows and whatever part of him clunking against the walls of the narrow sleep space, the sounds tinny from within his metal box; like usual.

Metal between you and him.

Finally, you hear the shush of the door as he clambers out of bed, and you hear ragged breaths sawing in and out of him. You hear the weight of his blankets pool on to the floor as he throws them off with a grunt, and his bare feet making contact with the metal floor.

Now, his sounds are not tinny. They are organic. There are no layers of metal between you any longer. Now, only the darkness separates you from him. Only the darkness separates him from the knowledge you hold; that he is afraid.

You hold still. You stay quiet, as Din completes his now nightly ritual - as if the man needed any more rituals. Your heart breaks for him.

Each night now, he awakes in fear, and he throws off his blankets. You have no doubt that if you scooped them from the floor they would be warm and damp with sweat - the whole space is tinged with the odour of roused panic. Each night now, he shuffles hastily towards the foundling’s pram to see for himself that Grogu is safe and here, with him. As usual -you expect- the small child is sleeping soundly, despite what he has been through. Perhaps because of it. He knows now that no matter what happens, his father will keep him safe.

Each night now, as you lie in the dark, pretending to be asleep after his distress has awoken you, Din hovers over your bed for a moment, drawing in a gasp of a breath as if he might speak or plead for help; however, each night it is the same, and no words ever come. Each night he then breaks free of this hot, enclosing space and his suffocating sleep, and you hear his footsteps recede, heading in the direction of the cool, more open cockpit.

This time, though, when he tugs in a breath to speak, you do not pretend to be asleep.This man does not need any more rituals which hurt him, you think. You will help him to break this one.

“Din,” you breathe softly, turning your body towards where he stands, even though you cannot see him. Only because you cannot see him. There is no metal between him now, and you are determined not to look. 

Although he stays silent, you can guess at the tension in him. You can sense his stillness and hear his short, sharp breaths. If he was armoured, his pain would be sounding out. Gloves creaking around his balling fists, his clunky boots tapping agitatedly on the floor. Unarmoured, his pain is in stealth mode. Unarmoured, he is entirely more vulnerable to it. You imagine him stripped down -in all ways, unprotected- and your heart breaks for him.

You desperately want to lay your body over him; become his armour.

Din had almost lost it all, and even after what he had gotten back, he had still lost too much to bear.

He had done it all for the child.

It had been worth it.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t heavy to bear. 

He still doesn’t speak, his pain in stealth mode, and so, you shift and swivel on your cot until you are sitting on the edge of it.

“Din,” you repeat, and your hand somehow finds his in the dark, your eyes deciphering the shifting shadows enough to reach for him, and immediately his fingers close tightly around yours, as if they had been searching for a hand to hold.

His hand is clammy, slick with panic.

“Did you have a nightmare?” You ask, not even venturing your gaze up towards his shrouded face, out of respect.You have nothing but respect for him.

“Yes,” he states, and even with one word his voice cuts through the dark and splits your chest like you have been struck with a spear of beskar. Because of the pain in it, yes. But also because there are no layers between you. No vocoder. No metal. His voice is warm and deep and robust like this, and it splits you apart. “Sorry. If I woke you.”

His fingers grip yours a little more tightly, but before you can return the favour, he quickly snatches his hand away. “Try and go back to sleep.”

“I couldn’t sleep anyway,” you lie. “Would you like some root tea? Maybe we can have a cup and both of us can try again.”

If Din finds you out in this lie he doesn’t let on. You’re a bad liar, and he’s a good judge of truth, so you suppose he can make whatever decision he pleases, this way. But, he merely makes a gruff sound of agreement. “I’ll get my helmet,” he states, and yet you find his hand again and give a gentle tug to stop him.

“It’s okay. Go sit in the cockpit, keep it dark. I’ll make some tea for us, and I won’t look.”

There is a beat, and then he makes another gruff sound of agreement before turning on his heels, efficiently swivelling towards the front of the ship.

You stand, and you take a moment to still the racing of your heart. You take your own gasp of air. You feel the pounding in your chest at this morsel of skin on skin. Your hand in his.

You exhale a long breath, and slowly, quietly, so as not to wake the child, you slip through the darkened ship until you reach the cramped ration store, heating and brewing some tea under a dimmed and hazy cooklight.

You hurry, as all you can think of is Din alone and unprotected, and how much you wish to guard his heart.

When you reach the cockpit, you enter with your eyes down, averted, looking anywhere but at him, and then you enter, a cup of sweet sleep tea in each hand. You can make out his silhouette in your periphery, and, silently, you slot yourself into the co-pilot’s seat beside him, extending the tea for him to take. His fingertips brush yours as he takes it, and you almost jolt and spill the contents.

You calm your breath again, and you allow the darkness to settle around you, a barrier between you and him. The only barrier between you and him, you can’t help but think.

“Thank you,” the Mandalorian states after a moment, his tone dull.

