#there are many other ships i like but these are the ones that are rotating in my mind at all times

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Nightmare ships  

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

“Most terrifying ship I ever seen?”

Mordray repeated the question as he took a thoughtful bite of his xala and pondered the question.

“I’d have to say a Hive Node ship.”

Lithinio scoffed. “When the seven hells have you ever seen a Node ship?”

“I watched a documentary on it just last rotation.” Mordray countered rather defensively. “And having watched it I have to say I’m glad I never saw one in person since they eat entire ships whole.”

Ninten sighed and rubbed the ridges of his face. “Let me change the question then to “What is the most terrifying ship you have ever seen IN PERSON.””

Mordary took another bite as he took in the updated question while Lithinio stepped in with their own answer.

“I once saw a Dru Hunter Class while part of a convoy escort mission.” He took a sip of his drink and ran his hands through the air as if tracing the vessel.

“From bow to stern it was covered in spikes and upon each spike was a corpse. It was like a ship of the dead come to collect its toll of the living.”

“I heard the stories about those.” Ninten nodded. “Doesn’t matter if you were a victim, an enemy, or just some bad luck bastard in the wrong place at the wrong time; they’d spike you just the same. Where’d you see it?”

“The Dinar Campaign,” Lithinio replied, “they couldn’t beat our warriors on the ground so they’d send out small raiding space parties to hammer the transports and supply ships before ever reaching their worlds.”

“Lost a lot of good lads that war.”

The trio of crewmen turned to see the speaker at the table opposite them had turned around. They wore the uniform of an engineer but had several markings of honorary navy marine, honorary gunner, and even one for honorary helmsman. This could be none other than the legendary Midar Nus, the most famous crewman on the ship.

“Apologies for intruding,” Midar said sheepishly, “I was overhearing your conversation and it drew up some memories.”

‘You are more than welcome to join us sir.” Ninten said as his two comrades nodded and made room at their table for Midar to join. He smiled and took the offer, changing tables and nestling himself down in the now free space.

“No need for that protocol with me lad,” Midar spoke with a wintery grin as he eyed Ninten, “especially since you technically outrank me.”

“Experience counts for more than bars, sir.” Ninten replied without thinking.

Midar was taken aback by the boldness and for a moment Ninten thought he had overstepped himself. Instead, Midar let out a deep booming laugh and patted him on the back as Lithinio and Mordray let out a sigh of relief.

“We could have used a dozen more of you during that scuffle with the Dru; would have saved a lot of my friends.”

Ninten took the compliment and tried to redirect the conversation before he said something to ruin his now good standing with a living legend.

“What about you then? What’s the scariest ship you’ve ever seen?”

The trio listened in half expecting him to say something heroic like “I’ve never seen a ship worth being afraid of” or “I once thought I saw one, but it was really my mate’s in-law”. Instead, the old sailor replied without even pausing to think.

“The ones who piloted them don’t have a name for it officially; only a name they had given to them by a creature of their dark past.”

“Whose they?” Mordray asked as Lithinio smacked him for interrupting the answer.

“Humans crewed the things, though it’s been a thankful many years since I last encountered one of those damnable vessels.”

He leaned in close and slowly cast a frightful gaze across the three of his listeners.

“They called them “Frankenstein” ships.”

None of the three said a thing, partly because none of the three had any idea what that word meant. Midar saw this and further explained.

“There’s a story amongst humans about a human named “Dr. Victor Frankenstein”, and they were so focused on circumventing death itself that they began performing horrific experiments on the living and the dead.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ninten asked “How can you perform horrific experiments if the subject is dead?”

Midar shrugged. “Story goes the mad doctor took the chopped up pieces of several dead humans, sewed them together, and then brought the creature to life.” 

“Putting aside the continued depraved and discouraging nature of humanity,” Lithinio chimed in, “what does this have to do with their ship design?”

“Because,” Midar continued, “like their mad doctor humans have an infuriating habit carving up the parts from other ships and adding those parts to their own.”

He leaned back into his chair as he recounted his first experience. “The first time I found myself up against one of those ships was in the Delta Cluster. We just fought of a border incursion and were tasked with protecting the wreckage while we sifted for survivors.”

“We just finish a patrol when we got a strange energy signature return near the edge of the wreckage. So we went to investigate it and there we found a human ship the size of a frigate slowly drifting through the debris field using a variety of arms to grab bits and pieces of ships.”

“The captain ordered a scan of the ship and the returns were a confusing mishmash of technological parts.”

“A Thorian engine block, a Juriet power core, a Nexium stabilizer…” he said listing out a surprisingly long list of ship parts from different species.

“None of those parts are designed to work with other tech.” Mordray commented. He would know as he was part of the engineering crew and well trained in ship maintenance. “The Juriet power core alone would generate far too much power for a ship that size; dangerously so much that using it could trigger a system overload.”

Midar nodded at the crewman’s insight. “Indeed, were it not for the majority of that power also going towards a Feren Gel class shield system. We found that out when we tried to disable their engines and our volley bounced off the thing like oil on water.”

Lithinio let out a whistle in awe while Midar continued.

“After that the thing began to slowly turn to make a run out of system so we drove in hard ready to grab it with our tractor beams. We were just about to make it when a panel at the rear of the ship opened up and a turret protruded out of it.”

“One shot.” Midar remarked as he held up a single taloned finger. “It took one shot at us and shattered our shield, blew out our engines, and triggered a cascading system overload that left us dead in space as they plowed out of system and made a jump.”

Ninten grumbled as he pondered Midar’s words. “Must’ve been a Telkar railgun. It’d run the entire length of a frigate ship, but it’d pack enough of a punch to deal that kinda damage; but the recoil alone would’ve split a ship that size in half.”

“Which we later found out was counter acted by a Wu’l gravity displacement field. They jacked it to max just as the railgun would fire and the counter action would cancel out the recoil.”

“I’m still confused why these things are so scary to you?” Mordray asked with a hint of a mocking tone. “They sound like garbage barges held together with scraps.”

Midar took on an offended expression and straightened up. “They’re terrifying because you never know what you are going up against. Frigate size packing battleship class weaponry, a patrol craft that can launch mini black holes, a cruiser that interwove nanomachine and organic materials that could repair any damage; every and anything was on the table!”

The ships seemed beyond reason and logic but the enthusiasm with which he spoke there was some truth to each description.

Ninten took a sip from his drink and nodded in appreciation. “Only fitting for the species that defies existence to have ships that actively defy the laws of technology.”  

[starsofarda]

Hi, hello, so because of this post I have gotten attached to my random Elven maid who has to sew all of the banners.

So, because I have also been rotating her in my mind like a rotisserie chicken, have some fun facts about her.

Her name is Molinde (Mudriel in Sinda)

She's obviously a Noldo and by Elvish standard she's average. Pretty, but average. She grew up sewing and embroidering, she adores it.

She also follows Feanor and sons out of Valinor when they get exiled, she has not counted on actually starving, so she gets crafty with sewing the sails of the ships.

She eventually gets hired among the others as embroiderer for the Feanorian war banners (bc let's face it, it's Feanor and sons mainly doing that, we will have to wait until the end of the Helcaraxe hike to see more).

She's young and bushy tailed and her faith in the world is still intact. This all will pass by the tenth banner she has to sew, but she's fueled not by law, not by love, not by league of hell, BUT BY SHEER SPITE. A very Noldorian thing to do.

She has had to embroider and sew SO MANY banners one more complex than the others, and she has seen them destroyed, set on fire, torn apart, thrown in the marshes, seized by Morgoth's army. She's fed up.

"Ugh, can't these Elf lords have simpler designs?"

She says, beefing up to the Elf that comes up with these designs.

"One less star is not gonna be noticed!"

"One less star is going to be too close to the Nolofinweans' banners!"

"So WHAT, they are COUSINS!"

And so on. She absolutely knows how to use a battle axe. She has to get revenge on the orcs that set on fire her workshop.

And that's when she says, at the nth request for banners: "Yes, my Lord, I will sew these stars all over, but IF I AM NOT GETTING MY WEIGHT IN GOLD and *Insert Elvish king/prince* as my SPOUSE you are gonna go into battle with barely threaded banners and Morgoth will LAUGH at you all".

She has tried to get married to an unmarried Son of Feanor like that many times, unsuccessfully. She has gotten the gold tho, a meager consolation.

By the Second Age she's in Eregion, basically mothering Celebrimbor and still sewing. It's not war banners (yet), but by then she is known for being That Bitch in her restricted circle of embroiderers.

"Oh no, Lord Annatar, it's fine. By the way, you do look somewhat similar to someone I saw in the First Age, any relation?"

And Eregion gets destroyed and her workshop is once again destroyed. More fuel to her spite. And also she embroiders a huge "FUCK YOU, I TOLD YOU THAT ANNATAR GUY WAS FAMILIAR!"

She does end up in Elrond's Homely House and teaches embroidery to Arwen.

She KNOWS that ""Lindir"" is Maglor. At least one of them survived, that's enough for her.

She sails back to Valinor dragging Lindir/Maglor with her. I reckon that by the Fourth Age all the sons of Feanor are re-embodied. Will she finally get to marry one of them, after all she went through? That's for y'all to decide.

NOTES:

She has had generations of cats. The first one was given to her after the fifth unsuccessful try at marrying a Son of Feanor as a "haha you are going to be alone forever lol" kind of move, but she got attached to the little beast and becamea catlady.

She has embroidered a lot of cat-themed stuff.

Thoughts so far?

[cerealbishh]

"The world's lucky to have you."

[moodyseal]

FAV APOLLO / PJO SHIPS GO 💞

OOOO difficult ask! I'm not usually someone who focuses on ships that much so I don't have many favourites (despite giving the opposite, much more intense impression) but there are some that make me particularly. How should I put this. Unwell

1. Apollo/Hyacinthus! I know that it's usually considered a boring ship because we were effectively shown 1% of what Hyacinthus' real personality might've been (Apollo spends more time thinking about his death than about his life doesn't he), but I'm hopeless over these two. I don't know what it is that's doing this to me

Maybe it's Hyacinthus potentially being much less perfect than what the myths present him as (as in stubborn and flawed, not homicidal and deranged and whatnot. Let's leave that to Commodus). Maybe it's Apollo's constant waiting and mourning over someone who will never really return. Maybe it's the love persevering despite it all. Maybe it's the mystery behind this man being so extraordinary that not only Apollo never forgot about him (to the point of still being reactive over any mention of him, as if the grief were still fresh) but also wished to be turned mortal just so he could die and be with him

Like dude who ARE YOU what's the deal with you how did you and this god tie your souls together so tightly that he's not known true happiness ever since you died

2. Apollo/Commodus. I have no good excuse or elaborate analysis for this one I just love drama and watching things burn to the ground. A flawed man who sees the good in everyone he lays his eyes upon VS a flawed man who hasn't got anything good inside him anymore. The desperate attempt to save someone who cannot be saved. Poetic cinema

(I do like to explore scenarios where these two reconcile though, because I do still believe that there's just the tiniest chance that Commodus might've been redeemed) (🤡)

3. Apollo/Naomi, the only (modern) rrverse relationship of his that we know anything about LMAO

I've been drawn to this ship mostly through fanfics but I do enjoy even what little content we have about them in canon. Between the song Naomi composed and Apollo's digressions about her in TOA they seem to still really care about each other, plus I'm quite convinced that he still watches over her because idk about you but the crowds cheering EXACTLY when the song about him comes on is a pretty obvious sign of a blessing to me

I'm actually still writing a fic about them!! Hopefully it'll see the light of day someday but anyway if I'm willingly writing something about a ship you just know that I'm not normal about it in any way shape or form

[lovewithoutagony]

GUYS STOP. I FINALLY GOT AN IDEA FOR SIMEBARB HALLOWEEN STORY HOLD MY HAND WHILE I WALK YOU THERE

Swan Lake inspired with some unhinged cannibalistic twist + smoking hot vampire love interest mmm

simeon would be the cursed swan (obv) who coincidentally meets a vampire who's looking for prey

just when the vampire thinks he's found a perfect, pretty prey, he's met with a surprise!

I'm making it a freak 4 freak story and how their love does break Simeon's curse but it actually causes more inconvenience to others but their love is twisted like that yk

snippet underneath!

He takes a deep breath in, slowly exhaling while his eyes remain fixed on a graceful figure.

It is quite difficult to discern the details from a vantage point this high, but he is certain in the beauty in how the figure's hair flows, the grace in the person's every move.

The vampire gulps, licks his lips. He finally finds a prey for the night. With his eyes never straying from the elegant silhouette, he moves with the speed of a hawk, and in a blink, he is in the dim alleyway, a few steps away from the figure he admires a second ago.

Silent as a cat, he walks towards the beauty, swiping a singular stem of potted rose from a windowsill.

The mysterious person remains oblivious as the vampire encircles him, only squeaking in surprise when a deep, silvery voice resounds in the night air.

" A fine evening, is it not? May I ask where you are off to, alone, in this beautiful night?" The sentence was spoken with a smile, which falters once the vampire finally sees for himself the face of the human that caught his attention.

Green eyes widened im pleasant surprise.

The face in front of him, is an exquisite concoction of the sharp masculine beauty present in the lines of his jaws and brows, mixed with the delicate, gentle beauty that is in his eyes and lips.

Not to forget the quality in which his long, dark hair shines in the moonlight, ethereal in its glow, and the elegant yet alluring curves of his body which are accentuated by a mesh tied around his waist.

His beautiful blue eyes are widened in shock by the unexpected presence, and his lovely lips parted in tandem, all while the vampire drinks in the enchanting sight with delight.

A hot breath subtly fans the vampire's neck when the beauty exhales.

" Good evening.. Do you need anything, gentle sir?"

The vampire chuckles at the cautious act of the human, silently thinking how useless his defense is when he is wandering alone in the night to begin with.

With a smile as mysterious as the night, he offers the dark red rose to the man, elated in silence as the beauty delicately accepts it.

The man fiddles the stem between his fingers, fixing his eyes on the strangely glowing pair of emerald ones, feeling abashed the longer he stares.

" Has no one warned you not to walk alone under the moon's presence?" He intently watches as the human slightly furrows his brows at the peculiar question,

" And why would anyone warn me so?" He cautiously, trying to be discreet as he possibly can, backs away from the looming figure before his back meets a wall.

The vampire keeps eyeing him, his eyes never straying away from the ocean blue ones, as he approaches the human closer and closer.

" Because, dear beauty.. There are monsters like me lurking in the night to harm pretty things like you," he whispers, and instantly, the beauty finds the creature caging him in his arms against the wall. The vampire takes a whiff of the human's scent, and he gulps.

This human smells so sweet. Divine, even.

" If I'm merciful enough, I would turn you into a vampire and brand you as mine forever... Let's see how my mood is by the end of the night."

The human's eyes widen once more, shaken by the words and the eerie, yet attractive smirk that paints the vampire's lips. Before he knows it, he feels a sharp pain intruding his senses at one side of his neck, and he screams in surprise and pain.

The helpless human is made hyper-aware of all the sensations; his pounding heart, the sharp pain on his neck, how his hot blood is trickling out, the way the vampire laps his neck, the lips kissing the wound from time to time..

He could do nothing as he accepts his fate, powerless to stop the vampire, nor could he hold back his own moans from spilling out.

By the time the creature pulls away, albeit slightly, he takes notice on how the human's head seems to be spinning, how his eyes struggles to focus. The vampire licks his lips in cherish.

" Hmm.. you taste as sweet as you look, beauty,"

Usually, he would drink the blood of his prey until there's nothing left, but there's something about the man caged in his arms that makes him do the opposite of his habits.

" A vampire... Huh?" The beauty huffs, eyes finally focusing on the vampire in front while fresh blood still actively trickles down the graceful curve of his neck.

" I've always wanted to taste one," With a smile all too innocent and alluring, the human lunges forward and take a huge bite out of the vampire's trapezium.

He barely registers the situation until his eyes refocuses on the beautiful face in front of him, now blood soaked as the 'human' chews on a chunk of his own flesh in delight.

The vampire is stunned to silence, only afford to watch the human savour his flesh with both of his eyes closed, humming after he swallows,

" Mmm... A spicy tang to it. I think I quite like it,"

Flashing his sharp fangs and canines to the vampire with a grin.

To be continued..

[darkbluekies]

Dr kry x nurse reader

Like imagine nurse reader was college student wanted to be a nurse to learn some medicine or help people sick and taking care old people

Sea sick

Doctor!yandere OC x nurse!reader

Summary: being the only one to be granted as Dr Kry’s apprentice on board a hospital ship ends in tragedy

Warning: yandere, sinking ships (fictional ship and incident), poisoning, indirect killing, mentions of dead bodies and autopsies, blood, sharp objects

Word count: 8k

A/N: a lot of people hav wanted a story where darling is a nurse and I have tried writing it so many times over a year, but haven't been able yo. So I tried changing location and it seemed to work, so it is not exactly what was asked, but I hope that it is enjoyable anyway!

He stands on the promenade deck, watching out over the harbor, breathing in the fresh air. People carried on stretchers catch his eyes. 

He used to get sea sick during his first weeks out at sea. There was something about how the ship rocked back and forth during the stormy days that made his stomach turn inside out and want to eject the food he had eaten. But now that he's been here for three months, it's barely noticeable. He hasn't thrown up for three weeks. A new record. 

He has grown to like the rocking motion of the sea, but doesn’t care much for the people he shares the ship with. The female nurses try to invite him into their cabins, the male nurses fight over who will be his apprentice and the doctors either watch him with jealousy or ignore him. It’s only for a few more months, until he has saved up enough money. Until everything is over. 

They’ve just picked up a town hall full amount of wounded soldiers and new nurses. Doctor Kry has heard that his new trainee will be among them. He scans the crowd of people walking towards the gangway, trying to guess which one will be his to deal with. He hopes that they are obedient — he has no interest in scolding them — and that they aren’t stupid. 

“Watching the fresh blood?” a voice asks. 

He turns to the side to see one of the other doctors coming out to look at the new herd. Doctor Hart is an asshole, always in everyone’s business. One could almost think that he was getting paid for it. 

“You could say that”, Doctor Kry replies shortly. 

“How many dead, do you think?”

Doctor Kry let his eyes wander over the crowd below. 

“Fifty, maybe”, he says. 

It’s a cruel game, he knows that, to guess how many won’t survive the trip to the mainland. But he doesn’t know how to converse with the other doctors unless he joins in on their sad games. 

Sometimes, he plays with the nurses out on deck. There’s all sorts of games tucked away in boxes, ready to be taken out whenever.

“I heard that your trainee will be among those”, Doctor Hart says and nods down at the group of waiting people. “Who’s the lucky one?”

“I don’t know”, Doctor Kry replies shortly and stops leaning on the railing. “I should go find out.”

He doesn’t wait to hear the reply. He’s not sure where to go for his trainee to find him, but he decides to go to his cabin — if not to be at a static place, then to get away from everyone. Him getting a trainee must be the only hot topic they have. 

He navigates the white naked steel corridors to get to his cabin. It’s hard to believe that this naked ship should be covered with polished oak panels, golden details and expensive paintings. None of that can be afforded to be lost, in case the ship is sunk. 

They have lifeboat drills every morning to make sure that everyone on board knows what to do. Since they rotate staff often, those drills need to be done. They’re boring, but handy. 

The ship is nothing more than an empty shell of what she’s supposed to be, stripped of anything that gives her personality. All that’s left is bare necessities, nothing for pleasure.

He opens his door and walks in. The room is small and only contains a bed and a desk, the walls bare steel. It has a rectangular window overlooking the forecastle and he can’t help but think that he has gotten one of the best cabins on the ship. He knows that doctors, officers — both military and ship — and a handful of passengers, get better cabins than  the wounded or nurses. 

Doctor Kry sits down by the table and opens his notebook to write. He has time to finish two pages before there is a knock on the door. It’s a drastic knock, as if the person on the other side of the door is either nervous or eagerly excited. He stands up, not knowing what to expect as he opens the door. Outside stands a young thing, with their hands clasped in front of them. You take him by surprise. You’re not what he expected — but then again, what had he been expecting?

“Are you Doctor Kry?” you ask. 

“Yes, I am”, he replies. 

“I’m told that I am your apprentice.”

He lets his eyes wander over you. You seem so … small? You’re younger than he had thought, and there’s something naive about you. He can’t help but wonder what events has led you to end up here. 

He realizes that he can’t have you standing out in the corridor forever and steps aside, gesturing for you to come in. You walk past him into the small room and look around. 

“You have a better cabin than I do”, you say with a small — nervous — laugh, as if to bring some kind of humanity into the conversation. It’s as if you want to skip right past the awkward small talk. You grimace. “I have to share a cabin with five others. We only have a small porthole.”

Doctor Kry closes the door. 

“What’s your name?” he asks. 

“Oh, sorry”, you reply quickly, eyes widening with realization. “Y/N.”

Doctor Kry can’t help but tug at the corner of his lips. 

“Are you always this light-headed, Y/N?” he asks.

You look down in embarrassment. 

“No, doctor”, you say. “I am just nervous. I haven’t done anything like this before. Sorry, doctor.”

“Sit down.”

You look around for somewhere to sit and end up on his neatly fixed bed. Doctor Kry sits down on his chair by his desk. You fiddle with your hands in your lap as your eyes follow him. 

“You’re going to be my trainee, which means that you have to listen to me at all times”, Doctor Kry says. “The medical field is a profession that requires precision. One faulty move and someone could die. Is that clear?”

“Yes, doctor.”

“I’m responsible for you, so I don’t want you doing anything stupid, do you get that? No breaking rules, no stupid behavior.”

“Yes, doctor.”

He stretches his neck. 

“This doesn’t have to do with you but I will tell you this anyway, in case it should occur”, he says stiffly. “If any of the other nurses give you any trouble, you’ll come tell me right away, understood?”

“Yes doctor”, you reply. 

“Good. In that case, let's get started. A lot of people have boarded the ship today, and we need to check up on them. You might have thought that you’d get a day to settle in, but that’s not how we do things here. On board, things can happen at any hour of the day and you need to be prepared.”

You nod. 

“Good”, he says, pleased. “Let’s go then, we have work to do.”

When he stands, so do you. He walks towards the door and so do you. You follow him through the corridors like a puppy, in silence. You don’t say anything. Maybe this will work for him after all?

You come out to the main staircase, a pathetic excuse of what it should be, and walk up a flight of stairs. What should be the lounge is now an operating theater and bedroom to wounded soldiers. He can hear you draw a breath as you walk in. The smell must hit you, he guesses, the smell of pain and blood. 

You follow him around the open room as he talks to different men and women who have all kinds of painful injuries and sickness symptoms. You’re quiet behind him. When he’s done with his round, he takes you out onto the promenade to get you some fresh air. You hold onto the wooden railing. 

“That can be unpleasant”, he says, leaning onto the railing beside you with his elbows. “Especially if it is one's first time. You’ll get used to it.”

“I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to expect”, you reply. “I knew that it would be … bad … I just didn’t know what type. Tomorrow will be better. Now I know what to expect.”

You give him a small smile. Don’t give up on me yet, I will prove myself to you. You are weirdly cute. 

“Why are you here if you lack so much experience?” he asks.

“Good question”, you sigh. “Money problems, I suppose. My family has it rough.”

“How long will you be here?”

“A few months, until I've saved enough money.”

Doctor Kry nods. “Same here.”

“Is life on board tiresome?” you wonder. “What do you do out on sea?”

“Some play deck games, some write, draw or read”, Doctor Kry says. “Some spend time with the wounded. Everyone comes up with different activities.”

“I would like to explore the ship, see what the home I will have for the coming months contains.”

“If you want I can give you a tour.”

“Really? Thank you, I would love that.”

You follow the doctor inside again. He decides to start from the bottom of the beast and show you up to the very top.

The orlop deck is the one right above the boilers. The two of you shouldn't wander further below, in case of danger. The orlop deck contains a mailroom and the cargo hold. It's chilly inside the ominous cargo room. Wooden boxes stand in groups.

“These contain everything from weapons to medical equipment to food and alcohol”, Doctor Kry says and taps the top of a wooden box. “Some people — of the military staff, I've been told — sneak down here to steal some of it. I wouldn't advise you to explore down here. The ones you'll meet will most likely be drunk beyond measure and not trustable.”

“I understand”, you say.

“That being said, let's go upstairs.”

G-deck is filled with bunk beds, rows and rows of them. Walls that used to separate cabins have been demolished and left are the marks on the floors where they should stand. People are in bed, either sleeping or chatting with each other. They’re wearing bandage.

F-deck was the same as G-deck, filled with bunk beds and cabins. 

E-deck has a pool with crystal clear water. It’s a simple pool, only there for exercise. It used to have much more detailing, a children’s part of the pool and some children’s floating toys. 

“It would be nice to swim here”, you say. “After long hours of standing.”

“I think it is nice”, Doctor Kry says. “I haven’t used the pool yet. I think it’s seawater but, like I said, I haven’t tried the pool yet.”

Before he has time to think, you’ve crouched down, sunk your cupped hand into the water and taken a lick. Doctor Kry gasps and twitches forward.

“What are you doing?” he questions. 

“It is seawater”, you say. 

He grabs your wrist, pulls you up on your feet and shakes your hands free of the water.

“That is disgusting, do not do that again”, he says sternly.

You laugh slightly, meeting his eyes. Doctor Kry shakes his head, but has to restrain himself to not smile. 

