#there’s a repair on here that I bet you didn’t see

[slipperylilfrog]

I made this sunflower spoon rest! It’s inlaid with natural turquoise that my partner and I meticulously sorted by hand. Terrible decision, really.

I just wanted to share it because I’m pretty proud of it. My partner wants a sunflower themed kitchen, so that’s what we’re doing! I made this to fit the theme, the sunflowers are all in different styles, so it didn’t really matter that mine was in my own.

[chlorinecake]

𝐉𝐎𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊 - a yjw oneshot 🕹️

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: a fun gaming session with your bsf leads to a night full of steamy shenanigans

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: gamer!roommate!jungwon x reader

𝐜𝐰: swearing, kissing, teasing, hickeys, y/n gets her boobies fondled, oral (f. & m. receiving), mentions of other enhypen members

𝐰𝐜: 3k | not proofread, written quickly

You sighed, “I wish more people in the world cared about Roblox… it saved my life, bro.”

“That was easily one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard you say.”

“What?”

“I said-”

“EVER! Wanna play COD Mobile instead?”

“Bruh, that game is so mid.”

You scoffed at his remark, bringing a flared hand to your chest. “I’m goated at COD mobile, averaging like 100 kills per match. People praise me for that.”

“Because it doesn’t take skill?” He made it sound like a question, when he was really making a statement.

“Mkay. I bet I’d still whoop your ass on console, but we don’t have to go there.”

A hint of ambition sparkled in his eyes at the challenge. “Oh yeah? And what are we betting here?”

“Hmm,” you thought for a moment, “If you win, I’ll fix you a victory snack.”

He nodded at the enticing offer, “And if you win? Which you won’t, but-”

“The bragging rights will be enough for me, but you could always fix the broken shower head in my bathroom so I can stop using yours,” you interrupted confidently.

Jungwon forgot all about how you broke your shower head last week. You told him it was an innocent mistake, but his mind obviously wandered to other places once you told him. By now though, he had already gotten used to sharing a bathroom with you, so he didn’t feel any urgency to repair it. Still and all, he understood how you might want your private space back. “Ok. Fair enough,” Jungwon agreed.

He handed you a controller, waiting for you to join him at the loading screen. Setting up your gear and choosing what weapon you wanted, the match eventually started. Needless to say, you didn’t stand a chance against Jungwon and his team of CPU’s, feeling sore from defeat.

A prideful smile waved over his features, showcasing his prominent dimples. “Sooo,” he began, “I would like your leftover Twix bar from the fridge cut up over two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Don’t forget the sprinkles.”

You pouted, handing him the overheating controller. “I’m not fixing you a damn thing. You probably cheated!”

His eyebrows raised, “First of all, cheating is for weenies. Second of all, a deals a deal!”

“Ugh, fine. I’m charging tips, by the way.”

“Not a chance, crook. Unless,” he caught your attention as you got up from the living room couch, “you wanna go for another round?”

“No, that’s alright. I think I'm gonna just watch you play the game for now. You could invite Heeseung, too, if you want.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back, okay? I gotta use the bathroom real quick.”

Walking into the bathroom, you closed the door behind you, taking off the bra that had been killing your back for the past 12 hours. You didn’t know where else to put it, so you hid it under Jungwon’s bathroom cabinet before leaving.

“When do you ever wanna play games with me? Are you with Riki or something?” Heeseung asked from the headset.

“No, I’m with ____. She needs some testosterone in her life and wants to watch us play I guess.”

“I can think of a few ways to help her with that,” Jungwon could hear the smirk in Heeseung’s voice.

“Shut the fuck up and join me already.”

“What? It’s not like you’ll ever have the balls to make a move on her, anyway,” Heeseung chuckled. “How long have you know her for again?”

“Since the first day of college.”

“Damn, and you’ve barely even grazed first base.”

“She’s still sacrificing her free time to hang out with me, so I don’t see the loss here?”

“Look, buddy. Your rizz needs an upgrade. These cute little gaming nights you have every weekend needs an upgrade. Your wardrobe needs an upgra-”

“I get it, asshole.”

You came back with the snack he requested, eliciting a dramatic applause from your goofy ahh friend.

“Your majesty,” you bowed playfully, placing the bowl of ice cream on the desk in front of him.

You filled in the space next to him, resting an elbow on the arm of the sofa, your nipples now on full display through your thin shirt.

“Are you cold,” Jungwon asked, eyes not quite meeting yours. You meant to reply, but he was already reaching his hand out to grope your chest, using a thumb to smooth out your hardened buds with his warm touch. You eyes widened in shock.

“Woah- mmm, n-no, I’m okay” you stuttered, Jungwon smirking at how flustered you appeared.

What the actual fuck was that!?, you thought to yourself.

He went back to casually talking with Heeseung again as if he didn’t just rub your nipples…

You usually enjoyed watching Jungwon play the game, but now, you couldn’t take your eyes off of Jungwon’s pretty hands. The way his delicate thumbs maneuvered the joystick of the controller sent your mind into a daze.

“Hold up, Hee, I’m gonna put you on mute for a sec,” Jungwon said, handing you his controller before mouthing the words “play for me” with a catty smirk. He adjusted his headset over your head, bringing a finger up to your seal your lips. “Shhh,” he warned.

You knew Heeseung wasn’t actually on mute because there was an open mic symbol on the corner of the screen.

What’s he up to now?, you wondered.

Kneeling between your legs with greed, Jungwon’s fingers tiptoed to the waistband of your shorts. He paused before asking, “is this okay?," and you simply nodded in response. He smiled, tugging your shorts and underwear past your hips, knees, and ankles, stuffing them under the sofa.

He gawked at your wetness, your lips swollen with need. Heeseung started the match, and that’s when Jungwon started taking kitten nips at the sensitive flesh between your thighs, leaving a few marks. He blew at your heat before finally using his fingers to explore your folds.

“Cute,” he must’ve noticed the way your pussy pulsed in anticipation. Attaching his lips to your throbbing clit, he sucked it into his mouth, alternating with his fingers when breaking for air. He hummed at your taste, adding to the pleasurable sensations.

You tried focusing on the game for Jungwon’s sake, but you couldn’t resist the urge to reach for a handful of his hair and gently grind against his face.

“You’re doing so good for me, baby, just stay focused,” he said in between slurping at your wetness that never sounded so foul til now.

Did he just call me baby?

He inserted a finger into your tight hole and started pumping in and out of you, curling up to stimulate your g-spot. You were struggling to keep your moans in, rolling your eyes to the back of your head as he finger-fucked you. He looked up, noticing that you had fully abandoned the controller. “Keep playing or I won’t let you finish,” he purred.

“Fuck,” you panted quietly, how do you expect me to do that?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, ____.”

You picked up the controller and started playing again. Heeseung was now swearing over the mic like a madman. “Bro, you’re really not helping out our stats here by letting the enemy clap your cheeks,” he scolded, but you weren’t really paying attention to his voice anyway. Jungwon dove back into your heat, licking rough stripes against your clit as he inserted a second finger. “Mngh,“ you mumbled dizzily, clenching around him.

“What?” Heeseung asked confused, having heard your noise.

You reached to mute the headset, but Jungwon gave you a look that told you not to test him. You gave in, and succeeded in holding back your whimpers, but your heavy breathing continued.

“Dude, I’m literally never playing the game with you agai- HOW THE FUCK DID I JUST GET DIED?”

One last thrust of Jungwon’s fingers, and you were finally coming undone, shaking from the intense wave of pleasure that washed over you. Slender fingers glided in and out of your needy hole, his knuckles adding to the delightful stretch. The match ended shortly after you came down from your high.

Jungwon licked his fingers clean of you and swapped the controller back. “Sorry about that, hyung. I was eating and didn’t wanna disturb you,” he lied, readjusted the headset on himself.

“Well, I hope it was worth it. Our team forfeited on some elite rewards.”

“You’re welcome,” he teased, which you didn’t know if it was meant for you or Heeseung, because he leaned in to kiss your lips softly, before going in for another match.

Still feeling your orgasm fresh in your viens, you reached under the couch to grab your shorts and underwear, putting them on and getting up from the sofa.

“Hey, what’s up,” Jungwon asked while taking a spoonful of the half-melted sundae into his mouth.

“I-I’m just gonna shower... and maybe go to bed after.”

“Alright. Me and Hee are gonna play one more match and I’ll be in after you. Don’t take long!”

"Dude, you’re abandoning me already? I thoughtyou were gonna help me take these punks to skill-ville," Heeseung whined over the mic.

"You need to immediately repent for saying that," Jungwon cringed.

You made your way to his bathroom with a change of clothes, closing the door behind you.

You entered the shower, trying to wash off the growing heat between your legs and any dirty thoughts associated with your roommate. A few minutes in, you also decided to wash your hair as it had been a week since that last time you did.

That’s when you heard the door open and close, followed by the sounds of clothes being removed and tossed on the bathroom floor. You peeked from the shower curtain, only to find a naked Jungwon standing right there. He didn’t notice you looking, so you pushed the shower curtain back.

“The shower is occupied at the moment, Wonie!”

“I know,” he smirked, entering the shower from the opposite end as if this was yet another casual ordeal.

“May I,” he asked, pointing to the spot you were standing at in the shower. “Oh, sure” you replied, trying not to make things awkward. He reached for the bottle of shampoo and started lathering the honey scented product in his hair and skin. You tried to avoid taking anymore peeks at his toned body so you busied yourself with a loofa and cleansed your skin for what felt a hundred times. By now, you sat idly in the corner of the shower, with bubbles waiting to be rinsed from your body. “Here,” Jungwon motioned for you to return to your original spot. “Thanks,” you said. “Would’ve been nice if you said that earlier,” he poked.

Oh shit.

“Here, let me help you,” he offered, rinsing off the soapy suds that painting your shoulders and back. Somehow, this gesture relaxed you. “Now turn around for me.” You faced him with a chest covered in bubbles. He quickly rinsed your breasts before lowering the shower head to your private, adjusting the water pressure from low to medium.

You could hardly stand up straight from the pressure building up at your center. The throbbing sensation between your legs travelled up to your quivering lips. You moved a hand to cover your mouth, hiding your lewd sounds. Jungwon didn’t mind though, because your squirming is what excited him the most. “Hold still, ____,” he teased, putting the water pressure on high.

Bracing your balance with his free arm, his soft lips met your damp neck, nibbling at the skin. The sensation was so sweet that you finally let your moans out. Developing a mind of its own, your hand reached down to stroke Jungwon’s hardness, a lustful look staining his features.

He groaned into your ear, making you feel more than half crazy. You felt your climax creeping up on you as it became harder to stand up or keep still. Starting to pump him faster, both of you were now on the verge of bussing.

A little voice in your head slapped you back into reality.

This has to stop! He’s my roommate!

You turned the water off from the faucet on the wall, retreating your hand from his member as if it tased you. Grabbing a towel from the curtain rod and covering yourself, you left Jungwon alone in the bathroom.

You went to your room and started to dry yourself off. You couldn’t quite wrap your head around what was happening but a part of you liked it and another part knew it was inappropriate.

You just touched Jungwon’s dick, and yes, it felt really fucking nice, but the thought will likely haunt you til the day you die. He was a good friend of yours, and you didn’t wanna let fleeting feelings ruin it.

You put on the scented lotion from your nightstand followed by your clothes before plopping in your bed. You didn’t bother locking your door because you never had you to worry about Jungwon intruding your privacy. Or at least, that was before today.

You buried yourself under the covers before a trail of footsteps made their way from the bathroom to your bedroom door.

Creak.

The door opened and closed.

Click.

He locked it.

Walking over to your bed, Jungwon sat behind you.

“I know you’re awake, so stop pretending,” he whispered in your ear.

Annoyed, you threw the covers off your head, giving him an exhausted look.

“What do you want, Jungwon? Huh?”

“I could always just show you,” he said, flashing you the sluttiest eyes you’ve ever seen on a man.

“You could’ve waited for me to finish up in the shower before barging in like that.”

“No, I really couldn’t.”

“We’re roommates, Won! Hell, we’re friends!”

“And? What does that have to do with anything?”

“You can’t just fondle my tits whenever you want to, or eat me out on the couch when you’re bored, or join me in the shower because you’re impatient.”

You let that sink in for a moment.

“Did you not like it when I did those things to you? Did you not like the way I made you feel,” he inquired, inching closer towards you on the bed. “Because the way I remember it, you never told me to stop.”

The room fell so quiet that your heartbeat sounded loud.

He reached over to grip your thigh, leaning in for a kiss before shoving his tongue past your lips, but you pulled away.

“Jungwon stop!” You reprimanded, turning your head from him.

He grabbed your chin and proceeded to kiss you.

“Jungwon, I said stop...”

“I can tell you didn’t mean it.”

He continued kissing you, shoving his hand into you panties and going straight to your pussy, sliding his digits up and down your moist folds, sending an ache through your stomach.

“Fuck, baby, you’re so wet for me.”

He called you baby. Again!

He didn’t waste any time to rub circles around your sensitive bud, causing your hips to jerk toward him.

“Stop it!” You raised your voice, pushing him away by his throat. Your hand never looked so small til now.

“Then make me.”

“What?”

“You know I don’t like repeating myself, ____.”

Darkness waved over both your features as you pressed his back flush against the bed, reaching for his drawstring and pulling his sweat pants down. He wasn’t wearing any boxers, so his pink tip sprung up, clear fluid leaking from the tip.

You grabbed his dick, giving it a firm stroke before grazing your teeth down his shaft, eliciting the prettiest whimper you’d ever heard from his mouth. The texture of his veins ran against your tongue as you took half of him into your mouth, using your hand to stimulate the base.

Your head bounced up and down as Jungwon grew dangerously desperate. Tapping your cheek, he guided you off of him to take a breath. Cradling your head in his grasp, he slid you back down until your lips reached his pelvis. “Hollow your cheeks for me, and breath through your nose,” he guided before using your head to please him. Your eyes began to water as his tip hit the back of your throat, causing you to gag a few times, but he ignored it.

“I’m so close, baby, just keep taking me,” he nearly begged, chest heaving as he screwed his eyes shut, “Be a good girl for me, mmm,” he grunted, picking up the pace.

You were getting used to being called “baby” by now.

“F-fuck,” he whimpered, bursting his load into your mouth. He lifted your head from his throbbing heat, using a thumb to wipe the cum that dribbled from the corner of your mouth. You went back down to taste his release, only for him to guide your head away.

“Don’t eat that, ____,” he giggled, but you swiped a finger to collect some of his cum anyway.

“It’s only fair, Wonie. Now we’ve both tasted each other.”

You went to the bathroom to wash your hands, coming back with a few tissues to help clean him up. Something about this dirty moment seemed so pure. So right.

“Okay, I’m going to bed for real this time, see you tomorrow,” you smiled, getting under your covers.

“You don’t expect me to go back to my room, do you,” he asked, giving you a look.

“Well, tonight, I’ll let it slide, but if you end up breaking your bed, don’t expect visitation privileges.”

“Thank you,” he let out a breath, smiling as he snuggled under the covers beside you.

“Jungwon?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Heeseung has any idea about what we did?”

Ding.