“Don’t thank me until you’ve tasted it,” you warn with a gentle attempt at a smile. “Couldn’t really see what I was doing.”

“No,” Din says, and this time, his hand finds yours in the dark, where it rests on the arm of the co-pilot’s seat.

There goes your heart pounding again.

“I mean... Thank you for looking out for me. And Grogu.”

Oh.

What else would you possibly do?

“Of course, Din, you’re my...” you cut yourself off before you complete the thought. Din is not your family. You’re not his riddur. Grogu is not your child. Even though that’s how it feels. Even though that’s what you want. “You’d do the same for me,” you say, reeling yourself in. That doesn’t sound quite right either, you fluster. To a bounty hunter that must sound transactional. Like he owes you a debt now.

You’re getting it all wrong.

And all you want to do is comfort him. Protect him.

“Din...?” you ask softly, your eyes fixed straight ahead, not looking at him, even though you are desperate to. Even though from the shapes in your periphery, and from the direction of his voice you can tell his head is angled towards you. Even though you feel like he is staring intently at you. Like he sees you, even in the dark.

“Yeah?”

A heat rises in you and you snatch your fingers away from his. Your hand had become clammy. Instead of this heat, you take a sip of your hot tea, both hands wrapped around the ceramic, earthenware vessel.

“You know,” you say, unsure why your voice is shaking. “It might help to talk about it, the nightmare... if you’d like to.”

You hope you haven’t overstepped. Din hasn’t had anyone to open to for a long-time before you, and you know he may not want to- however, he surprises you. 

“I feel selfish,” he states, his words coming to you immediately and freely as if he had been waiting for a kind ear to listen.

“What in the stars..?!” you exclaim, in a shocked whisper, your eyes intent on the night sky through the transparisteel as you summon the stars in your setiment. “You’re the least selfish person I’ve ever met, Din.”

He emits another gruff sound, but this time it is not in agreement.

His pain...

Sweet man.

You are desperate to turn your head towards him in this moment, but you never would. You would not look.

“I keep having this nightmare, as if it’s the worst thing,” Din continues, and you recognise guilt in his tone. “And it’s not about Grogu. It’s not about you and the child and keeping you both safe.”

Your heart thrums again, from the fact he mentions you and the child in the same breath; mentions you alongside his everything.

“What is it about?” you ask gently, your voice barely above a whisper.

Beside you, you hear Din take a long sip of tea, and you don’t rush his words. You have all the time in the world for him. 

“It’s... about my face,” he says solemnly, and even the mere mention of his face has your heart unsure whether it is breaking or racing.

You had known this would take a toll on him. You knew that having to show his face on Morak; to you, to the Imperials, to Mayfield, would haunt him. For a long time. You had tried not to look. You hadn’t looked. And yet, you had still seen him. You had seen him, only for a moment, before you could avert your eyes - hard as it was to look away. 

That moment, though, was long enough to burn the image of him like a brand behind your eyes. His hawkish nose, his brown mop of grizzled hair...

Brown eyes.

Brown eyes as kind as his soul.

He was beautiful, exactly as he was to you already. Exactly as he had been to you before you ever had a hint of what he looked like.

Still, as much as you fell in love with his face the instant you saw it, exactly like you fell in love with his soul the instant you knew it, you wished you could take that moment back. You didn’t want it; not like this. It felt like a violation to even look at him, so can’t imagine how violating it must have felt to be seen.

No wonder he was having nightmares.

Your heart was in pieces for him. How in the stars could he feel he was selfish? It wasn’t as though he needed to prove his love for Grogu, when he had done that to get him back. When he had given everything he held dear.

“I let the kid get taken. I barely got him back alive. You back alive. And I’m dreaming about showing my face. I should be worrying about him. Not myself.”

Only this man could think himself selfish for experiencing a trauma, you could swear.

“It was a trauma, Din,” you state sensitively. “It makes sense that you would have nightmares about it. And... maybe,” you muse. “Do you think it’s possible... you’re not dreaming about the kid because you know he’s safe now? You know he’s back home and we can protect him. But the thing plaguing you... is something that was taken from you. Something you can’t get back?”

You’ve thought about this. You’ve had time to think about every single thing which might have been bothering him and how you might fix it, these past nights. That has become your ritual. To care for him. To notice when he holds Grogu a little tighter, becomes more reluctant to let go of his hand. When he grumbles about the specs of this ship, compared to the Crest. When he waits extra late, until it’s extra dark to remove his helmet these days. When he wakes in the night thrashing and gasping for air.

You can’t change what happened, but you hope you can be there as he heals from it.

Din doesn’t respond rightaway, but he takes a sip of his tea, mulling your words over.

“Do you want to talk more about it?” you ask gently. “About what happened?”

And, Din eventually begins, in a deep, empty rumble, sounding like an engine low on fuel. “They scanned me,” he says, and you can tell from the change in his voice that he has turned away from you - is now looking down at the floor. In your periphery you see his figure hunched over, head hung like a bird.

You want to reach out for him, but you don’t. Not yet.