“Get out”, he says, nodding at the door. 

You walk before him. Your youthful behavior is going to wear him down. 

D-deck has more dim corridors than the others you’ve explored. Doctor Kry stops in front of a steel door with his hand resting on the handle. 

“This room is the morgue”, he says slowly. “I don’t expect you to like this room, but I do expect you to treat it with respect. Don’t do anything ‘fun’ here, like you did in the pool. Understood?”

You nod. Doctor Kry opens the door. A chilly wind blows through you. You hug yourself. The room is colder than the winds up on deck and you look at Doctor Kry to see if he’s also feeling the cold. Along the walls of the room are numbered hatches. You don’t need him to explain what is inside them. Doctor Kry opens a door to the right, showing a small room with an operating table on it. 

“Have you ever performed an autopsy?” you ask. 

“Many times”, he responds and closes the door. 

“Do they get … easier every time?”

“Easier? I wouldn’t say easier, but you learn to shut off your brain. You’ll learn that too while working here.”

He walks you out of the morgue. D-deck also contains even more wards. 

C-deck has the first class dining saloon, now nothing more than a school cafeteria. The tables are simple, the chairs looking uncomfortable. A few men sit by a table eating. Doctor Kry is quick to get you out. 

B-deck has more cabins and open wards, along with an enclosed promenade deck filled with beds, where patients can rest in fresh air. There’s nothing left of the verandah cafe, the suites have been emptied and the hairdresser doesn’t have the equipment that it once had. 

A-deck is the only deck on the ship left with some of her old personality. The lounge has some armchairs and couches and the smoking room still has the painted glass windows. You look at the painted mermaid on the window. 

“It’s beautiful”, you say. 

“It is”, Doctor Kry says. “I think it has something to do with Greek mythology, but I haven’t asked.”

The enclosed promenade deck the two of you had been on is on the same deck. Boat deck, on the other hand, has nothing enclosed. Nothing to shield anyone from wind or rain. Rows upon rows of lifeboats stand in their davits, collapsible ones are positioned on the roofs for easy access. 

“Okay, I think you’ve seen it all”, Doctor Kry says and sighs. “Not much, as you can see. Majority of it have been removed in case anything would happen to the ship.”

“Is there a risk of something happening?”

“The ship is painted white with a green line and big, red crosses. People know better than to sink a hospital ship.”

“But at night you can’t see what color the ship is painted.”

“I assure you that has been thought of. I will show you. Meet me at my cabin at sunset.”

“Okay.”

You knock at his door as the sun is resting on the horizon. Doctor Kry stands up from his chair a bit too quickly.

“Good evening”, you say. “I’m here.”

“So you are”, he replies and grabs his beige coat. “Let’s go, we can get dinner afterwards.”

You follow him out to the main staircase and up to the boat deck. The red shade above you is fading into dark blue skies. Wherever you look, nothing breaks it. You follow Doctor Kry to the stern where you have a good view of the ship. A strand of green light lights up the side of the ship, big spotlights turned to the red crosses. The green light gives your face a magical shade, one which makes the doctor stare at you when you’re not looking. 

“You can sleep soundly”, he says. “As you can see, there are lights showing other ships what we are. Now, how about some food?”

“Yes, please.”

The two of you walk back inside and make your way down to the dining hall. You don’t say anything, but the way your hand travels the railing down the main staircase makes him smile. 

You get a bowl of soup and a piece of bread. Doctor Kry leads you to a table full of doctors where he always sits. Not because he likes their company, but because he doesn’t want to sit with the immature nurses. 

“So this is your apprentice?” Doctor Hart says, eyeing you. 

“Yes”, Doctor Kry replies. 

You sit down beside him. 

“I’m Y/N”, you say, remembering how you had forgotten to introduce yourself to Kry earlier. “

“You are a voluntary nurse, right?” a doctor asks. 

“Yes.”

“What training do you have?”

“The absolute minimum, sir. I didn't have time to learn more before being sent here.”

“That’s why they’re my apprentice”, Doctor Kry says before anyone else has time to say something that could invalidate your lack of knowledge. “I’m supposed to train them.”

“You have gotten an unfortunate fit, Y/N”, Doctor Hart says jokingly. “Kry is a good doctor, but probably the most boring man I have ever come across.”

You frown, looking between him and your mentor. 

“I wouldn’t say that”, you say slowly. 

Doctor Kry looks at you with a small smile before taking a bite of his sandwich. 

“If you ever get tired of this boring man, I could always use a trainee”, Doctor Hart says with a small smirk. 

The other doctors laugh. You give them a small, uncomfortable smile.

“Let them be”, Doctor Kry says warningly. “You don't have to be an ass to the newcomers.”

He turns away from them, looking at you. 

“Don’t listen to them”, he whispers.

“Okay”, you reply quietly and give him a thankful smile.

He spends the rest of the dinner conversing with you, completely ignoring the other doctors. He asks you about your family life, the members in it, what your favorite memory is. For the first time in months, he's had a purposeful conversation, one he won't forget the second he leaves the dining hall. You've only been here less than a day and yet you've managed to put color in this white steel beast.

“I shouldn't keep you”, he says suddenly. “I suppose that you're tired. You should rest. I will see you tomorrow morning. Will you find your way to your cabin?”

“I think so”, you smile. “Thank you.”

“Be at my door at seven tomorrow morning.”

You nod. Doctor Kry gives you a small nod before walking away. His heart pounds in his chest, already looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Days go by. You spend every waking hour with your mentor, following him like a dog. You don't get why everyone else calls him strict, why some pity you for having him. And some pity themselves for not being picked. It's a weird feeling, you find, that everyone has a divided opinion of you and you have no idea who thinks what. All eyes on you, and none seem to be in your favor.

Doctor Kry is awoken by knocking on his door. Still in his drowsy state can he recognize the pattern. You have a unique sense of knocking. The darkness still covers the sky.

You're standing outside, wet to the bone, wearing your pajamas and a guilty look in your eyes.

“You told me to tell you right away”, you say quickly. “I'm not sure if you meant that literally but … I have nowhere else to go.”

Your voice dies out. Doctor Kry frowns, looking at your wet form up and down.

“What happened?” he asks suspiciously.

“They locked me out.”

“What are you talking about? Who locked you out?”

“The other nurses.”

What?

“Why are you wet?”

“They threw water on me and threw me out of the room. I-I guess that it was a joke but … I didn’t really … find it funny …”

He can tell that you're shivering, although you're trying your best not to show it. It makes him unexplainably furious.  

“Come inside”, he says and steps aside.

He's quick to grab his towel from his trunk and wrap it around you. You sit down on his chair.

“Did they say anything to you?” he asks. 

“Not from what I heard”, you reply quietly, shaking slightly. “Everything went on so quickly. I barely had time to wake up before I found myself in the corridor.”

“They threw you?” Doctor Kry asks, trying to understand. 

“Grabbed me by my arms and threw me out.”

“You must have hit the opposite wall in the corridor.”

“It’s fine.”

He feels his heart tug. His poor little apprentice, getting thrown around like trash. He knew that the nurses were assholes, but he is appalled that none of them even tried to befriend you. He knows that it’s because of him. In some way shape or form, it always leads back to him. It’s his responsibility to take care of you now. And, like hell, he’ll do it.

“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes to start with”, he says and removes the towel from around your body. “You’ll get sick if you keep them on any longer.”

He helps you remove them and dress you in his spare pajamas, offering you his bed. 

“Don’t go back to that room”, he says. 

“Why?”

“I feel like I am responsible for you and that’s why I can’t let you back there.”

“What do I do then?”

It’s such a simple question, but it makes him feel even more determined to take care of you. You’re asking him how to proceed. You trust him enough to let him decide what should happen to you. It’s enough to make him hear his heart in his ears. 

“You’ll stay here for the night, and I will decide what to do with you in the morning”, he says and removes the cover of the bed. “Why don’t you go to bed while I get you a hot cup of tea?”

“Okay, thank you, doctor”, you say quietly. 

“Of course.”

He smiles as he walks out, but the second he closes the door he feels a pain in his heart. He has been with you for two weeks by now and every day has been a pleasure. He can’t remember the last time he’s been this excited to work. Every meal, he spends it with you. He plays deck games with you on your breaks and play board games in the lounge at night. You’re interesting to him without being annoying. Everyone else gets on his nerves, being too much, too loud, too clingy and too … much. You, somehow, seem to be just perfect in every category. It’s such a rare trait for him to find. He doesn’t care that no one else understands it —  on the contrary, he finds it great that he is the only one you spend your time with — but he hates that the others are childish enough to mess with you because of it. 

Sea air must bring even the sanest people to madness. 

The morgue flashes before his eyes and he stops right in his tracks. He wants to. Oh, how he wants to. But there’s no way that he could play it off. On a secluded place like a ship, there was no place to hide a crime. Nowhere to flee if he did get caught. He’ll figure it out, though. They won’t go unpunished. 

He gets the cup of tea and makes his way back to the cabin.

“Drink this”, he says and holds the cup to your lips. “This should warm you up.”

He notices how you’re trying to take the cup from him, but he won't let you. Wants to feed you. You drink slowly. 

“What do I do from now on?” you ask. 

“Well, firstly, I will talk to your roommates”, the doctor says. “Tomorrow morning. You can take my bed, I will sleep on the floor.”

“No, I can’t do that. I’ve troubled you enough, doctor.”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he tucks you in and opens his trunk to take out a shirt to use as a pillow. 

“Doctor, please”, you say. “I can take the floor.”

“Don’t be absurd. Enough of this, now go to sleep.”

There’s no use in fighting him, he will not budge. You try to lay as still as you can, but it’s hard to drift off to sleep. You’re unaware that Kry is awake as well, having an even harder time getting some rest. The only thing he can think of is how angry he is at those nurses … but also a particular happiness. They sent you his way. In an unofficial way they sent you right into his clutches. 

The very next morning, he awakens to find you there, in his bed, sleeping peacefully. He stares at you. There is something so heavenly about you. Something alive, among all this death and suffering. 

He changes into his uniform before walking through the ominous corridors of your room. His knock must have echoed in the room because he can hear a few surprised gasps.

He recognizes the tired face that opens.

“If you don't mind, I'll grab Y/N’s things”, he says and, before waiting for a response, pushes past into the room, hitting their shoulder intentionally. “Where are they?”

“Under that bunk bed.”

He follows the pointed finger and grabs a brown bag. 

“You should be ashamed of yourselves, you know”, he says without changing his normal calm tone. “I thought nurses were supposed to be caring, but what do I know? I never spend time with them. And now I see that it was with good reason.”

“What makes you so special?” one of the nurses scoffs. “There are a lot of doctors people would choose before you too.”

“I'm aware of that, and I'm very thankful for it. But you shouldn't forget that there is a hierarchy on board. I might not fall for your charms, but I can still get you downgraded to kitchen staff.”

He walks out. You're still sleeping when he returns to his cabin and he decides to go get you breakfast.

“Wake up”, he says and places the tray on the desk. “I've gotten you breakfast.”

“Really?” you ask and sit up. “Thank you so much. And thank you for letting me stay here.”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he gives you a cup of coffee. 

“I brought your things”, he says. “I don’t think that you should go back to that room at all. I will try to get you into another cabin.”

“Oh”, you say. “Thank you.”

“You say awfully many ‘thank you’s.”

“Well, you do awfully many nice things for me.”

He tries not to show how happy he gets, but his ears burn a crimson red. You get out of bed and walk over to your bag, looking around for something. 

“I want to give you something”, you say and hold your hands behind your back. 

“What?” asks. 

You take out a little porcelain dog, a spitting image of a Golden Retriever. 

“I don’t have much”, you say, “but I really value this little thing. Take it.”

“No”, Doctor Kry says simply. 

“I don’t have anything else.”

“Which is why I can’t take it.”

“Please?”

He looks at the little dog in your hands and the pleading look in your eyes. His hand reach out and take it in his hand, knowing that he won’t keep it. He will find a way to give it back to you at a later time. But he has to accept it for now so that you don’t feel stupid. 

He places it on his desk and gives you the cup of coffee again. 

“What will we work with today?” you ask. 

“We’re picking up some new people.”

Everytime they pick up new people, he’s reminded of your limited time. One day, sooner than desired, you will walk off the gangway … and someone will take your place. No. Never. He doesn't want anyone else other than you.

Among the newcomers, you find a child. The six year old boy seems to like running along the big ship's decks. 

You and Kry observe him from the promenade boat above.

“Why is there a child?” you ask. “Isn’t it dangerous to let a little boy run around?”

“His parents must either be military, a nurse or wounded”, Doctor Kry replies.

You let go of the railing. Doctor Kry follows you with his eyes as you make your way down to the boy. You introduce yourself, take his little hand and ask him for his. Nicholas. You play with him. Doctor Kry can’t look away. You’re a natural with children. The little boy seems to have genuinely fun with you. You’re running along the deck, back and forth. You pretend to have a hard time catching up with him, making Doctor Kry smile. He’s not much for children. They’re loud, unpredictable and lack consequence-think. He hates all of it. But you seem to have a natural talent for it. The boy seem so comfortable with you. It’s adorable. 

“Doctor!” you shout. 

“What?” he replies without raising his voice. 

“Come down, let’s play something!” 

He sighs and lets go of the railing before making his way down to you and Nicholas. 

“This is doctor Kry”, you tell the boy. “He won’t bite you.”

“Bite?” Doctor Kry scoffs. “Since when have I ever bitten someone?”

“That’s what I’m saying — you won’t bite him.”

“I never bite to begin with.”

“That’s what I’m saying, so what are you arguing about?”

“Y/N- … nevermind, I’m getting nowhere.”

You laugh. He shakes his head disapprovingly, but his heart aches fondly. You’re like an annoying fly buzzing around, but he doesn’t want to kill you. 

You play curling on the deck and you throw lamely to let the little boy win. He tries to match it, tries to follow your lead. 

The image doesn’t leave his brain for the rest of the day. The only thing he sees is you with the little boy. 

“Doctor, be careful!”

He doesn’t notice how he’s slipped with the scalpel and cut himself in the palm. With a hiss, he backs away from the man on the operating table. You grab his other arm and pulls him with you. His head is awfully cloudy. The only thing he sees in front of him is your smile when you played with the boy. 

“Sit here”, you say and place him down on a chair. “Are you okay?”

“Yes … yes, I’m fine”, he says and clears his throat. 

You clean his hand and wrap it in bandage. Your touch makes him want to pass out. But it also makes him want to yell in frustration. How could he slip up that easily? He has never been distracted during an autopsy and suddenly seeing you with a child puts him out of balance enough for him to slip the knife?

“You need to be careful”, you tell him.

“I know”, he sighs, rolling his eyes. “I don’t enjoy hurting myself.”

“I didn’t mean that, I know you’re careful, I just-”

He realizes that he’s made a mistake. 

“I know”, he says, cutting you of before sighing heavily and continuing in defeat. “I didn’t mean to sound mad. I’m not angry with you.”

He could never be. If anything, he’s furious at himself. 

“It’s okay”, you say gently. 

You let go of his bandaged hand. 

“It should be okay now”, you say. “But I don’t think that you should go back.”

“I won’t”, he says. “They need a steady hand and clearly my isn’t.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself, doctor. It happens to the best of us.”

He sighs and stands up, keeping his eyes on a point above your head. 

“Let’s go out”, he says stiffly and clenches his jaw. “I need air.”

“Do you want to be alone?” you ask. 

His reply comes short. “Just come.”

You nod and hurry after him out on deck. His entire body screams anger. You don’t dare to open your mouth, scared to upset him even more. Instead, you follow him like a shadow around the promenade deck. He suddenly stops and looks at you, as if he just only realized that you are still here. You back away a few steps to give him space. He flinches forward, as if his body wants to walk over to you, but his brain stops him. He wants to hug you. Wants so bad. But it is not professional. 

“Maybe i should go”, you say. “I think that you need some alone time to think. I’ll see you later, okay? Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“No, wait”, he says and grabs your arm. “Don’t leave.”

You look at him questionably. 

“Let’s just sit”, he says and pulls you over to the deck chairs. 

“Are you sure that you’re okay?” you ask hesitantly. “You seem a bit on edge.”

“It’s not directed at you”, he says.

“Okay, but you’re still upset. I know that you hurt yourself, but it’s okay, it’ll heal quickly.”

“It’s not just that.”

He never makes mistakes. He never slips up. You’re becoming dangerous for him.

“Do you want to tell me?” you ask.

He shakes his head and gives you a small smile. “No. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

It’s cute how worried you are about him. He gives you a smile. 

It feels like a dagger through the heart when you tell him that it is your last week on board. What do you mean that you’re going home? You just came here. His mind spins as he tries to come up with something. He needs you here on this boat — or wherever he is — to work properly. Both figuratively and literally. He feels like he performs better, both in the operating theater and as a human. 

The cut on his hand has healed by now, but he can still feel the burning sensation of your fingers against his skin. He can’t — won't — forget it. He kept the bandage, despite the blood on it.

You need to be kept here … and he needs to come up with a solution on how to keep you. He could make you trip down the stairs and have you break a leg. No, you could still return home with broken bones. He could tie you up and lock you in, but if you screamed loud enough someone would hear you through the thin steel walls. You need to blend in. How does one blend in, in a floating prison with wounded people. 

Oh. Of course.

He makes his way to the medical supply room, looking around for something — anything — that he can use. He finds a little green bottle. You shouldn’t drink it straight away, but if he dilutes it in water, it should be fine. 

He decides to mix some of the dangerous substance in your tea the following mornings. For the first few days, there seem to be no symptoms of his little poisoning. Until the fourth morning when you’re not at his door when he expects you. He gets himself dressed and out of the room, marching down to your new — own — cabin. He knocks on the door. 

“Y/N, are you awake?” he asks. 

“Yes”, he hears your voice through the door, your voice thick and hoarse. 

“Can I come in?”

“No.”

He opens the door. You’re lying in the bed, curled up with your arms over your stomach. 

“How are you feeling?” he asks. 

You shake your head weakly. “Not well. My stomach really hurts … I think that I’m going to throw up. I haven’t been able to go get a bucket so I’ve been trying to keep it in.”

“I’ll get you a bucket.”

He leaves the room. Out in the corridor, he can’t help but smile. It’s finally kicking in. He had been worried that it wouldn’t work until you had left the ship … where he can’t care for you. He gets a clean bucket from a storage closet and returns. 

“Let’s get you up right”, he says and helps you sit up. 

The motion alone is enough to have you throwing up. He places the bucket under your mouth, letting you empty yourself. 

“I’m sorry”, you hiccup. 

“It’s okay”, he replies. 

“I don’t think I can work today.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that.”

He opens the window and sits down by the desk. 

“You don’t have to stay here”, you say weakly, leaning against the wall. “I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be fine”, the doctor says. “I can see that. You took care of me, now I’ll take care of you.”

“It’s different. I just put on bandage.”

“So? You weren’t skilled for more. I am, and I intend to put my knowledge to use.” 

He stands up abruptly, deciding to start right away. 

“Let’s get you some fresh air”, he says. “This open window won’t do.”

“Doctor, I can’t move”, you say, eyes widening. “I-I’ve tried, but I-I … I can’t.”

He frowns. Has he done too much? 

“My stomach hurts so much and my limbs don’t seem to want to move.”

“It’ll be okay”, he says shortly and lifts you up in his arms. “I’ll do the moving for you.”

He walks slowly along the decks, so as not to make your nausea even more unbearable. He walks out to the enclosed promenade where rows of beds stand along the walls and places you down in one of them, making sure to get you in the sunlight. With a smile, he tucks you in.

“Some fresh air and sunlight will do you good”, he says and sits down on the side of the bed. “Why don’t you try to get some rest? I suppose you haven’t had much this night. I’m not going anywhere, you’ll be safe.”

You nod and make yourself a bit more comfortable. 

“It’s hard to not be nauseous when the ship moves so much”, you mumble. 

“I have the bucket, you can vomit as much as you’d like”, he says. 

“In that case I won’t vomit at all. Because I don’t want to.”

Doctor Kry scoffs with a smile. 

“I know”, he says. “Try to rest now.”

He sits by your side until you’ve fallen asleep. You are so unbelievably sweet. In every single way. Doctor Kry stands up to go empty the bucket. He walks out the enclosed promenade, out onto the open deck and throws the contains over the side. 

“What’s with your apprentice?” Doctor Hart asks, walking over to him with his hands in his pockets. “Rumour says that they’re sick.”

“Yes, they are”, he says shortly. 

“Weren’t they going home this week?”

Do not remind me.

“They were”, he says, even colder. “Not anymore. I can’t let them go back if they have some kind of sickness. Better for them to be isolated here where it can’t spread far.”

“Is it contagious?”

“Yes, very. I think that you should stay away from them — tell everyone else to be cautious and keep distance as well.”

He grimaces and quickly backs away from him, walking away. Doctor Kry smirks and shakes his head. 

And you consider yourself smart enough to be a doctor? 

“What are you doing?”

The little boy is back. Nicholas stands a few steps behind him, watching curiously. 

“I’m emptying a bucket”, Doctor Kry answers, trying not to sound short and cold like usual. You like this kid and if he’s impolite to him, he’s sure he’ll hear about it from you. 

“Why?”

“Because there was vomit in it.”

“Ew! Did you get seasick?”

He rolls his eyes. “No, not me. Y/N’s not feeling well.”

“Is Y/N sick?”

“Yes.”

He looks worried. His best friend isn’t feeling well? Doctor Kry sighs. 

“Do you want to come and meet them later?” he asks. “They’re resting right now but you can come visit when they’re awake again.”

“When is that?” Nicholas asks. 

“I don’t know.”

“How will I know then?”

“I don’t know.”

He doesn’t wait to hear more dumb questions. Doctor Kry walks straight back to the enclosed promenade and places the bucket by the bed. He sits down by your legs and takes your hand. 

A few days go by. He continuous to poison your tea, and help you throw up. When your body doesn’t want to do it anymore, when it’s too exhausted to work for your benefit, he has to help. 

“Alright, open your mouth”, he says, brushing any type of hair away from your face. “This will not be pleasant, but I need you to throw up, okay?”

You sit beside him on the bed with the bucket in your lap, hugging it tightly. Your unsure grimace is enough to answer. 

“I know”, he sighs. “It’ll be quick. It won’t hurt.”

“Okay”, you mumble and nod, opening your mouth. 

He reaches in with his fingers until they touch the soft part of the back of the mouth. Your mouth is warm and soft, making him feel light headed. As soon as you gag, he pulls his fingers away. You hover over the bucket for the thirteenth time in twenty four hours. Doctor Kry pats your back. 

“There you go”, he says. “See? Quick and easy.”

“Easy?” you cough, giving him a stern eye. “Nowhere near easy.”

“Okay, maybe not easy. Bad wording. But it’s over now. Good job, I’m proud of you.”

A sad smile appears on your face. You lean your head onto his shoulder, sighing in exhaustion. Doctor Kry tenses. His heart stops. 

“I’m so tired”, you whisper. “My body hurts.”

He hesitates before wrapping his arm around your shoulders, bringing you closer to him. Your scent clogs up his head. 

“I should be home by now”, you whisper. 

“I know”, doctor Kry whispers comfortingly. 

You break out into sobs. Doctor Kry swallows. He can imagine how you must feel. Body broken and unresponsive, not back home with your family like you had planned and anticipated … and you can’t do anything to stop it. Doctor Kry turns your body to him and hugs you. Holding you feels like heaven. You fit perfectly in his arms, as if you were made for him, and him only. You were born to be his.

“I'm sorry if this is unprofessional”, you mumble. 

“It's okay, you're sick”, he replies thickly

He closes his eyes, enjoying the embrace. It’s everything he could — and have — ever dreamt of. His own little patient, in his arms, where they belong. Only for him. Oh, God, he can never let you go. You will be here for as long as he is, and then he’ll take you back home to him. Whether you like it or not.

“I’m cold.”

“I'll go get you some more blankets.”

He dreads to let you go but he can't deny your request. Your warmth disappears from his embrace. 

He decides to hurry, wanting to get back to you as quickly as possible. As he walks down the main staircase, he feels the entire ship shudder and hear a loud ‘bang’. He has to grab onto the staircase railing to not fall over. The sound of porcelain crashing onto the floor in the distance hits him. He hurries down.

A man covered in soot runs past him. One of the men from the boiler room.

“The ship is flooding!” he shouts in full panic. “We're sinking!”

Doctor Kry widens his eyes. There's no way, right? They're a hospital ship! No one in their right mind would sink a hospital ship! His mind forgets the blanket. He needs a lifebelt. Not a blanket. 

He runs past the room where you had stayed first, and he can see the nurses inside trying to scramble their belongings into small purses. Without thinking, he marches over, shuts the door and grabs the nearest fire extinguisher to break the lock. He throws the fire extinguisher to the side and hurries down the corridor, opening the first door he finds. It's a cabin for female nurses. He reaches over one of the bunk beds, to a net where lifebelts Are kept. He pulls down two and runs out. 

The floor has started to shift beneath him. He can tell that it tilts to his left. She's going down by the stern.

He runs up the stairs, trying to push his way through a flood of people desperately climbing upwards. He wants to shout at them, but it won't matter. No one else will listen or care. Instead, he uses force to push himself through the crowd.

He has to get to you before anything happens. There's no certainty in how much time there is, but there is a certainty of death if he doesn't hurry up. 

