#star wars ground battle

[mothmanavenue]

to that bloodshed, crimson clover, uh huh, the worst was over, my hand was the one you reached for all throughout the great war

[highgroundanimations]

I know ya'll are mostly here for the clones, but since I'm also a helpless lover of droids, you'll have to deal with the occasional cloneless post too if you want to follow me. 😋

Recently finished the 3d asset of this absolute unit, so Tukk & the bois have some more clankers to fight!

I can see Tukk taking one of them down like a sumo wrestler after once again losing his blaster pistol lol

[swtechspecs]

Kuat Drive Yards/Rothana Heavy Engineering All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE)

Source: The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (Del Rey, 2003)

[daylighteclipsed]

Was wondering what the BD in BD-1 stands for and

Bbuddy droid… he made to be a buddy. Best buddy

[vinnyvamppp]

She Threw Me—Then Kissed Me

NOTE: Have I been up for three hours writing this? Yes. Is this one of my longest expeditions about an alien mating with a man? Probably. Two lucky commenters requested this, so here I deliver.

@xecres1cloud @deleted-1-800 Warnings: Dom/Sub Dynamics, Public Sex, Cecil Catches Them, Alien Fucking, Tit Sucking, Porn w a Plot, Misuse of Powers, Cowgirl, Dom!Reader, Switch/Dom!Mark Grayson (battle for dominance), Infatuation, Rough Sex, Plot Changes for Convenience, Mutual Dirty Talk, Hair Pulling, etc. Synopsis: When the shadows of your heritage awaken for the first time in years—responding not to war, but to him—you’re left with one terrifying, exhilarating realization: You didn’t come here to be claimed. But Mark Grayson might just be the first man brave enough to try.

Mark Grayson x Alien!Fem Reader

Word Count: 2,908

You were never meant to leave Themyscira.

Your people—warriors, champions, god-forged in strength and purpose—do not abandon their home lightly. But you were given a mission, one that pulled you from the sacred shores of your birthplace and thrust you into a world that feels too fragile beneath your hands. The gods spoke of a coming war. A force beyond Earth, beyond even Olympus, stirring in the void between stars. Not one brewing on earth, but amongst earth dwellers in space. The Amazons do not sit idly by when the balance is threatened. You do not sit idly by. So you were sent to watch. To learn. To prepare.

You were sent to this world to stop what’s coming. And then you met him.

Mark Grayson is not a god, but he wears his strength like one. And yet, for all his power, for all the might in his blood, there is something uncertain in the way he carries it. He does not fight like an Amazon—he hesitates, he questions, he cares in a way warriors are taught not to.

Never knowing a world this fragile. Being of Amazon and Talok IV descent, you were a new breed of soldier for your people, and one that could blend in if needed. Although, the power was bestowed due to your father's trickery. No matter. The man is dead. The moment you landed on Earth, you sought out Cecil to initiate your infiltration. Earth people claimed to be resilient, yet so desperate for help once offered, it's pitiful.

You weren’t expecting to find something worth staying for. His influence prodding at you like an infectious disease. The time was approaching, the time to mate that is, yet you were unusually apprehensive–. THWACK!

Here, metal bends like softened wax beneath your hands. Brick crumbles as if it were pressed from sand. You’ve seen men build their homes, their towers, their weapons—each one designed to endure, yet none of them built to withstand you. Mark learned that the hard way. “I swear I was ready for that,” he groans, flat on his back in the wreckage of a training arena that should have been reinforced better. The dust hasn’t even settled from your last hit. A crack spiders through the concrete where he landed, but he’s already moving, rubbing the back of his head like a man more embarrassed than injured. You stand over him, arms crossed. “You weren’t.” Mark exhales sharply, pushing himself up onto his elbows. He’s strong—stronger than most things in this world. But not stronger than you, outside of his domain of expertise.

He knows it, too.

“You’re really not holding back, huh?” he says, half a grin forming. You tilt your head. “Should I?” Mark blinks, then laughs, shaking his head. “No, no. It’s just… you’re insane.” He gestures vaguely at the crater where the ground used to be. “I’m supposed to be the strong one, you know?” You raise an eyebrow. “Who told you that?” For a second, he just looks at you. Then he grins, something sparking behind his eyes that wasn’t there before. “I’ve been wanting you to say that. I like you.” he says, and for the first time since this match started, it almost feels like a challenge. The slight rasp in his voice sends tingles through you. And finally, you think, someone worth fighting. Someone worth keeping.

Mark is still grinning at you, the weight of his words hanging in the air between you. I like you. A simple statement, but there’s something behind it—something testing the waters, something that sees you as more than just an opponent. You roll your shoulders, easing the tension from the fight. “You like losing?” Mark exhales a short laugh, pushing himself fully upright, closer now. "I like a challenge." His eyes flicker over you—not with fear, not with wariness, but something else. Something warmer. You’re used to admiration. It comes naturally when you are carved from power itself, when your body is built to command. Men have looked at you in awe before, in fear, in respect. But Mark looks at you like— Like he isn’t afraid to lose to you.

That’s new.

You shift your stance, but you don’t step back. "Careful, Grayson," you say, your voice dipping lower. "Keep looking at me like that and I might think you're flirting." At your words you sway slightly. You were tall and statuesque, and your skin was kissed by deep cerulean hues. Its very image carries the mystery of the void itself. Your hair, thick and dark flows past your shoulders, caught in satisfying curly tussles. Your eyes—piercing, luminous—glow softly in the dark, a warning and a lure. Just how could he not be reeled in? From the moment you two’s eyes met, he felt his heart stir. He couldn’t tell if it was just lust, perhaps, even so he wanted you.

Mark swallows, his grin flickering—still there, but a little uneven now. His eyes dart away for half a second, like he’s trying to figure out if you’re messing with him. “Uh,” he starts, rubbing the back of his neck, “I mean, I was kind of flirting, but if that’s, like, weird, or—y’know, if you don’t—” He clears his throat, cutting himself off before he spirals any further. “You’re really hard to read, by the way.” You arch a brow, unimpressed. “You’re nervous.” His shoulders tense slightly. “What? No. Pfft. Me? Nervous?” He gestures vaguely between you. “I just—uh—didn’t expect this to happen after you threw me through a wall.”

“You survived.”

“Barely!”

“You’re fine,” you counter, stepping closer. His breath hitches—just a little, but you catch it. He’s still sitting on the broken concrete, looking up at you, and for all his strength, all his power, there’s something hesitant in the way he meets your gaze. You tilt your head. “You’re not used to this, are you?” Mark blinks. “Used to what?” “Someone stronger.” His mouth opens, then closes. He hesitates, then exhales a short, nervous laugh. “Wow. Okay. Just calling me out like that.” It’s not an insult, just an observation. The men here—especially the ones like him are used to being the strongest person in the room. It doesn’t matter that he’s still learning, still figuring out his limits. People look at him and see power. You wonder if anyone has ever made him feel small before. If he even knows what it’s like.

You kneel slightly, closing the height difference by roughly four inches. His breath stills. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Mark.” His lips part slightly, like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. Instead, his gaze flickers over your face, lingering for just a second too long. “…I’m not.” Lie. Not fear, exactly but something close. That nervous, unsure energy that coils in his muscles like he doesn’t know if he should lean in or back away. You’re used to confidence, used to men puffing their chests, trying to match your strength. Mark doesn’t do that. He just looks at you like he’s trying to figure you out, like he wants to say something but isn’t sure how. You decide for him.

You lift a hand, slow enough that he can stop you if he wants to. He doesn’t. Your fingers graze his jaw, and he tenses. His skin is warm beneath your touch, and when you tilt his chin up, his breath catches. “I really don’t know what to do right now,” he admits, voice slightly higher than before. You smirk. “That’s new for you, isn’t it?” He huffs a soft laugh, shaking his head. “That obvious?”

“Then let me teach you.” Mark swallows hard, his hands twitching slightly at his sides—like he wants to reach for you but isn’t sure if he should. His pulse is quick under your fingertips, his face just inches from yours. “…Yeah,” he breathes after a moment, voice softer now. “Okay.”

his hands grip your waist, rough and sure, pulling you into him with a force that sends heat curling through your spine. His lips crash into yours—not careful, not questioning, but hungry, decisive. It takes you a moment to process it; to register the way his fingers tighten against your hips, the way his body pressed against yours, firm and demanding. Mark Grayson, who had been so nervous before, so uncertain, is kissing you like a man who finally stopped thinking and started wanting.

Mark moves, twisting, and before you can counter, the ground disappears beneath you. He takes you down with him, the two of you collapsing onto the rubble left in the wake of your fight. The impact sends up a small cloud of dust, but neither of you care. He’s already back on you, already pushing up on his elbows to hover over you, breath warm against your lips. His voice is rough, a little unsteady. “You keep acting like you’re the only one who can take control.” You smirk, fingers trailing along his jaw. “Prove me wrong.”

Mark stares at you. Mid kiss, you’ve fumbled the bag and told him, in clear, matter-of-fact detail, that on Themyscira, men do not live after mating with an Amazon. And he is very much a man. His mouth opens. Closes. Then, finally: “Okay.” He lifts a finger, his voice rising slightly. “Uh. I—Okay. I really need you to explain how we got here.” You fold your arms, unimpressed. “We were talking about your customs romantically. I shared mine.” You explained. “Right. Right.” He nods rapidly, pacing for a second before spinning back around to face you. “And—just so I’m understanding this correctly—your custom is that if we—uh—mate, you have to kill me afterward?”

“Yes.”

Mark makes a strangled sound, somewhere between a laugh and a panicked wheeze. “Cool. Cool, cool, cool. And you—you don’t see a problem with that?” You tilt your head. “I see a problem for you.” Mark runs both hands through his hair, exhaling sharply. “Okay. See, that is the part I’m stuck on. Why does that have to happen?” He inquires. “It is tradition,” you say simply. “The Amazons have no need for men beyond what they offer.” Mark lets out a nervous laugh, rubbing his face. “Great. That’s very reassuring.” You watch him carefully. You expected resistance—expected him to balk at the idea of it, at you. Men tend to do that when faced with their own mortality. And yet, he hasn’t left. He hasn’t even backed away. He’s nervous, sure, but he’s still here. Interesting. You take a slow step toward him, forcing his eyes back to yours. “Do you want to?” Mark swallows. Hard. “I—What?”

“You seem conflicted,” you observe, studying him. “If you didn’t want me, you wouldn’t still be here.” His lips part, but no words come out. His gaze flickers over your face, your stance, the way you’re looking at him. He does want you. He just doesn’t know what to do with that want when it comes with a potential death sentence. You smirk. “I wouldn’t kill you, Mark.” Mark visibly deflates with relief. “Wait. Hold on.” His brow furrows. “Then why would you even say that?” You shrug. “I never said I had to. Only that it was tradition.” Mark stares at you again, looking so caught between exasperation and disbelief that you almost laugh. “So let me get this straight,” he says slowly, pointing at you. “You could have led with ‘I don’t have to kill you,’ but instead you decided to give me a heart attack first?” You tilt your head, amused. “You’re still alive.”

“Barely!” He sighs, pressing his fingers against his temples. “I think I just aged like ten years.” You close the space between you, reaching up to rest a hand on his chest. He tenses—but not in fear. His pulse thrums beneath your fingers, quick, strong. “You’re an interesting man, Mark Grayson,” you murmur, watching the way his breath catches. His hands hover uncertainly at your sides, fingers flexing like he wants to touch you. “…Yeah?” You nod, smirking. “Most would have run by now.” Mark exhales a short laugh, shaking his head. “Yeah, well. I’m really bad at making good decisions.” You hum in amusement, then lean in, lips just a breath from his. “Now, where did we leave off?”

It didn’t take long for you both to be disheveled and distracted. Mark shudders beneath you, his hands gripping your hips as you hover above him. "I won't kill you, but I can't make any promises about how hard I'll fuck you." He shudders at your words, his resolve crumbling. "I'll take my chances." You can feel his hardness pressing against your core, begging for entrance. Creamy pre-cum bubbling from his tip acted as a perfect lubricant. The slip caught your clit, each time earning a sharpened moan from you. Without warning, you slam down onto him, taking him deep inside you. The size of him certainly shows his non-human relation.

He groans, his head falling back as you begin to ride him hard and fast. Your breasts bounce with every movement, drawing his gaze like a magnet. He reaches up, cupping them in his large hands, kneading the soft flesh. "F-fuck, you're soooo beautiful; I’ve seen this in my dreams." He pants, his thumbs circling your hardened nipples. "I c-can't get enough of you." He admitted, a grin wearily etching across your lips. “W-Wouldn’t want you to, need you badly, Mark.” The simplicity yet raw need in your sentiment drives him wild.

His strong hands suddenly suction to your upper thigh, his mouth latching onto your nipple instead. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, his gaze fixed upon your pleasured expression as your combined moans vibrated the flesh. His tongue grew erratic as it sought to bring stimulation, his hips snapped forward to meet you. The swollen tip of his cock threatens to bruise your cervix with each drive. Small dust clouds from debris kicked up, the sex growing more aggressive as he realized you could handle his strength. No need to hold back, only needing to savor the feeling. A loud clap echoed within the domain; the slab of concrete shifted beneath you as his toes gripped the floor. It's taking everything within you two to hold on as your cunts arousal responds to him. Thank god you’re on earth, easier access to the best pussy he’s had so far. The only pussy he needs now. A strangled growl crawls from his throat���.

“Donald. Turn off the training facility cameras.” Cecil chimed, an exasperated sigh leaving him. “...Right away, sir.” Replied Donald as he hastily cut surveillance.

Your fingers left his chest, deep claw marks reddening his skin. You lean down, your hair cascading around you as you capture his lips in a searing kiss. Your tongues dance together, each of you fighting for dominance. His hands slide down to your ass, gripping it tight as he thrusts up into you, meeting you stroke for stroke. You squeezed him with such vigor, pussy puffier with more pleasurable ridges. "Jesus, y-you're s-so tight," he grunts, his hands digging into your ass hard enough to leave bruises. "I'm going to make this pussy only crave me." His conviction made you laugh, a wicked sound. "Promises, promises," you taunt, rocking your hips to meet his thrusts. "But we'll see who's ruined by the end of the night."

The room fills with the sounds of your lovemaking—the slap of skin on skin, the cries of pleasure, the obscene squelch of your wetness. “Mmph…! Do you feel this, Mark Grayson?” You asked, your voice dropping to a husky whisper, and something in it—some unearthly vibration—rolled through his bones like a pulse, deep and intoxicating. “Mmm… yeah—yeah, fuck yeah, I do.” He rasps, as his teeth grit with determination. “This is how it feels to fuck someone who can handle you.” You grinned, almost sadistically, with a strong sense of pride. Your expression grew into one of lust as your nose scrunched, glistening lips singing so beautifully for him. “I’ll give you that and more.” The comment was so resolute you almost didn't hear it before you both groaned in unison. One of his hands comes up to tug your locs, preventing your teases. Your head slinging back with a loud yelp as your vision blurred.

You can feel your orgasm building, the pressure coiling tighter and tighter in your core. A series of pleasured whines leave your unfiltered lips. Mark must sense it too, because he flips you over onto your back, never breaking their rhythm. However, his previous efforts went for not, only spurring you on. Wisps of living shadow curled around his neck, his chest—soft and teasing, cold phantom touches caressing him in droves of trembles. They grew more intense with every stroke of gratification. “Ooh…! Mark! I— I—.” You stutter.

He pounds into you, his eyes boring into yours with an intensity that takes your breath away. "Oh god, I’m gonna cum. C’mon… please… for me,” he commands so sweetly that you couldn’t deny him, his voice rough with need. "I want to feel you come; I need to feel you." His words are all it takes to send you hurtling over the edge. You scream his name like a mantra, your body going limp, and he convulses above you as wave after wave of pleasure crashes over you. He follows soon after, dick knotting inside you as he spills his seed deep within your walls. Harsh gasps leave you both as he nestles himself within you absentmindedly, not thinking of the consequences. Or so you thought.

Mark smiles— a small, lopsided thing. He leans in, pressing a slow, lingering kiss against your lips before whispering, “… Guess you’re stuck with me.”

…

Optional ending!

The Next Day

“No, Mark. After the shit you just pulled, you two are banned from the training facility indefinitely,” Cecil said, rubbing his temples like he was one bad decision away from an aneurysm.

Mark, sitting across from him with his arms crossed, groaned. “Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad.”

Cecil shot him a look. “Mark, we had to evacuate three city blocks because someone thought an earthquake was happening. Do you have any idea how hard it is to explain to the public that the ‘seismic activity’ was just you and your Amazonian girlfriend going at it?”

Mark turned bright red. “Okay, in our defense—”

“There is no defense!” Cecil snapped. “You two leveled the place! I’m still waiting on a damage report for what’s left of the foundation!”

You leaned back in your chair, arms crossed, entirely unbothered. “It’s not my fault your training grounds weren’t built to withstand real combat.”

Cecil’s eye twitched. “It was! It just wasn’t built for you two doing whatever the hell that was!”

Mark coughed into his fist, eyes darting to the side. “...We, uh, might’ve gotten a little carried away.”

Cecil exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Mark. Son. You punched through a wall mid-mission briefing the next morning.”

Mark stiffened. You turned to him, amused. “You did?”

He muttered something under his breath, ears still burning.

Cecil waved a hand. “You’re lucky we need you, otherwise I’d have you both on clean-up duty for the next decade.” He sighed, rubbing his face. “Just—do me a favor. Next time, take it off-world.”

Mark perked up. “Wait, so you’re saying we can—”

“Out of my office, Mark.”

And with that, you grabbed your still-flustered boyfriend by the wrist and gracefully exited before Cecil had an aneurysm.

Again.

MasterList ོ༘₊⁺☀︎₊⁺⋆.˚

NEXT PART!!