Jungwon’s phone vibrated in his pocket:

Text Message from “Heenis” — Jake ditched me for a hoe 👍🥲 wanna call?

A mischievous smirk poked at the corners of Jungwon’s lips, “He can find out.”

“WONIE, IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER, I SWEAR YOU’RE SLEEPING IN YOUR OWN BED TONIGHT!”

❁ if y’all can’t tell already, i am dangerously jungwon biased…

❁ anyways, thanks for reading “Joystick” by @chlorinecake! be sure to check out more works by me on my enhypen bookshelf!

[im-poe-dameron]

THE HEART OF A SHIP

a/n: this fic is a result of wine and rewatching the force awakens. honestly my brain always short circuits whenever oscar isaac comes on screen. so i had to do something. it was meant to be small, but i literally couldn't stop writing so it became this. it's an idea that has been lingering in my head for awhile, i just had to let it simmer for a bit. and now it's fully cooked.

summary: you and poe were inevitable. two asteroids set on a course to crash into one another. a celestial event that would happen whether you wanted it or not. you just never expected it to happen so soon.

word count: 3.4k+

pairing: poe dameron x f!reader

warnings: EXPLICIT SO MINORS DNI, alcohol consumption, love confessions sort of??, poe being romantic as fuck, p in v sex, guided masturbation, biting, sex in an x-wing, sex in a public place, unedited but we live and die by the fucking pen.

Intoxicating.

That was the only way you’d describe him. The only word that ever did him justice. He was the human embodiment of an Antakarian Fire Dancer. You got hammered on it one year after two glasses of the amber liquid, proceeding to forget half the night yet eager for more. Nothing could describe the man before you better. It simply wouldn’t do him justice. He was the itch beneath your skin that you could never satisfy, the reason you stood there now.

A glass of that amber liquid in both hands.

He’d disappeared from the celebration. An hour in from congratulations and happy faces, you watched him leave when no one was looking. And you did nothing to stop it. You knew he wasn’t one to relish in the joys of battle well done. Always intent on focusing towards the next thing—the next fight. It’s how you knew Leia would make him General, why he was so good at leading, at keeping the people he loved safe.

“Leaving without saying goodbye is rude, you know.”

He jumped slightly where he stood, his back to you, a holopad in one hand and a tool in the other. Of course he’d be here, fixing his X-Wing in silence. His own little ritual. You couldn’t count how many times you found him here after a fight, finalizing the last few checks before he caught some sleep. If he slept at all. Poe always seemed to be on the move no matter the time of day—a constant in the Resistance even when everyone else seemed to have lost faith.

“I said goodbye,” he joked, head turning slightly to see you come around, the holopad getting traded for a glass. “Just couldn’t see you in the crowd.”

You smiled. “You’re a shit liar Dameron.”

“I know.” He took a sip, winced, and laughed—the sound practically lighting you up inside. Igniting you like a fucking lightsaber.

“What’s the damage report?” 

“Nothing I can’t fix.” He glanced back at the scraped up hunk of metal he loved more than anything. The amount of care he put into keeping her going was admirable—if a little insane at times.

But he was right. The damage was nothing he couldn’t fix.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” The smile still played on your lips, eyes alight and aiming to start something you wanted him to finish.

Poe caught onto it quicker than you expected. He could see it before you followed him out of the celebration. A promise that lingered in the air from months of longing looks and timid words. Something inevitable and real. So much so that you were willing to bet everything that he felt exactly the same way you did.

You wanted each other. That was clear from day one. But doing something about it became difficult when war was a constant and lives were put in peril on the daily. Poe didn’t want to leave you broken beyond repair if he never made it back. Just as you didn’t want to do the same to him.

The fucked up thing about it though was Poe would mourn you either way. He’d live his life half a man if you never graced him with your presence again. If you weren’t around to smile at him from across rooms and laugh at his shitty jokes. He was pretty sure he’d already started. Being away from you was like a poison he constantly had to take, a pain he didn’t want to endure. And if it were up to him��he’d choose you every time.

No matter the consequences.

“You ever been in an X-Wing before?” he asked, trying to see past the bits and pieces of the ache that hurt you both.

You rolled your eyes and Poe felt his chest tighten. “You know I haven’t. I’m not pilot material.”

“Sounds like bantha shit to me starlight.”

The name you’d heard so many times before echoed differently to you now. You wanted to break through its meaning and find the promise within. The antidote to this fucking ache that stuck to your chest. You wanted to rip it out and grind it up. You wanted to finally take what you desired, relish in the feel of calling him yours without the pain of knowing what came next. The both of you were trying to save your emotions—protect yourselves—but there was no use.

Poe had found a home in your heart and he was there to stay.

“Come with me.”

When it came to him you had no choice but to listen, following dutifully behind in a haze of want. He climbed up the ladder on the side of his ship, plopping down into the seat with the grace of a pilot who’d done it a million times before. The movement now muscle memory at this point. Whereas you clambered up—buzzed on one drink—nearly falling into the cockpit. He grabbed your arm at the last minute, helping you slowly maneuver your way in, until you were perched on this lap.

The seat was barely big enough to fit him let alone you as well. And yet…you’d never felt more comfortable. He pulled you back slightly, hands pressed to your hips, chest snugly placed against your back. With every intake and exhale of breath, you felt him move. Felt his body shift. If you focused, you knew you would be able to feel his heartbeat. The rhythmic thump you’d grown accustomed to.

“Now—“ He precariously balanced his glass on the dash. “Your hands go here.” Covering your hands with his, he showed you how he’d position himself if he were flying. The cold touch of the buttons and knobs beneath your fingers sent electricity up your spine. “These are to shoot.” Another shift. “And this is to aim.”

You sucked in a breath. “Seems complicated.”

“Not at all.” His fingers slid up your arm, chin coming to rest on your shoulder. You tried to remember how to take a single breath. “You just have to understand how the ship works. How she moves, what she likes.”

Your breath hitched, body leaning into him more, and finally you felt it. The wall holding both of you back crumbled to the ground. All that remained now was the will to finally do something about it. So you let his hands guide you, watching in anticipation as they moved to your own body, pressing your palms into your stomach.

“There’s always a heart of a ship,” he murmured, moving your hand down. “A pilot guiding the way.”

“Poe…”

"After all, we've got to guide the ship back home." A soft whimper left your lips, your nails digging into the meat of your thighs to contain yourself. If the cockpit of his ship wasn't so fucking small, you had no doubt you'd be spread on his lap, lips connected to his already.

He grinned, his lips brushing across the back of your neck. “For me…” He stopped right above the hem of your pants, your fingers aching to finally delve down further. “That’s always been you.”

The alcohol had all but burned out of your system from how warm you were. His touch guiding yours seemed to have lit something in the base of your stomach, causing it to spread outwards. And you needed more. Your head fell back against his shoulder, eyes fluttering shut as he pressed your hand beneath the coarse fabric of your pants. The feeling of him cupping your mound—using you all the while—sent a jolt across your body; a soft moan falling free past your lips.

“Maker starlight,” he said, his voice hoarse with desire. “You’re so fucking wet.”

He wasn't wrong. You could feel yourself dripping the longer he spoke, his words affecting you more than you anticipated. Ever since you first met, Poe always held a power over you. A reminder that no matter how many times you tried to rid yourself of him, no matter what you did...he would remain burned into your soul. He'd be part of you until you drew your final breath in this galaxy.

"It's cause of you," you gasped, your fingers and his sliding through your slick. Running along the lips of your cunt, skimming past your clit entirely. "Oh—"

The scrape of his teeth along your neck nearly did you in entirely, the plea hanging off the tip of your tongue in anticipation. He was toying with you. Playing you like a fucking instrument and listening to your melody. Drowning in the sounds you made—the ones he dreamed of. If there was a life after this, a fated place he could go to rest, he'd want it to be here. Crammed into this cockpit with you on his lap, the feel of you sliding through his fingers and the echo of your voice breathing his name sweeter than the alcohol you had handed him earlier.

Poe would do whatever he could to make this moment last just a minute longer.

"Need you."

He kissed the junction where your neck and shoulder met, fingers still guiding yours through your own heat. "I know you do starlight. But you're gonna cum for me like this first." Your sweet little gasp ripped him a part. He had to squeeze his eyes shut to stave off nearly coming in his pants. "Let me guide you."

You nodded and spread your legs as wide as they could go in the cramped space. It wasn't very far, nor did it give him space to do what he really wanted to do to you, but it would have to do for now. The noise of the celebration in the distance only grew louder as people consumed more alcohol, the joy bleeding into the air. But you couldn't give a shit at that moment about why they were happy, or even what occurred before today.

You were lost to the depths that Poe pulled you into.

Heat spilled between your fingertips, a sticky mess starting between the two of you, but that seemed to only drive him forward. He pressed down, sliding your fingers into you with ease, his delving in right beside you—stretching you in a way that had your back arching. Wrapped his arm around your waist, he kept you still, his chin set on your shoulder and chest heaving with controlled breaths. A way for him to keep the last bits of his sanity as he felt your walls clamp around his fingers.

"Fuck baby," he grit between clenched teeth. "You really did need me huh?"

Nodding, you felt him press even further, fingers searching for something.

"You're gonna make a mess on me." Pumping his hand, he felt your body shudder—your mouth falling open as a ragged moan echoed in the ship. "Gonna take me so easily. I'll slip right in."

You burned from the inside out. A searing heat pulling tight across your body until you could nothing but fall into it. There was no fighting against that aching bliss, no running from what you wanted, what you dreamed of. Poe was intent on breaking you apart right there on his lap, and he'd watch with a smile on his face as you spilled yourself between the rough pads of his fingers. As you made a fucking mess on his lap.

"C'mon baby," he muttered, curling his fingers forward and nudging against something blinding. You cried out, hand grasping at his wrist to either pull him away or keep him right there. You couldn't tell at this point. And he smiled. "Is that it?" Rubbing against the spongy patch along your walls, he felt your entire body lock up, a whimpered sob breaking from your chest. "Yeah. That's fucking it."

You tried to warn him, his name a garbled echo of nonsensical letters on your tongue. But he already knew. His hand sped up, practically pushing your fingers out of the way as he gave you everything you wanted. Poe was certain that he wanted this more than you, that deep down he needed to know that you came because of him. That he was capable of turning you into a sobbing mess.

The echo of his pained grunt was loud in your ears, his hips pressing up into you to relieve the pressure of need he felt, and that's what did it. The knowledge that he was as gone as you were. That he had always wanted you.

Your walls fluttered around his fingers, a splintered moan falling past your parted lips as the pleasure spilled over. And he buried his face into your neck, a broken sound of his own muffled by your warm skin. He fought against finishing, biting into your shoulder as he worked you through your release. Adamant to make this last for you—to drag you to the Maker and back with a sated smile on your face.

Eventually you couldn't take it anymore, pleasure bleeding into pain, and you dragged his hand away. A breathless sigh of his name shooting right to his cock.

Without knowing it you had broken him for anyone else. Obliterated his ability to ever see someone the way he saw you.

You and your beauty. Your ability to render him speechless, breathless, and at your fucking mercy. For so long he was the ship lost in space with no sense of direction to lead him back to something real, a purpose. But then you settled into his heart. You became his pilot, guiding him through the never-ending void of space. You kept him afloat even as the weight of the galaxy threatened to drag him down, happy to watch him crash and burn in as so many others had done before.

"That was new," you giggled, hand reaching back to run through his hair.

He smiled, his heart twisting in his chest and fingers still covered in your slick coming to grip at your hips. "To think..." Pressing your ass down against his hard cock, he felt the breath hitch in your chest. "We could have been doing this the whole time."

"W-What a loss," you breathed, that now familiar all encompassing need filling your veins once more.

As if he knew your body so well already, he began to pull at your pants, helping you strip yourself to the best of your ability. The soft clinking of his belt echoed loudly in the cockpit and for a moment you were sure that people in the distance could hear it. But that thought quickly left your mind the second you felt the hot skin of his cock pressing against your lower back—his precum wet and sticky now smeared against your skin. Saliva filled your mouth, the ache pulling at your chest, clawing its way to the surface.

You didn't simply want him. That was too small of a word to explain the feeling in your body. You breathed for him. You lived for him. Poe was the blood that streamed in your veins, the reason your heart beat the way it did. Because it beat for him.

"Say you want this," he grunted, grinding against your skin, his fingers digging in harder than before. Until blood nearly pricked at the surface.

"Yes." The word was out of your mouth before he could even finish speaking. "Maker, I've wanted this for so long."

A growl hit your ears, his nose pressed into your back as he lifted you slightly, and you felt like you would rip to shreds if he didn't hurry. The head of his cock pressed against your entrance, sliding into you with slippery ease. And you pressed back against him, desperate to feel him sink into you fully. To be stretched out around his cock. Poe choked on his breath when your warm heat encompassed his throbbing length so suddenly, nearly throwing him off the edge entirely.

"Fuck starlight. You're gonna have to give me a second."

Your lips curled up into a grin. "Yes, General."

For a moment Poe could only process the breaths he took, the word entering his already blank mind. It wasn't until a searing heat shot up his spine at the sound of his title leaving your lips, did he fully understand. His hips pushed up into you, forcing him to sink just a bit deeper. You clutched at the side of the ship, your eyes fluttering shut at the feeling. The position had him pressing right along your walls, the underside of his cock grinding blissfully against you.

"I used to think you had no idea." He pushed you up slightly until his cock was halfway out and he glanced down, moaning at the sight of him covered in your slick. Only to pull you back down hard. Your choked cry was like music to his ears. "Didn't know what you do to me. How my whole fucking body belonged to you."

"Poe—"

He repeated the movement, smiling at the noises that came free. "But I was wrong."

A pressure quickly built in the base of your stomach, threatening to destroy you. And you chased it. Meeting his thrusts, you fucked yourself on his cock, hands pressed to the dash in front of you and back arched to find the perfect angle that made your toes curl in your boots. Ragged breaths filled the space, accompanied by broken moans and stunted grunts. Each one louder than the last as you both took and took and took, until the very edge of bliss mounted in your bodies.

He gripped the back of your neck, hand fisting at your hair as he pulled you back roughly against his chest. And you fell into it. Whining his name when he grinded up slowly, your walls clamped down around his cock. You could barely see straight through the burn of tears that glazed your eyes, a fucked out expression painted perfectly on your face. And Poe wished he could see you from where he was, catch a glimpse of the way your eyes rolled back, neck on display for him to bite.

"You know exactly what you do to me, starlight." His mouth fell open in a silent moan when his balls drew up painfully, cock throbbing along your walls. He quickly shoved his hand into your slick, fingers locating your clit with ease.

"Maker—" You heard him bite out your name like a prayer he couldn't get out fast enough. A plea for you to give him everything you had, everything that made you who you were. "I'm— Fuck I-I'm—"

"Yes," he groaned, using his other hand to cup your chin and pull your lips to his. Finally kissing you after years of dreaming it would happen. "Fucking give it to me baby."

His tongue licked into your mouth, swallowing every sound you made with ease. The feel of his lips against yours shoved you towards your release. A muffled cry of his name echoing in his mouth as your body went taut, thighs quaking as you gushed on his cock. He choked, mouth open and panting against yours, following you instantly and spilling into your cunt—filling you until you were sure it was dripping out of you and gathering at the base of him.