He runs through packed corridors, ripping open your door.

“What's going on?” you ask with wide eyes.

There's something horrific with your fearful eyes. Everything about you is dull and tired, besides your panicking eyes. 

“We've been hit”, he says in a steady voice and forces the white lifebelt over your head, tying it tightly around your body. “We need to get to a lifeboat as quickly as possible.”

“What?” you ask in shock. “What happened? You said that we were okay, that nothing would happen to a hospital ship!”

He doesn't answer. If he does, he's worried that he'll snap at you. Instead, he lifts you up and carries you out of the room. He makes sure not to trip, but carrying you through tilted spaces is harder than he expects. Giving up is not an option, however.

The boat deck is crowded. He manages to get through to a lifeboat and sits down with you in his arms.

“I’m scared”, you whisper.

“It's okay”, the doctor whispers back. “Everything is going to be okay.”

He holds you tightly when the lifeboat slowly sinks towards the water, scared that you might fall off. 

Seeing the ship from afar as the lifeboat makes its way away from it finally puts things together in your head. You gasp. You had been on that … and if Kry hadn't come get you you would still be on it, waiting for death.

The bow slowly rises out of the water, dripping with water. The sun shines right on it, as if it is the ocean’s main attraction. The room where doctor Kry locked in the nurses is far underwater by now. He hides a smirk under his hand. He had promised that they would be punished for what they had done. They'd have a chance if they hadn't been childish.

“I never thought that I’d see something like this”, you say. “I never wanted to see the bottom of a ship.”

“Me neither”, the doctor replies. 

“Will many die?”

“No, not many. I’m sure of it.”

You creep closer to him, shivering although you don’t feel any cold winds. He holds you tighter. 

The only thing left of the floating hospital is a steamy, bubbling mess, filled with debris. It’s like you can hear her hit the ocean floor. You can’t help but wonder what position she is in, if you’ll ever get to know. If anyone ever will dive down and check. If that will be possible.

“It’s so silent”, you whisper and meet his blue eyes. “It shouldn’t be silent … should it?”

“I don’t know”, he replies. “What is the other choice? People screaming?”

You shake your head quickly. Don’t want to imagine that.

Hours go by. When the evening comes, you’re picked up by another ship and given blankets and food. Doctor Kry stays close to you, not letting anyone get close. He sits in a protective position beside you, arms crossed over his chest, eyes scanning everything and everyone around him. 

The little boy clings to a woman who you guess is his mother. He doesn’t seem to understand what has happened, how lucky he is, and you hope that he never will.

“What will happen now?” you wonder quietly.

“I will continue to care for you until you are well”, he says. “That’s what will happen. I will take care of the rest, you don’t have to worry about anything. Just lean on me and everything will be alright, okay?”

You nod. Doctor Kry smiles and straightens his neck. 

“Good.”

You look up at the colorful evening sky and sighs. No one died this day — apart from a few nurses who doctor Kry didn’t like, but he will never tell you that — and that is a comfort. But you’re unaware of the plans doctor Kry has for you. And maybe that’s for the best.  

[ylangelegy]

⋆.˚ childhood best friend ♡︎ chan.

── .✦ the one where bang chan learns what 'home' means. #우리의_찬란한_청춘_방찬에게 #BrightestStarBangChan

✰ gn!reader, idol!chan, fluff!!!, angst 🙁, childhood best friends, long distance friendship, homesickness, hurt/comfort, ambiguous romance [pining/crushes], open ending. end notes included! ❤︎ all sfw. intentional lowercase. wc: 1,800+

🧸 childhood best friend chan who moves in next door, who came from seoul to sydney and was scared he wouldn't meet anyone his age.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who is the only one to attend your birthday party. he flashes you a grin and tries to cheer you up by saying, "that just means more cake for us!"

🧸 childhood best friend chan who introduces himself as christopher— but you can call him chris, he says hastily. he knows his full name is too long. you assure him no, it's okay, you'll call him christopher. he rewards you with another one of his signature dimpled smiles. the first of many.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who spends most of his summers with you. his next door neighbor, his new best friend. he tries to teach you how to play soccer. you burn songs you think he'll like on to CDs. the two of you learn to bike down your street. see? you both still have the scars to prove it.

🧸 childhood best friend chan whose fondest memories with you are set in beaches. you're both still too young to surf, so you kill your time trying to outswim each other. it's a tender rotation of portraits— hands sticky with fruit-flavored ice cream, sand in your slippers, the smell of sunscreen.

🧸 childhood best friend chan slash guitar teacher. you spend one too many evenings out on his porch with his beat-up acoustic guitar. as his fingers gently guide yours over the strings, you consider romance. but for only a moment. because you'd rather have him like this than risk not having him at all.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who sticks to your side at school. everyone thinks you're dating; the two of you give up on correcting peers. chan doesn't quite understand why he's so happy to have people assume, and why he's even happier to have you acquiesce.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who tells you, first, about what he plans to do. "it's just an audition," he tells you, but you already know. you already know what he's destined for, who he's going to be, as early as then.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who practices his bruno mars audition song with you over and over and over again until you forget what the original version sounds like. nowadays, whenever you hear just the way you are, it's only ever in the voice of thirteen-year-old christopher.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who calls you up excitedly, who only says two words. "i'm in," he breathes, and there's so many things you can say in that moment. of course you are, and i never doubted you, and you're leaving me?, but instead you settle on, "i'm proud of you."

🧸 childhood best friend chan who doesn't cry at the family dinner. doesn't cry at the airport. he laughs when you tear up, teases that you're being silly. think of it as summer camp, he tells you, and when he hugs you goodbye, his hands shake just a teensy bit.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who cries on the plane— because at least, there, no one who loves him will see.

🧸 childhood best friend chan slash trainee who keeps in touch. he texts a lot in those first couple of years. you'd like this café. these cherry blossoms look really good. dance practice today was tiring. you learn to read between the lines; he is saying i miss you, but he cannot say the words themselves, because then it becomes real.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who never misses a birthday, whether its yours or someone in your family's. shipping fees are too stressful and so he perfects the art of long-distance gift-giving. here, an 8tracks playlist. here, a digital flipbook. here, a video of him singing your favorite song.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who gets busy, who gets frustrated, who watches dozens of trainees debut before him. you try your darnedest to sympathize but there is only so much that you can know about this industry, about his lifestyle.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who never blames you. how could he? he made his choice. but still. but still. there are days, weeks, months, where he forces himself to keep his distance. because this is a whole other kind of hurting— saying goodbye and knowing that the door is still left open a crack.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who watches your life in pictures, in the squares of instagram photos, the tagged posts on facebook. you graduate high school, and then uni. you work part-time jobs. you finally learn how to surf. and he is proud, and he is hurt, and he is yours, still, in ways that neither of you can comprehend.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who, after being distant for what feels like forever, extends an olive branch in the form of a follow request. finstas are only just becoming a thing in his part of the world. every trainee has one. the first person he thinks to follow is you.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who starts reacting to your stories, who replies every so often. your haircut looks nice and how's your mum? and wow, that part of town has changed a lot. it's all so stilted, all so polite, but he's trying, he's trying, he's trying. he needs you to see that.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who finally calls you one evening to tell you everything. you are horrified by what he's gone through, by all the times he's been passed over, but chan reassures you. even as you apologize, again and again, for not knowing.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who tells you, "i chose this. i want to keep choosing it. but—" a beat. then, softly, the words he's held himself back from saying. "i just miss you, that's all."

🧸 childhood best friend chan who slots right back in to your life. he's still plenty busy. at least now he knows that you're always just one message away, that you'll appreciate his updates of i met another aussie today or there's a new day6 song or i can finally stop dieting.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who excitedly tells you about 3racha. about his genius lyricist j.one and his killer rapper spearb. his own moniker is plain and simple, he says with a laugh. cb97. but it's him, it's his, it's a start.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who sends you the first demo of a song he's genuinely happy to have produced. my heart is in your hands, he jokes in the e-mail subject line. j.one is good. so is spearb. but chan, cb97, your christopher, who sings "i'd like to start off this speech with a 'thank you' to everyone that helped little chris to grow up"? he's everything.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who tells you in vague terms that he might not be reachable for some time. there's a lot of things he wants to tell you, wants to divulge. there are other people on the line, now, though, and so he holds back. you understand. you tell him you'll wait. he is so, so grateful.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who is introduced as the leader of JYPE's newest boy group. he is not christopher or chris. he is chan, now. bang chan. you watch the survival show with his family. you give them a handwritten letter for him, when they go to visit him in south korea. you see him become everything he said he would be.

🧸 childhood best friend chan whose hair is two-toned dirty blonde and aqua blue when he debuts with hellevator. you buy his photocard. you still have it up in your room; it makes him cringe, but he is secretly pleased that you cared enough to do such a small thing.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who bears the weight of impossible expectations. leader, producer, idol. son, brother. friend. he is so many things all at once. they say he is too much. they say he is not enough. he doesn't know who to listen to.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who blames himself for things that are beyond his control. for 2019. for 2020. for 2021. for— there isn't a year where chan isn't blaming himself for something, really.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who finds comfort in the smallest of things. a noisy dorm with seven other boys. the thrill of turning a note in to a living, breathing song. you. your little updates. you. your easy responses. you. your unwavering support. you, you, you.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who wonders often sometimes what it would have been like if he stayed.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who can see it so, so clearly. the college you would have both gone to. working at the record store; busking in the mall. summers of surf and sun. your fingers fitting in to the spaces between his.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who thinks he would have been happy with that life. happier than right now?... he's not sure. all he knows is that he would have been happy. the two of you could have been so happy.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who often sometimes feel like his youth was taken from him. his teenage years were spent as a trainee; his early twenties were spent fighting for every scrap. he doesn't regret the choices he made. he doesn't want to. he can't.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who doesn't tell you any of this. a part of him doesn't have to. you know just how much he gave up. you know just how much he gained. you know why there are certain encores that make him cry, why there are songs he can't bear to perform live. why it's always so hard for him to name 'home' nowadays—

🧸 childhood best friend chan who wants to believe that 'home' means sydney. who, to make things easier, says 'home' is seoul. who will sometimes say that 'home' is STAY, 'home' is stray kids. who knows, deep down, that home is a three-letter word of y-o-u.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who, when he makes his way back to sydney, is scared shitless. he's been gone for so long. it's an endless litany of 'what if's. what if berry doesn't recognize him anymore. what if all his favorite restaurants have shut down. what if you realize you don't like the person he's become. what if, what if.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who is only partially reassured when he realizes there's still a spot for him at the dinner table, when his old friends don't treat him any differently, when the path to the park still feels familiar.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who realizes that all of his worries are unfounded when you greet him with "long time no see, christopher." not chan. not chris. christopher.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who smiles the same way that he had when he first met you. all bright eyes and dimples.

🧸 childhood best friend chan who holds out his hand, waiting to see if you'll take it.

✰ i think a lot about a line in The Myth of Sisyphus, where it goes something along the lines of "one must imagine sisyphus happy." in some way, this is me #coping (lol). one must imagine bang chan happy. because maaan, does he deserve it. happy birthday, chris.

[justaparsec94]

Feeling

Summary: When you and Hunter are left alone on The Havoc Marauder the feelings the two of you have kept well hidden finally come to light...

Pairing: Hunter x Jedi!Reader

Word Count: 5,271

Author's Note: I really don’t know how Hunter’s senses work, especially since they seemed to forget about them as the seasons went on. I like the idea most of fandom subscribes to that all of his senses are heightened but I saw a post once comparing his electroreception to that of a platypus which absolutely kills me. I guess we’ll never know for sure but no matter what I love our dear platypus man LOL

*******************

The Havoc Marauder was uncharacteristically silent as you sat in the cockpit. Most of The Bad Batch, minus Hunter who had stayed behind claiming headache, had left for a supply run earlier and likely wouldn’t be back for a few standard hours. Hunter had retreated to his bunk to sleep moments after the others had left, effectively leaving you alone.

Normally, the chance to explore a new place on a new planet would have thrilled you but like so many other things that had changed recently too. What had once brought excitement now brought fear. You had volunteered to stay with the ship as you didn’t want to risk being seen in a busy spaceport. Not that there were many left in the galaxy that would recognize you, but you just didn’t want to take any chances that might further endanger the squad. Having a former Jedi amongst your ranks was essentially a death sentence these days, and The Bad Batch already had enough heat on them as renegade clones. 

With a sigh, you sunk further into the copilot seat as you stared out the viewport. As much as you appreciated some peace and quiet, which admittedly was hard to come by with the squad, the silence left you with too much time to think. Somedays it was hard to wrap your head around all that had happened. The weight of the grief you felt threatened to drown you when you took a moment to stop and acknowledge it. Everything you had once known, had once believed in had been completely turned upside down. Your friends, your former master, all gone in a moment. 

As far as you knew you had gone from being one of thousands to one of only a few that remained and even then you had only just barely survived. You weren’t sure if your survival was the will of the force or simply just the result of being in the right place at the right time. In your more cynical moments, you believed it really had only been luck. If Jedi masters with far greater power than your own hadn’t survived you felt you really had no right still being alive. It was a thought that kept you up most nights, survivor's guilt. 

Having only been nighted a few rotations before the Clone Wars had started you had never been assigned your own battalion. Instead, throughout the war you had often completed recon and special ops missions that had the GAR assigning small squads of clones to you as needed, mostly commandos. It had been how you had met The Bad Batch in the first place. You’d been paired with the squad on several missions towards the end of the war. In the end, this use of your skills as a Jedi had likely been what had saved you. You hadn’t been near any clones when the order had come through, instead you had been klicks away from the nearest squad scouting. The clones had known you were on the planet though and the manhunt that had happened in the days that had followed Order-66 had nearly claimed your life multiple times. But despite everything that had been thrown your way you had still managed to escape off-world with a blaster wound burning in your side and a broken arm. 

Your first thought had been to simply disappear in the galaxy, to find some small backwater planet to live out the rest of your days but without enough fuel or credits to get you anywhere far, desperation had driven you to seek out Cid. You had used the Trandoshan as an informant many times throughout the war and while you still didn’t trust her it had turned out to be a good idea after all as it had led you directly back to The Batch. 

You’d been terrified at first, drawing your lightsaber on them the minute they had entered the bar, but it had become clear rather quickly that they were not following orders like the other clones had been. They’d explained everything, Order-66, Palpatine, the inhibitor chips, everything that had happened in the days following the end of the war. To hear the truth, that the men you had fought alongside for so many years, your friends, had been used like pawns in a game, treated in such a horrendous way by both The Republic and the new Empire had broken you more than anything else. It had been in that moment as you stared at the squad in front of you in Cid’s dingy bar that you had come to the realization that everything you had once believed in, everything you had fought for had amounted to nothing at all. All it had done was bring about the demise of nearly everyone you had cared for. You hadn’t been protecting the galaxy, you’d just been one part in bringing it to ruin. 

The thought continued to haunt you, even now, months after the end of the war. It had been hard to keep going afterward but being with the Batch and Omega had helped. You had always gotten along well with the squad during the war, in fact, they had become your favourite team to work with and despite not often working with Jedi they had seemed to accept and respect you. You’d always felt welcome amongst them. When they had suggested you stay on with them as they worked with Cid you had initially refused, not wanting to put them in any more danger than they were already in. Even if you had mostly shut yourself off from the force to better hide yourself you still didn’t want to take the chance of being detected. But Cid being Cid hadn’t really given you the option, if you wanted to get the credits you needed to disappear into the galaxy you were going to owe her, and running jobs with the Batch became the only way to do so. 

You sighed as you slid further down in the seat if only your master could see you now. Jedi Knight turned mercenary. Your eyes began to sting as you thought of your lost master. Master Antar Wei had been so very kind, wise, and caring. He’d been a true keeper of the peace, a gentle soul with the strength of a warrior. He had taught you so very much, without his teachings you would not have been the person you are today. He had been as close to a father as you had ever had and his loss was nearly unbearable. Tech had been able to get access to some of the Empire’s files and when Master Wei’s name hadn’t appeared on any of the wanted lists you knew he had likely succumbed to the same fate that nearly all of the Jedi had. 

You startled slightly as the door to the cockpit opened, so lost in your own thoughts you hadn’t heard the approaching footsteps. You swivelled the chair around to turn and look at Hunter as he entered, trying your best to school your features into an expression that would best hide your inner turmoil.

From the look on Hunter’s face, you hadn’t done the best job. His warm brown eyes were filled with concern, the lines of his face taught as he hovered hesitantly just inside the doorway. He shifted from one foot to the other as his eyes briefly swept the cockpit, as though searching for signs of danger, before they settled back on you.  

“Are you… alright?” He asked stiffly, as though he found it uncomfortable to ask you such a thing. His long hair was ruffled, likely from his sleep, making him even more ruggedly handsome than usual. You felt momentarily guilty for disturbing him before you noticed the air of tension that usually surrounded him when he had one of his migraines was no longer present. Only the same unease that had been clinging to him for the past few weeks was there.

Of all the members of The Batch, you had always gotten along best with the Sergeant. You admired his intelligence, his straightforward manner, the sly sense of humour that he let escape every once and a while, and the way he was fully devoted to his brothers. He was one of the most honourable men you had ever met and watching him go from stoic soldier to caring older brother to Omega had been a joy to witness. 

Truthfully you had been wrestling with feelings for the gruff clone that were decidedly not Jedi-like since the very first mission you had been on together. There had always just been something about him that had drawn you to him. His signature always seemed brighter to you in the force, and like a moth to a flame, you had struggled to maintain your professionalism around him. Attachment was forbidden after all and some days when you looked at the ridiculously handsome man you knew your feelings were treading into dangerous territory. That had been before though, you reminded yourself, the Jedi were gone and with it, you supposed the rules you had once lived by were as well. 

At one point you had been certain that your feelings were not just one-sided, Hunter kept his emotions very closely in check, but there had been looks, touches, conversations, and jokes just between the two of you that had set your heart pounding. But that also had been before. It seemed that whatever had been there was now long gone. In the last few weeks, all you had been able to sense from him was tension. He had done almost a complete 180. He no longer talked to you directly unless absolutely necessary, whenever you entered a room he left as soon as he was able to, even on The Marauder he always retreated to the space furthest away from you. A part of you wondered if you were just overreacting but the other knew that you weren’t, something had changed in him and you had no idea what had caused it. Hunter’s cooling towards you had just been another knife in your already fragile heart. You had lost so much and watching him slip away too, even though he’d never been yours in the first place, had only added to your pain. 

You realized suddenly that you had been quiet for longer than what was considered polite you finally spoke, shaking yourself fully from your melancholy thoughts, “I'm fine,” Your voice was soft as you nodded at him. You did your best to plaster a gentle smile on your face in an effort to ease his obvious discomfort.

“Your heart rate was elevated,” Hunter said, answering the question that had been at the forefront of your mind. Though you thought with amusement that you should have known, Hunter’s heightened senses meant there was very little on The Marauder that could be kept secret, “I thought something had happened…” 

“No,” You replied with a soft sigh, shaking your head sadly as you continued, “I just got a bit lost in my thoughts. I'm ok.”  

His warm brown eyes were still intense but some of the worry had drained out of them as he looked at you for another long moment, “Are you…sure?” He asked hesitantly, looking somewhat like he’d rather be anywhere else. 

“I’m sure, thank you, Hunter,” You replied with another nod, hoping to reassure him even though internally your heart was aching at the distance between the two of you. 

“Ok, I’ll uh - leave you to it then…” While Omega’s presence had forced him to get better at dealing with emotions he still had the tendency to avoid emotional confrontations like a plague. But this complete avoidance was new, in the past you might not have talked about it but he had still always seemed to know when you were feeling down or conflicted. You’d spent many hours and missions together sitting side by side, usually, no words were needed as you had always just found comfort in his solid and warm presence, sometimes he would distract you with stories about missions the squad had been on, but often it was just his silent company that he offered. Those moments together had always been your favourite. You still didn’t know where things between the two of you had gone so wrong. 

You watched as he went to turn around and suddenly you found yourself moving from your seat.  Silently and quickly you closed the gap between the two of you, your hand reaching out to grasp his wrist, pulling him to a stop before you could really even consider what you were doing. You were so tired of everything but especially this unspoken conflict the two of you seemed to be in, “Hunter, wait…” 

He turned to look at you with wide eyes before his gaze darted between your face and where your hand was on his wrist. You let go of him, trying your best to ignore the way your palm was tingling from touching him. He’d always had that effect on you but whereas it had been comforting before it now only brought a sense of sadness, a sense of loss.  

“I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong, or something to upset you in any way…” You said softly, the words suddenly flowing out of you without really thinking. Your heart was beating painfully in your chest and your stomach rolled with anxiety. You couldn’t bring yourself to meet his gaze as you continued to speak, too afraid of what you might find in the depths of his eyes if you did, “It was not my intention and if there is anything I can do to fix it I will. Or if my presence isn’t wanted here I understand. I know I’m putting you all in danger by simply existing.”

Finally, you looked back up at him just in time to see Hunter’s expression morph into one of confusion and shock, “What? What do you mean? You haven’t done anything wrong. Why would you think that?” He shook his head, “And no, that’s not - you’re part of this squad and we don’t abandon our own.”

“Then what is it?” You asked, suddenly nervous about confronting him. You’d faced down thousands of droids, beasts, criminals, and other adversaries in your life but staring in the face of your friend as you prepared yourself for rejection was almost more terrifying than going into battle, “You can’t seem to stand being in the same room as me. You always seem to leave as quickly as you can, you only talk to me when absolutely necessary, and even then it’s usually through someone else rather than directly. So, I felt the only reasonable conclusion was that I’ve done something wrong, that I’ve upset you in some way. But I can’t change if you don’t talk to me about it.”

Hunter seemed shell-shocked as he stood in front of you, his mouth opened and closed a few times. You could feel the rush of emotions from him without even really trying, but it was so jumbled you couldn’t make sense of any of them. Even in the dim light of the cockpit, you could see his face flushing, which was something entirely new. You had never seen Hunter this nervous before. He was quiet for so long that you were beginning to think he wasn’t going to answer. 

“I don’t - I’m not angry at you. I’ve never been more relieved than that day you showed up at Cid’s. I - I thought you had died but then you came back to us, to m-, and you’re a part of this squad. You haven’t done anything wrong…” Hunter finally spoke, his voice deep and rumbling in his chest, “I’m not upset…” 

The way he trailed off left you with more questions than answers, so you simply stayed quiet, hoping he would continue. 

He took a breath, as though he was steadying himself prior to battle, “You’re…You’re not the problem,” he said finally, “I am.”

You waited another long moment for him to elaborate, but when it seemed like that was all the explanation he was going to give you took a few steps towards him, closing the gap between you.

“What do you mean?” You asked. He seemed to tense at your proximity and at this distance, you could see the way his pupils dilated, the way his nostrils flared momentarily, the slightest flush of red on his cheeks. Your own heart was suddenly pounding in your chest at the intensity of his gaze.  

“I just…I…” He started then stopped, redness was beginning to creep its way up his neck and you were surprised to hear he sounded… embarrassed.

“I can…” He tried again, his voice suddenly lower and rougher than you had ever heard it before, “I just feel you more than anyone else. I always have.” 

Suddenly everything seemed to click into place, the feeling that had always been there between the two of you, the looks, the touches, the soft way he had always spoken to you, his sudden running away, the emotions he tried so hard to dampen around you. You couldn’t believe you hadn’t figured it out before, that his sudden avoidance was not a rejection of you. It was fear.   

You took another step closer, watching his face closely as you grasped his wrist gently once more. His eyes widened at your touch and his entire body seemed to stiffen but he didn’t pull away from you. 

“What do you feel Hunter?” You asked softly, your voice steady despite the fact that you were thrumming with nervous energy. You couldn’t stop the question from flowing out of you. Maybe it was wrong to ask, maybe it went against everything you had been taught, but you found that in that moment, as you stared up at him you didn’t care anymore. 

He let out a shuttering sigh before his head dipped just slightly to meet your gaze. His eyes were molten and so intense that you felt as if suddenly every nerve ending in your body were alight. You had kept your connection to the force limited in the past few months but you let your hold on it loosen in that moment, letting it surround the two of you. You listened to it sing, just as it had done every time the two of you had been together in the past. 

“Everything. I can hear your voice in a crowd of a hundred, I can smell you even when you’re not around, and I can feel your heartbeat in a different room. When you’re near me I can’t take my eyes off of you and even when you’re gone I can’t stop thinking about you,” Hunter’s voice was a husky whisper, “It-it’s not appropriate but I can’t seem to control myself. So it’s just better if I leave you alone.” 

You were quiet for a long moment, considering before you spoke softly again, “Better for who?” 

His eyes widened, as though he couldn’t quite believe what you had just asked. Before you could have enough time to second guess yourself you reached out gently to place your hand over his heart. Even without your own heightened senses, you would have been able to feel the way it was pounding in his chest. You had never been so close to him before in such a way and the sensation was thrilling. It was as if the air itself between the two of you was humming with energy. 

The brown of his irises had been almost completely engulfed by the black of his pupils as you looked back up at him, “I feel you too Hunter. I have from the moment we first met. The force feels different around you too, like you’re calling to me.” 

