#sorry other new vault hunters
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gh0ulsh4rk · 2 years ago
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Me and my brother: *playing borderlands 3*
My brother: *opens the map*
The entire game: *crashes immediately and closes*
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yaut-jaknowit · 4 months ago
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Omg ♡
Human accidentally saving a Yautja? The human is oblivious to the fact that they saved him?
Could be spicy. it could be sweet, just a thought bouncing around in the head.
A Total Smash
Pairings: Dai'stbaen (Male Yautja) x GN!Reader
Word Count: 6410 (thirteen pages... THIRTEEN PAGES)
Summary: The mountains are your home. Deep in winter, you head into town to get your necessary supplies to survive for two weeks. A rumor roams throughout the small town. You are put on edge. Upon the trip back up to your home, far from civilization, you had no time to react.
Author Note: Okay, okay, bear with me. It's been a hot moment since I last posted. I've got four in total in the vault to post. I wanted to catch up a little since my new job has been time consuming. I did warn you guys my writing may slow down unfortunately, but I'm fighting through it! Also, I'm so sorry but I wasn't able to get to the smut part. If you shot me a dm or another ask, I'm more than happy to continue. I'll even shoot it to the top of my list for you!
Masterlist
Ao3
Part 2
Deep in the mountains, where cell service was spotty at best, nestled your warm, comfortable home. It housed you and two dogs. There was nothing more than needed for this relaxing life you live. With internet at the house, you can work remotely for your job. Never required to come in and barely show your face.
Both dogs, Kodiak and Vivian, were curled up happily on the couches. Each dog getting their own seat to themselves. You huffed with a soft smile at the sight before grabbing your keys. “Okay, babies, I’ll be back. Be good for me!” you called out to them. Only Vivian raised her head. Besides that, neither made an effort to say goodbye to you.
With that, you went out the front door. A bitter cold instantly rained down on you. It tried to bite through your jacket to steal away your warm. The jacket held strong while you hustled towards your auto-started truck. A necessity if living this far from town and in the dead of winter. A little Nissan wasn’t going to get you even down your driveway in this kind of weather.
Inside the vehicle, it was wonderfully warm and toasty. The heat blasted while the butt warmers worked their magic. I put the key into the ignition then carefully crawled down the driveway.
The trip to the store was uneventful. Just the same people you see every two weeks when you make the adventure down to town. Everyone knows everyone. They know who you are and know this is the day you come in. Usually, you get the same thing every time. Once in a blue moon, you’ll find something of interest and place that into your cart as well.
Today was no different than any other. You grabbed the necessary items and piled your cart up. Items that would last the two weeks away from civilization. That included fresh fruits and vegetables. Those would be stretching it to last that long. Yet, they were part of your diet. You made due.
Susan, a young woman, brightened up at the sight of you. The gloomy teenager was the daughter of the owner. Her mother made her work here. Something she complained about often. You could agree with her. She may seem rude on the outside but once you break past that shell, she was a dear to chat with.
The two of you caught up on intel about what’s been happening around the town. Mainly, Susan chatted your ear off. Apparently, Rick, a well known hunter, had gone missing. It was like he up and vanished from thin air. You may not know the man well but you’ve allowed him to stay at your home while he went up further into the mountains to hunt.
Then, Susan began to rave about a new guy that just moved into town. She instantly called dibs on him and pointed an accusing finger at you. “Dibs! He’s mine. Don’t even think about it,” she playfully scolded and continued to scan more of the items you were buying.
A laugh bubbled in your chest. Both of your hands were raised at the sides of your head, in surrender. “Okay, okay. I got the message. He’s all yours.” Not that you think this man was old enough for you to dabble with. You weren’t interested anyhow. No one in town… really riled you up. Which explains your dry spell.
She narrowed her eyes at you for a moment before relaxing. “Good. I’ve been trying to get his number the moment I’ve heard he moved in,” she told you, shoulders sagging.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” The words may seem apologetic, but Susan knew better. There was sarcasm hidden between them.
Instead of her finger, she threatened you with a log of ground beef you were going to use for burgers or tacos. “Oh hush, miss ‘lonely on top of my mountain’. I don’t know how you do it. Only having those two dogs as company. Seems so lonely and cruel to yourself.” Susan shook her head, letting her blonde hair sway side to side.
You chuckled with a grin and leaned on the counter. “I’m a loner. It’s not a bad life. Bills paid. The forest as my backyard. The birds and squirrels greeting me in the morning. With a small river to dip my feet in every day. It’s peaceful and relaxing. You should try it,” you offered with a teasing glint in your eyes.
“With Rick missing, I wouldn’t step foot out there. Who knows what took him. What if it’s like a Green River killer situation happening? You could be next. You would be a perfect opportunity.” The last of the items were scanned. You put your card into the reader. “All alone. You only come down into town every two weeks. No cell service. If you were killed, we wouldn’t know until the next time you were suppose to come in.”
With all of that laid down in front of you, the realization of the situation with Rick hit you. Yes, you could next. But, for someone to find your property that far into the mountains, they would need to specifically hunt you down.
“Susan, I’m fine. I got a gun, my dogs, and a lot of courage. Why else would I like so far from civilization? I knew the risks. I’m willing to take it.” You pulled the card out of the reader and slipped it back into your wallet. “Plus, Kodiak and Vivian would alert me if someone was near. They’re good guard dogs.” Well, not Vivi. Kodiak, was though.
The teenager reached across the counter to grasp your hand. “I still worry. You’re… one of my few friends that I feel close to. Please, don’t let you go missing too,” she pleaded with a hurt look etched into her features. You placed your other hand on top of hers and patted it.
“I won’t. You know me. I fight like hell,” you reassured her. Susan looked at you for a few more moments before taking back her hand. The two of you said your goodbyes before you left the store with a full cart.
On the drive back home, your thoughts were slightly scrambled from the fact there was Rick was missing. He knew the forest like the back of his hand. Any of the kids in town who wanted to learn to hunt went to him. He was an excellent hunter. One of the bests out there. But now… he was MIA. That thought churned your stomach.
Whilst in the deep end of your thoughts, your truck came around a corner. The snow on the road wasn’t terrible. A current flurry fell to cover the ground. It only made the sight difficult to see in front of you. Yet, you knew this roads like the back of your hand.
The added weight in the back of your reliable truck aided you well. You happily kept trucking your way along and popping to the sounds of your music.
Before it registered in your mind, something smashed into the grill guard on the front of your truck. Whatever it was went flying and disappeared through the flakes that filled the air. You gasped and stupidly stomped on the brakes. What little road there was present caught your tires and thankfully stopped you rapidly.
You were out of the vehicle before you knew it and rushing towards whatever you had hit. The snow was slick under your feet and took you into the embankment. Your feet were no longer underneath you. A short yell escaped you. You found yourself sunk into two feet of snow. When you get home, it seems like you’ll be stripping. The last thing you wanted was to get sick.
As you slowly rose to your feet, one of your hands landed on something that didn’t feel like it should be. Warmth greeted your palm. In this weather? It’s below freezing.
A confused expression pinched at your features. With a caution that guided your moves, you began to brush away the snow you must have pushed onto whatever this is.
One brush revealed something dark under the snow. The light of the day showed the surface to be… scaly? That’s the best word you could come up with. You peered down to see a fishnet like material that covered the scales. All you could think of was a stripper. Did you hit a… stripper? What the hell was a stripper doing this far from town? Why?
Despite it being imposable, the figure was warm. Pleasantly warm to the touch. You uncovered more and more until you come to release this was a human? Sort of. It had a humanoid form but wore a mask of metal. It covered the lower portion of its face to show off two deep eyes which were closed.
Whoever this was, wasn’t normal. The head shape was what screamed at you. Then, the strange rubbery like dreads that sprouted from underneath its dome shape head. Whiskers that looked to be made of the same material as its hair created eyebrows that crawled up the edges of its head.
Was this the thing you hit?! Your hand wrapped around its wrist, only to find that your fingers couldn’t even encircle it. There was at least two inches of space. But, you turned its wrist so the underside pointed skyward. Two fingers were placed on where a pulse point would be on human.
The warmth the form produced was amazing. The snow was melting when it fell on its exposed body. You almost wished to snuggle against it and savor its heat. Instead, you felt like behind your fingertips with relief. Now, what were you going to do with it?
For a moment, you glanced at your truck and knew the tonneau cover on the bed of your truck would be protective. There was not a chance in a million years that you could lift its hulking form and seat in it. The bed of your truck would be the easiest to get it into your truck. You didn’t know what it was. That was the scary part. But, you felt awful for smashing into it. The poor thing unconscious and lying in a ditch.
Your bottom lip was gnawed on.
With whatever strength you had, the humanoid figure found its way partial draped over your shoulders and back. Both of its muscular arms were thrown over your shoulder to help keep it up. You carefully dragged the unknown creature up the embankment and over to your truck.
Its head was next to your ear. Soft snores escaped its hidden mouth. The corner of your mouth curls up in a softly smirk. The sound was adorable for something so big. You didn’t except it make such a noise.
Your legs quivered with the strain of holding the creature up and reaching for your tailgate. The door eased down and offered you the needed space. A grunt surged past your lips. You tossed his upper portion onto the tailgate. The back end of your truck lowered with the added weight. Then, you bent down to grab its lower legs.
The strength it took to get the rest of it inside nearly made a vein pop in your forehead. You panted and leaned against your truck, head tilted back. The biting cold and falling snowflakes made your nose cold. You pushed the rest of it far enough before closing the gate with a slam. One more glance around provided no results. Just the empty forest that surrounded you.
You got back into your truck with a shuttering breath. Heat blasted in your face and unfroze the skin. It felt wonderful compared to the cold that clawed desperately to suck away your warmth. But, the metal of the vehicle protected you. You put it into drive and continued the drive back home to your dogs.
On the way back, all you could think of was the creature. What was it? And why was it out here of all places? This was the middle nowhere. There was no cell service. Nothing out here. Just the way you like it. Yet, here was this monstrous, towering beast that didn’t look human. Here you are, taking it home… to do what? Take care of it? To nurture it back to health? Well, you did hit him with your truck. That, you felt bad about.
White blanketed the entire front area of your driveway. The snow still coming down heavily at this point. You stepped out. The bitter cold returning to steal your heat. You trudged to the front door and unlocked before returning to the tailgate of your truck. It took little effort to pull it open and reveal the still unconscious body. You didn’t know what you would’ve done if it was awake. That was the last thing you wanted to deal with right now.
From the front door to your current position, it was about fifteen feet. The front porch was protected by the overhang. You gathered your strength and nerves before dragging the form closer to you. The truck continued shake at the weight of the creature. This was going to be difficult. You lugged the chest of it onto your back while slinging it’s arms over your shoulders. Not even the full weight was upon you and you felt like it was about to crush you. The adrenaline from before had worn off during the drive.
The muscles of your thighs trembled as you strained to get it out. You guess this was your sign to work out from more. It took a lot of finesse to lug the form out so it could be draped haphazardly over the top of you. One step after another, you worked your way to the front door and kicked it open. Both dogs charged out the front door to greet you. They raced up to the two of you and heavily sniffed at the legs of the creature.
“Guys! Stop! It’s difficult enough to carry this thing without either of you trying to drag it down,” you scold the two with a stern voice. Both of them eased up on their excitement but continued to take in its scent. You sighed and finally entered your home after such a long day.
The creature flopped down onto your couch the best you could with it’s size. It was massive, not even fitting on your full length couch. You wiped your forehead with the back of your hand in a humorous manner before marching out the front door again. From there, you hauled in the days work you had gone out to retrieve.
Once everything was inside the house, the door was closed and animates corralled back inside. All the food and supplies you got were swiftly put away before you got out the first aid. You didn’t know what you could do for it without any medical knowledge. It was let bleeding by the looks of it. You knelt besides it on the couch and noticed what looked to be bruising and swelling all along its right side. The grill guard. Your fingers gingerly ran along the blazing scales.
This was all your fault.
With the limited knowledge to care for serious injuries, you grabbed an ice pack from deep within your freezer. Kodiak and Vivian came over to investigate why you weren’t giving them attention. Kodiak, the bigger of the two, had his hackles raised and stood rigid a few feet away from the two of you. On the other hand, Vivian nudged her short, boxer nose into the creatures very human-like hand. The main difference was the scales and long black claws that tipped each finger. You shuttered and placed the cloth wrapped ice packs on the swelling.
Wheezing sounded with each inhale and exhale. The noise worried you. It wasn’t like you could take it doctor though. One look at this thing would have the FBI and CIA on your ass the second afterwards.
Despite it looking dangerous, the last thing you wanted was to put it through more harm. You already hit it with your truck and sent it flying like a reindeer through the air. The evidence was blooming on its two-tones scales. A mix of burgundy and tan. The red turning dark in some areas.
Upon closer inspection, skin was spilt on its forehead. Red blood did not flood from the cut. But a neon green that glowed despite the light in your living room. You did the best you could to tend to the mediocre cut. It wasn’t like it needed to be worried over. You fulfilled your duties then stepped away to prepare for dinner. There wasn’t much else you could do for it.
Now, it was up to fate if it is to wake up.
Amidst the preparation of dinner, your dogs whined and begged for their own. A glance at the clock told you it was past their dinner time. You were swift to make up a healthy concoction of raw meat, eggs, and a couple of vitamins to sprinkle on top. Their bowls were set in their respected spots. Each dog was given their command to eat.
Satisfied with that, you happily returned to making yourself food for the night. Every once in a while, you would glance over at the limp body still blanketing your couch. You still couldn’t believe how massive it was. If it were to stand, it would easily tower over you. You were thankful it hadn’t woken up though. You didn’t know what you would do when it would possibly wake up.
Water boiled in an otherwise empty pot. You side stepped to reach for the box of pasta. At the same time, you peered over your shoulder for a fleeting moment. The couch was empty. The box became your focus. You opened it up before pausing.
The couch was empty.
Heat flooded your backside.
A scream left your lips. Your body reacted before your mind fully comprehend the situation. You spun around and chucked the box of open pasta at the wall of muscles that stood directly behind you. It bounced off and scattered loose noodles all over the ground.
The wall didn’t move. Another scream left your lips. You scrambled to get towards the bat next to your door. Kodiak was the first to react and come bounding into the kitchen at full speed. A deep rumbling growl filled the air. Angry barks echoed off of the walls.
The cold metal of the bat met your palm. You whipped around and wielded your new weapon in the face of your intruder. Only to pause at the sight of the towering figure in your kitchen. Despite the lower portion of its face covered, its eyes clearly showed the confusion inside of them. It glanced down at the spilled pasta then at you. You gulped and kept the bat in front of you. God, it looked like it could take this thing away from you and bend it into a pretzel.
When it made no move towards as the tense seconds passed by, you timidly lowered the bat. Your tongue darted out to wet your dry lips. “You’re… awake,” you stated the obvious. But, you didn’t know what to say. Could it even understand you?
Intelligence shone in its bright, yellow eyes.
Nothing human-like.
It took a moment to take in its surroundings and ignored the snarling, slobbering dog in front of him. Its form was lax. You didn’t know if that should scare you or not.
“Kodiak!” you recalled the protective, black mut to you. His growls died down. His eyes didn’t leave the towering form the creature. He expertly walked over to you and stood in front of you. His body acting like a wall.
Vivian roamed into the kitchen, nose towards the ground. The boxer mutt sniffed at the fallen pasta until she came upon the creature. Her tongue lolled out while she tilted her head up. Her tail began to wag.
The two of them are polar opposites.
Fear gripped your heart. It knelt down and started to stroke her head. You didn’t miss the way it winced at the move. Guilt flooded you. It was your fault it was in this situation. Injured. The least you could do was offer a roof over its head and a full belly. Hopefully, that would save you from any transgressions. The last thing you wanted to do was piss it off. Those arms could tear your head straight from your body.
Bright yellow eyes returned to your timid form. In the eyes of a predator. Your heartrate began to pick up. You swallowed hard. “How, how are you feeling?” Thoughts were racing in your mind. Maybe, you could offer it some painkillers to ease off the agony of what looked to be broken ribs. They were at least bruised and could even be cracked. If they were broken, you wouldn’t forgive yourself. It was hard enough with the knowledge you had hit it.
A shuttering breath escaped your quivering lungs. It stared at you. All while petting Vivian. She just sat there, happy as a clam. Her tail wagging away in delight. Kodiak didn’t leave you despite his adoptive sister getting attention.
Then, it stood up. You felt yourself shrink. It was evident that this thing could move without you noticing. It shouldn’t be possible with its size and mass. None of the floorboards had creaked when it originally snuck up behind you.