"Yours," he sighed against your lips, thumb running along the top of your cheek. "'M yours."

The twist of your heart brought you down from your high, your eyes fluttering open as he stared at your kiss swollen lips, the way his spit smeared along your bottom one. You expected him to take it back once he slipped out of you. Surely this was nothing but a dream, a moment in time that may never happen again. But in his eyes you saw devotion. You saw the inevitable future that was always bound to happen.

"Me too."

He smiled, nose brushing against yours. "Guess we're stuck with each other starlight."

"That doesn't sound too bad to me, General."

He tsked under his breath, fingers coming to grip your chin—brown eyes flashing up to meet your gaze. "You're causing trouble."

You grinned, grinding on his softened cock that was still buried deep in you. "And if I am?"

The feeling of his cock twitching inside you, slowly growing hard with interest. "Hands on the controls baby." He nipped at your bottom lip. "You know what to do."

A soft flutter filled your stomach as you followed his direction. Taking the lead in a dance that you were now familiar with. With Poe everything came with ease, as if you'd gone through it with him hundreds of times over. And guiding him home was just the beginning.

[tragedy-of-commons]

call to action

boothill x gn!reader | wc: ~1.4k

Always get your hopes up.

tags/warnings: alcohol mentions and references (reader actually doesn't drink explicitly), romantic tension, ipc cog reader, mental gymnastics, pining in a weird constipated way

notes: this is a request from a lovely ao3 commenter, aqua! "...i'd like to request a Boothill x IPC reader if that's fine?" + i also combined this with a dialogue prompt from @/promptlyprompting!

“You’d be a fool to say no.”

Boothill’s voice remains a coarse drawl that almost sounds scolding. Even if your way of running the show has always been at odds with his, he’s never outright called you a fool of all things. His offer hangs in the air, making the sticky atmosphere of the bar even more unbearable. The bulbous red light fixtures sway overhead as the ringleader of a nearby group slams an animated fist on the counter, licks of crimson fleetingly painting the tops of your heads.

You laugh, drink going untouched as it always does; at the end of the night, when you both fight over the tab, you always surrender yours over to him as a peace offering. Maybe tonight you’ll need to give more than that to appease him. “I’d be a bigger fool to listen to you. You aren’t exactly known for being the most reasonable of the bunch.”

“I don’t extend this opportunity to just anyone,” he reminds you, lips curling into a toothy grin. “To me, it seems like you’re looking for excuses to miss out like you always do. That mind of yours ain’t too rigid for Galaxy Ranger business, y’know. I bet you’d make it work.”

Boothill is weird, that much is apparent, yes, but only he would ask you to join him on his journey, call you a fool, and then compliment your mindset all in the same artificial breath. His audacity is so offensive that it’s a wonder that Lan themself hasn’t struck him down. He gets away with so much - including making you hope for a different future. Including making you hope for a different future with him.

The exterior of the bar is just as cramped and loud as the interior. Visitors modding their vehicles on the outcrop of the main strip—Mechanic’s Haven—shout and drill away at the innards of spaceships, drones, satellites, and whatever else - wayward sparks landing at the feet of shoppers and pedestrians. There’s something to be said about an IPC lackey and a Galaxy Ranger walking into a bar, but he wisely refrains. 

You sigh. “You know I can’t. As fun as chasing pipe dreams with you would be, I’m locked into a contract with the largest corporation in the whole known universe,” you make a point of gesturing to your uniform. “That kind of obligation doesn’t just go away, even if you run from it.”

He snorts, an empathetic little thing. Boothill then pops his hat off and situates it on your head, much to your chagrin. The noise you let out is affronted, the brim of the relic obscuring the better part of your vision. How disgustingly fond of him. “I see where you’re comin’ from, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to reconsider. You’d be a much better fit here than there.”

(The unspoken words stick to the roof your mouth. You’d be a much better fit with me than with them.)

Part of you agrees. There’s always been a scale in your head that weighs the fairness of each step you take - measuring the footfalls of others in tandem with yours; you know what it is like to have a strong sense of justice that itches to be upheld. Boothill witnessed this side of you firsthand, when the first words you ever spoke to him were something along the lines of: “Leave the freelancers here alone. Those are the prices, and they’re that steep for a reason. Pay him in full or I’ll make sure you’re in need of a few more repairs.”

You’re also aware of the strange role you play in this. Being on the IPC’s payroll, the contractual thing to do was to report the outlaw to your superiors immediately and enjoy the generous bounty on his head, but you didn’t. You didn’t because when you came face to face with the Boothill, you were ambushed with a childlike wonder you hadn’t felt in years, even if your righteous admonishment didn’t reflect it.

Nowadays, this dingy old bar with no name isn’t the same without his wild tales. Mechanic’s Haven isn’t the same without him at your side as you weave through the clusters of people, him poking fun at your job and your unwillingness to turn him in. When he calls you one of the good ones, you begrudgingly call him a pretty stand-up guy. He gets a kick out of that.

This planetary pitstop is growing more suffocating by the minute. You tip the hat upward to let it sit on your head at a higher angle so you can actually see, narrowed eyes trained on your companion. “You think so? And what makes you so sure, huh?”

He makes a show of flexing his fingers before balling the scrapwork appendages into a fist, taking great care in placing it over where his heart would be, if he was not the thing he is now. The look he fixes you with is complicated, layers of something hidden behind that thick accent and the centers of those crosshairs. “Call it a gut feeling. Y’know, as arbitrary,” he enunciates the word painstakingly, “as the universe is, there’s a reason we met. You got what it takes… and I ain’t afraid to shy away from that truth like you are.”

There it is again. “I’m not afraid. I just happen to think before I act.”

Boothill sighs and swipes your drink that’s been collecting dust with a deft hand, knocking it back. He recovers, gaze raking over your form. It isn’t salacious in the slightest, you think, the way he starts at the tip of his hat’s feather to the silver insignia resting over your heart. Maybe his eyes lingered on your lips too, but that could be you injecting something pointless like hope into this relationship that doesn’t need to be there. That seems more likely. 

“A little too much if I do say so myself,” he guffaws, much to the displeasure of the other patrons. He plucks his hat back off your head with something like amusement, returning it to its rightful place. “You’re as stubborn as a mule, but I know when I’ve been bested. Come on, it’s gettin’ late.”

You two don’t fight over the tab this time around, him sliding a generous amount of credit to the barkeep who just looks slightly bewildered at two of his regulars not verbally fistfighting each other like they normally do. The question in his stare makes your cheeks feel hotter than lava, and you walk with Boothill out of the bar without much fuss, greeting the mild night cold. The silence that you share isn’t uncomfortable, but there’s more to be said. You know he wants nothing more than to hear a yes from you, which sends your mental equilibrium into dizzying contention.

Something is not right, and it is your fault.

With an audible swallow, you fight the butterflies in your stomach and nudge his side. The raucous song of Mechanic’s Haven harmonizes with the thrumming in your ears. “Hey.”

He turns to look at you, whistling a tune you can’t place.

“I’ll give it some more thought. Don’t get your hopes up, because becoming a fugitive by association seems like a lot more trouble than it’s worth,” you cough.

Boothill beams and it just serves to confuse your internal scale even more. One would think you’re suddenly inorganic with how it feels like you’re short-circuiting. Is this an acute onset of cardiac arrest? Or is it something else you’ve been pushing away for months on end?

He nudges you back. “I knew you’d come around! And the first lesson of being a Galaxy Ranger,” he starts, “is to always get your hopes up.”

Yeah… it’s definitely something else entirely. Something that, in all likelihood, is going to get you into massive trouble. You understand the risks that come with fraternizing with an outlaw, have weighed them heavily against your heart, and have reached only one verdict:

You’ll sleep on it.

(You’ll end up following this cowboy no matter what. Even you, deep down, know that he’s been sticking around the area for way too long, like he’s waiting for something or someone. It just so happened to be you. Dang it all to heck and back.)

taglist: @flower-yi, @moineauz, @aphrodict, @nomazee, @singularity-sam, @harque, @thestarswhisper

[etoileee]

WE’RE NOT REALLY STRANGERS. ₁

⤷ a percy jackson dr shifting experience!

We were currently sitting on the floor in the poseidon cabin. this is my first time in here.

Piper and Hazel were sitting on the bed behind me, Piper’s hands running through my hair.

When I first got there she told me that my hair was nice and asked if she could play with it, and of course, I said yes because I’m a sucker for people playing with my hair.

and for her.

She asked me what I did for my hair care, and I almost felt bad saying ‘nothing’. the only thing I did was not use heat on my hair, but it wasn’t because I cared about my hair so much, but because I didn't know how to use those tools.

It's unfortunate, I know. I’m a sixteen-year-old girl who did not know how to curl or straighten her hair.

as she ran her fingers through my hair, I found it hard to keep my eyes open, her slender fingers were gently scratching and threading through my hair sending shivers down my spine, making me feel relaxed.

I forced my eyes open and looked around the cabin, It was oddly cooler in here than it was outside, but I say oddly because I didn't see any AC to keep it cool in here. On one of the beds, there was a whale shark plush.

That’s Percy's bed.

Everyone else was talking amongst themselves, probably trying to figure out what to do, but I wasn’t paying attention. I just closed my eyes and focused on the feeling of Piper’s fingering raking through my hair.

The sound of the front door opening makes me open my eyes again out of curiosity about who it may be. It was Nico and a tan blonde boy walking in, their eyes scanning every one of us.

I’m gonna bet to you right now, blondie is a child of Apollo.

“Hey guys,” Jason says with a polite smile, pushing his glasses up his nose. Percy seemed a bit amused like he didn’t expect them to show up.

I hadn’t seen Nico since our talk last night when I weirdly told him about my life before camp half-blood, and the regret was starting to settle in as I felt the embarrassment of telling him about that stir in my stomach.

Why'd I overshare so much?

I mentally facepalm myself.

I know he’s the one that asked, but I still felt awkward about it.

Nico’s eyes fall on me and I avert my gaze somewhere else, trying to not look too awkward and like I was just looking at him without thought, not like I was embarrassed to be seeing him again after last night.

“What are we gonna do?” blondie says sitting down with a smile, his face turns into a puzzled one when he sees me. “I’ve never seen you around before…” he tilts his head as if racking his brain trying to think if we’ve ever interacted before this.

“I got here yesterday,” I say quietly with a subtle nod.

He perks up at that and smiles at me “Ah! That’s why then,” he extends his arm out to me, giving me a handshake “I’m Will Solace,”

His hands are soft and warm.

“Cītlalli Ohara” I let go of his hand and brought it to rest in my lap. I managed a small nod in acknowledgment to Nico next to him, he gave me a nod back.

I want to rip my scalp off.

“PERCY IT’S A MESS UNDER HERE!”

Annabeth's head was currently lost in the darkness under Percy Jackson’s bed in search of some sort of game we could play to pass the time together. “No, it's an organized mess!” Percy yelled from the bathroom running his hand through his dark hair before coming out of the bathroom and getting on the floor to help Annabeth look for the card game.

I laid back on the bed behind me, observing everyone. Piper behind had started braiding my hair.

I know it’s a weird thing to do, but I’ve always been a people watcher. It’s almost like watching a movie for me. I liked learning from people just by looking at them.

I sound like a weirdo.

It is normally not this quiet—

“HEY HEY HEYYY” there he is.

Leo.

The curly-haired boy strutted into the cabin with a grin on his face and surprisingly didn't have on his repair boy suspenders.

I miss the suspenders.

bring back the suspenders, repair boy!

“Hey, star shine,” He says, giving me a fist bump and flashing me a charming smile, my fist making contact with the ring on his.

That kinda hurt.

The area had become more lively now that the tan boy was here, weirdly. Being around him is like having a shot of espresso.

“I FOUND IT!” Percy yells standing back up from under his bed, in his hands is a small red box with white wording, reading;

‘WE’RE NOT STRANGERS.’

we all gather around on the floor, the box being put in the center between all of us. Percy opened the box revealing well-organized cards. “I’ve been wanting to play this for a while” Percy murmurs, Jason taking out the game pamphlet from the box and reading through the game's rules and directions.

“Listen, learn, reflect. you’ll go through three levels of questions, each level becoming deeper. be honest with your answers. you won't be strangers by the end of it.” Jason reads and puts the pamphlet on the bed, careful to not let it be folded or damaged in any way.

He took out the first card from the first level and read it aloud.

“Level 1 Perception: Do you know how others see you? Level 1 is about gaining perspective on what first impressions we give off and challenging the assumptions we make about others.”

Jason sets the card down next to the box “Who wants to go first?” he asks, pushing his round frames up his nose. The lack of response from everyone made him chuckle. “I’ll go first then,” he turns his head to the right to look at Frank.

“You’re like a gentle giant,” he begins, making us laugh softly. “you’ry kind and look out for everyone around you. and we appreciate it a lot, Frank” his tone was genuine.

Frank smiled shyly “Thank you,” Jason nodded his head and Frank turned to his left to answer the question about Hazel “You have a big heart... you care about everyone.” He says looking into her eyes as hazel looks away to hide how flustered she is. which made me smile a little bit.

“Even when you shouldn’t care” he adds, rolling his eyes jokingly, making Hazel slap his shoulder lightly.

Hazel turns to her left seeing that she’s to answer the question about Nico.

She smiled and began to speak “I think people would perceive you as cold or mean, but I don’t see you that way,” the tension in Nico’s shoulders seemed to relax a bit as she spoke like he wasn’t used to people speaking of him this way.

“you’re extremely observant, you read people very well, you’re a good listener,” she rambled on about the boy, making me smile again. I had only met Nico yesterday, but I found myself agreeing with everything she said.

“Okay okay—that's enough” Nico cuts her off, letting out a little huff. Shaking his head.

He didn't mean it rudely, he just seemed flustered, and or annoyed. like he didn’t like talking about himself.

Nico turned his attention to Will sitting on his left, he wore his usual stoic expression, but his eyes told me something else. “You’re nice,” he shrugs acting indifferent and looking down at the floor, his right hand twisting the rings on his left. “you’re really nice” He speaks again but this time quieter.

My face softened a bit watching the scene. It was sweet, even if Nico looked like he’d rather jump off a cliff right now.

Will smiled at him softly and gave him a little nod, he knew that was all Nico would say about him.

Will turned to Piper to answer the question about her “You aren’t shy about your opinions and feelings on this, and I admire that a lot about you,” his smile got bigger as he spoke, “You’re passionate about the things you care about, I like that about you.”

Piper seemed shocked for a second before laughing softly “Thanks Will” she said pushing her brown choppy hair out of her face.

I didn't miss the way Jason smiled either.

Piper’s eyes met mine, and I don’t know why, but I felt dread.

I met all of them yesterday, what could she— any of them have to say about me?

“You’re hard to read,” her eyes studied mine like we were looking for something in them. We all stayed quiet waiting for her to continue. “I don’t know much—anything about you, really,” she shook her head.

“But I like you.” she finishes.

I stared at her for a little bit, literally having no idea what to say.

“I like you too,” I say just above a whisper, I don’t even know if anyone other than her would’ve heard it.