[azmageddon]

Silence

Pairing: Azriel x Cassian's twin!healer!reader

Summary: When you get stuck Under the Mountain, your mate finds the sudden silence deafening.

Warnings: none!

a/n: Based on an anonymous request! Requests are so fun! I love exploring ideas I never would have thought of. Keep them coming! This all takes place within the same AU where reader and Azriel kept their relationship secret from the IC (besides Cassian).

Azriel's POV

The silence was deafening. Never in the last 450 years had he felt such empty silence. The bond was never closed. 

But now it was silent and cold. The golden thread that joined him to you floated from the middle of his chest, right at the center of his soul, into nothing. He pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes, rubbing until he saw stars, willing this to be a dream he would wake up from. But Azriel knew better than to think this was a dream. He never slept anyway. 

“Keep Velaris safe,” Rhys’ voice had said. “And don’t come after us.”

Rhys’ voice was calm, yet commanding. It was the demand of a High Lord: something Azriel physically couldn’t ignore. 

At first, he didn’t understand the command. What did he mean, don’t come after us? Keep Velaris safe? You and Azriel had just been having a mental conversation, gossiping over the abhorrent fashion of the Autumn brothers, when Rhys’ voice interrupted you mid-sentence. 

But when Azriel reached back out to you to ask what the warning meant, he was met only with the thick, suffocating silence. 

The bond was never closed. It stayed open when you were hard at work: treating the injured, delivering babies, or easing the pain of Illyrians’ clipped wings. It stayed open when you were angry, or sad, after an argument, especially if you wanted him to feel particularly bad about it afterward.

The bond was never closed. Not when he went on missions for weeks at a time. Not even when he dragged Rhys’ prisoners to the dungeons of the Hewn City and did unspeakable things. You were his comfort. Your shared emotions were what grounded him, reminded him that life was worth living. They were a constant in his life, as effortless to absorb as breathing. 

You had become his inner voice; his conscience. His reminder that he wasn’t the villain of this story. Now that it was gone, he wasn’t sure. 

For 450 years, the bond was never closed, a vow the two of you had made when you accepted the mating bond. But now, that silence was louder than any battle or war he had ever partaken in. 

The memory of when he had found out you were mates played in his head. Azriel couldn’t keep the memory from flooding into his mind and the guilt that came along with it every time he remembered. 

You, covered in blood that wasn’t your own, watching him with worry in your eyes. 

“How long have you known?” He remembers asking, venom lacing every word he spat at you. He was angry and embarrassed; how could he have missed all the signs? How could you keep such an important, life altering secret from him? He couldn’t show that embarrassment, couldn’t show weakness, especially not to you. So he chose anger instead. 

“Since the day we met,” you replied, taking a step and trying to close the gap between the two of you. Instinctively, Azriel took a step back, the shock turning his embarrassment to shame and anger to rage.

“I was eleven when we met, Y/N,” he hissed, implying the absurdity of the time frame. Nearly a century of his fate was kept a mystery to him. Cassian had joined them at that point, pointedly observing that Azriel wasn’t taking the news well. A thought surfaced in his mind. Turning to Cassian, he has to refrain from advancing on his longest friend. “And how long have you known?” Cassian’s silence was the only answer he needed.

Azriel shook his head to clear it, choosing not to remember how you cried at the way he turned away and left you with your heart in his hands, just for him to crush it. 

It all made sense after your confession. He never understood why you insisted on being childhood friends. He was broken and lonely and disowned by his own family, but you had always shown true kindness and friendship. As you grew together, you slowly evolved into innocent adolescence first loves, and eventually adult lovers. It wasn’t until your untimely move from Illyria to Velaris to work for the late High Lord that Azriel never saw you again. That is, until the first war with Hybern and your admission of the truth. 

After Azriel had recovered from the initial anger and shock, your best kept secret had become a shared secret as the two of you accepted the bond. He still remembers the first time he heard your voice in his head. Your lovely, soft voice that wrapped around his mind like the sweetest honey. 

“Old age getting to you?” You teased as Azriel took what looked like a painful blow to the stomach from Rhys during training. 

He was so taken aback by your voice that he even turned to you, thinking you had said it out loud. But you weren’t looking at him; you had your back turned in a combat sequence with your brother. 

The momentary lapse rewarded him with another hit from Rhys, this time on the side of the head. 

“Everything alright, brother?” Rhys asked, concern flooding his voice. 

But Azriel only smirked and turned back to his brother to begin again. 

“You’ll pay for that later, love” he responded through the bond and could have sworn that he saw you falter in your training from his peripheral vision. 

How could he have let this happen? How could he have not foreseen that you would be taken from him? A mysterious invitation calling for the High Lord and his second in command to attend a party Under the Mountain? What kind of Spymaster couldn’t ascertain the danger that now all-consumed the other half of his soul?

Azriels felt something hit his knees, the sting traveling up to make his teeth chatter. He pulled his hands away from his eyes and saw that he had fallen to the ground of the Townhouse. Cassian quickly knelt in front of him, gripping his shoulders to keep him from total collapse. 

Azriel stared at Cassian and saw his lips moving rapidly, but no words came out. He furrowed his brows in confusion. What was he trying to tell him? 

In fact, Azriel heard no sound at all besides the buzzing silence in his ears and his own mind hurling insult after insult of his own sad excuse of being a mate. 

But wait…that was it. Cassian had turned to the others and Azriel was able to read the words on his lips as he spoke to the remaining Inner Circle in the room: She’s his mate.

All at once, too many voices spoke and the sounds came rushing back to Azriel. As if he would keep him from dissolving through the floor, he gripped onto his found brother for dear life.

“Cassian,” Azriel groaned, finding his voice at last. “Cassian, she’s gone. I can’t feel her.”

“We will get her back, brother. I promise.”

[thisisntkt]

hey guys andor really is the best star wars story out there because it finally treats star wars like a serious, mature story—one that isn’t just about good vs. evil, but about people, choices, and the crushing weight of oppression. it strips away the mythic grandeur of the jedi and the sith and replaces it with something more real: a rebellion built on fear, desperation, and sacrifice. every moment feels intentional, every conversation matters, and for once, the empire isn’t just a faceless evil—it’s a system that grinds people down until they have no choice but to fight back.

one of the reasons it’s so immersive is its incredible worldbuilding. like this isn’t just another desert planet or a jungle with star wars dressing. every location, from ferrix to coruscant to narkina 5, feels like a fully realized place, with its own culture, politics, and economy. ferrix, for example, isn’t just a background—it’s a community where people rely on each other, where work and tradition matter. the way they mourn their dead, the way the bells signal the rhythm of their day—it all makes it feel real.

then there’s coruscant, which we’ve seen before, but never like this. instead of just being the shiny capital of the galaxy, andor shows us the bureaucracy, the paranoia, the quiet horror of a system designed to crush dissent before it even begins. mon mothma’s storyline is a masterclass in showing just how difficult and terrifying it is to resist the empire from within.

and then there’s narkina 5! the prison arc is one of the most terrifyingly effective depictions of systemic control in star wars. it’s not just that the prisoners are trapped—it’s that they are tricked into thinking they might have some control. the sterile white floors, the quiet threat of electric punishment, the gamified system of labor—it’s chilling. and it makes their eventual uprising feel even more powerful.

most star wars stories tell us about hope, but andor shows us what it costs. it doesn’t rely on nostalgia, it doesn’t lean on familiar characters to carry it—it builds everything from the ground up. there’s no jedi to swoop in and save the day, no grand space battles with triumphant victories. just people trying to survive, trying to resist, trying to make impossible choices.

the dialogue is sharper, the themes are richer, and the stakes feel personal. it’s not about prophecy or destiny—it’s about rebellion as a necessary act of survival. it’s about the slow, grueling process of organizing, of convincing people to fight, of realizing that the enemy isn’t just stormtroopers with blasters—it’s the very structure of control that keeps them in line.

that’s what makes andor so powerful. it’s the first star wars story that feels like it truly understands what rebellion means—not just as a spectacle, but as something painful, terrifying, and absolutely necessary!

[onlymexsarah]

Burning Flames II || Eris Vanserra

Pairing: Eris Vanserra x Archeron!reader Summary: Since you became High Fae there were only two things that scared you: your deadly power and your attraction toward the male you should hate most after Tamlin, Eris Vanserra. Warnings: mention of war, death and my english A/n: I'm so happy that your are liking this story! There will be more chapters, but I still have to decide how many. If you want to keep up with the story and want to get added to the taglist just ask! Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

The war was a mess. The smell of blood and death was making Eris sick. He was fighting with both his sword and his power, determined to end every Hybern's soldier that ended in front of him.

His brothers were fighting as well around him, his father too, thank the cauldron. Eris didn't know what he would have done if his father refused to fight for Prythian. Probably his plan to become the new High Lord of the Autumn Court would have seen light sooner than expected.

It was foolish to hope that maybe his father would find his end here in battle, but still it was one more motivation to stay alive and fight until the end.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something inside his chest stirred. He wondered for a moment if a soldier had managed to slice him in the ribs, but when he looked down he saw that no blade had come close to his chest.

It felt like a string was attached to his ribs, and it urged him to run toward the forest at his right. Eris grunted as he started to make his way throught the battlefield, following the invisible string that was now yelling at him to move faster.

A sense of terror fell over him as he crept closer, as he started to be afraid to know what, or who, laid at the end of that string.

He knew it before he heard you.

"Elain, run!" your voice pierced throught the forest like a fallen star in a clouded sky. He had dreamed of that voice longer than he liked to admit.

His quick eyes scanned around him, searching for any trace of you. Suddenly the smell of burned flesh hit his nose and his legs moved on their own. He had never run this faster in his life. He knew where you were, and he knew you were fighting. Alone.

As soon as he arrived he saw burning flames blinding his eyes for a moment. Then, among them, he saw you, without any armor and with what he recognized as an Illyrian blade at your side, untouched. Around you there were six Hybern's soldiers, sneering at you.

"The King want her alive!" one of them said as you tried to aim at them with your fire. "knock her off!"

It had happened so fast that Eris was still running before he could stop it. A soldier run around you and sliced your leg with his blade. Your yell of pain cracked something inside Eris as he saw your flames going out all at once while you fell on the ground.

Faebane.

Eris saw red. Two soldiers had their hands on your arms, twisting them behind your back. As soon as he was close enough his fire errupted all around him, burning completely the four Hybern's soldiers that circled you while he took his blade in his hand and looked at the two who were still holding you.

"I suggest you to leave her." Eris' voice was as cold as death. He barely register that your head snapped up and watched him surprised.

One of the soldiers snickered and held your arm thighter behind you, making you hiss in pain. "Your father should have bowed to our king when he had the chance."

"Your king should have never came here." was Eris' response before he launched himself at them. Two soldiers were no match for someone with his battles experience. He could have ended them quickly, but he inteded to make them suffer for what they were trying to do.

He took away their swords with little effort, then he gripped their neck with both his hands and watched as they screamed while his fire burned them from the inside out.

When the burned bodies of the soldiers fell down lifeless he took a moment to enjoy what he had done, and then a grunt behind him made him turn on his heels. There you were, trying to use your sword to stand up on your good leg while the other fell useless at your side.

"Let me help." Eris said towering you and offering you his hand. He saw how your eyes stared at his hand for a moment, as if deciding if spit on it or take it. "Don't worry, I won't bite you while there is still a war I need to win out there."

His ironic voice made your eyes snap in his and...cauldron boils him. As you finally decided to take his hand and let him help you to stand up Eris felt like someone punched him in the gut. He was short of breath, his sight darkened all around him until the only thing he could see was you, and only the Mother knew how beautiful you were.

Your hair had been tied in a long braid behind your head, leaving your face in full display for him to admire. Your flushed cheeks, your brown, warm eyes behind which he knew hid a deadly, beautiful power.

Mate.

You were his mate, and he was yours.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

Every inch of his body yelled at him those words. He could feel his soul twisting and jumping, finally relieved to have found their other one.

Eris hadn't realized how long he had stared at you because at some point you took your hand away from his abruptly, the same hand you had seemed to lingered in his for a bit too long, and scoffed. "Don't you have a war to win?"

His brain needed a second to function normally again. You were watching him cautiously, and he realized that the bond hadn't snapped for you. No, it had snapped for him because you were in danger, but the bond had no reason to snap for you.

A feel of protectiveness grew inside him as he watched your bloody leg while you ripped a piece of your cloak and wrapped it around your injury.

"Unfortunately, I can't let a lady in distress walk alone in the middle of a battlefield." he said taking back control of himself and using his casual, mocking voice.

You looked at him with the same defiancing eyes that had him almost kneel when you had watched his father like that during the High Lords meeting.

"I'm not a lad-" your voice stopped abrutply as your eyes widened, looking around you.

"What's wrong?" he murmure quietly, a hand ready on his sword trying to sense any threat.

You just slowly looked around one more time, one of your hand closed thightly over your chest, holding your cloak close as if you were suddenly cold. "The cauldron is here." you said slowly as Eris watched you carefully. "He is watching. He is..." your eyes widened again, snapping toward a direction deeper in the forest. "Nesta!"

And then you run.

***

You ran like your life depended on it. Your eyes were completely watered, you weren't sure if it was from the pain in the leg or the dreadly sensation that the Cauldron made you feel for your sister. You barely saw what was in fron of you, some branches hit your face, some roots made you almost fall.

When you reached your sister your blood froze. The King of Hybern was standing in front of Nesta, Cassian was laying behind her with his wings broken and legs shuttered. They were fighting, but you saw that Nesta was only buying time.

You would not stand there and watch her die. You took a step toward them, ready to yell at the King and bring his attention on you, but suddenly a big hand covered you mouth, pushing you back against someone's chest.

You tried to break free from his grip but he was stronger and pushed you to the ground until you were both kneeling behind a bush.

"It's me, calm down." as the male whispered in your ear you recognized Eris' voice. His other arm was firmly around your waist, keeping you against his chest as he was kneeling right behind you.

For a moment you were confused. Why had Eris followed you? The King of Hybern was right in front of you, the smartest choice would have been to run and go back to the battlefiel with his soldier, so why was he there?

You tried to break free again from his hand on your mouth, but he only pressed it tighter. "What do you think you are doing?" He whispered almost angryly. "You are without power. You can't defeat him."

You brought both your hands on his and pulled it away from your mouth to be able to speak. "He is going to kill my sister." you whispered firmly, turning your head slightly toward him. You had to rose your eyes to met his, and he was already looking at you with an intensity you had never seen. "Let. Me. Go."

"No." Eris sneered almost angrier that you had suggested it. "I won't let you get yourself killed."

"Why do you care?" You almost said out loud, angry at him and looking back at your sister. "My sister needs-"

The words died in your throat as your eyes had shifted on Nesta again and lying few feet behind the King you saw a body. A human, male body. Dead. Lifeless.

Your father.

A pained cry escaped your mouth as Eris quickly blocked it with his hand again. Your hands grabbed his wrist, but not to take away his hand, but to hold it tighter.

Your father's neck was angled at an unnatural angle; his glassy eyes open, staring in front of him. Your father was dead.

Eris hold you tighter against his body as you realized you were shivering with sobs. Had he recognized the body? Had he made the connection? You didn't care, because he held you nevertless.

As you gribbed his wrist as your life depened on it you started to feel something grow inside you. Rage. Anger. Hatred. All of them directed to the King of Hybern who was now standing in front of Nesta and Cassian, both on the ground holding to each other, ready to die.

And you couldn't accept that.

You bite Eris' hand. His surprised and distraction enough for you to stand up and running away from him, toward the king. You were ready with your sword in your hand to kill him, but someone appeared from the shadows behind the King and stabbed a black blade in his throat.

Elain.

"Don't you touch my sister." Elain hissed in the King's ear as he fell on his knees.

You met Nesta's eyes, and with a silent nod you both put your hands on the hilt of the blade and twisted it in the King's neck.

When you turned around to search for Eris, he was already gone.

***

Feyre called the meeting in your old house, and you had prepared everything in just two days. The chairs, the benches, the pillows and everything else that could allow people to sit or stand comfortably through a meeting that surely would last many hours.

To your surprise Beron was the first to arrive. He didn't acknowledge you or Feyre, but he came; that was the important thing. And with him he brought Eris.

You had not seen him since the battle, and somehow you had felt a little disappointed. You had expected...what? That he would seek you out after the battle? He surely had more important things to do, and the farest away you stayed from him the better.

He had saved your life, sure, but it didn't change the type of person he was. The type of person that had made the Night Court hate him for five centuries.

As soon as he entered you had tried to keep your breathing normal. Eris had a brutal slice down his cheek and neck, full of bruises all over his face that made you understand he had went back fighting when he had disappeared.

Worry run through your blood as you saw in what state he was, but you told yourself you were tired, that your father death had brought you to worry for everyone else. You had tired yourself until blankness those days to help the injured, to keep your mind busy, because everytime you stopped doing something the tears came back.

And now, seeing Eris like that made you wondered why he hadn't gone to see a healer. The slice looked back, and a primal sensation grew inside you, needing to help him to heal.

As Nesta showed them where they would sit you tried to push away all those thoughts, telling yourself that you were just confused by the war. But as father and son sat down on their chairs, Eris looked briefly toward you, as he had alwayd known where you were standing, and something flickered in his eyes, Something you couldn't decifer.

You found yourself lost for a moment in those deep amber eyes, but as Mor's figure entered your peripheral view you adverted your eyes, focusing on the next people that enetered the house, giving them a warm smile and gesturing them to their seats.

When the meeting started you stood at Feyra's right, while Nesta stood at her left. Elain had decided to stay away from unwanted attention, but as the only humans who had ever been Made, the three of you stood at the center, rappresenting the perfect middle between High Fae and humans.

People shared their stories, humand and Fae alike. They shared their lives, Feyre told hers, and you had to close your eyes to not cry in front of everyone for what she had been throught. Your little sister, alone in the Fae world had died, and you had risked to lose her forever had it not been for Rhysand and the other High Lords.

