#the way his arms don't match up with the crate at all

[lordrataxesofrhinoland]

Obsessed with this animation of n gin throwing a tnt crate

[ripleyslover]

Hidden Secrets Rhea Ripley x Bloodline Reader

Idk what to put for the title your related to Roman and the bloodline this was kinda judgement day x Reader but platonic um this one I was trying to kinda keep open to possibly make a part two so leave some feedback if you want that,Also feel free to request stuff I'm always looking for ideas to write for.

The Bloodline had always been a little...controlling.. Roman always had a specific way he wanted things and some of those things included not getting involved with other wrestlers unless it was for a match. Y/n had been in the bloodline locker room as Roman and Solo argued,Jimmy tired to intervene but was unsuccessful, and Jey just stood beside Y/n. "Oh my God will you two quit already!" She yelled making Roman look at her "You don't have room to speak you cost a title last week because you didn't want to fight Rhea" Roman yelled at her.

Last week Roman told Y/n to fight Rhea, y/n had refused costing them a title, what the bloodline didn't know was that y/n and Rhea had been a relationship for a couple of months now, Rhea and the rest of the judgement day tried to convince her to leave the bloodline and join them but she always refused saying that 'their family I can't' the judgement day understood that but Rhea still wanted her to join she saw the way Roman treated her and she wants to prove to Roman that y/n was more than something he could get titles from.

Y/n shook her head looking at Roman "Thats all you care about titles, fights, winning" she said crossing her arms " We would be doing better if you didn't decide to be a bitch and not fight Rhea" Roman yells "Wow hey watch it! She's family you don't call her a bitch" Solo says putting his hand on Romans chest pushing him away y/n shakes her head "You know I have an opinion too and I can choose who I fight.. you know what I'm done I can't deal with your fighting right now" she says grabbing her phone and walking out.

Y/n sat on one of the spare storage crates they had in the hallway looking at her phone before hearing a Irish accent call her name "Y/n?" She looks up seeing Finn and JD walking over to her "What are you doing love?" Jd asks "Oh nothing Roman and Solo got into a argument and Roman brought me into it" she says setting down her phone "See this is why you should join the judgement day we would be way better" Finn says leaning on the opposite wall "I know I know but-" "Their family we know" JD says finishing her sentence y/n gives a small smile "you know the offers always open you'll always be welcome in the judgement day when you decide you want to join" Finn says as JD nods his head in agreement "I know thank you I appreciate it" she says "Well we'll be in the clubhouse if you need us" JD says before patting y/ns shoulder before they walk away.

Y/n leans back on the wall getting a text on her phone from Jade Cargill 'Hey I saw you talking to Finn and JD, Paul was heading that way but I distracted him for you, just telling you since I know how Roman can be just be careful love ya' jade texted y/n read the text looking around the hallway realizing anyone including the bloodline could have saw her talking to the two members of the judgement day, she looked down at her phone texting back 'Thanks Jade I didn't realize how open it was your a lifesaver, I owe you one Love Ya Too' y/n texted back before looking around the hall she hopped off the crate walking to the judgement day club house, Y/n reached the door knocking on it.

As y/n knocked on the door she heard footsteps coming down the hallway seeing jey come around the corner luckily on his phone not paying attention, y/n grab the door handle trying to open the door,y/n was about to look back when the door open she looked up seeing Dom, she covered Doms mouth jogging inside then closing the door before taking her hand off of Dom's mouth.

Dom stood in confusion as Y/N suddenly covered his mouth, causing him to freeze and look at her with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Before he could fully process what was happening, Y/N pushed him inside and closed the door behind her, releasing her hand from his mouth."What the hell is going on?" Dom blurted out, his voice carrying a hint of irritation mixed with intrigue. "yeah what's happening Princesa, why the hurry?" Damian asked "I um..I was walking over here to go into the clubhouse and jey was walking down the hallway and I was trying to get in so he didn't see me but you assholes wouldn't answer the door",Dom's annoyance melted away into relief as Y/N explained the situation."Jey was headed this way? Damn it, why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have opened the door." Dom said with a teasing tone "Oh shut up" y/n said rolling her eyes Damian chimed in, his tone playful, yet laced with intrigue."Are you sure that's the rush, princess? Or could you just not wait to see us?" Damian says deciding to join in on the teasing before chuckling "Whatever I just wanted to come hang out the bloodline has been aurging" she says sitting on the couch "Wheres Rhea?" She asks "she's hiding in the bathroom she has something special for you that's why we didn't open the door until you decided to barge in" Finn say focused on the TV playing a game with JD.

Y/n looks over at the bathroom before Rhea yells "Y/n Close your eyes!" Rhea yells through the door y/n smiles "their closed!" she says not closing then before Damian covers her eyes "Hurry up Rhea" he yells, y/n shakes her head hearing the door open as Rhea had walked out she felt something being put on her lap "Ok you can see now" Damian pulls his hand away as y/n looks down seeing a black box with a purple ribbon on it, she quirks her brow "What's this" she says looking up seeing all the judgement members looking at her "Just open it baby" Rhea says "Ok.." y/n replies talking off the ribbon and opening the box to reveal new gear in judgment day colors with some studs around the chest and straps with the words 'Mamis Favorite' on the chest "Rhea.." y/n says "I know I know your not in the judgement day but I just want you to give it a thought, Roman shouldn't treat you like that even if he's family, and you know if you join jey and Jimmy will support you and probably won't be to far behind you in leaving..just think about it please baby" Rhea says y/n looks up at her "Of course I'll think about it Rhea,thank you for the gear I love it, I'll talk about it to jey and Jimmy tomorrow when everyone's not mad" y/n says smiling "Really!? Oh my goodness thank you!" Rhea says hugging y/n, y/n hugged back smiling. The rest of the day she hung out in the judgement day locker room talking about how different it would be if she joined the judgement day but for now it was just some hidden secrets between her and the judgement day but soon they wouldn't be secrets anymore.

[rayclubs]

HxH Genei Ryodan is such a masterclass in humanizing villains, honestly to a ridiculous degree. They're legitimately terrifying, their crimes are cruel and inexcusable, the violent acts they commit are nearly always played seriously and condemned by the narrative, and yet I find myself rooting for them in every scene they're in.

It's not even the sad backstories some of them have, it's much deeper than that. I think I'm just fascinated with the intricate and peculiar friendship they all share. It's easier to get attached to comedy rather than drama, as a rule of thumb, and they're just endlessly funny.

I've been searching for examples of the interactions that stuck with me and was going to include screenshots but there are just way too many things. Like, okay, in no particular order:

Shizuku wearing Phinks' coat after her sweater gets torn in a fight.

Phinks tucking Kalluto under his arm like a chicken and carrying him out of an exploding building.

Nobunaga getting trapped in a pocket dimension and everybody agreeing that he should just stay there awhile because they've just taken a hostage and now there isn't enough space in the car.

Machi and Nobunaga hanging out like normal people, drinking beer and serving cunt effortlessly in stylistically matching outfits.

Kuroro getting a prediction that "the spider will lose half of its legs" and immediately going "nope not losing any of my men out there let's pack it"

Hisoka actually fucking saying "I can't tell you that. If I told you that, I would be telling you what I can't tell you. This is why I can't tell you that. That's all I can tell you." and they believed him. Maybe it's more normal with English subs, I dunno.

Everyone playing cards while Uvogin is fighting, all while talking about how good Uvogin is at fighting.

Uvogin giving Shalnark a little kissie. I don't even ship them, I think he just kisses all of his homies like a real man.

Franklin getting sent after a crate of beer. Like, that's just so funny to me. Errand boy.

Feitan and Shalnark calling Phinks "very feminine" and giggling.

Franklin and Nobunaga just fucking going at it, sword on gun violence, for no reason whatsoever. It seemed like they were having fun.

Nobunaga asking rhetorically how strong he is compared to the rest of the gang and them replying "7th or 8th idk" you fucking know they debated this.

Uvogin getting his dumb sexy ass captured and everyone showing up for him awww

Everyone being supportive of Shizuku being fucking stupid. Not even in a sweet way or anything, just kind of acknowledging that she has zero thoughts in her brain. "Shizuku why didn't you use your left hand" because she was spinning a vacuum cleaner in her mind, what's not clicking

Dunno what they call Kurapika in the English version but in the Russian subs they all collectively only ever refer to him as "ублюдок с цепями" or "the asshole with the chains".

Nobunaga immediately inviting two twelve-year-olds to join because he thinks they're hilarious, and everyone going "yeah okay as long as the boss is cool with it". You go Nobunaga, everybody grieves differently

The kids refuse and escape, go spying on the other members again, get caught again, and when Nobunaga sees them he's all "Wanna be friends now? ^^" <- nobody has anything against this

Feitan having his arm broken in a fight and Phinks going "HA!"

Literally every single time they toss a coin, but especially when Phinks and Bonolenov were arguing over who should fight Zazan if Feitan fucking dies???

Shalnark being a fucking gamer and inviting everyone else to speedrun Greed Island with him. Franklin going "no thanks" next shot he's in the goddamn game

Tossing the phone around. Can't remember whose phone it originally was but passing it around was hilarious every time. "We already killed the hostages" beep beep beep "Sorry I lied"

There are so many moments and I'm not even halfway done. Supreme quality villains. I need more of them. I need to inject them directly into my brain.

[yridenergyridenergy]

Live report - Tour24 Who Is This Hell For? 2024/11/23 at Sendai PIT

Setlist

CONCEIVED SORROW

DOZING GREEN

IIID Empire

Phenomenon

Keigaku no yoku

Magayasou

Tsumi to batsu

DIABOLOS

VINUSHKA

Soshaku

Ochita koto no aru sora

The Inferno

-encore-

The Devil In Me

Cause of fickleness

Uroko

Eddie

Wow, tonight was way more energetic and intense than in Sapporo, which makes me feel sad because Dir en grey don't tour in Sapporo every year, and it was just a matter of using one setlist versus the other.

And well, the highlight of the night was definitely that blunder Shinya did in Soshaku hahah!

First, the SE was the same. Shinya walked on stage wearing black pants rather than white like yesterday. I found that it didn't suit his grandeur that much. Die came next with the same thights but the tunic/vest he wore was white, I think with some smokey design? I was in shimote tonight, so I didn't see much of him. Overall, the members did not change places even half as much as they did in Sapporo, which is odd considering that the energy was much higher today.

Toshiya arrived and BAM, he has a beautiful red satin dress cut from a bit above the belt/hip all the way down, exposing his left leg. Sometimes, when he raised his bass, we could see his belly a bit! The top portion of the dress was like a somewhat ample dress shirt, with long sleeves and buttoned up, and Toshiya wore a black tie with golden ornaments, some dingle at the bottlm of the tie. I felt that it was a detail that tied in subtly with Kaoru's outfit, which was the Versailles/Innocent Rouge costume! It looks amazing! Nobody had mentioned that he was loyal to the style all the way to the toes: he wore shorts with black thights underneath, and I didn't see his shoes much but they seemed to match that old French royal fashion. He had an elaborate bowtie or whatever, hair tied and sleeked back except for one strand on his right. He looked downright fabulous. He remained entirely stoic and without a drop of sweat yet again tonight! Kaoru had some zigzag makeup lines on his left temple at least.

Kyo then arrived at the very end of the SE and,.as I thought I'd remembered, he walked slowly, smugly with his hands in his pockets, dressed all in sleek black. His chin was even a bit up, like he was indifferent to our cheers or that it was the very least he expected. Like damn, he and the other members know exactly what kind of effect they have on us!

Conceived Sorrow started and already, it was 100% felt, emotional. Everybody raises their hand when the line about not being able to reach comes up. Kyo ends the song with the loud a capella to seal the deal.

We didn't really do anything or make any noise after that ending, which Dir en grey seems to have prepared for because the intro to Dozing Green started soon after. Already, it was clear that Kyo was engaging us more into the show from early on, and I think he even had us sing one part in this song already.

The IIID Empire was then played, which I had kind of forgotten that it was in this tour! And man, these two shows have checked a few things off my bucketlist: I saw Toshiya throw his mic stand meters in the air, with my own eyes! Every single soul in the venue was looking forward to it, so it would be a real downer if he didn't do that one time. The crowd participated a lot in the lines, fist-pumping, etc.

And then, I really did see Phenomenon live! I feel like it must have happened in one of the early tours I attended, but I'm not sure that Kyo had been doing those hip sways with his arms up back then. If he did, then I certainly wasn't in the second row with a perfect spot on the side to watch it!

Phenomenon starts with Toshiya crouching, before any sound is even made, which is really like... intimidating hahah? He stayed in a low posture like that for a very long time.

Keigaku no yoku - How could I have forgotten last time that Kyo kicks at his crate right before the song starts? I've never seen him do it. The crate is taped to the stage, but his kick is strong enough that the crate moves forward a little. And it was an odd action today especially because I think we hadn't really cheered after Phenomenon's: "kore ijo" kind of grated by Kyo, so the kick almost gives the impression of being frustrated by our silence. Anyway, Kyo again changed most of the lyrics of Keigaku no yoku, and once it seemed like he was making a mistake and sang the second line of a verse before the first, but he ad-libbed the second portion, so let's assume it was intentional hah. I don't really remember what he said. At the end though, I want to correct that he sings about "you" shouting: "Hurry up and die!", not himself like I'd written in my 11/21 report.

Magayasou was as always Shinya's spotlight, but Kyo was definitely more invested in the song today compared to the Sapporo show. The backdrop video had a lot of colourful flowers which turned into... Mush? Something rotten? I,m trying to remember what kind of thing they transformed into by the end of the song.

I don't remember if there was as much of a break between the two songs as last time, but Tsumi to batsu came next and again, it feels like Kyo sang more diversely this time around. His growls are awesome no matter what though. He gets on his crate and crouches almost for the entire song. I think there might be a lyrics memo sheet taped there just for that song?

I think it was in Tsumi to Batsu that Toshiya literally dropped to his knees, out of nowhere? And/or there was another song where he went on one knee, then rotated to the side and stretched one leg while his bass touched the floor. Again, quite "intimidating" hah.

By the way, twice throughout the show, I can't remember which songs specifically, but Kyo was so invested that he almost fell backward from his crate. No actual danger, just a step backward which seemed to serve to catch his footing because he'd gotten intense.

DIABOLOS was once again very felt, but this time Kyo did not ask us to sing half as many "Blue Velvet"s. And by this point in the show, Kyo had already called out "Sendai" 2-3 times, and I'm certain he did during that song too. The segment before: "Saa, ningen o yamero" was also different and shouted, I'd say even more emotional than in Sapporo, like probably with Kyo clutching his shirt or his head during that part more? Oh and he thumped his mic on his chest super hard most likely in this song and another time near the end of the show.

Vinushka starts after the break with Toshiya just leaning back on his speakers, arms draped widely on his side while he looks at us sexily. There's no other way to describe it, and it's more or less appropriate for Vinushka hah?