I turned to Leo next to me to answer the question about him, not giving myself enough time to watch Piper’s reaction to what I said. I didn't wanna know.

I stared at him for a few seconds and a grin slowly appeared on his face as I did. “I think you’re really fun,” he’s full-blown smiling now “I’m fun? That's all I get?” he tilts his head teasingly at me.

I roll my eyes playfully, shaking my head “You’re really fun. there? happy?” I tease back trying to not smile. He sighs dramatically, running his hand through his black curls “I guess…”

He turns to his left, Reyna sitting next to him “You,” he points a finger at her “You scare me hella,” I bite my cheek to keep me from laughing, I hear Piper next to me let out a low laugh.

“But you’re a damn good warrior, and I respect you a lot.” he finishes.

Reyna’s face softened as she processed what Leo said about her, she didn't say anything, she just wore a thoughtful expression. Leo smiled and held his fist up to her. She smiled and collided her fist with his in a lighthearted fist bump.

Reyna turns to Annabeth next to her and says “I have a lot of respect for you too” She has an accent, but I genuinely cannot tell where it's from. “It’s been an honour to fight along side of you.” her voice firm. she means it.

Annabeth looked touched by what she said, but her face hardened a bit again, “Thank you,” she said back to her, i’ts obvious they both had mutual respect for each other.

Annebth turned to Percy, and it seemed like she had been dreading her turn this whole game. Percy smiled mischievously, he had been waiting for this to happen. He points to his ear, mocking and anticipating whatever she’s about to say.

“I don’t like anything about you.”

Nico lets out a sort, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Yeah yeah laugh it up,” Percy says rolling his eyes and making a few of us snicker in his response.

Percy turns to Jason, the last person left. “You take care of all of us.. and you’re responsible. We’d probably be lost without you” He says lightheartedly.

We move on to the more lighthearted part of the game,

I read my card aloud “Give this card to the best listener.”

You mean the boy I’d been avoiding making eye contact with for the last 15 minutes?

I stare at the card for a few moments before looking up a Nico, his face unreadable as usual. I extend my arm out, holding the card between my middle and pointer fingers. He takes it from me, glancing down at the card before up at me again.

He didn't say anything, he just looked at me for a little bit before moving on.

“Give this card to the biggest flirt” Nico reads, his tone indifferent. without a second thought, he gives the card to Leo.

Leo smiles and takes the card from him. somewhat prideful “Y’know it,” he says taking a card from the unread pile and reading it.

“Gives this card to the person that stirs the pot,”

We all know who that is.

“Jackson,” Annabeth laughs, clapping her hands together. Percy grins and puts his hands together, bowing his head down. “That’s for you, love,” Leo says in a posh accent putting the card in Percy’s hands like it’s something precious.

“D1 instigator” Piper jokes, making us laugh.

“Give this card to someone you want to get to know better.” Percy reads before looking up at me, handing me the card with an awkward smile, the kind with both your lips pressed together in a line.

It made his dimples visible.

I take the card from him laying it on the floor next to me, I reach out to get a new card and read “Give this card to the most intimidating.”

I stare at the card for a few seconds, trying to figure out who to give it to.

Annabeth,

Reyna,

Nico,

That’s who’s going through my mind right now.

after a few moments of thinking about my answer, I look up at Annabeth and Reyna, still trying to decide on who to give it to. “You guys can share that,” I say, putting the card in front of both of them.

There was a ghost of a smile on Annabeth’s lips, Reyna’s face stayed emotionless.

I think I might be growing on them.

[steddielations]

“Evening, sir.”

It’s the Harrington boy. Again.

“I told you, son, it’s Wayne,” he manages a smile, harder to do these days, like chipping it out of cement and dusting it off. But he gets it done.

Steve doesn’t have the Henderson boy with him today, that’s a first.

“Where’s the curly one?” He steps aside, letting Steve into the trailer door, more rickety than before. No money left to fix it after repairing the bulk of the earthquake damage.

“Dustin? He doesn’t wanna watch the game, and trust me, you don’t wanna listen to that kid complaining the whole time,” Steve walks by, sorta chuckling to himself, “I always miss the replay ‘cause he makes me change the channel to those D&D cartoons during the commercials, just like—”

He stops in front of the couch, looking over his shoulder at Wayne like he’s afraid he messed up somehow. Wayne noticed that look often from him, less and less, but still often. All that confidence he carries can drop on a dime, sorta reminded him of—

“Like Ed?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“S’alright. I don’t mind talking about him if you want,” Wayne manages another concrete smile, but he means it. Steve always waits for him to bring up Eddie first, like he doesn’t want to remind him if it ain’t on his mind, but Wayne likes to be reminded. It’s nice to feel like he’s not the only one missing him. “But the game was yesterday and y’know the cable’s out.”

“Yep, got it covered. I uh, I taped it,” Steve fishes a VHS tape from his back pocket. Fancy. Wayne would worry about him using that for his sake, but he has a feeling Steve’s folks aren’t around enough to notice.

“The Colts win?”

Steve flips the tape around, “Haven’t watched it, so we can bet on it if you’re feeling lucky.”

It doesn’t feel so dry and heavy when Wayne laughs a bit then, waving Steve to go ahead and start up the TV. He already caught the game on the radio, but he bets on the Colts anyway. Loser’s supposed to do the dishes after they scrounge together some soup, but Steve does them anyway.

Wayne would make a stink about it but he can tell Steve just wants to help, to feel like he’s helping. Same thing when the Henderson boy comes around to see him, wanting to hear all the stories, even the scary ones. So Wayne doesn’t mind letting Eddie’s friends feel like they’re helping him.

His nephew didn’t have many friends. Real, cover-your-six kinda friends. The boys he played his music with, they’ve come by a couple times, Wayne always liked Jeff despite the racket. That older fella that’s doing time now, Wayne wasn’t too fond of. And some of Eddie’s dungeon buddies he talked about were the only few.

Now, casual acquaintances? Anybody who didn’t have anywhere else to sit when he had an empty spot at his table? Sure, Eddie had those in spades.

His boy was good at that, putting on a good old show for his crowd, on a stage to keep his distance. That damn Al did him in good, never could trust easily, having his old man pop up and drag him into his mess before he took off again. And Eddie’s poor momma would’ve done right by him, if she hadn’t gotten sick so young.

Took Wayne a long time to get Eddie to depend on him, to trust this was his place to stay and he didn’t have to earn it, Wayne wasn’t just filling his head to scheme something out of him.

Love ain’t a transaction that way. He wasn’t ever any good at saying it, but he tried to show Eddie the best he could.

His boy though, always carried a debt with him. Like he owed Wayne something for taking him in, had to graduate quick and make it outta here, do something with the better life he gave him. Al dug him in so deep, Eddie stayed roped into whatever his latest scheme was (the cars, the dealing, the gambling, thank God Eddie wasn’t there when the goddamn robbery went wrong, 25 to life) like maybe it’d be enough to keep him from running off again.

The odds have never been in favor of people like them, poor folk in a town that’s stuck in its ways, where everybody’s just like their old man, but Al made his choices and Wayne made his. Rest their mother’s soul, she did her best. Part of Wayne was relieved when Al got locked up, at least Wayne had a better chance of keeping Eddie from going down the same path, try to raise him right.

Being a Munson wasn’t a crime. He didn’t owe a darn thing to anybody. Eddie could graduate at his own pace, play whatever games and music he wanted, dress however, that didn’t mean he was up to no good. And a lot of boys get into dealing for a little easy extra money around here, he was gonna grow out of that just like Wayne did.

It worked until all this mess.

That’s why Eddie ran off after what happened to the poor Cunningham girl. He gets spooked when something goes wrong, like it’ll be the last straw he can’t make up for so he runs off. Like the first time he didn’t make senior year, went and hid out with that Rick fella that Wayne never did like, got Eddie deep into that business he tried to keep a secret.

‘Course Wayne knew. He knows exactly what and where his boy hides. If those damn cops weren’t tailing him, he would’ve gone straight to get him.

That was before he knew it would turn into all of this. Now he wishes he would’ve done it anyway. Gone right to Eddie, told him it wasn’t his fault that everything got all turned upside down. Told him he knew he was innocent right from the get-go, and got him away from this rotten old town.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t go get his boy.

So now he’s just trying to be there for Eddie’s boys, since he can’t.

“You have a night shift tonight right? Gonna put on a pot of coffee,” Steve says once he’s finished up the dishes.

Wayne hums. There’s usually more noise going on during these visits. Steve’s still alright at carrying on, even without the Henderson boy’s chatter to fill any gaps.

It was strange, the first time the two of them showed up. Wayne knew Eddie was close with Dustin, but he didn’t have a clue that he was chumming it up with the Harrington boy. Just don’t seem like the same type of company. He might not believe it if it weren’t so obvious that Steve cared about his boy. He suspected before, but now with Steve showing up here alone, he knows.

Steve misses Eddie in a different sorta way than Dustin.

“No cream or sugar, right?” Steve looks humored by that as he passes the mug of black coffee to him, “How are you related to Eddie again?”

Wayne’s mouth turns upward, remembering his nephew’s god awful sweet tooth. He picked up a box of Honeycombs the other day in the store out of habit. “Just happened to be standin’ there when they beamed him down.”

That gets a good chuckle out of Steve. Nothing wistful weighing it down and Wayne’s glad, watching Steve pour himself a cup of coffee too.

Then bitter-sweetness swirls in his chest, seeing the mug that Steve chose for himself. Must’ve dug it out from one of the boxes Wayne hadn’t hung back on the walls yet. The earthquake did a number on his collection. That Garfield one was the only one he’d gotten around to gluing back together.

“What is it?” Steve asks, cup paused at his mouth.

“Ah nothin’ just,” Wayne waves it off, “That’s the mug Ed always used.”

“Oh, I can use a diff—”

“Nah, nah go ‘head. It’s fine.”

Unconvinced, Steve takes a wary sip.

Mostly these days, Wayne just feels like a watch without a ticker, a chest with nothing beating inside it. He can’t name the feeling he has at seeing Eddie’s old mug being used by someone else, but at least it’s something.

“Y’know, he used to put everything in that sucker. Soda pop, soup, cereal, you name it,” Wayne shakes his head, mouth twitching into a smile, “I’d have to wrestle it away from him just to give it a good washing. It’s well loved, alright. Leaks now.”

As if on cue, Steve has to grab a napkin to sit underneath it.

Wayne lets out an amused hum, “He uh— Didn’t have much stability ‘fore he came to live with me, so he’d get real attached to things like that.”

Carried around a stuffed dragon they picked up at a garage sale ‘til Wayne couldn’t sew the wings back on anymore. Never wanted to throw anything away. Got real anxious about Wayne going to work sometimes, even when he was too old for a sitter. Held onto him saying “Stay home just today, Dad, please.” Which, he didn’t mind Eddie calling him that. It always softened him up, made him give in. Wishes now that he’d told Eddie upfront. Maybe he never would’ve stopped.

“Thought for sure he’d marry that damn guitar one day.”

Steve nearly sputters his coffee, laughing at that, “Yeah, those two are made for each other.”

It’s nice, seeing the way that story lit Steve up. Sorta like his boy can still make someone happy. Hurts like hell that he ain’t here to do it himself, but Wayne was always good at telling stories. That’s where Eddie learned it from.

“I’m uh,” Steve deflates after a minute, looking down at the mug, “God, I’m just really sorry, Wayne.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry too, Steve,” he says, because, well.

Wayne gets the feeling that his boy was Steve’s boy too.

Read the rest on Ao3

[sitp-recs]

livvvv my rec goddess. i’ve recently developed an insatiable knack for draco doing little muggle things, like being obsessed with soap operas, or learning how to bake, or playing board games, or painting a house (??) etc etc. any recs as such perchance?? my eternal thanks x

Love this ask anon, “Draco in the Muggle world” can be such a fun trope! I tried to include a bit of everything but I feel like driving and cooking are very popular in fic, so there’s probably a lot of it here. I hope you enjoy these!

magic in the making by getawayfox (G, 2k)

I didn’t see Malfoy for a year after the trial. When Gin told me that, according to Pansy, he had opened a little posh bakery in Mayfair, I thought she was joking, so I went to see for myself.

Market Saturdays by iota (M, 3k)

In which Harry is an accidental part-time cheesemonger, Draco is an organic farmer and they fall in love.

Muggle 'Drug Store Items' by loveglowsinthedark (E, 4k)

Malfoy's interest is caught by a certain Muggle drug store item. (Hint: Flavoured Condoms)

To Make A Way by cavendishbutterfly (E, 5k)

When Harry finds Draco in the back row of the cinema, he doesn't mean to accidentally befriend him. Or fuck him. Or catch feelings. The thing is, Draco only does casual.

How We Throw Our Shadows Down by thistle_verse (T, 14k)

Draco has finally found the perfect, rare piece to complete his collection. The only problem is that the item belongs to Harry Potter, the last wizard on earth Draco wants to ask another favour from.

The Tapestry of Kinship by khalulu (T, 15k)

Harry is at loose ends, Draco is good with needles, and Draco's young daughter wants to see a certain tapestry repaired. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black will never be the same.

Tuesday Nights by firethesound (E, 15k)

The absolute last place Harry expected to see Malfoy was in a rundown Muggle cinema on a Tuesday night.

Rich Friend by iota (E, 18k)

As far as Harry can tell, Draco Malfoy is still rich as hell. He’s just not a wizard anymore. Featuring: Draco Malfoy trying to make it as a Muggle pop star, Harry Potter as our confused and horny hero, bad driving, good music, and the mysterious magic of falling for someone.

Harry Potter and The Bisexual Awakening by Writcraft (E, 23k)

Harry is perfectly content being single, heterosexual and living in Godric's Hollow with his very clingy rescue dog, Snitch. When Draco Malfoy turns up on Harry's doorstep demanding that Harry teach him how to drive, things quickly become a lot more complicated.

I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor by birdsofshore (E, 28k)

Harry felt lit up from inside as soon as he entered the bar. There were blokes dancing together, their bodies close to one another, not keeping a wary distance as Harry was always careful to do when he was near another man. God, he wanted this – wanted it so much he could taste it, a metallic tang of heat and desire. He suspected nothing would ever be the same again – especially when he saw who else was in the room.

Around You Moves by ignatiustrout (M, 29k)

Harry knew Draco was gay when he invited him to move in. He’s never had a problem with this. So why does he feel so weird about Draco bringing men home all of a sudden?

Faint Indirections by ignatiustrout (T, 30k)

Draco Malfoy is the last person Harry expects to turn up in Boston, Massachussetts. But now he's here, and he won't stop requesting books from the library where Harry works.

Open For Repairs by FeelsForBreakfast (M, 35k)

After the war, Draco works at a tv repair shop and Harry breaks things.

(Un)wanted by aibidil (E, 36k)

Ginny's pregnant, then she's not and Harry's single. Harry, again with no family, doesn't know what to do with this turn of events, or how to find a new life—post-war, post-Ginny, post-abortion—in which he belongs. He doesn't expect that life to include dancing to the Backstreet Boys with Hermione and Draco Malfoy. A story of finding belonging in the unexpected.

The Miseducation of Draco Malfoy by magpie_fngrl (E, 37k)

Zacharias Smith writes a tell-all about the D.A. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are not happy about it.