You clenched your hands tight in front of you. You would not tell your story. Not yet. Not to everyone. Every choice had been taken away from you since a long time, and even if it sounded extremely selfish, your first choice would be to keep your story for yourself.

The stories you heard were all about the same. Loss and deaths. Loss and deaths in all form and ways. All of the stories might start differently, but they all ended the same. With this war. With someone dead.

And for a moment your eyes fell on Eris again, who was listening carefully every story. You could have easily been part of that stories of death. Your sister might have had to tell the story of how you had died if it hadn't been for him. He had chosen to not let it happen. You couldn't understand why, but he still had. And even if he was a horrible person, you owed him.

His eyes never met yours during the entire night, and something inside you told you he was doing it on purpose. He was avoiding your gaze.

As the meeting come to an end you felt the physical need to talk to him, and it terrified you. You had met him just twice, and talked to him once. It didn't make sense that you wanted to talk to him, but you told yourself it was because he had saved your life. Yes, that was it.

As soon as the people left the house you put the hood of your cloak on your head and followed silently, never loosing sight of the redhead few rows in front of you. You needed to find him away from his father and his brothers, or it would have been extremely awkward.

But one you were alone with him what would you do? Thank him? Ask him why he saved you? Telling him you were extremely confused because the Inner Circle always pictured him as an arrogant, selfish asshole while he had no esitated to save you and stop you from getting killed from the King of Hybern?

Fuck it, you had lost him. You had a vague idea of where the Autumn Court's camp was, but you didn't dare to walk too close to it knowing damn well that their High Lord didn't like you at all.

"Tell me, is it hard for you to stay out of trouble or you find it funny?" a deep voice said behind you making you jump. You turned around and saw Eris hid in the shadows of two tents. "You made a fool of my father at the High Lords meeting, you should stay away from his soldiers."

You took a step closer to him and lowered the hood from your head as you rose your chin looking at him cautiously. "I was looking for you."

Eris didn't hide the surprise on his face. "Why?"

Yeah, why? Your eyes fell on the ugly scar on his face. "You saved my life." You said quietly. "Let me repay the debt by curing you."

He rose an eyebrow, looking at you suspiciously. "Didn't your watch dogs warn you about what a bad guy I am?"

You rolled your eyes and let a bright flame appeared on your hand as you walked closer to him. "I can handle myself, thanks for your concern." You saw him tensing as you stepped closer and you let a sigh. "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't do it in the middle of a war camp."

Eris' eyes locked in your with an annoyed look. "And, pray tell, how can you cure what other healers couldn't?"

You ignored how his deep voice sent shivers down ypur spine, telling yourself it was for the cold air. "My fire has healing properties. I don't think there is something that my cauldron's gift can't cure." You gestured with a finger to turn his head to one side.

"Have you ever done it before?" he asked uncertain.

You took a deep sigh feeling your patience running out. "Are you always so difficult with people who want to help you?"

"Only if they are pretty." he grinned with a wink.

A sudden need to slap him grew inside you, with something else that you carefully ignored. "Last chance to turn your head or I'll let that ugly scar leave a mark on your face for the rest of your life."

His grin grew wider but, thank the cauldron, he turned his face to one side and shut his mouth. You brought the little flame that glow in your left hand close to his scar while with your other hand grabbed his chin gently. "It won't hurt, just tickle."

He tensed under your touch, and you wondered if in five hundred years someone, beside his mother, had ever showed him kindness. You mentally slapped yourself. Those were dangerous thoughts. From the stories you had heard Eris had never showed kindness himself, so why someone should be kind to him? You were only fufilling a debt, nothing more.

Standing so close he towered you with little effort, and you almost had to go on your tip toes to reach his cheek. For a moment you wondered how many people had stood so close to the heir of Autumn and didn't get hurt, but you pushed those thoughts away.

Your flames dances around his scar for few seconds before it started to heal in front of your eyes. As soon as it was healed completely you took a quick step back, putting distance between your bodies.

"Done." you said clearing your throat.

He touched his healed skin with his fingers silently before bringing his eyes on you. "Thank you." he gave you a nod.

You nodded back politely as your mind started to gather all the reasons why you should leave and forget about him as soon as possible. The list was extremely long. "Good night, Eris."

You put your hood back on and turned on your heels, ready to leave when his voice stopped you. "My tent is at the east side of our camp. I sleep there with my soldiers and they have a strict order to not hurt anyone." You looked over your shoulder, confused by his words. "If you ever need something, come there. You'll be safe."

You didn't hide the confusion on your face, but gave him a nod and thanked him quickly before walking away in the dark.

Eris was dangerous; his encinting amber eyes were dangerous; his silky voice was dangerous; his whole body was dangerous, and not because it was lethal on a battlefield, but because it made you forget every horrible action he had ever did. Only by looking at him you had almost dreamed things that would never be possible, and it terrified you.

For the next days you never placed foot again near the Autumn's camp, and Eris never sought you out.

tag: @adventure-awaits13

[madaqueue]

CARVE ME UP AND EAT ME

there was almost no information on the mysterious cult nestled into the mountainside near your hometown, with even less knowledge about its leader. curiosity sets you on your path to investigate, but something else manages to keep you.

pairing: vampire!suguru geto x f!reader

themes/content: dark content (dubcon). smut. cult leader suguru, blood drinking/feeding, like mind control-ish? idk i was making up vampire rules here, pet names (little lamb), fingering (reader receiving), p in v (missionary). 18+, MDNI (wk: 7.6k)

a/n: HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for getting freaky with me this month, it's been such a blast and i love you all!!!! hope you get to dress up and have lots of yummy candy tonight :) mwah!!!!!

quintober masterlist | main masterlist

People rarely came back from the mountains.

When they did, they were…different. Months, even years having passed from their disappearance, and suddenly returning with no memory of it. As though their time away suddenly ceased to exist. They couldn’t recall what they had done, who they were with, anything that could help the townspeople pin down the mysterious group making their home in the depths of the woods.

Any efforts to catch the so-called cult were obviously futile - the town lost enough soldiers that the leaders decided it was pointless to send anymore sacrifices.

So, there was a sort of peace. Well, less peace, and more a silent war, a battle of contempt, one that left everyone on edge. Whenever someone went missing, the entire village stood on edge, waiting but never searching.

But you were trained well, oh so well.

“Never go out at night.” “Never stray from us.” “Never get lost.”

“Never go into the mountains.”

They praised you for your obedience, feeding it to you from dirtied palms, making you kneel before them to drink from it. It felt good to be good.

Obedience is strength.

Their orders pulled at the strings of your muscles, dictating your actions, your movements, your very thoughts. They pulled and pulled and pulled until you were stretched taut, desperately tightening you into a form they deemed desirable.

It was only a matter of time before the strings snapped.

The fight was blurry now, nothing more than screams and tears and broken expectations so sharp you worried you may cut yourself. Your feet hit the ground outside your parents’ home faster than you could breathe in the burning air, cold in your lungs.

You had always obeyed.

So now, perhaps you could enact your final act of disobedience. The one thing that had been taught to you so deeply until it buried itself under your skin.

The path up the mountain wasn’t nearly as dangerous as others made it seem. Truthfully, it was shockingly well-maintained, the occasional branch snapping under your feet but no other obstacles.

What could even be so bad about this place, anyways?

The people who returned were never injured, always fed and clean and cared for. They always came back in a fresh set of robes draped over their skin, no signs of markings or damage painted across their bodies.

The options weighed heavy on your tongue. Either you’d reach the cult’s temple, or you’d die trying.

Either way, you’d be acting on your own. You’d be independent, free. With an exhale, you blew the remaining obedience into dust, joining the stars sparkling overhead.

The moon seemed pleased with your choice, at least, guiding your path clearly through the woods. Whenever the ground below your feet disappeared, you knew you had misstepped, returning easily to the worn-in gravel placed along the way. Eventually, the trees became sparse, no longer guarding you from whatever lays ahead.

It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust before focusing on the building before you, a gentle glow illuminating the temple through its exterior screens. It was certainly different than you imagined, expecting high stone barriers walling off a great fortress, leaving you to wonder: could masses of soldiers truly not pierce the paper screens protecting this deadly palace?

Yet, you couldn’t help but feel welcomed; it was unimposing, the warm lights flickering inside a definite sign of life. How many people call this their home? How many people serve here?

The wooden steps leading to the entrance creak slightly below your weight, palm hesitantly resting on the sliding door. Doubt flashes across your mind, the pull of your family threatening to tug you back home - should you turn around, forget this silly stunt and return to the life you had known?

Before you can move, the screen slides open in your grasp.

“Do come in,” a soft voice calls from inside as light floods your vision.

Your weight makes you stumble forward as your feet move on their own, carrying you into the room. It’s nice inside, the smell of sage lingering in the air as you make your way to the center. Before you is a man, his green and gold robes hanging loosely from his shoulders, the bare skin covered only by inky locks cascading down his back. His position looks almost leisurely as he kneels, his eyes scanning your figure.

“Sit.”

And you do - your knees buckle as you lower yourself to the ground.

A devilish grin spreads across his lips as he follows your motions. For a moment, his gaze locks on yours, deep purple eyes staring back.

“Quite an obedient little thing, aren’t you?” he purrs.

Air rushes into your lungs through a gasp, but you can’t stop the muscles in your neck from nodding.

What the fuck is happening? Why can’t you control your body?

As fear begins to course through your nerves, the stranger in front of you lets out a breathy giggle. “Good, that’s very good,” he muses.

When he rises to stand, your heart drops as you realize just how deeply you may have fucked up. He’s tall, easily towering over you. The bottom of his robes graze the floor as he circles you quietly - no, silently.

The sound of his humming vibrates in the air - you want to look at him, monitor him for any malicious intent, but you can’t bring yourself to turn your head.

When he’s completed his course around you, he returns to his seat on the floor. Perching himself on the balls of his feet, he leans forward. Cold fingers wrap around your face, pushing your cheeks together as he easily maneuvers you in his grasp. His eyes burn your skin as you realize:

He’s inspecting you.

With a pleased huff he releases your head, settling back across from you. That same smirk rests across his lips as he speaks. “Tell me, why did you come here, little lamb?”

The sound of your voice hits the air before you realize it’s yours. “I ran away.”

“Oh?” With a tilt of his head, his eyes crease. “Well then, I suppose you’ve found your new home. Welcome.”

Silently, he rises once more. This time, he extends a pale hand out to you. “I can show you to your room, if you’d like.”

At his words, the tendons within your body relax, more at ease. Finally under your own control, you raise a hesitant arm. Is this what you want?

Your palm rests lightly upon his.

He smiles.

“Good choice,” he whispers as you rise to your feet.

The temple’s grounds are beautiful, even in the dark. Flickering candlelight lines the stone paths as you walk through tended gardens, over wooden bridges and small streams. He guides you to a house near the back, tucked safely into the mountainside.

The paper slide shudders as it opens, revealing the outline of a bed covered in crisp white sheets.

“You can sleep here tonight. If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to call for me,” he informs you, each syllable floating through the night air.

With one swift motion he turns, returning down the path you came from.

“Wait!” you call - as the command settles, you sheepishly cross your hands. Dark hair falls over his shoulder as he turns to face you. “How…how will I find you?”

His eyes close as he laughs. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll find you.” And with that, he disappears into the darkness.

–

The sun rises hesitantly here. It peeks its head through the translucent screens, barely illuminating your room enough to rouse you. When you finally wake, your thoughts swirl in confusion for a moment - where are you? what happened? - before you remember the previous night, the path beneath the watchful moon, the man who led you here.

Despite the unfamiliar environment, the warnings carved into your skin about the dangers of this place, you can’t bring yourself to feel afraid - after all, if he wanted to hurt you, he surely would have by now, right?

There’s an ache in your muscles as you stretch your arms overhead, bare feet resting upon the wooden floor, cool from the morning air. Idle hands begin searching the room as you open the hand-carved drawers, the scent of pine still lingering on them.

In the first, you find fresh sets of sheets. Below that, cleanly folded towels.

Moving to the next chest, your eyes widen as you scan its contents. Inside lie beautiful silks in every shade - your palms run over blues that mirror the sea, pinks the color of sunrise, greens brought from the forest floor. Each one feels more extravagant than the last, and as your awe clears, you suddenly feel ashamed to be holding them. They slip through your fingers as you shy away in embarrassment, your dirtied skin unworthy of touching them. They aren’t yours, after all - you’re nothing more than a guest here.

Turning to the closet nearby, you swing open the heavy doors, only to be met with even more luxury, this time robes hanging in neat rows.

You shouldn’t take them, but then again, the man did say anything you needed was yours…and you could use a new set of clothes after your travels last night…

Hesitantly, you pull one of the kimonos from the rack - in your hands, it catches the morning sun, small threads of gold reflecting across the room interwoven with the purple cloth. Sliding into it, you can’t help but notice the way it fits you perfectly, the length extending to just above your ankles, the sleeves resting gently along your wrists.

It feels foreign on your skin, surely you look like a fool, nothing more than a child trying on their parent’s work clothes. Glancing around the room, you search for a mirror to confirm your suspicions, but none seem to catch your eye. Oh well, you sigh, you’ll just have to face everyone looking like a stranger.

Stepping outside, a cool breeze brushes past your cheeks, your arms wrapping the robes tighter around your body as you fight off a shiver. It must be colder at this altitude, no longer afforded the protection of the very mountain you now reside on.

Small pebbles crunch beneath your feet as you make your way along the temple grounds. You try to retrace the path you took from the main house last night, but it quickly proves useless, your memory already foggy. Maybe it just looks different during the day?

Nevertheless, you don’t mind being lost here - the area is truly beautiful. Flowers fill the green spaces, ones you’d never seen before, shades of purple and red dotting the meadows. In the distance, tall trees poke against the horizon, leaves dancing in the wind.

As you wander, you pass identical buildings to the one you stayed in last night. Had you walked past all of these on your way there? Surely you would have remembered them, right?

This time, of course, the lights inside are off. There’s no use for them under the sun that’s now settling into the sky above. There are fewer clouds up here, you realize, perhaps another effect of the altitude.

By the time you find your way back to your new home (only able to identify it by the screen door left ajar), darkness has begun growing along the grounds, insects chirping their nighttime songs from nearby trees.

Sliding your shoes off, the smell of something tantalizing hits your senses.

You hadn’t even realized how hungry you were until you’re suddenly faced with the most delicious looking meal sitting upon the table. Steam rises from the bowl of salty broth, and for a moment you overlook the fact that someone must have been here to deliver it as you hurriedly shuffle to sit down, scooping noodles into your mouth with the chopsticks resting nearby. Finally, the ache in your stomach eases as you slurp the remaining liquid, allowing it to practically dribble down your chin.

A long shadow is suddenly cast along your room from behind you.

“I’m glad to see you’re enjoying dinner.”

Your spine shoots straight up as you turn, wiping your face with the back of a suddenly clammy palm.

“Y-yes,” you stutter, attempting to hide the utter lack of manners in how you had ravenously consumed the meal.

The man from last night stands in your doorway, leaning against the frame as he crosses his arms. That same smirk spreads across his features.

“Thank you!” you suddenly blurt, aware of your impoliteness. “It was…very good. Thank you.”

Another light chuckle dances across the air. “Please, no need for formalities. I’m simply glad you are enjoying the food. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had to make something for someone other than myself.”

Questions lie along the tip of your tongue, but before they can escape, he turns with a wave. “Well, I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Wait!” You internally curse yourself again for the interruption, but one question in particular was burning its way through your throat. “I realized I never learned your name…”

“Oh,” he smiles through thin lips. “My name is Suguru, but most call me Master Geto. You can choose whatever name you like.”

Warmth floods your face at the title, and further at his informality. “O-okay.”

With another small flick of his wrist, he continues the path away from your room. “Anyways, goodnight,” he calls into the darkness ahead.

“Goodnight, Master Geto,” you murmur to yourself.

–

Your second day is all too similar.

You wake.

You dress.

You wander.

You eat.

This time, Master Geto does not stop by your room at all. You’re beginning to wonder what he does all day - hell, you’re beginning to wonder what anyone here does all day, not having seen a single other person.

All that free time leaves you to fester on your thoughts.

When you were a child, you heard the rumors of this place. At first, it was a sort of commune, a community where disillusioned and lost souls could go to find purpose. But when they stopped coming back, the stories twisted into more sinister adaptations. It was a religious group, who worshiped their leader as a false god. Then, it was a sex cult, who offered their bodies to him as a form of salvation. After that, it was a political power who strove to overtake all of society and enact his rules as law.

Time after time, story after story, it was always him at the forefront: some mysterious man who cornered and compelled his followers to obey.

And yet, you find yourself doubting it. How could he lead if he was never present? More than that, who could he lead if there were no loyal servants here to be led?

It didn’t add up.

The townsfolk were known for fear mongering - perhaps it was nothing more than a way to avoid losing any more citizens, to prevent them, too, from joining the strange man in the mountains.

But then again, you can’t quite shake the power you felt radiating from him when you were in that room, the way he so easily manipulated your body (and your thoughts) with nothing more than his words.

The thoughts string together in your mind as you pace the temple grounds during your walks, the only routine grounding you to the passage of time.

Today the sun struggles to shine through the clouds, a general greyness cast upon everything. It’s been almost two weeks, and you’ve barely seen him at all. Occasionally he’ll stop by your room, but only hover in the doorway, never entering. His voice always seems so calm when he speaks to you, offering simple observations about your meals, as though he was slowly investigating your preferences (not that he needed to - you were grateful simply to be fed - but he persisted nonetheless).

Tonight, you return to find the entrance to your room closed, the candlelight from inside casting a welcoming glow. As you slide the shoji open, a familiar scent fills the space. Your mouth waters as your feet carry you forward on instinct.