“It wasn’t only showing my face to them, to you,” he begins, and you have a bitter taste in your mouth not only from his trauma but also from the fact you were any part of it. “They scanned me. My face is in their system. My face is everywhere. In every imperial back-up, all across the galaxy. Not only did I violate the code, but my violation is infinite, eternal. They have my face.” Your face twists in agony on his behalf as he speaks. “You know, I keep waking up, in a panic. Like I did when Grogu was taken... except this time it’s me they stole. They really did steal all of me. I’m not fit to call myself a Mandalorian.”

Tentatively, you do reach out your hand to him now, and you set it on to his shoulder, feeling the subtle heat of his skin through the thin, still damp fabric. You rub small circles there, hoping you can soothe him even a tiny amount. You let his heavy words sink in, before you speak.

“Din, I’m so sorry this happened to you,” you soothe. “I know I can’t fix it. I wish I could. But you should know, that it’s okay to feel this way, and I’m here -and so is Grogu- and we’ll help you however we can.” You suck your lips in between your teeth as he is unresponsive, wondering whether to go on. You decide you must. That he must hear this. “And, Din,” you say, through a watery smile. “I hope it’s not inappropriate to say- you know The Way better than I ever can- but, it seems to me, from what you tell me, that being a Mandalorian isn’t any one thing. It’s strength, and honour, and loyalty. And if it’s those things too, then, Din, you’re the most Mandalorian person I’ve ever met.”

Beneath your hand, your feel Din’s chest stutter and he takes a shaky, volatile breath in and out. You wonder if he is crying.

“Cyar'ika” he says softly, after a few moments. “How do you always make me feel a little better? A little safer?”

Your heart pounds. He called you darling.

“It’s just the tea,” you dismiss, through brimming tears of joy. It is all you want. All you want to protect this sweet man.

“It’s not,” he states painly. “The tea’s awful,” he says, and this time, his hand clamps over yours on his shoulder. His chest shakes again, but this time it is with a gentle, shaky laugh. The kind of throaty, beautiful chuckle which sounds out of him when Grogu plays with the silver ball of the flight control. 

Yes, he settles his hand on top of yours, but, this time, neither of you snatch your hands away. His laugh subsides, until it dissipates into the space between you, warming the room a little.

“There is one more thing I’d like to talk about,” Din says, his voice cracking.

Softly, you invite him to continue with a squeeze of his shoulder.

“You saw me,” he says, gently, and you can tell his gaze has turned back to you, head pointed where he’s looking. You feel his eyes on you.

Brown eyes.

Now that you know what they look like, it is all the harder to avert your gaze.

You did. You saw him.

“I’m sorry,” you state, voice brittle, and your heart breaking, tears tipping from your eyes. “I wish I hadn’t. I wasn’t looking.”

Just like now. You won’t look.

“Yes, I know. But you saw me. You always see me,” he states, his voice warm and revving like an engine suddenly full with fuel. You shake your head softly in confusion, unsure where he is going with this, syllables stuttering out of you. Luckily, Din picks up the slack. “I hoped you would see me for the first time as my riddur, but, now that you have already... what do you think? Is mine a face you could live with?”

Your heart is pounding faster now. It is definitely racing, and no longer breaking.

As his riddur? He meant to marry you? Means to, still? Your brimming tears spill over on to your cheeks.

And, this time, you turn toward each other, even though your gaze is cast down. Not looking. His eyes very much fixed on you- on whatever he can make out in this shadow.

You think that having such kind, brown eyes fall on you is a blessing.

“Din,” you start, your voice full and bowed with emotion. “Yours is a face I loved before I ever saw it. Loved when I saw it. Will love if even if I never see it again, and would love if I looked at nothing else but into your eyes for the rest of my life. Your face is as beautiful as your soul, and I never needed to look at you to see you.”

“Cyar’ika,” he whispers softly, scooping up your hand and bringing it to rest on his cheek.

An impossibly joyous smile splits your face as you feel the texture of his skin and the scruff of his beard against your fingers. Finally. As you feel his own face crease into a smile in return, his cheek appling beneath your touch. You are overwhelmed by the trust he must place in you, to sit with you like this.

“Do you mean it, Din?” you ask, scarcely believing it. “You want to be a family?”

This time, Din’s voice does not come to you from behind metal - behind beskar. It is close. It is unfettered. You feel his warm, sweet breath on your face as his joyful, certain words filter out of him. “We’re already a family. You and me and the kid. I’m never letting anything take you away from me.”

You believe him.

You smooth the pads of your finger over his face and he reaches out to cup your cheek too, feeling the tracks of your tears beneath his touch. With his broad hands, skin-on-skin, Din pulls you into him, and your lips find his immediately, his tongue delving eagerly into you as if he has been waiting for a mouth to kiss.

Din has been waiting for a long time, perhaps. Waiting for you to complete his family - officially. But he’s never had to wait to love you. He already did that, long ago. From the first time he saw you, in fact. You had a face as beautiful as your soul, and he knew you were the one for him. 