Toshiya kept nodding and smiling at us, whether it was because we knew the beat or were reacting like he wanted to the melodies.

In Vinushka, I think it was, Kyo placed his hands at his sides, palms facing us, after throwing the mic over his shoulder, and raised his hands slowly to demand our cheers. I'd love to remember exactly what song it was, because Vinushka is pretty obvious from all the times they've played it, but the song in which Kyo did it and he got almost no response from the crowd, only after a delay, you could see that he raised his eyebrows and looked down at his positioning, as though pondering: "I'm in the right position, aren't I? Isn't it clear what I want?" It wasn't necessarily something he did every time in whatever song it was, but yeah, the crowd should have been more adaptive and smart.

Oh, in terms of Kyo's facial expressions, there's also one growl or scream he did at the end of a song, which he seemed taken aback, blinking a bit after it like he was surprised by how much it took out of him.

Soshaku... It started a bit off from the start, like Shinya was one note too late, but then he fucked up the drum melody for real by seemingly repeating that first 'phrase' of the song rather than moving on to the rest of the composition. The band kept going for a few seconds, but it was Kyo who just stared unimpressed first toward us, then circled back to stand right in front of Shinya without singing anymore. We couldn't see his face, but his posture exhibited a polite: "What the actual fuck?" Die had actually been at Shinya's platform already with one foot raised on it, but I don't know if he was subtly trying to steer Shinya in the right direction or if that's just what he wanted to do in Soshaku anyway. Once the others realized that Kyo had properly disconnected from the performance, everyone else stopped playing. Shinya appeared clueless at first, then he seemed to shake his head quickly. I don't think any words were spoken between the members. When Kyo was assured that Shinya would do his part, he turned around to face us and said: "Suman" (Sorry about that). They picked back the song from the start, and I can't say that Shinya's drumming was 100% synchronized or accurate, but at least he did proceed with a different phrase than the one he had repeated.

Kyo made extra efforts to pump us up after that, and even had us sing multiple parts of the song, from what I remember.

Same thing with Ochita koto no aru sora. Kyo gives me the impression of emitting a vibe of: "This song is yours, guys" and we sang a lot.

It was in one of those last couple of songs that Kyo actually smiled in satisfaction. Always so heartwarming to see!

Toshiya was the MVP backup vocalist as always!

The Inferno was very much the same as in Sapporo, with Kyo throwing his mic and leaving before the song's even finished. However, I think he engaged more with the audience this time, coming up in front of his crate, crouching, and at one point either in this song or another one, he even did the hook fingers or something like that toward us.

The Inferno ended much differently though, unless I missed something from being in kamite in Sapporo. Kaoru dumped his guitar near the front of the stage after he finished, Toshiya was low and dragged his bass across the floor toward the back for the audio effect and punkassery, Shinya left at some point and Die stayed to do some distortion but for a shorter period of time. He was all smiles as usual!

It was funny because all the technicians/assistants had to come on stage when the band left before the encore to clean up the instruments that had been left there, which I hadn't seen in Sapporo. Toshiya's guy even had a hard time with his mic stand, which in fact looked bent a bit. The technician tried to force it back in shape and tested its balance on the floor a couple of times. What's funny is also that Toshiya's mishandling of his bass was apparently so bad that it took forever for it to be tuned, and we chanted: "Encore! Encore!" for so long before it was ready. The poor guy didn't seem to be able to fix the cords, based on what I saw on the monitor in the background.

Maybe to make up for that delay, but it also felt that way in Sapporo a bit, but the members walked back on stage almost simultaneously, not one at a time for each to savour their cheers.

Toshiya made a gesture toward his left, presumably at Shinya, smiling and I think even clapping afterward. I don't know if the band had a mini "What the hell happened there?" chat backstage about Shinya's mistake, which could also explain why it took them so long to return for the encore.

Kyo was once again utterly nonchalant, indifferent, but in a super teasing way, as if to say: "I deserve all your cheers and attention, but it doesn't sway me."

Shinya had changed into a sleeveless version of the tour T-shirt, Die I think also had that custom sleeveless sweater, Toshiya came with the black sweater this time with the same shorts and long leather boots, Kaoru might have removed his upper jacket, and Kyo had only wiped off his sweat hah.

The Devil In Me was intense as always. Kyo did the noose at the end, and I saw exactly how he measures the right length. He didn't do the disvesting/shedding part with the mic cord afterward though. In the song, the bass seemed off at first, and we could barely hear the back vocals at all? Even more reason to have Die and Shinya properly do them on stage. Kyo asked us to sing the first or second chorus, which ends in: "What did you really love?" but it sounded like nobody sang or few people knew how long to maintain that: "Kaaaaaaaketa"

Man the people in the first row were almost not headbanging sometimes, it was so stupidly frustrating hah.

I remember Cause of fickleness starting and Toshiya just nodding like: "Yeah, you know which one." All the members who could came at the edge of the stage. Kyo had us sing most of the "Wake me up"s. He took off his ear monitor once in a while to hear better.

Uroko also had Toshiya nodding and mouthing like: "Oh yeah, you know it" hahah. Kyo demanded that we sing more than just the "Anata shidai de", or it was in another song, but man was he demanding tonight hahah. His own voice was spotless but he gotta come for us!

Before the last song, Kyo asked: "Sendai? Sendai? Sendai? Sendai?", so much that at one point we were exasperated, who else was he talking to if not Sendai hah? Then he asked us if we could go on, become one, etc. and I think his new variant where he growls about us going to die then or something?

Kyo let his mic drop to the ground after Eddie. He seemed to contemplate what to do after Shinya's last hit of the drums in the final climax, but he opted for not leaving and took one of his water bottles, drinking briefly from it, then tossing it in the crowd. Actually, I can't remember if it was with the first or second bottle, but he threw it in the general direction of someone in front of him who he gestured at and the reversed L that they had on their shirt. Hopefully they did catch the bottle meant for them, because Kyo's throw was not that gentle and precise hah. He also christened people a lot in front of his crate.

Shinya once more took a very long time to get off his platform. He seemed characteristically impassible, but everybody cheered for him, so I hope he felt our appreciation despite his mistake. He threw his four drum sticks and I believe he waved at us briefly.

Die squirted us from far away, huge smile on his lips. Kaoru did the same but just to shimote. He threw a towel right to the first few people in front of his position on stage, delicately.

Toshiya threw some picks and got on Kyo's crate to clap with us and smile. He climbed back down and bowed ever elegantly before leaving the stage.

On his way out, Kaoru pointed to the background, which had the tour name, as though to really make us think about it.

Die left with much appreciation and satisfaction as usual. People were cheering him on as he prepared his towel to throw, and he made it almost reach the back!

That's what I remember for now. I need to sleep hah.

[luveline]

can I request more bodyguard James? he’s just the cutest and I’m happy to read anything about it!!

thank you for your request! you and James go shopping and get mistaken for a couple ♥︎ fem!reader 1k

James looks like your boyfriend, sometimes. There are moments that he deems low risk in your life where he won't wear his radio or his utility belt, opting instead for plain black civilian clothing. In those moments, you aren't proud of yourself for doing so, but you like to pretend he is your boyfriend. 

He's looking through broccoli's for you. You hadn't asked him to. His hands sift through huge trees until he's found the most vibrant, holding it up for your inspection. 

"Perfect," you praise, opening your small paper bag so he can drop it inside with the rest of your hand-picked veggies.

The only thing left on your list is extra virgin olive oil, but you don't want to go home yet. You like the way people look at you and James when you're together,  awed and a little jealous. They might wonder how you nabbed a man like him, and of course you haven't nabbed him at all. That's your secret to keep. 

You meander down the vegetable aisle, your eyes skipping over snap peas and cabbages, bags of wonky carrots and parsnips. James grabs a bag of rooster potatoes before you can stretch over the crates for them. 

"Gotta wake up earlier in the morning to beat me, angel," he says. 

"I don't think I could." 

James wakes up at 3AM every morning, if he's to be believed. It makes sense. He wakes up, does bits around the flat, works out, has breakfast, and is waiting smiley and bright-eyed when you emerge from your room at 6:30. You're never as put together as he is, usually in your nightgown or one of those matching pyjama sets that make him look you up and down (though you both pretend he doesn't). 

No matter how bleary your vision is, it's impossible to miss the way he smiles at you every single day, like you're the sun coming up over the horizon. His pretty brown eyes squint, his thick crop of eyelashes threading together at their corners, and he says some warm variation of, "Morning, princess. Is it me or did you get prettier while I was gone?" 

"We could try it out. Of course, if you wake up at three, I'll have to start waking up at midnight," he says now. 

"I don't know how you do it," you say. Your voice is softened by genuine admiration. 

"I get to see you. Makes it easy." 

He's flirting, but with James you can never make out where the line is. Does he want you to flirt back? Does he want you to want him? You'd say without hesitation that James is your best friend in the whole world. He'd say without hesitation that his best friend is actually a duo, Sirius and Remus. That makes it hard. 

But it's okay. You don't need anything more than this: his hand on your shoulder guiding you across the aisle to the fresh fruit punnets, the smell of his cologne a familiar treat. 

You pick up a couple of things you like, mostly stuff you know you can convince James to share. He likes oranges best, so you grab a bag of huge ones and drop them in your basket with the veggies. It's getting heavy. You can practically see James' holding in an offer to carry it for you.

You're somewhere in the spreads and grains aisle when an older lady approaches you, or rather James, tapping him on the elbow gently.

"Hey, hun, you couldn't help me reach something?" 

"I'd be happy to!" he says cheerily. 

"Thanks so much. I've never been very tall, and every year I seem to shrink. It's just over here." 

James legally isn't supposed to stray from your side, so he threads his hand under your upper arm and pulls you with him. 

The elderly woman points to a box bragging organic, dehydrated strips of applesauce. "It's those right there if it's no trouble for you, hun." 

"No, of course not." 

James grabs her box with little to no effort expended. He doesn't even need to go on toes. 

"God, he's so tall," the elderly lady says to you. 

"He's super tall," you echo, your sunny talking-to-strangers voice in play. 

"And very handsome. You're a lovely couple." 

You fall into silence with your lips parted, not sure what to say. It isn't worth correcting and potentially embarrassing her for a harmless assumption, especially when you like that she thinks it, but you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of James by looking to eager. 

"She's the lovely one," James says, offering the applesauce with a huge beaming smile. 

She presses her hand to her collar, basket proffered until James places the applesauce carefully on top of a punnet of plums and a TV magazine. 

"Thank you," she says. "Getting old's no fun when you're short. And my husband was even shorter than I am! You hold on to this one, love, you never know when you'll need something from a tall shelf."

You and James laugh in a mirrored delight at her easy-going joking, his hand falling against the top of your shoulder, fingers spread and clasping. You swear, heat radiates like the sun from his touch alone. 

"I'm holding on about as tightly as I can," James says, "she couldn't get rid of me if she wanted to." 

You look at him, startled, and meet his earnest gaze. "I don't want to. I don't think I'll ever want to." 

James smiles. 

The elderly woman nods like this is something she'd suspected. 

"Good. You're a perfect pair," she says.

James rubs the space between your shoulders affectionately while he finally steals the heavy shopping basket from over your arm. You're too flustered from his touch to kick up a fuss. 

"I've been thinking the same thing," he says. 

[ronearoundblindly]

Pirate & Pin Cushion (3)

Jake Jensen x gn! ops!Reader

Painful...But In A Good Way (see previous or JJ Masterlist)

The last thing you remember is the awkward kiss Jake planted on you during a screaming match. Now, awake and healed, your friend and teammate is acting more awkward than usual around you.

Warnings for foul language, *super skimmed over action,* canon-level betrayal (Roque), completely vague mentions of injuries, suspicions, doubts, misunderstandings,--GO FIGURE--an argument, and I just wanted this done honestly. Not that I don't love them, but I need a win in the COMPLETED department. WC ~1.5k

You’re a Loser through and through now.

Months have gone by since you were stabbed and unceremoniously, sorta-kinda-maybe-not kissed by Jake Jensen. You woke up six days later with Pooch by your side, disappointed it wasn’t your Banter Bro.

The last thing you remember is turning away from Jake to hide your face. After that, nothing. You suppose he feels awkward about it. Maybe he regrets it, even if the ‘kiss’ was just part of a gag to him.

The most frustrating part is everything is exactly the same. Jake keeps you at arm’s length, a holding pattern to get no closer as teammates but no farther as friends.

Is this…are you in the friend zone???

It blows.

You’d still prefer this over being a pariah, so on you quip from interaction to interaction.

For all Jake’s hype about loving Halloween, he shuts down when you ask him what costume you should choose. Then he goes home to his sister and niece for the holiday.

...Okay…

You console yourself knowing this is for the best. You’d promised yourself no attachments, and nature clearly pushes for you to keep that promise.

You’ve almost—almost—resigned yourself to actual pin-cushion-status, jabbed repeatedly by his indifference. You are PC: perpetually crushing on Jake Jensen. It sucks.

You can be professional though. You can keep up with the jokes and take the hits to your heart and body that come with the job.

Until you can’t.

Los Angeles. The port. The shitshow.

While scrambling to get out of the line of fire in a showdown gone wrong, Jake cuts his leg vaulting over a concrete barrier, and you get him to a nook between shipping crates.

You squat down to change the mag on your MP7 and suddenly hear Roque’s voice behind you. He’s not on the comms.

“Should’ve told ‘em, Jensen."

The look on Jake’s face is shocked and bitter.

Roque clicks his tongue. "At least then they’d know…”

Before you can so much as turn to look, Jake’s raised his own weapon, firing right over your shoulder and within inches of your ear.

The pain is sharp and hot, sending you stumbling into the warped metal wall of the nearest container.

Jake wraps a thick arm around your waist and yanks you away.

You catch sight of Roque dead on the asphalt.

It’s complete chaos, pure survival mode for the next twenty minutes, deaf and deftly tying a bandage around Jake’s leg in an open, empty crate while he’s on comms and frantically hand-signaling you the plan.

But you make it. Everyone but Roque makes it.

Eventually, when the ringing subsides in your non-ruptured ear, Clay lays outRoque betrayed the team. Aisha teaches you a way to cup your occipital and tap to reduce the tinnitis. Pooch leaves to see the birth of his first child.

You’re left to ponder if Jake is a traitor, too.

Did he kill Roque to keep his own cover? Was he supposed to recruit you into his and Roque’s plan? Is that what he ‘should have told you’ so Roque wouldn’t need to kill you?

The possibilities haunt you. Is this why he’s kept you distant for months? Was Jake worried you’d catch on?

You blame your stupid crush for stopping you from telling Cougar your concerns. You trust Jake—or you want to trust him, so badly—so you confront him alone.

Dinner. At your place. Away from the team so he can feel safe to admit it. Away from the team so you can pretend your forgiveness isn’t already secured. You’ll deal with the consequences once you know the truth.