With the first bite from the bowl, you nearly moan in pleasure at the taste.

“Is it good?”

This time, you don’t jump at his silent approach. Glancing over your shoulder, you smile through a full mouth. “It’s incredible.”

“Good,” he laughs softly, “I’m glad. I was worried it wouldn’t be as good as you remembered.”

“Master Geto,” you swallow, “this is delicious.” Through another bite, your voice lowers, “It’s just like the oyakodon my parents used to make.”

“I know.”

The statement catches you momentarily off-guard, questions catching in your throat making you nearly choke.

He senses the change immediately as your shoulders close off, confusion building behind your eyes. “I apologize if I overstepped,” he begins, uncrossing his arms and allowing them to hang loosely by his sides in the slightly oversized robes, “I remembered that dish being popular in town, so I thought it might bring some comfort.”

“Oh,” you hum, tentatively chewing another bite. It’s a reasonable explanation, you suppose, even if it leaves more uncertainty swirling in your lungs.

After a moment of silence, his presence in your doorway begins to feel…awkward.

Normally by this point he’d have left with a wave, fading into the darkness outside. But not tonight. Tonight, he stays, swaying slightly within the entrance.

As your gaze covers him, the traditional robes remind you - perhaps you were being even more rude than you expected. You still knew very little about him, but maybe he abided by more traditional laws, one that forbade a man from entering a woman’s sleeping quarters without her permission.

(You always thought those rules were a bit silly, but now was not the time for debate - now was the time to learn more about the man lingering outside.)

“Would you like to come in?” You place the question into the air as you swallow the final piece of your dinner.

His grin threatens to tear across his cheeks as he nods politely. “Of course.”

As he approaches the table inside, his presence suddenly feels overwhelming. Even though he’s not physically much larger than you, something about him suffocates the space, his soul spreading out until there’s no room left. It’s stifling.

But when he sits across from you, it gets sucked back into himself. You can breathe again.

“How is the temple?” he asks easily.

“It’s beautiful,” you muse, “but…where is everyone?”

“Everyone?” He cocks his head to the side. “Oh! You mean the others. They aren’t particularly active during the day - you know how hot it gets here.”

In an instant, it feels right - the memories of the brisk mornings become hazy in your mind, replaced with the sun beaming overhead. Maybe you even returned to your room with sweat glistening along your skin after a particularly long walk.

Suguru notices the way your vision clouds over as the experiences rewrite themselves. If you were more present, perhaps you’d be able to decode the emotion flashing across his face as his nose scrunches and eyebrows furrow.

He stands suddenly, pulling you from your internal trance.

“Well, I suppose I should be going now,” he hums, gliding seamlessly to the doorway once again. “Goodnight.”

Before you can breathe a question, he’s gone, the rattling screen door the only proof of his existence.

–

You think you’re going insane here.

When you fled, you wanted to find something exciting, a new experience, an act of defiance. You wanted something to fill the emptiness in your soul and make you into something else, someone stronger, someone braver, someone more than the obedient little girl you left behind.

But now, with every repeated step through the temple grounds, you feel yourself collapsing inwards. The support beams inside you aren’t strong enough, cracking under the weight of loneliness.

Why wasn’t anyone here?

Why wasn’t anyone helping you?

Even Master Geto’s presence became desired, in spite of the slight unease that brewed within your stomach when he was around. It was like an addiction, as though he knew just how to feed you enough of him to keep you coming back, to keep you starving.

Ironic, isn’t it? That here, in a place with all your needs met, with delicious meals and extravagant clothes and plush beds, you find yourself destitute. Hunger pangs shoot up your chest as you eat alone, the robes begin stifling each breath, too hot even as the days grow colder. Every night you become increasingly acquainted with the wooden beams drawn above your bed.

You’re empty.

On your thirty-first night, after hours laying alone in the dark, you wonder if perhaps the moon would have any advice for you. She’s always watched over you, maybe she could guide you.

Outside, the gravel shifts beneath your feet. The candles are lit once again, lining the paths throughout the grounds. You’ve never seen anyone light them, and yet every night, their flames continue to burn (not that you need them, of course - you’ve grown accustomed to this place, steps tracing it like palm lines).

So you trust your legs when they carry you forward. Until you’re once again at the entrance of the main temple, the same warmth flickering from inside.

The door slides open easily, the hesitation that used to live in your muscles now replaced with tired indignation. You no longer have to wait for Master Geto’s command to enter (even though you want it, you want it so badly, to be told what to do and where to go and how to act and what to think until you’re nothing but his little puppet because then at least you could be something).

A part of you expected him to be in his chambers given the late hour. But a more possessive part hopes he’d be here, waiting for you.

Your lungs breathe a sigh of relief as you feel his gaze. He smiles as you stand in the doorway.

“What’s my little lamb doing up so late?” he coos, beckoning you inside.

Rubbing your eyes, you take your seat on the floor next to him. “Couldn’t sleep.”

It’s been some time since you’ve been here, you realize - perhaps since the first night you arrived - but it feels comfortable, the scent of smoke lingering in the air. And Master Geto is here, too - that surely helps.

“I see. Tell me, would you like me to make you some tea?”

Your head nods on its own, perhaps an effect of your recent insomnia.

Silently, he rises, moving easily through the room to collect his arsenal. Armed with a maroon teapot and a single cup, he returns to where you rest in the center of the room. Dark liquid pours into the mug before he places it in front of you.

The first sip burns your tongue slightly, but you avoid wincing - you wouldn’t want to seem ungrateful. You wouldn’t want to push him away.

Deep eyes watch your every move, drinking you in. That quiet discomfort is back, but you shove it down with a forceful swallow. After all, if you seem distrustful, it may make him unhappy, or worse, leave you. After so long without him, you’re content to sit under his blanket of silence.

“How are you enjoying your time here?”

Your throat catches for a moment. Should you tell him it’s killing you, eating you alive and breaking you down? Should you tell him how much you’ve missed him? No - surely he’d think you strange, you barely know each other despite the time you’ve spent here.

“It’s been…comfortable.”

He tilts his head through a thoughtful hum. He allows the quiet to choke you for a moment before he continues. “And yet, you’re here at this hour. Tell me, why?”

Your lips are moving on your own, fighting against your better interest. “I’ve missed you, Master Geto.”

“Oh?” He seems pleased with your response, letting out that tantalizing little chuckle. “What is it about me you’ve missed?”

This time, you’re able to stifle your voice before it betrays you. Through another sip, you let the words simmer on your tongue before he speaks again-

“Tell me.”

“I missed being told what to do,” you blurt, nearly spilling the tea that had been resting behind your lips.

Thin lips tug into a smirk as he eyes you, and you can’t help but feel you’ve answered correctly, even if it was against your will.

That fear bubbles inside your chest once again, but this time it’s tainted with something else, something hot. Something you would be tempted to call desire.

Adjusting his weight, muscled legs sprawl before him. “Come here, little lamb,” he purrs.

So easily he pulls your strings. In an instant you’re crawling towards him, until you’ve settled upon his lap, head resting on his shoulder. Perhaps a month ago you would have been scared at how easily he maneuvers you to his will, but after countless days left with only your own thoughts to drive you, it’s a welcome reprieve. A body is a heavy thing to carry alone; there’s no harm in letting someone else borrow it for a moment.

Slender fingers card through your hair, melting you beneath his touch. Until all that’s left is a fluid form in the outline of your flesh; it makes it all the more easy to shape that way.

“You must be tired, poor thing,” Suguru hums into the crown of your head.

“Mmm,” you hum in response, eyelids fluttering closed.

“Go on then, sleep.”

And your vision melts into his darkness.

–

When you wake, everything feels stiff. The room, your body, the blankets cocooned around you. Stale air sits in your lungs as you rise from the bed.

It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, landing on wood floors and drawn shades. Everything is covered in a fine layer of dust except you, the only living thing here.

Nothing moves except for your breathing, no sounds besides the mattress creaking as you stand. Your thighs are tense, aching with each step forward. At least your robe is comfortable, even if it’s not the one you remember falling asleep in.

That memory itself feels fuzzy - how long had you been here?

But the slippers on your feet are warm, and you don’t feel that gnawing ache inside your stomach anymore. Maybe it doesn’t really matter.

Sliding the bedroom door open, you wander into the hallway. At the end, flickering candlelight casts a glow across the familiar carpet, the same as in the main building. Oranges and greens blur in your vision as you make your way to it, and your heart picks up its pace as you walk, drawing you in.

It lurches when you see him.

Master Geto.

“You’re finally awake, my little lamb.” His voice is smooth like silk, softer than the sheets that had cradled you as you slept. “Come in.”

The room is beautiful, dark reds and browns lining every surface, especially the bed he lays upon. The material is cool on your skin, flushed from sleep.

“You slept for quite a while,” he hums, beginning to slowly run his fingers over your hair. “Do you feel better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Why thank me?”

“I think…I think it was because of you.” The sentence trails up at the end, leaving it a question. One he does not decide to answer.

“Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, please. Thank you, Master Geto.”

His lips spread into a smile as he rises, silently moving to the teapot resting in the corner. With his back momentarily to you, it’s easier to remember all the questions you ought to ask - how long was I asleep for? where is everyone? why am I here?

But they’re too overwhelming, too big. You aren’t sure he’d answer them, anyways - you aren’t sure you’d want an answer. It’s easier to not ask.

“I’m not sure I should stay here anymore.”

His shoulders stiffen, just enough that the tea nearly spills over the edge of the cup. He sets it down on the table beside you.

“And why is that?”

“I just…” you trail off, holding the mug in your hands. It’s warm, making your palms itch. “I’m not sure there’s anything for me to do here.”

“You keep me company. Is that not enough?”

“It is, but I just…I guess I don’t feel like I’m doing a good job.” It’s easier to speak when you only have to face the steaming liquid held in your lap. “I feel lost without you. I don’t know what to do with my time. I mostly just wander around and hope I see you, or hope you give me something to do. I like that, but I’m not even doing anything. You’re never around during the day anyways, so then I end up festering with my thoughts and just feel worse. I’m losing my mind here.”

A slender finger traces up your neck, tilting your chin so you’re forced to look at him. His eyes hold a dark ice behind them, the kind that would slice open ships and kill sailors in the middle of the night, the kind the sea only makes when it’s craving blood.

“You have a purpose here, little lamb, you just can’t see it.”

You can’t hold his gaze, so you allow it to fall to the pink and red of his lips. “Then tell me what it is! I want to do something, please Master Geto.” Nails leave crescent-shaped marks in your skin as you grip the teacup.

“I can’t tell you, not yet.”

“Either tell me, or I’m leaving.”

You aren’t sure where the words came from, but they shock you as they land. Perhaps some deep part of your soul, some part the moon uncovered on your walk to the temple, growing brighter under her protection.

Fire, then ice flares behind him. He forces his shoulders back, cooling his tone. “Why don’t you drink some tea and calm down a bit, then we can talk about this?”

“I don’t want your tea! I want to know what’s going on!”

“I said, drink.”

The muscles in your arms tighten to bring the cup to your mouth. Liquid is forced past your lips through a choke. It burns your throat.

Once it’s empty, you drop it, the mug clanging against the floor. Tears prick the corners of your eyes in pain, and Master Geto seems tense. Lowering himself to the ground, he gingerly picks up the cup, allowing his palm to graze yours as he rises. Silently, he glides to the corner of the room where steam rises from the still-full teapot.

With everything in you, you force your mouth to move. “How do you do that?” Your voice is hoarse.

“Do what?”

“That,” you stumble, trying to explain. “Make me…do things.”

Six seconds pass before he answers.

“Do you know what obedience means?”

You nod.

“Tell me, what does it mean to you?”

“It means to do as another person says, always.”

Glancing at you from over his shoulder, his eyes crinkle at the corners. “Exactly.” He pours more liquid into your cup, a silent apology in his own misshapen way. “Some must be trained into obedience through leashes and chains, but others are born for it, their souls a softer shape, one that’s easier to mold.”

The mug is warm in your hands as your fingers wrap around the ceramic, accepting it from his grasp.

“Someone like you, for example, was made to obey. You feel it, don’t you? That emptiness when you aren’t being commanded?”

As you nod, something inside you aches, a hole where your autonomy should be. And here is Master Geto, so kindly offering to fill it.

“That makes it all the more effortless to follow someone, you see. I can sense it, the way your body practically begs me to control it.” He explains it easily with a wave of his hand, as though a few sentences could make you understand.

And yet, you do. It feels right to be led by him, molded by him, controlled by him. It’s the comfort you’ve felt, the warmth that clouds your thoughts whenever you’re near him.

“Is that…is that what I’m doing here?” A large hand reaches over to rub slow circles into your back through the robe - his robe, you now realize. “I’m here to follow orders and do whatever you say?”

“No, no, not at all.” A sound close to a laugh brushes through his throat at the thought. “You’re here for something else.”

You finish the second cup of tea - it’s easier to drink now that your throat has already been burned. “Please, tell me why. I promise not to leave, please, Master Geto.”

Dark eyes fall to the empty cup in your hands, then back to you. So powerless in his grasp, the smell of him lingering on your clothes, on your skin, on your breath. An impossible scent to lose, even if you were to run.

“Do you know what a vampire is?”

Confusion swirls in your mind at the question. “Yes? I’ve heard of them, of course. Creatures who live forever and drink blood to survive, right?”

“Exactly,” he smiles, voice smooth like the silk wrapping around your body. “There are other components too, of course. Other powers. The commands, for example. And you’ve heard of those coming back from my temple, yes? How they return with no recollection of their time here?”

“Yes.”

“They were ones who ran - who I allowed to run, of course. They didn’t please me, or they were too weak to keep my company. But as you can imagine, I couldn’t allow them to tell others of what they had seen here, regardless of how stupid some of them may have been. So, they may survive, but the memories must go. And that’s just a fraction of what I’m capable of.” His words rise and fall in pitch, the most visible sign of excitement you’ve ever seen in him, before it flattens again. “Many think vampires are dangerous, but they aren’t, not if they’re able to control themselves. It’s a matter of obedience, you see.”

“Obedience,” you whisper into the empty space.

“If one can stay in control of their desires, it’s barely any different than how a human lives.”

Your hands fiddle with the hem of the robe, teeth chewing on your lip. “Why are you telling me this, Master Geto?”

The finger on your chin trails up until his hand rests upon your cheek. When your eyes finally meet his, he smiles, a gesture you don’t return. Your heart beats loud, pulling you into him.

“You know why.”

And you feel it, in the depths of your stomach. The true weight of his horror, his power, settles like obsidian in your chest. A cough stifles from your mouth from the coal-black dust inside you.

His thumb runs over your lips, pressing down on the plump flesh. You should run, you should scream and beg for help and go back to your parents and pretend this never happened. You aren’t safe here, you shouldn’t stay a moment longer.

All your body can do is quicken your pulse, thrumming up your neck.

Your lips part. His thumb slides past them.

When he smiles, he seems pleased, and you feel warm like the tea spreading through your muscles with each breath. Flickering candlelight casts a shadow across his eyes, and they seem to glow with hunger.

“Are you scared?”

His skin tastes sweet as it settles on your tongue. You slowly shake your head, humming a soft, “No.”

A twitch of a smirk plays across his lips. He didn’t even have to compel you. They spread wider, allowing sharp, whitened fangs to poke through. Your eyes widen and pupils dilate as they dig into his lower lip, red blooming beneath the skin.

“You should be.” He’s leaning forward, until he’s so close you block the light from cascading across his face. In the shadows of your body, he looks monstrous, all flashes of black and white. “And yet, you stay. Tell me, why? What could you possibly hope to achieve?”

Air rushes through your lungs, and the words tumble out in a single breath. “I want to obey you, Master Geto.”

Tilting his head to the side, dark bangs obscure his eyes.

“Ah, I understand now. You really were made for this, weren’t you?”

Sliding his thumb from your mouth, he closes the distance between you. A long finger tilts your chin upwards, locking your gaze on him.

“You want to be good for me, don’t you?”

You nod. You can’t help it - you want to do anything he tells you; you will do anything he tells you.

“Good.” Pink lips brush against yours. His breath is cool as he whispers, “Then lay down.”

The sheets are chilled against your burning skin as your back rests upon them. It’s easier, now, the way you’ve accepted your muscles enacting his will. It feels right to let him pull your strings, letting him shape you into whatever pose he sees fit.

He doesn’t even need to command you to open your legs, large palms spreading your knees apart easily, allowing them to fall with the weight of his gravity. Your clothes are gone in an instant, laid bare before him, returned to your natural form before the god that granted it. It’s only natural.

Hot breath hits your core, cold eyes resting on your face. His thumb trails a path along your skin until it lands upon your clit, each slow circle another rotation around his orbit.

It’s almost too much, your body writhing under his touch, desperation making your hips rut uselessly into him. But he’s just…watching you.

“P-please,” you can’t help but whine, trying to grind into him for any additional ounce of friction. Master Geto simply continues his agonizingly slow pace.

Your gaze meets his for a moment, fire crackling beneath it as his lips tug into a sinister grin, a predator about to consume its prey.

Eat me, your body begs, I’m yours.

Oh, he knows.

His palm opens, sliding two fingers easily into your cunt. Just as he curls upwards, sharp teeth move from poking through his lip into the soft flesh of your inner thighs. For the violence crackling beneath his skin, he’s surprisingly gentle as his canines sink into you.

Because he doesn’t want it to hurt.

Not yet.

The prickling pain tingles your senses as he pulls your first orgasm from you, a faint moan humming in your throat.

When he rises from between your legs, red dribbles from his lips. He crackles with pride, completely unabashed; if anything, he’s proud.

Warmth blankets your body as he crawls on top of you, a wolf stalking a lamb. And you can’t bring yourself to run.

Muscled shoulders bare themselves under the flickering lights as he slowly sheds his robes, pale and morphing, too blurry to focus on. If you were more naive, you’d be tempted to call him an angel.