You close your eyes, feeling overwhelmed by happiness. You do not look at him; your Mando. You don’t even try to, but you don’t need to look to see him.

Still, you if you get the chance to look again, you think it will be a blessing to gaze into those brown eyes.

Those brown eyes as kind as his soul, and full of love, instead of fear.

[issaxcharlie]

You are mine

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Luke and Y/N have many problems and commitments in their lives and instead of solving them they decide to blame the other. Eventually, the fights end their relationship. Luke travels with Sunset Curve during the summer and when he returns he has a pretty clear idea in his head. He wants his girl back.

But it's not as easy as it sounds when the competition had 3 months to score points with the cheerleader in his absence.

 Three months. Luke has gone three months without seeing Y/N. They have been inseparable since they met when they were 12 years old, never spending more than days without seeing each other. But the moment they broke up Luke knew he had to get out of the freaking town because if he couldn't distance himself he was going to end up the very next day at his ex-girlfriend's house begging her to accept him back. And the truth is that both needed to breathe and rethink what each one is looking for in their future.

Because although he’s head over heels in love with her, the truth is that both were in a moment of their lives in which they couldn’t and specially wanted to adapt to what the other needed. They had a lot of different responsabilities and things to do, it was just hard sometimes to add more to the list.

Which meant that she missed several of his concerts, that he was late for her birthday party, that there was no time for dates, that they didn’t feel supported. Many arguments trying to fix things that never came to anything because neither of them really wanted to commit. None willing to give in.

And then the painful but friendly breakup in early summer happened.

Bobby has a truck and the boys decided that doing a roadtrip during the summer performing wherever they could to earn enough to keep traveling was a brilliant idea to distract him and make the band known, and he agreed without looking back.

Things turned out much better than any of the four expected and they even had the luxury of traveling one more week, so they have a week of homework to catch up on. Will his relationship have ended on good enough terms to ask Y/N? Homework is not that big of a deal for him but it usually takes him a little longer to miss more than 15 assignments.

As soon as Luke opens the front door, his eyes fall straight on her. She is on her back trying to hang up some posters, but he would recognize that body wherever, from whatever angle.

His eyes immediately scan her wrist, which doesn't have any of the couple matching black-and-white bracelets they both used to wear all the time.

The first of many reminders Luke would get that day about his breakup with the cheerleader.

Y/N stands on her tiptoes trying to reach the height required for the poster, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't reach it. She’s just going to give up and ask for help when she feels some strong and determined hands lift her without any sign of trouble or doubt.

She doensn’t need to turn her head or listen to his voice, the strong grip on each side of her hips and his intoxicating perfume are more than enough to confirm who is lifting her in the air.

Luke is not playing fair. Y/N hears his husky and seductive voice as his lips lightly brush her ear. “I know you love my hands on you, but do you plan to put up the poster at some point?”

The cheerleader is shocked for a few seconds, until murmurs around them remind her that they are not alone. She puts the poster as fast as she can and instructs her ex-boyfriend to take her down.

Reluctantly she turns around and for the first time in quite a few weeks her eyes meet her favorite ones, which at least for the moment, are deep green.

"You can't do that, Lucas. We broke up."

He smirks. She only calls him like that when she's trying really hard to scold him even though it's not what she actually wants. She tries to look more determined and tough, but he can see through it all.

He decides to rest one of his arms on the wall, leaning just enough so that their foreheads are almost touching, and then smiles at her. One of those smiles that she used to classify as the most tender and beautiful sight in the world and that used to receive a light sweet kiss in return.

But this time, instead of a kiss, her gaze tells him that he is crossing the limit and that it’s better to stop. Neither has to say anything, she doesn't need to throw his arm out of the way or yell at him to move.

The two of them know each other better than anyone, and when Luke sees that expression, her wrinkled nose, her eyes lit with annoyance, her crooked mouth, he knows it's time to retreat.

“I’m sorry ba-” His gaze automatically saddens as he remembers that he can no longer call her that. He can see that her eyes also look a little sadder and duller after imagining what the guitarist was going to say. “I’m sorry Y/N. I just missed you.”

“Luke, look at this man. I've been here for 10 minutes and already 14 girls gave me their numbers to pass them to you! I guess word got around that you're single again.”

Alex and Reggie go blank when they are close enough to see their beautiful friend, since Luke was covering her from their sight. The guitarist turns to tap Reggie on the shoulder, and Alex decides to hug her to ease the tension in the air. Her hands are shaking, and Alex is not sure if from sadness or jealousy, but he decides not to say anything and keep hugging her, trying to make her feel supported.

“We missed you so much, we are not Sunset Curve without you.” Alex confesses loud enough for the other two members present to listen and nod their heads.

“I missed you too, boys. My summer was too peaceful and quiet without my favorite band.” The drummer lets go of her and Reggie replaces him by hugging her tightly, moving his arms behind her back silently asking Luke what to do with all the papers in his hands. The annoyed guitarist takes them and throws them away without thinking twice. Reg whispers "rude" and his friend rolls his eyes at him.