Jake seems an odd mix of totally psyched and forcefully reserved when you invite him and a nervous wreck when he arrives at your door.

It’s just pizza. You were too distracted to do more.

He doesn’t pick up his slice because you don’t either, running your hands up and down your thighs compulsively, then quietly asking, “about what Roque said…”

Jake leans back in his chair, leg bouncing frantically, rubbing at his neck. “Yeah,” he replies, eyes on the floor.

“Was he…were you his partner in that? Were you suppose to take me out, too?

Jake’s head snaps up, his mouth askew and brow pinched. “WHAT?”

“Just tell me the truth. I swear, we can work it out with the rest—“

“Is this what—what the fuck—“ he shoves the chair back and steps away “—that’s the reason I’m here right now? I thought you were finally gonna say it!”

Jake rips his glasses off his face and harshly runs his fingers through his frosted tips.

“Say…what? What am I supposed to say? I’m not the one Roque had a damn secret with.”

He’s visibly upset but with bugged-out eyes like he has no idea what to do.

“Well, I’m not a fucking traitor,” he mumbles.

Jake replaces his glasses and takes his phone from the pocket of his low-slung jeans, hitting a few buttons and tossing it onto the table. It slides until it knocks your plate.

His own recorded laugh cuts off quickly. “Okay, PC, what were you saying about Halloween? One more time,” and then comes another slow voice, “I should have told you before I died.

“I love you.”

Your whole body freezes, brain turning the words over and over until it occurs to you…that is your voice.

“I didn’t say that.” Your knee-jerk reaction comes swiftly. “I don’t remember that.”

Jake snorts without humor. “Got that part.”

You’re too stunned to speak. You can’t even imagine when you would have…oh god.

Jake rushes to fill the silence as you die inside, again, maybe more realistically because what.

“Did you at least think I was a badass, like, ya know, a sexy traitor or whatever? Or…were you gonna wrestle me to the ground after I ate a whole pie?”

You keep sitting with your mouth agape.

“You didn’t poison the pizza, did you? Right? Say 'no.' That’s overkill, or just, kill—were gonna kill me?!”

“I’D KNOWN YOU FOR TWO WEEKS,” you explode, bolting out of your own chair.

“Yeah,” Jake squeaks, “I know.”

“Two weeks, and then you taped me saying ‘I love you?’”

“But, like—“ his usually deep timbre pitches super high “…did you?”

“Why would you just sit on that, Jake?!”

He shrugs. “You weren’t exactly sober.”

Too much, too many feelings, all at once. You try to get away, to make a break for the bathroom, but Jake grabs your wrist and swings your momentum to the wall.

Your back hits with a soft thud, pinned in place by Jake’s chest. He’s not breathing heavily, but you are, pushing you against him repeatedly.

That just makes it harder.

Yes, you said it (you guess), and yes, you meant it. Jake, however, hasn’t said word one about if he feels some sort of way for you. Your brain can’t intuit his romantic inclinations two minutes after accusing him of treachery.

He’s…there, not moving, not speaking, lips slightly parted while he stares at you.

You clear your throat.

“You’re…you’re touching me,” you say softly.

Jake doesn’t skip a beat, gently tightening his hold on your arms. “That’s what I do, PC. Finger keyboards.”

You gag as he quickly shakes his head.

“What the fuck?”

“Sounds sooooo bad," Jake moans. "I’m so sorry.” He let’s go of you, steps back, and slaps his hands in the air frantically. “Wait, okay? That was not the joke. I can do it.”

“You’re sick, man.”

Jake rubs at his temples, muttering something about keys, computers, and Halloween. “Hold on...so dumb. This is why I was trying to record it! It’s your joke. You were laying on the bed and--”

“I would never say you fin—“

“He was standing right there,” Jake bursts, scaring you to silence. “Roque. When you said that into the phone, I mean, he was standing at the door and he heard.”

Jensen sighs. Defeated and deflated, he rests his hands on his hips, inhaling sharply.

“So at the port when… He aimed a gun at you and I just—“ he makes a finger gun to point over your shoulder, adding a soft pow sound-effect “—Roque was saying I should have told you before he tried to kill you.”

“About the recording?”

“No.” Jake rocks on his heels.

“About the joke?” Your voice is so small.

His stupid, beautiful blue eyes lift to meet yours.

“No, pin cushion, not about the joke.”

There's a horridly long pause of nothingness.

"Fuck it."

Jake lunges forward with startling intensity, fingers lace behind your head to draw you to him.

You don’t turn away this time.

His lips are soft yet determined, slowly pulsing to transform one kiss into dozens, and he adjusts everything—his height, his stance, his proximity to get even more of you in a single embrace.

“I love you,” Jake whispers, shifting to tilt you left while he goes right. “I should have told you ‘I love you,’ too.”

You promised yourself no attachments, but who are you kidding? You're such a loser, and you found your match.

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

😵‍💫

[alkhale]

Ahhhh I’m so happy you’re back with all the memos tidbits!!! That little snippet of kid and his crew and the latest where he was literally thinking of throwing her into a crate and stealing her onto his ship really really realllyy makes me wonder what would happen is Hoku actually did join his crew (aka hokunapped) hahah. Been in love with their dynamic since the chapter they met hehe

Hoku would be an absolute menace on Kid's crew

His crew would actually begin to question whether or not it was a good decision to let their captain force her onto their ship

Would claim she's only working temp on his ship because she had strangely rationalized that this was a good way to get Luffy to give up on her/she could just ditch this crew whenever and go die peacefully in a hut somewhere after following the news of the Straw Hat's journey

Is constantly questioning/not listening to his authority, she never takes it to the point of being blatantly mean, but just kinda ignores his orders/does whatever she wants

Hoku makes sure to get work done for the crew to earn her keep, helping out with ship chores, figuring out who's the cleanliest and making sure things don't look too gross with all these grease monkeys hanging around (she's not that neat either)

pops up in strange places around the ship, gets along with random crew members, even offers to help ink tattoos for them from time to time once she really warms up to them

she's become a bit fond of these weird, punk rock pirates

is always fighting with Kid, it's either two-sided shouting matches or one-sided curses and shouts from Kid while she picks at her ear and ignores him

unironically ends up causing him to be both a more destructive and less destructive pirate, he causes less human bodily harm but ends up destroying more houses or towns from his fights with Hoku (she always tries to rebuild homes for anyone)

it's a running joke to see how long they can go at sea before Kid gets angry at her, he seems to get livid at the very sight of her just lounging on her back on top of some barrels, but his crew reminds him its his fault for wanting her

Hoku likes messing with Kid but she actually starts to warm up, very, very little to him. She kind of finds him more amusing than anything else, fun to mess with, likes that he's so bullheadedly passionate about his dreams but just hates how angry he always is

"I think he just needs to get laid," Hoku finally joked once to Killer, causing the first mate to pause completely in the middle of his meal. There's a few things Killer could say to that, but he decides it's wiser not to get involved with anything in that regard

Killer just isn't sure how to tell her that sometimes Kid's "anger" isn't quite "anger"...

Hoku and Kid spar often, mostly because it's a fight turned physical but Kid genuinely thrives when it comes to fighting with Hoku

one sparring match in particular ends up a bit...

"You're always runnin' around like a rat," Kid accused, kicking up a storm of sand as he lunged for Hoku. She leapt out of his reach, dodging his metal extended claws. "Afraid of getting caught, doll?"

"You're always grabbing," Hoku snapped back. She lowered herself briefly to the sand, swinging her foot out and catching Kid in his side. He grabbed quickly for her ankle, but Hoku swung her foot up and sprung back on her hands, just out of his grasp. "Always tryin' to hug me."

"Shut it!" Kid snarled. The shore line lapped right at their side, encroaching closer onto the sandy slope. A salty breeze tousled Hoku's hair out of her face, baring her completely to him. "One of these days you're gonna be cryin' because of this."

Hoku laughed, a loose, breezy sound that grated against his ears. Kid felt his pulse thundering louder in his ears. Hoku leapt nimbly closer, he knew this tactic well by now, her way of getting ready to try to finish him off. Her fingers reached for her sword. "Whatever you say, brat—"

Kid moved differently this time, lunging forward, arms raised. Hoku balked for a second in surprise, eyes wide at his frontal assault. Kid still had hulk and mass over her, the entirety of him slamming her down into the ground with a ghost of her breath rushing past his ear.

Hoku reacted quickly, scrambling with him in the sand as grains flew across the both of them. Kid wrestled with her, trying to force either both her wrists into one of his or pin her legs down—whichever he could manage first—a knee slammed into his ribcage, a foot managed to extend and catch the side of his head—damn she's flexible.

Hoku's hand grabbed at his hair, pulling roughly. Kid snarled, blood pumping at the sensation while Hoku glared fiercely beneath him. Something thrummed, a little louder in his ears, and before Kid could force her down Hoku was suddenly heaving with all her might—legs locked tightly around his waist. Kid felt himself go sideways before he could fight back, forced with a rough palm down onto his back and facing upwards as Hoku straddled him.

Her hair fanned out wildly around her face. Sweat dripped a bit from her chin from their brief and rough struggle. Hoku glared down at him, daring him to fight back. Her lips pulled into a little bit of a snarl, the faint glint of that sharp canine catching light. Kid's hand shot up automatically, gripping her waist, the other grasping her thigh—his entire hand could almost cover the expanse of her thigh, he realized suddenly, like a screw clattering to the ground in the back of his head. He could feel the heat of her skin through her rough pants, the taut muscle and still slightly plush flesh at his fingertips, dents pressing under his grip.

Her hip fit even easier into his hand, one firm grip. His eyes flickered up briefly to her face, still twisted into a daring look of triumph above him—the faint heave of her chest, the rise and fall, rise and fall—

A drop of sweat rolled down the column of her neck. Kid felt something heavy pull into his gut.

God, he should kill this woman.

More screws clattered to the ground in his mind, a ruckus of noise, each one a shattering image of Hoku laughing annoyingly amidst his crew, shoving Wire as she almost fell over her barrel. An image of her snoozing uselessly in the sun, glowing from its warmth, sprawled out with ease across the deck. Her hair catching the first rays of light as she peeked over the crow's nest from the watch the night before. Her eyes meeting his across a bar, crinkled at the corners in teasing annoyance—

He needed to wreck this woman.

Her fingers wrapped around her brush. The slow or quick turn of her hand across paper. The colors that spilled out beneath her fingertips. Her happy, grudging huffs of awe at his work. The soft, audible sound of her in his private workshop, gaze lowered to whatever project laid before her.

He needed to—

Her eyes, flickering to meet his gaze, reflecting his visage entirely.

Hoku suddenly went ramrod straight above Kid. She paused, her once firm grip of his chest and head faltering. Kid blinked, annoyed to have been dragged from his thoughts as he looked back up at Hoku—

Kid blinked, once, twice, going almost slack in disbelief at the sight before him.

Hoku's cheeks had flushed, a dark, flustered red. She looked stunned, stupified almost as though she was trying to comprehend and register the situation at hand herself. Kid watched, almost mesmerized by the way that blush seemed to creep from the back of her neck as well—did her whole body flush like that? How far did it go?

Why the hell was she blushing in the first place—

(Something hard pressed flush against the inside of Hoku's thigh, a size she did not need to consider, situated right beneath the weight of her pressing originally hard down against Kid to keep him pinned—)

Kid went carefully still in realization. His grip on Hoku instantly went slack.

(Her weight fit snug against him. A shudder threatened to run down the back of his neck. Shamelessly he imagined for a second her back against the sand, her hair sprawled out amidst it. Her eyes, round and wide filled with his visage, her cheeks flushed, his lips following it down her neck. Something hot pooling in his gut flushed upwards, right to his fingertips as they flexed, suddenly itching to hold—)

Hoku was off Kid in a flash, jumping to her feet as her hands flew up into the air as though she were under arrest. Kid scrambled up onto his elbows, jaw working—

"Hey, uh, sorry about that," Hoku said first before Kid could even think of what ought to come out of his mouth. He blinked dumbly at her. "It's—that's a totally normal thing to happen, so don't worry about it, yeah? No worries, bud. Uh—I'll um, go? See ya back on the ship!"

Hoku darted away, running off the sand before he could even grab for her ankle or hold her back. Kid sat there amidst the sand, heat pulsing against his skin, a very real, very personal problem tenting upwards against his—

Kid let out something like a slew of curses, shouting angrily at nothing and everything—

Killer was perplexed for only about five minutes later that evening when Kid returned, some time after Hoku, more angry and grumpy but strangely subdued around her in a way he was not before, and then Killer sorta figured it out

-basically Hoku on Kid's crew is 3/5 her giving him an aneurysm and 2/5s something else

[musickgeek]

The Same {Bucky Barnes x Reader}

Third Person P.O.V.

The Avengers stealthily boarded the cargo ship, covered by the darkness of the night. They had spent months chasing her, The Reaper. Another deadly soldier who Hydra had used to replace the Winter Soldier. She seemed to be popping up everywhere, and the Avengers were sure she was up to no good. She left death behind her as if she were truly the one to wield the scythe and lead the souls. But the killings had stopped two months ago, and she was on the run from them. They were glad for the spared lives, but frustrated at how the clues to find her got scarcer and scarcer.

Fury's sources had tracked her this ship exporting various weapons out of Africa. Though it seemed to have no connections to Hydra or any smugglers on their radar, it was definitely a dangerous and illegal ship. Still, they had to focus on the target above all else. If she was traveling with military grade weapons and explosives, it did not mean good news.

The team split up, searching for her. And who should find her first then her predecessor, Bucky Barnes. "I've got eyes on her," he whispered into the intercom, "on the bow, portside. She's going through the crates." Before Bucky could engage, a rumbling came from within the ship. "Explosive going off in the hull. Everyone get off the ship!" He heard Natasha call. Bucky saw the Reaper start running, and gave chase with determination. Every attack against Hydra felt personal to him, he wanted to make them all pay. He wanted them to lose.

He grabbed her by the back of her jacket, which made her whirl around, freeing herself from his grasp. She put her arms up as if this were a mere sparring match. "Soldat de iarna. El trăiește până la urmă." Bucky was caught off-guard. Romanian? "Soldatul de iarnă a murit. Omul adevărat a trăit."

"If you call doing someone else's bidding living." She snapped, lunging at him with a left hook. The both swing and dodge and miss until The Reaper finally caught Bucky in the gut. She tried to run, but he recovered enough to grab her ankle. It proved to be a futile effort and the explosions in the ship got closer and more violent. A large blast no more then hundred feet away releases enough force to knock them over board into the water below. 

(Y/n) P.O.V. 

I gasp for breath when I get to the surface. My body aches from the impact, and I growl at the  frustration of being caught. The Winter Soldier pops up about ten feet from me, trying to contact his team. I assume it's no use when he slams his hand into the water. More explosions come from the ship making it increasingly more dangerous to be around. The soldier spots me, and begins swimming toward me with malice in his eyes. "You guys blew up the ship? Aren't you supposed to be the good guys?" I snap. "We didn't do this! Why were you on that ship, Reaper?" He growls. "That's a need to know basis." I look around and spot something in the distance. Without waiting for his response, I start to swim away. "Where do you think you're going?" He calls.