While it looked at you, it felt wrong to return its gaze. As if you were poking the bear. You were making the situation worse than it already is. How could it get worse than this?!
Your front door shattering. Wood went flying at each of your feet’s. You yelled out and covered your head. The bat still gripped tightly in a death grip. A white blur zipped in front of you.
The form ignored you to wrap a hand around the creature and lifted him off of the ground. Kodiak went wild and charged without a care of his own safety. You screamed at him but he was in his own mind. To protect you.
Vivian yelped and scampered the best she could on the hard wood away from the scene. She was the smarter of the two.
Before stood a nearly ghost white humanoid form. Similar to the creature you had saved from the snow. Yet, its dreads were pure white. Devoid of any melatonin. You gasped. It had a death grip around the red creature’s throat and lifted it off of the ground. A pained grunt left its throat while it scrambled to get out of the hold.
Like son, like parent. You charged forward with the bat and smashed the metal end against the back of its white head. Ghost dropped Red with a pained grunt. Not a second was wasted. You continued to beat down on its nogging like your life depended on it. A guttural cry left your lips as you relentlessly bashed the metal bat.
A white slightly lime green hand whipped out and snatched the bat straight from your hands. Now, you were defenseless in the face of this monster.
Teeth latched onto its calf and dug in. Neon green blood sprayed out and soaked into Kodiak’s maw. You took the chance to back away.
A hulking body launched through the air and drug Ghost down. Fist flew. The harsh sounds of skin meeting skin in a vicious beat down filled the air. You stood there, arms slightly raised, as if you froze in the process of fleeing. All you do was watch as Red continued to introduce his knuckles to the metal of Ghost’s face.
The strength behind each punch caused the metal cave before giving. Neon green blood coated his red fists and coated them to the point it was flung everywhere. Its warmth dotted your clothing and face. But, you didn’t even flinch at the feeling.
Once Ghost had stopped moving, the punches halted. A scary calm entered the air. Red’s chest heaved with breaths but the mouth mask quieted the noise. You swallowed and pushed down the ringing in your ears. Its head whipped towards you with a rumbling snarl that nearly sent Kodiak off again. But, the lanky mutt came up to you to stand guard once in front of you.
Red realized it was you and silenced the sound immediately. Your hand carded through Kodiak’s fur to help quell the racing in your chest. The creature let his head tilt back a deep groan. Its dark dreads swayed at the move. The metal décor clinking against one another.
Your hand touched at your chest. The adrenaline in your system fading with each beat of your heart. The heat of the moment finally over. But, the fact you had nearly been slaughtered was a neon sign right in front of you. Your eyes finally focused on Red who was still straddling the dead body; of whatever they were.
In what felt like less than a minute, the situation had returned to normal. As the powerful drug left your veins, the biting cold that slithered into your expose home caused a chill down your back. You shivered and hugged at yourself.
The front door. It was nearly gone. Only bits and pieces hung on to the hinges. All the heat that was once inside the cozy home was gone. In came a cold you didn’t know how to battle.
A whimper left your lips.
A wall of muscle stood in front of you. Red’s hulking frame stood like a redwood tree over you. The first instinct was to shrink away. To flee. Pretty much. Your feet were rooted to the ground, unable to gather the strength and courage to run. To be a coward in the face of danger.
Kodiak no longer growled but his hackles were raised high. His dark brown eyes watched the unknown figure closely.
Heat rolled down in comforting waves off its body. It almost made you want to press yourself against it. You refrained from that embarrassing idea and glanced back over towards the destroyed door. “My door,” you pouted, sorrowfully and hugged yourself tighter. You had to think of something quick to keep the house a decent temperature.
Before you had a chance to get a plan in place, Red was already on the move. His body gracefully into the living room. You watched as blankets were gathered in those thick arms of his. He carried them over to the door.
As the best he could, he draped the blankets in layers. With the metal gauntlet on its arm, it punctured something into the wall multiple times. Each blanket was secured into place. It helped keep the majority of the cold out of your home.
His form stilled after he had blocked off your door. You took a breath of relief. The house was still drastically colder from the exposed elements. What he did though will help with preventing a quick exchange of temperature. You opened your mouth to speak your relief to him when the creature turned around to finally face you.
There was an air around him that made you slightly nervous. It made you off putted. With the dead body of someone like him on your floor, you had all rights to be. A life he took with his very own fists, and showed no mercy.
Yet, Ghost had come in here. A monster on a mission for the creature standing in front of you.
That left you with one major question: “What the hell happened?” you asked in a firm voice. Your heart thumped powerfully behind your breastbone. The adrenaline leaving your system and making you tired. The last thing you wanted was to pass out or grow dazed in front of him. Not when he showed what he could do without a weapon.
Red’s bright, blazing eyes were set on you. He strode across the living room to enter your space. The heat his body radiated rolled off onto you again. It made you strive to curl up against him. But, you stayed rooted in your spot and looked up at his towering frame. You were scared. At the same time, you held your own in the face of danger. A watchful, careful eye was set on him.
Your body was wracked with a shutter.
“You are cold,” he spot in a voice that barely uttered the words. It was almost like it wasn’t natural to him. His tongue and mouth wasn’t meant to form such words. Your eyes flickered wider before narrowing on him.
Both of your hands rested on your hips. “Well, no shit sherlock. It’s freezing outside and your friend here busted down my door,” you snarked at him. The cold making you a bitter human being.
All you could read on his face was his eyes. One of his brows simply raised at your words. “He was no friend.” Welp, he didn’t understand the sarcasm in your voice.
A sigh left your lips while you shook your head. The temperature was still far below a comfortable range. You recrossed your arms firmly to contain your own body heat. “Still doesn’t excuse the behavior for the fact my front door is gone.” It would take you some time before you could go back into town and get yourself a new door. You had work tomorrow. It was dangerous to be out after dark. There was no time between now and tomorrow.
You rubbed at the exposed skin on your arms with another shutter. The creature’s eyes flickered down to watch the move. He moved in. You opened your mouth to demand what he was doing then his arms wrapped around you. The warmth you’ve been craved soaked into your skin. A deep hum escaped you while you sunk against him.
“Why are you so warm?” you mumbled against the scales he had you pressed to. Your arms twitched, desperate to reach out and wrap them around him. Yet, you held back to keep some sort of composure in front of a beast you didn’t know.
Against your cheek, you could feel the bumps from his injured ribs. That brought you back to the present. You pulled away from him to put some distance between the two of you. “How are your ribs?” you asked in a timid voice. Now, you became hesitant to look him in the eye. That was embarrassing to be nearly drooling at the heat he produced. He should be your concern. You had been the one to hit him with your truck. He’s wounded too.
His hand drifted up to said area. Rough pads grazed along the swollen spot on his left side. You winced. It looked worse than before. The fighting must have agitated them more.
A shrug came from him. “They are… fine,” he struggled to find the last word at first.
In all honesty, you weren’t convinced but had to take his word for it. You glanced down at the body then back at him. The front door was unusable. There was the back door.
God, you didn’t want to deal with this now. Worse of all, you lost your appetite. You jolted then rushed over into the kitchen.
Water boiled over the edge of the pot and created a dangerous mess. You instantly turned off the heat and leaned on the counter. You weren’t going to say it but this day had turned worse. Sometimes, it was best to keep your trap shut. That, you learned the hard way.
Pained grunts sounded behind you. You peered over your shoulder at the sight of Red picking up Ghost’s body. He tossed it onto his shoulders, fireman style, with little issues. Your jaw dropped at the sight. Red glanced at you for a fleeting moment before walking towards the only other door in your home. You watched as he stepped out into the snow and darkness.
Despite no light, the snow reflect any and all light. Red walked and walked upon he was barely visible. The body slid off of his shoulders and was quickly swallowed up by the feet of snow that blanketed the area.
No one would find the body. Not this far out. Who would be looking for it in the first place? Clearly, they weren’t from here. They were… from somewhere else.
Red came trudging back into the house and closed the door behind him.
Before a silence could engulf the two of you, you took a breath in. “I don’t know if you know… but I had hit you with my truck. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t even know someone would be out there. No one should be. But here we are. Um, and in return, you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you want. My apologies for hitting you and such,” you stated to him and pushed off of the counter to stand up to your full height.
“There’s not much here. The other two bedrooms are taken. One for the dogs. The other for storage. Not like they had a bed in either of them. Y-you can stay in my room though. It’s big. It’s better than the couch.” God, you kept rambling on and on.
He chuffed. “It will grow cold out here. A ooman such as yourself wouldn’t battle the weather and win.” Your timid status nearly turned at his words. You wanted to smack him for the comment but refrained from doing so. Your head tilted at the use of ‘ooman’. It almost sounded like… human. Could he no say the word?
“What are you suggesting then?” you asked, unsure what he was trying to say.
“We sleep together.” The color drained from your face. Heat blazed to a burning fire all over your face. “We use each other’s body heat. Mostly, keeping you from freezing and dying on me.” He stepped close enough you saw the dimensions of his eyes. “You don’t realize it, but you not only saved me once but twice.”
Confusion took over your features.
“In the forest, on the road. I was fighting against the bad blood. You had came along in your vehicle and hit him. Then, just now.” Wait… you had hit both of them?! Your face morphed into horror. “As much as it pains me to admit to such a thing, you had saved my life twice. As per my honor code that I am bound to, I am in debt. I shall not let harm come to you.”
“Hold up! Hold up. Let me get this straight. I hit both of you.” You began to count off on your fingers with each point. “I somehow saved your life then. I drag you here. I save you again from… a bad blood? My god. What in the hell are you?!” You had both of your hands pointed at him. Your body very animate with your words.
“A Yautja. My name is Dai’stbaen. I am an enforcer,” he explains and forfeits information to you. You clutched at your forehead. “I hunt down bad bloods. Rouges of my kind and kill them.” You had to lean back against the counter again to keep yourself upright. All of this information was flying far too fast at you.
Then… it struck you. “You’re an alien.” It was more of a statement than a question. He wasn’t from earth. Aliens were real. Oh god. You felt lightheaded, on the verge of passing out from all of this hitting you straight in the face. A keen left your throat.
Dai…st’baen dipped his massive dome head. Your gaze was pinned to the floor but you weren’t looking at anything. You were trapped inside of the flying thoughts that turned into a hurricane.
Clearly, there was no sanity left inside of you. Not at this rate.
“Okay then.” After what felt like hours, you finally came to a conclusion. In the moment, you had to just roll with it. Adapt. Survive. A life you knew far too much about while living in the middle of nowhere. You met his eyes. “Well… um, this has been an eventful day. But, I think it’s time to turn it if you don’t mind. I need… to sleep on all of this.” Maybe some sleep could help you think clearer tomorrow.
The burgundy figure looked at you, eyes studying your figure for long moment. You took the moment to step around him and head towards your bedroom. “Come along, I’ll show you.”
Despite not hearing any pitter patter of feet, you felt his huge presence behind you. Like a shadow. You showed him into your room. It wasn’t much. But it was your space that you enjoyed. Yet, here you were, about to share it with someone else. Someone not even your own species.
One of your hands motioned towards the bed. “There’s the bed. I’ll go and grab some more blankets for you. It’ll… be really cold.” The sun was gone far below the horizon. There was no heat to share from the outdoors. It was all on the two of you to survive.
His bright eyes watched as you scurry into the hallway. Though, you wanted to be away from the scrutiny of his powerful gaze, you were swift to get armfuls of blankets. The night won’t be forgiving. Heat was essential to staying alive in a place like this. You didn’t know if he understood that or not. It wasn’t like he needed to be wrapped up in twenty blankets. He was a furnace himself.
All the blankets were tossed onto the bed into a pile. Then, you turned towards him. “I… uh, hope this is fine. It’ll be too cold out in the living room for me.” You really hoped he didn’t kick you out of your room. Not when the temperature could slowly drain you of your warmth.
Dai’stbaen merely shrugged before climbing onto the bed gingerly. You followed suit and wrapped yourself up in the blankets. Though this was your bed, you laid there straight as a rod and stared up at the ceiling.
This was going to be a long night.
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meowordeath · 10 months ago
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A/N: I love Identity V!! especially Eli Clark!! I attempt to make it as gender ambiguous as possible, besides one having the word boob just replace it with pec! i didn’t know a gender neutral term for boob, sorry! :3 btw I'm not sure if someone else has already done this!
Characters | Eli Clark , Ganji Gupta , Naib Subedar and the lovely lady Patricia Dorval
Content warning : fluff , reader with boobs but no specific pronoun, not too inappropriate, jack the ripper And Breaking wheel if those count?
Identity V characters reacting to their s/o clothes getting ripped! :3
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Eli Clark
Before the match started Eli got to view your new costume. It looked very ninja like, the clothes were very skin tight. You two chatted while preparing for the match “Remember, just called out and I'll send brooke to your aid, okay?” He whispered to you laying his gloved hand atop yours. “I know, don't worry if I need you I’ll shout”
You smile before pecking him on the cheek. Brooke hoots happily, as Eli gives you one more loving look, before everyone's sight fades.
For first few minutes of the match you had been decoding. Feeling more relaxed as Luca shouted the hunter was on him, making him first kite. Your cipher was a little over half way done, as Luca started kiting toward you. At first you assumed he was just kiting in the area so you didn't bother to get off the cipher.
Your heartbeat started to get more prominent, but you were still very lax, thinking Luca and whoever the hunter was were just getting closer, when a shout rang out through the map. “Beware! Hunter has changed target!” You lifted your head abruptly from your cipher, accidentally messing up a calibration in the process making you shield your face from the explosion.
Soon after you messed it up you felt blades run from your back to your side. You cry out in pain bumping into the cipher as you sprint away, unfortunately the cipher snagged one of the slashes he had made in your shirt. A dark chuckle sounded behind you as you ran.
“This chase is already way more exciting than chasing that decoder,” Jack said licking the blood from his blades. You ran vaulting windows, throwing pallets for distance, you even led him back to Luca. Luca had a flustered look watching you pass him.
Eli knew you were currently kiting and trusted that you’d call out for help, so he didn't want to waste his spectate. “Help me!” Your shout rang out through the map. Eli was quick to send brooke to your aid. Looking through brooke's eyes he was shocked at the condition of your current costume. His face turned a little red.
Jack had only meant to slash your back, but since you messed up the calibration his slash went down your side, slicing open your shirt. It would've been fine with thin slashes, if your crash into the cipher hadn't caused your shirt to snag. It tore and your right boob was pretty much exposed.
You were trying to hold onto some dignity pulling the shreddings of your shirt over to cover it, but vaulting and pulling down pallets. You needed both your hands. Jack definitely had a great view of you each time you pulled down pallets. Eli was quick to find the teams other assist, William, and asking for his help to get The Ripper off you.
William was quick to assist. He stunned Jack allowing you to escape and hide, forcing him switch targets. Eli set brooke to find you, so he could help.
When he did find you, you were crouched behind a pallet, making a pathetic attempt to save your shirt. Eli crouched in front of you, not looking at your chest, instead checking over the wound. “It’s gonna be okay s/o, you can have my trench coat” His voice was slightly flustered, as he shed his coat.
He was left in his white long-sleeve button-up and black tie. You couldn't be more thankful for him wearing his recluse costume. “Thank you, Eli. God, this is pretty embarrassing!” Both your guy's faces have a faint blush, as you button up his trench coat finally covering your exposed flesh.
Eli's nervousness faded as he smiled. Lifting his hand to cup your cheek. “Don't worry, if they say anything, I'll have brooke rose peck out their eyes” he jokes, brooke hoots in agreement.
Ganji gupta
You and Tracy are both hanging out in the manors workshop. She was originally tinkering until you came in, wanting to show off your new costume to her. It had this futuristic theme, and Tracy was quick abandoned her invention to mess with the small gadgets they stuck to you as accessories.
On the front-side of your shorts, you had some sort of tablet with buttons and fun looking controls. It was attached to some belt that had other gadgets, they were all locked to the belt, which was attached to the shorts. Tracy was crouched down messing with them all.
“How mad do you think Miss Nightingale would be if I started taking this stuff apart?” Tracy said with a small grin. You look down and it seems she had already took her screwdriver to a few things. “Well, I guess we will find out” She laughed at your words.
Everything was going fine you were standing as you watch Tracy dismantle each piece of futuristic tech on the belt. Ganji knocked before entering the workshop. He sighed looking at Tracy crouched next to you. “How much longer are you gonna keep my s/o, Reznik?”