Reggie lets go and the four of them stare each other for a few seconds, none knowing what to say or do.

"Hello, sorry but I came to escort this beauty to her next class."

The fifth voice belongs to Cameron Green, who has just appeared in front of them and offers the girl his arm to intertwine with hers.

The perfect captain of the football team. Luke has known for years that the guy has some feelings for his girl, but he never had to worry because he knows her, she would never do anything that would put his trust at risk. But now, things are different.

She takes a step forward to accept the gesture and turns to see the boys one last time.

"I guess I'll see you on music class." She offers an apologetic smile, Alex smiles back to let her know it’s okay.

"But what about lunch break?" Reggie asks, after all, the five have been sitting together for years, they didn’t even separate when Y/N entered the cheer squad.

"I promised to sit down with Cam, sorry guys. But see you later!"

Y/N turns to look at Luke for a few seconds, as if waiting for him to stop her. But never happened.

So both her and Cameron walk until the band can’t see them in the sea of students. Reggie and Alex turn to see their friend, who has his hands wrapped in fists and looks totally crimson, his face irradiates frustration as he clenches his teeth.

“I prOmiseD tO SiT DoWN WitH CaM, fucking hell I’m out of here.”

“You are not going anywhere, man! It’s time for an intervention.” Reggie takes his friends by the arm and leads them to the janitor's closet where he pushes them and closes the door.

“The janitor's closet, really?” Alex asks and Reggie smiles proudly. “..Okay.”

"This is stupid, can we get out of here now?" They both return their attention to Luke, his face radiating despair.

"No. You can't keep prolonging this anymore. What did you think? That no one was going to try to date the most popular girl in school? Are you really so self-centered as to believe that no one would dare just because you are the ex boyfriend? Local rockstar or not, she’s a gem."

“Of course not, I just went into denial, I guess. All I know is that I miss her. I missed her every day this endless summer. I know the experience was amazing, but every night while I was singing the only thing I could think about is how much I wanted to see her beautiful dorky face in the small audience. The way she blushes when I'm singing straight to her direction and I send her a wink. The passion with which she sings each of the songs that she has been listening to over and over for years. How proud she looks of us as we give that final bow.

And it’s stupid, you know? Because somehow, I forced myself to think that having a girlfriend was depriving me of the opportunity to live experiences like that, to live my dream the fullest.

And what I ended up discovering when I did them is that my dream is simply never going to be fulfilled without her. As Alex said, she is as much part of Sunset Curve as any of us. And that now she has other interests or priorities doesn’t diminish how much she loves us and how much we love her, our dreams don't have to collide. And I'm a real idiot who took 3 months to realize it while I'm sure that fake dude was doing his fight to win her over.”

“FINALLY!” They both scream while hugging their brother. “Dude, I’m pretty sure she’s still in love with you, just act fast. You both have to stop being so stubborn and learn to give in for each other's sake from time to time. You cannot ask the other what you do not give.” Alex advises.

“I’ll win my girl back.” Luke smiles, hoping that if he says it with enough conviction it will come true.

The boys decide to go back to classes, by the time they are about to reach the lockers for gym, the other guys are already there and a lively conversation is heard.

“Man, it's not like I've been in love with her for years. I don't even know her. But stealing Luke Patterson’s girlfriend who is casually the most popular girl in school, is simply the step that makes you a legend in this small town. Not to mention that perfect body, what I would do to her if I had the chance."

No one has noticed the Sunset Curve members are present, and the second they hear him Reggie and Alex cover Luke's mouth and drag him out of there.

“I’m going to kill him! And before you say it, I don't care if it's the stupid football captain! If his monkeys hit me I have the satisfaction that I already gave him a black eye and I took out 3 teeth from him. No one is going to play or talk about her like that!"

To say that he is angry is an understatement. He is shaking with fury, moving in the small hall from one side to the other trying to calm the urge to slam his fist against the wall, because if he is going to slam it somewhere it will be in that idiot's face.

“You have to control yourself and be smart for once! he is the golden boy of the school, no matter how popular you are, your reputation as a bad boy is not going to win against his. Maybe not even with Y/N, she might think you're just fired up to see them together."

As much as it hurts to admit it, Alex is right. That clown has convinced everyone in the school with the idea that he doesn’t break a plate. While the guitarist is famous for skipping classes and playing clubs until dawn.

“And what am I supposed to do? I hope you don't suggest that I just sit around doing nothing."

Reggie takes two steps back in case Alex's suggestion is in fact Luke to do nothing. After all, he has to protect that adorable face.

“I’m not telling you to do nothing, I’m asking you to pay attention to what’s really important. Don't focus on him, focus on her."

He’s not going to say it aloud, but Alex is right, again. She should always be his main focus.