"There's land about a mile that way, and I don't see your team anywhere around here. Not that I would find their presence real welcoming. Think you can keep up?" I ask mockingly. "I'm a super soldier with a metal arm. I think you should ask yourself that." He snaps.

"Ah, you wouldn't let me drown, would you?" I ask, already swimming again. He responds gruffly. "That remains to be seen." The water swirls around me, rough and choppy and dark, but warm enough. Its terrifying and threatening, part of what makes the ocean so beautiful. The perfect killer. The soldier ends up few yards ahead of me, and reaches the sand before me. He glares at me the whole time I pull up. "The hell do you want?" I hiss. He ignores the questions.

"The other Avengers will find us soon. When they do, you'll finally be caught." I clench my teeth in anger. If only he knew. Maybe he wouldn't be such a douche. But he doesn't deserve to know. He doesn't deserve a thing from me. "Not if I find a way off first. Or get rid of you. Or Hydra beats them." I notice the slight change in demeanor. I realize he fears them. I smirk. "What? Can't even handle the word? They fucked you up good, didn't they?" He stalks towards me, real close to my face. "Shut up." He quickly grabs my wrists, cuffing them before I can react.

Dammit. I've lost my touch.

"Kinky," I retaliate. "What part of 'shut up' don't you understand?"

"The 'up' part. Why is that the phrase to tell someone to stop talking?"

"Smart ass...you shut your jaw up-why am I having this conversation? Let's just go. We need search for food, a clean water source, and a signal."

"Well, I can't help with my hands tied and all, so I'll just sit here, and-"

"Your legs work. I'm not leaving you alone." He grabs me to make sure I don't separate. He has an intense look as he walks like in a movie. I sign in defeat, too tired from the swim to argue. This is going to be...interesting. I need to find a way to escape or, like he said, the Avengers will capture me.

~~~~~

We survive the first few days with a great struggle. Although we were both trained for this situation, how to survive while stranded in many environments, we spend too much time at each others throats to get much done. 

"You're doing it wrong."

"I'd like to see you try and do this while your hands are cuffed together, jackass."

Things calm down after what I'd guess to be a week in. We give up on being picked up anytime soon, and any escape. He uncuffs me, deciding I'm more helpful with the free range, but keeps a close eye on me. Two weeks in, and I give up on escaping entirely. Either Hydra will find me and use me again, or the Avengers will find me and kill me. I think I prefer the ladder.

"I never would have guessed your friends were so incompetent. I mean, we weren't that far from the wreckage." I say one afternoon. We lie in the sand under the shade of a tree. Where he once would have ignored or argued with me, he instead says, "You know? Me too. They managed to find me after all." 

"You must be delirious to be agreeing with me." I joke. He chuckles. "Maybe." I roll over so we're looking at each other. "What's your name?" I ask. "Your real one, I mean." He narrows his eyes at me, as if trying to figure out the hidden meaning. "Why do you care?"

"I'll tell you mine in exchange." He still looks skeptical. "Come on, shouldn't we try to work together here?" He's silent for a moment. "James Bucannon Barnes. My friends call me Bucky." I snicker at the name. "Bucannon? What are you, a 100 years old?" 

"Yes." He answers with such intensity that I don't even think to question it. I know what Hydra is capable of. "Oh. I'm sorry." He shakes his head. "Your name." It's not a question, but a demand. Maybe I shouldn't hand over that information, but it's been so long since I've introduced myself or heard my name that I can't help myself. "(Y/n) (L/n). I don't know what my friends call me. I'm not a 100 years old though." He shakes his head again, but with humor this time. "You can laugh, I'm hilarious, 'Bucky.'" I mock. Now he frowns. "We're not friends."

~~~~~

"You know, Barnes. I bet we could build a pretty decent raft with the stuff around this place. We can't stay here forever." Though we had found springs of fresh water, were able to fish and forage, and could find shelter in small caves, I didn't want to spend the rest of my life here. I want more from the life I was dealt. "And go where? We don't even know what direction land is in, and we would lose the vital resources we have. We'd likely end up lost at sea, and die of thirst."

"Then stay here. I'll go without you. You guys want me dead anyway." I insist stubbornly. "That's not- I don't want you to die, (L/n). We're not your precious Hydra. We want to put a stop to your massacre." He spits. "At any means necessary, even killing me?" I ask for confirmation, but I know the answer. "I won't let you condemn yourself to death." He insists. I'm shocked at his phrasing. Maybe it's just him remembering himself in my place, but it's the most care someone has shown me in a long time. "Okay, Barnes." If he's shocked by my easy compliance, he doesn't show it. I drop the issue, even after a month of being stuck here.

~~~~~

I sit on the shore while Barnes uses the makeshift spear to fish, yelling at him still. "You don't know anything about me or what I've done! You think you're so high and mighty? You've done everything I've done and worse!" He doesn't respond, but his stabs at the fish get more aggressive. I notice the wave getting darker, rougher, and faster. "And now what? You wanna prove you're so manly but catching nothing? Get your head out of your ass, Barnes. There is a storm coming, come back to shore." He stops, and turns to face me, not making a move toward me. "So you can yell at me more? I already know what I've done. You can't insist I know nothing about, Reaper. I've been studying you for months. Do you have any remorse?" 

Before I can answer, A huge wave crashes over him. He falls over. "Barnes! Look out!" Another wave seems to wash away because I lose sight of him. "Fine, let the idiot drown." I growl to myself. I take a few steps towards our shelter before stopping. "Dammit." I turn back, and sprint towards the water. The water is rough and cold, but I dive in anyways. I'm coming, I'm coming, My lungs burn by the time I find his motionless body floating toward the bottom of the reef. I kick hard, and grab him under his arms. Jeez he's heavy. With massive struggle, I drag the dead weight onto shore. I'm exhausted from the ordeal, but still fly into panic when I realize he isn't breathing. I can't be stuck here alone. I can't let him die. He deserves more from this life too.

I begin the compressions. "Come on, Barnes. Come on. Don't give up. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. You're not a bad guy, you didn't serve it. Come on, please. Barnes?" His body shudders underneath my hands. "James?" His eyes fly open, and he gasps. "Bucky!" He sits up quickly and coughs up water. I sigh in relief. I rub his back a little to ease him. "Let it out, it's okay." Once it's up, he lays back, heaving a little. "You okay, Barnes?" He looks at me, smiles slightly, and says, "Bucky." My face scrunches in confusion. "What? Did almost drowning scramble your brain?"

"You called me Bucky. You panicked. You care about me." He mocks, sitting up. I quickly get defensive. "I do not. I just can't have your friends thinking I killed you."

"Sure. You don't care even little that I die?"

"...It'd get boring around here."

He chuckles. "Thank you, (Y/n). I guess you saved my life."

The usage of my name feels so personal, but right. I frown. I can't get attached, I have to keep running. "Well you can make it up to me. When they come for you, the Avengers I mean, don't tell them I'm here. Please. Tell them I escaped, I drowned, anything." His good mood turns sour again. "I can't do that. You're still a wanted criminal."

"You don't understand. I don't work for Hydra anymore!" I snap, standing over him. "Well you did!"

"So did you!"

"That was different, I didn't have a choice, I wasn't in control!"

"Neither was I!" Shock fills his face. I fall to my knees again in front of him. "Neither was I. I didn't choose to be theirs. I didn't choose anything." Silence. Silence is so incredibly powerful. It allows for a whirlwind of emotion and questions in a short amount of time. When he finally does speak, it's barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry. I-"

"Don't. Don't do that."

"I should have recognized the patterns. You were hiding from them, not us."

"Don't worry about it, Barnes. Seriously. Let's get you to a fire."

~~~~~

I start us a fire to warm us up before the storm hit. He looks somehow both pensive and awkward. "I don't remember my old life. I try to, but it's so fuzzy. I'm worried it's gone forever." I admit. "It's not. I promise."

"And if I don't like it?"

"Change your future." He says simply. "I found my own file. I got too curious, but hid it. Then I ran away. Apparently, I was a police officer." I look into the fire, but I feel his eyes on me. "I'm sure you were a good one. You still have the compassion."

"If only I'd had it sooner, saved people like I was supposed to. Like I wanted to, I think."

"You still can."

"They killed my family to avoid another situation like you." 

"I'm sorry."

"Everything is gone for me. I think it would be easier to die, James." I start to cry, my chest wracked with sobs. He comes right up next to me, closer then he's ever been, and lifts my head to make me look at him. He brushes the wet hair stuck to my face away. "Thank you. For trusting me. I've fought this battle, (Y/n), It will be okay."

Maybe it's the glow from the fire, or maybe the sight of the moon, or the crash of the ocean. Hell, maybe just being stranded here so long. Something pulls me even closer to him. I hated him. Why am I doing this? Why is he responding? We both lean in, inches apart. But it's ruined.

"We've surrounded you! Put your hands up!" We fly away from each other, hands up, red dots pointed at us. It takes only a look to see it's the men I've tried so hard to run from. Hydra. "This couldn't be more perfect. The Winter Soldier and the Reaper. Just who we've been looking for." From the corner of my eye, I see the slight tense of Bucky's muscles, the fear he extrudes. I won't let him suffer this way again. He's suffered far too long. Battle after battle. I can't let that be his life anymore. I keep my hands up, slowly standing in surrender. "I will go with you, willingly, but if, and only if, you let Barnes go. We all walk away, and leave him here alone. The Avengers will come for him, and cause you more grief. They have broken your words out of him, it would be starting over for you. They won't come for me. Take me, leave him alone. You don't need him anymore."

The soldier in charge nods at the others, seemingly accepting. They know they are no match for me, for us. I get on my knees, and allow them to cuff me. "(Y/n), no-" He starts to stand, but a nearby soldier butts his rifle into his stomach. He doubles over, groaning. "I said leave him alone!" I seethe. "Fall out." The leader calls. The soldiers drag me away, leaving Bucky by the fire. I close my eyes as they lead me, trying to capture the the feeling of freedom for the last time. The smell of the salty sea air, the cool breeze in my hair, the soft sand on my feet. I force myself to focus on my senses so I don't have to think about look of panic in Bucky's eyes, how pretty he looked when I thought he would kiss me, or the grief swelling my heart that I may never see him again as the real me. My only real comfort as I'm chained to the metal floor of this Hydra ship is that I saved him. I know the Avengers will find him soon, and he will be happy with them.  "O sa fie bine." I repeat.

Third Person P.O.V.

Only a mere hours later did the Avengers find Bucky on that island. That had managed to track the Hydra team there. They found him alone by the fire, surprised at the tears, guilt, and regret in his eyes. "We have to find her, we have to save her. She gave herself up for me."

"Save who?" Steve asked carefully. "(Y/n). Hydra got her, they-"

"Who?"

"The Reaper, the second assassins, (L/n), her. She's like me, we have to...We have to...Fuck." He couldn't even find the words to begin to explain to them that they were all wrong. Steve, understanding him like no one else, puts a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find her, Buck."

[wwenhlimagines]

Hi! I was wondering if you would be willing to write a story about the reader and Hook having a baby together and being on Ethan’s Toy Hunt Vlog. Thank you :)

Toy Hunt with Baby Senerchia - Hook Imagine

These two requests were similar, so I'm combining them into one story.

Hope you all enjoy it!

When I first told Tyler I was pregnant with his child, we were both hesitant to tell anybody. We are still young, and we don't want everyone to be telling us their opinions of how we should parent. Of course, we will ask our parents and close friends for advice, but the whole world knowing was a different issue.

Luckily, I work behind the scenes at AEW, so it's not like I had to be written off TV, but Hook decided to take some time off as I neared the end of my pregnancy. Tony decided an injury angle was the least suspicious way to give him some time off without alerting fans.

We welcomed our sweet baby boy Trevor a few months ago now, and we couldn't be more in love. Tyler is slowly returning to work by mainly working promos or squash matches. Everybody backstage is great with helping me if Trevor starts to fuss while Tyler is busy. Willow loves to hold him and gently rock back and forth to soothe him as I make sure all of the props are ready to go.

Whenever Tyler returns, it is hard not to awe at his smile, seeing Trevor reaching out for him with a drooly grin. He happily takes his little man in his arms and makes sure to let you know he is taking him to catering. Tyler finds the carrier for him to lay against his chest and places Trevor in it before heading over to catering to get some chips.

As he sits in catering eating his chips, Trevor has fallen asleep, and so Tyler slowly gets up and heads to a quieter corner to wait for the end of the show. Danhausen walks by, but he has quickly learned not to disturb Tyler while he is with his son as the baby is terrified of his face paint. Tyler nods at Danhausen to say hi, and Dan simply gives him 2 thumbs up and smiles before continuing his journey.

Meanwhile, Ethan Page has found his way over to me with his vlog camera. "Hey, Y/N! We are planning on going on a Toy Hunt tomorrow if you and Hook are interested. I've heard they have a lot of (your favorite collection)."

I hum as I pretend to think about it before laughing and replying, "Of course I'll be there! I'll talk to Hook and see what he thinks, but I am definitely in!"

Ethan smiles content with my answer and walks away to find more people to join the Toy Hunt. When I am done for the night, I grab a snack for catering before heading off to find the 2 boys I love the most. I smile as I turn the corner and see Tyler sprawled out on a crate with Trevor in the carrier, laying on his chest as they both seem to be napping.

I walk over and try to pick up Trevor, only to have Tyler quickly grab my hands and shove them away. I back up a bit as he opens his eyes and sees it is just me. He sighs and reaches back out for me. "I'm sorry, babe. I thought you were someone else trying to take Trev here from me."

I smirked and leaned in to kiss him as he got down from the crate. Trevor started to squirm, and I quickly took him out of the carrier and held him against my chest. "Sorry baby, it's time to go to the hotel, though, so we can eat and then get a decent night's sleep."

Trevor settles down as we walk back to the locker room, and Tyler grabs his backpack, and the car seat and lays Trevor down in it. I try to pick it up, but Tyler insists on carrying it out to the car. I smirk and let him carry it knowing how protective he is of the both of us.

Once we settle into the car, Tyler drives us back to the hotel, and I decide to ask him about the Toy Hunt. "Do we have plans for tomorrow? Ethan invited us to a Toy Hunt, and I told him I was in, but I wasn't sure about you and Trevor."

Tyler shook his head as he kept his eyes on the road. "I don't believe we have anything planned. Do you think it is time to let the public know about the baby, though? They know we are together, but we still haven't posted about him yet."

I sigh as I think about it, "We could ask your dad to watch him?"

Tyler shakes his head again, "He told me he has an earlier flight out tomorrow."