Ganji was told this was only gonna be a quick visit to show off the costume. Yet He’d been left waiting out there for at least 20 minutes. “Calm down ‘Gupta’ your s/o came here to show off their costume to me not you!” Tracy taunted, while saying his name is a mocking tone. Ganji scoffed, setting his cricket bat down at the door.
“Who do you think they showed it to first, Reznik.” Ganji sounded like he was subtly bragging, at being the first person to see you in the new costume. Tracy rolled her eyes. “Darn, the screen to this thing just doesn't want to come off!” She said trying to get the screen off, to get the wiring.
Ganji started to walk toward them reaching to pull Tracy off his s/o. “Okay Reznik, I’ve had my fair share of sharing my s/o.” Before He could reach Tracy she had fell back as her force caused your shorts to rip.
Tracy honestly didn't see anything with how fast Ganji was to cover you, He scowled down at Tracy. “I'm sorry...?” She said with a sheepish smile. “Find my s/o something to cover up with Reznik” He said firmly. She was quick to bolt out of the room. “Right! I'll be right back!”
She didn't look back in fear of seeing Ganji's harsh gaze. You could help but rest you forehead against his back laughing. “What are you laughing at? You’re currently in your underwear, if you hadn’t noticed.” He said turning toward you with a slight frown.
“I can’t help but laugh at the silliness of this situation my love. I never expected Tracy to rip my shorts, all so she could get the tablet!” You found this situation pretty funny. Ganjis frown turned into a small smile with your amusement.
“Glad you find this amusing. Though I’d rather be the only one to see my lover without pants on.” His words made your face slightly red. “Okay, perv.” His gaped slightly. “… I’ll remember that the next time your clothes rip. I won’t cover you.”
You smile squeezing his cheeks. “Yes you will, because you love me!” He sighed as you squeezed his face passive-aggressively. “… Yes I will.”
Naib Subedar
You know your lover hates Murro with an burning passion. Mostly because he hates boars, but you thought Murro’s boar was kinda cute.
Unfortunately Murro stayed very far away from you, making it so you barely saw his boar outside of matches.
It was a very nice day at the manor, survivor matches going smoothly, not that you had any matches to participate in today, Naib had about one or tw. With him on the team you didn’t doubt they would win.
In the manor there is an outdoor area, and due to you not having any matches today you want to go walk around in the sun for a bit.
On your way out you were wearing loose fitting loungewear. Not being in a match you didn’t want to put effort into putting on one of your usually costumes.
The sun felt good especially after being inside for most the day, you would take what you can get before Naib decides to ‘lowkey’ glue himself to your side. The outdoor part of the manor was pretty big enough to have a small forest, with a gate surrounding the whole area of course.
In the distance near trees you saw a tail and decided to investigate. Upon getting closer you realized its nust Murro's boar.
“Oh, I wonder why you’re out here by yourself. Is Murro around?” You said crouching down in front of the boar. It kind of just stared at you chewing on grass.
“Right, you’re an animal you can’t talk…” You felt a little awkward as the boar stared you down. “Well… I’m gonna go back that way…?” You stand dusting yourself off. As you stand the boar approaches you. You got back down wanting to pet it.
It did let you pet it for a moment, you got to even rub its stomach. It was fun, until you decided to go back inside and it grabbed ahold of the back of your shirt.
You and the boar had a short staring match. “Hmm, as much as I would love to spend more time with you Murro’s boar i’m sure my boyfriend is done with his match.” You said trying to tug the shirt from its mouth.
The boar refused turning it into a game of tug-a-war. “Let. go!” You huffed out fighting against the animal, you could hear the fabric starting to tear from you two pulling on it.
With one last tug you fell backwards, grunting in pain. It had a good chunk of fabric in its mouth as its trophy. You heard hurried footsteps. looking up you saw Murro. “I’m sorry! I didn't realize my boar had wandered away, forgive me!” He reached out to help you.
Unfortunately Naib had just arrived at the scene to see Murro’s boar with some of your shirt in its mouth, and Murro himself standing over you. In a moment a blade whizzed past, slicing Murro’s cheek causing him to fall on his butt in fear.
Looking behind you, he could see a very angry Naib hauling ass toward you all. In fear he quickly abandoned you. Hopping on his boar he left, running in the opposite direction.
Naib almost ran past you to chase Murro if you hadn’t gotten up quickly to grab the back of his shirt. “Wait, don’t chase after him!” You struggled to hold on to the man.
“I’ll gut him and that boar. How dare he sica damn animal on you.” His voice wasn't a shout but he was definitely furious. He was very strong actually draggjng you as he tried to pursue Murro.
You pull on his ponytail dragging his head back. “Hold your horses, who said anything about him siccing his boar on me?!” You let go of his hair as he stopped for a moment. “What do you mean, his boar was standing over you with some of your clothes in it mouth. How could that not be an attack on you?” He finally turned toward you head tilted slightly in confusion.
Sighing, you lightly pat Naib's cheek. “I wouldn't say it was an attack, I was originally playing with the boar. It only was trying to stop me from walking away, and Murro said he ran over after noticing it was gone.”
Naib’s eyebrows were still furrowed, eyes slightly closed, as of he was trying to see if you were lying for the sake of Murro. “Fine, I won't chase after him, for now.”
You grin pinching your lovers cheek. “Good! Now lets go inside you smell like shit” You say looping your elbow with his to lead him back to the manor. He rolled his eyes. “Whatever dear.”
Patricia Dorval
“Breaking wheel...! That son... sons? Of a bitch!” You say irritated, cursing his name to the sky quietly. He had been chasing you for most of the match before you lovely, kind, sweetheart patricia, took kite.
Inside your head you gushed about your girlfriend as you were trying to remove his spikes from not only your clothing but from your skin, as it had penetrated through the cloth into you.
Pulling them out was a huge pain, It hurt like hell. If only someone could help. You couldn't reach the ones in your back. Your mind drifted to Patricia as you pondered how her kite was going.
“You need help?” A raspy voice spoke out from behind you causing to yell and jump. Quickly turning around your faced wth the sneaky bastard who turned out to be Kreacher.
“Damn it Kreacher, you don't just sneak up on people like that!” You shout at the man hand over your heart. Other one raised as if you were going to hit him.
He back away from your shouts ready to coward out, and run away from your aggression. “Wait! Yes, I need help...” You say embarrassed about having to ask Kreacher of all people, to help you.
He was a little hesitant to come toward you, he had a sketical look toward you as you were just shouting but he did anyways. “Stay still and Ill get them removed” He said hand already painfully pulling one lodged in your back.
You try to hold in your pained shouts, refusing to show that this bothered you in front of Kreacher. They were pretty thin the spikes, but very sharp with tiny barbs that makes sense them hard to get from your skin.
Kreacher doesn't exactly have the gentlest hands while removing these from both your clothes and skin. You couldn't tell if he was trying to hurt you or help you.
“You could slow down damn it! Stop removing them fast you asshole, It hurts!” You hiss pulling away as he pulled another one carelessly out.
“Maybe if you could actually dodge breaking wheel..” You heard him mutter under his breath. “What did you just say!?” You say ticked off. “Nothing!!” He quickly says pulling one out to distract you.
He was pulling out the last one when both your hearts started to beat slightly, though it was barely anything to make you fret, polun didn't even know where you two were.
Coward freaking Pierson on the other hand grabbed ahold of the last spike dragging it down your back as he pulled away, bolting.
The specific spike he pulled was at the top so it tore all the way down, making the shirt go forward almost exposing if you hadn’t held it up with your hands. You grind your teeth slightly, turning to curse out to Kreacher.
As you turned your eyes met Patricia's, who had wacked Kreacher down with her ape skull, making his head bleed as he dizzily sat on the ground.
“Sorry I wasn't here sooner s/o, but at least I crushed this roach.” She said walking past him to you. She pecked you on the cheek getting her lipstick on your face, before looking at your back which was now exposed.
You had some blood drops rolling down from the sprike removals. She cut some more of your shirt so that she could tie a not in the back so it wouldn't fall off.
“I would take Kreachers jacket and give it to you, but I'd rather none of his filthy items touch you” She said as she gently caressed your back, careful of the small wounds.
You blushed at her caring gesture. “I should've warn a different costume one with a jacket, that's my bad.” She put her arms around your neck. “Well, I for one really like this costume, too bad it gonna be temporarily out of commission”
She makes it so hard for you not to swoon when shes this sweet. Kreacher groans reminding you two he was there.
Patricia unhooks her arms from around your neck. “Let's leave that thing and go decode the last cipher. Polun will find and kill it” She says loud enough for him to hear.
She grabs your hand pulling you away toward a cipher, while you follow her happily. Patricia was right about Kreacher as he was found & killed after Ganji led the hunter to him. At least the 3 of them escaped!
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PLEASE I REALLY TRIED HARD TO MAKE THEM ALL SIMILAR LENGTH!! Hope you like this :3
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fluffyfantasticducky · 1 year ago
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How to Cure Pains and Heartaches
☆ Pairing: Loki x Reader
☆ Synopsis: After such a bitter end, Loki has no choice but to fade away. To his surprise he awakens in bed where he will be taken care of. Why? What do they want of him? Who's that lovely mortal?
☆ Word Count: 6,266
☆ Notes: Loki being a swooning darling, he's recovering from injuries in a fix it AU where he survives the attack on the Statesman and he gets to live on earth.
☆ Warnings: Mention of Loki's trauma and torture courtesy of the Mad Titan, fuck you Thanos. Mention of gaining weight (but it isn't given a negative conotation).
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No one could deny Loki had gone through a lot of stuff, simply his Asgardian nature and the amount of exposure he had had with war from a young age would (rightfully) horrify most Midgardians, plus the pressure of being royalty and the responsibility it demanded with him.
In retrospect, Loki always knew his amount of responsibility were no way near as high as Thor’s, which allowed Loki to get some relief by following his nature as God of Mischief. But still: meetings, war council, royal balls, and in general trying to keep an image of perfection to most of Asgard other than Thor’s group and his parents who truly knew of Loki’s more playful nature, it was quite draining.
And that was before the true horrors.
That one trip to Jotunheim had been the source of over a decade of disgrace. Knowing all that battle would cause, he never would’ve let those three other Jotuns into the vaults of Valaskjalf.
After that, it was tragedy after tragedy. And the worst of them happened in the Sanctuary II.
At first, he thought some bounty hunters had recognized him, given they seem to know who he was, and the only reason they spared his life was because it would be about a matter of time until they’d bargain his life with Odin.
But after several months where he was starved, and his only contact was to be tortured, where the Black Order tore his body apart bit by bit, breaking bones, tearing skin only to throw him back into an isolation cell, where all that kept him together was his pride and the thought that Heimdall could see him and start a rescue mission, thing he learned years later couldn’t be done.
And when he didn’t cave in, they shattered his mind as well, using the Mind Stone on his scepter, giving him no choice but to submit. Everything bad in his life prior to that point seemed to be blissful field trip.
And for many years later he thought he would spend the rest of his life suffering to atone to the horrors he unleashed onto Jotunheim and New York. And by the time the Sanctuary II intercepted the Asgardian escape ship on its way to Earth, and he felt himself fading from reality… nothing had proved him otherwise.
At least he had protected his brother…
Who would’ve thought that the next time he opened his eyes he would be laying in a hospital bed, flowers by his ankles and a cervical collar? He had a thousand questions. Where was he? Who brought him there? Why had he been saved? Why couldn’t they let him just die?
Just when he thought it was another round of the same type of torture the Black Order inflicted on him, the door opened… Only about a few hours after waking up, and just in time when his stomach started growling.
The first time he saw you, you felt like a vision. Beautiful and most of it all, kind.
“Loki how are you feeling?” you smiled at him, as you stepped inside the room with a tray of warm food. The smell made his mouth water. “Were you waiting for long? Sorry, I didn’t hear you wake up.”
Loki was quietly staring at you. Not only because his throat was dry, but because he had no idea who you were or what were your intentions.
But you didn’t seem bothered by his silence. You just let out a little chuckle.
“You seem more active today” you smiled, “Usually you can only stay awake for a few seconds. Are you hungry?”
Loki wanted to be proud and say nothing, but his body’s needs were stronger, and a rather loud growl of his stomach gave it away how hungry he was, making his cheeks flare up in embarrassment.
“Don’t worry, I would be hungry too if I hadn’t eaten anything in 5 years” you spoke compassionately, but with a hint of humor.
5 years?!?
“How long have I been here?” he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse beyond recognition, and it hurt to speak.
“Oh, you poor thing, you must be thirsty” you said as you reached his food tray and grabbed a cup of water with a straw and placed it just before his lips. “About your question, a few weeks, a Stark satellite detected a faint life signal and Thor went to find you.”
You spoke in such a humane manner that Loki couldn’t help but lower his guard a bit, and he opened his mouth as you helped him drink.
The water was cold and fresh, it felt so relieving that he couldn’t hold back a sigh when he finished drinking, that only happened when the cup was empty.
You let out a soft giggle at the sight of him. It was then that he recognized you, sort of.
He vaguely remembered your laugh, it was faint, but if he pushed himself to think about it, it was there. He never saw your face, but the sound was familiar, so he concluded it must have been previous visits while he was still unconscious.
It was a pretty sound… innocent, pure.
“You mentioned my brother…” Loki asked. “Is he…?”
As he made his question, you set a table before him and the tray on top of it. It was a huge bowl of soup, and one of mashed potatoes. His stomach growled once again.
“Thor has been visiting you every day practically without exception” you told him. “He talks to you, keeps you updated about his life. Last week he came with Doctor Foster, it seems they started seeing each other again. But we’ve notified him you’re finally awake.”
You sat beside him on the edge of the bed and grabbed the spoon on the tray and started feeding him the soup. It was so warm, and the flavor was rich, that his eyes started watering. What cruel trick was all this kindness? When would this all go South?
His forming tears didn’t go unnoticed, and you cupped his face, your soft fingers caressing his cheeks to clean his tears.
“You don’t have a fever, does it hurt anywhere?” you asked.
“No… I feel per—” he choked on his words, “I feel perfectly fine… all things considered.”
“I’ll monitor your reflex later, but first focus on eating” you said gently. “You need to regain your strength.”
You didn’t have to tell him twice, he was so hungry that if he had had more strength, he would just hold the bowl and chug it all down. By the time he was onto the mashed potatoes he was a lot stronger, the second meal was just as tasty, seasoned just right to make him want to keep eating until his stomach popped.
He even let out a soft little breathy burp, which made you giggle again.
“Don’t eat so fast!” you scolded him with a happy tone.
He found it in himself to laugh softly along with you.
“5 years without food, I remind you” he joked back. “I’ll eat as fast as I can.”
“You were blipped 5 years... you didn’t age a day.”
“Blipped?”
You spent the next few minutes filling him in what had happened. Thanos won, and half of the universal population vanished, for them it was only a few minutes at most… while the rest of the universe aged 5 years. Five years, where everyone thought he was dead, where he was dead.
Now, Loki wanted to cry. The amount of relief that washed over him made him rest back.
“Finally… I’m free…” he sighed. “It’s over… he’s gone…”
He tried covering his eyes when he noticed the sting coming from his left arm, he noticed a cast neatly wrapped around it.
“Your neck injury was the most concerning, but your arm and ankle were badly wounded as well” you explained, and he noticed another cast covering his foot from arch to his ankle. “Although your foot is mostly healed by now.”
He put some attention to his bandaged foot and wiggled his toes, which thank the gods responded perfectly.
“It’s a bit itchy” Loki pointed out.
“I’m pretty sure that’s normal” you chuckled and grabbed a pencil from your pocket, and sneaked it in his cast, and scratched his sole. “Here.”
But the touch, while it somewhat alleviated the itch, it had an unexpected tickly feeling that caused Loki to yelp and jerked his foot back.
“Hehe-hey!” he giggled.
“I’m sorry” you apologized with a soft chuckle.
“You’re lucky I’m too weakened to put a dagger to your throat” Loki spoke, but he noticed he couldn’t get rid of the amusement in his voice.
“Perhaps I should take the chance to really make you laugh then.” You smiled, twirling the pencil on your fingers. “Given you can’t do anything to stop me.”
“Don’t even think about it!” Loki blurted out, “If you even dare to… to…”
He felt his cheeks flush. It had been so long since he had been tickled, it felt silly, plus he was quite vulnerable right now.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to upset you” you assured him, “…yet.”
You let out another soft laugh at the indignation in his face.
“Do you not know the consequences of crossing me?” Loki asked, “Are you that ignorant of the capabilities of the God of Mischief? I have terrorized this realm, Midgard bows before my power! I could finish you with a single hand.”