After his friends manage to convince him to take the peaceful route, Luke spends the rest of the day searching for the right words to say, but it’s difficult to find inspiration when every time he turns the love of his life is next to a jerk who is only trying to deceive her.

Not to mention lunch break, every time that idiot tried to touch her or get too close, the guitarist felt his blood boil. The only thing that kept him sane is that she politely pushed him away each and every time.

Reggie managed to convince her to come to the studio with them after her cheer training, just like they used to do last school year. The boys waited for her each time and then she accompanied them to their band rehearsals. Or at least they did before both she and Luke started arguing for not wanting to put in that extra effort.

Alex and Reggie watched as the relationship began to decline and the fights began to escalate. And when the breakup became official, they knew they had to keep the exes away from each other. The ex couple had never been apart and it was important for them to make their friends realized how much they want and love each other's presence in their lives. How lucky they are to have such a supportive partner at their side.

They never said anything to Luke but they could see how sad and depressed the guitarist looked without her. As if that spark in him was missing.

All day they were observing their girly who looked just as miserable, that special aura full of dull energy.

Alex had a theory that he explained to Reggie. When a relationship finishes going through that time where it feels new and recent, when you get used to the other as a couple, sometimes it is easy to take things for granted and not want to continue trying or giving the extra.

Sometimes you get lost in that lapse, and finding a balance is not easy. But when you love someone as much as they love each other, well, it’s easy to guess they’ll find the way.

So while Alex distracted Luke, Reggie ran to convince his girl friend to join them, which wasn't easy considering she already had plans with the football player. At that moment the bassist was grateful Luke was not around to hear that.

Once they are together, things will settle down. They have both suffered enough to know that without a doubt everything they have to do for the other is worth it. It’s time for them to stop being stubborn because Reg and Alex are not going to bear being in the middle for long. Those two can be insufferable sometimes.

So, that's how Sunset Curve ended in the stands. Watching her friend as the squad lifted her to the top of the pyramid.

Luke can't help but see her with loving eyes. He feels so proud of her, and that’s when he realizes he can’t remember the last time he actually told her, and that hurts him. She should hear those words every day, and if he is lucky enough for her to accept him back, that will be one of the first things that will change.

He's so focused on watching her, that he doesn't realize the football team is starting a fight just yards away until Reggie hits him on the shoulder.

Cameron pushes one of his teammates straight into the pyramid, which begins to disarm before the guitarist's eyes.

Some of her team manage the impact not be too strong, but she still stays motionless on the ground for a few seconds because of the shock.

Cameron Green kneels in front of her, Luke tries desperately to pass but two big guys get behind their captain to block him.

“Get the fuck out of my way!” The desperation in his voice indicates that he will do whatever it takes to get to her.

“Leave her alone already, Patterson!”

Reggie and Alex catch up with him and mentally prepare for what lies ahead, when they hear Y/N's weak voice.

"No! Luke, please. I need Luke."

The guitarist takes advantage of everyone's momentary shock after hearing her voice and manages to get to her side.

“I- I- I’m here, baby. I’m here, don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” Luke lightly caresses her cheek while examining her body, it seems that it was more the scare than anything else.

“I know.” She smiles at the contact of Luke’s hand in her skin.

“Yeah?” He asks almost in a whisper, he is hypnotized watching her. Trying with all his might not to kiss her.

“Yes, you are here. As long as we are together everything will be fine.”

“Is this your subtle way to tie me up again?” Luke teases while helping her sit up. The whole crowd watches them around the field. Cameron looking angry just a few yards away.

She laughs. A wholesome laugh, full of happiness. “Oh honey, we all know you never stopped being mine."

If there is something that turns him on, is his Y/N’s confidence. (And see her in nothing but his t-shirts but that’s not the point.)

“Right back atcha, baby.” He brushes his lips against hers while making that seducting face that she can hardly ever resist, but this time she surprises him by taking him from behind the neck and crashing her lips on his.

The people around them begin to applaud the show, and without interrupting the passionate kiss Luke puts his arms around her back and legs to lift her up and carry her away.

Reggie and Alex do a fist bump and then one looks for Y/N's things and the other for Luke's and follows them from behind.

"They endured a whole school day, wow."

"If we hadn't stolen Luke from her over summer they would have been 2 hours apart and it would have been the most embarrassing separation of all time."

"The two of them were going through a lot and they didn't know how to cope at the time, but now that they are both better, I’m very happy they’re back together, they are soulmates."

“They sure are, Reg. Did you see Cameron's face when Luke stuck his tongue down Y/N's throat? PRICELESS.”

Thank you for reading✨

Taglist: @writerinlearning, @ghostofmgg, @strangerthanfanfiction713, @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa, @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc, @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals

[wthtorke]

Cultural Differences

One shot commission for @scallopedsuitcase ! Thank you! 

You didn’t know what to do anymore.

When you heard that the Yautja-Human peace treaty was finally up and running and that not only that meant everyone was safe and sound but also that the galaxy’s greatest and sexiest species was to roam free within your planet. You were proudly part of a small community that wasn’t opposed to...engaging-, with such creatures.