You closed your eyes as his hand reached up to cup your jaw ever so tentatively as if he were afraid that his touch would shatter you. Your skin thrummed under his touch and you pressed further into his hand, revelling in the sensation of finally being so close to him. For so long you had been so worried that his feelings for you had shifted. To have the truth finally out in the open felt as though the weight of the galaxy had suddenly lifted off of your shoulders. 

“But you’re a Jedi,” Hunter said softly, hesitantly, causing your eyes to pop open once more, “It’s not allowed.” 

“Attachment,” You replied as a wave of sadness washed through you. The words the Masters had once preached echoed through your head, “You’re right, it is forbidden. Or it was. I’ve spent so many days and nights thinking about the Jedi Order, about all that has been lost. And I still don’t know the answers to the questions I have, I don’t know that I ever will. But I can’t help but think that our ways only led to our downfall. Perhaps if we had done things differently if we hadn’t been so blinded by our own morality…” 

“I suppose we’ll never know. But the one thing I do know is that I want whatever this is between us. I’m not sure how something that feels so right, something that seems to be part of the force itself, can be considered wrong. I don’t know how many days are left to me, I am no longer a Jedi but I will live the rest of my life in danger. I do not wish to live the way I was before. I want you Hunter, I have since the moment I met you.” 

As you had spoken Hunter’s head had slowly lowered down towards yours until you were nearly touching. At your final words, his forehead had pressed against your own. His gaze was still intense as ever so slowly the hand on your jaw tipped your face up towards his own. His voice was so low when he spoke again that you felt it more than heard it, “I’m yours.” 

His words were all the encouragement you needed to close the final gap between the two of you, capturing his lips with your own in a desperate kiss. He was warm and wonderful and everything you had ever dreamed of. The hand you still had resting over his heart curled in the fabric of his blacks, pulling yourself closer to him as he deepened the kiss. His free hand came up to press against the small of your back, the heat of it searing into your skin as you gently nipped at his lower lip. You’d had dalliances with others before, that hadn’t been forbidden , but you had never experienced anything quite like this. The force seemed to come alive as the two of you melted into one another, thrumming in the air around you. Everything else seemed to fade away into nothing , there was only Hunter. 

A soft moan escaped him as you pressed further up into him, the sound rumbling in his chest and sending a shiver down your spine. You lifted your free hand to the back of his neck, fingers threading through his surprisingly soft hair. You’d always wondered what it would have been like to run your fingers through it and reality was proving to be better than expectation. He seemed to shiver at your touch, the hand at the small of your back flexing just slightly as he pulled your hips flush against his own. You could still feel his heart racing beneath where your other hand was still fisted in his shirt as his tongue pressed against your lower lip. You parted your lips, giving him access and gasping at the new sensation as his tongue explored your mouth. It was dizzying finally being so close to him, to be this connected. 

After what could have been simply minutes or hours Hunter pulled away from you, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. Your own pulse was still racing as he tipped his forehead back down to rest against your own. His eyes were closed as he pressed further into you, nose just brushing against your own as he held you close. 

You were both silent for a long time, simply basking in the warmth and feeling of being in each other's arms. But finally, Hunter spoke, his voice low and rough, “I’m sorry that I’ve been avoiding you, that I made you feel as though you’d done something wrong,” 

Your eyes opened, gazing up into his face that was suddenly filled with sorrow. You let the hand at the back of his neck slowly move until it cupped his jaw, mimicking his own hold on you, “It’s ok Hunter, everything has been so complicated lately. And I understand how conflicted you must have felt, I’ve felt that way too.” 

Hunter let out a soft sigh and with it you felt all of the tension he had been holding dissipate, his muscles relaxing beneath your hand as he seemed to melt further into you. He closed his eyes as his thumb gently stroked along your jawline, the sensation of it was electric and you wanted nothing more than just stay there and bask in his presence forever. 

His breath was warm against your face as each inhale brought you closer together. He tipped his head just slightly, his lips gently brushing against your own in the barest hint of a kiss, once, twice, before you pressed deeper into him. You shivered as your lips melted into his, tongue sliding over his full bottom lip before giving it the gentlest nip that made his chest rumble with another groan. 

The two of you came slowly together and apart, gasps and gentle moans escaping you both and you discovered this new part of one another. Your heart was racing in your chest, your skin tingling with each soft touch of his lips to your own, your skin flaming beneath his hands. The feeling is intoxicating and you have just enough wherewithal to briefly wonder if this is exactly why attachment was forbidden, because truthfully now that you have him you never wish to let him go. 

Eventually, you do pull away, instantly missing the contact but forcing yourself to look up at him as he moves both arms to wrap around your waist. You take a moment to simply look at him as your breath begins to even out once more, eyes tracing the lines of his face, the dark shadow of his tattoo. You’ve always appreciated how handsome he was but being so close is something special. You get lost in him for a moment as you notice the flecks of green in his warm brown eyes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose that are so faint they barely stand out against his deeply tanned skin, the dimple that appears only on the left side of his face as his mouth lifts into a soft smile as he gazes right back at you. 

You blink once, twice, trying to clear your mind of the distraction that he is and focus on the thought that had originally pulled you away from him. 

“How is your headache?” You asked gently, a small wave of guilt for having woken him in the first place rushing through you. It had been the reason he had stayed behind after all, and it wasn’t very often he had the chance to get any extra rest with the lifestyle you all led. 

His mouth curled into a smile and he let out a small huff of laughter, his hair flopping over the top of his bandana as he shook his head, “It’s fine. Forgotten actually,” He replied as he moved his hand to cradle your face once more, his touch feather-light. 

“Good,” You answered before you turned your head just slightly to press a soft kiss to the palm of his hand, “But you should still get some rest. It’s not easy to come by these days.” 

He hummed thoughtfully, his gaze still intense as he moved his hand away from your face, both trailing down slowly until he had your hands grasped in his own, “Only if you join me though.”

You felt your face flush at his suggestion, you wanted to, desperately, but another worry suddenly entered your head at the idea, “The others might be back soon, though…” This was still new and while part of you didn’t care if his brothers and sister saw the two of you together the other part wanted to keep this budding thing between you secret for just a little bit longer, if only for his sake as you knew how intensely private Hunter was. 

Hunter’s mouth ticked up into a smirk again, his brown eyes dancing with amusement as he answered, “Tech has been calculating the odds of us getting together since our very first mission and Omega has some Mantell mix riding on it.” 

You couldn’t stop the soft laugh that burst out of you at that, a bright smile overtaking your face, “Well, we wouldn’t want to let them down, now would we?” 

His eyes were warm and there was the barest hint of a smile on his face before he lifted your hand closer to his mouth, pressing a soft and quick kiss to your palm. Your smile brightened at his replication of your earlier gesture, the skin beneath his lips tingling from the contact. 

You let him lead you back towards the bunks, your pulse racing beneath your skin as he climbed up into the middle first before holding a hand back out to you to steady you as you found your own footing. It was a tight squeeze, but after some mild shifting you finally settled, your head resting against his chest as he laid on his back, his arms coming up to wrap around you and hold you closer to him as you let your leg rest over top of his own. Being so close to him every feeling you had ever sensed from him was amplified and it was easy to just get lost in the sensation of him as you listened to the steady sound of his heartbeat. Neither of you said a word, for there really weren’t any words to be said. Nothing had ever felt so right before and there was no way you were ever going to let that go, ever let him go again. 

It didn’t take long for your eyes to slip shut or for his own breathing to even out, his grip on you never lessening though even as he slept. The trauma of the past few years still haunted you as you lay with him but the thoughts were easier to push away as you focused on the force and the way it moved around the two of you, calming, gentle, right. You knew that nothing could ever truly repair the damage left by your losses but for the first time in a very long time, there was a glimmer of hope brewing in your chest. With Hunter, there was a chance at a future, something you hadn’t been able to even consider since Order-66 had been issued. 

You weren’t sure what that future would hold, for any of you, but right now, wrapped up gently in Hunter’s arms you felt safer than you ever had and there was nowhere else in the galaxy you would rather be. 

[marlynnofmany]

Little Legends

Eggskin leaned out of the medbay with both scaly hands full of disassembled electronics. “Are you free to run a quick errand?” they asked with the air of someone hoping the answer was yes.

“Sure,” I said, stopping in the hall. “Did something break?”

“I thought it was fixable, but no.” Eggskin rotated a couple pieces and fit them back together, revealing what looked like part of a medscanner. “Waste of time. At least this isn’t the good one for diagnosing, just the one for checking boxes. But we do need a replacement if you can get it.”

I mentally ran down the list of stores I’d spotted on this space station. “Yeah, I think I saw an electronics place that should have those. And we’re not going to leave for a while yet.”

“Excellent, thank you.” Eggskin looked relieved. “I’d go myself, but I have several other items in need of a tune-up.”

“No problem. I’ll let the captain know, then be right on it.” With a wave from me and further thanks from Eggskin, I headed off to find the captain.

Warm light spilled from the crew lounge as I passed. I mentally patted myself on the back for moving my sun lamp in there for everybody to enjoy. Humans may need their vitamin D, but Heatseekers craved warmth, and didn’t always want to ask for it. Paint was currently curled up on the biggest couch, along with Telly: a pile of mottled orange scales and mismatched fur. The cat had also started in just my quarters but moved on to spend time in the rest of the ship.

They looked awfully happy there in the light of the tiny, hovering, artificial sun. Maybe I’d bring a book in and take a seat on the other couch later. Right now, I had a bio-scanner to find. And while it would have been perfectly ironic for Captain Sunlight to be basking in the lounge as well, she was elsewhere.

I found her in the cargo bay, double-checking a new stack of boxes with Zhee. She held a clipboard in her scaly yellow hands while he moved things with his shiny purple pincher arms. They were a study in contrasts. When I told her where I was going, she was glad to hear it.

“Eggskin said there was something wrong with that scanner,” she agreed with a nod. “I wondered why they were using the good one earlier. Go ahead; I’ll make a note of the payment.”

“Righto.” I left the pair of them to rearrange the boxes, trusting that the captain would remember to note the payment later. Her memory was good, and she’d been in charge of the finances even before getting promoted. (The previous captain had only been good at delegating. When he got politely booted off the ship for incompetence, everyone agreed that Sunlight should take over. She hadn’t felt like giving someone else more work to do when she was already familiar with the ship’s record-keeping, so she just did both.) (She was good at both. It worked out well.)

I was good at other things, and one of them was recognizing when human-run stores were likely to have quality products. Luckily there was one such store in the nearest commerce sector.

I left the ship and strolled along a moving sidewalk at a delightfully fast pace, passing station-goers of a range of species, many of which were content with regular walking speed. One Mesmer rushed past in a blur of coppery bug legs, exoskeleton liberally decorated with metal inlays and their attitude suggesting they were late for a flight. The various Heatseekers, Frillians, and others gave them a wide berth.

The hum of a high-end jetpack made me duck, worrying I’d get accidentally kicked in the head. But no, it was higher than I’d thought. And the human using it only had one leg, which probably helped my odds anyway.

I wonder if that came from the same place I’m going, I thought. It seemed likely, since my destination was just coming into view past the big media store. Under the space station’s vaulted ceiling and silver-and-blue color scheme, the “Earthly Electronics Emporium” was an eyecatching collection of green circuitry. The big front windows had a whole section on jetpacks and hover-belts. I wondered if they were made by the same manufacturer as the ones Captain Sunlight had been looking into for a client.

Possibly. But we didn’t want to wipe out all the stock in this place, not when the client was content to wait while we gathered the rest of their order from the planet we were scheduled to visit next.

All in good time. Right now, bio-scanners.

I stepped off the moving sidewalk with a careful eye for momentum, and I didn’t stumble. Upholding human reputation, go me. With my head high, I entered the Earthly Electronics Emporium.

It was very green inside too. Not quite as bright as the outside, but somebody had really decided to lean in on the color scheme. I strolled between green shelves designed to look like circuit boards, on green tiles that glittered with LEDs, under ceiling lights that were mostly white, just with enough green paint around them that they could have been green too. At least the labels were easy to read.

There were a few other people in the store: mostly a group of humans chatting by the counter. It sounded like one was teaching the others a space shanty, which just made me smile.

Then I found what I was looking for, and I grinned in triumph. Got it. Let’s see here … “Good for everything from fleas to termites to truly exotic problems.” That sounds promising. I read the label thoroughly, and decided it was exactly what our courier ship needed for checking the crates we brought onboard. We hadn’t had to deal with an accidental infestation yet — well, not one that a cat or two couldn’t solve — and we didn’t want to.

I took it up to the counter.

When I got there, I was surprised to recognize the guy singing the shanty. When he caught sight of me, he broke off with a smile. “Hey, good to see you! Thanks so much for the advice; the animal calls and the caffeine went perfectly.”

“Awesome! Good to see you too!” I set down the scanner so I could return the handclasp-and-hug while he introduced me to his friends, including the guy behind the counter.

He told them, “This is the one I told you about, the human who’s done everything!”

“Well,” I said humbly, getting immediately talked over as Oscar told the others about how his large and intimidating alien crewmates had been disappointed that he didn’t live up to all the stories they’d heard about human antics, which had all, somewhat embarrassingly, been about me.

“But then she told me that imitating animal calls was impressive — and it was; I called in things for them to hunt, and they were amazed — and she’s the one who told me that the Mighty were lightweights on caffeine.” He grinned while they all chuckled. “You already know how that went!”

I was privately glad to see him so animated and social, since the only other time we’d met, he’d been pretty dejected about his lot in life. I asked for details on his adventures and he was happy to tell them, with the other humans chipping in to add that they touched base regularly now, since Oscar’s ship was making regular stops at this station, and most of them lived here.

“Are you staying long?” Oscar asked me. “You should really meet Aster. He’s been writing songs about human stuff, and he’s probably got some of your legends in there. He just started one about caffeine, thanks to me!” He beamed in pride.

“That’s great! I’d love to, but we’re leaving in a little bit,” I said. “Maybe next time we stop by.”

“I hope so! His songs are really good. I was just telling these guys about the new one. Have you heard it yet?” He launched into a melody. “Thiiiiis pirate ship was the scourge of the spaceways, stealing goods with their threats and their gunplay. The scariest ship that you ever did see … Until they met the skunk.”

I snorted and covered my mouth, eyes wide. I didn’t want to say it, but somehow he guessed.

“Don’t tell me,” Oscar declared, stopping the song. “Somehow that was you too.”

“Not directly,” I protested. “And maybe there are other skunks out there! Keep going.”

He sang the rest of the song, which told the story of some foolhardy pirates who didn’t believe the rumors of a merchant vessel with a hazardous Earth creature onboard. They wound up having to abandon their ship and let it fall into the nearest sun, ending their days as “the smelliest ne-er-do-wells that planet had ever seen.”

I applauded along with everyone else. “That is a great song! And I don’t know if that’s the skunk I knew or not. I did give one to a human on a merchant ship. But it had its stink gland removed, so maybe it’s a different one.”

An older woman laughed. “Or maybe Aster took some storytelling liberties with the song. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Oscar shook his head, still grinning. “Maybe!”

Then it turned into a storytelling session about skunk anecdotes, and while I could have happily enjoyed that conversation for quite a while, I did have a ship to get back to.

The guy behind the counter rang up the sale for me, charging it to the ship’s account successfully. “What a great name,” he said, reading off his screen. “Gotta love a ship called Slap the Stars.”

I told him, “It was named after the human tradition of high fives!” That derailed the conversation even further, and it was with real regret that I had to leave.

A couple of the others said they had places to go as well. Casual hugs for everyone, and suddenly it was like being back home for the holidays. After several tight embraces, I realized I’d been missing that and not realized.

I said goodbye to my fellow humans and promised to check in next time I was in town, then took the bio-scanner back to the ship. The moving sidewalk was just as quick in this direction.

Paint and Telly were still in the lounge when I passed. I gave Eggskin the scanner, checked in with the captain at the cockpit, then grabbed a book from my room.

“Mind if I join you?” I asked Paint.

“Sure; there’s plenty space!” She uncurled enough to wave at the broad expanse of couch.

Telly made a feline “Mrrp,” then put her head back down.

I found the sun lamp’s controls on the table, next to the box of accessories, and turned it up just a smidge. Then I lay down between Paint and the back of the couch, with my book above her head.

She made happy noises about the extra warmth, and Telly mrrp’d again.

From the door to the hall, something hissed, then Zhee’s voice complained, “Why is it so bright in here?”

Paint didn’t look up as she declared, “Basking is a time-honored form of enrichment.”

“I fail to see the appeal.”

“Hang on,” I said, sitting up long enough to grab an effects adapter from the box on the table. I’d checked before; these would stay in place even with just half of the cover. I clipped on the most colorful and glitterific galaxy adapter to the far side of the sun lamp, turning half of the lounge into a space disco that any self-respecting Mesmer would love.

Zhee was no exception. “Now that is lovely,” he said, clicking his way into the room. “Why didn’t you do that to start with?”

He made himself comfortable with a media screen while I settled back into place with my book and cuddle puddle.

Mur’s voice said from the hallway, “Why is it so bright in here?”

Zhee said, “Enrichment.”

Paint said, “You can join us if you like.”