“What would you get out of it?” you asked bluntly. “You live here now; you would only lose.”
He looked at you and opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Not only was he too weak right now to even keep that threat, but truly besides that little tickle you had been nothing to but kind to him, and even that had been with the intention to help him.
“Do you truly not fear me?” Loki asked after another moment of silence.
“Should I?” you asked with a happy smile.
Perhaps he found that little grin of yours to be too charming, it could be the fact that you had his food and water at your mercy, or it could be the fact that you were a purely friendly presence, which he hadn’t had in… he couldn’t remember for how long. But he truly didn’t want you to be scared of him.
“I suppose not” he finally said.
“Predictable.”
Loki let out a laugh.
“You’re a funny little one” Loki smiled.
Just then a loud noise came in as if something huge was stomping their way through the hall. Which proved to be not far off because soon a large blond figure tumbled onto the door frame.
“Brother…” both Asgardians said in unison.
The older brother’s eyes filled with tears as he rushed to the bed, and with the last self-control he possessed, Thor didn’t tackle the raven haired into a bear hug. Just… collapsed on his knees by the side of his bed.
“You’re awake…” the God of Thunder burst into messy sobs. “…Alive.”
In other times, Loki would’ve found Thor’s reaction ridiculous, mockable, or annoying… but after all they had been through and seeing the streak of his own hair tangled in one of Thor’s braids… he let out a soft sob as he gently reached to place his hand on Thor’s head.
“Ahem!” you cleared your throat to make yourself present. “As long as you’re careful with his neck, you two can hug.”
You smiled and left the room to give them space. Both brothers let out a laugh and Thor cradled his little brother in his arms, supporting his head as if he was a baby as his other hand was squeezing Loki.
“I told you the sun would shine on us again” Loki spoke softly.
“You idiotic, insincere, irresponsible, impulsive, inconsiderate fool!” Thor scolded him, sounding more relieved than anything.
“Oh, good, you ran out of insults that started with an I” Loki laughed.
“I beg you, brother. Never give me a scare like that again” Thor begged.
“In my defense, I didn’t fake it this time” he whispered.
There was an awkward silence as none of the princes knew what to say to each other, there was so much to say, but… where to start?
“I… heard you started seeing Doctor Foster again.”
That made Thor smile as started telling Loki what he had done with his life, how Asgard was doing, which was what finally broke Loki, hearing Asgard managed to live on was that finally burst into tears as he hugged his brother again.
The two brothers talked for hours, and for the first time in years, if not ever, Loki felt the conversation with his brother be purely lighthearted. He was so lost in the chat that it took him hours to notice…
“You’ve gained weight” Loki pointed out.
“Quiet, you imp…” Thor snorted. “It’s been tough these last 5 years.”
“I… did not mean to be judgmental” Loki assured him. “It just… I’ve been out for so long…”
“Well, don’t get used to this, I’m already exercising again, and I’m renouncing to beer… aside from social events” Thor said happily.
“Oh? I didn’t know you drank” Loki tilted his head. “But… good for you.”
Thor’s face darkened, making Loki immediately regret his comment.
“It was… Very rough five years…” Thor said again. “I suppose time wasn’t kind on me.”
Loki felt a pang of guilt settle on his chest, after Ragnarök he truly had no intention to pull another stunt like that. For once, he had every intention to stick by Thor’s side.
But at the time the Sanctuary II intercepted their ship, all Loki could think was protecting Thor. Because he knew that if anything happened to his brother, no one else would’ve had a fighting chance against the Mad Titan. But he had been reckless.
“I— I’m sorry brother…” Loki apologized, and Thor smiled at him. “How’s Asgard?”
“It’s been difficult as you may imagine… but, you know… us Asgardians are stubborn, we’ve managed.” Thor smile. “Little Asgard is thriving!”
“Oh, I’m painfully aware, you’re all a nightmare” Loki joked, making Thor laugh again.
Despite his sarcasm, something in the way Thor said us Asgardians made Loki smile, by now Thor knew very well his true nature, and yet he still treated him as one of his own, like his brother, maybe not bound by blood, but by something stronger.
The conversation kept going until Loki’s stomach growled in hunger, but by then the sun had set a while ago. And it didn’t take long after when you had stepped in the room with a tray of food and Thor excused himself for the night.
The meals were simple and soft for a good while, porridge, broths and soups, sauce-less pastas, yogurts, Jello, but having a pretty mortal such as yourself literally feeding him and tending to his every whim made his recovery quite pleasant. Especially when he started eating solid foods again and the meals were a lot tastier.
“You’re healing quite fast,” you told him as you checked monitored his ribs for any soreness. “I’ve heard injuries usually take maybe 3 or 4 times longer to heal. …In the best of circumstances, but Stephen said your bones are practically all healed now.”
“If someone can pull out a miracle like that, a god should be the right place to go” he joked as he kept holding his shirt up so you could.
“That’s fair, also having the best doctors and technology at our disposal helps, doesn’t it?” you quipped.
“Do not underestimate my divinity, mortal” he said dramatically.
“Oh, yes, forgive me, your godly-ness…” you bowed just as dramatically.
“You’ve been gaining weight” you said as you prodded your stomach.
He let out a yelp.
“Rude” he said cheekily.
“No, I mean, you were practically nothing but skin and bones when we found you” you assured him, “I mean you seem healthier now. You must be in your healthy weight again by now.”
“Do not flatter me” Loki smirked.
“Flatter you?” you gasped out a laugh. “Nonsense, it’s been my care the reason you no longer look like a malnourished cat!”
He did not expect you to start prodding and squeezing his belly, instantly causing him to burst out laughing. Curse his gut for being this vulnerable to your playful fingers.
“Nohohohoho! Don’t!” he whined between cackles. “Stohohohop!”
“Oh my god!” you laughed and gave him a small breather “I didn’t even have to do anything… But if you insist…”
“W-What…? Insist…?”
“I won’t stop…”
“W-What? N-No! PLEHEHEHEASE! NO! STOP!” Loki begged despite his pride, but the way you kept squeezing his belly, giving his skin soft pinches made him wheeze out shaky laughter was too much. “NOT MY— NOHOHOHOHOHO!”
You started focusing on the patch of skin around his belly button, which surprisingly enough was even more ticklish than his navel itself. He started digging his heels onto the mattress as he arched and squirmed on the bed.
“Okay, okay!” you squeaked out as you grabbed his ankle, forgetting your playful attack, to settle him back on bed. “Easy there… you’ll hurt your foot again.”
He was more focused on catching breath, but he still felt you helping him stretch and move his ankle to check if he hadn’t hurt himself in the middle of his squirming.
“You’re… huff… huff… the worst nurse…” he groaned.
“Ask for another nurse who can deal with you” you chuckled as you gently tickled his sole making him let out a giggle.
You weren’t exactly part of the medical team, but after everything that had happened, the Avengers were understaffed, and every task that Tony’s technology couldn’t fill in were done by the Avengers themselves, his brother and Maximoff twins helped with cleaning, Bruce and Clint cooked, Tony handled the finances (in more than just been the Compound’s sponsor), and so and so.
You were a lab assistant, although, not in the medical field. Yet, given your friendly nature and bond with the God of Thunder, Thor himself had entrusted you to look after his most precious thing, his little brother. But under normal circumstances, you’d be working with chemicals or mechanics by the side of your mentors and the Spiderling.
Although now, you had been tasked solely to look after Loki, given no one else was capacitated to deal with him and you seemed to understand each other, and Loki even had friendly interactions with you. Or well, friendly for Loki.
“Get up!” you whined pulling him by his healthy arm.
“I don’t want to” Loki protested.
“Why not?” you huffed defeatedly as you let go of him.
“I don’t exactly feel excited to be sat on a cold table to be prodded and squeezed and all to get stabbed.”
“Injections aren’t the same as getting stabbed, you big baby” you laughed, as you poked his sides, causing Loki to jump and swat your hand away.
“It’s a sharp metal piercing my skin, isn’t it?” he defended himself as he crossed his arm across his chest. “Call me a baby if you please, but it doesn’t excite me being pierced by your tiny blades.”
“L-Loki… are you afraid of needles?” you asked with an amused smile, he could tell by your tone that you were holding back laughter.
“I am not!” he scoffed.
“Oh! You are!” you smiled immensely.
“Is this funny to you?”
“N-No… Don’t worry, it’s cute. I used to fear needles too, you know, when I was five.” You grinned.
Loki’s ears perked up.
“That was a lie” he smiled cockily.
“What?”
“That’s a lie” he repeated himself. “You either still fear them or just recently stopped doing so.”
“Wha— that’s…” your cheeks turning pink were the last tell.
“God of Lies, don’t bother denying it. I can tell when some lies to me” he grinned triumphantly. “Don’t worry, it’s cute.”
You huffed as you smacked the back of his hand.
“And here I was going to tell you my trick to control my nerves” you huffed.
“Which is…?” Loki asked, partly to tease you, but deep down actually wanting to know.
You shuffled through your bag and pull-out headphones and handed them to him. Loki forced himself to ignore the way your hand brushed against his when you handed them to him.
“Just close your eyes and listen to some music” you smiled, “it helps with a lot of things. But if you need to you can hold my hand and squeeze it if you get scared.”
He smiled at you. “Thank you.”
“Tell you what, if you’re brave, I’ll make sure you have your favorite ice cream for dessert today. How does that sound?” you offered.
“I’m not a child you can’t bribe like that” Loki rolled his eyes, “… Two bowls.”
You nodded and helped him get up and walk to get his check up and vaccine. Given how long he had been in bed, he was still doing some rehab and needed help to walk longer distances.
And he did take your word and held your hand all the time, although he did notice it was you who squeezed his hand when the needle came out. He had even forgotten to put on the headphones by the time the needle was out. And you did keep your word of spoiling him with his favorite ice cream.
“The second bowl is gonna melt, so you might as well eat it with me…” he mumbled between bites.
In a few months Loki was practically fully recovered and soon he was starting his rehab trainings. And of course, he had already picked a sparring partner.
“Do not go easy on me” Loki stated the first time.
“Oh, you like it rough then?” you grinned as you two circled around each other on the sparring mat. “Duly noted.”
He was not one new to flirtatious exchanges. He had been alive for over a millennium, and he had had plenty lovers before. But for some reason your banter made him flustered and tied his tongue into a knot.
“If I wanted it rough, I’d pick literally anyone else, agent” Loki excused himself. “You couldn’t take me if you tried.”
“Couldn’t I?” you grinned, noticing his cheeks flare up.
Damn you, you tenacious and annoyingly perceptive little thing.
“In a fight, you pest” Loki huffed.
“Ah, bummer” you smiled cheekily.
And while it was true that your human strength wasn’t a match for his regular god-like standards, you actually provided an interesting challenge. Besides, he was still recovering so using his full strength wasn’t an option anyway. You were fast, and you jumped around him like a rabbit and landed the softest blows as he spun around you trying to follow or even read your patterns.
“What’s wrong, is the mighty God of Mischief unable to catch up?” you smiled as you poked his ribs lightly before sneaking away.
You didn’t expect Loki to yelp.
“D-Don’t!”
Your face was puzzled for just a second, but as soon as it had happened, you had put two and two together and grinned in an almost cartoonish way.
“I think this training just became more fun” you smile as you poked him again.
“Do not even think about it!” he huffed, as a nervous smile twitched its way into his lips.
“What happened to not go easy on you? I’m just obeying.” you grinned and started chasing him after.
The way you wiggled your fingers with a mischievous in his direction awoke something primally playful. And as a bright smile appeared on his face, he started running away from you.
“You will never catch me!” he called as he ran.
You laughed and ran after him.
He would never admit it out loud, but the way he felt in that moment was rejuvenating, he hadn’t done something so silly and non-transcendent purely for the sake that it was fun. But you were ditching training to chase him around under the threat of tickling him if you caught him. All for the sake of playing with him like a kid despite both of you being young adults. And even more surprising is that Loki found himself eager to play along, even if the idea of getting tickled made him nervous.
Which… eventually did happen, curse his weakened stamina and aching ankle. That day he also learned to fear when you threatened him with tickles, you were devastating when you wanted to be.
“Nohohoho!” he laughed as your fingers dug onto his stomach. “This is ehehehe cruel!”
By the time you had caught up with him you had already reached the living room and he had tumbled onto the couch.
“Oh my gosh, you’re so ticklish!” you giggle, your finger swirling around his navel.
“Ehehehehe! Get away from there!” he laughed.  “Oh Norns! Stop it!”
“C’mon, Loki, you’re a big guy, you can take it!” you giggled and kneaded his belly sides with your fingers with terrifying skill.
But you were kind enough to give him a break.
“Gods abohohohohove, I’m begging you, dove!” he whined. “Don’t torturehehehehe me like this!”
But it somehow served to strengthen your bond. Loki already had a good concept of you, you were a kind and generous person. You were one of the few people he could’ve called a friend. But seeing you weren’t completely disciplined and were willing to break schedule to have mindless fun was relieving. He feared that living in a S.H.I.E.L.D. building would mean they expected him to become a soldier.
So, he started looking for you out of the designated times you had together. He had come to really like to come and annoy you when you were working, playing with your pencils, hiding your stuff, and of course tickling you to distract you when he was craving your attention… which happened pretty often.
“Lohohohoki!” you whined. “I’m wohohorking!”
“I’m not saying you should stop” he grinned as he skittered his fingers along your ribs and sides, just gently scratching over your thin shirt. “Take this as a test of your focus.”
“Nohohohoho, Loki!” you wheezed. “Ihihihit’s so bahahahad! Stohohohop ihihit!”
“Mm~ I’m not sure” he purred in your ear, knowing damn well how much it made you curl up in a ball. “I kinda like hearing the noises you make, they’re… what’s the word? Cute~”
You screeched as you hid your face with your hands, muffling your laughter. Norns, you were so precious. He may have been teasing you when he said you were cute, but he meant it.
You were a lovely company, helping him heal by doing his routines and rehabilitation regimes, while he reviewed the files regarding New Asgard. You massaged his healing ankle while Loki read the documents that were handed to him.
“This is absolutely atrocious!” Loki scoffed smacking the files. “What is this, Infinity Conez? Who approved this? Look at this! Thanos getting the Infinity Stones is a universal tragedy, but to my people more than anyone!”
“Well, that’s why Thor created the New Asgard Council” you reminded him. “He gets help ruling Asgard, and Asgard gets a group of capable people leading them. You have voice and vote.”
“They will hear about this” Loki said firmly. “I will not allow my people to see that when they go to the market! That’s just disrespectful and heartless!”
“I agree with that” you nodded. “I’d be hurt to see something that traumatic turned into an attraction, there must be a better way to make an ice cream store. What about B-Ice Frost?”
“B-Ice Frost?” Loki asked.
“Yeah! A rainbow bridge themed ice cream store that actually gives a nod to your culture” you suggested. “The logo could an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles.”
“Hmm, I’ll notify that suggestion,” Loki nodded as he wrote it down. “Thank you.”
Months into knowing each other and spending a ridiculous amount of time together, and Loki started noticing how being around you boosted his mood, he couldn’t stop thinking about certain details about you, like the way you played with your hands when you were nervous, or how you scrunched up your nose slightly when you smiled at him, how your eyes sparkled when you were assigned a new project you had been excited for, the butterflies in his belly when you placed your hands on him even to greet him or help him stretch before training. And…
Oh Gods… he was falling in love with you.
For a while he didn’t know what to do with himself. He tried carrying himself normally. But it was overwhelming the way he felt about you, it took one look in your direction, and he felt his heart racing. Trying to avoid you didn’t work either, because his entire being craved being around you, so that didn’t last too long. So, at some point, he stopped fighting it. He knew there was no way a being as good as you would even look in his direction, he was a monster, who had done unforgivable things to your planet.
Surely, your kindness had a limit. Surely, once he was fully healed, you’d forget about him. In fact, Loki feared the day he’d be considered fully recovered and you’d abandon him.
“C’mon, lazybones. We’re late for training” you grinned as you pulled him from the couch.
“I do not feel like training today” Loki yawned as he stretched out his arms to you as an invitation to hug him. “Why don’t we watch a movie? You can choose.”
The way your resolve faltered was beyond endearing. Even if you two weren’t anything, it was common knowledge you were what they called a cuddle bug.
“Loki… it’s important you do your rehab exercises” you said softly.
“I am not in the mood for training” Loki repeated.
“Oh, is that how it is?” you said in a playful yet menacing tone. “I’ll have to persuade you then.”
“What? N-No! D-dohohon’t!” Loki burst out laughing when he felt your fingers over his belly. “Nohohoho! Not thehehehehere!”