It didn’t take long for you to find your Yautja of interest. He was tall. Taller than any other partner you ever had before. That alone did things to you. Their ships had taken residency in whatever forests seemed best to them. You’d never thanked the skies more for living right outside a reserve in your life. 

The first thing you checked was his wrist from afar. To make things easier for everyone while they sorted out yautja translators for humans, yautjas interested in human contact wore different colored lights on their wrist gauntlets. Some of the colors were; red for ‘No Contact’, yellow for ‘formal contact only’, blue for ‘Friendly contact’, and purple for ‘Accepting of human advances’.

Now, while the term was awkward at best, but you were the happiest human on earth when your crush showed up on your street with that purplish wrist gauntlet. it’s lights dancing, glowing brighter and then darker again in an endless cycle.

He was everything you’ve ever dreamed of physically and after some time observing and building up your courage-, you found that his personality was just as much endearing as his physique. 

You’d taken to hiking, something you didn’t exactly have the habit of doing, all in hopes of spotting him by his ship, and so you did. So, there began your mission. While you didn’t have a translator on your person, there was one language that was known to all the galaxy.

Flirting.

Flirting was supposed to be exciting, charming, and well, what better way to let someone know you were totally into them, right? Surely, some winks and gestures here and there would pass him the message loud and clear.

2 weeks in of hiking and you could feel your muscles hardening up. The way your body responded to this new routine spoke volumes of your previous sedentary ways, never really having a reason to leave the house if it wasn’t for work or well, buying what you needed. So far, however, your flirting had brought you no results. The times you could make out his expressions when he saw you were...not pleasing. He looked...confused, at best. 

So, you sat at home on a particularly cold night, holding a warm mug of hot chocolate to keep the shivers at bay, wondering what could you possibly be doing wrong. You bit your lip, winked, wore your best clothes, and still, nothing. It was frustrating.

You checked on your translator order situation, refreshing the page now and then as you knew they were updated at night. When the peace treaty was first announced and the ‘requesting’ system was up, you hurried to place your order. The translator wasn’t cheap, and it would only be one of the very prototypes, meaning it wouldn’t be able to translate everything at once so fluidly, but at least you’d be able to communicate faster before most of the people could, and that alone made you very happy, it was exhilarating. 

The translator had been ‘In Confection’ for months now, finally coming around the expected date of postage as your page told you. 

Another hour went by before you refreshed it again, the yellow dot becoming green with the text you had been waiting for underneath it. 

“In Transit.”

Finally.

With newfound excitement and determination, you pulled up the weather report for tomorrow’s morning and afternoon, sighing as you thought of your Yautja crush yet again.

The next morning came as fast as your head hit the pillow as you jumped up and out of the bed, ready to start your day with your morning jog, hoping to see him either on the way up or down the trail. Teeth brushed, hair tied up, and a water bottle filled, you made your way out the door, feeling the chilly morning air fill your lungs, wiping away the last remains of sleep from your body.

While jogging, you fell in thought. 

The translator wouldn’t take more than 3 days to arrive. In little time you’d be able to communicate with him...but what if he didn’t like you? 

Your jogging slowed down to a walk as this hit you hard in the head.

What if he had already rejected you and you didn’t catch it? You thought about it further and so came the odd looks he gave you, the puzzled stares, and more. You made your efforts well known and well shown as well, and he didn’t growl or try to move away, so it couldn’t have been that bad, right?

You looked at your feet as you walked, lost in those thoughts as you hit something hard, making you stumble back a couple of steps. You looked back up in surprise only to find out it wasn’t something but someone.

“Oh, hi! Sorry, I um, I didn’t see you,” You said, doing your best to gesture to him, and then your eyes, trying to tell him what you said.

As always, he stood there for a second, slowly nodding afterward. He tilted his head to the side a bit, getting a little closer to your person as if inspecting your face. His tusks were close to your face, so close you thought he was going to kiss you. Or well, try to, given he didn’t have lips.

“I-,” was all you managed to get out before he stepped back, shaking his head slightly before reaching behind his back, where his pouch usually was. Hands coming forward again, he extended his arm, opening his palm to present you with something.

You gasped at the notion of receiving a gift from him, this could only mean courtship, right?

Looking down at his hand, you were more than confused to see a very human-made looking pill bottle. “What?” You said, picking it up from his hand.

‘Melatonin. Sleep aid.’

“Sleep aid?” You questioned, looking back up at him, “Are you saying I look tired?!” You said, shaking the pill bottle towards him, the yautja raising his hands a bit, the universal sign for ‘hey calm down’.

But what could this possibly mean?

“I tried so hard! And you say I took tired? I’ve been coming here every day to see you! You-!” You sighed, shoulders slacking a bit after your outburst. “Okay, okay. You know what? Fuck-, I get it, I’ll let you be,” You said, turning right back around, deciding to end your exercise right there when the biggest hand you ever felt closed around your arm, making you look back again.