“You taste so sweet,” he purrs, his face now mere centimeters from yours.

When he kisses you, a mix of metal and cum tangles on your tongues, intoxicatingly you. Every ounce of his weight rests against you until you can’t pull in a breath anymore, your ribs unable to expand below him.

But like always, he grants you mercy.

He pulls back, just enough to let air rush in through your parted lips. Your skin burns where he places a gentle peck to the corner of your mouth.

Because now, you want it to hurt.

And oh, he knows.

That devilish smile curls upon his lips, no longer hiding the fangs behind it. Every beat of your heart makes you dizzy, your vision pulsing with each reverberating thrum. You wonder if he can feel it in your chest.

(He can.)

(He wants to claw it from your body and eat it.)

The remnants of blood lingering on his teeth are wiped away as his tongue swipes over them, an innocent white left in its wake. How perfect a sinner’s body can be.

He’s shifting his weight above you, but you barely notice, too enamored by him, too lost in his eyes, in his depravity. The moment your eyes flutter shut to protect your soul, he’s reaching out to you.

“Look at me, little lamb.”

And then, your gaze is locked on him.

And then, his cock is pressing into you.

Lips part, fire shoots up your spine, a cry dies in your throat. It’s burning and tearing and it’s death and everything is too hot and you’re staring into those eyes with flames behind them and you think you’d let him kill you if he asked.

Not that he needs to ask, of course.

Your back arches off the bed as your eyes nearly roll back into your head but they can’t - because it’s not what Master Geto commanded. Because you always do as he says.

Because you always obey.

Instead, tears prick at the corners and your entire body trembles and he’s staring down at you with pity.

“There, shh, that’s my girl,” he coos. He wipes away a tear with his thumb but he doesn’t stop, not until his pelvis is flush with yours and all you can feel is him inside you.

Ragged breaths rack your core, your walls clenching around him from his size alone.

“You’re being so obedient, so good,” he whispers into the shell of your ear. And the sun bursts through your chest.

A slack-jawed smile spreads across your features at his praise, cheeks warm and full of pride. You’ve done everything you were made for - you’ve made Master Geto happy. You’ve been good.

When he drags his hips from you, his tip catching and pulling and gouging any remaining shred of disloyalty from your consciousness, you know you’re his: your mind, your soul, your body. All his, in any way he wants it.

When he thrusts back into you, the emptiness inside you is filled with him.

Him.

Him. Him. Him. Him.

Master Geto.

All you have ever needed.

All you will ever need.

Master Geto.

Warmth blossoms in your chest as he fucks you into the silk sheets. You are his. You were always made to be his. There’s no pain in it, no uncertainty. It’s as things were always meant to be.

But there’s still something missing, something lingering in the droplet of red beading at the corner of his lips.

Eat me, your body pleads, I’m yours.

“Master Geto,” you whimper, “I…I want…”

As he gazes down at you, there’s a reverence behind it - not to you, no, but to your servitude.

“Yes, my little lamb,” he breathes through the sound of skin against skin. “Tell me what you want.”

“Bite me, Master Geto,” you cry, “please.”

And you feel him laugh, his breath hot against the skin of your neck. “Well, how could I deny my most devoted?”

First, it’s the searing pain of his fangs sinking into your skin. An instant later, it’s the burning pleasure of it.

A moan bubbles from your throat, allowing your head to fall back into his waiting palm, cradling you above the respite of feathered pillows. Because for now, he will hold you; you should be held by him.

Suguru is greedy as he drinks.

Grunts and groans echo from his chest, his body never stilling as he plunges in and out of you in pace with his tongue lapping at your pierced flesh. Just as his teeth pull away he strikes them into you again, and again, and again. Puncture wounds grow across your skin, blooming hues of maroon beneath them, stars decorating the sky, each one a burning supernova moments away from exploding.

They mark you for what you are: his.

“You taste,” he pants, “fucking devine.”

Nails claw at his back, your head lolled back into the sheets, limp beneath him. Of course, you’d move if he told you to - you’d die if he told you to.

Each racing heartbeat makes your vision pulse, head swimming as he drinks from you. Your body melts inside him, warm in his stomach.

The friction of his hips between your legs only grows, until it’s burning like the teeth in your neck. Red flames prick your skin, Suguru’s tongue chasing each one to put it out.

His grunts grow animalistic, a beast pulling muscles and tendons until it’s out of breath. Shoulders tense beneath your palms, and your stomach begins to tighten.

“Master Geto, I-”

“I know,” he growls into your neck. Arms tighten around your body, until they cage in your ribs, until you can’t breathe anything but him. “Cum for me, little lamb.”

Warmth floods your senses, numb save for his cock twitching. He bites down harder as his claim shoots into you, thick and hot.

For a moment, you wonder if he tore flesh from bone. When he removes his head from your collarbone, blood dripping down his chin in thick rivulets, it seems all the more possible.

Licking his lips, he groans at the sanguine flavor pouring down his throat, sweet like honey. When he kisses you, his tongue presses against yours until it lingers in the back of your mouth. Sweet like him.

Low eyes meet yours, a thumb stroking your cheek.

“Stay here, with me.”

And maybe, you will.

It’s easier like this, to be his.

It’s easier to obey.

[batboysanonymous]

To Break a Warrior

Cassian x Reader

Summary: When Y/n is sent to the Spring Court on a mission that leaves her shattered in body and spirit, Cassian must prove that loving a warrior means fighting beside her, even when the battle is within her own heart.

*Some of this is made up for the storyline*

Rhys didn’t look at you when he gave the order. That should have been your first warning.

“Tamlin’s been quiet too long,” the High Lord said from where he stood at the windows of the River House, hands clasped behind his back, violet gaze fixed on the sea of stars above Velaris. “Feyre and I both agree someone needs to check on him.”

Your fingers curled into the hem of your tunic to hide the tremor. “Send Azriel.”

It wasn’t a request. It was common sense. Az knew how to slip in and out of courts unseen. He wouldn’t be provoked the way you would.

Rhys’s smile was thin, sharp enough to cut. “Tamlin doesn’t hate Azriel the way he hates you.”

Because you were Night Court through and through. Because you had stood beside Feyre during the war, had smiled that wicked smile only a Night Court female could conjure when you watched Hybern burn. Because you were nothing Tamlin could stomach—and everything Rhys wanted to rub in his face.

You swallowed down the knot in your throat. “He’ll attack me.”

“Then defend yourself.” Rhys’s voice was velvet over steel. “You are a warrior of this court, Y/n. If you cannot handle a visit to a washed-up High Lord, perhaps you shouldn’t be sitting at this table at all.”

The blow landed—clean and brutal. Your teeth clamped down on the words you wanted to throw back. You didn’t dare glance at Cassian, though you felt the weight of his stare from across the room.

He hadn’t spoken since Rhys gave the order. Hadn’t fought for you.

That, somehow, hurt more.

──

The Spring Court felt like it was rotting from the inside out.

The once-lush fields were strangled with overgrown vines, the grass scorched in patches like Tamlin had burned it in a fit of rage. Even the air tasted wrong—thick, humid, the faint scent of spoiled flowers making your stomach churn.

You shouldn’t have come alone. You knew it the second your boots crossed the border, the shield Rhys had laced around you flickering faintly in the golden light. It felt too thin. Insufficient. Like even Rhys hadn’t expected you to make it out.

You’re capable, you told yourself, trying to drown out the doubt thrumming in your chest. Rhys wouldn’t have sent you if you weren’t.

Except…he would.

Your heart hammered harder with every step up the cracked marble stairs leading to Tamlin’s front door. The place looked abandoned—windows broken, the once-beautiful façade covered in dirt and dead vines. But the moment you touched the heavy brass handle, you knew you weren’t alone.

The door swung open before you could knock.

Tamlin stood there, barefoot and rumpled, like he hadn’t slept in days. His golden hair was tangled, his green eyes sunken and wild, bright with something you couldn’t name. But it was the smile that made your stomach curdle—the slow, curving thing that had no warmth at all.

“Back so soon?” His voice was smoke and glass shards, scraping at your ears.

You forced your chin higher, though your pulse thudded so loudly you could barely hear yourself speak. “I’m here on behalf of the Night Court.” You hated how rehearsed the words sounded. Like you were a child parroting a script. “Rhysand requests an update on—”

He laughed. Low and sharp and utterly humorless.

“Rhysand sends a messenger girl to check on me?” Tamlin’s fingers curled around the doorframe, claws slipping free in tiny, almost lazy flickers. “How pathetic. Does he not even bother sending his shadows anymore?”

You tried to hold your ground. “I’m not a messenger girl.”

“Aren’t you?” He leaned closer, and though the scent of him was the same—fresh-cut grass and sun-warmed earth—it was tinged now with something rotting. Like that poison had bled into his very skin.

You opened your mouth—to argue, to defend yourself, you weren’t sure. But his hand shot out faster than you could track, wrapping around your wrist.

“Let me go.” Your voice was sharp. Too sharp. It gave away the sliver of fear crawling beneath your skin.

Tamlin’s smile didn’t waver. “You took everything from me.”

Your throat went tight. “I didn’t take anything.”

“You stood beside her.” His grip tightened, claws pricking through the leather of your sleeve, just enough for a bead of blood to well. “You laughed while my court crumbled. You and your filthy Court of Nightmares.”

You wrenched back, free hand reaching for the dagger at your hip—but vines shot from the floor, wrapping around your ankles before you could even unsheath it.

“Don’t.” Tamlin’s voice was soft. Soft in the way a predator coaxes prey into stillness. “Don’t pretend you’re a warrior, little girl.”

Anger flared beneath the fear. “You want me to beg? To apologize? I won’t.”

His hand shot out again, this time slamming into your chest with a blast of magic so forceful you flew back, spine colliding with the opposite wall hard enough to crack the plaster. Pain burst through your ribs like fire.

You hit the floor coughing, gasping for breath—but there was no time to recover. The vines snaked tighter, dragging you forward across the marble, over broken glass and debris until they coiled around your arms, holding you spread-eagle like some grotesque marionette.

Tamlin stalked toward you, each step measured. Controlled.

“You think you’re one of them,” he murmured, eyes flicking up and down your trembling body. “But you’re not. You’re just their pawn. A disposable little soldier they’ll burn through and forget.”

You gritted your teeth against the pain. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Liar.”

His magic yanked your arm at a brutal angle, dislocating your shoulder with a sickening pop. You screamed before you could stop yourself, the sound echoing off the empty walls.

Tears blurred your vision, but you swallowed the sob threatening to break free. You wouldn’t give him that.

“You’re not even worth killing.” Tamlin’s voice was bored now, dismissive. “Go home to your High Lord. Crawl back to your precious General. Let them see what their little pet looks like when the mask comes off.”

He dropped you.

Just like that, the vines loosened, and you crumpled to the floor in a heap, cheek pressing into the cold marble. You could feel the blood seeping through your torn leathers, the grinding ache in your ribs with every breath.

“Get out of my court,” Tamlin said quietly. “Before I change my mind.”

It took everything in you to push to your hands and knees, every muscle trembling with the effort. Your fingers slipped in your own blood. But you crawled—each inch toward the door a battle.

You didn’t look back.

Even when you felt his eyes on your spine, even when your broken shoulder screamed with agony, even when you felt the whisper of his power trailing after you like a ghost.

──

The air felt too thick in your lungs.

Each breath tasted like dirt and blood and shattered pride, your cheek pressed into the cold ground outside Tamlin’s manor. You had crawled this far—through the broken doorway, across those steps, through the weeds and rot choking the garden path. Your body screamed at you to stop.

You didn’t.

Your dislocated arm hung useless at your side, every tiny jostle sending molten agony lancing through your shoulder. Blood streaked your hands, slick with grime, glass and thorns embedded in your palms. You could barely see—one eye swelling shut, the other blurred with tears you couldn’t hold back.

But the bond—gods, the bond.

It was a thin, silver cord in your chest, a lifeline you hadn’t wanted to rely on. You had fought so hard to stand on your own, to prove you were more than Cassian’s mate, more than the weakest link in the Inner Circle. But now…

Cassian.

You whispered it into the bond, voice so faint you weren’t sure it would reach him. It was barely a thought, a trembling plea wrapped in agony and shame.

But Cassian heard.

The response was instant—like a crack of thunder, that golden warmth roaring to life across the tether between you, flooding your senses. His fear slammed into you so hard you gasped, your battered lungs failing to catch enough air.

Y/n? Y/N.

It wasn’t a question. It was panic sharpened to a blade, his voice raw with terror.

You could feel the sky shift. His wings slicing through clouds as he launched from wherever he was—felt the storm of his rage boiling up like magma beneath his skin. But it was the fear that broke you.

You’d never felt him afraid like this. Not in the war. Not in any battle.

But your pain—your weakness—was a dagger straight into his heart.

“Please,” you whispered aloud, voice rasping into the dirt.

You didn’t know if you said it for him—or for yourself.

The world started to tilt, dark edges closing in. You couldn’t feel your legs anymore. Couldn’t even hold yourself up. You were collapsing into the earth, breath hitching, pain blooming like a thousand flowers beneath your skin.

But you clung to the bond.

Even as everything else slipped from your fingers—your pride, your strength, your sense of self—you held onto him.

I’m coming.

The bond shuddered with the force of those words, like he was pouring every bit of himself down that invisible thread. You could feel his wings beating furiously against the wind, his heart pounding just as hard as yours.

You closed your eyes.

He would come.

Even if Rhys never believed in you. Even if the whole court thought you were a mistake.

Cassian would come.

You didn’t remember the moment he landed. Didn’t hear the rush of wind, the crack of his boots on soil. You only felt—

Scarred hands, gentle despite their strength, cupping your face. His fingers trembling against your bloodstained skin, voice cracking as he said your name, over and over, like a prayer.

“Y/n.”

You tried to smile, but it felt broken too. “Took you long enough.”

His laugh was half-sob, half-roar, torn from somewhere deep inside his chest. “You scared the shit out of me.”

You didn’t answer, couldn’t, because he was gathering you into his arms, careful but desperate, cradling you like you were something precious—something he was terrified might slip away if he wasn’t careful enough.

His wings wrapped around you, shielding you from the world, his scent of cedar and smoke cocooning you safe in the storm of his fury and fear.

“Who did this to you?” he asked, voice low and lethal.

You didn’t answer. Not yet. Not when it took all your strength just to breathe.

Cassian’s hand slid down your back, fingers mapping each bruise, each broken place, memorizing the evidence of your suffering like he might etch it into his bones and never forget.

When his fingers brushed your dislocated shoulder, you whimpered before you could stop yourself.

Cassian swore—ugly and guttural—and held you closer.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured into your hair, voice softer now. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. Just hold on.”

You clung to the front of his leathers, tears hot against your raw skin, and let yourself believe him.

Even if you didn’t deserve to.

─────────────

Through the bond, he could feel everything.

The pain. The sharp, ragged edges of her pride torn to shreds. The humiliation curdling in her gut. And beneath it all—the small, flickering ember of her belief that none of them had ever truly wanted her.

That she had been sent to fail.

Cassian’s heart nearly stopped.

He had to grit his teeth so hard his jaw ached just to keep from flying straight to the River House and demanding answers from Rhys right now.

But Y/n came first.

Always.

Her breathing hitched against his chest, and Cassian laid his hand over her ribcage, fingers splayed to feel the fragile rise and fall of her breath. Each time her ribs moved, he whispered down the bond, a stream of words and feelings and warmth, steadying her even as his own rage threatened to drown him.

You’re safe now. I have you. I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.

And through the crack in her defenses, through her pain and shame and silence, came the smallest response.

I’m sorry.

It broke him.

Don’t you dare apologize. Don’t you dare.

But she was already drifting, consciousness slipping. Cassian held her tighter, his heartbeat thundering for both of them.

“You’ll be okay,” he whispered aloud, into her hair. “I’ll get you home. I’ll fix this. I swear to the Mother, I will fix this.”

And the sky itself trembled beneath the weight of his vow.

────

Rhys was waiting when Cassian landed.

Y/n was cradled against his chest, her face slack with exhaustion, body battered and limp in his arms. Cassian barely had enough restraint to keep from shaking her awake every two minutes, just to make sure she was still breathing. Every uneven beat of her heart thrummed down the bond, and with each one, Cassian’s temper frayed further and further.

Rhys stood at the edge of the River House steps, hands clasped behind his back. Feyre beside him, worry etched deep between her brows. The High Lady took a step forward, but Cassian’s wings flared, cutting her off.

“Don’t,” Cassian snarled.

The sound of his voice was pure violence. Feyre froze, mouth parting in shock.

“She needs a healer,” Rhys said, his voice calm. Careful.

“She needed backup.” Cassian’s voice cracked like a whip. “She needed protection. She needed someone to actually believe in her.”

He stalked past them, his steps heavy enough to make the ground tremble beneath his boots. The healer was already inside—thank the Mother someone had at least prepared for that—but Cassian wasn’t done.

He laid Y/n down gently, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead, then rounded on Rhys with all the fury of a storm.

“Why her?” Cassian’s wings snapped open, his voice low and dark. “Why send her to Tamlin alone? You know what he’s like. You knew.”

Rhys didn’t flinch. “Tamlin would’ve smelled my magic on anyone else. He had to believe it was a gesture of good faith. If I’d sent Amren, or Az, or even Feyre, it would have been war all over again.”

“So you sent her.” Cassian’s chest heaved. “You sent her to prove a point? To test her?”

Feyre’s voice was soft. “Rhys didn’t mean for her to get hurt—”

Cassian’s laugh was jagged. “He didn’t care if she did.”

That silence said enough.

Cassian’s hands curled into fists, shaking at his sides. “I thought we were past this.” His voice was quieter now, almost hoarse. “I thought you were done using people as pawns.”

Rhys’s jaw tightened. “This court’s survival requires sacrifices. You know that.”