Take A Chance On Me by mintaminta (E, 40k)

There's a DJ on RareFM with a secret. Or: the one with all the ABBA in it.

Nights With You by The_Sinking_Ship (E, 58k)

Draco is mortified when moments prior to departing for the most anticipated destination wedding of the year, he is cruelly dumped. But when he learns that Harry Potter has, at long last, split with his horrible boyfriend, Draco is certain his luck has changed. Never a man to squander an opportunity for revenge (and what would probably be a spectacular shag), Draco vows to make Potter his for the weekend. Now all Draco has to do is convince him.

Salt on the Western Wind by Saras_Girl (M, 60k)

When the war isn’t quite as over as it first appears, a guilt-ridden Harry is sent to a mysterious safe-house. Among sandwiches, insomnia, and Mills & Boon, he discovers something quite unexpected.

Modern Love by tackytiger (E, 61k)

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

Running on Air by eleventy7 (T, 75k)

Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

[in1-nutshell]

Bot Buddy the Dinobot who has a crush on Bumblebee

SFW, Platonic, Slight Romance, Cybertronian reader

G1

Buddy was created as one of the original dinobots.

She was the team’s scout/medic in training.

She is very curious about the other autobots and humans.

“Friend Chip, Buddy has question.”--Buddy

“Sure, what is it Buddy?”--Chip

Buddy points at his face.

“What are those on face?”--Buddy

“Oh, these are glasses. They help me see things.”--Chip

Buddy tilts her helm a bit.

“Chip, not see?”--Buddy

“I can see a bit, but these help me see things better.”--Chip

“Chip optics need repair? Buddy help! Buddy help! Chip wait here, Buddy get med kit! Buddy help friend Chip!”—Buddy

Later…

“Powerglide. Why Astoria call you ‘Baby--”--Buddy

“How about we stop talking.”--Powerglide

She has a bot of the week she follows, usually it’s at random. No one knows who the lucky bot will be. There isn’t much room for rejection as they don’t want to deal with an angry Grimlock.

There is one bot however, that sees more of Buddy than any other bot on the Ark.

Bumblebee.

It was a common sight to see the larger dinobot trailing behind the smaller yellow minibot, like a duckling following its mother.

Bumblebee did find it a bit strange how Buddy hung out around him much more than the others, but he wrote it off as her being herself.

Plus, it was almost a guarantee for back up in case any Cons decided to show up!

Starscream pointing his null ray at Bumblebee.

“Too late Autobot! For I, Starscream, have finally—AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”--Starscream

Buddy jumps at the Seeker and clamps her jaw on his servo.

“Thanks Buddy!”--Bumblebee

Buddy turns and gives him a proud smile before going back to beat up Starscream.

Jazz and Prowl walk up behind Bumblebee.

“Gotta hand it to ya Bee, you sure know how to pick ‘em.”--Jazz

“What do you mean?”--Bumblebee

“What do you mean? You and Buddy being--”--Prowl

SLAM!

The three Autobots look over at Buddy body slamming Starscream to the ground.

“She the best friend a bot could ask for!”--Bumblebee

“…”--Prowl

“…”--Jazz

Everyone and their cat know that she has a thing for Bumblebee.

Bets have already been placed on who will confess and how.

Even Grimlock knows!

The Dinobot leader approves of the relationship and wants Buddy to confess already. He doesn’t push Buddy to confess, but rather strongly suggests the idea because this is killing him.

Grimlock, Wheeljack, Prowl and Jazz watch Buddy listening to Bumblebee ramble about his outing with Spike.

She has a lovesick look on her face plate.

“How can he not see her making ‘gushy’ optics at him?”--Jazz

“Gushy?”--Grimlock

“Human term big guy.”--Wheeljack

“Didn’t you finally have that talk with her about confessing?”--Prowl

“Yes.”--Grimlock

“Is she going to do it?”--Prowl

“No.”--Grimlock

“Why?!”—Wheeljack, Prowl, and Jazz

“Buddy says ‘Not time’. Grimlock respect Buddy decision.”--Grimlock

“Wha—That’s actually very thoughtful of you Grimlock.”--Wheeljack

Grimlock puffs his chassis a bit at the compliment.

Buddy giggles a bit at something Bumblebee said.

“Maybe the suffering will end soon…”—Jazz

“Doubt that at this rate…”--Prowl

[warping-realities]

Wolf Scent

Part 1 - Blood Calls

"Welcome to Igniteriders..." Xander mumbled, stifling a yawn. He had a rough night with barely any sleep because of his double shift and barely managed to roll into the motorcycle repair shop after snagging a two-hour nap right after leaving the damn Drive-Thru where he worked on alternating nights. “How can I help you?” He continued, totally zonked, barely seeing the customer in front of him. Even though the job was chill, he was on the edge of crashing.

“Xander, why don’t you take a break and grab some coffee? You look like you’re about to pass out,” Gabe, his boss, chuckled, giving him a light slap on the back that nearly knocked him over.

After pouring himself some coffee and slumping onto the break room couch, he found himself trying to figure out how to escape the mess he was in, which quickly turned into a doze that was interrupted by Gabe’s entrance. “Wake up, sleepyhead, you can’t keep dragging like this, dude. I’m sure if you put that brain of yours to work, you’ll figure something out,” he said, plopping down in the chair across from him while Xander just grumbled again and took a sip of the brown liquid.

“You would know the feeling if you worked as hard as I do, Gabe,” Xander said, stretching out, finally starting to wake up with the caffeine kicking in.

“Wanna swap places and get your hands dirty with some grease, punk?” Gabe laughed, pouring himself some black coffee while Xander jumped off the couch. Gabe was just a few years older and practically the opposite of Xander; Xander was small and looked fragile, barely holding it together, while Gabe, though even shorter, was built like a brick wall and could easily crush Xander with an arm lock— not that the mechanic would ever try that with the younger guy.

After waking up a bit, thanks to the miracle of coffee, Xander returned to his spot at the reception desk. He still had a few hours to go, so he focused on the fact that he could finally crash when he got home.

For hours he served customers on autopilot feeling like a zombie until someone approached his counter. He was taken aback by the dude walking up to the register. The guy’s hair was pitch black, and he was rocking aviator shades—something Xander never understood, why people wore sunglasses indoors? But working at the shop he kinda got used to it. Not that he’d ever say anything about a customer’s getup, especially not this one. The guy was massive, both tall and wide, and none of it looked like fat; Xander would bet his paycheck that under that leather jacket was pure muscle. “Hey, bro,” he said, stepping up to the counter as Xander stammered.

“W-welcome to... uh... greetings... er... how can I help you, sir?” he finished, dazed, while the giant man looked at him with a sly grin spreading across his bearded face.

Extending his hand over the counter for the kid to shake he read the name on his badge. “Xander... interesting,” he said cryptically, his voice deep and mysterious. “Well, Xander, I didn’t come here to buy spare parts, you see, I’m after something else.” He said, and Xander raised an eyebrow.

“Some kind of repair?” he asked, feeling a bit dumb as the man shook his head and leaned closer to the counter, making Xander lean in too. A smell invaded Xander’s senses; it was a musky animalistic scent mixed with a strong whiff of the outdoors, and he found himself thinking about wild animals running through ravines as they got closer to each other. They got so close that Xander blushed when the when the guy repositioned the aviators, and he saw momentarily deep yellow irises like an animal staring at him.

“You,” he said, and Xander's eyes widened in shock, thinking the guy was about to hit him. But he just burst out laughing, then stepped back a couple of paces and pulled out a flyer for a roommate that Xander had handed out around the neighborhood when his roommate split, leaving him to bear the whole rent burden. Xander sighed with relief upon hearing that; he thought the guy was going to clock him for who knows what reason—he was used to life throwing punches at him.

“Uh... sure... my shift ends in an hour... you can catch me there.” He really just wanted to sleep a bit, but having a roommate would take a load off, meaning at least a few shifts less at the drive-thru. The guy gave off a weird vibe, but he wasn’t in a position to be picky.

“Sure thing, see you later, little bro.” The guy replied with that mysterious smile before walking out of the shop.

“OK, that was definitely the weirdest thing to happen around here. Who the hell was that guy, Xander?!”, Gabe asked stunned, as he watched the man walk over to a Harley Davidson parked down the street.

“I don’t know... just someone interested in Jack’s old room.”

“Did you at least ask the guy’s name?”

Feeling dazed, Xander just muttered that he forgot to do that while a warm sensation spread from the hand the man shook while his scent clung to him stubbornly. Leaving work the feeling began to spread throughout his body; it felt like at any moment he might burst into flames. Did that strange guy pass some disease to him?” Xander wondered while pedaling furiously on his bike, only thinking about taking a cold shower.

But as he got closer to home, he didn’t feel tired anymore; in fact, he felt like he could pedal for miles, so much that he decided to take a few more laps. He kept a steady pace while circling the small square in front of his building, but it wasn’t enough; his body felt like a furnace, his heart seemed to pump fire through his veins, pushing him to go faster and faster. He craved the wind on his face and the relief it could bring, so he started pedaling hard, hoping the fatigue would kick in, but it never did. He kept pedaling and pedaling, going around the block until a biker started to keep pace with him.

“Unless you’re gearing up for Race Cross America, it’d be more interesting to ride something beefier; those tires won’t hold up much longer.” The mysterious guy grinned while taking off his helmet and parking his Harley, while Xander blushed as he dismounted his bike and headed home.

“Um... they’re old, probably worn out...” Xander replied. “I’ll just stash the bike and show you the apartment in a sec,” he said, noticing that even after all that exercise he hadn’t broken a sweat; his clothes felt a bit tight, but it must have been the pump or something.

After getting home, Xander kicked off his shoes and only then realized how tight his feet felt, like he’d accidentally put on a smaller size, which made no damn sense. To make matters worse, a strong, pungent odor wafted from his bare feet, something he’d never dealt with before. Mortified, he turned to the older guy.

“Sorry, this has never happened to me before, must be from the ride.”

“It’s just a bit of man musk, little bro; it’s all good.”

Thinking about what kind of odor that dude must put out if that was all good, Xander wondered if he really wanted to share an apartment with him. Then, before he could chicken out, he started showing the small space to the other guy.

“It’s not much; I get the master suite but pay a bit more for rent, but the shared bathroom has hot water, the couch is... comfy... and the location is pretty sweet, Mr. …?”

“No Mr., little bro, just call me Velkan,” said the man, whose bulk seemed to take up most of what was the living/dining/kitchen area while looking at Xander with scrutinizing bright hazel eyes, like he was waiting for some reaction. The only response he got was a “nice to meet you” before being led to the empty room by a confused Xander, who swore he’d seen big yellow eyes behind those sunglasses Velkan had the decency to take off upon entering his apartment.

“Um... maybe you’ll feel a bit cramped in here.” He commented, half-laughing, seeing the giant squeeze himself into the room.

“I’m used to living on the road, little bro, with the grass for a pillow and the starry sky for a roof, but right now, there’s no place better for me than this, trust me. So, when can I move in?” Velkan boomed, this time with a big grin on his face.

After getting everything sorted out with Velkan, who surprisingly asked to move into the room that very night, Xander hurried to take a shower to get rid of that smell, but no matter how much he scrubbed with that lemon and herb soap, the odor refused to leave his feet, and he could swear it was getting stronger. “I must be going nuts.” But if the bathroom walls had something to say about it, they chose to stay silent. While he aggressively scrubbed his pits, he didn’t notice that the brown hair he had there was turning black and starting to spread, becoming a new source of odor. Luckily, the cold water wiped out the burning sensation that had taken over him, and he managed to sleep, although the pungent smell intensified even more, dominating the room as he snored.

The next morning, Xander had no work but also no set plans. Upon waking, he felt that musk dominating the space again and was shocked to see that the source of the odor was his pits, but the bigger shock was seeing the bushy hair they had turned into, with long, wild black strands. What the hell was that? With no explanation for it, he decided he’d just take another shower to cool his head and see if he could finally get rid of that smell. He was pretty freaked out when he walked into the bathroom and found his hair jet black and longer, topped off by the fact that his skinny body was being replaced by surprisingly developed muscles. “What... what?!” he barked, touching the reflection as if that could undo some kind of illusion.

“What the hell is happening to me?” he asked again out loud. He could go to a hospital... and say what? “Hey doc, I’m living out the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie!” He’d be lucky if he wasn’t kicked out of the place, or worse, ended up in the psych ward! Still clueless about what to do with all this, he left his room intending to grab a strong cup of coffee.

As he walked into his living room, Xander jumped seeing someone sitting on his couch, only to scream as he bumped his head on the door frame.

“Now you’re training for the high jump, little bro? With your height, maybe it’s better to do it somewhere the ceiling isn’t so low,” Xander just let out a groan of indignation as Velkan stood up, picked him up like a rag doll, and plopped him down on the couch. His nostrils were invaded by the characteristic odor he’d sensed the day before, a smell that oddly resembled the one he was exuding, but which he had forgotten to acknowledge in the heat of the strange events that morning, or had he just gotten used to it? Preferring not to think about that he turned to his new roommate.

“Hey! Not cool, dude, I’m not a kid; I can get up by myself!”

“Chill, little bro; though I could just call you big guy now, right?” Velkan commented with that annoying grin that made Xander want to punch those perfectly white, pointy… canine… teeth… He felt a shiver run down his spine at the memory of those bright yellow eyes. Somehow, Velkan... and what kind of name was that, anyway? It didn’t matter; somehow, the other guy had done something to him! How could he have been stupid enough to let a stranger into his house? It was almost like he had been guided to accept it, like he was forced to go along with it...

“W-who are you? What... what are you? And what did you do to me?! Who the hell are you?!” he asked, jumping up and glaring at the bigger man.

“Calm down, little bro; you’re asking too many questions, and I need time to answer them. Why don’t you sit down and let me explain everything at a chill pace? Sit down, please... damn it... I said sit down, kid,” Velkan barked with authority while slapping his hand on the empty space next to him on the couch, and inexplicably Xander found himself compelled to sit, making the spot tight due to the other man’s massive size and the bulk he’d gained overnight.

“Good boy. Let me introduce myself properly first; my name is Velkan Stoian, and I’ve been looking for you for a long time, little bro.”

“I... looking... for me? I... don’t get any of this. What did you do to me? These changes... how... how is this possible? And what’s with the ‘little bro’ thing?”

Relaxing on the couch, Velkan grinned. “Well, it’s because that’s what you are.” And then, with a serious expression: “Did you ever wonder what happened to your family? Never thought about looking for them?”

“I... how do you...?”

“Just answer the question.”

“I was told they were all dead, that there was no one left... that I... I... have always been alone.”

“Bastards.”

“I don’t get it!”

Xander thought that might be his new mantra instead of the usual “how can I help you.”

“No, you don’t get it... Sandu.”

“What?”

“Your nickname, given by me when you could fit in the palm of these hands.”

With a sad, distant look, Velkan opened his massive hands, which could easily hold a baby rhino.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Alexandru Alupei Barbaneagra is your real name, kid, son of Dragos and Mihaela and... younger brother of… Velkan.”

“What?”