“Get up!” you teased him as your fingers pinched the sides of his stomach.
“I don’t wahahahant to!” Loki laughed as he kicked the cushions with his heels. “I’m comfortable hehehehere!”
“It’s important you do your exercises, it’s part of your rehab!” you insisted. “C’mon, doctor’s orders.”
“I dohohohon’t follow a mortal’s— ahaha orders!” he wheezed when you found that damned spot below his navel.
“Then I’m not stopping, you’ll spend the evening as a giggly wiggly worm.”
He had to give you something, you knew exactly how to make him squirm. His hips were bucking trying to stop you and his hands were pushing your wrist, but he wasn’t used to dealing with a normal human’s strength, so he didn’t want to risk hurting you.
“Pleahahahase! Cut it— OW!”
Immediately you jolted and stop everything you were doing, cupping your hands over your mouth and looking at him horrified.
“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” you asked.
“Yes, I’m quite alright. My back aches… that is all.” He assured you as he sat back up.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve been more careful, you’re still recovering.”
“Oh no, the back pain has been with me for quite a few years already” he said, wanting to ease your conscious.
“What…?”
“Well, yes. The Black Order aren’t exactly kind when they force you into their lines.” Loki said simply. “The pain comes back every so often.”
“I’m sorry…” you look at him. “Can I help?”
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing you could d—”  
You surprised him by sitting behind him and started rubbing his shoulders, softly at first, feeling him.
“No wonder you are sore, you’re stiff like a board” you said feeling around his spine, soon starting to add more pressure.
He let out a few groans, it hurt a bit at first as you undid the knots of stress of his shoulders. He sighed as he soon felt himself slipping away.
“C’mere” you spoke with utmost softness, as you helped Loki rest on his stomach just to keep massaging his back. “Hehe, you take up most of the couch, I kinda forget how tall you are sometimes.”
“Sorry…” he yawned no even filtering his thoughts.
“It’s okay” you said amusedly, “it’s not a bad thing.”
Your hands rubbed his back with gentle and caring touch. You were so kind and meticulous. Your skill might be up for debate, you were good, but someone much pickier could argue there were professional masseuse that were much better. Perhaps that was true, but no one else had touched him so lovingly, so selflessly. You took your time, and he even noticed every so often you stopped to stretch your fingers that grew tired, but you didn’t complain, you didn’t stop.
He didn’t know when or for how long, but when he woke up you were still massaging your back.
“You snore when you sleep” you spoke in the softest voice, he didn’t want to get his hopes up, but you seemed endeared. “Had a nice nap?”
“Probably the best nap I’ve had since I was maybe 150 years old.” He said, letting out a chuckle at your confusion. “I was still a toddler by then.”
“I’m glad… you really seemed like you needed it” you said softly. “Do you feel better?”
He let out a yawn and stretch, rolling over on his back to look at you.
“Much better, thank you” he smiled politely.
“No problem…” you said with a shyness that was unfamiliar for him, he even got to see the pleasure to see a lovely blush adorning your cheeks. “Um… w-well… I’ll go to… you know…”
“Ah, of course…” he muttered as he saw you run off.
He was a little bit disappointed, but he tried not to think too much about your attitude for the sake of his sanity. Of course, he failed. It was the only thing he could think about
It made him build up the courage to go out for town and buy a bouquet. He thought about red roses, but he saw a bouquet of violets and purple sweet peas and white roses, he just knew that was the one.
He even used his phone for a change to ask you to meet him in the compounds garden, he hated using his cellphone. He had asked Banner to let him use his therapy flower greenhouse. He calculated the hour for the prettiest sky colors to ensure a romantic setting for his love declarations.
Minutes earlier his heart was thumping so loud it was drumming in his ears. He felt his mouth dry, and he was sweaty.
“Loki?” he finally heard your voice as you walked in.
“Over here!” he called as he set his bouquet, behind him, barely hiding it behind himself. “H-Hi… Thanks for coming.”
“No problem” you smiled. “I didn’t know you wanted to try Bruce’s gardening therapy. That’s really good.”
“N-No… I— Uh… I just wanted to… have some privacy.”
“Oh?” you asked as you sat behind him.
“I just… wanted to uh, give you this… as a thank you” Loki said, handing you the bouquet. “You’ve been exceedingly kind to me for months, helping me heal, keeping me in check, and that massage the other day… it really helped me feel better.”
“It’s been my pleasure. You’ve been a lovely patient” you said sweetly as you smelled the flowers.
“T-That’s not the only reason why I wanted to… see you here…” Loki barely spoke out, his mouth felt dry, and he felt lightheaded. “You’ve been a delightful company and a wonderful friend… I can’t say that about a lot of people, and probably even less can say the same thing about myself…”
“That’s not true.” You cut him off. “You’re funny, well-mannered, smart, educated, charmingly stubborn, and a stimulating company. There’s not a boring moment with you around.”
Loki’s cheeks flushed at your sweet words, you weren’t even trying to, but his heart fluttered.
“T-That’s why I mean, you are… a— uh… this is ah— not easy to say… but you… um… I appreciate you.”
“I like you too, you’re a lovely friend” you said sweetly.
“N-No… I am not trying to be friendly” Loki said in a quick gasp of courage. “I-I would like to f-formally court you.”
“Court me…?”
“I think here on Midgard it’s addressed as dating…” Loki said, bracing himself for rejection.
“I’d love to.”
“What…?” Loki asked.
“I’d love to go out with you” you said, gently kissing his cheek.
Loki grinned happily.
“Tomorrow at 8?” Loki offered, “I— we could go to a nice restaurant, I’ll take you there. I could ask for a chauffeur to take us… we— we could…”
You surprised him with a little poke on the ribs, that cut him off with the urge to giggle.
“8 is perfect, I’ll drive us to wherever you like” you smiled, “Just pick a restaurant. But, how about tonight I take you for a nice dinner inside and a movie on the lounge room?”
“I’d like that, very much” Loki smiled softly as he pressed his forehead against yours.
He saw you intertwine your fingers with his own, causing him to smile. You lovely thing. It was a lovely sensation. As you pulled him up to his feet, so he’d follow you inside. Which he did with a bright smile.
What a lovely life he had found on Earth.
| MASTERPOST |
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glassedplanets · 4 months ago
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i cannot believe it's taken me this long to do a destiny AU but wow better late than never
playing very fast and loose with both canons here - pirate crews = renegade clans, marines/world gov't = vanguard (sorry actual vanguard whomst i love). the one piece is the traveler??? who knows. anyways:
luffy, human lightbearer
subclass: yippee!
loadout: wahoo!
ghost: mugi, one-of-a-kind shell given to him by shanks as a kinderguardian. the shell seems to change when he supers. What's Up With That!
all prismatic all the time, basically a dark age guardian. zero boundaries between class and subclass. just does whatever is fun. doesn't care until he Does and then you're fucked.
regularly wears (steals) class items from clanmates, it was a little alarming at first but they all feel whatever about it now
should not be trusted with raid mechanics.
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zoro, awoken titan
subclass: strand
primary: breakneck (OG roll)
secondary: ergo sum (void/caster/wolfpack)
heavy: falling guillotine (OG godroll, WWB/relentless)
exotic: stoicism (inmost/star-eater or inmost/synthos)
ghost: wado, received from kuina after her death (don't think about this too hard. jaren ward/shin malphur situation. whatever). wado's shell was cloven by mihawk in a duel.
wears sanji's old bond looped into his mark, will not answer questions about this
specced hard into banner for a fuckoff insane melee loop, rotates melee buffs with luffy and sanji
mostly DPS/add clear, uses that ergo roll so that sanji/luffy/franky (haz prop) can get wolfpack, if the boss can't be meleed then Why Is He Even Here
flat-out banned from participating in the mechanics of several raid encounters on account of going to the wrong fucking place (vault, gatekeeper, sol inherent, totems, etc.), if he gets torn between dimensions or anything but first in queenswalk then everyone just has to desperately pray for the best.
ran vanguard bounties regularly until he eventually refused to cooperate with the then-head of the cosmodrome's operations; luffy found him with kuina's ghost bound and freed them both. The Rest Is History.
distributary-born but doesn't know (or care), kept being greeted weirdly by people in the dreaming city (which i guess is where we have wano's events......... kaido is literally a dragon, so)
VJ-G-66-03 sanji, human (?) warlock
subclass: prismatic, solar super
primary: fatebringer (OG fatebringer roll™)
secondary: tarrabah
heavy: apex predator (recon/B&S)
exotic: solipsism (assassin/synthos)
ghost: mignon, received from zeff after voluntarily giving up his light for sanji
wears zoro's old mark tied below his bond, will not answer questions about this
specced into Burn Motherfucker Burn, solar buddy + snaps, frontline add clear alongside luffy and zoro, also part of the "if the boss can't be meleed/snapped then why am i even here" gang
CAN be trusted with raid mechanics but is often better utilized keeping adds off the other half of the fireteam
sanji's body is riddled with vintech implants that don't seem to do anything. they're most definitely new, and sanji wasn't rezzed that long ago, but vintech was lost in the collapse along with everything else and the only thing that really survived is a bunch of muddled records found at old vega collective sites.
sanji was the vintech patriarch's one failed experiment; his consciousness refused transfer to an exo body and after many attempts, he was discarded but managed to survive through the kindness of dark-age guardians until he was taken in by zeff.
he has three vertical black facial markings; each experiment has a number of markings corresponding to their order (and color) in the sequence.
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and other straw hats! i have a little less about them, but:
nami, human hunter
subclass: arcstaff (Throw Stick/well of bad/i don't remember its actual name)
primary: patron of lost causes
secondary: riskrunner
heavy: stormchaser
exotic: liar's handshake
ghost: zeus, stolen from big mom (tangerine shell)
(was tempted to do stormcaller unlimited power but arcstaff is... you know)
usopp, human hunter
subclass: solar, precision goldie
primary: succession
secondary: trinity ghoul
heavy: scintillation
exotic: nighthawk
ghost: merry (sheepshead shell)
can and should be trusted with raid mechanics along w/ nami
and the rest of the crew i'm not 100% set on buuuuut:
chopper: exo warlock (well of radiance)
robin: awoken warlock (strand? void?)
franky: exo titan (thundercrash)
brook: exo hunter (stasis)
jinbei: awoken titan (stasis? arc?)
misc others:
law: awoken prismatic hunter, blinky knife
reiju-0: exo void hunter, tether + smoke bomb, le monarque
ichiji-1: exo solar hunter, blade barrage
niji-2: exo arc titan, striker, ACD/0
yonji-4: exo strand titan
and textless, glow-less versions if you got this far!
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moxxis-bar · 3 months ago
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This is a little bit of sad angsty request but could you do Lilith and Moxxi (platonic for both), with a reader who always asks if they can lend a hand, but never accepts help because they've been let down so many times already, that they've found its just easier to do things by themself? Headcanons preferably ^-^ (also thank you for being an active member of this community! Your writing is legit fire)
Lilith & Moxxi + Selfless! Reader Headcanons
OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY I MADE YOU WAIT THIS LONG I HOPE THIS IS OKAY
Content : Platonic, Gender Neutral Reader, No Use of Pronouns
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Lilith
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You were one of the newer faces in Sanctuary, still trying to find your place amongst the vault hunters but eager to prove yourself.
Busy as she might be, Lilith couldn’t not notice you with how active you were. One second you’d be helping Moxxi restock her bar, the next you’d be helping Scooter with some repairs. Hell, she often asked you to join her for missions when she needed higher numbers.
She wondered how you didn’t exhaust yourself running errands for others or stepping up when someone asked for help. There’s no shortage of needy people in Sanctuary, how could you manage helping so many of them when you also had yourself to look after?
After a successful (but exhausting) mission, she found you finally taking some time to help yourself as you carefully polished your guns.
“Hey, Killer. Hand that over, I think you’ve done enough for today. I’ve got it covered from here.”
She held her hand out waiting for you to turn in your gun, but you held on and politely declined her offer.
Initially, she’s confused. Do you think she doesn’t know how to polish a gun or something? She’s been doing this for years, y’know…
It takes her some time to get used to the idea that you’re not totally comfortable accepting help. It bothers her that some people take advantage of your good will (namely Marcus…) yet you choose to front all of your own work yourself. 
It makes her want to do better. She’s never been one to doubt her skill. She’s capable and she knows it, and she wants you to know it too. She wants you to know that if you’re willing to, you can trust her. You can come to her for whatever you need help with, whether it be an extra set of hands or a shoulder to cry on. She’ll be there for you, if you’ll accept her help.
You do so much for others, it’s about time you let someone do something nice for you.
Moxxi
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After you moved into Sanctuary, you had quickly become one of her favorites. You were new, cute, and oh so eager to please!
You often helped her at the bar, polishing glasses or cleaning up spills. Sometimes, you’d even step out to help patrons who had too much to drink make it back home safely. It melted her heart to see how caring you were for the community of Sanctuary. 
It wasn’t an obligation, yet you tended to help her at the same time everyday. You’d come in late every now and then, muttering something about how Hammerlock made you poke around skag dens or how Claptrap sent you on a wild goose chase. 
“Oh sugar, I could never! If Hammerlock sent me to get mauled by skags, I’d make him exterminate the spiderant nests behind the bar!”
The thought made you laugh, but you could never make anyone pay you back, especially not like that! You were just happy to help.
You always brighten her day when you stop by, and she loved hearing about your good deed for the day.
Or at least she did, until she realized that nobody had ever helped you out. That alone was enough to make her mad. You did everything that was asked of you and more, but not a single person could do one nice thing for you?
She didn’t completely get it when you told her that nobody had ever helped you out because you didn’t accept help. It’s okay to need help sometimes. Needing help is the reason she gets to spend so much time with you, after all. 
She makes it her mission to get you to accept some form of her help. She doesn’t want to force you into something you’re not comfortable with, but she doesn’t like feeling like you’re not on equal footing with her. If you help her, it’s only fair that she helps you.
Towards the end of your shifts, she’ll make you a drink of your choice, on the house. It’s not much, and this isn’t exactly helpful, but it’s her way of giving back to you. It’s a start!
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wallflowerimagines · 2 years ago
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Egg's Masterlist
🌺🪷For all my favorite Wallflowers🌸🌼
Last Updated: 4/21/2023
Resident Evil 8: Village
All Four Lords
The Lords React to You Using Slang
The Lords With An Emotionally Distant Partner
The Lords with a Bloodborne Hunter Partner
Virgin Reader wants the Lords as their First
The Lords With a Firebending Partner
The Lords With a Shy but (Hardcore) Protective Partner
Their Partner is Eva Reincarnated
The Lords with a Playfully Affectionate Partner
Their Partner Gets a New Tattoo
Their Partner Dies(Angst)
The Lords + Dimitrescu Daughters React to You going to College
With a Bony, but Cuddly Partner
The Lords With a HANDSY Partner
Their Partner Can See Ghosts
Their Partner Has Chronic Pain
The Lords x Buff! Reader
Their Partner Enjoys Emo and Pop-Punk Music
Their Partner Plays Lots of Instruments
The Lords Milder Kink Headcannons (Suggestive, N*S*F*Wy)
Reader has Horrible Period Cramps
The Lords adopt a Child Reader with Mercury Wings
Reader steals and Wears Their Clothes
Reader Has Gutter Brain and Lives In Horny Jail (Suggestive)
Their Partner Dresses up Fancy
Reader Rejects The Lords (Angst)
Alcina Dimitrescu
Lady Dimitrescu Crush Headcannons
Alcina x Passive! Reader
Lady Dimitrescu's N*S*F*W Preferences(Smut, GN)
Alcina x Dense! Reader
Her Partner Has a Warehouse Job
Alcina x Autistic! Reader
...Their Partner is Eva Reincarnated, Goofy Edition (Suggestive)
Donna Beneviento
Donna Beneviento Crush Headcannons
First Kiss Headcannons
Her Partner Has a Warehouse Job
Touchstarved! Donna x Affectionate! Reader
Donna x VERY SHY! Reader
Donna x Mute! Reader
Relationship Brainrot, Donna Edition
Salvatore Moreau
Salvatore Moreau Crush Headcannons
Moreau x Cuddly! Reader
Moreau x Dense! Reader
Reader Rejects the Other Lords in Favor of Salvatore
Affection Brainrot, Moreau Edition
TouchStarved! Moreau x Affectionate! Reader
Karl Heisenberg
Karl Heisenberg Crush Headcannons
...Their Partner is Eva Reincarnated, Goofy Edition (Suggestive)
The Sales Pitch (Smut, Fem! Reader)
Friends to Lovers Is Cannon Brainrot, Sorry not Sorry
His Partner Attempts Suicide (TW: Suicide)
The Duke
With a HANDSY Partner
Ethan Winters
The Crackship (Ethan x Miranda)
With a Bony, Cuddly Partner
Dimitrescu Daughters
Bela Dimitrescu Crush Headcannons
Cassandra Dimitrescu Crush Headcannons
Daniela Dimitrescu Crush Headcannons
Bela x Magic! Reader
The Daughters and Lady Dimitrescu Are introduced to Sparkling Blood
Fallout 4
Travis Miles Crush Headcannons
Travis Miles Relationship Headcannons
Travis Miles x DJ! Sole Survivor
Vault-Tech Rep Crush Headcannons
Kent Connolly Confession Headcannons
Misc. Imagines
To Be Updated!