I smiled. “I have a great new space shanty that I think you’ll enjoy.”

~~~

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book.

Shared early on Patreon! There’s even a free tier to get them on the same day as the rest of the world.

The sequel novel is in progress (and will include characters from these stories. I hadn’t thought all of them up when I wrote the first book, but they’re too much fun to leave out of the second).

[thefandomdirtymind]

Hello! I saw your post you're open for a request and I was wondering if I could I have OPLA Sanji?

About Sanji fall in love towards reader but reader was hesitate and unsure if Sanji is being sincere it's like she's having trust issues since Sanji is considered a ladies' man or flirty and was afraid he'll broke her heart?

A/N IMPORTANT:  Hey, thank you for your request Anon ! I had to confess that it was kind of a hard one for me because well...trust issu hit close from home and I just start to write that angst even if it was not my specialty, but I really like the result and I hope you will too !

Trust Issues

OPLA - Vinsmoke Sanji

Sanji / OPLA Masterlist and Coming Soon

* English is not my first language, I tried really hard to correct myself but, I hope you will excuse me if some mistakes are still there.

—

Love wasn’t your cup of tea. Sure, the idea of a partner supporting and adoring you like you deserve was cute. But, in your opinion, you have already done enough. After all, your last relationship has resulted as becoming a pirate and being abandoned by your lover to save his ass. And, If the humiliation hadn’t been enough, not long after your escape for the marines, you had seen him parading with his new lady wrapped around his arm. Like if you hadn’t existed at all.

So, nobody could blame you if you had some trust issues and an aversion for ladie’s man.

It’s why you knew the minute you saw his smile what Vinsmoke Sanji was : A pretty flirt. 

If it was only you, you had refused his presence on the ship, but, like Luffy had said, the Going Merry needed a cook and the man was a hell of a fighter. As the morning came, you couldn’t also deny the fact that he looked incredibly good in his suit, his bag on his shoulder, ready to come aboard. Smiling at the instant he spotted you. 

“ Hello Madam, I'm glad we met again. Can I say that you seem even more beautiful in this sunlight” He offered, from the dock, as you were sitting on the main deck rail adjusting a rope. 

“ You may, but it doesn't mean I will accept the compliment. Luffy is on the upper deck if you search him” You coldly replied, trying to shut down your traitor heart. You will not fall for another pretty face, never. 

“ I didn’t expect much Madam, thank you for the information “ Sanji replied, his mood in nothing affected by your coldness. Sure, he had hoped for a warmer welcome, but after serving you the night before and found himself unable to turn his gaze away from your beauty. He was satisfied with just being part of the same crew as you, the rest would come later he had assumed. 

It took, in fact, way longer than he first thought. For the entire few weeks he had been on board, you hadn’t looked or talked to him except to thank him for the food or urgent matters. 

Many times, the crew had tried to talk to you, asking you to be more nice with Sanji. But, even if you could feel his charm often softened your shield, your stubbornness was even stronger. 

It wasn’t easy for Sanji either. He knew you clearly disliked him without knowing why. When, on his part, the more he was admiring you, watching you laugh with the others, hearing your brilliant plan, watching you gracefully climb the cordage and being as stubborn as him. Make him love you even more. Everyday, he was trying to charm you, offering you compliments, taking an interest in what you were doing or simply making you the best food he could. But, nothing worked, you answered him quickly and as coldly as always.  

It'll take another two months and a storm before Sanji has enough. 

The rain was falling for hours,helped by a wind so strong that you had to close one of the sails to avoid drifting away. Each two hours or so, the members of the crew were making a rotation, trying as much as possible to not fatigue themself too much and end up falling into the water. 

You were the only one still standing, drenched by the cold rain, your muscles sore by the force necessary to keep the helm stable. Multiple times Nami and Usopp had tried to push you to take a rest or at least eat something warm, but each time you refused resolutely, you would pass that storm and rest after. 

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Sanji was finishing his soup, preparing three bowls for the crew member who will come downstairs to take their rest. As he prepared himself for going upstairs, doing his part, the blond chef saw Nami and Usopp going down the stairs, alone. You aren’t with them, again. 

“ Where Y/N ” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“ She refuses to budge of the helm. we tried to talk to her but it’s like talking to a rock” Nami replied, wrapping herself in a big towel.

“ I’ll come back, I will bring her here “ Sanji only replied, his happy mood now sour. It wasn’t rare in the time who’s he was running the restaurant with Zeff that he lost his temper. He had lost it already a time or two during battle, but against another member of the crew,it was a first. 

Making his way to the helm, he looked at you, already knowing it will not be easy. But, to be sure you’re in security, he was ready to fight you if he had to. 

“ Y/N, your time has long passed, I will replace you. I prepared a dry towel and warm soup in the kitchen. Go take some rest “ He first tried. 

“ I’m not tired or hungry “ You simply replied with your gaze focused on the horizon. 

“ Then I’m afraid I have to excuse myself Darling “ Profiting from an adjustment of your position, he then proceeds to lift you on his shoulder, easily dodging all your attacks, as he was getting you down in the ship to dry both of you. 

“ How dare you ! “ You scream, shaking of rage and cold. As he sits you on one of the kitchen stools and throws a dry towel at you. “ I was perfectly fine !”

“ You were on a trip to catch death ! “Sanji replied sharply, his gaze dark and his wet form in a stiff posture with anger “ I don’t know what I exactly did to make you dislike me like that, but I can care for you if you do some stupid things like that ! “

“ Then just don’t care about me and go flirt somewhere else !!” You angrily answered.

Taken aback, Sanji tilted his head, frowning his eyebrow, clearly confused. 

“ Wait…what…You dislike me…because I flirted with you ?“ He slowly asked, trying to understand your point. 

“ I just don’t understand why you haven't given up yet ! I had already done with the damn flirty kind, go charm your other ladies and leave me alone ! “ 

" My other…” Sanji starts disbelief. “ I don’t give up because I care for you…stubborn woman! " Sanji tried to say. Never had he thought that it was his manner that you hated so much. " But if my affection isn't required, fine, eat and rest, that's all I ask " He sighs ,disappearing upstairs. 

A long and heavy silence fell in the kitchen after he left, leaving you with a curiously heavy heart and some concerned  gaze of Nami and Usopp eating their soup. After a while, you sigh, defeated and take yourself a bowl. As always, the dish was perfectly balanced and delicious.

" You know y/n...I know your story, I understand, I do.  But…Sanji didn't flirt with any woman aside from you for months…I think he genuinely likes you, " Nami softly spoke. "Of course I'm not you and you have all the right to act like you do, but it’s not Sanji's fault. He’s not him… and I think the day he will stop caring for you, you will realize it’s will be maybe too late”.

“ Maybe “ You admit, finishing your food before leave it into the sink and heading to the door” I will sleep a little, wake me up when it will be our turn again please “ 

But she never woke you up and when you opened your eyes, the sun was shining again on another day. 

Sanji wasn’t the kind of man who'd give up easily, neither on his dream nor on the people he loved. But, even with his flirty tendency, respecting women and their wishes was a priority. It’s why, even if it cost him and that your word had wounded him, on that sunny day, he started to restrict at the minimum his attention to you. 

And you noticed it immediately. His gaze on you, usually full of affection, was now more distant, he didn’t ask you if you had slept well, nor if you would like something in particular for breakfast, he simply put an omelet in front of you, smiled politely and returned to his occupation. Yes, for Sanji it was odd, but, as a ladie’s man you give him a week before going back to his old habit. 

Luckily for you, life decided to give both of you a hand.

Your estimation could never be more wrong. After two weeks of polite but cold Sanji, you were almost wishing you never had that fight. Your traitor heart was missed his radiant smile toward you, his compliments for every little detail of your person or the way he  tried to know every one of your favorite things. But you had broken it and you were now unsure how to repair it. Excuse could probably do the charm, but your stubbornness was always blocking you, estimating that protecting your heart wasn't shameful. 

The Going Merry was anchored alongside an island, doing his needed resupply. As the last barrel had been brought on board, you followed the idea of Zoro and decided to join your companions for a drink at the little bar on the beach.

But, as you put your foot in the small place, you froze, your mind resuming to a static white noise. Your ex, already another lady at his arm, was installed with his crew at the largest table of the little tavern.  

“ Hey Y/N come here, that table is free ! “ Luffy exclaimed, not noticing your stiffness.

“ Y/N is that you ! Damn girl, I haven't seen you since you were surrounded by Marines ! I own you for this one, how did you escape ?! “ The despicable man shouted, clearly more happy to see you, than you were to see him. “ Darla, that girl was... my most loyal crew member. “He explained to the girl at his side “Look at you, have you always been that pretty ? “ 

The compliment was the last straw that snapped you out of your shock. How could he talk to you so casually after all you had endured because of him. Doesn’t he have an ounce of regret or shame ?!

“ I escaped on my own after you had cowardly abandoned me ! “ You replied, as Sanji placed himself behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder in support.

“ Y/N, that man clearly doesn’t deserve your time, come, the drink will arrive soon” He tried, giving a hard look at the pathetique Captain who was now coming a you, his hand scratching his hair, gauging if Sanji was a menace for his future plan with you or not. 

“ Not deserving of his time, I had already two years of her time mate, go sip your beer and let us discuss. Y/N and I have many things to talk about. I haven’t abandoned her, I knew she could escape, she’s a smart cat. Aren't you Sweet pea” 

“ I have nothing to say to you, thank you Sanji but I’m not in the mood. Being in the same room as him would suck all the joy I have. I will be on the ship. “ You simply replied, making your exit before tears ran down your cheeks. 

Sat on the upper deck, watching the night sky, the fresh wind drying your last tears, you saw Sanji came back onboard. Without a word, he simply sat beside you and offered you the bottle he was keeping in his hand.

“ Zoro sent his regards and I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry. I had tried to respect your wish, but I couldn’t stop myself tonight. I can’t not care for you and that man was...he shouldn’t ever treat a lady as you like that. Maybe now he had learn “

“ Sanji, what did you do? “ You asked, strangely touched that he had actually take your defense even after you had left. 

“ I kicked his pathetic and disgraceful ass. I couldn’t tolerate the way he was looking at you, talking to you...But I understand now how my behavior led you to dislike me when I arrived, But I assure you that…” 

“ I know, “ You said your heart, still fragile, beating faster.” You aren’t him and I should have waited to know you. I was scared, I didn’t want to like you because I was afraid to repeat the same story. But even if I tried, I realize when you had stop to caring for me that I miss it, I missed you…a lot“ 

Suddenly unusually shy, his cheeks a slightly shade of faded pink in the dark, Sanji avoided your gaze, a joyful smile spreading on his lips.

“ I suggest that we start over. We can't forget all those months but we can restart our relationship.I can’t wait to truly know you Y/N” He tell, finally planting in gaze in yours, that lost spackles in his eyes, the one you though forever vanish, back even brighter that ever. 

“ I can’t wait too, Sanji “ You softly smile. 

___

Your first kiss with Sanji happened a little shorter than a month later. At exactly the same spot. 

Since that night, you have made a habit of watching the sky together, sharing stories, passions and thoughts. Even if the blond cook, not without surprise, seems to find the constellation less appealing than your sweet view at his side. But, you slowly adapted yourself to his flirting and even often replied, to his joy. 

It was in one of those moments, as you turned your head to point to him a group of stars that Sanji captured your lips, answering your heart's deepest desire from months and even probably since the tall man had put a foot on the deck. 

Somewhere on the lower level of the ship, you hear the playful screams and wolf whistles of your friends. But, as he captured your lips for another kiss you couldn't care less. You had an amazing group of friends, the sea was peaceful and with the help of Sanji, your heart finally started to heal.  

[solarmorrigan]

space au neighbor au steddie

So I wasn't actually sure what a space AU is meant to entail, so I hope a little vaguely Star Trek-inspired AU is okay?? This was a challenging combination, but it was fun!

Fanfiction Trope Mashup: 22. Space AU + 11. Neighbor AU

cw: vague mentions of injury, mentions of background character death

-

Lieutenant Steven Harrington transfers from the U.S.S. Nora and onto the U.S.S. Forrest about six months into the Forrest’s mission. He works in security. He can usually be found stationed somewhere on the ship, but sometimes he’s called up to go planetside.

(He’s also too pretty for Eddie to believe he’s one hundred percent human, but that’s neither here nor there.)

Eddie knows all of this because Harrington gets the previously vacant room right next door to his.

It isn’t bad, really; sometimes the sound of someone shuffling around on the other side of a wall that had previously been silent is comforting. Much as Eddie loves the hum of the ship around him—you can’t really work in engineering and not be a little enamored of the sound of the engines purring—sometimes human noise is what he craves.

(Particularly out here in the void of space. Eddie loves his job, loves working in the guts of a starship, but he wishes sometimes it didn’t come against the backdrop of an endless dark nothingness.)

Eddie doesn’t have reason to see Harrington very often during the day, but they work the same shift rotation, and they catch each other coming back to their rooms now and then at the end of a shift. They mostly exchange nods or waves, brief pleasantries if one of them is in the mood, but that’s really it.

At least, that’s really it until a few weeks in, when Eddie gets back to his room and sees Harrington still standing outside his own, mashing the buttons on the keypad and swearing quietly.

“Everything alright?” Eddie asks as he draws up at his own door.

Harrington lets out a long sigh. “Uh, yeah, just–” He shakes his head. “Apparently if you get your code wrong too many times in a row, the keypad locks you out. And you can’t get into your quarters. Which is… great.”

“You forget your code?” Eddie can’t help but ask.

“No,” Harrington snaps, then softens a little, looking sheepish, even a little embarrassed. “No, I just– sometimes the numbers get a little jumbled.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. Anyway, I’m gonna have to go find someone from maintenance to reset this and let me in, so…”

“Nah, don’t bother. You’ve got in-built tech support right here.” Eddie gestures for Harrington to move aside and crouches down in front of the keypad to reset it; doors and security locks aren’t technically his remit, but it’s not like they’re hard. It’s the work of moments to get the keypad to unlock, and Eddie shuffles back out of the way. “Go ahead and try it now.”

Harrington steps up to the keypad and slowly punches in the six-digit code that should get him into his quarters, and this time, instead of beeping angrily and flashing red, it chirps and gives him the green light. His door slides open and Harrington sighs.

“Thank you,” Harrington says, turning a smile so bright on Eddie that he momentarily forgets how to function. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Nah, t’weren’t nothin’,” Eddie says for some insane reason, slipping into a ridiculous accent like he does when he’s running tabletop games in the rec room with a couple of other guys from engineering.

If Harrington thinks he’s being weird, he mercifully doesn’t mention it. Instead, he sticks a hand out towards Eddie, still smiling. “I’m Steve, by the way. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

“Eddie,” Eddie says, taking the hand to shake (Steve’s hands are big, and strong, and warm, and Eddie tries not to think about it).

“It’s nice to meet you, Eddie. And not even for the obvious reasons,” Steve says, nodding towards his door.

“Yeah, you too,” Eddie says.

He then realizes that he’s still shaking Steve’s hand. He lets go, but Steve is slow to draw back. They’re quiet for a moment, both unsure how to end the encounter, before Steve lets out a little huff of a laugh.

“Well… have a good night,” he says, backing away towards his door.

“Yeah, you too,” Eddie says again, wondering where the hell all his eloquence has gone to.

With one last dorky little wave at Eddie, Steve disappears inside his room, and Eddie does the same.

They talk more, after that. Whenever their schedules coincide, they spend an extra few minutes outside their doors, learning more about each other, bit by bit. Eddie talks about why he’d joined up with a starship even though he really hates space (he’d had to get out of his small-minded hometown), and Steve talks about how he’d ended up really enjoying his work even though he’d only joined to appease his dad (captain of another ship, one Steve prays he’ll never, ever be assigned to).

Their conversations edge past five minutes, past ten, past fifteen. Eddie talks about his uncle, who taught him at least half of everything he knows about fixing things, who had encouraged him to reach for the stars. Steve talks about his best friend in the galaxy, who works up in communications and speaks “about a million languages.” He mentions that they’d met as ensigns, both stationed on the U.S.S. Butterscotch, but he doesn’t say much more than that (and Eddie won’t make him; he knows the story already. The ship might have had a ridiculous name, but the fate that had befallen it had been anything but: it had been taken over by hostiles and eventually gone down in flames. The number of survivors had been abysmal, and fact that Steve is here at all is a small miracle).

Steve learns that Eddie loves music and roleplaying games. Eddie learns that Steve has a knack for avoiding medical staff after altercations planetside and for brushing off minor-to-moderate injuries.

He’s not as good at avoiding Eddie, however, who makes a point of dragging him down to medical one evening after spotting a still-bleeding gash on Steve’s arm.

“One of these days, you’re gonna come back with something you can’t walk off,” Eddie warns him, “and I’ll be there to say I told you so.”

“Well, as long as you’re going to be there, I guess it won’t be so bad,” Steve replies, and Eddie tries not to be swayed by the flirting.

When Eddie turns out to be right, though, he doesn’t even have the heart to say I-told-you-so, which he feels a bit cheated about later.

The evening starts out so promisingly: Steve and Eddie are loitering outside their doors, Steve gravitating further and further into Eddie’s space as they talk, and Eddie is just about to pluck up the nerve to invite Steve inside when Steve’s communicator goes off.

He frowns, pulling it from his pocket to check the message, and his demeanor immediately turns serious. “I have to go,” he says, and apprehension prickles at the base of Eddie’s skull.

“Everything alright?” Eddie asks.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Steve offers Eddie a brief smile. “We can pick up where we left off as soon as this is taken care of.”

Eddie wants to ask just what “this” is, but he finds out soon enough. The promising evening turns into a hellish night with too little sleep and too many hits to the machinery for comfort, under attack from some unknown, hostile force. When things finally calm down and reports start rolling in, things aren’t as bad as they could be. No casualties, minor damage to the ship, and minimal injuries. It sounds reassuring, until Eddie finds himself standing next to Steve’s bed in the infirmary.

“I’m going to be fine. Stop looking at me like that,” Steve says, even though his eyes are closed and he can’t possibly know how Eddie is looking at him.

And the thing is, Eddie knows he’s right – Steve might sound an awful lot like he’s in pain right now, but the medical tech on the ship is top of the line, and the staff is equally good. Steve will be fine, but that doesn’t give Eddie any comfort right then, realizing how lost he would feel without his and Steve’s hallway conversations every day.

How lost he would feel without Steve.

It scares him– for a moment, it scares him enough that he wants to run from it, to put a halt to things before they get too serious, before this really hurts him. But even more than that, there’s a feeling greater than the fear: one of rightness when he’s with Steve, a feeling that’s worth the risk, that’s worth holding onto.

Eddie reaches out and takes Steve’s hand where it rests on the bed.

Steve cracks his eyes open to look at Eddie.

“You know…” he says slowly. “They said I should be fine on my own by tomorrow, good to go back to my own quarters, but– I’d feel a lot better if there was someone nearby. Just in case.”

“Like someone right next door?” Eddie asks, a tease of a smile beginning to grow on his face.

“Maybe a little closer than that,” Steve says, squeezing Eddie’s hand in his own.

“I think I can do that,” Eddie says, finding that he’s prepared to do a lot of things, if it means he can keep Steve close.

[merlincmgirl]

Rough Sex - Alpha 17 x FReader - NSFW

Summary: When the Jedi Council is given information that poses a risks to all their Jedi in one sector, they assign you one of the best Alpha-class clones to protect you as you take part in negotiations with Separatist deserters. However, you always seem to butt heads with the stubborn Captain

Characters: Alpha-17, Clone Commander Locks (OC), Mace Windu, Yoda

Pairing: Alpha-17 x F!Reader

Word Count: 12, 884

Warnings: PinV sex, fingering, oral sex (female receiving), rough sex, dirty talk

Authour's Note: Sooo this is longer than Cody's and I'm still not sure if I like it or not.

Verd'ika - little warrior

Jetti / Jetisse- Jedi/Jedi (plural)

Jetti osik - Jedi Shit

ner atin verd'ika - my stubborn little warrior

shebs - backside/butt

ad'ika - little one

As you walked through the GAR hangar with Master Windu and Master Yoda, you couldn’t help but feel slightly frustrated. There was many things that the Jedi had to sacrifice during this war, but you didn’t think your own privacy would be one of them. Taking a deep breath, you released those frustrations out into the force.

“Forgive me Masters, but I still do not see why I have to have a protection detail when I have my own men surrounding me” you shook your head, trying to keep your voice as respectful as possible.

“We’ve had intel that General Grievous is planning on capturing multiple Jedi in multiple systems, including the Lido System. All Jedis have been assigned temporary security details to ensure that they have extra support while we look into this intel” Mace explained again, voice already sounding tense. You had to feel sorry for him, he had been going over this with a number of other Jedis as well.

“I am grateful for the extra security, Masters. But I am negotiating talks with possible Separatists defectors. How will it look if I bring a body guard with me?” you noted, running your thumb over the handle of your lightsaber as it was attached to your hip. It was a soothing gesture, one that had become more common as the war continued to drag on.

“A priority your safety is. Not unusual it would appear” Yoda pointed out, and you hated how he was right. No doubt, the other attendees were also going to be bringing their own back up. Turning to him and his floating chair, you nodded, knowing there was no point in arguing. You weren’t a Jedi on the High Council, so you couldn’t refuse their instructions.

“Very well Masters, I will accept the guard detail that you have offered to me. I hope to return to you with good news very soon; I will speak with you after the talks are finalised” you smiled, bowing to them as you stood in front of the shuttle that would transport you to your cruiser.

“May the Force be with you” Windu bid for himself and Yoda, as they both watched you get onto your shuttle.

“And the same with you, Masters!” you called back, waving at them as the shuttle began it’s ascent up through the lanes and lanes of traffic that littered the ecumenopolis. Sighing heavily, you slumped back into your seat next to one of the troopers. It was going to be a long few rotations, that was for sure! As you searched for guidance and patience in the Force, you could have sworn it felt like amusement was reflected back at you.

--------------------

“Commander Locks” you greeted, jumping off the shuttle and onto your ship. The clone had been a stern, regimented man when you had first been assigned to each other. He didn’t trust the Jedi, believing that they weren’t capable of leading a whole battalion without any experience. Unfortunately, he had been more right than the Republic was willing to admit. Jedis weren’t meant to be Generals, and many had never seen any form of battle. It was safe to say that you both learnt a lot from each other. You learnt many different battle strategies and techniques from Locks, and in return, he learnt to relax a little, accept that not all nat-borns thought of him and his brothers as meat-droids. It had allowed you to build up a tight friendship that helped with managing your battalion.

“General” he responded, nodding respectfully as he fell into step with you as you headed towards the bridge. His helmet was clipped to his belt, the amethyst purple stripes along his helmet repeated on the rest of his armour. It was a call to the robes underneath your cloak. You had been honoured when the clones had reported that they were taking those colours because of you. “I take it you know about our visitor” he remarked, glancing sideways at you, taking in your thinned lips.

“I am aware, Commander. Although I do not agree with the council’s decision, I must respect it” you said dryly. Locks snorted but you ignored him. He knew exactly how you felt about the whole situation, no matter if you were trying to be diplomatic about it. “Has he arrived?” you inquired, smiling at a group of clones who snapped to attention at the sight of you and Locks.

“He has, General” Locks confirmed, voice dropping off as though he wanted to add something. You watched as he brought his hands behind his back, brow furrowing as he seemed to straighten. If it was anyone else, you would describe it as a worried tick, but on your Commander, that was surely impossible. He was as steadfast as they come. “I would advise you to not take everything he says to heart. He can be very… colourful with his words” Locks warned, struggling to find the right words to describe your security detail.

You couldn’t help but laugh, resting your hand on Locks’ shoulder. “I assure you Locks, a few curses here and there won’t offend me. After all, I grew up with Anakin and he can curse in droid” you chuckled, shaking your head as you reached the bridge.

“That’s not what I meant, General” Locks frowned, as you pressed the button to open the door. His words were cut off as he followed you onto the bridge.

“General on deck!”

“At ease, gentlemen” you ordered, spotting a large clone near the viewports. He seemed almost bigger than the clones around him, decked in full ARC armour, a light blue stripe running down the middle of his helmet. This must be your security detail the council had issued you while you attended talks in the Lido System.

Heading over to greet him, you barely had time to open your mouth before the ARC trooper was talking.

“You’re late!” the large clone in front of you snapped, and you couldn’t help but gape at him. Besides you Locks struggled to keep in a wince. Glancing at your chrono, you noticed that you were indeed a few minutes late.

“I apologise for keeping you waiting, my shuttle was held up” you apologised, tipping your head to him. “Next time, I’ll insist that they gun it. What is your name?” you inquired, raising an eyebrow at him as you gave him your own name.

“Captain Alpha-17, sir, I’m the lead instructor of the ARC programme” Alpha-17 introduced himself, not offering his hand or a salute at all, as was custom with most officers of the GAR.

“Very well Captain, but what is your name? Not your designation, I prefer names not numbers on my ship” you nodded, taking in the information. You were pretty sure you had heard him mentioned by a number of your fellow Jedis, including Anakin. You would have to comm him later and ask.

“You may call me Alpha, sir” Alpha instructed, straightening himself up even more if possible.

“Pleasure, Alpha” you muttered, before turning to smile at Locks. “So this is why you know our new visitor. He was your teacher” you teased, watching as the usual stoic clone coloured slightly.

“Locks was one of the first 100 clone commanders that I trained in the programme” Alpha acknowledged, his lips quirking just slightly. Anyone else and you wouldn’t class that as a sign of affection. But by the looks of him, that was equal to a beam from the way that Locks seemed to preen. It was strange to see your Commander so eager to seek someone’s praise. He had always been confident and sure of himself, but now you could see the affection your Commander had for Alpha.

“Well I must thank you, Captain. His help has been invaluable during this war” you said gratefully, looking between the two men.

“We’re all expendable, sir” Alpha reminded you, his tone hardening.

It was jarring, and you couldn’t help but feel your eye twitch at his implications. You didn’t believe in the ridiculous teachings of the Kaminoans. These men were all individuals, all bright lights in the Force, and they were all precious to you. Whenever you went through the losses after the battle, it took all of you not to give into the pain and heartbreak at their sacrifice. You had learnt to send that pain and loss into the force, but it was becoming harder and harder for you to actually feel comforted by that.

“Well not to me Captain, you are all unique in the Force. You and your brothers are valued members of the GAR and I will not tolerate any disrespectful behaviour to you” you insisted, trying to keep your voice steady and calm. Although you could feel the frustrated undercurrent threatening to come out.

“If you say so, General. Now I want to talk security details. Commander Locks has already informed me that you wish to go alone to the talks. Not happening” Alpha insisted, waving away your plans for these talks.

“I beg your pardon!” you spluttered out, unable to believe what you were hearing. It was like he was happy to totally disregard your desires and suggestions to maintain these talks without appearing too threatening. A whole squadron of troopers would not make the talks go as smoothly as possible if the others thought that you didn’t feel safe and confident in what was going to happen.

“Beg all you want General, but you’re having a team of clones with you, as well as me. Basic security protocol, I thought even you would understand that” Alpha retorted, eyes narrowing as he watched a flush work it’s way up your neck.

“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I agreed to one bodyguard during this, and Masters Yoda and Windu confirmed this before I even stepped on this cruiser. So if you have a problem with that, Captain, take it up with them. I am not taking another squad with me just to sit through hours and hours of eye-watering boredom and having to put them through that as well. It’s not happening!” you snarled through gritted teeth, unable to believe that this man in front of you so easily disregarded your own plans. Commander Locks had been right to warn you about him, although you didn’t take him seriously at the time. Alpha was certainly a clone that was going to push you to your limits.