“She’s not a sacrifice.” Cassian’s voice broke at the edges. “She’s my mate.”

Feyre sucked in a sharp breath, her hand flying to her mouth. Rhys’s expression flickered for the briefest second—but Cassian didn’t care.

“She’s my mate,” Cassian said again, softer this time. “And you nearly got her killed.”

Rhys held his gaze. “And if you let that blind you, you’ll get her killed yourself.”

Cassian’s vision went red, but the healer called from inside, voice urgent.

He turned without another word, wings tucking tight against his back. He’d deal with Rhys later. Right now, Y/n was the only thing that mattered.

──────

Y/n was asleep in their room when Cassian stormed into the River House again, wings flared so wide they nearly knocked a vase off the entry table. He hadn’t even bothered with his leathers—just an old shirt thrown on over his bandaged knuckles, his hair still damp from washing off Y/n’s blood.

Rhys was in the study, leaning against the desk with a glass of wine in hand, his jaw tight like he’d been waiting for this.

“Explain,” Cassian said, voice low and dangerous.

“She’s fine now,” Rhys said, tone careful but not remorseful enough for Cassian’s liking. “She’s alive.”

“Don’t.” Cassian’s hand slammed onto the desk so hard the wood groaned. “Don’t you fucking downplay this.”

Rhys’s nostrils flared. “I did what I had to—”

“She is my mate.” Cassian’s voice shook the walls, his wings trembling with restraint. “You sent her there like she was nothing—like she was expendable—and you knew. You knew Tamlin would rip her apart if she so much as looked at him wrong.”

“She needed to prove—”

“To who?” Cassian’s voice cracked. “To you? To this fucking court?”

“She needed to prove it to herself.”

Cassian went still.

Rhys’s gaze was like steel. “Do you think I don’t see what eats at her? Every time she stands in a room with us, do you think I don’t feel how small she thinks she is? How much she believes you’re the only reason she’s still standing here?”

Cassian’s teeth bared. “That wasn’t your call to make.”

The study door swung open hard enough to bang against the wall.

“You’re right,” Feyre said, voice sharp and cold. “It wasn’t.”

Rhys’s head whipped around. “Feyre darling—”

“No.” Her hands shook at her sides, knuckles white. “Don’t darling me right now.”

Cassian’s chest heaved, his anger a living, breathing thing beside him. But for once, it wasn’t just his fury filling the room.

“You could’ve gotten her killed,” Feyre said, voice low but vibrating with anger. “For what? Some twisted test? You used her, Rhys.”

“It was calculated,” Rhys said, but the words rang hollow even in his own mouth. “Tamlin wouldn’t hurt someone who wasn’t a threat.”

Feyre laughed—a sharp, humorless thing. “You mean like he didn’t hurt me?”

The silence after that was deafening.

Cassian’s fists clenched again, the memories of Feyre’s bruises—the hollow look in her eyes when she’d first come to Velaris—still sharp in his mind.

“You of all people,” Feyre said, her voice cracking, “should have known better.”

Rhys’s throat bobbed. “I—”

“She is our family.” Feyre’s voice shook now. “Whether you like her or not. Whether you think she’s good enough or not. She is ours. And you let her bleed for your pride.”

Cassian had to look away—because if he met Rhys’s eyes, he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from putting his fist straight through his brother’s jaw.

Rhys closed his eyes for a long moment, and when he opened them, the weight of it all settled there—the guilt, the fear he hadn’t admitted, the quiet, ugly truth that he hadn’t expected Y/n to come back in one piece.

“Do you even see her?” Cassian asked, voice quieter now, but no less lethal. “Or is she just a liability you tolerate because I love her?”

Rhys didn’t answer.

That silence told Cassian everything.

“Fix it,” Cassian said, turning toward the door. “Because if you ever use her like that again, I don’t give a shit that you’re my High Lord. I will rip you apart.”

Rhys didn’t argue.

And when Cassian left, it wasn’t just the tension that hung heavy in the air.

It was the fracture between brothers. A wound that might never fully heal.

────

The first thing Y/n registered when she woke was the ache in her shoulder—followed closely by the too-warm weight of a calloused hand clasped gently around her own.

Cassian.

Her eyes cracked open, the soft candlelight catching on the gold in his brown eyes. His head was bowed, his thumb stroking the back of her hand in a slow, mindless rhythm.

“You’re awake,” he rasped.

Y/n swallowed, throat raw. “Unfortunately.”

Cassian’s lips quirked, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t say that.”

Silence stretched between them.

He wasn’t touching the bond. Neither was she. Both too afraid to open that door—to face everything unsaid inside it.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Y/n whispered.

Cassian’s head snapped up. “What?”

“I could’ve handled it.” Her voice was bitter. “Or I should have.”

Cassian’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood, pacing like a caged beast. “Handle it? You almost died.”

Y/n stared at her hands. The bandages. The bruises already darkening her skin.

“I’m not like Feyre,” she said quietly. “I’m not powerful, or clever, or—”

“Stop.”

“I’m not like Nesta,” she went on, voice cracking. “I’m not a warrior. I’m not—”

“Stop.”

Cassian’s voice was low and fierce, but Y/n couldn’t stop the flood now that it had started.

“I’m just the girl Rhys tolerates because you want me here. That’s all I’ve ever been.”

Cassian knelt beside her, gripping the arms of her chair, his face so close she could feel his breath. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” Her voice broke entirely. “If I was worth anything to this court, he wouldn’t have sent me alone.”

Cassian’s hands slid into her hair, his forehead pressing against hers. “You are worth everything.”

Y/n’s breath shuddered out, her fingers tangling in his shirt. “Then why does it feel like I’m not?”

Cassian had no answer. So he just held her.

────

It was three days before Y/n could stand without wincing. Five before she could move through the halls without Cassian hovering like a storm cloud at her shoulder.

But even then, her steps were careful, measured, as if each one might shatter the fragile illusion that she belonged here at all.

Cassian saw it in the way she avoided the training ring, the way her eyes slid off the others whenever they spoke of strategy or battle. Saw the doubt sinking deeper and deeper into her skin.

He found her on the cliffs, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, watching the sunset.

She didn’t turn when he landed beside her, though his wings stirred the grass.

“I’m not fragile, you know,” she said, voice soft but not unkind.

“No,” Cassian agreed. “But you are bleeding inside, and I can’t stand watching you pretend you’re not.”

Her fingers curled into the fabric of her pants, knuckles tight. “I’m not like you. Or Feyre. Or even Nesta. I don’t have power. I don’t have—”

“You have courage.”

She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Courage doesn’t mean shit when you’re face-down in the dirt.”

Cassian crouched beside her, resting his forearms on his knees. “Then let’s make sure you never end up there again.”

Y/n’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I’m going to train you,” Cassian said, as if it were the simplest truth in the world. “Properly. Not just enough to get by. Enough to make you dangerous.”

Y/n turned to him, eyes wide with uncertainty. “You don’t have to—”

“I want to.” His voice was low, rough with something too tender to name. “Because this is what you don’t see—you belong here. Not because of me. Not because you’re my mate. But because you are strong, and clever, and you deserve to take up space in this court. And if Rhys or anyone else has made you feel otherwise, fuck them.”

Her throat worked as she swallowed, emotion flashing in her eyes. “You really believe that?”

Cassian’s fingers traced her jaw, tilting her face toward his. “I believe in you more than I believe in anything.”

Y/n’s breath caught.

She nodded once, almost shyly, and Cassian stood, holding out a hand.

“Come on,” he said, smiling softly. “Let’s teach you how to break my nose.”

Training was brutal, but not in the way she expected.

Cassian didn’t just drill her in forms and technique—he made her unlearn every quiet apology her body had ever made. Every flinch, every inch she gave up to the world to make herself smaller.

“Stop retreating,” he barked as they circled each other, wooden swords in hand. “You’re not a rabbit.”

“I’m tired, Cass.”

“I don’t care.” His wings flared wide. “The next time someone comes for you, they won’t stop because you’re tired. So fight tired. Fight scared. Fight broken. But fight.”

Y/n’s jaw clenched.

And when she lunged, it wasn’t graceful or pretty—but it was fierce.

Cassian grinned through the sting of her wooden sword cracking against his ribs. “Good.”

Again. And again. And again, until her muscles shook, her heart pounded, and every doubt she carried began to bleed out into the dirt.

By the end, she was breathless, sweat-drenched, and smiling.

Cassian’s grin matched hers. “That’s my girl.”

────

That night, Cassian found her sitting at the edge of their bed, staring at her hands.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked softly, closing the door behind him.

She shook her head. “My body feels like it’s been put through a meat grinder.”

Cassian chuckled, moving toward her. “That’s how you know you did it right.”

But when he knelt between her knees, hands settling on her thighs, his smile faded.

“Talk to me,” he said softly.

Y/n exhaled shakily. “I hate that I needed you to save me.”

Cassian’s thumb brushed the inside of her knee, tracing small, soothing circles. “That’s not weakness.”

“It feels like it.”

“Sweetheart.” His voice was a rasp, his hands sliding up to her waist, so gentle despite the strength in them. “Do you think I never needed Rhys? Or Az? Do you think needing help makes me less a warrior?”

She didn’t answer.

Cassian leaned closer, his forehead brushing hers. “Strength isn’t about never falling. It’s about getting back up. And sometimes, the only reason we can is because someone pulls us to our feet.”

Her eyes burned, tears pricking the corners. “I’m tired of needing to be saved.”

“Then let me stand beside you instead.”

His hands cupped her face, his thumbs brushing away the first stray tears. “You are my equal, Y/n. My mate. My heart. But even the strongest hearts need somewhere soft to rest.”

Y/n’s breath caught, and when Cassian kissed her, it was slow—softer than she expected. Not hunger, but reverence. A kiss that said you are precious.

She melted into him, hands curling into his hair, pulling him closer. And when they tumbled back onto the bed, it wasn’t frantic or desperate. It was worship.

Cassian’s lips traced the line of her throat, her collarbone, the curve of her shoulder. Every scar, every bruise, he kissed as if he could erase them with his mouth alone.

“You scared me,” he whispered, voice cracking. “When I felt you through the bond, I—”

His hands trembled where they held her waist, his forehead pressing to her sternum. “I can’t lose you.”

Y/n curled around him, pulling him up to meet her gaze. “I’m here.”

Cassian kissed her again, deeper now, need threading through the softness. And when his clothes joined hers on the floor, when their bodies tangled together in the sheets, it wasn’t just desire.

It was coming home.

Every touch was a vow. Every breath a promise.

You are enough.

You are mine.

We will fight for each other.

When they finally lay sated in the dark, her head tucked beneath his chin, Cassian traced idle patterns on her back, wings spread protectively over both of them.

“I’ll teach you everything I know,” he murmured into her hair. “And one day, you’ll scare the shit out of anyone who thinks you’re just a pretty face.”

Y/n smiled sleepily, fingers tracing the scar over his heart. “Even you?”

“Especially me.”

He kissed her temple, arms tightening around her. “Now sleep, my love. Tomorrow, we fight again.”

────

The training ring was full when Y/n stepped inside.

Azriel was sparring with Nesta, Mor was leaning against the railings, and Cassian—Cassian was waiting for her, twin blades in hand.

“Alright, sweetheart,” he said, tossing her one. “Show me what you’ve got.”

She caught it easily, sliding into a stance so confident even Az paused to watch.

Cassian came at her fast — no holding back, no mercy. And she met him step for step.

The crack of steel on steel rang through the air, and when Y/n spun low, sweeping his leg out from under him, the collective gasp from the others was delicious.

Cassian hit the dirt, and she planted a boot on his chest, blade pointed at his throat.

His grin was feral. Proud. A little bit in love with how terrifying she looked standing over him.

Mor whistled. Nesta arched a brow. Azriel’s smile was the rarest thing of all — pure, quiet pride.

Y/n offered Cassian her hand, and when he took it, she hauled him up hard enough to make him stumble.

“She’s a menace,” Cassian grinned, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

Y/n only smiled sweetly. “You made me this way.”

And the Inner Circle finally saw — not Cassian’s mate. Not a liability.

But a weapon in her own right.

────

They made it back to their room just before sunset.

Cassian sprawled across the bed, shirtless and still slightly breathless from their sparring. Y/n stood at the window, watching the horizon glow gold and violet.

“You scared them today,” Cassian said, voice warm with pride.

Y/n’s smile was small, but real. “Good.”

He reached for her, and she went willingly, climbing onto the bed beside him. His fingers traced lazy patterns on her back, the comfort of his touch sinking deep into her skin.

“I meant what I said,” he murmured, voice husky. “You’re not just my mate. You’re you. And I love you for every reckless, stubborn, brilliant piece of that.”

Y/n’s heart squeezed tight.

She traced her fingers along his jaw, her touch reverent. “And I love you for seeing me even when I couldn’t.”

Cassian kissed her then — soft, unhurried, the kind of kiss that wasn’t about need or urgency. It was about knowing. About the quiet certainty that whatever storm came next, they would face it together.

When she pulled back, breathless, Cassian grinned up at her.

“So,” he said, wicked and sweet all at once. “Want to practice breaking my nose again?”

Y/n laughed, and for the first time in weeks, it was free and light.

“Tomorrow,” she promised, curling against his chest. “Tonight, just hold me.”

And he did.

Because love wasn’t just about battles fought side by side — it was about the quiet moments after, when two hearts beat as one, and the world felt a little less terrifying.

And in the safety of his arms, Y/n finally knew.

She was home.

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[swtechspecs]

Baktoid Armor Workshop Multi-Troop Transport (MTT)

Source: The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (Del Rey, 2003)

[youngsadlesbian]

THREADS OF FATE | chapter 02

chapter summary: during the battle against loki, you unexpectedly heals natasha romanoff, catching the attention of the avengers and shield. despite their repeated attempts to recruit you, you resist, uncertain of your place in their world.

a/n: hope you like it!

word count: 2,3k

warnings: none.

New York City had always been loud.

Ever since you moved here for college, you'd grown used to the constant hum of life—taxi horns blaring, people shouting into their phones, the rhythmic clatter of subway cars below your feet. The city never stopped.

It had a heartbeat, a rhythm that pulsed through the streets, something chaotic yet comforting.

And today had been no different.

You had spent the morning working your shift at a coffee shop near Grand Central, serving overpriced lattes to businessmen in expensive suits and tourists who marveled at the station’s architecture. Then, after finishing a long afternoon lecture at Columbia, you took the subway back downtown, planning to grab some food before heading to your apartment.

You never got that far.

The first explosion hit just as you stepped out of the station.

The ground shook beneath your feet, car alarms wailed, and suddenly, the world around you erupted into screams.

You turned toward the source of the sound—just in time to see the sky rip open.

You stood frozen, staring upward as the air itself seemed to split apart, like someone had taken a knife to the fabric of reality. And from that gaping wound in the sky, creatures began to spill out.

Metallic, grotesque things with gleaming eyes and snarling faces, their long limbs ending in weapons. They swarmed the buildings, diving down into the streets, opening fire without hesitation.

People ran.

People screamed.

And still, you stood there, paralyzed, your breath caught in your throat.

Your mind struggled to comprehend what was happening. Was this a terrorist attack? An invasion? Some kind of apocalyptic nightmare?

Then, the building next to you exploded.

Glass and concrete rained down like deadly hail, snapping you out of your daze.

Move. You need to move.

Your feet obeyed before your brain did, sprinting down the street as debris crashed behind you. Everywhere you looked, chaos reigned. Cars flipped over, storefronts shattered, smoke billowed into the air.

And above it all, the creatures—aliens, you realized with growing horror—descended upon the city like a swarm of locusts.

Then, a streak of red and gold flashed past you.

You turned just in time to see Iron Man soaring through the sky, repulsors blazing as he took down several of the creatures in quick succession.

You barely had time to process the fact that Iron Man was real before a massive, hammer-wielding figure landed in the street a few yards away, the very ground shaking beneath him.

Thor.

Another explosion rocked the street, and suddenly, there was a man in a star-spangled suit, ushering civilians to safety with a commanding presence that left no room for hesitation.

Captain America.

This was no terrorist attack.

This was a full-blown war.

You weren’t a fighter.

You had no weapons, no combat training. The only thing you had was an ability you barely understood, one that had always felt more like an inconvenience than a gift.

But as the battle raged on, as people screamed and bled and died around you, you knew you couldn’t just stand there.

You had to help.

Ducking into the ruins of a crumbling café, you pressed yourself against the wall, trying to steady your breathing. You spotted a group of civilians huddled behind an overturned car, trapped as one of the metal creatures advanced on them.

Without thinking, you grabbed a loose brick and hurled it at the creature’s head.

It didn’t do much—barely even made a sound against its armor—but it was enough to get its attention.

The thing turned toward you, eyes glowing.

Shit.

You braced yourself for death, but before it could strike, a gunshot rang out.

The alien jerked back, a hole blasted through its skull.

Then, out of nowhere, a woman in black came barreling into view, flipping onto the creature’s back and twisting its head with a sickening snap.

It crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

And that’s when you saw her.

Natasha Romanoff.

Even with blood streaked across her face, hair tangled and wild from battle, she looked impossibly in control.

"Get out of here!" she barked at you, already turning toward her next target.

But you didn’t run.

Because as she moved, you saw it—the deep gash along her side, crimson staining her suit.

She was hurt.

And before you could think better of it, you were moving.

"Wait!" you called out.

She barely spared you a glance. "Go, now!"

"You’re injured!"

"I’m fine."

She wasn’t.

You could feel it—the pain radiating off her in waves, the sluggish way she was moving, the way she favored one side. She was bleeding out.

You didn’t think.

You simply acted.

Closing the distance between you, you reached out—placing your hands over the wound before she could shove you away.

And then, it happened.

The warmth, the golden glow, the pulse of life pouring from you into her.