We pull in the hotel parking lot and get out of the car before grabbing the car seat and our bags. We walk inside and get into our room before sighing and getting Trevor settled down.

"I guess we could take him and just keep him in the carrier wearing a hoodie. Ethan would be fine putting a smiley face over him or something. That way, we could go, and his face doesn't get shown."

Tyler shrugged before laying back on the bed. "We should probably post that we have a baby first before letting Ethan post the Toy Hunt, though."

I nodded and laid down next to Tyler before leaning into his side and pouting my lips up towards his. He smiles before kissing me softly and pulling me closer to him. "He takes a while to edit, so we have some extra time. Let's go tomorrow, and we can figure out what to post later."

Trevor starts to fuss, so I feed him and change him as Tyler gets ready for bed. Once he comes back out of the bathroom in his boxers, I smirk before handing Trevor over to him. I let my fingers linger around his waist before grabbing his ass quickly before running off to the bathroom. "Hey, that's not fair. I can't even retaliate!"

I giggle from the bathroom before poking my head back out. "I'll let you retaliate once little man is sound asleep."

Tyler winks at me and starts to rock back and forth, trying to soothe Trevor back to sleep.

The next morning, we get up, and Tyler gets some breakfast from the lobby and brings it back to the room as I feed Trevor and get him ready for the day. Ethan texts me with the address and time for the Toy Hunt, so we get dressed before heading over.

Once we arrive, I try to get the carrier, but Tyler quickly puts it on and reaches out for me to pass Trevor over to him. "Are you sure you want to carry him?"

Tyler nods while getting Trevor buckled in comfortably. "You are the one most excited to search for your collection. I won't need to be on camera much."

I shrug and pull Trevor's hood up over his head before we walk over to join Ethan and Danhausen. The camera hasn't started rolling, so we let them say hi to Trevor before the Toy Hunt begins. Once we entered the store, Tyler became extra protective in making sure Trevor's hood was up and carrying his backpack full of baby supplies on his back.

Ethan leads me over towards my favorite toy section, and I start to search for anything I don't already have. I find a couple of things I might want to buy and decide to go check on my boys.

Tyler has found some toys that light up and make noise, and I hear Trevor's giggle as Tyler waves the toys around and makes silly faces. I snapped a couple of pictures before walking over to them and smiling as Trevor reached out for me. I placed the toys I had brought over on a crate and took the baby in my arms.

"Hey baby boy, is Daddy entertaining you?"

Trevor giggled as I blew raspberries into his neck. I see a flash out of the corner of my eye and smirk seeing Tyler sheepishly putting his phone back in his pocket. "You know I can't help myself when you two are being so adorable."

I kissed Trevor's head before handing him back over his dad. I grabbed the toys and held them up towards the baby. "Which one should I get, baby boy?"

His little arms reached out towards the one in my left hand, so I took the other one back and came back with it. Ethan walks over to us and asks what we plan on getting. I happily show him the treasure I found and geek out about adding it to my collection.

From behind the camera, I can see Ethan looking over at Tyler hesitantly. I scoot closer to my boys and show Trevor the toy I chose again. He giggles as I wave it back and forth in front of him, and Tyler smiles down at the two of us.

Ethan soon walks away to find Danhausen in the corner, making up some absurd backstory for the figure he had in his hands. Tyler and I decided to pay for the toy I found as well as the toys he and Trevor had been playing with. We paid and then waited for the others by the front door.

Trevor started to get antsy, so we gave him the toy we had just bought him. He started to giggle and kick his little feet. The owner of the store encouraged us to sit down in the kids' corner, so we made our way over there and settled down.

Ethan and Danhausen came to find us after they paid for their newfound treasures. Danhausen sits down next to Tyler, and Trevor curls into his dad's chest. The friendly gremlin pulls a light up bouncy ball out of his pocket, and Trevor's eyes grow wide. He is hesitant to reach out for the ball, but Danhausen happily gave it to me, and I handed it to Trevor. He smiled and giggled as it lit up in front of him.

We all walked out of the store and did our reflection of the store for Ethan's vlog. I hugged the other men goodbye, and Tyler got Trevor settled into his carseat. We got in the car and decided to go back to the hotel after stopping for food.

Once we got into the hotel room, we had to change Trevor's diaper and eat our lunch before we sat down on the bed and played with our baby boy. "I think we should post the pictures we took today to announce our little bundle of joy."

Tyler nods and grabs his phone to open Instagram and post the picture of me blowing a raspberry into Trevor's neck with the caption "The loves of my life 💕"

I smile as I posted the picture of Tyler and Trevor laughing together with the caption "My boys have my whole heart ❤️"

Tags: @thesupreme316 @gethooked @730hook @baybay-boom @hookedonhook @louisianalady @hooks-martin @plentyoffandoms @daddyslittlevillain @hooksimp @legit9thlunaticwarrior @lclb13 @hookswifeeyy

[chadillacboseman]

Summary: Kano hires out. Danny doesn't like it, and Alex can't count. Rough as hell draft that I have devoted very little time to improving so far lol. Characters: Alex and Jesse belong to me, Danny belongs to @thesingularityseries and Echo belongs to @roofgeese

"Private military?" Danny asks with disgust. PMCs are a stain on the armed forces as far as he's concerned- men who shed their uniforms like snakes just to hold a gun for whoever had the biggest wad of cash.

"Yeah, and you'll treat them like our own while they secure this shipment, got it?" Kano barks and the spy rolls his eyes.

As if on cue, a short man with prominent eyes surges forward through the crowd of uniformed soldiers. He holds his hand at chest level, offering a handshake that Danny refuses to reciprocate.

"Jesse. Jesse Geller," the man drawls the introduction in an accent that grates on Danny's ears and makes every word seem as if it has more syllables than it should. The man lets his hand hang in dead air for a long moment before finally letting it drop to his side.

Danny's lip curls in the slightest hint of revulsion and his hands stay clasped behind his back as the man, evidently named Jesse, tilts his head in curiosity. He's wearing some kind of armored suit, an exoskeleton that glints under the flickering fluorescents of the base's garage.

Alex glances up from his spot near Echo, fingers flexing on the wood of the crate he's supposed to be unloading as he watches Danny stare the man down. He's not a fan of Danny, certainly, but the other man makes him uncomfortable.

"Listen," Jesse takes a step closer to the spy, who tries to keep his face from twisting into an expression of distaste, "I get that you don't like me- don't like us," he jerks his head backward at the soldiers who stand like statues behind him, "but your boss needs us."

"I doubt that," Danny replies with barely contained contempt, "you were just the quickest dog to jump for the bone."

Jesse hums and raises his eyebrows with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, "Sure, but we get paid either way."

"Of course you do."

A taut rope of tension hangs between the two men, ratcheting tighter with every second that neither of them backs down from the pedestal they've placed themselves on.

"Carver!" Alex yells and Danny finally breaks his gaze from Jesse's to glance over at him.

"What?"

"We're short here," Alex points at the stack of crates he and Echo have been processing and Danny turns back to Jesse with a self-righteous smile.

"Now imagine that," the Brit begins derisively, "you wouldn't be trying to take advantage here, would you? I've heard what the Russians call you."

Parazit. Parasite. Jesse is well aware of it.

Jesse's upper lip twitches and his smile fades in an instant, his mouth instead dropping into a hard line as he looks up at Danny.

"I'm not sure I like what you're implyin' here."

Inferring, Danny wants to correct. He's got dossiers on this man and his operation, stacks and stacks of data that he could easily use to break him and his merry little band of dropouts entirely.

"Wait, hang on-" Alex calls from across the room, "No, I miscounted. They're all here."

Moron.

Jesse raises his eyebrows and feels a white hot bolt of anger sear through him. His fingers tap on the cool metal of the pistol at his side, drumming out an erratic beat that nearly matches the heart that bangs in his ribcage.

These mercs think they're better than him. That pisses him off. He's suddenly overcome with the urge to rip the pistol from the holster and put a bullet in every man in the room until the clip is spent.

Jesse's second, Eddie, can feel the atmosphere shift, as if his boss's anger moves the very air around him. These mercs might not know what that means, but he does.

"Let's just get paid and go," he says quietly. Jesse's eyes narrow, but he doesn't budge.

"I think that sounds like a very good idea," Danny's voice carries a warning like a pinless grenade.

Eddie has seen Jesse in situations like this before- any second now, he's going to fly off the handle and try to bash in the skull of the first person he can grab hold of.

--

Tagging: @cyberneticsanguinaire @thenukacolachallenge @cloudofbutterflies92 @socially-awkward-skeleton @bihanspookies

[luigisblueoveralls]

Carina

Luigi x GN! Reader

Requested by @andy-squirrel-and-friends

I know I already used a similar picture on one of my other works, shush I'm running out of pictures to use. Someone send me some plzz

Summary: Luigi has been down in the dumps lately and you find the perfect way to cheer him up.

Notes: Carina means cute, in a feminine context, in Italian, and I figured that would be perfect for this scenario. I also changed it a little of what you asked on accident and didn't realize it until I got really deep into writing it so I hope that's okay I apologize! No warnings for this one! Hope you enjoy it!

(H/L)=Hair Length

(H/C)=Hair Color

💚

The front door softly opened and then shut, indicating that your significant other was home from work.

"Hey Lui! How was today?" You called from the laundry room.

"Meh." Luigi mumbled as he walked upstairs to y'alls room.

You sighed to yourself hearing that. This was the third day in a row that Luigi was bummed out. You weren't sure why he was being this way, and when you ask what's wrong, he just says: "Don't worry about me. I'm alright." But you knew that was a damn lie. Normally, Luigi was excited and energetic and happy, but lately, he has been dull, monotone, and even depressed. You weren't sure why he was acting like this, but you were going to get to the bottom of this.

You quickly finished the laundry that you were doing and headed upstairs to the bedroom where Luigi was at.

"Hey." You announce as you knocked on the door, "Can I come in?"

It was silent for a few seconds.

"Sure."

You opened the door and walked into the bedroom to find Luigi top less in his boxers, looking for some lounge clothes to wear. You gazed at him. Luigi was so handsome to you that you loved gazing at him with whatever chance you got. Whether it be while he was cooking in the kitchen, asleep with drool coming out of his mouth, or during intimate times, you loved to gaze at him.

"What are you looking at?" Luigi asks you.

"Nothing, pretty boy." You joked, which made him do a half smile.

"What's been on your mind, Lui? Talk to me." You plead as you approached him.

Luigi shook his head at you.

"It's nothing. I promise, love." He reassures you.

You still weren't buying it.

"Lui, what is it?" You ask again.

Luigi leans in and kisses your temple.

"I promise I am okay. I'm just tired, is all." Luigi strokes your (H/L) (H/C), making you smile.

"I know, but I worry about you." You said, leaning onto Luigi's shoulder.

"You have nothing to worry about." Luigi reassures you, wrapping his arm around you.

You nod in response, but you still couldn't help but worry for Luigi. You needed a way to figure out how to lighten his mood, and you had an idea of how to do that.

~

"We have three available for adoption. It just depends on which one suits your need the best." The shelter worker lady informed you.

You gazed through the three glass shelters the cats were in. One cat was white, one was black, and then there was an orange tabby cat with white stripes all over his body with green eyes. Your eyes met with the orange cats. The orange cat stared right back into your eyes, and you couldn't help but feel drawn to the cat.

"Do you think you could tell me more about this orange one?" You ask the worker.

"Ah yes, she just arrived today, so we don't have a name for her yet, but she loves loves cuddles and to be loved on. She loves food and loves to play with her ball of yarn and gets attached to her person." The worker informed you.

This cat was a perfect match for Luigi. You just knew it. You had a gut feeling you were correct.

"I'll take her. She is perfect." You told the worker.

"Awesome. I'll fetch her crate for ya." The worker said as she walked off.

You pressed your hand up against the glass, and the cat pressed her paw against the glass where your hand was at. You giggled in an excited way. It was as if the cat knew she was gonna go to the perfect home.

~

It was a waiting game at this point. You had the cat in your lap with a little green bow tie on it, both of you waiting for Luigi to get home.

"He is going to love you." You spoke to the cat.

The cat rubbed her chin up against yours, and you chuckled in response. You still didn't really have a name for her, but you wanted Luigi to make that choice. It was his cat, after all. Suddenly, you heard the sound of his car engine pull up and park in front of the house. Your heart started racing rapidly. You couldn't wait till your wonderful significant other walked through the door and see your surprise you had for him.

"Relax (Y/N)." You told yourself.

You felt as if your heart was gonna burst out of your chest. You couldn't wait. You almost told Luigi the surprise as soon as you got the cat, but you figured it was best to wait till he got home. Luigi walked up to the front door, turned the door knob and opened the front door.

"Hey, Lui." You greet him with excitement.

You could tell by his gaze that he was tired. Extremely. He was so tired that all he noticed was you.

"Hey, (Y/N)." Luigi greets you as he tiredly walked to the couch.

"Are you okay?" You ask as you sat next to him, with the cat in your lap still.

"Y-Yeah, just-" Luigi was interrupted by the cat rubbing on him and crawling into his lap.

"Um..whose cat is this?" Luigi asks.

You leaned in close to him, placing a peck on his cheek.

"She's yours, Lui."

Luigi's eyes went wide in shock as he gazed at the orange tabby cat.

"R-Really?" Luigi asks in suprisement.

"Surprise!!" You exclaimed as you hugged the side of him.

Luigi chuckled as he started petting his cat. The cat would rub against his hand motions and even rub her up against his chin, as if she had already claimed Luigi as her owner.

"I just noticed you've been down lately and figured maybe having an animal companion might help." You inform him.

Luigi looked at you, his deep blue eyes staring into your (E/C) eyes. He felt so lucky to have you. You cared for him so much and wanted the best for him.

"Thank you." Luigi says as he kisses you.

You kissed back until he pulled away and turned his attention back to his cat.

"Carina. I think that's a perfect name for this one." Luigi comments.

"Yes. I agree." You agreed as you lean in close to Luigi, leaning your head onto his shoulder.

You had a feeling that living your life with Luigi and now Carina was gonna be the best years of your life. You just knew it.

💚

I hope you enjoy it!! Again I'm sorry for accidently changing what you wanted I didn't realize it until I was almost done with it but I hope you enjoy it!!

[moreliketearsofpain]

Old Friends | Mando x Reader

Part 1 of my new series ‘Weakness’

Part 2

Full story will also be on my Wattpad

"I didn't realize asking for a ride was so offensive on this planet!" I roll my eyes, wiping blood from my nose as I crouch behind a large crate.

"Show yourself you thieving SCUM!"

For a moment, the fact that you're currently in the midst of what is essentially a fight to the death slips your mind. You quickly stand from where you hid, turning to to face your opponent with a look of offense branding your face.

"Thief?! Jinshi, pal, don't you think that's a little ha-" your eyes widen and you drop to the floor, the sound of your rival's blaster, firing overhead. "Harsh, I was going to say harsh..."