“They’ve had worse” he shrugged nonchalantly, and that only made your hackles rise even more at his flippant attitude towards his own brothers. “I was given orders by the Jedi Council to ensure that you are safe during your mission. If you’d rather end up dead, do it on someone else’s time. I will not have you mess up my instructions just because you think Grievous won’t target you” Alpha proclaimed, crossing his arms and staring down at you. He enjoyed seeing the look of irritation in your eyes, the way you were struggling to keep your composure. It wouldn’t be the first time he had said something to upset a Jedi, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. But he wasn’t about to let you believe that you could control how these talks and threats were going to go, just because you could move things with your mind. Watching in amusement as you clenched your fists and stood as straight as you could to match his gaze, he couldn’t help but admire your fiery spirit.

“Fine!” you spat out, consenting to whatever nonsense he was going to put into place for your apparent safety. “As long as it doesn’t interfere with my instructions, Captain, then I will allow it” you told him, before swiftly spinning on your heel. You were either going to spend some time sparring with your men or meditating. As the doors to the bridge closed behind you, you were sure that if you could use the punching bags, it would be either Alpha’s face or the entire High Council you would be imagining.

“Well, that went better than I expected” Locks drawled dryly, coming to stand beside the ARC trooper.

“I thought so too” Alpha agreed, returning to speak to the transport co-ordinator on what ships and shuttles would be available to him to transport everyone down to the planet.

--------------------

“The talks start at 0900 local time, you will meet with Puzob Fortab from the Trade Federation and Dal Terss from the Techno Union. Both defectors who will most likely try to manipulate you in getting the best deals as possible for them. Representatives from the Senate as well will be present” Alpha declared, pointing to the two profiles of the Separatists’ defectors. You hummed, already aware of each individual and their background. It has been one of the first things that you did when the Council had assigned this to you.

“Exits are here, here, here and here down the side passageway. I will station troopers at all exit points. Furthermore, Commander Locks will stay in orbit, preparing for an aerial attack if needs be” Alpha reported, as we were gathered around the holotable that projected a holomap of the building that the talks would be held in. There was a number of red dots that represented all members of the squad that would be accompanying you down to the planet.

“Thank you Captain, I am very much aware that they will be trying to ensure the best deals for themselves, but this is important. We must gather as much information as we can on the Separatists and their allies. The Republic is depending on us” you nodded, taking in as much information on the schematics of the building as you could. It was best to be prepared, just in case.

“I’ve worked with these sleemos before cyar’ika,” he scoffed, raising an eyebrow at the profiles, “and you can’t give them an inch.”

Your eye twitched, irritation curling in your stomach at his words. “I have met many Neimoidian and Sullustan people, Captain. They have all been pleasant and not at all like you describe. Jedi believe we cannot tar all because of the few” you told him simply, reining in your emotions. Turning to the Captain, you rested your hands on your hips. “Even so, I am prepared for all eventualities. But I have a good feeling about today” you smiled, turning off the holotable.

“Good, then I don’t have to tell you to not sample anything they offer you. No eating, no drinking anything that is not tested before hand or has been verified by me and my men” Alpha smirked, watching the smile drop off your face.

“I think you’re being overly cautious Captain, I can use the Force to purge my body of toxins if that happens. Besides, I do not want to start these talks off negatively. It would be highly disrespectful to our hosts if we deny them their hospitality” you frowned, watching as the smirk played on his face. God, you wished he would stop questioning you and putting ridiculous rules into place. You understood it was for your safety, but this seemed a little extreme.

As a Padawan, back at the Temple, you had been building up tolerance to a variation of poisons with Anakin and Aayla, sneaking into Anakin’s rooms so that nobody could find out. Ultimately, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had found out, and lectured you all on being ‘incredibly foolish to do something so dangerous’ as well as ‘sheer damn lucky that nothing had gone wrong.’ It had been incredibly awkward and once Kenobi had finished, Masters Vos and Trebor had picked up on the lecture and all 3 of you had been punished and sent out to help the Crèche Masters. You would be able to handle a bit of poison until you got to a medic.

Alpha stiffened and seemed to grow even taller as he straightened himself out. “Alright then, verd’ika” he growled out, and from the corner of your eye, you noticed several clones, including Locks, stiffen at the word. Crossing his arms and peering down at you, you couldn’t help but feel small standing next to the Alpha-class ARC trooper. “Lets see how disrespectful it’ll be when I tell them they’ve got to take the first bite” he glared, his brown-golden eyes firm and unwilling to budge on this.

“You wouldn’t dare!” you challenged, stepping right up into his space and poking at his chest. If anything it hurt you more than him, but you weren’t going to show that. These were your negotiations, you would get the information off the potential defectors and you would return back to the Council so that it could be used to help further the war. And you certainly wasn’t going to let Alpha get in the way of that. Narrowing your eyes at him and thinning your lips, you hoped he could see how serious you was about this.

Leaning down until he was your height, he let out a little scoff before the smirk was back again. “Try me, Princess” he breathed, eyes meeting yours in a show of stubbornness. He wouldn’t be the one to back down. You may have some jetii osik going on, but he certainly wasn’t going to be one who fawned over you. No, he had a job to do and he would do it. It was just a perk that he could get you so riled up that your cheeks were flushed and your eyes had a wild shine to them. He wondered idly how far he could push you before you lost some of that Jedi composure he saw so often.

Huffing in a breath, you spun on your heel to Locks who quickly straightened up. “Commander, please jettison Captain Alpha-17 from the nearest air lock! I am retiring for the night, I will meet you at 0700 in the mess hall. I expect the Captain to be gone by then” you grumbled, seeing the surprise and reluctance appear on his face.

“General, the Captain is right. We have to ensure your safety and his plans are the ideal way to do that” Locks reminded you, hands coming to clasp around his back. “You know that” he added quietly, making you feel even worse at how right he was.

“Fine, don’t jettison him. But I warn you Captain, I am not some delicate flower that needs to be protected, I am a Jedi, I can look after myself” you relented, turning back to bow stiffly at the large man before heading off to your own rooms. You needed rest if tomorrow was going to go well.

After some rest and meditation, you felt a lot more calmer and stable in the Force, so you headed down to breakfast in the mess hall. Along the way you greeted the troopers as you passed them, some who would be accompanying you down to the surface for these talks. Many of them however were waking up for the first shift and would be staying behind. Either way, you made sure to greet them personally. They were all unique individuals under your command, and you appreciated their similarities and their differences. Unlike some Jedi you could think of.

Shaking your head, you grabbed a tray and stepped into line behind your men. When you got to the display of food, your stomach couldn’t help but rumble.

“Hungry General?” Whisk, the resident cook in your battalion, asked as he chuckled at hearing your stomach cry out for food.

“Always, Whisk. What looks good today?” you grinned, looking over the breakfasts that he had prepared for you and his brothers.

“Well, thanks to the generosity of Naboo, we got some lovely fruit, yoghurts and I made some pastries” Whisk offered, pointing out all the new items available to you. It had been aid from Naboo that allowed all this. You had saved one of the Queen’s handmaidens from being taken by a bunch of Separatist pirates and the Queen had gracefully offered you crates of aid. The morale amongst the troopers had certainly seen a boost.

Picking your breakfast, you were about to head to your usual seat at the back of the hall before your path was blocked. Looking up, you glanced up the pale blue armour and into the deep whiskey-coloured eyes of Alpha-17.

“Ah, good morning Captain” you smiled, prepared to start today on a better footing than before. You were a bit harsh to him, probably a result of having the Council practically order you to accept protection.

The ARC trooper nodded in greeting, taking in your slightly brighter eyes and less exhausted look from the day before. “You missed dinner last night” he commented, following you over to your table.

Gaping at how he had guessed that, you couldn’t help but wonder if he could read minds. “Yes, the Force can sustain me for a while” you nodded, passing over some fruit to him.

“I’ve already eaten” he frowned, trying to pass it back.

“It won’t do no harm, Captain. I’ve heard that the Kaminoans modified you with a high metabolic rate. So eat, you’re not lucky enough to be sustained by the Force” you teased, returning back to your own breakfast.

He frowned even harder at you, and you were worried that it was going to stick. “Just because you have that Jedi osik, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat” he grumbled, brow furrowing as he stared at your tray for a second. Before you could reply, he grabbed a passing trooper by the arm. The trooper nearly let out a squeak as he was pulled from his vod’s side. “Get the General a second plate” he ordered, not even waiting for the Trooper’s salute before he turned back to you.

“Alpha! That is not necessary!” you chided, looking back at the hurried trooper and then at the stubborn one in front of you. “I’m fine, I never normally eat a big breakfast before a mission” you objected, worry curling in your stomach now for the trooper that was having to follow Alpha’s orders. Whisk would be so confused and put out, especially as he had brothers to feed.

“You’ve got a long day ahead of you” Alpha shrugged, not the least bit concerned about your objections. “And you won’t be eating food that’s not been tested anyway” he reminded, making you scowl back down at your plate.

Remembering all the meditations and your teachings, you pushed your frustrations into the force.

“Thank you Captain, it’s very kind of you” you smiled, democratically before relaxing your shoulders as you took a deep breath. “But you must at least have some. It’s only practical not to let the food go to waste” you argued, pleased when a look of surprised came onto his face. Well if he was going to force you to eat, then you would do the same. The clones had such a big appetite due to the changes in their metabolic rate, that you could almost guarantee that he would still be hungry. And you didn’t mind sharing your food and time with him.

“Alright, verd’ika, I’ll accept” he nodded, soaking in your pleased grin. It made you look happier, more content than when he had first seen you. Like the stress of the war melted away for a few seconds before you were no doubt brought back to the cold, harsh reality of being in war time.

“So, do you know who the Senate sent to represent them?” you wondered, curious who it would be. You hoped it would be an aid from Naboo, the handmaidens were always a delight to be around and they had such good stories to tell. They were also extremely politically aware of the situation and would be a welcome ally in investigating the defectors and seeing if the information they held was of value.

“Peg Shar 1 and Chandrila from what I’ve heard” Alpha grunted, pulling out his datapad and going through the briefing.

“Senator Mothma is attending?” I asked eagerly, surprised at such a well-known Senator coming to these talks. She was an inspiring figure in the Senate, and was a fantastic orator. Mothma was someone you respected for her hard work and dedication to her people as well as the Republic.

“No, apparently she sends her apologies and has sent her aids. They both have, no risk of any Senators getting killed, just a Jedi and a few clones” Alpha shrugged, scrolling through the morning reports.

“I wish you wouldn’t say stuff like that” you sighed heavily, pushing away the extra food that had materialised by your side. The trooper who had been strong armed into delivering it had quickly made a fast retreat to return to his duties. “You and your brothers are worth more than you have been told” you said sincerely, hoping he would listen to you.

“Nice sentiments, but that don’t stop the reality of the situation” he retorted, setting his stern and firm gaze onto you. He placed his datapad down and crossed his hands in front of him, like he was preparing to give you the worst news of your life. “We are expendable. We were bred to be expendable. And if you die, well at least your sacrifice will be honoured. That’s the way of the galaxy verd’ika” he insisted, watching as your face clouded in hurt and anger. Not very Jedi-like emotions.

However, the conversation was ended as Commander Locks walked over to your table. “General, Captain. I believe we have negotiations to prepare for” Locks remarked, glancing between you both, feeling the tension that surrounded you.

“We’re coming, Commander” you sighed heavily, pushing yourself up from the table and picking up the trays to throw away.

“Here, fill the General in, Commander. I’ll catch up with you in a minute” Alpha murmured, taking the trays out of your hands. He regretted that he had caused your happy demeanour to slip away from you, but it was important to remember that he and his brothers were more than likely going to die in service to the Republic, it was what they were born to do. Never had there been any doubt about his loyalty to the Republic, it was just a matter of fact. And there was nothing the little jetii could do to stop that.

“You alright, General?” Locks inquired, noticing the forlorn expression that had crept along your face as you headed towards the bridge.

“I just wish I could do more” you murmured, hand falling to your lightsaber in comfort. If only you could do something to improve the clones’ treatment from others and the Republic.

“You do more than enough, sir” Locks replied, knocking his shoulder into yours. “Now, I’m confident that you’ll survive being planet-side with Alpha for the day. Just make sure he returns in one piece. He’s valuable to the war effort” Locks stated, lips twitching into a smirk.

“No promises.”

--------------------

“Captain Alpha-17, sit rep” Commander Locks requested, as he transferred the report onto the display while he was stationed on the bridge. From the intel gathered by his pilots, there seemed to be an almost calm in the surrounding space that they occupied. If he was the type of man to be optimistic, he would say it was almost going well.

“Remind me again of the mission’s objectives?” Alpha grumbled into the comm, checking on his men around the room and covering the exits. Everything seemed to be going as expected.

“They sent the General to keep the peace during talks with defectors” Locks shrugged, eyes running idly over the report displayed on the holopad.

Alpha couldn’t help but glance at the argument raging in the middle of the room. “And what a great job she’s doing!” he grumbled, shaking his head as he saw the jetii right in the middle of it.

“I believe we are offering quite a decent deal Terss! We will not be offering full leniency for all of your crimes” Senator Aid Puk from Peg Shar insisted, cutting off whatever the Jedi had to say. You had to bite your tongue to stop any biting comment aimed at the Senator’s aid.

“Fortab, Terss, you came to the Republic looking for aid and refuge. If you were -” the aid from Chandrila started before they were cut short. There was a loud bang from one of the long winding tunnels that made up the building that you were meeting in. It was followed by a series of screams and blaster shots. The aides, as well as Fortab and Terss, looked around you in fear.

“Clock! Sit Rep!” Alpha demanded down his comm, as he quickly moved around the room to protect his Jedi.

“Captain! It seems we have an uninvited visitor to this meeting” you called, grabbing your lightsaber and standing in front of the doors where the noise was coming from. You could already hear the distinct sound of clankers marching towards you.

“No kidding sir, we’ve got reports of Grievous heading towards you. We’ll hold them off while you get to the ship” Alpha grunted, listening to the reports from the troopers in the entrance and exits, barking out orders to his troops to close in and defend the room and the path to the hangar.

“Negative, Captain, I’ll hold Grievous off while you evacuate the others” you argued, turning to the Captain as his large form came to your side. He already had his blasters out and was prepared for battle. He didn’t seem too pleased with your plan.

“The Jedi Council gave me orders to protect you, General!” Alpha growled, as a couple of your troopers short circuited the door.

“And I’ve given you an order, Captain! Get them out of here!” you snapped, before turning to the gathering behind you. “You lot, follow my troopers to the hangar. Do not wait for us and depart immediately. Maik, Shatter your squads will escort them to the ships and inform Commander Lock that Grievous is here” you instructed, and the two troopers closest to you saluted before beginning to guide everyone out.

Turning to look at Alpha who had stationed the men around the room, you raised an eyebrow at his annoyance in the Force. “My, Captain is that because of me or Grievous?” you asked, twirling the hilt of your lightsaber in your hand before steadying yourself.

“At the moment, it’s a tie” he retorted, making you snort in amusement.

“When Grievous comes through, he is mine. Concentrate our forces on the droids” you declared, taking in a deep breath, balancing yourself in the Force. Whatever happened here, you would not be adding another lightsaber to Grievous’ collection. A scream cuts off just in front of the barred exits and you readied yourself for the attack.

“Anyone lets the jetii be taken, you’ll be running laps around the Venator until I’m satisfied” Alpha growled, blaster aimed at the door.

“That’s a bit extreme” you muttered, flinching slightly as 4 lightsabers came through the metal, swiftly cutting a large whole in the blast doors. If there was any doubt it was Grievous here to collect you, you were certain of it now.

If you weren’t a Jedi, you would have felt fear consume you as Grievous and all of his cybotic limbs climbed through the hole and stood towering over your troopers. As it is, you let your fear out into the Force, you would not let yourself become distracted. “Ah, General Y/L/N, your lightsaber will make a fine addition to the many others of your brothers and sisters” Grievous stated, twirling the sabres in his grasp.

“If it’s my fate to go into the force, then so be it Grievous. But I will not allow you to massacre my men. I purpose a challenge, General. You will fight me, and me alone. If you win, I’ll go with you, but if I win, you will surrender to the Army of the Galactic Republic” you bargained, feeling Alpha’s unease next to you, as well as many of the men surrounding you.

“Why should I, Little General, when I’m going to take you anyway. Kill the meat-droids” Grievous ordered his droids.

There was a shower of blaster fire as you sighed heavily and ignited your lightsaber. “Very well, General. So be it.”

The clash of plasma against plasma hummed around the room, the angry buzz being heard even over the blaster shots. Fighting Grievous was difficult, the force of his hits was enough to make your knees buckle. Added to the fact that you had 4 blades to avoid instead of one or two. The heat from the blades could be felt from beneath your robes as you skilfully manoeuvred out of Grievous’ reach.

Looking around you, you jumped onto the table that held the peace talks and stared down at your enemy. “You will not find what you seek with me, General! Nor with any other Jedi that you may take” you vowed, jumping from a swipe to your legs.

“Such confidence for one that will soon be skewered on my trophies!”

You grunted, feeling the hit against your own blade as you tried to flip over him. One of his hands shot out to grab your leg, catapulting you to the side of the room. Pain flared up your side as you landed against the metal wall.

“General!”

Blinking through your blurred vision and the sudden heaviness of your limbs, you pushed yourself up. Your head was spinning and you struggled to take in a breath. Just as you finally managed to stand straight, a robotic claw grabbed at your neck, squeezing the life out of you.

“Cap-tain” you choked out, seeing the blurred outline of the Captain just behind Grievous. Gasping and spluttering, you managed to grip the hilt of your lightsaber before using the force to throw it behind Grievous.

“You will enjoy your time in my cells” Grievous promised, raising the hilt of a lightsaber and smashing it into your face. The metal dug into the fragile flesh of your jaw and cheek, and you felt the skin split, sending blood pouring down your face. With the last bit of oxygen in your body, you felt and saw the cyborg shudder, letting out a pained roar, before he was loosening his grip on you and collapsing in a pile of steel at your feet.

Looking up, you saw Alpha holding your lightsaber, prepared to strike another blow to Grievous and cut off his remaining limbs. You couldn’t help but stare, he looked like an avenging god as sparks flew from Grievous.

He scrambled on his two legs, yelling in outrage and screaming orders to the droids for him to evacuate to his ship. Alpha shot after him with his blaster, as the remainder of Grievous’ forces were defeated by your troopers.

“Alright, verd’ika?” Alpha asked, crouching in front of you.

“Never… better” you croaked out, your throat feeling like it was crushed. It brought tears to your eyes just attempting to speak.

Alpha took off his helmet and frowned heavily at you, before waving behind him for a medic.

“No… ‘m fin’” you grimaced, shaking your head and pushing yourself up onto your knees.

“Easy! You’re in no shape to move yet General. Grievous has beat a retreat, Commander Lock is preparing to engage him in the atmosphere. Let Dose take a look at you and I’ll handle the rest” Alpha informed, his gloved hand cupping your jaw gently and examining your wounds. Seeing your small nod, he hummed in satisfaction, squeezing your shoulder as he moved away to organise the return to the Venator.

You were Med-evacced along with a number of your troopers back to your ship. The peace talks and arrangements were to be rearranged for a few days later, while an investigation would take place as to how Grievous had gotten onto the planet. The security scan and recon had not shown any hint of his or his army’s presence in the system. Perhaps Fortab and Terss hadn’t been as eager to give information to the Republic as they seemed.

“General, I must insist you rest!” Dose said firmly, coming into your curtained off bed.

You motioned to your horizontal position on the bed.

He scoffed, shaking his head and looking pointedly at the datapad in your hand. “And at least let me put some bacta on your injuries” Dose implored, used to your antics in the med bay. He just thanked his lucky stars that at least you weren’t as bad as General Kenobi.

“Dose, I’m resting and they’re superficial. Besides, I’ve taken that horrible concoction you forced me to take for my throat. I’ll be fine. May I be discharged?” you assured your Chief Medical Officer. You hoped he would release you soon, you had a mountain of data-pads to get through on your desk, as well as updating the Jedi Council.

“I’m not discharging you unless it’s into the custody of Commander Locks. At least then I’ll know you’ll actually be resting instead of working” Dose grumbled, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at you as you huffed in return.

That would take a while, your Commander was still on the bridge and dealing with the fallout of your mission.

“Think I can help with that Dose” a voice from behind the curtain said. Alpha-17 came round the screen and looked between the clone and you. His eyes narrowed and this lips thinned at the sight of the scrapes still on your face. “Commander Locks has ordered me to escort the General back to her quarters” he informed us.

You groaned, accepting that this was now your fate. You’d get Locks back as soon as you could. As you were about to protest even more, the datapad in your hand was quickly swiped. You couldn’t help but gape at Alpha as he held your datapad out of reach. Kriff him and he’s large frame.

“And to not allow her to throw herself back into work until tomorrow” Alpha added, face firm as he looked back at you defiantly.

“Alpha! This is ridiculous!” you objected, watching as he hooked it onto his belt. You turned to Dose for support but he just said nothing and shrugged.

“Orders are orders. Now come on, sooner you get some sleep, the sooner you can return to the bridge” Alpha stated, offering you a hand and helping you get up on unsteady legs. Just how long exactly had you been sitting there on that uncomfortable bed?

“I’m the General” you reminded them both, unable to help the little pout that crossed your face. Your legs wobbled even more as your head spun at finally standing up. Alpha was quick to wrap an arm around your waist to steady you. The warmth of his strong arm seeped through your robes and helped soothe your aching muscles.

“Technically General, in this situation, with regards to the health of the men, I outrank everyone. Including you” Dose corrected, leaving you to do nothing but gape at him in surprise. Obviously you knew that, but you didn’t expect him to actually throw that back at you.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Kix.”

“Perhaps. But I agree with the Commander. I’m not passing you fit for duty until you come in tomorrow for the all clear” Dose insisted, crossing his arms and giving you a hard stare.

“Fine, fine! Lead the way Captain” you grumbled, squeezing onto the arm around your waist.

Alpha grunted in acknowledgement, all but carrying you down the corridors to your quarters. He didn’t say anything to you, just helped you along. The rest of his vods tried to come over and check on you but he waved them away. The little jetii needed rest and he was under orders to make sure she took it.

When you arrived at the door to your quarters, you typed in the code, rubbing your temples and being surprised to see that there was blood on your hand. Oh… you’d forgotten that you had refused to let Dose look at the wound and close it. Determined to get back to work and assuring that the Force would take care of it. Besides, your men needed it more than you did in that moment. If you weren’t mistaken, Dose had looked like he was going to have an aneurysm and had quickly typed something on his datapad.

Wait a minute! Had he been the one to inform your Commander of your inability to rest? Was they in cahoots about ensuring that you looked after yourself? Knowing the vode, it was almost a certainty.

Feeling the start of a headache, you could admit that they may be right. It was starting to ache and you were desperate to get to the small medic pack in your quarters to pop a painkiller and wipe away the blood that was still trickling down your face. Head wounds always bled more than other wounds. Is that why Alpha had looked so annoyed when he had given you a once over?

“Come on General, get in so I can clean you up” Alpha instructed, giving you a slight shake to help you focus on stepping into the peace and quiet of your room.

As soon as the door closed behind the pair of you, he gently settled you into a seat at your desk and knelt down before you.

“Alright ner atin verd’ika, seeing as you refused to let Dose treat your wounds, but you’re talking alright, I’m gonna assume you’d at least took something for your throat. Now where’s your med pack so I can take a look at these?” he murmured, gently prodding at your forehead. It made you wince at the sharp pain that shot through your head and he ran a gentle thumb over your tensed brow in apology.

“Over there, in the cabinet” you instructed him, pointing to your small refresher in the corner.

He nodded, and you took the opportunity to shed your outer robes. Using the Force, you guided them over to the laundry chute to be taken care of with the rest of your clothes. Closing your eyes, you couldn’t help but think back to what happened with Grievous, the feel of metal digging into your throat, cutting off your airways. You had been certain you were going to die, be it there in that room or later on in whatever scheme that Grievous had come up with.

Until you has spotted Alpha behind the great hulking cyborg. Even gripping onto the last dregs of consciousness, you had trusted him, knew that he would save you. That was why you had given him your lightsaber, barely having enough energy to throw it but he had caught it. Had known what you wanted him to do and had cut Grievous down to size. Alpha had always had your respect and trust, but even more so after saving your life. Everything you had heard about him had been the truth, he was an exceptional soldier and a good man.

A hand on your knee brought you out of your thoughts and you blinked in surprise to see Alpha’s deep, honey brown eyes staring into your own. He looked worried and you couldn’t help but try and assure him.

“I’m fine, just thinking about today” you smiled slightly, shaking yourself a little and trying to bring yourself back to the present.

Your words didn’t take the concern from his eyes as he began to sort out what he would need to treat the scrapes and cuts on your head. “You did good. Believe me, I know what a bastard he is to fight, you did well. Don’t think about anything else” he told you, before running a critical gaze over your face. “In pain?” he asked, and you knew you couldn’t lie to him. He’d find out. So you nodded and allowed him to give you an extra shot of relief.

“Thank you, the shot that Dose gave me is wearing off” you muttered, feeling yourself relax now that you were in your quarters and the pain relief was kicking in again.

“Should have let him look at this” Alpha chided, cleaning away some of the blood surrounding the cut on your head.

“The Force would have taken care of it eventually, and besides there were more pressing cases than mine” you shrugged, thinking back to the screams that you had heard in the medbay. What was a few cuts and bruises compared to troopers who had lost limbs or blaster wounds in their sides? No, you’d much prefer the bacta supplies go to them.

Alpha scoffed and you couldn’t help but shoot him a glare, quietly demanding he explain himself. “Your heroism complex is gonna get you killed, verd’ika” he warned, tightening his grip on your knee to keep you from moving away as he got a particularly tough spot of blood off. It only caused more blood to trickle out of the cut.

“It’s my duty as a Jedi to protect those in need, to help those who suffer. If I have to give my life for that cause, so be it” you stated, echoing the values that you and the rest of the Jedi Order shared.

Alpha stilled, his shoulders tightening for a second before he looked away. “Sound like the vode” he murmured, focusing his attention on getting the bacta out and dabbing it onto a clean piece of gauze.

“Maybe we’re more alike than you’d think” you grinned, thinking back to the many similarities that the Jedi Order shared with the Vode. Both forced into a war that neither had asked for, their duties fighting against their values, to see their brothers and sisters die to protect a galaxy that was increasingly turning against them. It made your heart ache at all the pain that was being endured during this awful war. It was little wonder why the Force felt so heavy as of late, as though you were walking through tar. There was a great imbalance, and everyone felt it.

A hand cupped the back of your head, fingers slipping through your braid to keep your head steady. You pulled away as you saw Alpha raise the bacta to your head. Already you could imagine the sting that would cause.

“Quit squirming!” Alpha rebuked sharply, as he dragged the bacta across the cut on your forehead.

You scowled at him, biting back a wince as the wound was already starting to tingle from the bacta. Your neck and collarbone itched, you were sure the blood that had been running down the side of your face had dried and formed an irritating crust on your skin.

With large, calloused hands, Alpha tilted your head up a little so he could check the damage done to you. There was a scruff on your jaw, the skin all grazed from where you had caught the rough end of the hilt of Grievous lightsaber. The cheek was already bruising and he carefully slathered some more bacta onto the purpling skin.

“Gonna have some nasty bruises in the morning, General” he teased, cleaning the scrape on your jaw before tiding up the mess from the med pack.