You barely registered Natasha’s sharp inhale, the way her muscles tensed beneath your touch. You just focused, willing the torn flesh to mend, the wound to seal.

It took only seconds.

But when you pulled away, Natasha’s eyes were wide.

Her breathing was steady.

And her wound was gone.

"What the hell," she whispered.

You swallowed hard. "I—"

Before you could explain, before she could even process what had just happened, a voice crackled in her earpiece.

"Romanoff? You still alive?"

Natasha exhaled sharply, pressing a hand to where the wound had been just moments ago. Then, in a perfectly even voice, she responded:

"Yeah. I’m here."

Her gaze flickered back to you, something unreadable in her expression.

"Stay here," she ordered.

And then she was gone.

You didn’t stay put.

How could you?

The battle raged on around you, the city falling apart piece by piece, and the Avengers were the only ones standing between humanity and complete annihilation.

So you kept moving, dodging debris, helping whoever you could. You didn’t use your powers again—not until a man was crushed beneath a fallen beam, his breaths ragged. You healed him in a heartbeat.

And in doing so, you sealed your fate.

Because the moment he stumbled to his feet, still dazed from what had just happened, another figure landed near you.

A man in blue and red.

Steve Rogers.

Captain America.

His sharp, assessing eyes locked onto yours, then drifted down to the man you had just healed. Understanding dawned in them almost instantly.

You swallowed.

"…Hi?"

He didn’t respond.

Instead, he pressed two fingers to his comm.

"Stark, I need you to see something."

And just like that, you were no longer just a civilian caught in the crossfire.

You were something else.

Something they weren’t going to let walk away.

The moment Captain America took notice of you, everything changed.

One minute, you were just a bystander trying to survive an alien invasion, and the next, you were in the midst of the most elite force the world had ever seen.

You barely had time to process what was happening as Captain America placed a firm hand on your shoulder. "You need to come with us." His voice was calm, but his gaze was intense, assessing every inch of you.

There was no room for argument.

Before you could say anything, another figure appeared beside him—Black Widow. Natasha’s expression was still unreadable, but you could see the curiosity in her eyes as she took in the strange, golden glow still lingering faintly around your hands.

"We’ve got things covered here," Natasha said, glancing over her shoulder at the battle raging in the distance. "Get her to Stark."

"Understood," Steve replied, motioning for you to follow him.

You barely had time to question what was happening as they led you through the chaotic streets of New York, pushing through crowds of survivors, emergency responders, and Avengers.

Your mind raced.

What had you just done? You had healed Natasha—one of the most skilled agents the world had ever known—and now, you were being whisked away by two of the most powerful people on Earth.

For a moment, you considered running. It was instinct, something deep inside you urging you to escape before things escalated. But you knew that wasn’t an option. There was no going back.

The streets seemed to stretch endlessly as you followed them through the destruction. Finally, they led you to a narrow alley, where a sleek, high-tech van awaited. The SHIELD insignia was emblazoned on its side.

SHIELD.

The name had always been more of a myth to you, a whispered legend you had heard about in passing. Now, it was a reality—a reality that was about to swallow you whole.

You were ushered inside, and the doors shut behind you with an ominous hiss. The van took off at a speed that made your stomach flip.

"Keep your head down," Steve said, sitting across from you with Natasha beside him. "You’re coming with us to a secure location. We have questions."

You nodded, but your mind was still spinning.

As you sped through the streets of New York, the chaos of the battle felt like a distant memory. The city’s skyline blurred as you were taken farther and farther away from the carnage. The air inside the van felt thick, and the quiet was almost unbearable after everything you had witnessed.

Finally, the van came to a stop. The doors opened, revealing a sleek, underground facility with white walls, sleek metallic surfaces, and the hum of advanced technology. The air smelled sterile.

"Welcome to SHIELD," Natasha said, her tone still unreadable. "This is where we work."

It was the most intimidating place you had ever seen, and you couldn’t shake the feeling that you were about to step into something much bigger than yourself.

The moment you stepped out of the van, a team of SHIELD agents rushed forward to escort you inside, and you were taken into a small, sterile room with only a table and a few chairs. Natasha and Steve flanked you on either side.

"Do you know why you’re here?" Steve asked, his voice firm yet measured.

You swallowed hard. "No."

"We’ve seen your abilities," Natasha spoke, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You healed me in the middle of the battle. That’s not something you can just do."

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat. "I—I don’t really know how it works. It just… happens."

"And that’s what we need to understand." Steve leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp. "You’ve been trained, haven’t you? You have to be. A power like that doesn’t manifest without purpose."

"No, I’ve never been trained. I just… I’ve always had this ability. I can heal. I don’t know how, but I can."

"How long have you had it?" Natasha pressed.

You hesitated, a brief flash of your childhood crossing your mind—how your parents had always told you that your gifts were part of a greater plan, that everything you did was in the hands of destiny. But you knew now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. "Since I was a little girl," you said quietly. "I just thought it was normal."

Steve and Natasha exchanged a glance. The tension between them was palpable, but neither of them spoke right away.

After a long pause, Steve leaned back in his chair. "You’ve been living in New York for a while now. You’re a civilian—no training, no connections. Yet you just healed one of our best agents in the middle of a battlefield. That’s no small feat."

Natasha continued, "We need people like you, people who have abilities that could turn the tide of a fight. People who could make a difference."

You stiffened. You understood the implication, but it didn’t sit well with you. "I’m not a soldier. I’m not a fighter. I just… I just want to help people."

"Which is why you’re exactly what we need," Natasha said. "You have no idea the kinds of threats we’re facing, threats that require… people like you."

Steve’s tone shifted, becoming more insistent. "We want you to join us. To be part of SHIELD."

You blinked, stunned. The words hung in the air like a heavy weight, and for a moment, you didn’t know how to respond.

Finally, you found your voice. "I’m not a soldier," you repeated, this time more firmly. "I don’t think I can help in that way. I don’t want to be part of your… war."

Steve’s expression softened slightly, but Natasha’s didn’t. "We’re not asking you to be a soldier," she said, her voice almost coaxing now. "We’re asking you to help us protect people—innocent people, the ones who can’t defend themselves."

You shook your head. "I can’t. I won’t."

There was a long silence. You could feel the weight of their disappointment, but you stood firm in your decision. You weren’t ready to give up your life and be thrust into a world of espionage, violence, and endless conflict.

And no matter how much they wanted you, you weren’t going to be the hero they hoped you would be.

After a long moment of quiet, Steve finally stood. "We understand," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "But we’re not going to stop trying to convince you. You have a gift, and the world is full of people who need it."

Natasha stood as well, her eyes never leaving you. "We’ll be in touch," she said, her tone colder now.

You didn’t say anything else as they left the room, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, you exhaled in relief.

You weren’t ready for this world. You weren’t ready for the responsibility that came with it. And no matter how much the SHIELD agents tried to convince you, you knew deep down that you weren’t meant to be a part of their mission.

At least, not yet.

comment below if you want to be added to my taglist!

@mythixmagic @imnotasuperhero @ctrlaltedits @jessycatatiana @naominanuq @natashasmuse @poisonlittlebutterfly

[berristreasuredlibrary]

big beefy men part two?? but... they're subs???? bigger sigh...

A/N: I finally finished it!! I hope you guys enjoy it, I certainly enjoyed writing it >:3 I couldn't figure out who else to put so perhaps you guys could help me out and lmk for sure! I yap too much so enjoy! (I read it over once so there might be typos, pls ignore them O_o)

Big beefy men who look like they could crush you without much effort. Except... they're the biggest sweethearts you've ever met. Whose hands envelop both of yours - including your wrists - and who love to bear hug you from behind, especially when you don't expect it. They're the perfect size for it too!

Sneaking up behind you when you're getting a snack from the pantry or fridge, footsteps silent despite their big frame, a shadow slowly creeping up your back, a cheeky smile making its way onto their handsome face. Standing just inches away from your body, they watch in amusement as the hairs on the back of your neck begin to stand, your body telling you that something is there, yet you never quite learn your lesson.

So, when big arms wrap around your waist, squeezing your plush body against their chest, his hands squeezing whatever they can get - which is a lot - you squeal, your precious snack falling from your grasp. You can huff and squirm as much as you like, though your efforts to escape are futile - as you've come to accept -and your lover only finds it amusing, watching you battle with his arms in a war you'll never win.

Your scent surrounds him, much like his entire stature surrounds you, and he can't help but bury his face into the crook of your neck, breathing your heavenly smell like it's the last breath he'll ever take. You can feel his muscles flexing, straining against fabric in a way that has your mouth watering, your mind running wild as your feet leave the ground.

It's not his fault, not really, or that's what he tells you at least, when you can no longer feel solid ground beneath you. You're so much smaller than he is, his back hurts often, having to lean down to hug or kiss you. Or bend you over any solid surface.

You can squirm and huff all you want, complaining about not being on the ground, but he knows you better than that. He knows you only complain because your panties grow increasingly uncomfortable, getting sticky since your pussy began drooling for the brute of a man you call your lover the minute his arms wrapped around your middle.

He knows you squirm against his form - the solid wall of absolute muscle, carved by the gods themselves - because if you stop and stay still for even a second, your focus will be on how your clit throbs, on how heat pools low in your tummy, how your nipples begin hardening under the shirt you're wearing...he knows.

It's not like you can help it either, not when he's so handsome and his body rivals that of a movie star - but you know he'd put models, bodybuilders, and actors to shame if he really wanted to. No, you can't truly help it, and with the way he's looking at you now - with wide eyes and pouty lips, his hands sliding up to squeeze your tits, pinching your sensitive nipples - it really isn't helping.

Despite still being in the air, his hands still squeezing and playing with your tits, you know you're the one who truly holds power. He may be big and strong, but you know with the right coaxing and pretty words, he's putty in your hands. So, when you shift your hips up slightly, dragging your ass along the length of his hardening cock, you bite back a smirk when he groans softly, boarding a moan.

His hands squeeze your tits harder, trying to ground himself desperately, yet his hips have a mind of their own, because they roll forward, trying to set a rhythm that would ease some of the discomfort. However, he is thoroughly disappointed when your hips stop their movement, and he whines against your throat where his face is buried.

Your hands push against his forearms, signaling him to let you go, which he reluctantly does, missing your warmth seconds after setting you back onto the ground. His eyes met yours, blown out and unfocused, his hands clenching at his side, while your eyes drift down to eye the bulge straining against his sweatpants, the fabric outlining the shape of his cock deliciously.

Your hands move up to push against his stomach, coaxing him to lean back onto the counter, before they travel lower, tugging on the waistband of those sweatpants and watching him swallow down the saliva pooling in his mouth. His eyes dart down to watch your hands push the offending fabric down his hips, watching at the elastic stretches over the toned muscles of his sharp hips and thick thighs - it's enchanting really.

Your mouth waters when his dick springs free from its confinements, bobbing up and down slowly, the sight making your pussy drool even more than before. Thick and heavy, just barely being able to stay upright, threatening to hang with the sheer weight of it. Veins decorate the shaft, his tip colored an angry shade of pinkish red, trimmed hair at his navel leading you down to the delicious sight of your lover's dick.

Pre beads at his tip, making your mouth water as you lean forward and wrap your lips around the angry tip, dragging your tongue along his slit slowly, your eyes locked on his expression. Watching as his jaw goes slack the moment your heavenly mouth is on him, his eyes struggling to stay open, and his hands hovering over your head - wanting to touch you, yet knowing he didn't have your permission yet.

Humming around his tip, you pull back, spitting onto the area your mouth had just been, before peering up at your lover intently, voice silky smooth and teasing at the same time. "Baby, gotta get you wetter. Help me out?" Your hand wraps around the base of his aching dick and he struggles to choke back a broken whine as he watches your tongue loll out, waiting patiently for his help.

His head dips forward slightly, chin tilted down as his lips pucker briefly, watching as a thick glob of spit lands on your awaiting tongue. his ears catching the pleased purr that rumbles from your chest. When you move forward, letting your combined saliva slowly roll down your tongue, he swears he dies right then and there, because the moment the warm, stickiness of your mixed spit feels like heaven against his aching hot dick.

You barely manage to wrap your lips around his angry tip before his thighs are tensing and he's crying out. "C-cumming! Oh fuck, 'm cumming!" The moans falling from his lips are sinful, drawn out and raspy, his mouth having fallen agape to let them fall freely, his eyes watery and locked on the way your cheeks puff with his load.

Hia hands find their way into your hair, having been brave enough to finally touch you, his fingers tangling in the strands and pushing your head down whilst his hips shift forward, forcing more of his throbbing and twitching cock into the heavenly warmth of your mouth. Your own arms move up to wrap around his thighs, squeezing tight and making your own eyes water when his tip pushes further down your throat.

Cum and spit dribbles from the corner of your mouth, only to be scooped up by his fingers after he detangles a hand from your hair, popping the digits into his mouth seconds later, moaning at the taste of his cum and your spit. His head tilts to the side slightly, eyes watching your throat work as you swallow down his thick load, thighs twitching beneath your arms and his chest heaving with each ragged breath he takes.

When the last of his cum is swallowed, he's pushing your head away and moving onto the floor, ripping your clothes from your delectable body in his haste to return the favor. "Please please, let me fuck you. I'll be good, I'll fuck you really good. Wanna be inside your pretty pussy. Please, baby? Promise I'll be good for you, I really wanna make you feel good too."

And how can you deny him? With his beautiful puppy eyes, the pout playing at his lips, and the furrow of his brows, greedy hands squeezing your tit, your stomach, waist, the fat of your ass, and your thighs, until he's cupping your soaked pussy, panties merely shoved aside to expose you to him.

His free hand wraps around his shaft, pumping himself quickly as his eyes roam over your plush body, fingers toying with your clit and dipping into your cunt, teasing the both of you. It's only when you nod that he shifts closer, knees nudging your thighs further apart, a pathetic cry leaving his puffy lips.

An endless string of breathless 'thank you's fill your ear as he drags his sensitive tip through your folds, tears rolling down his cheeks when he finally sinks into your heavenly pussy, back hunching over your body as he buries his face into your neck. A shaky sigh leaves him, as if it pained him to be without your pussy, gummy walls wrapped around his cock and squeezing him in a way only you were able to do.

Desperate, wet kisses are pressed against your throat as his arm wraps around your shoulders, keeping you still against him, his other hand squeezing your tit when his hips finally reel back only to slam forward, both of your cries echoing in your kitchen. Apologies leave his lips, frantic kisses matching the frantic pace of his thrusts, his tip grazing that spot in your gummy walls, each brutal thrust knocking the air out of you.

Pathetic cries of your name are muffled against your collarbone, fat tears dripping onto your skin, his hips never faltering, even when he sits up and grabs your thighs, hooking your legs over his arms, squeezing the plushness of them and letting his head fall back with a loud moan. Your own cries rise in volume and pitch at the change in angle, his tip hitting that gummy spot dead on now, your hands clenching, unable to grab onto anything.

His nails dig into your thighs now, balls smacking against your ass, the sound of your squelching pussy and your combined moans a sinful melody that has his mind reeling, leaving him hazy, only focused on the way your pussy swallows each inch of his cock with each brutal thrust. It's maddening perfection, and it has his orgasm rapidly approaching.

Babbles leave his lips, unintelligible sentences being strung together by the bulk of a man, usually so composed - yet reduced to nothing but a pussy drunk animal. "S-so good! Feels so good, baby! W-wanna cum with you, please? Let me cum with you." His body moves forward, hunching over you once more, folding you in half with your legs thrown over his broad shoulders. At yet another change in angle, your hands fly to his shoulders, digging your nails into the muscles, making him moan pathetically and increase his pace, pumping into you with his hands braced beside your head.

His mouth crashes onto yours, tongue tangling messily with yours, drool coating both your lips and chins, his moans and whines muffled with each drag of your tongue, brows furrowing as his orgasm steadily approaches, dangling in front of him teasingly. When he feels your pussy begin clenching around his cock, his fingers fly to your clit, rubbing the little bundle of nerves with a desperation like no other. Your cries get muffled by his shoulder when he ducks his head into your neck, crying out into your skin when your orgasm crashes over you.

His own orgasm is pulled from him suddenly, just seconds after yours, thick ropes of cum flooding your clenching pussy, sensitive walls milking him dry. With a few more ruts into you, his hips finally still, his body twitching above yours as his grip on you finally loosens, letting your legs fall to his hips, his dick pulsating in your heavenly pussy, the last few spurts and clenching of your walls making him whimper against your throat.

When he finally lifts his head from your neck, it's to peer intently at you, his eyes shiny with tears and pure adoration, his forehead slick with sweat, his hands moving up and down your sides until they find yours, his fingers lacing with yours, his spit-slicked lips parting to whisper weakly.

"Did I do good?"

KNY: Kyojuro, Sanemi...

JJK: Gojo, Geto, Choso...

AOT: Jean, Armin, Eren...

MHA: Keigo...

COD: Konig, Soap (Johnny)...

Haikyuu: Bokuto...

+ more

[honourablejester]

I was watching a video on top battlefield moments from science fiction, and I was delighted to see included the moment from the Babylon 5 episode ‘Severed Dreams’ where Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari shows up to the Battle of Babylon 5 to invite the enemy Earth Alliance ships to run the fuck away. Because yes. That moment is always a correct choice.

“This is Ambassador Delenn, of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw, or be destroyed.”

“Negative! We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ships!”

“Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.”

Followed by the EA ships proving that they did, indeed, value their lives. Heh.

With no context whatsoever, this moment is still boss as hell. One lady shows up with three cruisers and a dinky little White Star warship, and she makes the opposing side, which two seconds ago had the station and all its exhausted defenders dead to rights, literally run away. She says go and they do. Immediately, no questions asked. And she implies why, she implies that Minbari are people humans just don’t want to fight, but if you don’t have context, it might not be clear to you the scale of what she’s talking about.