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hexameterwrench · 8 months ago
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in the run-up to The Final Shape, i'd really like to make some new friends to play destiny with, but i don't really know how. (lfg isn't really my thing, and isn't very conducive to making friends in my experience.) i love my destiny friends! we've been raiding together and hanging out in discord for years. but it often feels like there are never quite enough of us, with enough time, to do everything. which is fine! people are living their lives. but i'd love to have more destiny friends to hang out and do content with. for instance, we've been stalled at the end of week three pantheon not for any particular reason other than that one or two people just have extremely limited availability. i'd love to take a serious crack at week four before it's gone, but it's not realistic with a group that only has a couple of hours total to give to the project. and i just don't have the energy to wade through the minefield of lfg.
so i guess this is me manifesting destiny friends? if you're interested in chill new destiny friends, or have content you need/want help with, or both, maybe that could be us?
so hi! i'm goose (she/they), i've been playing D2 since launch. mostly a hunter, sometimes a warlock, rarely a titan. likes: raiding, GMs, hanging out in dungeons, pvp, gambit, collecting titles. dislikes: cleaning out my vault or postmaster (i'm sorry, kadi 55-30).
here's a photo of me sitting in a pool in midtown with my friends instead of buying upgrades:
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Alright let's talk secret bosses. Every games got em, and Borderlands is no exception. So, want to fight these elusive bosses? Then buckle up, cause I'm gonna tell you how to find them. I'll be separating each games bosses into their own seperate posts.
Let's start with Borderlands: The Pre Sequel. Pre Sequel has two secret bosses for you to find, both proving tricky to get. The first boss is Iwajira, a giant Kraggon located in Serenitys Waste. Iwajira is located in a hidden cave, located in the video I've included by Joltzdude139.
Iwajira spawns in at a minimum level of 30, and level 52 on TVHM, so I'd advise not going after him until you've beaten the main story, gotten some good loot, and are at or above his level. Iwajira has only three attacks, all of which can be devastating, on top of all the other little kraggons that can be spawned in.
Iwajira will attack in a pattern. The first attack being three giant corrosive rocks that explode shortly after landing. Did I mention he's corrosive? Don't bother bringing any corrosive weapons to this fight. He'll eat them up like skag on a stick. These rocks have a chance to spawn in smaller kraggons. Annoying, but easily taken care of, as long as you don't let too many spawn in.
The second attack is an extremely accurate corrosive laser beam that does devastating damage, and will eat through health and shields like nobodies business. It *is* avoidable, mind you, you I hope you've practiced your quick step.
Iwajira will swap back and forth between these attacks until you send him to the great vault in the sky. Oh, and be sure not to get too close to him, else his tail will send you flying.
The trouble of killing him is made worth it, however, as he has a chance to drop a skin for each class, a buttload of moonstones, the unique blue text weapon "Hail", and an increased chance at dropping the legendary rocket launcher, "Thingy".
So you killed Godzilla, did you? Sorry, Iwajira. Well, you remember Nel? The guy you called a dick? Think he hasn't been put in his place hard enough? Well, you're in luck, because you can stick that middle finger right back in his face.
That's right. Good ol' Nel is the second secret boss. Return to Regolith Range and make your way to Moon Zoomy Run to get started. To get Nel pissed enough to challenge a badass vault hunters like yourself, you're gonna have to call him a dick, and spell it out for him. Literally. Scattered on the rooftops are two signs you have to pick up. One marked "D" and one marked "K". You'll then slap them on the IC 57 building, and bam. Nels coming for ya. I've included a video by Ki11er Six on how to get these and trigger him.
Nel is a pretty straight forward fight, and he acts just like any other scav. Before you can fight him though, he'll call in for backup. Eliminate his friends to further piss him off, and he'll start shooting. Nel and his buddies spawn in at level 29, level 50 on TVHM, so make sure you're well and prepared before taking him on. He's pretty resistant to fire, so I wouldn't bother too much with that. His buddies, however, aren't. Nel has a good chance to drop the "Skullmasher" sniper rifle too, so if you're into poppin heads, it may be worth farming him for.
And there you have it. Now you've kicked the asses of two secret bosses, and have some new legendary gear to show it off with. Sure this information is only 9 years old, but hey. I feel like talking about it, and you possibly feel like reading it.
youtube
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tbnrpotato · 10 months ago
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Our Own Choices
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Chapter 13
When we reach back to the Anaxes base, I go to the medbay and get my hand fixed up. Medical droid replaces the shattered bone inside with metal and my hand's good as new. Echo's doing good as well. He's recovering from what damage he took on Skako Minor. 
So Echo has a plan about getting onto a Separatist Dreadnought and into Trench's comm vault so that he can feed Trench strategies that we already know and let the Republic retake Anaxes. I've been hanging out with the batch for a while, and I actually feel like I fit in with them. I don't get weird looks for being different.
Tech's fixing the ship while I show Hunter and Wrecker how I manage to fit 20 knives into my wrist compartment. Wrecker looks shocked, Hunter raises an eyebrow, looking slightly impressed. Then I see Tech trying to get a piece of metal loose from the engine, and I throw a knife at it, hitting the piece of metal with the hilt of the knife, and the metal piece falls to the ground, along with my knife. I head over to pick up my knife and receive a "That was unnecessary" from Tech. I smirk as I throw my knife up in the air and catch it.
Echo, Rex and General Skywalker come over just as Tech finishes the repairs.
"Tech, is everything ready?" Hunter asks.
"Yep Sarge, we are ready," Tech replies. "Still not sure how we are gonna land on that ship."
"Don't worry, Echo says he's got a plan," Rex says, putting a hand on Tech's shoulder.
"That makes me feel so much better," Tech replies, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"What do you mean by that?" Rex and I ask at the same time, slightly annoyed.
"To be blunt, his mind belonged to the Separatists until we unplugged him. We don't really know where his loyalties lie."
Good point.
"Yea. Well I know. Now get moving," Rex orders.
We walk up the ship, and I'm standing next to Crosshair and Hunter, Tech's piloting, and Wrecker's slightly restless.
"Please tell me we are blowing something up," he says, turning to face us.
"Sorry Wrecker, this is strictly stealth," General Skywalker replies.
I like that word.
Wrecker groans. "I hate that word."
Oh cmon Wrecker I thought we were getting along here
"Echo, you're up," General Skywalker says and Echo plugs his mechanical arm into the scomp link. "As soon as I plug in, I'll send a signal to the command ship."
"What type of signal are you gonna send?" Hunter asks. "Nothing that'll give us away, right?"
"As far as the droids are concerned, we're just gonna be another one of their shuttles coming in for a landing," Echo replies.
"And the regs think we take risks," Hunter says as he and Crosshair give a sideways glance at each other.
We fly for a short while, past some of the Separatist ships stationed above Anaxes.
"Sending the signal...now."
Echo I swear if you give us away I will fucking waterboard you and then carve your eyes out.
"Roger roger, Shuttle TC-159. You may approach and land." A battle droid's voice is heard over throughout the ship.
Wow looks like I don't get to torture Echo today. How sad.
Wait tf is my brain thinking rn stfu brain
Wrecker groans. "I'd still rather blow it up."
"I have a feeling you'll get your chance," Tech says.
Really hope he doesn't.
We fly past the fleet of Separatist ships and up to the Dreadnought, flying under it. The ship turns upside-down, much to my discomfort as I land head-first onto Rex's chest, and we're now on the underside of the Dreadnought.
As I stand up on the ceiling of the ship, rubbing my head, I ask, "Okay so how the fuck are we getting from the damn underside of this thing INTO it?"
The door at the bottom of the ship opens and so does the one in the Dreadnought. The ladder in the floor extends and we climb in.
I ready my pistol and knife, in case there are any clanker patrols nearby. Luckily for us, there aren't any.
I help Echo up and we walk through the corridors cautiously, with General Skywalker leading the front and Crosshair and I guarding our flank, walking backwards, on alert in case any clankers show up.
Echo, Tech , Rex and General Skywalker enter the comm vault, while Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair and I guard the door.
"So uh how's it usually like on missions without us regs?" I ask, not expecting much of a response from Crosshair. 
"Wild," Crosshair says as Hunter walks into the comm vault to check on Echo and the others. I raise an eyebrow at him, although he can't see it from under my helmet.
"Yeah, our last mission was with those Yalbec males, and they tried to eat us after I cut off the queen's stinger," Wrecker says.
"Why? They jealous that you get that Yalbec pussy and they don't?" I ask, smirking slightly.
Wrecker side-eyes Crosshair, and Crosshair replies, "Yea, I guess so."
I grin under my helmet, holding back a laugh, trying to stay focused.
Echo's taking a while, and some clankers have started to come through the corridor. Crosshair goes to take care of some of them and I follow him.
I take cover at the side of the entrance to the corridor, shooting at the B2 super battle droids with my pistol, throwing my knife at one of them and hitting it in the head. There's about 16 of them, and Crosshair gets more kills than me, which sucks.
Wrecker joins us slightly late, and by then we've almost taken out all of them. As I throw another knife at the last one, I wait to see if there are any more droids before running to go pick up my knives. 
Crosshair, Wrecker and I lead the way through the corridors, shooting droids the moment we see them, littering the corridors with bodies of broken battle droids.
Wrecker runs ahead, and when he turns the corner, some battle droids start firing at him, and he takes cover around the corner. Crosshair and I start shooting at the droids in front of us, Rex behind us doing the same, and Hunter and Tech are taking care of the remaining droids at the back.
Then, Wrecker goes to absolutely destroy the battle droids with his bare hands, and I kinda feel bad for them as I look left and right, scanning the area for more droids as I hear the terrified screams of the battle droids and the crashing of metal against the walls.
"It's all clear!" I hear him shout, and we move out from the corner, Rex half-carrying Echo.
No time to ask what happened to Echo, if Rex is carrying him, he shouldn't be dead.
Some more battle droids come from the back, and Tech alerts us to them. "More droids."
"Go. I'll buy you some time," Crosshair says, throwing up a deflector puck in his hands just to look badass, and proceeds to do an epic shot where he just throws it at the battle droid's chest before shooting it in the head, then waiting for the precise moment to fire another shot at the deflector puck which bounces off the ceiling and at all 3 battle droids' heads. 
I just stand there, frozen for a moment before walking off with the others.
"We'll meet you at the infiltration point," Rex tells Crosshair.
Wrecker groans. "He's gonna try and top me. You watch."
"And me," I say in an annoyed tone.
We start half-walking half-running through the corridors, and we reach the infiltration point.
Tech looks through his visor. "I'm picking up dozens of droids on my sensors, all heading this way."
"Hope you're not waiting on me," General Skywalker says as he runs to our position.
Wow I didn't even notice he was gone I think I literally forgot he existed.
"Now all we're missing is Crosshair," Hunter says.
Right on cue, Crosshair comes running through the corridors to our position, throwing deflector pucks literally everywhere, and stops in front of us, turning backwards and aiming his rifle, using his right shoulder to support it.
"You miss me?" 
No.
"How touching."
Then he aims at the deflector puck as the droids come marching through the hallway and he fires.
The blaster bolt deflects off the first puck and then to the second and then to like the next 30, hitting all the droids in the side, and Wrecker and I just stand there gaping at what just became the most badass shot I've ever seen.
"THAT STILL ONLY COUNTS AS ONE!" I protest.
"Relax Wrecker," Hunter says as he nudges Wrecker in the shoulder. "You'll top him next time."
No he won't.
And then Crosshair just comes up to us just to say "No he won't" to Wrecker's face and now I'm trying my best not to laugh again. I'm quite sure Crosshair has the biggest smirk ever under that helmet right now.
Wrecker groans.
We climb down the ladder to get back into the ship and fly off.
"I've got a present for you, Wrecker," General Skywalker hands Wrecker what looks like a detonator with a green button.
"Oh, seriously? I get to blow it up? The whole kriffing thing?" Wrecker sounds excited as he takes the detonator from General Skywalker's hand, and Crosshair and I watch.
"This..." Wrecker wipes a probably happy tear from his eye. "Is the happiest day of my life."
He presses the button and I can hear all the ships behind us going kaboom as we fly back down to Anaxes.
When we land on Anaxes, we get praised by General Windu, and General Kenobi says we've got some medals coming our way.
I take off my helmet.
"Thank you, General," Rex says as he starts to walk off.
As Echo starts to walk away, and batch and I stay behind.
"You coming?" Echo asks.
"Not really our thing," Tech replies.
"Accolades," Crosshair clarifies.
"Yea, we're just in it for the thrill," Wrecker says.
"You sure it's your thing?" Hunter asks, the question directed at both of us.
Echo looks confused. "What do you mean?"
"Your paths are different," Hunter says. "Just like ours." He motions towards the batch. Echo looks down. "If you ever feel like you don't fit in with them, well, find us."
I...don't fit in with the 501st. Or any of the other regs. And I think Rex knows that. Echo knows that. 99 did. And so did...
Don't say his name. Don't say his name.
As the batch turn around and walk up to their ship, I'm standing beside Echo as Rex walks up to us. "Those are some of the finest troopers I've ever fought alongside." He pats Echo on the shoulder. "Echo. You and I go way back. If that's where you feel your place is, then that's where you belong."
I glance at Rex. "Does that apply to me?"
Rex sighs. "Yes, ad'ika. It does." He turns around and walks away. 
He's...he's letting me...what-
I thought he would-
Nevermind. Don't worry about that right now.
Echo and I look at each other before walking slowly up to the batch, and I see Rex turning back to look at us. Echo salutes him, and then I do the same, with the batch following.
"Goodbye, ad'ika," he mouths to me.
"Goodbye, buir," I mouth back. He smiles, and so do I. 
And then Echo, the batch and I turn around and walk into their-well now it's our ship, and we fly off.
On the ship, I sit on the floor, making myself comfortable, spinning my knife, scanning the surroundings of our ship. When I finally see the toilet sign, I sigh in relief.
Thank god.
I go into the toilet to take a piss, until I realize that there's something very wrong.
"GUYS WHY IS THERE ONLY A DAMN URINAL IN HERE WHERE'S THE MOTHERFUCKING TOILET BOWL?!" 
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blazeball · 1 month ago
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sorry babes the new game looks boring af from just that trailer. those designs are boring idk what there is to be excited over. the style is even out the window like...
my love i don't know what to even say to this honestly. you can have that opinion i guess but like... it doesn't look boring? its an entirely new planet with a war going on, it has some cool cyberpunk stuff, its going to have the same fun borderlands gameplay, i like the new vault hunters. shrug. i just don't see how this is so bad compared to the other borderlands games
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eve-lullabye · 2 years ago
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Where you learn to let sleeping lions lie
Based off IDV (Map: Arms Factory)
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You had been lucky so far this match. Not once had you run into the hunter, and now you were running to start a new cipher. As for your other teammates, well, you hadn't met up with one but you hoped they were escaping the hunter.
You could see the cipher in the distance and ran faster. Of course, your heart had to start glowing. You frowned and waited for it to go away. It didn't. It also didn't thump any louder. You scanned the area for the hunter. No sign of movement. You started speed-walking forwards the cipher with your heartbeat growing louder.
You crouched trying to hide your erratic breath. Where is that hunter? You stood and moved over closer to the cipher. Your purple glowing heart, if it could, seemed to beat brighter, but you didn't take notice of it. You avoided climbing over pallets or vaulting over the windows so the hunter wasn't alerted. You looked over your shoulder to see if you were being followed. Your feet tripped over a log, and you grunted, "Stupid log."
"Who you calling stupid?" A drowsy voice half-swallowed his words. You whipped around to see Leona Kingscholar with a very angry face displaying across his features. No wonder you didn't run into him before. He was always unmotivated to hunt you down which is why he became a favorite for the easy wins. Leona glared at you, "Whatcha gonna do, herbivore? You've disrupted my sleep."