"Stop hiding you coward!" Jinshi bellows, firing another shot, this time shattering the corner of the crate. You feel the anger building; for once in your life you hadn't been in the wrong, you'd come into town hoping to find passage on a ship but an old "friend" seemed to have other plans.

"Jinshi..you know I don't want things to end like this-" one last attempt at diffusing things without any more violence than what has already occurred . "But you also know that I'll do what I have to do to save my own ass. Always have, always will."

Silence. You don't hear so much as a footstep.

"Jinshi?" you stand slowly, blaster tight in hand as you survey the room. The confusion only lasts for a moment, as two stubby arms latch themselves around your neck from behind. Your weapon hits the floor and your hands shoot up, grabbing tightly onto the limbs that bind you.

"I told you you'd pay for what you did to my family!" Jinshi growls as his grip tightens, arms constricting around your neck like a snake preparing its meal.

"And I told you-" each word catches in your throat as you use all your strength to loosen his hold as much as possible. Even the air struggles to pass through. "I told you, it wasn't me!"

Another blaster shot rings through the room, followed by a heavy thud and suddenly your lungs are flooded once more. Eyes wide, you look around, hands still at your neck.

"Jinshi?" you crouch beside his limp body, feigning a look of sadness before reaching a hand under his collar and snatching a locket off of the corpse.

"Guess you were right...maybe I am a thief." standing now with a disgusted expression, you give your old friend a final word. "Bastard."

"If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have shot." A vaguely familiar voice echoes behind you. "Or maybe I would have...just not him."

"Mando." You turn smoothly, a sarcastic grin emerging as you see the familiar sheen of his beskar.

"I almost feel bad for the guy...I'm sure whatever his reason was for wanting you dead, it was justified." he takes slow steps forward, keeping a solid aim locked on you with his blaster as he closes the gap between you.

"Oh how I love visits with old friends.." you match his pace, stepping forward, not even bothering to get to your weapon.

"What did I tell you about that armor?" his voice is cold and demanding as he holds his stance. Your arms swing out at your sides as you glance down at your armor, the style of which resembles his own.

"Oh come on, don't you think it suits me?" the mischievous smile growing on your lips is just the icing on top of the faux-charm act you're performing.

"Take it off. Or I will." he takes one more step forward. With every inch lost between the two of you, his looming dominance grows. Even with his helmet inhibiting you from seeing the brows that you knew were furrowed in disgust, you could feel his power. It was a force that radiated out from within and showed in the way he held himself, but the intimidation wouldn't set you back.

"Oh please," you glance at his gun and back up. "You wouldn't want to damage the precious armor that you care so much for, now would you?"

"You talk too much."

"Says the man who saved my life."

"I said take it off. Now."

"Or else you will, right?" a final step is taken in his direction. "I'd like to see you try."

"What was that?" you could see his frustration in the way he cocked his head, his grip on the blaster shifting.

"I said..." your voice drops to a slow whisper as you lean closer. "I'd like to see you try..."

You maintain a deep stare at him, a stare so strong he could've sworn you could see right through his helmet. Without breaking your gaze you swiftly grab at his blaster, successfully disarming him and aiming his own weapon back at him, keeping it tight, pressed against his abdomen. Had it been surprise or anger that kept him quiet, you couldn't tell, but you used your new position of power to your advantage.

"Now what do you say...we make a deal?" the tip of the blaster presses more firmly against his body as your voice stays low.

"Unlikely." a simple reply from the man of few words, to which you respond with a feigned look of pleading innocence.

"Oh come on now Mando, I think we could help each other out, don't you? See, you want this armor...I want passage off this sorry excuse for a planet..." you raise your eyebrows, head tilting up. "Can't we come to some sort of agreement?"

There's a tense pause before he replies.

"Not happening." You relax your arm, letting the blaster fall to your side with a half-assed shrug.

"Ah...what a shame.." you turn on your heel, beginning to walk away without another word.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"there's a spike of urgency in his voice as he takes a brisk step towards you. Even quicker than before, you turn around, blaster now held out straight, a firm grip holding perfect aim at his head.

"Ya know...that armor may be tough and all...but there's this nice little spot.." you slowly drop your aim ever so slightly down. "Right at your neck...a fully exposed jugular. Nothing but a bit of fabric to protect it, a fatal shot if made right...and I never miss."

One last pause before finishing your final offer to the hunter before you.

"I'll give you one last chance...you give me passage on your ship, I give you your silly little armor back, everyone wins."

He takes a moment to contemplate, his helmet not doing much to stop you from feeling the daggers his eyes are shooting through you. The pause is broken and he gently raises his hands in surrender, causing you to relax, blaster dropping to your hip.

"Fine." no other words are said, he simply extends his arm, his hand requesting the return of his weapon. But you shake your head, pulling the gun away from his reach.

"You'll get this back," you give a slight wave of the blaster. "Once I'm safely on that ship of yours."

All you hear is a muffled grunt as he pushes past you. Quickly, you grab your own blaster off the floor and follow him as he leads you to the spacecraft.

[snippychicke]

Title: Cats & Ships

Overall Rating: Teen for now? May go into mature at a future date

Trigger warnings: Nothing beyond what's in the live-action series. I mean, Kuro's still manipulative and paranoid. It gets better tho? Slowly? It's a WIP, so I don't fully know yet.

Pairings: Captain Kuro (Klahadore)/Reader; hints of Kaya/Usopp

Summary: It started out as a means to get information as Khaladore. Who would be better to provide information regarding the high seas than Syrup Village’s Harbormaster? Except, for the first time in a very long time, Kuro found himself trusting, and even liking, the young woman he shared tea with every week. 

And then the Straw Hat Pirates arrived and ruined his plans. Except fate decided his story wasn’t done there. 

Nor was yours.

Masterlist here! | Read on Ao3!

The harbormaster of Syrup village had her home office close to the port, which was predictable but also meant it was about the opposite side of the village from the manor. The man formerly known as Captain Kuro hated the walk through the impoverished village, always anticipating the worst. Someone would identify him as the long dead pirate, or perhaps would merely attack Klahdore for being Kaya's butler. 

Yes, he had contingencies upon contingencies, but it didn’t mean he didn't want to use them because someone decided to be an idiot. He was so close to the fruition of this three-year ploy. Just a few more weeks, and he could finally reap the rewards. 

In the meantime, Klahadore endured the weekly trek to the simple one-story building that sat next to the ocean gate. The adobe home had a dozen of half-feral cats relaxing on--or in--  the various crates outside, and even a few on the thatched roof. A few greeted him with soft mews, or by rubbing up against his pant leg, leaving fur he rather didn’t mind as he paused to scratch between their ears. 

Others watched with wary eyes, still unused to him encroaching on their territory. Predators recognized kin, after all. Their instincts were not deadened by domestication, and they seemed to be able to tell he was dangerous despite the soft exterior. 

Inside the home, bookshelves took up any space that could be afforded and were filled to the brim; mainly with ledgers of the harbor’s past, though a few other books were mixed in. Even more cats lounged inside, most having mixed feelings about his presence though a few called for his attention. 

"Well," your familiar voice called out from within the maze of bookcases, soundly faintly amused.  "Either Klahadore has come to visit a few hours early, or I have myself a thief. Or a ghost." 

Despite himself, Klahadore smiled, feeling himself relax as he made his way to your office near the back of the home. It too was filled with books, though most of them much newer then the rest of the building. A large wooden desk sat next to a picture window overlooking the coast, a matching chair turned so you were looking outside where the white sails of the ships looked little more than points of white on the horizon. 

He was more focused on the glimpse of hair he could see over the tall back of the chair, as well as the cat that was looking over the edge, its lone jade-colored eye looking expectantly at him. "I find myself wondering how often you say that when there is no one around?" 

"More than I like to admit. But I blame the ghosties," the tall chair swiveled around, your bright smile becoming the focus of his attention, even as your cat meowed at the sudden change, shifting in your arms to resume silently demanding his attention. “But Kuro doesn’t get excited for anyone else coming to visit, so at least there is that.” 

Kuro. You had named the cat Kuro, citing you had found him the same day news had reached the isle that the famed captain of the Black Cat Pirates had been defeated by the marines. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that. Or your awkward admission you had found the Black Cat Captain rather handsome.

 It had proved useful, though, as part of that attraction unknowingly lingered. It made it all too easy to gain your trust and friendship. 

"How are you today, Klahadore?" You asked, gesturing to the chair across from your desk at the same time you stood--much to Kuro-the-cat's displeasure. The cat flicked his tail irately as you dumped him onto the desk, before stretching and deciding to claim Klahadore’s lap. 

“I’m fair, and yourself?” he asked, watching you enter the small kitchen area to start a kettle to boil as he mindlessly petted the large fluffy cat. 

Usually Klahadore didn't trust anyone to make him food or beverage of any kind--not even his own crew. But after a few years of knowing you, he had allowed you the privilege. 

Especially after you had fussed, going as far as to slap his hand when he had tried to make the tea instead. ‘You work all day serving others. Let me serve you for once.’ 

He did watch you carefully as you prepared the tea and grabbed a tin of pastries from a cupboard. For safety reasons, of course. Not because he particularly enjoyed watching you work or anything, or because it was a rare time for him to be able to appreciate your form without you noticing. You were dressed in layers to fight the cool breeze that was coming from the sea as the seasons changed, your hair carelessly messy as always, a pencil stuck behind your ear where it was likely forgotten. 

As you moved he caught hints of the curves you hid, making him watch even more closely. 

It was merely because he didn’t fully trust you, either. That was all. 

“Honestly, and please don’t repeat this," you spoke after a moment, only slightly breaking his concentration. "But I’m about ready to either strangle several someones or pull my hair out. Possibly both.” 

This was the reason why he came down to your office week after week. You tended to ramble on, divulging information without a second thought. And as the harbormaster of Syrup village and the rest of the Gecko Islands,  you were a wealth of information about the outside world. (It wasn’t because he was able to enjoy a moment of peace away from Kaya, Sham, and Buchi. Or because he truly enjoyed your company. Not at all.) 

“Oh dear, that doesn’t sound good,” he frowned even though internally he felt like smiling. “I hate the idea of your pretty hair being harmed in any way.” 

Kuro did allow a small smile as you blushed deeply, fumbling the tray a little as you glanced back at him. 

“Har-har-har,” you said dryly as you regained your composure and brought the tray back to the desk. “It’s a rat’s nest and we both know it, Klahadore. I am also offended that you don’t think I could strangle anyone. I am still the Harbormaster.” 

He was fairly certain the only reason you of all people were the Harbormaster was because the title had been a part of your family for generations, and the Gecko Islands rarely saw any trouble. Despite that fool Usopp and his stories, Syrup Village was as peaceful as a place could be. 

Granted, he had seen you knock out a drunken marine once with a shipwright's mallet once. Just the memory of it made him smile as you poured him a cup of tea, followed by a serving of cream, having learned his tastes long ago. No sugar, though he did love the small cookies you placed on the platter. 

“Anyways, a merchant ship was attacked between here and the port in Coco Village. The damn pirates did a real number to both crew and the cargo, so we’re going to be short quite a few expectant items and everyone is already at each other’s throats. It’s--” You ran your hands through your hair, wincing as you reached a few knots. “But don’t worry,” you continued after a deep breath and started working on the tangles mindlessly. “I’ll make sure the manor is given its allotment as always. The shipyard is over half the reason we exist, after all. And dues must be paid.” 

A small frown tugged at his lips, as much as he liked the deference (and the knowledge that while he had to continue this charade he did not have to worry about food) but he also knew of your altruism. And for reasons he’d rather not examine, it bothered him that you often went above and beyond for a village that seemed to take your kindness for granted.  

"You are the harbormaster, not the mayor," he stated firmly. "Your duties are to the harbor and her ships. No one else."

You shot him another wry look. "Klahadore, we both the mayor is beyond useless, and no one else gives a fuck about anyone else around here.  Hell, I'd hate to think what would have happened to lil' Kaya if you hadn't been here. Merry is a good man, but a strong one he is not." You sighed, missing the twitch in his face. "The point is, if I don't care, no one will. If I don't figure out a good compromise, the shipyard will dissolve into chaos, followed by the whole town. Maybe even the rest of the isles.  What good is a harbormaster if everyone is at each other's throats?"

"I simply worry," he excused, not able to argue any of your points. After all, it was true. The village wasn't as sugar-sweet as the name implied, and the town officials did little to change that. The only reason the place wasn't overrun by pirates was because the World Government wanted the ships that their shipyard produced. "You try to take care of everyone, yet it seems like no one regards you with the slightest hint of gratitude." 

Your eyes warmed and a smile returned to your lips. "You're too sweet, Klahadore. But enough of my woes--I could complain all day and night after all. How has your luck been with trying to raise a teenager?" 

For a moment, Kuro allowed his facade to drop as he sighed heavily. "About as tiring as one would imagine. I love Miss Kaya dearly, but…"

You laughed faintly before finishing for him. "She's a seventeen year old heiress that's been sheltered all her life." 

He smiled as well, and enjoyed watching your blush return to your cheeks as he fixed his glasses. "Exactly. If her health wasn't in such a poor state, I think exposure to the real world would do her good, but alas, I'd rather have her naive and alive versus… well, the alternative." 

"Very true," you mumbled, eyes still slightly unfocused and that delightful blush slowly traveling further--both down your neck and to the tips of your ears. "You're a good man, Klahadore." 

Klahadore may have been a good man, but Kuro was not. Yet he was pleased by your praises nonetheless. “I do my best.” 

[empires-au-ideas]

Once again... sorry for all the Shelby posting. But she IS my poor little short sighted magical meow meow and I WILL put her in situations <3

Anyway. Withered Witch au my beloved <3

...

A Strange Force

...

Shelby straightened her books on the shelves, making sure they were all in line. Her cauldron was polished clean and all the potions she had prepared were neatly organized into crates.

She was wearing her nicest sweater (so the one least stained with mud) and her green overalls with the dainty embroidery her grandma made as a parting present. She fluffed up the flowers on her hat and tied back her hair in a neat-ish ponytail.

She even went though the effort of scraping away the mud, pulling out the plants that grew on the paths and getting rid of as many of those stupid roots as she could. Which... Shelby admits, she had been putting off for a while.

But Katherine was coming over soon, for her first visit to the Evermoore for a trade deal. Everything had to be PERFECT.

"ShelbyYyYy~"

"She know who we are, Sausage. Stop pretending to be some incomprehensible spirit."

Speaking of...

"Sausage. Gem." Shelby cleared her throat. "I'm... going to be doing a trade deal in a moment here, so if you wouldn't mind... not being around right now?"

"Who's coming over?" Sausage snapped his attention over, clearly excited.

"Better not be that archeologist," Gem mumbled, crossing her arms. "I bet he knew who we were, no thank you."

"Or that grave robber!" Sausage scrunched his nose. "I swear, he looked RIGHT at me-"

"Uhm..." Shelby shuffled her feet. "Just uhm- just..."