You had heard the Yautja language before, but hearing it live was just as foreign. He was speaking fast, the clicks and guttural growls making absolutely no sense to you.

He still, somehow, managed to look confused while speaking such a harsh tongue.

“I don’t understand!” You exasperated, yanking your arm free and sighing again. You put your hand up, “Wait.” you said. 

He looked at your hand, which accompanied with the word made something light up in his face as he nodded this time. “Good, I’ll um, see you later,” You said, waving and making the rest of your way back to your house.

You couldn’t stop thinking about it. Sitting on your couch while staring at the pill bottle on the table. It was what it was, you supposed. It was truly melatonin. 

But what did he mean with it? Did he want you to sleep well? Why did he think you weren’t getting enough sleep?

“Where did he even get this?!”

The pill bottle was sealed still, just like the ones you’d buy at the drug store. Could you imagine? A Yautja walking in a drug store and purchasing melatonin? If you told that to someone, they’d think you were crazy, even with the whole peace treaty going on.

Another day went by and you didn’t go jogging anymore, afraid your ‘relationship’ could turn sour if you saw him again without your translator. Still, the pill bottle haunted you, sitting in the exact place on your table.

On the second morning after your disastrous encounter, the doorbell rang. And you knew exactly what it was for. Sprinting for the door, the mailman was different, clearly a private company worker, holding your package with both his hands, looking around as he waited for you to come up.

Package picked up, opened, and fiddled with. After 15 minutes, you sat in your living room muttering words into your translator, watching as it came to life, making some odd sounds in what you knew was the yautja language.

Now you could go talk to him, for real.

Picking up the pill bottle from the table, you sprinted up the trail again, regretting not bringing your water bottle as you reached the place where you last saw him, panting and a little red in the face.

You looked back up when you heard soft purring, a sound you hadn’t heard before but wished dearly to.

‘It means affection’ you recalled reading once from the article the first human to mate a yautja wrote, ‘Fondness’.

You straightened yourself, clearing your throat before looking up at him, “Um, hi, I- ah fuck,” you fiddled some more, producing your translator from your pocket, getting a curious look from the yautja before you.

“I hope this works” you muttered before lifting the device closer to your mouth and taking a deep breath. “Hi, I hope this translates what I’m saying decently, now, I’d please like to know what did you mean with this?” You said into it, waiting a second before it started its clicking noises.

The Yautja’s expression changed instantly, his eyes widening as he leaned forward to the sound of his language. He squinted as he kept listening, making you blush in embarrassment. God, was the translator that bad?

Upon hearing the last of the clicking, you lifted the pill bottle to him for emphasis, waiting for him to react.

He stood up straight again, eyeing the bottle he gave you a few days prior, still unopened. He extended his hand, shaking his head when you offered him the bottle, pointing instead to the translator in your other hand. “Oh, of course!” You handed it to him, watching as he had a look at the digital screen, apparently switching its mode from ‘Human to Yautja’ to ‘Yautja to Human’ seeing as the translator worked with just about every human language around the world.

Satisfied with the settings, he started speaking into it himself, gesturing to the pill bottle while he did so and then, to your surprise, to your face. This made you gasp a bit, your mind jumping to the worst conclusions possible. Did he think you were ugly? Well, you’d have to wait and see.

As he finished speaking, you both gave the translator a couple of seconds when a male voice spoke up, making you jump a bit, hands shaking in anticipation. “Hello. I thought you were sick. Whenever we had an encounter, you would make these strange expressions. I searched for them, the results were that what could be possibly making you have these...tics, was lack of sleep. The excessive blinking, biting your lips, involuntary facial pulling, all are the result of sleepless nights, excessive exhaustion, and the medicine for that is...that, for humans anyway.”

“WHAT?!” You yelled, snatching the translator back from his hand as he stared at you with yet another confused expression. “I was flirting with you! Flirting! I’m not sick!” You said, holding out the translator as it did its thing.

Confusion melting away into realization, he spoke again, not bothering to hold the translator but simply stepping closer to you.

“You were trying to court me?”

“Yes! I was winking at you! It’s a human thing!” You said, then realizing your mistake, “Oh...human thing...Ah fuck” You covered your face in embarrassment, “God, that’s why you always looked at me like that, I-”

“Would you still like to...court me?”

“Yes!” You said, head jerking up again so fast the yautja before you flinched a bit. “I-, yes.” You cleared your throat, a hard blush creeping its way across your face again.

“Good, it was my plan to court you too...after you had healed of your...sickness.” He said, chuckling, “Which apparently was no sickness at all.” He cleared as you squinted at him, “Well, I’m Yeyinde.” He said, “I’m glad we can finally communicate, always wanted to ask you a few things.”

You smiled, feeling that blush coming back again, “How about we go on a walk? Then we can talk about anything you want” You said, holding out your free hand for him to take.

“Of course,” He rumbled, massive hand closing gently around yours as you started walking up the rest of the trail.