"Sorry, I didn't see you," you attempted to make amends. When Leona wanted to, he could take you all down with his eyes closed. You nervously glanced at the staff laying between the two of you. If you took the staff, then he wouldn't be able to hurt you, right? Leona began to pull himself up, and you made run for it. You snatched the staff and bolted away towards the shack. Behind you Leona made a confused sound before moving after you.
"Please let the basement be somewhere else," you begged hopping over the window into the shack. Thankfully, the basement had been sealed off. You gave a sigh of relief and spun around to look for Leona's next move. He appeared at the doorway with the pallet so you ran for the other exit.
Leona stomped his foot, and the ground under you turned into sand pulling you back to the hunter where before his feet lay a sand pit sucking the sand from all sides. You helplessly clawed at the floor as your body neared Leona every moment. You finally gave up and let yourself be taken to Leona. He knelt down beside you and smirked, "Did you really think I was useless without the staff?"
"Maybe," you muttered, avoiding his green stare.
"Come'n," the brunette pulled at your arm and hoisted you to your feet. You let him drag you to what you believed to be a chair. Instead of chairing you like any hunter would want to do, Leona tossed you to the ground and sprawled his body over half of yours. You stiffened and looked at him with wide eyes.
"Leona?" you whispered, your cheeks beginning to heat up. No answer. The staff you had been holding clattered to the ground and you carefully poked Leona's bicep. "Are you awake?"
Leona let out a growl, which made you freeze up even more. In conclusion, you let him be. Sure your back was going to hurt after this, but what else could you do. You sat there with the lion stretched over you watching as your other teammates popped the final cipher and escape through the opposite exit. How long were you supposed to sit there? Your eyes thoughtfully wandered to the hunter's ears. You right hand touched one of them, and it twitched. Leona's ears were soft and fluffy; so if he decided to sleep on you, you reasoned that it was fair for you to pet his ears.
You must have sat there for hours because when you finally escaped, Emily had you do a couple of exercises to keep your back from curving.
Something else you noticed was if you had been matched with Leona, the lion would waste no time searching for you. It didn't matter if you were decoding, running to another cipher or, healing a teammate or saving someone (duo hunters), Leona would pull you away from your current task and find a comfortable place for him to sleep on you.
Let's just say that your team continued to collect wins.
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snappedsky · 1 year ago
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Borderlands: Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter
Skies gets lost in memories that aren't just Krieg's.
*Reblogs appreciated*
--
The Fantastic Fustercluck Part 5
Skies, Moze, Amara, Zane, and FL4K arrive in some sort of rocky cavern. The Kriegs are nowhere to be seen.
“Hello? Are you still there?” Sane Krieg asks from their ECHO communicators.
“We’re here...wherever here is,” Skies replies.
“Sorry,” he says, “it’s weird...I can’t see you anymore. It’s like I’m blind here. But keep going. I’ll try to help as best I can.”
The crew leave the cavern and go along a mountainous pass until they see bright yellow equipment and a large building.
“Old Hyperion,” Skies sighs, “wow...this takes me back.”
“What do you see?” Sane Krieg asks.
“Looks like a lab,” she replies. They all stop as they look up in the sky and see a giant Krieg strapped to a table. “Krieg...uh you...other you...real you...? Uh is strapped down.”
“Hyperion...” he muses, “that’s right. I was there to do a job at the lab. But they caught me, took me away from...”
He’s cut off as everything around them seems to glitch and Psycho Krieg shouts, “a balanced breakfast trough!”
“No...” Sane Krieg cries, “I...damn it! I had it for a second, but it’s gone. Hurry.”
“How do we get inside?” Skies asks.
“I remember...being wheeled in here, guarded by those yellow metal bastards. The doors only opened for them.”
“Monster mashup!” Psycho Krieg yells.
“Yeah...yeah, he’s right,” Sane Krieg agrees, “you gotta build your own bot to get the doors open.”
“Fine,” Skies nods, “let’s go find some loader bots.” They head down a side path into a Hyperion facility and they ready their weapons as loader bots come out to meet them.
“You are well off the beaten and bloodied path, as the saying goes,” Tannis says from their communicators. “This region of Krieg’s mind is shrouded in a sort of...fog? I apologize for using such an unscientific term, but I have never seen anything like this before. Let me know if you think of a more intelligent term.”
“And Skies,” she adds, “how are you feeling? Any signs of Psychodom?”
The Vault Hunters glare at Skies accusingly and she glares back. “I’m fine.”
“Good to hear. Hang in there. You’re close now.”
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candysharkart · 2 years ago
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I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR EVERYBODY RESPAWNS AU VERY BADLY
thank u for your interest :)! sorry this got kinda longwinded i think. i never write stuff down lol…….
okay sooo i basically wanted an excuse to think about jack being alive post-canon, but i figured if u bring back the guy who had it coming its only fair to bring back other characters who should not have beefed it. and so! the best option seemed like the new-U system! i know they're just a game mechanic thats not supposed to be taken literally but if they're not gonna use it i am lol.
(putting all this under a cut)
roland not respawning after jack kills him in bl2 is kinda weird since he defs uses new-Us in bl1, but i could see jack using a jammer or some chump shit to interrupt the process. maya n lilith's deaths happen in ways were i……. get that they wouldnt respawn but their data could be still in the system somewhere. i also think non-vault hunter npc like scooter would have at least fast traveled once (most of the fast travels are also hyperion? i think? they feel like the same tech) so they might also have digistruct data. sometimes the system trips up, or u cant pay the fee ect ect, and u dont respawn, but ur up there! backed up in the damn cloud or some nonsense.
wilhelm, nisha, n aurelia are all perma-killed in canon, but are replayable fights, so TECHNICALLY they kind of are respawning they're just………… stuck. the new-U puts them back together but they cant move on for some reason. some goes for a lot of the other infinitely respawning bosses/enemies.
so the catalyst for this au now that bl3 is out is that post-canon, tannis is training her siren powers by shifting thru hyperion's systems, she decides familiarizing herself with the new-U system might be useful when she uncovers all these backed up and malfunctioning respawns, and realizes that if she just like. refreshes the system, all these people might come back. she consults with the other raiders about her findings, n that she probably COULD pick and choose profiles to revive their friends but not their enemies, but tannis is trying to AVOID playing god these days thank u very much.
ultimately they all want their friends back too much to pass up the opportunity and have tannis go thru with it. everybody respawns!! everybody gets a lot of confused echo-messages!! everybody cries!! the crimson raiders are reunited!!!
(this is the part where i talk abt jack and angel's respawns bc they're. specific.)
jack not respawning at a new-U is kinda weird with the context that he like. owns them? it tracks that he thought he was too good to need them, but hes also very paranoid, so what if he had his set up different? a failsafe in the Very Unlikely Event something happens to him, where instead of the nearest new-U, he's respawned at a station in a saferoom somewhere where he can be in immediate control of the situation again. it also tracks that he was very confident he could keep angel safe, but again. what if the very very worst happens? angel's respawn is set to be something only jack can activate, but he has to do it manually so no one else can get to her first. his ego was too big to see any flaws with this!
he doesnt think about the chance that something happening to angel while she's so deeply ingrained in hyperion's systems might mess stuff up. so when she dies, the saferoom goes dark, and jack's too far gone to notice. he's going to win the day and revive his daughter into the better, safer world he's going to build. this does not happen, he dies and his data has no new-U to go to so it just sits there. until tannis resets the system, which powers his saferoom up and spits him out. a new-U glitch he didnt care enough about to have anyone patch interrupts the reconstruction process and he loses his arm to it. he manages enough first aid to not just die again, and finally respawns angel, hoping she'll help him.
after respawning, once angel is able to get her bearings, she's devastated by the idea that jack won, but quickly realizes he DIDNT and he's very hurt and weak right now and this is her CHANCE. but she cant bring herself to kill him she wants to so badly but she just. cant go through with it. but she sure as shit can pistol whip him, collar him, and march him straight to the crimson raiders. once she finds them.
(there are some other specifics we have about this au, and lots we havent figured out yet but this post is already so long im sorry……..)
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industria-adastra · 11 months ago
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[Vampire Knight] - If I'm to be reborn, I'll find you (again, again, again) - CHAPTER TWO: ruler of my heart (you outburn the sun)
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Summary: He hates her, he loves her, he hates her. He misses her. (The only place he can have her is in his dreams)
Note: Hopefully I'm getting better at this updating consistently thing but yeah zero's chapter. Next chapter is going to be kaname/yume focused again sorry zero or zeki enjoyers.
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He’s not the first one to hear of the news. In fact, he’s neither the second, nor third (and so on) recipient of the fact that Kuran Yuuki is dead. Zero doesn’t hear it from the Chairman, his teacher, Kaito, or even from one of the vampires. In hindsight, perhaps he should have been more suspicious, should have questioned the way paperwork always found its way to his desk unceasingly—leaving him with no time to focus on the outside world.
Zero simply hears of it in passing whilst heading out for lunch, through a conversation between two nameless hunters—discussing it like changes in the weather.
“Did you hear? Kuran Yuuki is dead.”
“Another pureblood gone, huh… Wonder if it was her brother that did her in?”
“The rapidly decreasing execution missions would likely clue you into the answer.”
“Right, right.”
It’s hysterically, laughably casual in the way such information comes to him.
(It can’t be real. It can’t be real. It can’t be real—)
The world seems to stop on its axis, and Zero wonders if he should’ve simply ignored his desire for shio ramen today. After all, it’s not like he has an appetite now. His stomach roils with discomfort at the thought of food, and his throat itches for a scant few seconds before it burns. A sandstorm swirls and tears at his flesh. Mind blank, Zero goes where his feet wish to travel, content to let his mind stay in a haze.
He ends up in the association bathrooms, throwing up nothing but paltry strings of bile and choking on his spit.
-
There is too much work to be done. The vampire world, for one, was going through a massive societal upheaval. Zero simply couldn't do anything more than throw up into an association toilet before being fed an ungodly amount of paperwork as if he were some humanoid paper shredder.
And maybe it's because more than four years ago, just over a year ago—with Ichiru dead in his arms—he's finally refined a true and tried method for every loss he's been through. Every thought of her is locked behind a glass vault, buried six feet under,  the key left behind to collect dust. Zero works through papers and decimates his targets with the same ease. Every stroke of his pen is enforced with the explosive sound of his gun, of ashes in the wind. Rinse and repeat, his days all blur together in their sameness.
Months later, on a job just like any other, Zero walks into a department store and sees a long coat, hanging neatly from the racks. Stupidly, he thinks, ‘Yuuki would probably say I should get it if she saw it.’ And then, oh, how it hits him at that very moment.
Yuuki is dead.
Yuuki is dead.
Yuuki is dead.
-
Apparently, it had been the pureblood Shirabuki Sara. A pureblood through and through, she’d sent pawns to do her dirty work.
But she’d miscalculated the consequences of her actions, as all those high up on their thrones of arrogance were prone to doing so.
So she too, is dead, consumed by the pureblood king Kuran Kaname—he’s slaughtered more influential vampires than any hunter ever would in their lifetime. In the privacy of his thoughts, Zero thinks that had he the power and madness to do so, he would’ve too.
Sanity is both a blessing and a curse, because there is nothing else for Zero to turn to but his thoughts alone.
-
Roaring water fills his ears, and Zero sits, unmoving on the wet shower tiles. Steam fogs up the room, blurring his vision. He watches the water run down the drain for hours, washing the grime caked on his body until his fingers are all pruned and his skin is red with heat. His stomach is growling at him, and the water bill is for sure going to shoot up with this, but Zero can’t bring himself to care much about the future right now. 
(Any second now, she might barge into the bathroom to demand usage of the shower, to dramatically proclaim that he’s spent too long hogging it, to threaten to turn off the hot water in a minute even if she never ends up doing it.
But this apartment houses only him, and is far away from that Academy, far away from all those precious yet painful memories. The tiles aren’t even the right colour, beige, off-white, and an intense white that could be comparable to that of a strobe light. The shampoo and body wash he’s bought—the same one she always used in the Academy, a subtle floral scent of roses—only serve to highlight all the differences he can find between his current bathroom and the one in his memories.)
The doorbell suddenly rings, insistent and unfaltering like a military march. Zero is sure it’s been modified because there’s no way a regular doorbell could be so annoyingly loud like the one he has. With the way it’s blaring in his ears every second, it’s clear that whoever’s behind the door won’t take his silent refusal as an answer. 
The water continues to flow into the drain, taking with it the numerous dissolving blood tablets strewn across the wet floor.  
For a moment, Zero allows himself to be deluded by the idea that it’s her behind the door—-she’d always been as stubborn as a mule when she put her mind to it. But it is the sound of the doorbell that echoes in his ears, not an annoyed rat-a-tat-tat followed by the creak of an opening door. What follows is sandy blond hair and the glint of spectacles. They stare at each other for a moment, the headmaster and him. Nearby, the water continues to flow.
Even now, Zero can never truly parse the emotion behind those glasses of his.
“You know she wouldn’t want to see you like this.”
And even now, the headmaster’s words are as precise as his killing blows. Hearing them, Zero flinches. They stab into him, tearing open wounds until the pain is nothing but white numbness. But the mention of her, as always, pushes him to move on the legs of a shambling corpse. His hand slams against the bathroom tiles; the force of it is always degrees lower than it could be.
“How do you know what she would’ve wanted?” His words are acrid, angry in a way he doesn’t want to explain. “She’s gone. She’s not coming back.” Zero grits his teeth, looking straight at Kaien Cross’s eyes before he spits out a final bout of venom. “She’s been dead ever since she became one of them.”
Yet like always, the headmaster’s calm never wavers. “You know, that it’s always been her. No matter if Yuuki,” the sound of her name, said aloud, led to the tiles cracking under his hands, “stayed human or not, She’ll always be Yuuki. Maybe she changed and grew up a little—faster than I would’ve wanted or liked—but at her core, she was always, always Yuuki. She didn’t die that day. You knew that fact as well as I did.” And here, Zero feels the weight of the executioner’s blade above him, about to drop. “Otherwise, why do you try so hard to keep them as separate entities, even now, when she’s truly dead and gone?”
Zero drops to his knees painfully, leaving marks of destruction behind on the walls. He covers part of his face with a hand, contemplating further denial with the truth laid out so plainly before him.
“I never…”
“You never told her your true feelings, and now she’s gone. Because it was easier to accept it if you felt as if you'd already mourned beforehand.” The headmaster’s voice is soft, almost as if reminiscing a similar scene.  He crouches down and puts a hand on Zero’s shoulder. “Let it out, Zero. It’s only me and you now.”
There are no tears left for him to cry, but his throat tightens, and Zero hiccups out words all the same.
“I loved her. But she chose him.”
A ragged breath cuts his words short before Zero finds the strength to continue.
“I still loved her, even to the very end.”
-
The sky glows with a mix of different vibrant, brilliant colours—it’s an intensely beautiful scene, so much so that Zero wants to throw up. A cacophony of emotions welled up in him, knowing that such a view would be forever denied to the girl who was the most like the sun. He almost wishes that a storm would suddenly start, right at that moment. 
But the sun continues to glow with a detestable radiance, and the days continue to go by relentlessly. The world does not wait for one man’s grief.
He goes back into his bedroom and sits on his bed. Afterwards, he brings out Bloody Rose.
A click, and he watches as the empty magazine drops to the ground with a heavy thunk. Mechanically, Zero goes through the familiar motions of reloading Bloody Rose. The gun hangs loose in his hands. When it’s done, still holding Bloody Rose, his arm raises, up, up. Its silver muzzle points under his exposed chin without even the slightest tremor, pressing firmly into the soft flesh. 
He thinks about a girl, who, long ago, had rushed into a different room and wrenched this very gun out of his hands. Thinks of a life preserved for reasons he refused to believe was out of love. Thinks of a life, gone because it was loved so dearly.
The sunlight pierces through haphazardly closed curtains. A clock ticks in the background. He lets both the gun and himself fall on the bed.
His door is still closed.
(She’d wanted him to live)
-
Her blood still resides within him. But it lies, still, silent. Not a single iota of warmth flows in his body; it is ice in his veins in contrast to Kuran’s acidic poison. Were Zero to close his eyes and attempt to delude himself, he would simply fail from the get-go. Because Zero has always been faced with hard truths; so many times, he sees them over and over again—in the mirror, in the way he used to bite himself by accident and in the hunter’s bracelet on his desk.
She is gone and he must swallow down that bitter truth like the way he mindlessly consumes blood tablets.