“Can you say something other than a variation of “I don’t understand’ just to mix it up a bit?” Velkan grinned, but at that moment, Xander realized there was sadness along with the teasing and maybe... affection?

“Sorry... I... don’t know what...”

“Stop talking like a weakling! Sorry, bro it’s not your fault. It was an atrocity what they did to you, to us, Sandu. But I’m here to fix it all, to hand over the inheritance you’re entitled to.”

Xander finally lost his voice at that absurd idea. Surely, if he had family, the social services would have said something, and he wouldn’t have been shuffled from one foster home to another like a stray dog until he hit eighteen and was tossed out on the street, lucky enough to land a decent job and an apartment that wasn’t a total dump. And even if he did have family, it surely wouldn’t be some huge muscle-bound dude like Velkan; they didn’t even look alike, for god’s sake... except that... he thought, except that both their hairs had the same color now, and his arms and legs were almost as hairy as Velkan’s... no, that was absurd...

“Now’s the time for you to say something,” Velkan barked.

“Velkan... if I had any inheritance to get, surely one of the bastards I lived with would’ve found a way to snag it a long time ago.”

“The inheritance I’m talking about, little bro isn’t any material good but rather your story, your past, and your future. You’re just a fragile pup and have been like that for way too long. I wish I had found you sooner to hand over what’s yours at the right age like our father did for me, but I lived my own hell. You need to understand one thing, kid: we are Romani, and just for that, we’re already hated. But you and I are more than that; we are children of the night, we run under the moonlight and that makes us even more hated, even among our own people. Your birth should have marked a peace treaty between us and the human men. Alexandru, the defender of men, what a joke. The men took advantage of your baptism to commit a massacre. Only you and I survived. And it probably should’ve just been you. I believe there was still enough humanity in them not to kill a baby in arms who was still far from transitioning. There’s a reason we look fragile and delicate until we’re ready to take our place, but after the process is complete... if I hadn’t managed to escape, I would’ve been executed without mercy. By eleven years old, I was already a pack man, bigger than you were yesterday when I found you.”

“Pack?”

“Come on, dude, how many hints do you need to realize this?”

“You’re saying you’re some kind of werewolf?” Xander asked, still trying to piece his thoughts together.

“Sandu, we’re both wolves. Though you still don’t pass for a pup who took too long to mature. Though this started to get sorted out the moment we met, bro. If things had gone the way they should have, there would’ve been a ceremony when you turned ten, but the way it was, I figured it’d be better to give you a welcome present; after all, the ceremony was just a formality. All it takes is for the pup to catch the scent of the alpha for the process to begin.”

“You’re completely insane! I want you out of my house now!”

“No, you don’t want that. You know what’s happening tonight, Sandu? It’s a full moon night, and you don’t want to go through that alone. The Wolf is hard to control even for the most experienced; I shudder just imagining what one that’s been trapped for so long will be capable of. If after tonight you don’t want to know about me, that’s cool; I’ll help you through your first transformation, and I’ll be out by morning. But I want you to know that during the years I spent as a wolf wandering through the woods, I could only think about what might’ve happened to my little brother, and as soon as I finally managed to deal with my pain and get back on track, I started searching for you. I was just a fifteen-year-old kid at the time, scraping by, stealing when I needed to eat, and when things got too tough, I’d shift back to being a wolf. But still, I never stopped hoping and looking for you.”

Xander stayed quiet as he looked at his bare feet; they were even bigger than before, with black fur covering the tops of his toes, even thicker and denser fur covering his legs and thighs, and a slightly darker skin tone seemed to spread right before his eyes. Not knowing what to say, he stood up and, with Velkan’s eyes following him, positioned himself in front of a mirror in the living room. What he saw scared him; his face was different, with an aquiline nose, a wider chin, and a more square jaw, covered in stubble, skin a shade of olive, and Velkan’s hazel eyes. Suddenly, the idea of being Velkan’s younger brother didn’t seem so absurd. And if something like that transformation was possible, why not the rest?

“Stay. That doesn’t mean I believe you, it’s all so extraordinary that... just stay,” he said, only to be nearly knocked over by the giant’s weight on him. Velkan remained silent as he embraced him, and Xander wasn’t sure what to say as he felt the weight of the other man’s emotion and that scent violently invading his nostrils, so he let himself get lost in the strength of that hug. They stayed like that for a while until Velkan pulled away and flashed that grin. “Where do you keep the booze in this place?” he asked, and Xander sighed as his eyes sparkled with amusement.

…..

Velkan introduced himself a bit more to Xander, telling the story of their family and talking about what their parents were like, the traditions, the travels, and the inevitable disaster that followed the death of both and the rest of the tribe. To Xander’s surprise, the tribe was made up of all kinds of people and not just what they still called gypsies today.

“Not every guy has a wolf inside him, bro. But it’s the Alpha’s job to identify those who do and bring them into the Tribe, and our dad was especially good at that. It took me a long time and training, and I haven’t reached a fraction of what he was, which is why it took me so long to find you. It’s a matter of scent, you see: the scent of the Alpha, his touch is what frees the wolf. But all of us, with the right training, can sense the scent of other wolves, even those not born yet, and in my search for you, I found a good number of wolves trapped in human flesh. There were many times I thought about giving up the search and starting my own pack, but I knew I couldn’t do that; I couldn’t leave my little brother trapped in a pup’s body for life. Those other trapped wolves will still have a chance to be freed, even if it means changing the flesh prison. We’ve arrived.” The trail in the woods ended in a large clearing, and Xander wondered if he had completely lost it while following the other man. This was all just insane. But with each step he took, as night fell, that torrent of heat began to surge within him again.

“How much longer?” Xander asked, looking up at the night sky where the moon hadn’t yet risen. Without warning, his skin began to burn as a sharp pain shot through his spine, causing him to groan and drop to the ground; his bones cracked as they seemed to stretch longer.

“I think it’s now, bro,” Velkan said, and Xander groaned as black fur began to spread across his skin like thousands of bugs crawling on him, making him want to scratch like crazy, but his body refused to obey his commands.

His clothes started to rip as a mix of muscles and fur expanded, tearing the already tight clothing to shreds. “Oh... I should’ve warned you; this happens,” Velkan laughed, and Xander growled aggressively. The pain was excruciating. His feet, which had already grown quite a bit, swelled even larger, stretching and widening, his thighs like corded steel, striated and wide, and his calves like footballs. In his abdomen, four, then six, and finally eight small blocks of muscle appeared, and his pecs broadened and pushed forward while his hands doubled in size, as his biceps formed into cannonballs and his triceps shaped like perfect horseshoes. His back widened, with lats so broad that he wouldn’t fit through some doors; finally, his neck grew to the point where no collar would ever fit. At this moment, Xander let out another growl that quickly turned into a howl. His eyes turned that deep yellow shade that had scared him, his hair grew, cascading down over his eyes in black curls. Suddenly, along with the pain, an orgasmic pleasure surged in his cock, which slowly grew to its usual 5 inches hard, but it didn’t stop there; it went to 6 and his muscles surged again, to 7 and his skin hit the same olive tone as his brother's, to 8 and his bones stretched once more, putting him just one inch taller than his big brother at an impressive 6’7”even though Velkan's broadness had no competition, at 9 and finally his cock thickened, nearing the size of a beer can. Unable to handle that mix of pleasure and pain any longer, he finally came, shooting a torrent of cum, and with the release, the pain ceased, leaving him sprawled on the ground, naked and drenched in sweat, trying to catch his breath.

“Wow... that was... intense,” he commented to Velkan while trying to reposition himself to get up.

“And who said it’s over, little bro? That was just you reaching all the potential you should’ve hit a long time ago. You’re no longer a pup, but you’re still not an adult wolf.” Velkan stood beside him, completely naked, and for the first time Xander... Sandu... could see the sheer glory of his older brother’s body, a gigantic mountain of defined muscles covered in black fur, with a cock hanging down between his legs that, when hard, must have been even bigger than his. And that damn... pungent... wonderful smell permeated everything. It was his own scent, but also the scent of the alpha, of his leader, of his brother, from whom he realized at that moment he would obey all orders and do anything to protect and... love, yes... now he understood everything, the reason for his brother’s years of searching; if what he felt in that moment was close to what Velkan felt for him...

“Brother... thanks,” he said, standing up and facing the other man without needing to look up for the first time, and he hugged him, their naked bodies meeting, sweat mixing, and their scents enveloping everything; it was too much for him.

“Shh, calm down, little bro; the best part is coming now,” Velkan said, bathed in the silver light of the full moon. As if he felt no pain at all, Velkan’s body transformed, his bones reshaping and fur growing as a snout formed and his teeth sharpened, and he dropped to all fours on the ground, his hands and feet becoming giant paws. In no time, where there had once been a man, there was now a massive black wolf howling at the moon, soon followed by another slightly smaller but equally shining-coated wolf. Then both took off running through the woods, howling and playfully knocking each other down like two pups, not two huge beasts.

At dawn, in the clearing where the wolves had snuggled up to sleep there now lay two young men with thick black hair and beards, lying naked on a bed of dry leaves, their skin glistening with dew under the first rays of morning sun filtering through the treetops, the smaller one resting his head on the bigger one chest, who at that moment was waking up with a vague smile of satisfaction on his face.

“Wake up, little bro, we’ve got a lot to do.” As he felt the giant hand of his brother run through his hair, Sandu stirred awake.

“Wow, that was fantastic, Velkan.”

“That was just the beginning, brother. Now let’s get up and hit the road, there’s still a lot to do, and I’ll explain on the way.”

“But my clothes…”

“You think a kid’s clothes would fit a man like you, Sandu? I brought an extra set knowing you’d need it.” Velkan said, tossing at his brother’s feet a set of clothes that consisted of Levi’s jeans, a tank top, thick knee-high socks, a leather jacket, and combat boots.

“The boots might be a bit loose, but we can swing by the city to grab you some new ones,” he concluded, reaching for a metal chain with a dog tag that had the name Alexandru Stoian engraved on it, along with a pair of aviator sunglasses identical to his. “We’ll need to swing by there anyway to grab your ride.”

“You want me to bike in that thing? It wouldn’t even hold up with all this new weight.”

“Don’t be an idiot, little bro; I’ve got a brand new Harley waiting for you!”

“I... wow... but I thought we were broke.”

“I never said that; The tribe left money stashed all over the damn country, not to mention bank accounts I had to hustle to get access to. We’re good, brother. Now get dressed and let’s roll;”

“If possible, I’d like to stop somewhere first.”

….

“Welcome to Igniteriders, I’m Gabriel, how can I help you, sir?” The attendant seemed a bit flustered, like he wasn’t used to doing that job.

“I just wanted to say thanks for your help; you had my back when no one else would.” The guy was young, absolutely tall, and super muscular, even if he wasn’t as wide as Gabriel, no those are a predator muscles, firm, agile, perfect to hunting. Wearing a leather jacket and rocking aviator shades, he looked a lot like that fella who had been in the shop on Saturday wanting to rent Xander’s extra room. Xander who still hadn’t shown up that morning, leaving him pretty worried.

“No problem, sir, but sorry to ask, how exactly did I help you?”

“I’m sure if you put your brain to work, you’ll figure it out.” The man replied, almost leaning in close to Gabe, bringing with him a scent of musk and the outdoors, before leaving the shop and jumping on the back of a Harley Davidson, taking off at full speed.

“X-Xander...?” he asked, shocked at the empty store.

….

“How did it go?”

“I left my new number on the counter, and he took a good whiff of my musk. If it’s his fate to unleash the wolf he’ll come to us.”

“A mechanic in the pack would make a huge difference. But now it’s up to him.”

“And us?”

“Us? First we take your ride, then we will recruit in ways you can’t even imagine, little bro.”

[arc-misadventures]

NNN: Jaune and Jessica bet their teams they can last NNN.....how do they do?

NNN: J

Jaune: I can totally beat, NNN. Just you watch me!

Blake: You really think you can do that?

Jaune: Easily!

Blake: What makes you think that? I mean, Jessica is just a cuter version of, Ruby…

Ruby: You take that back!

Blake: Can you really deny, Green Ruby?

Ruby: Green what?!

Jaune: First off, Ruby’s nothing like Jessica.

Ruby: That’s right! I’m way better than that goblin!

Blake: How so?

Jaune: First off. She’s a legal loli, Ruby isn’t.

Blake: That’s true.

Ruby: Excuse me what?

Jaune: And, Jessica has magic powers with her ring. Wait, Ruby has magical powers with her eyes… They’re both cute as a button. Both have a passion for heavy ordanence. Both are small. One is green, the other is red, making them complimentary colours. Have small chest, but full butts. Wow… It’s like they’re twins…

Blake: So if you imagine, Ruby as, Jessica, would that make you dealing with, NNN hard?

Jaune: No, she’d just be, Red Jessica then.

Ruby: I’d be red what?!

Blake: But, don’t you want to… ‘tap dat ass?’

Jaune: I do, but I’d rather tap the older Jessica ass, than the younger one. Well, 60/40 in favour of which, Jessica I’d like to tap.

Jaune: …

Jaune: First…

Blake: Older Jessica?

Jaune: Yeah, back in her world she’s in her twenties, she looks like a completely different person. I bet, Ruby will just look a few inches taller when she’s older.

Ruby: Take that back!

Blake: What does she look like, this older, Jessica?

Jaune: Here’s a photo she sent me…

Blake: Damn~! Puppetry was kind to her~!

Ruby: I bet I’ll get a better figure then her.

Jaune: See! I want to tap that! But, I can’t…

Blake: Why not?

Jaune: She’s back in her world, and I’m here… Can’t lose, NNN when there’s nothing to lose to…

Blake: But, I thought she was coming back?

Jaune: She promised she would, but even she doesn’t know when she could… So, yeah…

Blake: So, what are you going to do then?

Jaune: Wait, and see. What else can I do?

Ruby: You can fun with me instead~?

Jaune: Not now, Red Jessica.

Ruby: I am not, Green Ruby!?!

Blake: What do you think, Jessica is doing now?