Why did her face get all hot? It wasn't embarrassing, to have a trade deal, right? The two ghosts were emporers way back when, they knew how this stuff worked. And they live in her house, have been, possibly months prior to their first appearance. Shelby has nothing to hide from them.

And... why did everything have to be perfect for Katherine? Katherine was really nice and cool and strong she guessed... probably just because she's a princess. Yes, Katherine was a princess with a nation that could squash the Evermoore like a bug. It would be important to impress her.

"Katherine!" Shelby blurted out. "Just- just Princess Katherine. So please don't make me give off a bad impression because it's very important this goes well because she's really strong and could proooobably kill me if she wanted to."

Ah! That must be why Shelby was so nervous. She was scared of Katherine, obviously.

"Ah..." Gem nodded knowingly. "Magic emporer to magic emporer, Shelby, I never got used to dealing with royalty. It doesn't get better."

Sausage blinked back, shaking his head. "Uh, hello, Gem? I was a king? And one of your closest alliances?!"

Gem looked him up and down. "My point still stands. So Shelby, if you need me to set up some spells, scare the princess off-"

"What?!" Shelby blanched. "No no no no, it's just a trade! I just need to impress her!"

... if Shelby was scared of her, why WOULDN'T she want Gem to scare Katherine off?

Whatever.

"Just..." Shelby took a deep breath. "Don't do anything stupid? Please?"

Gem looked over at Sausage again.

"Hey!" Sausage put on the meanest face he could... which wasn't that much. Despite what the books said, Shelby could NEVER see this guy being the servant of a terrifying demon.

"I literally said nothing." Gem crossed her arms, turning away.

"You both had what, a thousand years to make ammends and apologize?!" Shelby touched her temples. "How do you still SQUABBLE this much?!"

"Wrong," Gem rolled her eyes. "We had a thousand years to get SICK of eachother. "Why couldn't I have been stuck in the material plane with Scott? At least I could have a civil discussion about magic with HIM without it turning into a screaming match. Or Katherine. Or Shrub. Or Pix. Lizzie."

"Joey?" Sausage raised his eyebrows.

Gem paused. "Okay, no. I wouldn't go THAT far."

Shelby yelped as someone knocked the door. "Oh my goodness, she's here!"

Shelby rushed over to the door, turning around one more to shoo the ghosts off.

Sausage shook his head. "Man, this is the thanks we get for the free tutoring?

The ghosts disappeared, but Shelby knew better than to think they were gone. She brushed off her green overalls and adjusted her hat one more time before opening the door.

"Katherine!" Shelby cringed a little as her voice slightly cracked. She cleared her throat, trying to play it off. "How are you?"

Katherine was so cool. She always had the best outfit for the occasion. In the muddy and chilly Evermoore, she wore a pinkish purple peacoat and a brimmed hat with a bow. "Shelby! Here, I've got that string you ordered."

"Nice!" Shelby gave a thumbs up. Was that weird? That felt weird. "Here, you can come upstairs with me and take your choice of potion-"

A book page flipped.

"What was that?" Katherine leaned over to look behind Shelby.

The witch also spun around, seeing Sausage raise an eyebrow as he flipped through her potions manual. Katherine didn't seem to see him at least, but she could definetly see and hear the book's movement.

"Just a draft! Weird... fog draft!" Shelby laughed, rushing over to her desk to slam down the page Sausage had flipped to so he couldn't interact with it. "Yeah, if you'll come with me I-"

Shelby looked down to close the book to take upstairs with her when she froze. Sausage had opened up the book to the page on love potions.

She turned bright red. Why was she bright red?! Shelby quickly closed the book, hoping Katherine didn't see.

"Hey, are you okay?" Katherine crossed her arms. "You don't look so good."

"Just..." quick quick quick- "I get small allergies to the potions sometimes! Yeah, uhm... me and spider eyes don't mix well, ha."

"I TOLD you!"

Shelby glanced past Katherine to see Sausage floating circles around Gem, who surprisingly looked quite bemused herself. "Okay, I totally see it now... you know what they remind me of? Like Scott and Jimmy before Scott actually made a move."

Sausage barked a laugh. "Oh MAN does that bring me back!"

The two faded out and Shelby was left simmering and confused. Through their talks she had learned that there was a near identical ruler from their time for all of the empires now (except False? And Oli? She really needed to get around to asking about that...), but she had yet to actually write down who was who and what goes where.

"Shelby?"

The witch spun around. Right! Right. "I uhm... yes?"

"Which potions are strength again?" Katherine went over to a crate, picking up bottles and rotating them so they reflected in the candle light. "I told you I'm gonna be fighting over by the Ancient Capitol tonight, you know."

"Really?!" Shelby cleared her throat, not intending her voice to be that high. Or to crack that much. "That's uh- that's cool! Here, strength are the red ones."

A minute or two went by without anything jurassic happening. Shelby helped Katherine load the potions into her bag, even though the princess didn't really need that much help.

"And you're sure this is gonna work?" There, Sausage. From somewhere outside.

"Yes, yes." Gem, sounding as done as ever. "I've done this one a million times before. I did it at Joel and Lizzie's wedding, for crying out loud! Even with your grimy blood sheep magic in the way."

"Hey!"

"Well!" Shelby clapped her hands together, leaning towards Katherine on her tip toes. She needed to get Katherine OUT OF HERE before these ghosts embarrassed her any more. "Thank you so much for making a trade with me, Katherine! I'll see you-"

"Aw," Katherine's smile fell. Only by a little, but for whatever reason it made Shelby feel like she had committed the ultimate act of betrayal. "You aren't gonna show me around the Evermoore?"

"It's..." Shelby looked outside, and was for the first time ever grateful the sun was going down. "It's gonna get dark soon, and not even YOU should brave the Evermoore alone at night. You know? Here, I'll-"

A record scratched. Music started playing. But it wasn't like the weird eery music the ghosts usually played. It sounded like it was coming from all around them.

And it was... some kind of waltz, heavy with strings and wind instruments, not a lot of percussion. Which, if Shelby had to guess (based on a school project from what, five years ago) would make that a song from the long fallen Ocean Empire, dating it roughly 1000 years ago. Based on the counts and the tempo, it was... matrimonial.

Huh. Gem was right, she really had potential for history.

Speaking of Gem, and Sausage, Shelby was going to DOUBLE MURDER THEM.

"This..." Katherine tilted her head, listening to the music for another second before continuing. "Huh. I don't usually like these songs, but this one is quite pleasant! Is this a spell, Shelby?"

Shelby was going to melt away and die. "Uhm I- well... yes! It's my... it reminds me to make sure I don't have any potions left on the stand."

"Do you dance?"

Sausage's laugh could be heard from inside the room, but Shelby couldn't make herself glare to try and find him through the blush.

Why did that make her blush so hard?!

"Uhm, well I uhm- the-" Shelby took a breath. "No, no not really. Just like lame school dance stuff you know..."

Katherine groaned. "Oh gosh tell me about it, I have to go to all these prissy galas and balls... it's been years since I started going to them and I STILL cannot do any of the dances."

"Yeah at the dances I was always just sort of-" Shelby did a short little awkward dance, smiling when Katherine starts to giggle. She did that, she made Katherine giggle, she was doing such a good job. "You know?"

"Oh that looks MUCH more fun than a boring old waltz-" Katherine copied the move Shelby did. She laughed again, doing the dance with a bit more confidence, stylized. "Come on, dance with me!"

Shelby laughed, awkwardly doing the little dance with Katherine at first, but getting more comfortable as she realized Katherine was not taking it seriously one bit. They both loosened up and danced until the record scratched out, Shelby had kind of forgotten it was playing- and who might have started playing it- until Katherine stopped dancing.

Katherine and Shelby just danced together- kind of- to a marriage song.

Shelby stutters to a stop as soon as soon as the song is over, once again: she was going to DOUBLE KILL Sausage and Gem.

As Shelby's face goes back to a furious red, Sausage laughs again, and she SWEARS she heard Gem's snicker.

"Aw, well. That was fun." Katherine lifted her bag of potions with one arm effortlessly. "And Shelby..."

Katherine slowly looked around the room, before her eyes resting on Shelby, looking her up and down. Shelby felt her skin tingle at her gaze, she felt like she was going to bubble over word vomit. "S- Something wrong, Katherine?"

"No offense..." Katherine gave her a sympathetic smile. "You look like a mess... I think I know what's going on."

Shelby ALSO thinks she knows what's going on. Her heart stops, she was too obvious... she wasn't even doing anything she didn't even realize what she was doing or why she was acting like that... "Listen, I'm-"

"Ghosts are tough, but I know how-"

"What?!" Shelby's eyes went wide. She maybe looked a bit too relieved that Katherine didn't know about-... what she was thinking about.

"You look tired, your eyes flicker," Katherine listed off her evidence, keeping on that warm pitying smile the whole time, to her credit. "Books move on their own, MUSIC plays randomly... you even told me yourself I shouldn't go alone through this place. You've got ghosts!"

Shelby blinked at Katherine for... a long moment. The two ghosts stand behind her, Gem looking rather impressed and Sausage rather indignant. "I... am having a bit of a ghost problem, yes."

Sausage threw his hands in the air, grumbling. Gem face palmed.

"I see..." Katgerine looked out yhe windows, before leaning in to whisper, as well as pulling Shelby down to her level to be closer. That did NOT make Shelby's heart stutter, no siree. "Well... I have a little side job I do for the empires... I'm a monster hunter, and I'm sure I could get rid of your little ghost problem if you wanted."

Shelby smiled, big and awkward, not... really sure what to say? What could she?! "Oh don't bother they're from the ancient empires and help me with my magic 101 homework" like what?! And Katherine looks so eager to help...

Not to mention if Shelby DID say that... she'd need to explain WHY she needed tutoring...

"Wow, really?!" Shelby laughed, mainly from the nerves. She managed to give it a relieved air, she's really good at lying on the fly. "That'd be so helpful! How can I repay you?"

"Oh... you're a witch, right?" Katherine looked off to the side, scratching her arm.

"Yes...?" Shelby ignored how that also felt like a lie.

"I've- no, my KINGDOM has this curse, right?" Katherine explained glumly. What Shelby wouldn't DO to get that tone out of her voice. "And now that my parents are retired they- and my kingdom- expect me to cure the land. But I'm not sure how... but! You're the Great Witch Shelby! If you could come over to Glimmer Grove sometime and take a look-"

"Sure!" Shelby smiled, no she did not squeal that out. "I'd love- or, it'd be my pleasure! I'll do some research and... thank you!"

Of course Shelby did not want to get rid of the ghosts, but she did now have two reasons to be around Katherine. It was honestly annoying how much that idea made her grin like a fool.

The ghosts were silent as the emperors bid eachother bye, Shelby sighing dreamily as she leaned against the door after Katherine left.

This moment was ruined by Gem appearing in front of her, arms crossed and foot tapping. Man, she REALLY DID look like her teachers back home. "So now you're letting a ghost hunter in the Evermoore because she's your girlfriend?"

Shelby blanched. "Katherine is NOT my-"

"Not YeEeEeEet~" Sausage teased, forgetting he was in a bit of peril with a ghost hunter on their case now to torment Shelby's crush. Shelby didn't have any siblings, but this is what she thinks her peers at the Academy were talking about when they complained about their younger brothers and sisters.

Shelby hid her face in her hat. "Shut up, both of you! Gosh... now I've got to search for curse cures-"

Gem groaned. "PLEASE use the correct terminology-"

"AND for ghost PROTECTION spells, who would even write about those-" Shelby ignored her and started searching the books on her shelves.

Gem looked over her shoulder, helping her look, but still engaging in the conversation. "Just make sure you tell us before you start like. Kissing or something."

"Gem!" Shelby hissed, turning red again, she struggled to take five books (unlike Katherine, who could probably carry a million books) to her desk. "Can we PLEASE drop it?!"

"Nope!" Sausage piped in. He began to sing. "Shelby and Katherine sittin in a tree~"

Shelby glared down at her books. Maybe she WOULDNT look for those protection spells.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1147: Start of a New Vacation (SSBU X Wario Ware)

11:34 a.m. on Diamond City's La Glorious Cruise Boat........

Penny: WHAT!?

9-Volt: (Crosses his Arms) Yeah, you heard me.

Penny: (Glaring Down at 9-Volt with her Hands on Both her Hips) What I'm hearing is a heavy amount of bias and hoohaahs! What the heck makes you think Goku would stand chance against Saitama in an on-one-on match!?

9-Volt: Years of challenging, disciplinary training experience, incredibly durability and speed stats, has multi powerful techniques in his disposal, the guy even faced plenty of monsters, planet busters and literal GODS in the runtime of the series! He's easily one of the strongest fighters in the entire universe!

Penny: Strongest my foot! He's not even the Top 10 strongest in his own series! Need I remind you the time he lost to an ACTUAL god once? And some of the wins we DID achieved were thanks to pure luck and close clutches!

9-Volt: (Starts Glaring Back at Penny) At least he gave it his all in those fights! I don't see Baldy-McTwo Fists out there fighting any 9f the foes I just mentioned!

Penny: On the contrary, Point Dexter, not only has Saitama faced plenty of monsters, supernatural beings, and other heroes with planet busting feats, but he also managed to blow up Jupiter into figurines with just one sneeze.

9-Volt: No way he can do thar when Goku could easily do that with a single Kamehame wave!

Penny: Yeah, well look it up, genius! It's a certified fact.

9-Volt: Nuh-uh!

Penny: Yeah-huh!

9-Volt: Nuh-uh!

Penny: Yeah-huh!

Ashley: (Sighs While Watching 9-Volt and Penny Arguing with One Another and Sitting Next to her Boyfriend in the Background) The one time I get to enjoy my peace and relaxation on this trip and this is what I'm welcomed to.....

Lucas: (Turns to Ashley) Have they always get into these heated debates?

Ashley: More or less. One time they spent two hours and a half debating over a duck/rabbit picture. (Shows Lucas a Picture of a Duck/Rabbit Sketch on her Phone) See?

Lucas: Awww~ It look so cute~ (Smiles Sheepishly) Can't tell which one it really is though......

Ashley: No one here has a clue either. But that's neither here nor there. (Lay her Head onto Lucas' Shoulder) How are you enjoying the trip so far?

Lucas: (Smiles Brightly) I'm enjoying it a lot so far! The temperature feels nice out, the ocean looks so shiny and beautiful, I don't even think I remember the last time I rode on a boat before, this is great!~

Ashley: (Giggles Softly) I'm glad to hear it!~ I have no doubt that this week will be even more spectacular from here.

Lucas: (Nodded in Agreement) Yeah, neither do I. You think everyone back home will be okay without us?

Ashley: (Shrugs) I wouldn't worry too much about them personally. Their chaotic mannerisms are more than enough to keep them busy for a week at least.