(They scrape his throat, going down and making it uncomfortably dry; it tastes of overly sugared cough syrup; and he doesn’t want to, doesn’t wish to accept a world without her in it.
But her blood still lies.) 
-
He dreams of her. Not always, but sometimes he does. On those days, when he wakes up, Zero can’t seem to muster up the strength to get out of bed. It’s easier to bask in the what-ifs and could-beens, or the has-beens and bygone halcyon days. Breathing is easier, living feels easier, being carried by fantasies and memories. He always has to stop himself from getting too carried away—because ultimately the world does not care. Time continues to march forward, the Earth continues to spin on its axis and around the sun.
Sometimes Zero wants to curse at her. Because no matter how easy it was at that moment, reality would always settle in as an infinite weight, caving his lungs beneath him. But he could never stay angry at her, no matter what she did, or what she became. Before, he had sworn to kill her—but really, he wouldn’t have minded had she put him to rest instead.
-
"Zero? Did you fall asleep in the stables again? Geez, what's with you always showing up late for the transition periods!" She punches him forcefully in the back a couple of times, unrelenting even in the face of his annoyance and mild pain. (He wouldn’t have it any other way)
“Ow, ow, ow, ow—! Oi, would you quit it already?” He turns to slap a large hand over her forehead, pushing her away from him with great resistance on her part. “I’m here now, aren’t I?” Zero doesn’t say it, but her puffed cheeks and flailing limbs make her look as ridiculous as she is cute, and he’s almost tempted to flick her in the forehead for good measure.
“Yes, yes, alright now stop pushing me!” She glares up at him, arms folded in annoyance. “Don’t forget that as the prefects, we have an important job to do—which means, stop being late!” 
“By important job, you mean stopping a bunch of idiot classmates from throwing themselves into the slavering jaws of humanoid beasts?” Zero raises a wry eyebrow, watching her face gain a mildly exasperated look. When he turns to jab at the inevitable mass of lovesick, occasionally fanatic day-class students to further make a point, Zero finds that there’s no one there.
Right.
He turns back to look for her, but there’s no one there.
-
When Zero cooks breakfast for his birthday, he takes care to watch his food burn, forces it down his throat and makes sure it stays put. The eggs are rubbery, the toast is burnt, and the bacon is like chewing wood, but somehow he devours it with as much eagerness as a regular bowl of shio ramen.
She used to make such god-awful food.
(Zero finds vials of blood on his doorstep that day.
He practically guzzles  the pills instead.)
-
"Hey Zero, I think this would look pretty good on you." She takes out the long coat with a flourish, holding it up next to him with a contemplative expression. Zero stares back blankly at her, knowing little about the intricacies of what was his “colour”, or what “went well with his eyes”. Sure, he has some preferences, but he finds that he doesn’t mind watching her pick out his clothes for it.
(It’s oddly domestic in that way, and he dreams of what could’ve been—had they been normal, had they not had destiny and duty looping around their necks like a noose)
The next day, he goes and buys himself another coat. Staring at its dark colours and its simple design, Zero wonders if this could’ve been something she would’ve chosen for him.
(He never wears it. Dust collects on the cloth, tints the fibres grey and overrides the fresh store-bought scent, but he never wears it.)
-
"Zero, we can stay together for the night, just like before—I’ll watch over your dreams, and you can watch over mine, ok?" Under the warm covers, she whispers this to him, and their fingers intertwine together. Her hands have always run colder than his,  but even so, her hands are freezing—as cold as the dead.
When he wakes up, the space beside him on the bed is cold.
It has always been cold.
-
There is no grave, no stone marker, but he supposes that the Kuran Manor serves well enough as a reminder. The rumours don’t paint a pretty picture—the king of beasts, almost mad in his sobriety; the king of beasts, living only for memories and promises; the king of beasts, someone who’d crush you underfoot for his dreams without a second thought.
Standing in front of the tall, dark and rusting iron gates, Zero can almost choke on the overpowering scent of roses. They’re everywhere, in full bloom, mere buds, wilting or decayed. It’s a smell that only reminds him of what could have been, and what he let go of, of that fateful night in the academy. 
Were it him, he would’ve planted sunflowers instead. 
(Zero doesn’t enter. He knows how much Kuran hated him entering any space deemed as his own. It wouldn’t change now, half-mad as they both were.)
-
Violence is, perhaps, the only outlet that Zero knows will never let him down. There is release to be found when he hunts down level Es; there is no need for emotion, only cold, pure logic in which he can execute his duty as a protector (that he’d already failed so many times before). With every shot of his gun, every blast of the hunter’s sigil and every vampiric body blown apart into dust and ash, Zero puts to rest the grievances of so many others—but never his own.
Kaito no longer makes any sort of comment about such trips, only there to stop him from presumably losing his head and forcing the association to find yet another leader (or so he says, but they both know part of the association would be thrilled to find a reason to off him). Sure, Kaito mindlessly chatters about the surroundings and his day, but they both know that saying anything about her—no matter how sound his reasoning could be—would create a one-way ticket to the end of their friendship.
He tried, once. (“You can’t keep doing this to yourself. You have to accept the fact that she’s gone and that she didn’t choose you.” He’d paused then, reproach evident in his face before he continued. “She was a pureblood first.”
“She had been human.”
“Had.”
“And so had I been, once.”
“…Just don’t get yourself killed.”)
It’s nice to have someone stay. But he’ll never say it. People can’t stay simply because you want them to. Their decisions have always been their own.
-
Perhaps the universe had an ironic sense of humour if he was back to teach Cross Academy’s Day Class ethics of all things. The headmaster clearly made a mistake in forcing him to do what he flippantly called a “much-needed change of perspective”. Somehow Yagari, of all people, seemed to think that it’d be good for him to take up such a position in addition to his duties as both a hunter and the president of the hunter’s association.  
“You’re a good kid, but you need a better head on your shoulders,” is all Yagari says on that matter, and off Zero goes into once more dealing with teenagers—this time as an adult rather than one of their peers. He half expects it to be just like before.
But it’s not.
Revealing the truth of the Night Class to the Day Class means that there are no more barriers between the vampires and humans of Cross Academy. Without the distance, there is not enough room for worship, and what is left are only two kinds of being, all simply trying to live in a new world.
Teaching ethics really means “filling in the gaps” so that vampire-human relations will go more smoothly. Unlike his mentor though, Zero thankfully doesn’t need to use either express or implied threats of violence to get his students to listen. And he finds that, with the truth revealed, the Day Class students now behave in much calmer ways—ironically, the truth had perhaps “humanised” the vampires for them.
They listen carefully to his teachings; Zero does his utmost to drill them into their heads, complete with drawings that are only marginally better than her toddler scribbles. He’s sure that when he’s out of sight and earshot, they laugh about it, just as they laugh alongside the vampires they’d once thought of as unreachable. 
Watching it all from a distance, it almost feels unbearably nostalgic yet melancholic—because this had not been his world. Had she and Zero never been torn apart from the natural way of things, reborn and reforged in blood, they would have never met. 
(He wonders if he would’ve dismissed her as nothing but a monster. If their old classmates would have thought of her as another pseudo-goddess to worship.)
Zero watches two worlds meld, and is not quite at peace, but at the very least, the memories, the “what ifs” here do not hurt.
However, it doesn’t take long for him to resign. In the end, Zero is better cut out for other things, rather than becoming another face in the crowd of the headmaster’s rampant eccentrics that he calls teachers. But, sometimes, seeing the world that she wished for, finally, slowly, starts to be created… The air is a little lighter, even as his throat aches. She would’ve liked to watch the two different classes fumble through cooking on their own.
Maybe he’ll make ginger pork stir fry tonight.
-
It’s years before he meets Wakaba Sayori again. Zero nearly forgets about her wedding, were it not for the Headmaster’s, and Kaito’s constant, unceasing reminders via letters and spoken words. The final nail in the coffin is the wedding invitation itself. If he doesn’t attend the wedding, he’s sure that someone will come to physically strong-arm him to the event.
The wedding itself is a rather small affair, given Sayori’s background and what he remembers of Aidou’s proclivity for dramatics. Maybe it was Sayori who’d wanted it. Or maybe it was a joint agreement. Zero doesn’t know either of them well enough to say, but he prefers it this way.
Staring at the happy couple—in the back of his mind—Zero morbidly wonders if death will also do them part earlier than expected. He’s quick to shut down that train of thought as soon as it appears. He wouldn’t wish such a feeling on anyone.
-
After the event, Zero keeps his copy of the wedding photo, keeping it safe with the other one that marked his first year of high school. Against the glossy sheen of the new photo, that one looks all the more faded; the new photo always feels as if it’s missing something.
She would’ve loved to see the wedding; would’ve been the maid of honour, lovely in gentle pinks and a happy blush on her cheeks.
He startles at the vision, dropping the photo book with an unceremonious thud.
-
The burn in his throat has never gone away since that fateful night of snow. But it’s now a familiar constant, easily relegated to the back of his mind. What does it mean? Zero doesn’t know, only watching as society changes, and as people grow to create a world where there could be true peace.
But it feels easier to breathe for himself, even as he continues to breathe for her. Zero isn’t sure if he’ll ever stop breathing—living—for her. It’s alright this way, and the dreams now leave him feeling more…fond rather than wanting.
-
It’s only a glimpse, but years and years later, Zero gets a chance to see how Kuran Kaname now fares in this still unfamiliar world. Despite his achievements and the iron-clad grip he has on the rest of the vampires—key in fostering the new partnership between humans and vampires—he rarely shows his face. Does the smell of roses, in its various stages of life, cling to him like a parasite? Or maybe it’s the other way around, with roses built within everything he owns, everything that he is.
As Zero contemplates, he thinks back to the regularly replaced sunflowers in his office and his flat.
When he sees him, Zero gets his answer. 
Lounging on his throne, the smell of blood, dust and decay is attached to him like that of a rose with its thorns. Kaname Kuran stares emptily at everyone and nowhere, only occasionally opening his mouth to send orders. Within his hands is a resin-encased rose, looking worn and smooth from the years. His clothes don’t quite fit what he’s supposed to be, refined King of the Vampires. Rather, dressed in loose clothing, the apathy in his gaze, Kuran almost reminds him of—
(Zero tries not to think about it)
After so long, even hate will cool. They both loved, they both lost. It is a reality of the world that they live in. That she could not ever see the dream she wished for come to reality. In fact, looking at this sombre, cold, alone figure… He almost pities him. Kaname Kuran, top of the world but with no one left.
Could they see what Zero sees? The old Night Class no longer stands nearby, but at polite distances, looking almost weary. It was the kind of weariness that he was most familiar with. 
After all, the hunter association had always looked at him this way.
Zero at least has the headmaster, has Kaito, has his teacher. Kuran has no one at all.
Even beasts could be pitiable.
(Yuuki knew that best, didn’t she)
-
Maybe it’s only fitting that he’ll die from protecting a child who looks so much like Yuuki. Not quite in the flesh, but more so in spirit—and wasn’t that the most important, most beautiful quality about her? Especially now, memory half-baked and succumbing to erosion over the years. In the face of time, it all crumbles to dust, just like his body is now; not even sure whether it is his or the bodies of mad vampires he’s slain. 
Zero can see her crying, tears wetting his shirt, mixing with the dust in a way that he’d be mildly disgusted by were he not currently dying. “It’s alright,” he says, reaching out with hands that only smear more dust into her hair. Zero isn’t sure if the garbled sounds reaching his ears are truly words or not. Maybe the girl is speaking, maybe the girl is simply sobbing.
Or maybe he is already dead.
When he closes his eyes, Kiryuu Zero dies before a young girl’s eyes, leaving nothing but a pile of empty clothes and a silver gun.
-
The incessant ringing of an alarm is loud and annoying enough to cave metaphorically his skull in with its shrill noise alone. Grumbling, Zero burrows deeper into his blankets, covering himself fully in an attempt to block out the noise. It doesn’t fully work, but a partial solution is better than no solution at all, so Zero gets right back to falling asleep.
The heavyweight landing unceremoniously on top of his body puts an abrupt stop to that. “Zeeroo! We’re gonna be late for school again!” Ichiru whines, digging his pointy elbows right into Zero’s sides, knowing full well the exact location of his arms. He’s lucky that Zero loves him.
“Gerroff me, Ichiru,” he groans, the sound muffled by the blankets, gently shoving away at the incessant prodding. “We don’t even have to wake up until ten minutes later.”
“How do you even know that?” Questions Ichiru, switching up his tactics and physically smothering Zero in another attempt to force him out of bed.
“I pay attention in class rather than daydream about the divorced neighbour next door.”
Just as Ichiru is about to retaliate with a few choice words, the bedroom door bursts open to herald another arrival. “Zero! Get up, we're gonna be late!’ Kuran Yuuki rushes over to drag him out of bed with strength contrary to her small size. “Get up you lazy bum!” She promptly drops him on the ground, ignoring his affronted yell and Ichiru’s snickering in favour of rifling through his wardrobe.
“Good morning Yuuki!” Ichiru cheerily waves at her from Zero’s bed, delighting in the extra chaos and suffering added to his brother’s normal routine. 
“Morning Ichiru!” She absent-mindedly chirps back, piling the different pieces of Zero’s uniform onto one arm. Halfway through, Yuuki looks back at Zero. “Oi, get up Zero! Aren’t you supposed to be the one with the best attendance record out of all of us?”
“I shouldn’t have messed with your alarm,” Zero grumpily mutters, not bothering to get up from the floor. From above, Ichiru barely attempts to stifle his laughter. “Stop laughing, Ichiru.”
Unfortunately for Zero, Yuuki could hear him perfectly well. Her body snaps around just in time for Yuuki to let out an outraged cry of, “You what?!”
At that, Zero groans, and Ichiru only laughs louder and harder.
(He wouldn’t trade this for anything else in the world)
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starvingtongue · 1 year ago
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While the Watcher worked for Jack, and when the technology was fully developed, the Watcher was given a cloaking device similar to what Jack's doppelgangers use. After Jack took control over Hyperion, he made sure something was created pretty quickly to ensure his new found 'companion' wasn't recognised by anyone else. However, theirs was slightly different. It initally took a bit of work from Jack's team, but they were able to create a cloaking device that made The Watcher look human. The Watcher was considered to be one of Jack’s ‘trump cards’ and he didn’t want anyone knowing what The Watcher truly was. There was a mechanism within the device that meant they couldn't uncloak without Jack's authorisation or being within a certain distance of their room at Hyperion. In this verse, Hyperion also got to experiment with The Watcher's blood and it's implications.
Very few people actually knew what The Watcher looked like outside of their cloaking device. Jack and maybe a couple of others was the extent of it. Chances are, Angel was one of the few who The Watcher was, and there was even the possibility that the two of them became sort-of friends, even over the echonet.
Which kind of begs the question (and I'm sorry for the mini-tangent, mid post here), if The Watcher knew about Angel existence, why didn't they do anything to help her? Well, therein lies the problem. The extent of The Watcher's knowledge of Angel would've been over the echonet. They would never have met each other, much in the same way that the Vault Hunters in Borderlands 2 wouldn't have known where Angel was until she told them. Barely anyone outside of Jack and maybe a handful of other people, at a stretch, would've known about Angel. And even then, the amount of safety precautions and security features that Jack had put in place was astronomical. Even with their 'inside' knowledge of Jack & Hyperion, they couldn't have done anything.
But lets say that The Watcher had gotten past all the security features and into Control Core Angel, would Angel have even survived being unhooked from the Eridium after being pumped full of it for so long? Probably not. Depending on when this would've happened, it would still have been too late. By the time the Vault Hunters had gotten to Angel, the poor girl had been so pumped full of Eridium that it wouldn't have mattered if The Watcher had unplugged her two years before that. Angel would've had Eridium poisoning, would've been addicted to the stuff out the wazoo, and I think anything outside of maybe a full blood transfusion would've been futile. Perhaps The Watcher even explains this to Angel, maybe Angel even knew all of this herself after so many years of being hooked up to that rig.
Anyway, whenever Jack wanted to talk to The Watcher, he would either come to them in their rooms (they had their own place to stay and was allowed to wander so long as no-one saw them in their Guardian form) or cleared out the entire way from their room to his office. No-one was allowed in while they were talking.
After Jack’s defeat and they make an appearance in Sanctuary to save Athena, they still have the cloaking device. They tinkered with it enough to ensure that the necessary authorisation and the tracking device inside was disabled and removed. They sometimes use it to appear human, but it feels unnatural to them. The bad memories cling to it too much. They naturally prefer their Guardian form, it's what they've been used to for hundreds of years.
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