“Thank you Alpha, for cleaning my wounds… and for saving my life” you said softly, reaching out to still his large hands with your smaller one. You looked into his warm eyes, seeing the surprise at your appreciation and at your touch.

“Someone has to save your shebs” he murmured, voice dropping lower as he glanced at your hand on his before meeting your gaze.

You swallowed nervously, the tone of his voice sent a warmth cascading through you. It was soothing, even if the words weren’t. It felt awfully like a promise to always have your back. Unable to help it, you bit your lip and raised your hand to cup his cheek, tenderly stroking along his cheekbone. You could feel the stubble against your palm, the rough edges teasing against your fingertips.

“I’m glad it was you” was whispered past your lips, not wanting to disturb this quiet moment between the both of you.

Alpha let out a small grunt, eyes zeroing in on the lip that was caught in between your teeth.

“Stop doing that!” he growled, tugging your lip out of your teeth with his thumb. He used it to run across your lip, savouring the drag against his calloused pad.

“Why?” you breathed, feeling yourself caught up in the lust and desire that was rolling off Alpha. You knew if another Force user would come in, they’d feel the same emotions coming from you as well. His large frame was kneeling in between your legs, and the trunk of his body was still wide enough to have you spread them to the point that it was a distraction now you weren’t concentrating on him fixing you up.

“Because if you don’t, I’m going to end up fucking you over this desk” he warned, his other hand coming to rest heavily on your knee.

“And that’s meant to stop me?” you scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him. You soon stopped when it pulled on your cut.

Alpha shot you a heavy look that seemed to say ‘you asked for it!’ The hand that was cradling your jaw dragged your face closer to his. You could feel his warm breath fan across your face and you couldn’t help but let out a little sigh of your own. The feel of his strong hand guiding you sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

His eyes scanned your face, seeming to make sure you wanted this too. The gesture was enough to make you melt even more for him.

“Can I kiss you, mesh’la?”

And really, how could you turn down such a polite request?

Gripping onto his cuirass, you pulled him towards you, pressing your lips against his. His lips were rough against yours, dry from the circulating air on the ship but surprisingly tender as you both kiss. You would have thought he’d kiss you like his personality would suggest – all dominant and rough edges, taking control and pressing you against him. Instead he slows your hurried movements down, pressing gentle kisses to the corner of your mouth before teasing you into a more open mouth kiss.

You can’t help but sigh against him, letting him in and tasting the disgusting caf that he’d probably grabbed from the mess hall. He explored your mouth, coaxing your tongue to do the same as he gripped the back of your neck, angling you how he wanted you.

Pulling away, you rested your head against his, opening your eyes so that you could see him. He looked hungry. That was the only way you could describe it as you took in his reddened lips. You had done that. You had left your mark on him just from kissing him. It sent a small thrill through you at the thought.

“Can we do that again?” you smiled, relaxing into his hold. One hand had slipped down to your back, the other was gripping your thigh to keep himself steady.

Alpha scoffed, shaking his head at you before returning to kissing you, pulling away to press gentle and careful kisses along you jaw. As he made his way down your throat, you swiftly remembered that you were probably covered in blood from the battle.

“Wait!” you cried, hands coming to push at his shoulders.

Alpha instantly jumped back, eyes shrouding in hurt. He nodded, looking away from you for a moment before going to get up.

“No! I mean… I’m filthy. It’s probably not a good idea to kiss me there, I’m sure I’ve got blood on me. It would be horrible for you to have to kiss me like this” you rushed to explain, hoping to reassure him that it wasn’t something he had done to make you push him away.

Alpha cocked an eyebrow at you, looking at you like you had just told him that you could turn into a tooka. “Kriff, you talking about? Have to kiss you? Like it’s a damn chore?” he rolled his eyes, leaning up on his knees so he could look you firmly in the eyes. “I don’t care if you’re covered in blood and dirt and sweat. We’ve just come from a battle, do you think I expect you to be all clean and shiny?” he chided, before pressing a kiss to your throat, where you no undoubtedly had a dry patch of blood on you. “No, mesh’la. I can handle a little blood” he smirked, pressing kisses all over the column of your throat and sucking dark marks against your skin.

His words were reassuring and you lost yourself to the pleasure of him marking you up. There would be a number of bruises come tomorrow, and you could just imagine continuing your duties with the evidence of Alpha’s affection and lust decorating your skin beneath your robes. Your hands slid into his short, curly hair and tugged gently on the strands, feeling the small moan that he let out against your collarbone. Oh he liked that, didn’t he? Using that knowledge, you couldn’t help but guide him back up to your lips.

“I was busy” he grouched, and you couldn’t help but giggle at him.

“Be busy elsewhere” you instructed, reaching for his armour. Alpha stopped you, gently pushing your hands away.

“Better plan, you take off yours and I’ll take off mine. Save some time” he proposed, already beginning to tug on his spaulder. Shooting him a grin, you quickly stood up and began undressing from your robes, your fingers used to the nimble fastenings and knots that you used to keep them in place. Within a matter of minutes, you were left in nothing.

The cool air trailed across your body, your nipples beginning to harden at the feeling. You felt exposed as Alpha straightened up to look at you. It had been a while since you had allowed anyone to look at you like this, to experience your vulnerability. The last time had been with a fellow crèche mate just before you took your trials to be knighted. Both of you agreed that it was fun but nothing serious. Now, standing in front of Alpha, you wondered if you measured up to what he liked.

“Kriff! You’re beautiful, ad’ika. Prettiest thing I’ve seen” he breathed in awe, taking in the way you relaxed at his words, blush rising from your chest to your face. He couldn’t wait to trace that with his tongue.

While he was apprising you, you did the same to him. Alpha was gorgeous, there was no doubt about it. He was big and muscular, the strength clear to see in his bulging thighs and arms. There seemed to be miles and miles of pretty bronzed skin, his body was littered with scars that told just how brave of a soldier he was. How he withstood torture from Ventress herself and came out the other side. Trailing your eyes down from his broad chest and his snatched in waist, you let your gaze rest on his cock. It was just as thick as the rest of him with an average length. You knew you would be feeling him tomorrow.

“Like what you see, mesh’la?” he teased, reaching a hand to cup your breast. He ran a gentle thumb over your hardened bud, content to feel the weight of your breast with his hand. His other wrapped around your waist, pulling you into him and keeping you pressed against his warm chest.

“You’re gorgeous” you whispered, feeling small in his hold. It was obvious he hadn’t expected you to say that because he blinked in surprise.

“If you say so” he murmured, before leaning down to quieten any objections to his words with his mouth. He was like a solid wall of muscle and heat as he kept you close, running a hand up and down your side in a soothing motion.

Wrapping your arms around him as much as you could, you couldn’t help but moan into his mouth, wanting him to know that he was making you feel so good. With a small nip to your lip, he pulled away and guided you back into your desk chair. Letting out a whine of protest, he enjoyed your little noises as he moved away from you to grab a pillow from your bed. He placed it in front of you and answered your searching look with a grin.

“These knees ain’t as young as they used to be, ad’ika” he chuckled wryly, landing a kiss in between your breasts. You closed your eyes at the sensation, feeling like he was branding you, even with his soft kisses around the mound of your breasts. He gently grazed his teeth against your skin, causing you to jump a little. Your last partner hadn’t done any of this.

Threading your fingers through his hair, you helped guide him to where you wanted his mouth. Feeling the small grin against your skin as he enjoyed you taking what you wanted, you couldn’t help but tease him back by pulling on his hair and dragging a foot up his thigh.

“Patience, ner verd’ika” he hummed against you, before taking your nipple into his warm, wet mouth, gently sucking on the bud to harden it further.

“Alpha!” you panted, as he ran his tongue around you before giving it a quick graze of his teeth. You gasped, eyes shooting open to meet his darkened gaze and you felt a rush of wetness slip from your entrance.

He gave the other breast the same attention, lovingly laving the bud with his tongue before teasing you with a sharp pinch or tug of his teeth. Alpha seemed to want to learn every part of your body, his hands running over every expanse of your skin as he could.

With one last, loud suck that left your cheeks darkening, Alpha pulled away from your chest and gave you a filthy grin. “I want to eat you out, mesh’la, want to taste you as you cum in my mouth. That okay?” he challenged, raising an eyebrow at you as you gaped at him. What the kriff was you meant to say to that? Especially when it conjured up so many different images in your mind. Of Alpha fucking you with his tongue and fingers. Alpha pressing you over your desk and just eating you out until you could do nothing but slump against the desk. Of Alpha groaning into your cunt as he got lost in the taste.

“Yes… yes please” you managed to get out, feeling your arousal pool in combination with his words and the way your imagination used them to think of all the different ways he could have you.

“Good girl, I’m going to need you to keep these” he said, squeezing your knees before pushing them open and resting them on the arm rests of your chair, “open for me. Think you can do that while I taste this beautiful pussy?”

The cool air of your quarters left you shuddering as Alpha spread your legs wide. You weren’t sure if it was because of him or the praise that he dished out to you. Being called a good girl normally brought you nothing but annoyance, but the way that Alpha said it made you want to be just that. To be his good girl as he fucked you so well. Nodding your consent, you were left fully exposed to him. Yet Alpha never took his eyes away from the sight before him. It made your legs flinch in an attempt to close them, but Alpha was too fast and held them open for him.

“Ah, ah, verd’ika. I want to see all of you. You’re beautiful, bet you taste like it too” he groaned, before licking a stripe from the bottom of your entrance, all the way to your clit. He delighted in the loud moan that came falling from your lips as he began to swirl his tongue around your clit before dipping down and pressing his tongue into your sweet little cunt. He was right, you tasted absolutely delicious. He couldn’t believe you were letting him eat you out at your desk. That you trusted him to take care of you and your pleasure.

Humming slightly, he felt the way your hips shifted, eager to press against his mouth. But he wouldn’t let you, this was all about making you feel good, and he had so many things he wanted to show you first.

“Alpha! Fuck!” you cried out, the wet heat of his mouth making you feel like you were making a mess down there. Not that Alpha seemed to mind, in fact he was eager to catch all of the slick dripping out of you, not wanting to waste any bit of it as you continued to try and pull him closer to you. “Force, you… you feel so good” you praised, nails digging into the arms of your chair.

Your heart felt like it was going to pound out of your chest and you choked on a moan as he pressed one of his thick fingers into you. It was so much bigger than your own and you couldn’t wait to feel the stretch of him as he finally gave you his cock.

“Easy, verd’ika. We’ll get there, just feel how tight you are around my finger. How will you take my cock if you can’t take my finger, huh?” he soothed, pressing a kiss to your inner thigh before returning to your clit. He started a gentle suction, massaging the swollen nub with his tongue before pulling away to blow on it. You shrieked, feeling the swift change in temperature on your sensitive bundle of nerves.

He took the chance to slide through your folds and press another finger inside of you, curling them both up to find that spot inside of you. You cursed quietly as his thick, talented fingers found the spot he was looking for. Liquid pleasure shot through your veins and you couldn’t help but buck into him, although you didn’t have much leverage to chase his mouth and touch. You could only take what Alpha chose to give you.

“Clever Jedi, figured it out already. I’ll get you there, but only when I say” he praised, pushing your thighs a little wider apart and running a soothing trail down one as you groaned at his words. He was going to kill you, you knew it. Death by sex. It would be a beautiful way to go if only Alpha gave you what you wanted.

Seeming to read the frustration that was building in you, Alpha increased the pace of his fingers, thrusting into you deeply but always making sure that he was building you up to the edge. He curled his fingers up into you, rubbing against that spot that had you arching in the chair, your nails digging into the material as you clutched onto the back of the chair. The feel of his mouth and tongue on your clit increased, his tongue drawing maddening circles against your clit as he pushed you closer to your orgasm.

“Please… Please Alpha… I need to… I’m going to cum” you cried, winding your hand into his hair and keeping him pressed against you. Not that he wanted to get away. He could eat you out until the galaxy exploded and it still wouldn’t be enough for him.

“Hmm! Cum for me” he ordered, returning back to the maddening pace he set as you gushed around his fingers, as he finally allowed you your release.

Your vision whited out as you clung onto him as much as you could, feeling the shock waves of your orgasm as Alpha licked up your juices, pushing you into oversensitivity as he kept an arm against your waist to keep you pinned to the chair. Bucking your hips against his face, you couldn’t help but moan as he continued to drink down your slick.

“Alpha!” you groaned, slumping in the chair.

He chuckled, pulling away from you, and you couldn’t help but stare at him. His mouth was covered in your slick, a slight shine to Alpha’s face as he returned your look with lust blazing in his eyes.

“You were so good for me, verd’ika. You did so well. I want to feel you around me. Can I fuck you now, mesh’la? Show you just how strong you are?” he murmured, leaning forward to kiss you. You couldn’t help but groan, curious at the taste of yourself on his tongue.

“I want you, Alpha. Want to feel you inside of me” you breathed, cupping his face and pressing kisses all over his face. His nose scrunched up as you pressed a small one to the tip of his nose.

Carefully, he slipped his hands underneath your body, cradling you close to his chest before placing you on your desk. You smiled, enjoying how this large, terrifying soldier was so gentle with you. His strong, capable hands held you carefully, like you were a treasure he had found during this terrible war. But that wasn’t what you wanted. There would be time for soft caresses and gentle touches later on. Now though, you wanted to feel the strength of him pounding into you, want to feel protected and safe as he took you apart, only to rebuild you again.

Sucking a mark just below his jaw, you hummed playfully to get his attention as he ran his hands up and down your thighs. “You know, you don’t have to be gentle with me, I don’t break easily. I can take it” you told him, hoping he would understand what you were saying.

Alpha’s eyes darkened and a more predatory look came over him than any you had seen today. His hand came up to grip your throat, not near enough to hurt but a reminder of the strength he could use on you. Searching your face for any doubt or hesitation, he must have found what he was looking for because his mouth crashed into yours, a lot more forceful than your first kiss. This one was full of teeth and growls, pushing his way into your mouth and taking in the way you tasted against him. He wanted to be consumed by you.

As you were kissing, you were surprised when Alpha gripped your hips tightly and tugged you down until your bottom was nearly hanging off the desk. It was all you could do to scramble to wrap your arms around his neck.

“Gonna fuck you so good mesh’la! Not gonna want to sacrifice yourself after this. Gonna have you addicted to my cock” Alpha growled, landing a hard swat to your ass.

Cursing loudly at the flash of pain that sent through you, you tugged to bring him closer to you, wanting to feel just how passionate he was about taking you. From the way he was handling you, squeezing and pinching your sides until you were groaning in want, you knew that he was right to say that. You didn’t know how you wouldn’t become addicted to this, not with how good he was making you feel.

Pushing himself up so he was standing over you, he used his weight to keep you pinned to your desk as he rained a few more blows on your exposed ass. You would be feeling those tomorrow. Which was exactly what Alpha wanted. He wanted you to remember him when he would be undoubtedly sent back to Kamino.

“Alpha! You said you’d fuck me!”

“Oh? Am I not giving you enough, verd’ika? Am I leaving you wanting? Well we can’t have that” he smirked, reaching up to pinch your hardened buds and tweaking them sharply. You let out a loud moan that echoed around the room. “Gonna have to fill this greedy pussy right up” he groaned, spreading your legs and leaving you exposed to him. He raised a hand and laid a sharp spank onto your pussy.

“AH! ALPHA!” you cried out, feeling your entrance gush with slick as you tried to shut your legs and protect yourself from his harsh touches. “Fuck, please” you begged, reaching out to cling onto the edge of the desk. A couple more data-pads went flying onto the floor, none of you caring about anything else but each other.

“Greedy” he chuckled, laying a kiss to your knee before pushing them open and stepping in between them. He ran his fingers through your soaked folds, enjoying the small noises of pleasure that you let out at his soft touch to your core.

Reaching for his heavy cock, he gave himself a few pumps before notching the head of his cock at your entrance. You could feel the pressure of the dome shaped head just pressing teasingly against you. “Deep breath” he ordered, squeezing your thigh. As you did as he instructed, taking in a deep breath to try and calm how excited you was to feel him inside of you, he pressed his thick length inside of you.

Fuck! He was so big, stretching you so wide around his girth that you dug your nails into his shoulders, a moan tumbling from your lips. Alpha gritted his teeth, keeping in his own noises as he felt you flutter around him with each slow slide of his cock inching into you.

Finally, after his cautious pace, he bottomed out into you, the feeling of you clenching around him had him gripping your hips even tighter to try and keep you still. “Relax, ad’ika, otherwise this will be very disappointing!” he warned, squeezing his eyes shut at the pleasure that was shooting down his spine. He wanted nothing more than to thrust into you, hear you cry his name.

“Not my fault you feel like you’re going to split me in half!” you hissed back, hips beginning to squirm in his grasp as you wanted to move. The urge to buck your hips and press back into him was frustrating you.

Alpha sighed, leaning forward to press his lips against your collar, sucking marks up to your neck before he managed to capture your lips in his own.

Returning his kisses, you tugged on his hair slightly so he could see your face. “You can move now” you breathed, smiling at him reassuringly as you wrapped your legs around his strong waist.

That was all he needed to hear, as Alpha pulled his hips back and thrust in sharply, sending you further up the desk. Alpha growled, pulling you back down to meet each slap of his hips against yours, not willing to let you get too far away from him.

You whined at the feel of his cock pushing through your tight walls, felt the way your cunt almost seemed to mould itself around his cock. It certainly felt like Alpha was carving his way into you, burying himself so deep inside that he was never going to escape.

“Hear you thinking, pretty Jetii” he grunted, one hand coming up to massage and squeeze your breast. He tweaked a nipple, chuckling at hearing you cry out at that before rolling his hips into you, his cock brushing that spongy patch at the front of your walls.

“FUCK! ALPHA!” you yelped, gripping his hair tightly and pulling him into a kiss. The pace that he set was leaving you breathless, each thrust drawing small sounds from your lips as he pushed into you.

Smirking down at you, he pushed your knees further into your chest, until you were almost bent in half but he didn’t slow the pace of his hips; continuing to fuck into you until it’s all you could do to hold in the scream of his name. Anyone would be able to hear just how well he was fucking you and you couldn’t let anyone find out about the pair of you. It was too risky.

“That’s it ner verd’ika, you’re taking me so well… good girl… such a good girl for me” he groaned, shifting the angle so he was slamming his hips down into yours.

By the Force! He felt so deep inside of you, like there was no more room for anything else but him. Crying out, you raked your nails down his front, unable to do anything but take him. All you wanted to do was squirm and writhe against him, but Alpha’s strong hands held your knees to your chest, as you felt heat rush through you.

“Close… so close” you gasped, eyes slamming shut as he continued to fuck you so good. You wouldn’t be able to walk tomorrow, you were sure of it.

“Me too” he panted out, one hand releasing the almost steel-like grip on the back of your thigh and reaching for the bundle of nerves at your core.

The noise you let out was something you’d never heard out of your mouth as Alpha pushed you closer and closer to your release. “Please!” you begged him, wanting to feel him release his seed inside of you, paint your walls white. “Want you to fill me!” you groaned, trying to pull him as close to you as you possibly could. At your words, his thumb brushed your clit just right and your vision went white, as every muscle in your body tensed as you shuddered through your release.

“SHIT! Mesh’la” Alpha snarled, slamming his hips into your welcoming clenching heat a few more times before he spilled inside of you. Doing just like you asked as he emptied spurt after spurt of cum deep inside of you.

Catching himself from falling on top of you, Alpha gathered you in his arms before falling back into your desk chair. He pulled you against his chest, both of you panting against each other as you soaked in the bliss of being together.

“So… that happened” you chuckled nervously into the quiet room.

Alpha groaned, running a hand across his face. “I knew you’d be one who liked to talk” he grumbled, arm sliding around your waist and holding you tighter against him. That brought an honest laugh out of you as you looked up to raise an eyebrow at him.

“Thought about this a lot, have you?” you teased back at him, sighing slightly as he dragged his large palms up and down your spine. It felt so relaxing and you couldn’t help but sink further into him.

“Well, it’s a good way to keep any annoying Jetiise quiet” he shot back at you. Humming in agreement, you pressed a gentle kiss to his pec, just above a scar over his heart.

“So what does verd’ika mean?” you wondered, propping your head up on your hand and watching as his expression softened, his cheeks tinting red at your questions. Interestingly, he seemed determined to keep silent. “Oh come on, it must mean something. I saw my men’s reactions to that. What does it mean?” you grinned, poking at his nose.

“It’s nothing” he grumbled, waving your hand away from his face.

“Please! Is it a bad thing?” you frowned, pulling away and pushing yourself up. Maybe the nickname was actually pretty offensive instead.

However you didn’t get very far, Alpha’s hands pulled you back down onto him as he gave a heavy sigh. “No, course not!” he huffed, rough hand dragging up to the back of your neck to keep you in place. Resting his head on yours, he scowled, before tugging on a strand of your hair. “It means little warrior” he said, twirling the strand around his finger.

“Oh, I suppose it makes sense. I am small compared to you, but I don’t know about warrior, I’m a Jedi. I’m meant to keep the peace. I bet the men didn’t know how I would react to being called that though” you mused, propping yourself up on his chest. “Hmm, verd’ika. I think it sounds rather cute. You think I’m cute” you teased, feeling warmth spread in your chest at that.

“You’re going to be insufferable” he groaned, but his lips twitched into a small smile and his eyes shone with his affection.

“Hey, you care about me, admit it! Otherwise you wouldn’t be looking after my shebs!” you reminded, hearing his huff of agreement before he pulled you into another kiss.

“Shut up, Jetii, never said I didn’t. But I still have orders to make sure you’re resting” he rolled his eyes, trailing kisses along your jaw.

“Hmm, I’m not tired yet, Captain. I think I might need some wearing out” you smirked back at him, rocking back onto his lap.

“Yes, sir!”

And when you saw Dose the next day, all he could do was just gawp at you.

“Who the fuck mauled you, General?”

[deathworlders-of-e24]

Danny, Security Chief

Part 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You know, the GAIL asked specifically for a Human security officer for this position. Yours was the first name on the list.”

Admiral Townes had said those exact words to him not 48 hours earlier, and here he was, in a rocket ship filled to the brim with races from 25 different species with different needs and different temperaments. Danny knew this was gonna take up a lot of his time.

Daniel Ducane, or Danny if you were a drinking buddy, liked it when things were quiet. He’d only really joined the service because of his family, both his mom and granddad had done it, and Danny genuinely did enjoy the feeling of helping people. God knows why he said yes to this posting though, an ‘experiment’ to push people to their breaking points. People usually either broke before then or they didn’t. Usually the former, and since the mission was a year long this time, Danny expected he’d get busy sooner or later. Apparently ‘keeping the peace’ aboard the Noah was such a high priority they’d even given him a commander rank the second he took the job. Weird.

Right now Danny was on his way to the Captain’s office for a briefing. Making his way down the halls of the ship, he took note of the many different species aboard. Several of them noticed him as well, some going so far as to stand at attention while he walked by. Danny even noticed how some of the crew took note of him. He wasn’t deaf to the rumors circulating about humans, about how we evolved on a deathworld practically designed to eradicate anything that wasn’t the best of the best. Humans had somehow conquered every other creature on their planet without any natural armor or weapons, by being these strange pursuit predators, apparently just too stubborn to give up the ghost.

When asked, Danny conceded that sure, Earth is kinda rough around the edges compared to other planets, but it was pretty quiet there these days. He liked that. His last posting had been on a security detail at the Doun embassy on earth, and he’d been asked a thousand times how he’d survived in the hellish landscape that had been ‘Arizona’. The Doun homeworld had an exceptionally long rotation period so most of it was frozen a majority of the time, a cool -4 on a hot day. He’d told anyone who asked “you just wear some sunscreen and short pants, you’ll be fine.” The idea of short pants was unheard of on Doun. They didn’t ask a lot of questions after that.

The door to the captain’s office hissed open, and Danny stepped in.

“Sir, security chief Ducane reporting for briefing.” Danny stood at attention, the only thing out of place being the black ball cap he always wore. It clashed with his gray uniform but he didn’t care too much about that. The hat wasn’t negotiable.

Captain Nadh, a Mergal man, stood up to meet him. The Mergal were insectoid, with two main limbs at what would be his shoulders if he were human, and a set of sub arms tucked into his abdomen. His left main arm was missing, replaced with a chrome prosthetic. His legs bent backwards like a grasshopper’s, and his body was sectioned into three different parts like an ant’s. The Mergal standard uniform was a two piece wrap, one around the neck with his rank proudly shown, and another like a skirt or kilt around his waist.

“At ease. Good to meet you, Ducane. My name is Captain *sssccchhht* [Proper Noun: Pronounced; Skitch] You came highly recommended from your last CO, so I’m hoping your brought the same level of commitment to the Noah.”

“Aye aye sir.” The Captain’s base language was a bit hard to understand to human ears, what with the lack of lips in favor of a set of short mandibles, so the translation was a beat slower than normal. Danny didn’t mind too much.

“Allow me to be honest, Chief Ducane. I specifically asked for a human security chief on this mission. I know your people have only been part of the GAIL for a few decades, but human exploits are known across almost every system by now.”

The corner of Danny’s mouth twitched up, and he had to stifle a laugh.

“You hired me…because I’m a Deathworlder, sir?” Danny asked. Skitch laughed, a low pitched chittering sound.

“Takes one to know one Ducane. I’m Mergal, everything at home wants to eat me, the plants, the animals, other Mergal.” Skitch laughed again.

“I wanted a human. I hired you because your record, your training, and your personality profile all tell me you’d be the best fit. You’d have full control over your team, train them how you’d like, outfit them with the best gear we have available, I think you’d be very happy here.”

Danny took a beat, then smiled. “Happy to keep things quiet for you sir.”

“Very good. Dismissed.”

Danny turned back to the door.

“Oh, Ducane, before you go. I got your clearance for your…requested gear and personal kit. I’ll trust you, until proven otherwise, but are you certain the equipment you requested is necessary?”

“You were honest with me, boss, so I’ll be honest with you. I like it when things are quiet. But I’d be an idiot if I wasn’t ready for things to go loud.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny put his feet up on his new desk and let his head rest back against the chair. He hadn’t brought a lot of stuff on board, so ‘decorating’ his office hadn’t taken that long. Two photos, one of his parents and siblings with himself, the other of him with the other members in his old unit back in his army days.

Two family photos, he thought to himself, and smiled.

He’d already squared away his duffel and his foot locker in his quarters, so all that was left to do was meet his new team. He’d seen the 3 other humans that’d be on the Noah with him, but none of them were on the security force, so that meant the 10 other crew were all going to be non human.

2 teams of 5, he thought. That way one team can get some sleep while there’s still half on duty at all times.

Danny had never really considered himself a leader before, but never really a follower either. He’d always just been part of the pack, watching someone’s six while someone else watched his. It was going to be different leading the pack this time. But hey, Rangers lead the way, right?

This is gonna be fun, Danny thought as his team came through the doors.

“Everyone fall in! We got work to do.”

[mycadences]

There are so many things I adore about Gwynriel, but right now I'm particularly loving how Azriel -- the stoic and stony Spymaster of the Night Court -- is repeatedly amused by Gwyn. And you know what they all say about how sharing a similar sense of humor is important for a thriving relationship...

Quotes:

"Az stared after her, brows high with amusement."

"Azriel's lips twitched."

"Azriel couldn't help his soft chuckle."

*Gwyn makes a joke about Nessian being too into each other to conduct training properly.* "Azriel laughed. 'I'll give you that.'"

And the last three were when he "wouldn't go so far as to call Gwyn a friend". Like imagine this: he was already so comfortable with her and found her company entertaining when he didn't consider them friends (since this bonus scene was earlier on in the book). Like -- just their potential!

And of course, the one that everyone knows:

"So he offered her a crooked smile."

AHHHHHHHHH!!! *this is the sound of me screaming until my soul has left this world, btw*