Which is that, fifteen years ago, Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari, in her fury and grief over what she saw as the murder of her mentor, cast the deciding vote that lead to the Earth-Minbari war, which is a nice thing to call what was essentially a genocidal religious crusade on behalf of the Minbari to completely annihilate the human race. And they damn near succeeded. She regretted her decision almost immediately, but by the time she managed to halt what she’d started, it was during the Battle of the Line. The final annihilation of Earth itself. Earth, humanity, fought them for every inch of space in between, but they lost every single fight. All the way to Earth. No one, except Sheridan, the man behind her, survived battle with the Minbari. And Sheridan, it has to be said, basically cheated, to almost war crime levels, by using a distress call to lure a Minbari ship into a nuclear minefield. That was the only victory humanity eked out. The Minbari just steamrolled them, an implacable tide of annihilation that literally nothing they had could stop. The Earth-Minbari War was not stopped by anything humanity did, it was stopped by Delenn herself showing the Council of Nine that humans had Minbari souls (aka that humans and Minbari could reincarnate as each other, making them in religious terms the same species), granting the Council a religious ground to halt the war. Humanity was, essentially, annihilated by Delenn’s fury, and saved by her compassion, and there was nothing they could do to influence either of them.

That, in this moment, is what just appeared on this battlefield. Embodied in this woman. A fifteen year shadow of the end of their race. The Battle of the Line is etched in every human memory in this setting, the moment when they evacuated their homeworld, evacuated Earth, while every fighting ship they possessed died in orbit trying to delay, not stop, just delay, the implacable tide of the Minbari onslaught.

When Delenn shows up and, in cold, quiet fury, says ‘withdraw or be destroyed’, she fucking means it, and there is not a single human being in this galaxy (or, to be fair, anyone else either) who doesn’t believe her. The Minbari have proved it. You can piss off anyone else in the galaxy you like, you can fight gods, but you do not, ever, piss off the Minbari. Especially not this Minbari.

Because she’s learned since then. She has seen the horrors of war, she has felt the almost incomprehensible stain of blood on her hands, she has fought to stop what she started and realised how infinitely more difficult it is, and she has learned. So if she goes to war now, it is with full knowledge of the cost and the consequence. If you tip her over that line, woe betide you. Because it means she’s decided that your death is worth whatever she can’t stop in the aftermath, and if your death is worth that much, then there’s nothing in this galaxy that will prevent it.

God, but Delenn was such an absolute tour de force of a character. This quiet, gentle, soft-spoken woman whose fury had destroyed races and whose compassion had saved the galaxy. She’s not even warrior caste, she’s religious caste. She’s not, technically speaking, a fighter. But hers is the voice that starts and ends wars, and she has never once flinched from personally standing in the face of annihilation to do so.

If she told you to stop being silly and go home before something bad happened, I promise you, you would listen too. Heh.

(Also yes, I’m aware I’ve posted pretty much exactly this several times before, but literally every time I rewatch that scene it brings this wave of giddy awe and wild ferociousness back. Literally. It’s a scene that makes you want to fist-fight god, and a scene that makes you think you could maybe win too. If Delenn is behind you, then even if you don’t win, you will mess them the fuck up in the process. She’s inspiring that way. Heh).

[kurokawaia]

❛ NEW START ❜

PostWar!Uchiha Sasuke X Fem!Reader

WC; 1.6k+ | !MDNI! | TW/CW;

⋆·˚ ༘ *𝑅𝐸𝒬𝒰𝐸𝒮𝒯 :: (filled request) hi again!! im the one who requested for the domestic sasuke fic! so for the domestic fic i was thinking either marriage domestic fic or a post-war fic like hospital visits or catching up?? 💗 - ANON

m.list | naruto/boruto m.list | uchiha m.list

You and Sasuke were kids, perhaps six or seven, fooling around the training grounds that bordered the Uchiha compound. Both of you were panting and panting it out after playing tag for a couple of hours or so, on occasion with Itachi showing up to give you both something to drink. Every match you did, Sasuke won them all. Always faster, always a step in front of you, but you never minded that. It was fun being around him, catching the rare smiles and hearing the carefree laughs. You plopped yourself down in the grass, small chest heaving as you struggled to catch your breath. Sasuke sat beside you, his face flushed from running, but his expression calm as always. The two of you stared up at the sky, watching as the first stars started to appear. "I'm going to be the strongest shinobi," Sasuke told you with confident delicacy, as if he had decided upon it long ago. You nodded, smiling softly. "I'll be strong too… and I'll always be with you." Sasuke looked at you, his dark eyes gleaming with a rare softness. "Always?" he repeated. You nodded again this time more determinate. "Always." Then out of nowhere, you blurted, "When we grow up, we are going to get married." Sasuke blinked, clearly taken aback. "Married?" he repeated as if to wrap his head around such a concept, not truly knowing of the meaning, but he liked the notion, being with you all of the time! "Yeah," you replied though you have absolutely no idea what marriage entails. You just knew that you wanted to remain by his side, whatever it took. "That way, we'll always be together, whatever happens." Sasuke was quiet a moment longer, before giving you the barest of smiles, one that was over so fast if you had blinked, you would have missed it. "Alright," he said low enough so that his voice was barely audible above a whisper. "We're getting married." By that time, you didn't realise it, but that harmless promise promised became something you would cling to for so many years later. The only thing that brought you to believe that Sasuke will come back to the village was that he kept his promise, to be with you for all time, to marry you.

Years went by, and that innocent childhood promise was dulled when Sasuke never came back, but then, the war happened. The war had torn so much apart, but Sasuke did come back.  It had leapt in your chest when you first heard Sasuke had been brought back, injured but alive. Running to the hospital, the hope of seeing him overwhelmed your sense of caution. But getting there, he'd been asleep, unconscious from the toll the battle had taken from his body. You look at his left arm, which was now gone. What an idiot. His face was pale, his dark hair fanned out on the pillow, his arm bandaged heavily. A sight of him like that vulnerable, worn down made your heart ache. You stood at the edge of his bed, unsure what to say, your hand reaching out and stopping just shy of touching him. "I'm here, Sasuke," you whispered, even though you knew he couldn't hear you. "I never stopped waiting for you." There wasn't an answer, just the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. You watched him for what felt like hours, hoping maybe, just maybe, he would wake up and you could tell him everything

He didn't.

The next time you see him, the situation is quite interesting, you had asked Kakashi were Sasuke was as he wasn't in the hospital and you were told he was... elsewhere. Sasuke has been taken into custody by the Interrogation and Torture Division due to his crimes. 

They were dealing with his fate, and though they had villagers both within his support, against him, and everywhere in between, you know it wasn't going to go easy on him. You wished to see him, and with some reluctance, they allowed you to have a small visitation with him. Down the corridors of highly guarded cells, they took you, stopping at the one that housed Sasuke. 

There was that loud creaking of the opening door, and there he sat, hands bound in chakra-suppressing restraints, his head turned away from the door, he could feel it was you, it was obvious even if his eyes and arm were bound. "Sasuke." Your voice was weak, almost quivering, as you took a step closer toward him.  At first, he said nothing, hi head was angled to the ground, not waiting to face you. Then softly, almost to himself inaudibly, he added, "I'm so sorry." It took you a moment to process the words coming from his lips, as Sasuke rarely, if ever, apologized, let alone something huge as what he had pulled. You swallowed, kneeling down in front of him as your hand reached out to touch his despite the restraints. "Sasuke..." you started, your voice on the verge of breaking. "I am," he cut in, his voice now grating but still with that edge of emotion. "I need to apologize. For everything. For leaving, for hurting you, for what I've done… You could read in his posture, the weight of what he was doing and what he had done, he had hurt you so much, that he tried to kill you three times. It wasn't about the war, nor the village, literally everything, every decision he made that further distanced him from the promise you made as children. "I don't care about anything else," you said, steadiness, with the well of tears brimming in your eyes. "I care about you. You came back, Sasuke. That's all that matters." "I don't deserve it," he muttered incoherently. "That's not for you to decide," you said, your hand clenching hard around his. "We were supposed to be together, remember? No matter what. You can't just decide you don't deserve that." Then Sasuke exhaled the softest of sighs, his head bowing slightly. "I'm sorry," he said again, yet it sounded different this time, less for his guilt, more for what he had lost, for what he yet could keep.

You reached up and carefully lifted his chin so he'd look up at you, though his eyes were covered, at least his face was angled towards your own now. "I'm not going anywhere," you whispered, your thumb brushing against his cheek. "We'll figure this out. Together."

Sasukes head fell to your shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered so quietly you would have missed it if there was sound in the room.

when you two are married >.<

The sun peeks through the thin curtains of your shared bedroom. You stir slightly, your body wrapped up in the cocoon of blankets and tangled up in Sasuke. You turn your head slightly, your eyes barely open, to see him beside you. His face is relaxed in sleep, the furrow in his brow smoothed out. Sasuke peaceful, unruffled-in the home you've built together. You'd never imagined living like this, not back then, not when things were still so tenuous. His breathing evens out into a rhythm and you spend several more minutes doing nothing except staring at him. He is forever unreachable, even when he is right beside you, yet here with just the two of you, it's not quite so much the case. With you, Sasuke can be himself. You reach out, your fingertips brushing against his cheek gently, and he stirs. His eyes flicker open, revealing those eyes you've grown so accustomed to-only now, of course, with that new rinnegan you're still getting used to. For a moment, he looks disoriented-like he doesn't remember where he is-but then his gaze reaches yours and mellows out. A giggle almost slipped past your lips at the sigh as he was so cute. "Morning," you whisper, barely heard. He grunts in return-the sort of sound that makes one smile. So like him. After all this time, together, he still manages to remain the same in small ways. Sasuke isn't a morning person, at least, not when words are involved. You prop yourself up on your elbow, the blankets pooling around your waist as you lean down to press a soft kiss to his lips. Are you hungry?" you ask, your fingers brushing through his dark hair, still slightly tousled from sleep. He grunts again, but you can see the ghost of a smile tugging on one corner of his lips. "I'll make something," you say softly, though a part of you wants to stay in bed with him a little while longer. Before you can pull away, Sasuke's fingers wrap around your wrist in a light but firm grasp. "Stay," he mutters, his tone husky with residual sleep. You can't help but smile at the uncharacteristic plea as you settle back into the bed beside him, tucking your body close to his as he pulls you near. His arm wraps around your waist as his forehead presses against yours and the two of you are still, tangled up in one another. The silence between you is comfortable; neither of you has to say anything. Sasuke's hand moves in a languid pattern up and down your back. "I was thinking." you start off softly, breaking the silence, "perhaps we could go visit Naruto and Hinata later. It's been some time since we've seen them." Sasuke is silent for several moments, his body showing only the barest hint of tension at mention of his old comrade. Things have eased some since the war was over, but there is still a distance between them-something faint and lingering and awkward, which neither of them can quite chase away. "Maybe," he says at last, his voice low and small, not unkind. You smile, knowing that's as close to a yes as you're going to get. Progress, you tell yourself silently as you feel a surge of gratitude that Sasuke's at least willing to make the effort. It's more than you could've hoped for a few years ago. His hand resting on your back stops moving, and he shifts slightly, his lips coming into contact with your forehead. "I'll go," he says softly, which takes you a bit by surprise. You lean back just a bit to look up at him, the ghost of a teasing smile tugging at your lips. "Is this Sasuke Uchiha actually agreeing to willingly spend time with Naruto? He rolls his eyes at the teasing, but the barest hint of a smile tugs at his lips. "Don't push it," he mutters, the words devoid of any real bite. You chuckle softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Sasuke doesn't respond to your laugh, but the way his hand tightens around your waist says enough.

Do not copy, steal, modify, etc. Relogs and like are appreciated.

m.list | naruto/boruto m.list | uchiha m.list

taglist :: @enouche @lovelyandproblematic

@sugu-love @why-are-you-still-awake

[a-hermit-pining]

LaDS React to a War General Reader

AN: Take a guess, I am reading Brandon Sanderson. I fucking love Dalinar and Kaladin. I would die for them. Alas I must write this. This is also why I have been writing so little.

Pairing: LaDS boys x gn reader

Ingredients: 100% pangst (pining x angst- my fav combo)

My Fav: Xavier because of course he would fall in love with someone older.

Xavier:

He is barely of age when he first sees you.

The war banners rise above the parade ground, crimson and silver, the kingdom’s crest stitched in gold thread , all symbols he has known since birth. But none of them matter.

Not when you're standing beside his mother, head held high, armor gleaming in the fading light. You are a warrior of her clan. A general. Her most trusted blade.

Your hair is braided back in soldier’s fashion, but a few strands have escaped, clinging to your cheek. You don't brush them away. Your hands rest calmly on the hilt of your sword. Not possessive. Just ready.

And then he sees it, the scar just below your right eye. Faint, half-faded, nearly lost among the curve of your smile.

Something fractures in him.

His chest tightens. His breath catches. The war drums beat in the courtyard, but he can only hear the thunder in his own blood.

Anxiety. Awe. Something darker. Something deeper. A sense of longing he doesn’t know how to name yet. He shouldn’t feel this. Not for someone like you.

But he does.

He watches you from afar for months. In training yards. In strategy halls. Once, in the rain, when you carried a wounded squire and scolded him with a laugh in your voice.

Each time, he falls harder. Softer.

He prays for battles just so he can see you ride out. He studies maps not for war, but for the chance to be stationed at your side.

Because you are the sword of the kingdom.

And he, he is just a boy in love with a flame that does not burn for him.

Yet

Rafayel:

The court sings of you. You, the general with sun-threaded hair and dimples that damned worlds.

Rafayel watches from the edge of the throne room, wine untouched in his glass, jaw set tight. He watches another group of nobles stumble over themselves just to get near you, and of course, you smile. Of course, you lift a fainting young lord into your arms and laugh like it’s all a game.

And the court laughs with you. Because you are beautiful, and beloved, and so damnably kind.

He mutters under his breath, "For a warrior, you smile too damn much."

But he watches. Always.

He watches the way your blade moves fast, clean, elegant. He watches the way you speak to soldiers by name. The way you remember their children, their injuries, their fears.

He watches you stand beside the Lemurian crown and never bow too low. You are not theirs. You’re not anyone’s.

Not even his.

But gods, he wants you.

In the darkest part of the sea, where even the sirens do not sing, you are his sun. The only warmth he ever knew.

And it infuriates him , that the court gets to see you laugh, to bask in his sun.

He dreams of you. Of you loving only him.

And if that makes him selfish, so be it.

He’s already drowned for less.

Zayne:

You are not a soldier. You are not a general. You are something older. Something worse. Something eminent.

Zayne hears the earth shudder before the gate even opens. The stars above Astra dim as if to brace themselves. Then your laugh. Low, raspy, hungry, one that has been silenced for way too long.

He doesn't need to look to know it’s you. The one they warned him about. The one he was supposed to kill.

You do not walk. You arrive. Sword dragging, blood-slick, eyes sharp with some storm even the gods couldn’t name.

And still, he stands between you and Astra.

Not because he believes in the fate. Not because he believes in the god who owns his bones. But because he needs to see it. Needs to see if the stories are true. Needs to see if a god can truly be undone. To see if his wretched fate with you could ever be laid to rest.

You raise your weapon. You smile. You say nothing.

And Zayne, traitor, guardian, prophet, fool, finds himself shaking.

Because you are not fate. You are its end.

And he, broken thing that he is, loves you for it.

He does not beg you to stop. He looks forward to the end that brings him to you. Away from the world.

Sylus:

The general kneels in front of the wounded, sleeves rolled to the elbow, armor long discarded. Your hands are stained with the blood of soldiers no one will remember. Your voice is hoarse from barking orders and whispering comfort in the same breath.

He watches from behind the war tents. A dragon in name, in form, but not yet in freedom. Still bound. Still collared. Still owned.

He is no stranger to cruelty. He has seen the whip. Felt the fire brands burn across his scales. Heard his name used as a command, not a right.

But you, you speak differently.

You sit with the dying. Share your meals with the stable hands. Offer your water to those who carry the tents for the war camp.

For the first time since his capture, since the collar was tightened around his throat, he feels a human hand touch his snout without fear, without dominance just gentleness.

“Be free,” you whisper. The lock on his chain rusts, and then crumbles beneath your fingers. “Beyond the mountains,” you say, voice soft in the old tongue. “Where no one can name you but yourself. Where the skies are bright and the land men have yet to walk on.”

And then, just like that, you let him go.

You didn’t just free a beast. You gave him a name. And that name, Sylus, he has carried it through lifetimes, meant only for you to utter.

Caleb:

He watches the light bleed from your eyes. Not all at once, slowly, like a sun setting behind smoke. Like a lantern flickering through ash.

You’ve both fought too long. Too hard. You’ve won battles that should’ve broken you. Celebrated victories with laughter that always came just a second too late.

He’s your advisor. The arrow in your quiver. The plan beneath your fury.

But this time… this time, something has shattered.

The battlefield is still. The wind has no songs left to carry. Your helmet slips from your hands and rolls to a stop among the corpses.

And you...you fold.

Not dramatically. Not with rage. You just… bend. Under the weight of what you’ve done. Under the weight of what you are.

Caleb rushes to you. Drops to his knees before your crumpled form, hands trembling, reaching. “We fought for our people,” he breathes, brushing dirt from your cheek. “For our king. For our home. For—”

Your eyes don’t meet his. “It was for nothing,” you say.

Your armor is cold against his chest. Your tears are hot against his fingers. He tries again. “You protected so many. You gave them hope.”

But you shake your head, slow and dazed. “So much blood,” you whisper. “For nothing.”

And he knows then, this isn’t about the war. It’s about you. About what you lost to become the kind of weapon kingdoms needed.

He holds you tighter. Like maybe if he anchors you, you won’t slip away completely.

He is so cold. And so afraid. Because if you can fall, what else is worth saving?