Jaune: Probably saving the world, that’s what heroes do after all.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the, DC RWBY Universe

~~~~~~

Jessica: FIX THAT FUCKING MACHINE ALREADY!!!

Jessica was not saving the world at the moment, she was currently losening her mind with unbridled lust, and blinding rage.

For she was currently being restrained by her friends, Powegirl, Wonderwoman, Superman, and Hal Gordon of the Green Lantern Corp. At least they we’re trying to; One would think three of the, Leagues strongest members could restrain a girl in her mid twenties with relative ease. However, they didn’t take into consideration what a highly horny girl, who was frustrated to no end because she was so hormonal could do to a person.

For in, Jessica’s, hormonal rage, for the lack of a better description, had received both a ring from the, Star Sapphire Core, and the Red Lantern Core. Making an already powerful Lantern exponentially more powerful, and terrifying.

Clark: Hurry up! We’re barely holding her back!

Victor: We’re working as fast as we can!

A multi coloured blast of energy soon shot past, Cyborg’s head, narrowly missing the trans-dimensional gateway thar he, and Batman we’re working on repairing.

Bruce: Hal, block her energy blasts. If one those hits the machine it will be destroyed.

Hal: I’m trying, but I’m fighting three on one!

Kara: Have you called any, Lanterns for back up!

Hal: I called, but it will take them a while to come here.

Another multi coloured blast ripped past, Hal’s head, and nearly impacted one of the stations windows, but the blast doors quickly shut as the, Flash hit the emergency button to activate the blast doors.

Wally: Okay, that was close. Okay, can someone explain to me what’s going on?

Diana: She’s been cursed by, Aphrodite!

Wally: What?

Kara: She decided to do the, NNN challenge. But, that only made her think of that, Jaune kid she’s been talking about, and now she’s just really, really horny!

Clark: And, angry!

Wally: Oh… Well, not to sound vulgar, but can’t she just… do it, and relax then?

Kara: You certainly never been with a woman before have you?!

Wally: Hey!

Bruce: Enough. Just hold on a little longer, we’ve nearly finis…?!

Victor: Oh shit!

Hal: AHHH?!

Another blast of energy hit, Hals shield, only this time it broke through, and slamming into, Hal, and sending him flying only for the bolt of energy to fly though the air, and crash into the machine. It surged with new found power from within, suddenly it blast upward into a multi coloured hole in the ceiling. The ensemble of heroes stared at the whole before something fell through it, and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Before the portal, as it seemed to be suddenly vanished.

They look down upon the ground to see a suit of armour slowly rise from the ground. It’s once polished clean white metal, now was stained by streaks of rust. The knight looked down at his hands before a weary sigh escaped its lips. It’s hands reached up, and removed its helmet, revealing a mane of blond hair tied in a wolf tail. It looked down at the helmet in it’s hands before letting a deep sigh escape his lips. One burdened by the weight of the world, and tired of carrying such a burden around without rest.

: I see… I’m the, Rusted Knight once again… peachy. But… where am I? This clearly isn’t the, Ever After… So where is it?

The figure was about to turn around, when they heard a series of mechanical shifts, and the whirling of engines. He had the stinking feeling he was in a place he wasn’t supposed to be.

Bruce: Who are you, how did you get here?

: I don’t know how I got here, a portal appeared below my feet, and I fell through it, and suddenly I appeared here. As for who I am, well… In this form, I was called the, Rusted Knight. But, that was only in children’s fairytale. But, my real name is, Jaune Arc.

The knight held up it’s hands as it slowly turned around to face them, revealing a grizzled beard of golden hair, laced with white streaks. As he stood before them, he looked at them with a perplexed expression across his face as he stared at them in turn.

Jaune: Do I know you? You look familiar, at least some of you, have we met…? Wait… Jessica, is that you?

The trio was struggling to contain, the Tri-Coloured Lantern from her hormonal rage, but she suddenly went slack in their arms, as the knight fell through the portal. But, her breath quickened as she saw a grizzled old blond man appear before them.

Jessica: J-J-Jaune…? Is that really you?

Jaune: It’s really me my little nightlight.

Jaune smiled warmly, with a fatherly smile as if he was pleased to with what he saw before him. For him, being reunited with his girlfriend, even in such an unorthodox manner was quite pleasing to him. Jessica was also, extremely pleased to see her boyfriend again, she was however, going through a panic attack as she struggled to digest what she was seeing before her.

Jessica: J-J-Jaune’s here?! B-But it’s not, Jaune… This, Jaune is b-bigger! Taller! Those muscles?! And, the beard! That glorious beard! And, are those white streaks? J-Jaune’s a silver fox?! He’s a total daddy now! My Daddy now! Ah… Ah-ha…! Ahahahahahahaha?!

Everyone started looking at, Jessica in concern. Jaune was concerned that after finally reuniting with his girlfriend they would have had happy embrace, followed by a lovers kiss. But, here he was watching his girlfriend falling down into a mad fit of laughter.

For the rest of the, Justic League it was unsettling to see their friend go from stark raving mad, to looking like she was just dosed in, Joker laughing gas.

And, yet it all ended as fast as it began.

Jessica: Aaaaahhhh~!

(“Thud”)

Blood poured down, Jessica’s nose she she finally stopped laughing, before she promptly fainted, and fell upon the ground. Silence hung in the air as all turned to face their unexpected guest.

Jaune: Uhhh… Sorry?

Clark: All thing’s considered this was probably for the best.

Jaune: Okay…?

Kara: That’s, Jaune?!

Diana: he was a teenager when I last saw him, not like… this?!

Kara: Do you think, Jessica is open to sharing?

Jaune: So uhh… what now?

[ghostofskywalker]

Stop Running From Love

Crosshair/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,968

Summary: Lost after finally escaping from the Empire, Crosshair crash lands on your property. While he's recovering, he realizes something important about himself, but it takes the meddling of his brothers for him to actually admit it.

Prompt: “Falling in love, no, it ain’t for the weak" (In The Kitchen, Renee Rapp)

Notes: this is a gift for the lovely @intricatechaosofyou in the @cloneficgiftexchange song lyric exchange! I thought Crosshair fit the vibes of this lyric especially well because he would be the most apprehensive about falling in love. there's some canon divergence here, and in my head it takes place in a world where crosshair escapes the empire sometime in season 2. I hope you enjoy it :)

Clone Troopers Masterlist

When Crosshair first opened his eyes, he didn’t recognize his surroundings. He remembered the escape pod hurtling through the atmosphere of a planet he didn’t recognize, and of course he remembered crashing on the outskirts of a forest and field, but that was about it. By the time he hit the ground his vision had gone blurry, but he remembered the jolting feeling before all his other senses decided to sign off as well. 

Now, the first thing he registered was the wafting smell of something cooking in the next room. It had been so long since he had any kind of food other than stolen Imperial rations, and even then, he could tell that whatever was being made now would be infinitely better than the flavorless slop and rock-hard bricks they used to serve at the bases and send on missions. 

The second thing he noticed was how warm his body was. Spending a seemingly endless amount of time trapped with the same air in that escape pod was completely different than the soft blanket that was currently resting atop his body, and there was no way the Empire would hand out supplies like this to clones, let alone prisoners. Running his hand across the fabric, a small smile curled on his lips.

Maybe he was dead. He couldn’t imagine a version of reality where he would be afforded these comforts, not after what he had done to his family. He had spent so much time in that tiny vessel, chasing down an ice cold trail his brothers left in the endless expanse of the galaxy, maybe that crash had finally put that journey to an unsatisfying end. 

But those thoughts immediately exited his head as he heard someone enter the space, and he turned to see you approaching his resting place. “You’re awake,” you said softly, still at a distance. “That’s good, I was just about to come and change your dressings.” 

In that moment Crosshair realized another thing, that his armor was gone. He was wearing the bottom part of his blacks, but there was a loose tunic of unfamiliar fabric resting over his top half. He shifted as he sat up to face you, and he could feel the tightness of bandages wrapping across his right shoulder and upper area of his chest. 

“Who are you?” he said, and this version of his voice was alien to even him. It was scratchy and hoarse, a product of both the injuries and the fact that he hadn’t spoken aloud in quite some time. He hoped his tone wasn’t accusatory, especially if you had taken care of him while he was unconscious. 

You told him your name as you stepped closer, fresh bandages in your hand. “Your escape pod crashed at the edge of my property and when I found you, I didn’t know how long it would be until you woke up.”

If you woke up. You didn’t say that part, but Crosshair was willing to bet you’d considered it. 

“Is the escape pod still functional?” he asked, his voice coming out sharper than it had before. That thing, cramped (and now busted) as it was, was his ticket off this planet.

You stared at him for a moment before responding. You were so close to him now, one hand reaching out to remove his tunic. “I don’t know. It’ll need some new parts and heavy repairs at the very least, but I might be able to make it fly.” 

Whew. That was at least something he could work with. “Where can I find-” 

At this point you had begun to remove his old bandage dressing, but you stopped as you registered his words, raising your eyebrows. “Woah buddy,” you said. “With your injuries, you’re not going anywhere anytime soon. You need to focus on healing, and then we can tackle the task of your ship.” 

He scoffed. Who did you think you were? This was his life, and if he wanted to make terrible decisions he was fully within his right to do that. Besides, the voice in his head he so desperately tried to ignore chimed in, he didn’t deserved to be treated with this kindness. “I need to leave as soon as possible,” he said, his gaze turning steely. 

You returned the expression, gesturing down to the bleeding gash on his chest and burns on his shoulder, which were both thanks to his less-than-graceful landing. “Not in this condition.” 

“It doesn’t matter what condition I’m in, I need to leave.” 

You must have noticed the desperation in his voice, because your tone softened as you began to apply a bacta solution to his shoulder. “Look,” you said. “I don’t know what happened to you, or what you’re looking for beyond this planet, but I do know this. Unless the Empire is seconds behind you, which they aren’t since you’ve been passed out on my couch for over a rotation, leaving hurriedly will do you absolutely no good.” 

“How do you know?” he said, too shocked to elaborate but hoping you understood. 

“Your armor was a pretty dead giveaway,” you said. “And besides, people who aren’t on the run usually let their wounds fully heal.” He was silent, his mind still attempting to figure out exactly what your game was. “I don’t work for the Empire, that’s one thing I can promise. All I want is to help you, but I can’t do that if I’m worried you’re going to bolt the moment I turn my back.”

“Fine,” he said, though it came out more like a growl than he intended. 

A smile crossed your face, clearly happy at the small victory you had won over him. “Excellent,” you said as you finished re-applying his bandages. “And now, since you already know my name, can I ask yours?” 

“Crosshair.” He still wasn’t happy about the current state of things, even though he knew it would be for the best. 

“It’s nice to meet you Crosshair,” you responded, seemingly not bothered by the annoyance in his voice. “Would you like some soup?”  He nodded, and you left the room to fetch it, humming an upbeat tune under your breath as you did so.  

As much as he didn’t really want to admit it, something about you made him want to stay, and the thought was terrifying. 

Over the next few rotations, Crosshair got a glimpse of what it would be like to settle down. Yes, you lived away from others (there wasn’t another home nearby that he could see), but you didn’t do so out of fear, like he would have (and like other clones who defected were forced to). You grew your own produce, sewed your own clothes from fabrics purchased at the local market, and made a life working as a droid and speeder mechanic. In a different life, Crosshair could see himself going about his days in a similar fashion. 

The internal conflict started not long after. The escape pod he had been traveling in turned out to be crushed beyond repair, so you had pulled a decrepit-looking starship from your shed and offered that to him, and he didn’t really have any other options. 

You didn’t let him help because the injuries on his chest were still too fresh, but he made himself useful in other ways as he sat on a chair next to where you were working on the ship.  “Could you toss me the wrench next to you?” 

“The small one or the large one?” 

You poked your head out of the ship’s cockpit. “Small one please.” Crosshair nodded and tossed the tool in your direction. “Thanks!” 

Kriff, he wanted to stay. But he needed to finish what he started, to find his family and at the very least apologize for not listening to them about the Empire. And while you were so kind, could he really ask you to permanently allow him to live here? He doubted you felt the same way about him that he did about you, so those desires would have to remain in his mind for now. 

“Okay, I refitted the hyperdrive and adjusted the control panel in the cockpit,” you said, popping into view and tossing the tools in your hand to the ground with a clatter. “With a new set of converters, she should be able to go as fast as you want her to.” 

“When are you going to let me out of your clutches?” Crosshair asked, leaning back slightly in his chair. 

“Why, you want to escape or something?”  you fired back, raising your eyebrows in his direction as a playful smile crossed your face. “A few rotations probably, once your chest wound closes up more and doesn’t take as much gauze.”

“I don’t want to take up more of your time and resources.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” you said. “It’s been nice to have someone else around here.”

Maker, did he want to stay. 

But he couldn’t. 

In a very Crosshair fashion, he slipped away in the dead of night, the moment his wounds were healed. As much as it hurt not saying goodbye, it would hurt more if your feelings didn’t match his.  

***

On the surface, the man standing at the produce stall didn’t really look like Crosshair (for one, he had a rather striking face tattoo), but you could see resemblance in their mannerisms. Or you were just crazy, because there was no way those two could be connected. At this point, you had accepted that Crosshair was not coming back, and that was the end of things. 

It had stung, to wake up one morning and see him gone, with the cot he slept in perfectly made and a scrawled note on the pillow thanking you for everything you did. Of course you knew he would leave, but you at least expected that you would be around to say goodbye. 

Clearly he didn’t feel the same way about you that you did about him, or this would not have happened. It was stupid, to allow yourself to fall for your temporary houseguest, and you were paying the price for it now. You just didn’t know that paying the price meant you had to be content with seeing ghosts of him at every turn. 

You were looking at the homemade sweets one Twi’lek was selling as you watched as a young girl drag the man with the face tattoo over in your direction. “Hunter, let’s get some candy for everyone back at the ship!” 

You smiled quickly before turning away, they didn’t need you watching their every move. “Do have leftover credits?” 

“Yes, and Crosshair gave me some as well, though I don’t know why.” 

Wait. 

Crosshair? 

Maybe you hadn’t been so incorrect when you noted their facial similarities earlier. 

The man and young girl walked up to the booth, and you couldn’t stop the words from falling out of your mouth. “Excuse me, did I hear you say Crosshair?” 

The man instantly stood up straighter, a threatening gaze on his face. “What’s it to you?” 

But you stood your ground and didn’t back away. “I knew someone by that name,” you said. “I was just wondering if it was the same person, as I’d like to send him a message.” 

At this point, you saw the girl’s eyes widen, and you could hear your name in a quiet voice. The man stopped. “What did you say Omega?” 

“This is the person who helped Crosshair,” she said excitedly. “That must be why he gave me the extra credits when he heard we were coming to this system!”

The man’s face changed instantly, the threatening expression evaporating in a second. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “But usually, people who talk about my brother aren’t exactly happy to see him.”

You laughed and introduced yourself to the two, moving away from the bustling market to talk. “Crosshair told me a lot about his brothers and sister, but he never told me any of your names.” 

The man, who you learned was called Hunter, smiled. “That sounds like Crosshair for sure. He owes you a great deal, for saving his life.” 

“He doesn’t owe me anything,” you said, shaking your head. “It’s just nice to know that he found what he was looking for.”

You didn’t say anything about how he left, not sure what he had told his family. “He should have still waited around to say goodbye though,” Omega said, and Hunter stopped. 

“How do you know about that?” he asked, and you had the same question. 