Are they in love right now? OF COURSE NOT! No one, NO ONE is claiming that they are head over heels in love with each other right now. But do I see their relationship developing into eventual love and acceptance of each other? Hell yes!

I find it interesting that Azriel was so self-conscious of his scarred hands around Elain, thinking himself sullied, but around Gwyn he was so completely relaxed that he didn't even think about his hands. He even had to fight back the urge to "open up her wrist and rotate the blade" (which he obviously didn't do out of respect for her personal boundaries). Like he was willing to make physical contact with her to demonstrate how to do the move correctly (and no, not in a skinship or sexual manner, but just pointing out how he could be around Gwyn without hiding himself).

Azriel doesn't need to be fixed.

Gwyn doesn't need to be fixed.

They need acceptance, and I believe they can find that in each other.

I still firmly maintain that Gwynriel is endgame but if the stars misalign and the sun rises from the west, I will still be a Gwynriel shipper. I have shipped non-canon couples in other media before. My love for them burns just as bright nonetheless.

But fear not, Gwynriels, we will get the story the world deserves to know 💖

[fanfic-obsessed]

Ten Years in Two months

While the meat and potatoes of this idea comes a bit later, it does require some finangleing beforehand. Some of the beginning does feel a bit contrived, because it is. In order for the dominoes of the plot to fall right later, we do have to force them into shape now in a series of improbable actions. 

Bear with me for a bit, we’ll get there. 

There is not really a particular point this starts, save that it is after Padme becomes pregnant (though well before she realizes she is) but before the Umbara arc (or ignoring the Umbara Arc), for no particular reason other than I want Waxer there.  A mission is assigned to the 212th to escort Padme Amidala and her retinue to a neutral world for negotiations with the Separatists.  They are taking with them commander Ahsoka Tano (the in-world explanation being that she was on Coruscant catching up with course work and they would rendezvous with the 501st, who were on a campaign in that region). 

On the way to this neutral world, from the perspective of the rest of the galaxy, the 212th in its entirety vanishes for two months. 

From the perspective of the 212th they become trapped on an uncharted planet for 10 years. 

For the rest of the galaxy those two months are enlightening into Anakin Skywalker's particular brand of instability.  Without the tempering influence of the bonds to his Master and Padawan, compounded by the fact that his secret wife disappeared as well, Well…his attempts to find them could, in the best of lights, be described as unhinged. He did not fall in at this time, for he was given no reason to make that choice (and falling to the dark, into evil is very much a choice. One does not fall by accident, after all), but he made it very clear that the war, protecting innocents, the Republic, or even the lives of his own men meant nothing compared to finding Padme (occasionally he would remember to make it seem as though he was focusing on finding Obi Wan or Ahsoka, though he never quite remembered to include the rest of the 212th). His obsession presented itself in such a way that even Palpatine was reconsidering some of his plans (he still intended to break Anakin into Vader, but he was now inclined to let Padme-and maybe even Ahsoka; Obi Wan was always going to die-live on as a stabilizing influence to his ultimate apprentice). 

He was swiftly removed from command of the 501st and had to be kept partially sedated for at least 6 of those 8 weeks. 

With the 212th for the first few months, from their perspective, they tried to contact the rest of the fleet. Tried to contact anyone.  Tried to escape from their orbit around this one planet, thankfully habitable and with an abundance of edible food. However, though they did not know it, the planet was out of sync with the rest of the galaxy.

Over the period of about two years they shifted from living mostly on the ships with just enough people on the surface of the planet to keep everyone fed to a more permanent settlement on the planet with a rotating skeleton crew up on ships to keep everything running. 

Padme found out about her pregnancy pretty early on, and with it came the knowledge that her relationship with Anakin was not the secret she thought it was.  Nor was the relationship forbidden like Anakin told her. The marriage was forbidden, because of the Oaths Anakin swore as part of the Jedi Order and how they conflicted with the traditional Nabooian Wedding vows (though she also finds out that the Jedi Order would have helped revise both sets of vows so they did not conflict).  Even beyond her own misunderstandings of the Jedi, she started to see the many places where Anakin either deliberately misunderstood his own culture, or deliberately misled her.  

In fact it became obvious within the first six months that every culture represented in the ships (The variety of cultures from the natborn admiralty, the Nabooian Delegation, The clones, and the Jedi) all had some misconceptions about all of the other cultures ranging from the humorously minor to massive misunderstandings (One of the minor misunderstandings is between the Jedi and the Clones on names and numbers. The Jedi believe that they are making sure that they are calling the clones what the clones want to be called instead of their designation. The clones think that the Jedi as a whole are uncomfortable with their designation AS names-Which yes but also no-so even though most of the clones prefer a name to their designation, even the few that want to use their designation are told by the other clones that the must choose a name to use around the Jedi). 

Obi Wan takes over Ahsoka’s training and the gaps that Anakin had left become very obvious; the place where he taught her something that was outright wrong even more so. About three months in, Ahsoka tells Obi Wan about Anakin’s ‘training’ of being surrounded and fired upon by the 501st.  One of the few things that Anakin was right about was that he Jedi would not understand, nor condone, that training. Ahsoka had not realized how disconnected from her own culture she had become in her short time with Anakin. How isolated he had made her from her people. Though she and Obi Wan were the only Jedi, she felt closer than ever to everything she had grown up with as he took on her tuition. 

In month 8 Obi Wan, who was looked to as the leader, arranged for a series of times to address the misconceptions held by an for each culture present.  When it became clear that they were cut off for the long haul, he helped the variety of people to start to live instead of just surviving.  And at the beginning there were a number of natborns among them that were anti clones, or anti Jedi, just as there were many clones that were anti nat born.  But with only about 1500 people in total (1300 clones, about 50 natborn officers and support staff, about 150 senatorial support staff) there were simply not enough people to support those kinds of prejudices.  It is hard to say that the clones were not human when you listen to the stories of decommissioned batchmates during one of the remembrance ceremonies.  Or hate the natborn lieutenant that got drunk and cried all over you about the pregnant wife they left behind.

The twins were born with a village of aunts and uncles, and though they are the oldest, they were not the only ones. Sache, one of Padme’s former handmaidens and part of her senatorial retinue, entered into a relationship with Waxer and Boil, having a child with them that was a year younger than the twins.  Many relationships formed and broke apart during those years.

Ahsoka and Padme ended up co parenting the twins, with Padme being called Mom and Ahsoka being called Mom Ah.  It was the twins who insisted on their names from their earliest ability to speak. 

In year four Cody and Obi Wan get married. Though theirs is not the only relationship that develops, nor the only one with healthy communication, their relationship does highlight to Padme how unhealthy her relationship with Anakin actually was. (It should be noted that, although Anakin’s instability and actions were flashier, this is not Anakin abusing/coercing the poor innocent Padme. In this they are toxic together, both acted in unhealthy ways that compromised their own morals).  Padme was able to see how Cody and Obi Wan did not use their love for each other as a bandage for deeper wounds. That CodyWan did not become all consuming; each man had friendships and hobbies and duties separate from each other (even with the friends they shared, they did not act as a single unit, inseparable from each other).  The other relationships she saw only drove this point home. 

At some point in those ten years she tells Obi Wan of what happened on Tatooine, just before the start of the war. And Obi Wan, eyes betraying his grief and horror at the massacre of the Tuskens asked her why she absolved Anakin of his crimes (By technicality, as a senator Padme did have the authority to absolve Anakin-so even if Tatooine becomes part of the Republic, and the crime is reported, Padme’s actions mean that Anakin cannot be tried under Republic Law). Padme cannot answer him.  

Though it does take time, Padem is eventually able to meet Obi Wan’s eyes again after the revelation. 

6 years in, Ahsoka and Padme realize that they have fallen in love.  Driven by the Jedi teachings for healthy and open communication (though many cultures value open and honest communication, few need it in the same way as the Jedi who are all some degree of Empath), they talk about what was happening. Neither is sexually attracted to the other, but they do want to date each other.  But Padme is married to Anakin. And it might have been six years, so they do not know if Anakin even still lived, and if did, he had likely moved on (both of which are reasonable assumptions) but being together without first speaking to Anakin felt too much like giving up the idea that they would find a way home. So they agreed to wait until they were ready to give up that idea. 

They had not given up by the time that the 10 year mark rolled around.

In year 7 the chips begin to deteriorate. The material they were made up of were not meant for the extra years of use, plus the method Helix used to stop the accelerated aging (discovered within 5 months of actually having time) created an enzyme as a byproduct that had no effect on the clones, but accelerated the deterioration of the chips.  The first three chips were removed after the clones involved complained of migraines. All the documentation in the computer banks (the archive of what was readily available, instead of what was stored on the galaxy’s version of the cloud) of the ships said the chips were to inhibit excess aggression. No one had any reason to not believe the documentation, not even with the realization that the chips were not in the right place for what they were supposed to do (the assumption is that the Kaminoans, for all their genetic know how, just do not understand near human neurology enough to have put it in the right place).  Obi Wan met with Helix, the head medic, with Cody after the removal of those first chips.  Obi Wan assumed that he did not know about the chips because he had not been on the council when the order was put in. Helix is able to confirm that all of the clones have these chips and what they are supposed to do (according to the literature) and that some were beginning to deteriorate.  After it becomes clear that the removal will not hurt the clone, they make the decision to remove all of them. However, believing them to be behavioral modifiers (if incorrectly placed), and as they did not have the optimal equipment to decode them, they all left it at that and put the Chips into storage and basically forgot about it. 

Just 15 days shy of the 10th anniversary of their arrival to the uncharted planet, whatever grip that was holding the ships bound to orbit the planet vanished (The planet was in sync with the rest of the galaxy- it is a window of time that is six hours long in the larger galaxy, or 15 days long on the planet) Still not able to raise communications to anyone outside of the planet’s orbit, not knowing how long they would have before they were stuck again, and fearing that they would be cut off from anyone left behind (no one had forgotten that the planet had not registered as there until they were trapped), everyone was loaded onto the ships along with all of their food stores and the 212th left the uncharted planet. 

As soon as they hit the galaxy at large again, alarms began to shriek. Every system that communicated with the central systems (basically everything outside of life support) experienced a fatal error upon reconnecting with the galaxy’s central system. It takes 4 days to fix. They have to reset all of the internal clocks/calendars in their computer systems to a date and time two months and 3.5 days after they became trapped (the last 24 hours of that time was spent inputting random dates into the system). 

NOTE: There is a very important reason for this. Computers are very black and white about some things, and communicating between computers is often validated on specific information to make sure that both systems are dealing with the same information at the same thing. Current Date/Time had to be validated for the purpose of navigation. Galactic/Stellar drift is very real, and in the mapped regions of the galaxy that drift is precisely calculated.  It is impossible to keep a real time map of every object in the galaxy, instead there is a systematic ping that goes out at specified times (Twice per Galactic Standard year) remapping every object in the known galaxy and correcting the location in the centralized system.  Then Navigation computers calculate how long it has been since the last ping to figure out where everything is and a safe route.  That only works if the current date time matches the current date time of the centralized system exactly (some of those object movements, even objects large enough to damage the largest of ships, can be measured in microseconds). 

No one realizes why this is an issue. The entirety of the 212th believe that 10 years have passed (born out by their time keepers, which had ticked along for ten years) and yet to the larger galaxy only two months have. They absently notice that by the time anything is working again the planet they were on had vanished. 

A message is sent to Coruscant, to the Jedi temple, but it is a hesitant thing. Deliberately vague in details. Obi Wan has no idea what 10 years has done for or to the war effort.  The response is almost immediate,  a call from the Jedi council. The very first question out of Mace Windu’s mouth is a cranky sounding ‘Where in the Force have you been for the last two months?’ (Look Master Windu is absolutely ecstatic that they are safe and not dead, but he has spent the four days helping to keep Anakin contained-the sedation began to wear off faster now that he could feel Ahoska and Obi Wan in the Force again-, the last two months realizing that Obi Wan ran about a third of their side of the war, and had been in the middle of sleeping for the first time in weeks).

There is quite a bit of confusion as both Obi Wan and Mace were absolutely sure the other had lost it over how long the 212th had been gone (Obi Wan: we were trapped for ten years; Mace: Bullshit! You’ve been gone for 2 months).  It is Ahsoka’s appearance that convinces Mace that something more is going on (he would not know the children, and Ahsoka is the only other one for whom 10 years-or 10 years and 5 months for the clones- would make a huge visible difference). Mace is able to convince Obi Wan that they really have only been gone two months and the 212th makes its way back to Coruscant, reeling over the disconnect (The Lieutenant who spent the last 10 years mourning over the missed moments with their wife and unborn child…hasn’t even missed the birth).

The mind healers who have been dealing with Anakin nearly weep in relief at the news that Padme Amidala is with the 212th and safe. They know that Anakin needs many much therapy still but they have hope he will actually pay attention now that his wife is back. 

The 212th, now a community in a way that they had not been, returned to Coruscant.  They do not split in the ways that they would have before (before relationships and children) and peer at the lives they had left behind that they no longer quite fit the shape of. 

The lieutenant brings home their best friend (a clone who had not picked their name before the mission, but decided to go with 29, which they picked to reference the number of a decommissioned batchmate)  to meet their wife, only for some of the wife’s family make an awful comment about flesh droids and being a pet (thankfully their wife was equally embarrassed by her brother’s behavior). 

Obi Wan, Cody, Padme, and Ahsoka go to the Jedi temple, to the Jedi Council (the twins, like the rest of the children, were left aboard the Negotiator in the care of their extended family). They speak of the planet where they had been trapped and the lives they grew there. 

Padme took the time to apologize to the Council, formally, for the violation of their beliefs that she and Anakin had perpetrated by marrying as they had.  She could admit that while Anakin had not told her of any Jedi traditions for marriage, or really any traditions they might be violating by marrying, she had made no effort to check either. 

As an afterthought Obi Wan told the Jedi Council about the chips deteriorating, but that they did not appear to be doing anything anyway (To which every other member went: “What chips?”). Upon being asked Obi Wan calls for Helix to get a chip or two out of the storage closet they had been forgotten in. Which was then promptly handed to people with specialized equipment for decoding bio mechanical chips. 

After the latest round of sedation has worn off Padme, Obi Wan, and Ahsoka go to see Anakin. They are told that before Anakin can be released he needs to be assessed by three different mind healers. They go intending to tell Anakin of the twins. Padme also goes with the intent to test the waters about the possibility of separating (She does not know that her and Ahsoka dating would go anywhere, nor are either of them even thinking of it right now, but even leaving that aside Padme has realized that her and Anakin are not healthy together). Things do not go quite as intended. 

At first Anakin is so happy to see all three of them, he exclaims over Ahsoka being so grown up (she is now 24, now older than Anakin). It rapidly becomes clear that Anakin expected he would be released immediately, now that they were back.  There was a small blip, a frown and a strange heaviness when he realized that all three of them were backing the healers that he needed to be assessed.  Anakin also did not like how close Ahsoka and Obi Wan were, oh before they vanished he would joke about Ahsoka being their shared padawan, but he preferred it when Obi Wan’s lessons unintentionally reinforced the idea that Ahsoka was better off with Anakin than any other Jedi.

There were a few moments when he could speak to Padme alone, and the way he spoke left  Padme feeling cold. There was nothing overt but it all reinforced a possessiveness that Padme realized she did not want in her or her children's lives. They leave without telling Anakin about the children. 

Padme tries six more times to go and talk to Anakin about separating. At best he acts like he does not hear or understand her words.  At worst he starts ranting about Obi Wan trying to steal his wife and needing to be sedated. 

Regretfully, and with the backing of both the Jedi and the 212th community, Padme starts the process to get a divorce. Nabooian traditions insist that a couple that wants to divorce must meet with a Nabooian marriage counselor first, to see if reconciliation is possible.  Setting this up takes several months as, upon being informed of proceedings Anakin had a second breakdown. His connection to the Force was such that the Jedi needed to block the connection lest he become very destructive. Only the Force Blockers left him not coherent enough to attend the session with Counselor. In the end the Jdi built a special room just to block Anakin’s specific connection to the force for them to meet in.  Traditionally the divorcing couple meets at least 5 times before permission is given to divorce.  It took one meeting for the Counselor to grant Padme her divorce. 

The 501st had not been assigned a new general by the time the 212th returned, and Ahsoka was almost ready for knighthood.  She took command of the 501st for a total of 4 months, it was too uncomfortable and too much like she was replacing Anakin (made weirder by the fact she still wanted to date his soon to be ex wife  and was helping to raise his children).  In the end Obi Wan ended up taking direct command of the legion, with Cody taking the lead of the 212th.  This also made everyone uncomfortable, thankfully the war ended three months after that (the revelation of what the chips did had the council contemplating finding the planet that 212th had been stranded on).

Palpatine had been indiscrete around someone who he had assumed would back his power play for an Empire. To be fair, in another world that family would have been high ranking imperial with very human centric tendencies. 

Palpatine had not expected a Lieutenant of the Galactic Navy, member of the 212h or not, to whip out a slug thrower and shoot at a party when Palpatine had admitted to knowing about the slave chip in the clones' heads. 

To be fair, neither did the Lieutenant.

[kit-williams]

Consequences

Male Lead: Konrad Curze/Solruthis Uadasha/The Night Haunter (Sol being his nickname) Female Lead: Reader/Sorsollia (sun that illuminates)

I'm sorry I love Zalgo text a lot it says HIS

tw: yandere, broken bones, physical assault, torture

@bispecsual @egrets-not-regrets @moodymisty @bleedingichorhearts @liar-anubiass-blog

@thevoidscreams @barn-anon @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan @squishyowl @ms--lobotomy

@nekotaetae @sleepyfan-blog

Another successful compliance! As they didn't receive as much fighting as he had forseen but he was certain that would please Sorsollia. The smile on his face disappears seeing another scribe there waiting for him... you were the main scribe they were to collect when he had to do these frivolous talks of what he had done.

The other scribe bows their head and he feels a sense of anger... perhaps disgust that someone else is here... but he swallows the feeling and gets the talk over with. As they are packing up their tablet he stops them. "Where is Sorsollia?"

There is an upturn in their heartbeat, "She hasn't been feeling well. I don't know what she is sick with all I know is that she's off rotation for some time." LIAR his mind hisses but he knows his Sorsollia will be displeased if the only other Scribe that he has 'dained to be in his presence is dismissed.

"Thank you." He dismisses them as he sits and broods. His Sorsollia is alive... he would have been told otherwise. So he simply waits for a few hours... and waits... and waits... and waits. Sorsollia does not come... she does not message... there is silence... and Solruthis Usdasha does not like this.

He moves with the flickering lights... they turn off long enough for him to move to the next hall... to cram himself into the next crevice. Humans are surprisingly unaware creatures though many are Nostroman he passes... he frowns as he heads into the part of the ship that is inhabited by those who do not like it being so dark. Here the prey tends to act skittish... as he watches how one person turns on their heels when they see the hallway lights flicker hiding his movements. The soft nope from their lips would normally make him smile but he is on a mission.

He could easily also push himself into the service halls and move around that way but no... this is his ship and he can slink about how ever he pleases. He comes to her door pushing his thumb over the reader and overriding her locks... after all it is his ship he is the skeleton key.

He moved with unnatural quietness into her abode; spacious given her rank it had two rooms compared to the typical singular room. His ears moved as he heard her pained hiss.

Sorsollia winced as she dabbed the cotton ball against the cut on her forehead her non dominant arm in a sling as her broken wrist was splinted. Most of the swelling on her face had gone down just leaving the ugly bruising. She sniffled hard feeling herself want to tear up and cry again, her eyes went up freezing as there was someone- "Sol?" Her voice cracked as she turned around.

The fearful beating of her heart died as he knew that rushing hopeful beat. His mind was terrifyingly silent as he took a step closer... as he gently grabbed her face and turned her toward him... it was so quiet when he looked over her face... someone had beaten his Sorsollia. Someone had harmed his Sorsollia while he was away. His eyes look at her broken wrist and splinted fingers too he knew a threat he knew what a threat to someone's livelyhood looked like. His thumb absentmindedly wiping away the tears rolling down her cheeks as her legs give way and she lets out a dispared wail. A wail that normally excites him... and oh how it still excited him in a different way. He pulls her out of the small room of the bathroom and holds her close. "Oh my Sorsollia what happened? Did the head scribe order this?" His voice suddenly went cold at the thought of someone abusing her because they were on a power trip.

"No! No... no... no... I don't-"

"Don't lie to me. Sorsollia you know I don't like lying. Don't protect the scum." He snarls holding her tightly, "They must be punished... I am a Primarch no one-"

"I don't know who they were." She sobs into his chest afraid of the repercussions but her Sol was there. "They came to me when you were gone. They didn't tell me who they worked for but to only edit a few documents to make their lord look better. I assume they were thugs for some noble. Because one of them had to have been one... because I talked back to him I was too comfortable in my position working for you because they didn't like a scribe talking back to them." Her voice strained at the end as the tears ran harder. "They knew which hand was my dominant one... so they broke my wrist of the other one to send a message." She was so very ugly when she cried... utterly distressed and distraught.

"And you still told them no?" He probes.

"They told me that they would be back and to use this time to consider it." She hiccups softly.

"When they come back I want you to agree." He says holding her. "I'll make sure I find out who they are and who their employer is." He whispers to her as she sobs into his shirt. Solruthis Uadasha finally truly comes out... there has been a great injustice inflicted upon his charge... upon his Sorsollia. And he will make them pay.

She was withdrawn... hardly holding the name Sorsollia but he played his role just as she did. They stayed apart as he played the distant ruler and not the attentive lover and she hardly needed goading into her role of the cowed submissive. He held her the night he came back... as she was tired and sleep wasn't coming to her... she was afraid and clung to him but for now she was by herself.

Konrad leaned back on his throne as the chirping of the small cogitatior he planted in her room. His impassive face split into an insane grin as he watches how the three... no four, his eyes spy the man at the door, "faceless" mooks walk with such false swagger. His nails dig into his seat as her arm is grabbed and Sorsollia collapses to her knees trying to get her wounded arm free. Konrad had sat and tended to her wounds to soothe her as she had been living in such sweet fear for days.

His dark eyes narrow at the hand touching his Sorsollia far too affectionately. Konrad gritted his teeth in that manic grin feeling the teeth chipping before healing. But once they were gone he quickly collected his Sorsollia taking the document they wanted her to improve and the name of the noble that had the AUDACITY to threaten what was H̷̨̭́̿Ḭ̴̏̕S̷̢͇̐. He hid her away in his room as Solrithis Uadasha got to work.

The lookout lay dead and blind... his tongue shredded to ribbons as they went down without saying anything. His torture felt much like an afterthought much just like their role in all of this. The two guards who had beaten and broken his Sorsollia's wrist he was careful in the application of pressure and pulling away... breaking more and more of their bones and perhaps like a Drukhari he twisted their useless limbs into unnatural shapes as the two bleated for death and each day he brought them closer and closer with more and more bones breaking and each day they did not expire he continued to crush and twist.

The lower noble who felt so big to be perhaps within the fucked up standards of society be able to get away with beating the personal scribe of a Primarch. Perhaps he had the right.... perhaps he did... but unfortunately for him he picked the wrong Primarch to try and get away with this crime. He had cut off the hand that he had dared touch what was his and was slowly peeling it bit by bit and feeding the flesh back to him.

Sorsollia was far too kind for her own good... he'd have to see what the laws from where she was were like... He pushed the flesh into the mans mouth grinning. "You know she said that the sins of the father don't pass on." He laughed, it was a hideous laugh one of disbelief that he held affection for someone so blind to the cruelty of the universe. And yet he hesitated to rip the veil from her eyes because once he did that... he was certain she would see the disgusting creature that he was. He craved her affection... he craved her attention... he craved her seeing him as a man. She couldn't be blind to everything... she was a legion scribe... she knew the methods.

There was a nasty thought planted in his mind now... the paranoia and mistrust rearing its ugly head... he left the torture room unable to find satisfaction in conducting the punishments until he figured out why. "Sorsollia." He said entering the room wiping the blood from his hands as she paused what she was listening too looking over at him from the lit corner of his room.

"Yes?"

"I need to know something." He walked over.

"Of course I live to serve." She said with a genuine smile but that only heightened his paranoia.

"Why did you want to work for my legion? We are perhaps the most cruel ones... and you had personally applied."

"I had personally applied for both your legion and the blood angels." Her lips became a thin line as she thought of words, "While I don't agree with the methods you employ... your rate of compliance compared to the body count is a good ratio. Um..."

"Speak."

"I just don't agree with it... but it leans more into the necessary evil. Not that you are evil Sol." Sorsollia quickly adds, "Just all of this... the great crusade... perhaps there is a selfishness in my part for hoping that I'm on the correct side of history... instead of simply being a conscientious objector... that maybe this will all be worth it in the end. But what do I know of war and combat... I'm just a helpless Scribe." She says looking at her wrist, "I chose you for the low ratio of bodies to compliance."

"And Sanguninius?" He says not betraying the way his hearts were twisting at the thought of his Sorsollia being in the Great Angel's company... being his Scribe. Konrad wants to claw his scalp at the anxiety that bubbles over at the thought of her being enamored with the perfect angel.

"I've heard he is kind. He gives many chances to accept the imperium's generous offer... but I've heard that the Blood Angels can be... scary. " She nervously laughs, "Me talking about how scared I am of the Blood Angels when I work for the Night Lords. I probably sound stupid..." He's noticed since she's been attacked how critical of herself she has been.

He pulls her into his arms his long fingers combing through her hair, "Sorsollia." He listens for her hum, "In a couple of days this will all be over. I want you to return to being yourself."

The pitying smile she gave him nearly had him snarling, "You're very bad at comforting but I appreciate the attempt. Just..." Her voice sounded so small, "Please promise me this won't happen again? Just... I thought I was safe and-" Her voice breaks as tears flow.

Giving her his child would let everyone know who she was... it would make sure no one would touch her... He kisses away her tears, "Shhh Sorsollia I swear upon one of my hearts that it won't happen again."

That gets her to smile, "If I'm keeping track that means you've sworn on both of your hearts so far."

"So it is. I've already taken care of the thugs that hurt you. They've been punished."

She just nods and hides her face in his chest, "I should probably go back to my room."

"One more day Sorsollia. You slept so fitfully last sleeping cycle... it would make me worry to find out you've been struggling to sleep. And I need to make sure you are comfortable so your wrist and fingers heal."

"Okay Sol. One more night." She sighs happily just feeling that she'll soon be able to put this all behind her. For Konrad he was thinking of what he was going to do to the noble who was so eager to get the Primarch's gaze... oh the dark grin on his face as he certainly had it now. He gave his Sorsollia a kiss on the forehead and swore that the sparkle to her eyes was slowly returning and that made his hearts sing.