Lucas: (Giggles a Bit) I wouldn't exactly say they're completely chaotic, but I will miss them dearly. I hope I have enough to buy them all souvenir gifts....

Ashley: (Hugs Lucas While Pouting at Him a Little) We'll worry about our vaction comes to it's closing point, mister~ You deserve to have as much fun and relaxation as the rest of us here.

Lucas: I know. (Happily Hugs his Girlfriend Back) Thank you.

Ashley: (Gives Lucas a Peck on the Cheek Before Smiling Back) You're welcome.

Wario: (In the Distance OI! Lovebirds! Quit having a relaxing hug fest and get over here! Team meeting's about to start!

Ashley: (Groans in Annoyance While Getting Up From her Seat Along with Lucas) He's holding a team meeting in the middle our time off?

Lucas: (Smiles Sheepishly) Let's see what he wants from us first. (Gently Grabs Hold of Ashley's Hand) We can go everything ypu want to do afterwards if you want.

Ashley: Sure. (Makes her Way to Wario and the Others with Lucas Right Next to Her) It probably won't be much though.

Wario: (Stands on Top of a Crate as He Sees Everyone of his Colleagues Arriving Towards his Area) Alright, losers, gather around and shut up! Before this little vacation adventure of ours starts, we need to break a few ground rules.

Dribble: (Raises an Eyebrow in Confusion) Ground rules?

Spitz: You serious, man?

Wario: Yes, MAN! I am. I'm your boss, I paid for the expenses, everything I say goes, which is exactly Rule #1. #2: Never ask me to buy you anything! You have money in your own pockets, use it. #3: There's a picture of a map made in the back of your brochures, so keep them close to you at all times. If any of you manage get yourselves lost by the time we head back home and are late get back on that cruise ship before then, sucks to be you.

5-Volt: (Gives Wario a Stern, Motherly Glare) If ANYONE gets lost, we band together to find them no matter how long it takes. No gets left behind on this trip.

Everyone: Yeah!

Wario: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fine! We'll set up a search party if that ever happens, moving on! #4: Any hidden treasure I potentially stumble upon along the way, will be mines in advance.

Mona: Always finding treasure, eh Wario?

Wario: Been a Treasure Hunter since day one, it's what I do. And the Fifth and Final Rule for the Day: Until this vacation this done and over with, none of you loser bother me. (Points at Lucas) That goes double for you, Sunflower boy.

Lucas: (Salutes to Wario) Yes sir, Mr. Wario sir! (Lowers hid Posture Down and Forms a Bit of a Nervous Smile on his Face) A-Also I just wanted to say how thankful I am for letting me join you guys this time around. I-I promise not to be a bother to you guys going forward....

Wario: Yeah, you better not, twerp! I didn't get my arm broken and have to pay extra on this trip JUST to deal with a snot-nose crybaby like you all day-

Wario........

The Fatman starts shivering in fear as he turns to see all of his co-workers giving him dark, soul piercing glares at his direction (with Ashley's hair turned white and 5-Volt turned into her demonic persona, slowly pounding her fist onto her palm)

Wario: Uh- ('Clears Throat') F-Forget everything I said just now. Glad to have you on board.

18-Volt: Look!

The gang turns to see that they've finally reached their destination, Caresaway Island.

Everyone: Hey, we're here!~

Wario: Finally!(Jumps Put of the Boat First) Outta the way, chumps, I'm going first! (Rushes Over to the Island's Staff)

Staff: (Happily Greets Wario) Greetings! Welcome to the island. Please take these precious stones as a hello gift.

Wario: (Smiles Brightly as the Images of Diamonds Appears on Both his Eyes) Ohhh! Diamonds!? Gimme, Gimme!!

Staff: (Presents Two Sets of Somewhat Familiar Looking Stones Along with Two of his Co-Workers) Actually, they're Form Stones! Moving around with these in your hands could bring you good luck.

Wario snatches one of the Move Stones from out of the wooden plate and examines both of them up close one by one before angrily chucking them.

Wario: Stupid rocks! I don't want 'em!!

Both of the rocks manages to hit the top of a parrot's head, causing it to screech in pain and flies away while indirectly bumping one of the tourists and making her drop her drink to the ground. It wasn't long for a blue elephant to slip on the spilled drink and uses his trunk to grab onto a flower coded sign before flipping himself over and accidentally kicking Wario hard enough to send him flying and crash down towards a faraway forest.

5-Volt: (Pinches the Bridge of her Nose While Sighing) Of all the lousy.....(Starts Bowing at Everyone Present in the Entrance) We are so sorry about all that, everyone.

Staff: (Smiles Sheepishly) I...take it you all know are acquainted with man in some way.

Ashley: Unfortunately.

Mona: (Smiles Sheepishly as Well) He's out boss from back home.

Penny: (Rolls her Eyes) Just as rude and impatient as he always is......

While everyone else agreeing to that motion, Lucas looks down at Move Stones and picks both of them up from the ground.

Lucas: So.....These Move Stones.....(Turns to Island's Staff) Do they really bring you good luck charm, sir?

Staff: (Happily Nodded) That's right! All you have to do is move around attracted to the grip of your hands and you'll surely be granted with luck in due time.

Ashley: (Lools Down at the Spare Move Stones in Front of Her) Hm.....Can't say I care too much about anything luck related. But given we're in vacation with Wario of all people....(Picks Both of the Stone Up From the Plate) I suppose it wouldn't hurt to put to good use eventually.

Penny: Ooh I'll take one too!~ (Happily Takes the Last Pair of Move Stones From the Other Plate) I can already tell by the craftsmanship of these beauties alone that they're research worthy.

9-Volt: (Starts Jumping Up and Raising his Hand Up) Ooh! Ooh! Can I get one too please?

18-Volt: (Raises his Hand Up as Well) And me too!?

The Gang: And us too?

Staff: (Smiles Brightly) Sure! It'll.....take a while to have the stones up and ready for you all though.

5-Volt: (Happily Bows at the Staff Members Once More) Take as much time as you need. It's the least we can do for what happened earlier. (Turns Back to the Gang) Right, everyone?

The Gang: Yeah./Sure!/ I don't mind waiting./ We can wait.

Staff: (Clasps his Hands Together with a Smile of his Own) Thank you all for your understanding. We'll have them out for you shortly. In the meantime, please, enjoy your stay at Caresaway Islaend! (Happily Waves Goodbye to Everyone Before Taking his Leave)

5-Volt: (Happily Waves Back at the Leaving Staff Members Before Taking a Deep Breath) Okay. With all of that out of the way. (Places her Hands on Both her Hips) I say we're all ready to get this vaction up and started!~ Oh and Lucas?

Lucas: (Looks Up at 5-Volt) Yes, ma'am?

5-Volt: (Gives Lucas a Sincere Motherly Smile) We're very happy to have you here with us, as part of our crew even. Please don't let whatever Wario says make you think differently about that or about yourself, okay?

Ashley: (Hugs Lucas' Arm) That goes double from me too, dear!

Penny: (Happily Chimes in) And from me too!~

The Gang: (Chimes in as Well) And from us too!!~

Lucas: (Giggles Ticklishly by all Hugs He's Receiving) Okay, okay!~ I promise not to think any of that get to me. (Smiles Brightly) Thank you all so much!~ (Eyes Suddenly Starts to Widened) But wait, W-What about Wario!? Is he gonna be okay-

WAHAHAHA!

The gang looks up to see Wario flying in the skies while riding on a poor parrot's back and holding two of the Move Stones.

Wario: These rocks rock! Get it. WAHAHAHAHA! AAHAHAHAHA!

5-Volt: He'll be fine. This IS Wario after all. But seriously this time....(Raise her Fist Up in the Air) Let this one week vacation adventure begin!

Everyone: (Raises Their Fist Up as Well While Cheering in Rejoice) YEAH!~

@cyber-wildcat

@albion-93

@caleb13frede

@bestpony666

[pacificwaternymph]

"You're in a suspiciously good mood," a voice commented from behind him. Finn jumped and whipped around, shoulders already bunched to his ears and claws flexed. He relaxed when he saw it was only Joanna and Inigo, arm in arm, and he scowled at the latter.

"Am I not allowed to be happy?" it asked, folding its arms over its chest and raising an eyebrow. It glanced over its shoulder, out at the ship that was slowly coming into the port, before returning its attention to the other pirates.

"Oh no, of course," Inigo said blithely, which did not at all align with the gleam in his eyes. "It's just so unusual to see you looking so-"

Joanna smacked Inigo's chest gently. "Stop that," she scolded, but there was no real reproach to her voice. Nor had there been any true distaste in Inigo's voice. It was weird. He had been... unusually nice to Finn ever since the incident with Dante. Finn was still deciding if he liked it or not.

It turned halfway back around to watch the ship, but kept its friend in its periphery. Joanna unhooked her arms from around Inigo's and approached it, placing a hand on its shoulder.

"Inigo is right, though. You seem cheerful." She followed his gaze out to sea, and slid her eyes back to him knowingly. "Are you waiting for someone on that ship?"

Finn smiled back at her, reaching up and squeezing her hand in return. It wondered if it was always that easy to read, or if this was something uniquely Jo."Yeah," it admitted. "An old friend of mine."

Joanna eyed the ship, tilting her head to the side. "You've probably still got over half an hour before it docks," she noted.

"I know," Finn admitted. "But... I haven't seen them in a long time. I couldn't focus. So I thought I'd just... wait here for them."

"We'll wait with you," Inigo chimed. Both Joanna and Finn turned to look at him, matching expressions of surprise on their faces. "You know... just in case." He didn't specify. He didn't need to.

Finn didn't protest, a small part of him oddly relieved. It had been a long week of looking over his shoulder, always searching for a sign that someone was following him, waiting to attack. Of waiting for retribution that never seemed to come. He'd received news that Dante had left on some hunt for treasure two days ago, which hopefully meant a few weeks of peace. But the Achuarts were powerful. They had minions everywhere. He could never be too certain.

It nodded its gratitude to Inigo, while Joanna looked between the two of them, her brow furrowed. She likely realized she was being left out of something, but she didn't say anything about it. Finn tried not to feel guilty.

He turned to her instead. "Is that alright with you?"

She blinked, and the crease in her forehead smoothed out. "Of course," she agreed, her smile returning to her easily. "We don't have anywhere to be this morning."

She settled herself onto a crate next to the two of them, and patted the spot beside her. Finneas sat down next to her, and Inigo sat on the dock, feet dangling over the edge.

The time passed quicker with the three of them. Talking to Jo was always so... easy, in a way it never was with most other people. Even with Inigo there, amicably adding his own comments from time to time, the atmosphere felt comfortable. Almost… well, not safe, but as close to it as Finn was ever going to get.

Eventually, the ship pulled into the dockspace, and the ramp was lowered onto the wooden planks. Finn shot to its feet so quickly it nearly knocked over Jo, and rushed to the bottom of the ramp, eagerly standing on its toes to try and catch a glimpse of their friend on board.

For a few moments, no one appeared. Finn's tail twitched in impatience, one foot tapping on the deck. Jo came up behind him at a more leisurely pace, linking her arms with his and offering him a grin. Her skirts pressed up against Finn's legs.

Then, a human with short hair barreled down the ramp.

"Finneas!" she called, laughing breathlessly as she skidded to a stop in front of the two pirates. Finn let go of Joanna to clasp its friend's hand.

"Adal!" Finn returned, grinning from ear to ear.

"Long time no see!" Adalwulff said, reaching out to ruffle its hair. It batted their hand away, dancing out of their reach, but it was laughing. "How've you been, man?"

Finn shrugged. "About as good as I can be." Which was the truth, if not a little... misleading. Adal didn't need to know about the incident with Dante. He'd have his hands full as it was trying to catch up on everything he'd missed while he was away. It was more than usual, with everything going on at the purple island.

"Glad to hear it!" Adal replied. They glanced behind him, locking eyes with Jo. For a moment, surprise flickered across their face. Finn looked over his shoulder and snorted at Inigo's bewildered expression, watching at a distance. Adalwulff recovered quickly, and let go of Finn to approach Joanna. "And who's this lovely lady?"

Finn cleared its throat. "Ah, right," it turned to Jo and gestured to Adal. "Joanna, this is Captain Adalwulff." Recognition flashed through Jo's gaze, and she smiled pleasantly. Finn looked over at Adal. "Adal, this is Joanna. She's… a friend."

Adal's eyes blew wide. "Friend?" she asked incredulously. "You have friends now?"

"Oh shut up" Finn tried to punch Adalwulff in the arm. Adal just laughed and dodged, crossing the little distance left between them and Jo. They took Joanna's hand and raised it to their lips, kissing her knuckles gently.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, madam," he said, though the look he shot Finn told it that he would demand a full explanation from it later. Finn just shrugged again, not looking forward to that.

"The pleasure is all mine, Captain," Joanna replied, laughing a little. "It's good to finally meet you in person. Finneas speaks highly of you."

"Hold up, you've heard of this guy?" Inigo butted in, coming up behind Jo and slipping his arms arms around her waist. Jo looked back at him, pressed a quick kiss to his lips and rolled her eyes fondly.

"Of course," she looked back at Adal. "She and Finn write letters to one another."

"And who's this?" Adal asked, gesturing to Inigo. Finn gave them a flat look.

"Inigo. He's Jo's."

Adal snorted. "Right," he said, as though he completely understood. The look on his face said that he did not, in fact, understand. "Nice to meet you, man." Inigo nodded. Adal turned back to Finn. "Wanna grab a drink? I still have to figure out what I've missed. The docks seem more... deserted than usual."

Finn glanced back at Adal's ship. "Don't you need to unload everything?"

She shrugged. "The crew can handle it. It's nothing urgent." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "So whaddya say, wanna get out of here?"

“Yeah, of course.” Adalwulff grinned and knocked their shoulders together, tugging its hand and dragging it towards the town square. Finn dug its heels in for a moment, casting a glance back over its shoulder. “You two coming?”

He could practically feel Adalwulff’s shocked gaze on the back of his head. He ignored them, keeping his eyes on his other friends. Jo and Inigo shared a look with one another, before Jo smiled.

“We’ll let you two catch up,” she said. “Maybe later tonight, though.”

“You sure?” it pressed, still not moving. Adal’s eyebrows had probably climbed past his hairline at this point.

Jo shook her head, an exasperatedly fond smile on her face. “Yes, I’m sure.” She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Now go have fun. And try not to drink yourself under the table while I’m not there.”

Finn grinned, tossed a quick “No promises!” over his shoulder, and turned around, starting off for the nearest tavern himself. Adalwulff remained where she was for a few seconds, stunned, before she blinked and rushed to catch up with him.

“Okay,” they said, “you have got to tell me where you found her.” Finn laughed and smiled mysteriously. Adal waited another brief moment, and then when it gave no explanation, began to recount their latest battle for glorious vengeance.

Just like old times

-

Captain Adalwulff and Finneas belong to @finnified. Here you go Finn haha, hope I got their dynamic right.