“I overheard him talking to you and Echo when he first came back and you asked him about his injuries,” she said, before turning her attention back to you. “He really likes you, you know.” 

That was certainly news to you. “He does?” 

Hunter nodded. “The di’kut just didn’t know what to do, and he made the decision he thought he had to.” 

“I wish he would have said something,” you said softly, before you could think twice about it. 

“Crosshair won’t admit it, but he feels the same way,” Hunter said. 

Omega’s voice was bright as her face lit up with a realization. “You should come back with us!”

Immediately, you shook your head. “No, I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” you said. 

“If you’re worried about Crosshair being mad at you, that won’t be an issue,” Hunter said. “But if you’d prefer to move on completely, I understand. We won’t say anything about seeing you here if you don’t want us to.” 

You had to admit, the choice was a difficult one. And despite a knot of worry taking hold in your stomach, you eventually agreed to return to the ship with Hunter and Omega. If all went well, you certainly had enough land and resources for your family to grow by six, and if it didn’t, you could always pretend this day never happened. 

Omega gave you a hug as you nodded, and soon you were walking with the two of them to the rendezvous point, anxiously staring at the sky. What if Hunter and Omega were wrong? Could you handle that embarrassment? 

You wanted to run as a ship descended from the sky, but you stayed rooted in place. As the ramp touched the ground you could see three figures in the doorway, and Omega gleefully shouted across the space. “Hey Crosshair! Look who we ran into at the market!” 

Crosshair’s eyes widened as he registered you standing there, and he pushed past the other two people on the platform to step onto the ground. “We’ll give you two some privacy,” Hunter said, shooing both his brothers and Omega back into the ship. 

“It wasn’t my idea to come back with them,” you said quickly, still unsure if he was unhappy with the current situation or not. 

“I know,” he said. “When I told them how I left, I got a lecture about how I should have said goodbye, and I knew they were right. I need to apologize for that, I didn’t want to take your aid for granted.” 

“Why did you leave?” you asked, your voice quiet. “I didn’t truly imprison you, did I?” 

“It was the opposite actually,” he said, shaking his head. “I liked spending time with you so much that it terrified me, because I didn’t think you felt the same way. It wasn’t fair of me to do that, but I don’t think I would have been able to resist if you asked me to stay.” 

The feeling of worry in your stomach dissipated instantly, and it was replaced with a thunderous herd of butterflies. “Crosshair,” you said kindly, reaching up to softly run your fingertips across his cheek. “I would have never asked that of you, no matter how much I wanted to.”

His hand moved to rest over yours, and the feeling of warmth that overtook your body was honestly a little embarrassing. “I wanted you to ask,” he said. “More than anything. And I thought that these feelings were unimportant, that I could just move past them, but I couldn’t. Eventually it was Hunter who demanded I tell him why I was moping around all the time.” 

You smiled. “Well, you’ve seen my place,” you said. “I’d be happy for you and your family to come live there, if you’d be interested.” 

“Yes, we would be,” he breathed, his hands moving down to rest on your waist. 

Suddenly your faces were much closer than you realized, and your gaze flickered down to his lips. It seemed that Crosshair had the same thought, because he moved even closer. “Can I kiss you?” he asked, the look on his face akin to that of a desperate plea. 

Instead of torturing him any longer, you closed the gap between you two, crashing your lips into his. It was everything you’d dreamed of, the feeling of his hands resting on your waist and his lips against yours for the first time something you would remember for the rest of your days. 

You were so utterly lost in each other that you didn’t hear the ramp of the ship descend again, but the gleeful shouts of Crosshair’s family did pull you two apart. “Shut up,” Crosshair growled at Hunter, whose grin was the widest of them all. 

You smiled, placing a quick peck on his lips. “They’re just happy for you,” you said softly. 

“It’s annoying.” 

You laughed. “Come on, we can always continue this back home.” 

Crosshair’s grip on your waist tightened for a moment. “That better be a promise, mesh’la.” 

You just smiled as you pulled away from him, excited to extend your offer to your new family, whether they knew it yet or not.

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[wayfayrr]

I can't believe that I almost missed Sky's aniversary!!! happpy twelvth birthday to skyward sword! <3 I'd just like to say thank you to @yourlocaltreesimp for reblogging something that reminded me that today is the boys birthday - this peice is all because of them I wrote it in 40 mins so sky could have something for his bd before the date changes It's a continuation on my self aware sky fic with some headcanons and a small drabble under the cut about how the both of you celebrate his birthday <3

[masterlist]

✦ After about a month and a half of being with you, the both of you are quite used to living together. With Sky getting a grip on how to handle being a real flesh and blood person now - the both of you have even started on getting paperwork sorted for him to be recognised as a real person even if he’s never seen apart from your side

✦ The past few days though he’s had this energy around him, like a little kid excited for their - oh that's right, you’d almost forgotten the anniversary of his game was coming up. No wonder why he’d be so excited about it. 

✦ In the time it’s taken you to realise the date he’s taken his chance to be a little more clingy, you can blame nostalgia for him wanting to be closer. The feeling of the day he was created making him come to terms with just how lucky he was to be standing right next to you - his saviour lover. 

✦ If you were to do anything for him, say buy him gifts, treat him to an expensive meal, take him for a date, set aside the day for him or heck even spend the morning in bed cuddling with him? He’d fall for you all over just being flattered to the core over how much you care about him, if there was even a sliver of a chance of him loosing his possessive tendencies before that chance is shattered beyond repair now. You’re his and he’s never letting go.

✦ with how nostalgic he’s gotten, it’s not all that much of a surprise that he’s asked if he can play through the game on his own, with you sitting right next to him naturally 

“Are you sure about this Link? I mean I’ve not touched it since you well, since you crawled out. Who’s to say that he won’t figure it out as well?”

“It should be fine, what would be the odds of it happening twice? Besides if it does I’d bet he’ll feel the same way my dove.”

He’s not certain which is as clear as day, of course he doesn’t have a clue what could happen if he plays. What would happen if the version of himself he plays as hates him more than anything? If he gets jealous? If he tries to bring him back? Link hasn’t considered any of that, not that I can hold it against him. After that first day out of the game he’s mellowed out so much, it really was his desperation that made him terrifying - not that that doesn’t slip out every now and then of course. If he really wants to play? We’ll deal with the consequences of it together.

“If you’re really sure then love, want me to grab some snacks while you set up the switch?”

“I’d love that, thank you, darling.”

A soft kiss to my cheek is all that I need to become a blushing mess as he moves to turn everything on, including the new tv I had to buy after he shattered the old one, not too expensive but still more of a hassle than I wanted to have to deal with. Seeing as he’s never had any previous experience with any technology like this he’s picked it up like a natural, so in no time at all we’re back to sitting together on my couch to play. It’s nice like this, all gentle and domestic. If you didn’t know Link wasn’t originally a ‘real’ person you wouldn’t even be able to tell, he fits in like he was always supposed to be here with me. The clothes he’s nicked only adding onto that feeling of belonging like he’s just any other boyfriend stealing his partner's clothes. 

“Guess now is the moment of truth to whether or not I’ll be dealing with another nuisance stealing my heart then.”

“I wouldn’t let him take your heart, that belongs to me and only me.”

“Alright then, are you gonna make a save then my lovable anomaly or are you just gonna threaten someone you’re not sure even exists?”

“I’m making it my dearest player, I just had to make sure you were fully certain of where I stand.”

True to his word, he did make a save file - although he did name it something different than his own name - not before kissing me yet again though. Playing it with him was nice, seeing his reactions to his past where he didn’t have to get traumatised? It’s one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long while. It did seem I was right though, he didn’t manage to get to demise before we had a shocked link staring at the both of us like his world had been ripped apart. His reaction was so different to my link’s though.

He’s petrified. 

“Wh- What’s going on - who are you both – wh- wh-” … “And why do you look just like me?”

[mariaxman]

PIETRO MAXIMOFF X READER

Resume: you made a bet with Jean, when you’d ask Peter out he’d turn you down. Easy made 50 bucks, right! Exept he beats you to the punch..

A/N: I really love this, I love the cliché of kissing in a Ferris wheel sm AHHH:33!!

Charles Xavier’s school for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester,1974.

The summer breeze hit your skin like a bird’s feather, soft and gentle, as you stood outside of the institute. A year ago, a man from the future named Logan came and knocked on the door, claiming he needed the professor to save the world from ‘sentinels’, some anti-mutant, killer robots. You were 15 at the time, already having mastered your mutation, came along with them to give a hand. That, is when you met Peter. As requested you had to break out Magneto from the pentagon, and Logan ‘knew a guy’. He was JUST your type. Sure, he was a kleptomaniac and all, but god was he handsome, and a charming in his own very-weird-way. Though, it didn’t last long, as he went home the moment you stepped out the pentagon, Magneto in hand . You never forgot the handsome speedster, even ten whole years later. Sure, it was kind pathetic. But hey! Can you blame a gal? He was flirting with you the whole time AND WINKED AT YOU WHEN YOU EMBARKED THE JET BACK, of course you fell for him!

Charles Xavier’s school for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester, 1983

You never thought you’d ever see him again. Like, ever. But hey, fate works in a strange way. One second you were standing next to Beast as Havok wrecked shit, the next you landed surprisingly gently on the grass outside as the Institute blew up. You were dizzy and felt like you were about to blow chunks. Nevertheless, you stood back up on shaky legs and just stared at the mansion with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, not even noticing the speedster standing riiiighht next to you, staring intensely. Until he said a simple ‘hey’ and you yelped embarrassingly loud for a qualified X-woman. Atleast he laughed! Then you were kidnapped by.. what was their name? Oh well, then you escaped, fought apocalypse, Charles lost his hair, which is VERY pertinent, I know. And, well, you were back at the mansion soon enough, students were sat outside on lawn, huddled up as, mind you, it was totally broken down and needed SERIOUS repair. Which leads us to here, you and your friends(who are literally all teens which is.. yeah) went to the mall to pass time and buy new clothes after losing all of the old ones in the explosion, an activity you loved doing with Jean and Jubilee.. until now. You were browsing a store with said girls, grabbing a top, you held it infront of you.

‘’Is this cute?’’

You ask Jubilee, the top was simple in itself, a baby blue tank top with an embroidered yellow lightning bolt. It kinda reminded you of Peter..

‘’Yeah, that is really cute, BUT-‘’

Jubs says and snatches the top, putting it in your basket

‘’WHEN are you gonna make your move on Peter?!’’

The girls asks eagerly. Your cheeks immediately burn up in embarrassment

‘’make a move on him? W-what are you talking about?!’’

you chuckle nervously, looking away at the clothing racks. Jean chuckles from behind you, which startles you, just a little bit

‘’Come on now, Y/N. You definitely love him, you did since… 1973! C’mon!’’

The redhead exclaims, in the middle of the store, catching a lot more attention than your liking. Goddam telepath. You didn’t know what to say, really. You definitely wanted to date him, more than anything! But you just felt like Peter didn’t feel the same

‘’Okay, okay! Y’know what? I’ll tell him tonight, at the fair! But I bet you 50 bucks he doesn’t even like me a little bit!’’

You say as you walk to the cashier. Jean shoots Jubilee a look. ‘HE IS LITERALLY HEAD OVER HEELS FOR HER, GUESS IM WINNING 50 BUCKS’ she tells the other girl telepathically, which makes her vibrate with a giggle.

Now, at the fair, you were scared shitless. You made a promise, you gotta keep it now, huh? You’re sure Peter‘ll be sweet if he rejects you, yeah! You sigh, snapped out your thoughts when Jean and Jubilee dragged you to an attraction, giggling the whole way, which left Scott and Peter alone. The former elbows Pietro in the ribs, hard

‘’So, when are you finally gonna ask her out?’’

Scott teases, that irritated smirk on his face

‘’What? Pssfghhsss- what are you talkin’ bout?’’

the silver-haired man plays dumb, shoving his hands in the pocket of his silver jacket

‘’C’mon, dude. I know you like her— you’re literally staring her as we speak!’’

Oh, yeah, he was… it wasn’t his fault you were so gorgeous, for Christ sake! You were literally his dream girl come true, can you blame him?

‘’Okay, yeah, maybe I do like her a little. But she has great taste in music and a bitchin’ haircut! And.. pretty eyes’’

He mumbles the last part as he watched you settle in right between Jean and Jubs in the attraction, laughing your head off at something Jubilee said. God were you pretty

‘’Dude, I see the world trough a red visor and even I can see it’s definitely more than ‘liking’’’

Scott huffs, crossing his arms and looking ahead

‘’You should win her a prize, y’know, a plushie’’

The brunette shrugs. Yeah, he was right, he should

‘’Mh.. maybe I will’’

Peter grins. A few minutes later, the ride end and you stumble out with the other two, using Jubilee as support as you giggle, totally dizzy and giddy

‘’You’re not gonna throw up, are you?’’

Jubs quizzes and you shake your head no. Phew, that’d be embarrassing. You all continue walking as a group until Jean drags Scott over to the game booths. Scott grin in Peter’s direction in a ‘you go dude!’ Fashion. Jubilee catches on and lean closer to you

‘’I’m gonna go grab us a coke, okay’’

She pats your back and speed walks away before you can even turn around, leaving you with Peter. An awkward silence fall between you two until he speaks up

‘’hey, princess, want me to win you a prize? I’m pretty damn good at that game over there’’

He grins in his usual boyish manne— PRINCESS?? That was new, wow, why did that make butterfly flutter in your stomach..

You nod quickly with flushed cheeks and follow him when he grabs your hand and drags you to the booth. The game was easy, pop 10 balloons in one go and win a plushie. Easy enough. Peter walks up and pays the bored worker, who just hands him the 10 darts with a poker face. Shit job, huh. Surprisingly, he didn’t use his mutation. Which is pretty good considering the setting. He picks up a dart and shoot. POP, one balloon down. POP, two. POP. POP. POP. POP. POP. POP. POP. POP. Yay! Free plushie, considering-all-the-ones-you-had-got-Fucking-cremated! You giggle and jump on the ball of you feet as Pietro gets handed the big stuffed snow leopard plush. He turns to you and hands it over

‘’There you go, N/N’’

He grins when you hug him tightly

‘’Thank you Pietro!’’

You pull back and turn around when you hear your name, running over to Jubilee with two bottles of coke in hand. She raises an eyebrow at you then look over at Peter, giving him a proud thumbs up and a wink of approval. Which— to him — was a little perculiar, but honestly… you wouldn’t expect less from a girl name jubilation. Jean and Scott arrived back themselves a few minutes later, empty handed. Scott shrugged, his excuse being that his visor was at fault. Though Jean whispered that he just sucked ass at the games. You continued walking around the park, going on rides, when 23:00 hit. Many people left but you decided to do one more ride, the Ferris wheel. You still had an hour before it closed, so why not? You all went in the line, and when it was your turn, the teen boy there let Jubilee, Scott and Jean in a carrier, but told you to wait for the next one because the people limit was 3. So now, you were stuck, alone with Peter. Your crush for the past TEN FUCKING YEARS! Great. You took a quiet, deep breath and slipped in the carrier next to Peter, setting your plushie on the seat across from you both.

‘’Hey’’

The speedster jokes, grinning ear to ear. You smile back, resting your chin on your knees

‘’Hi’’

You look to your right when the Ferris wheel starts moving. You had the view on the lake beside the fair, where fireworks’ll be lit in a few minutes

‘’So, enjoyed your night, N/N?’’

He asks, cocking his head to the side

‘’Yeah, I loved it. Thanks for winning me a plushie too’’

You grin at him, full teeth, eyes scrunched and lit by the moonlight

‘’Hey, nothing less for my favorite friend’’

You laugh and continue talking, the wheel slowly moving your carrier up and up until it stops, right at the top. As if planned, fireworks goes off and you shoot around, smile as wide as your eyes as you stare out the glass at the colorful beam of light, reflecting on your face. But Peter’s stuck, stuck staring at you in awe. You looked absolutely gorgeous. He couldn’t look away, not that he wanted to

‘’It’s so.. Beautiful!’’

You chirp in amazement

‘’ Yeah.. gorgeous, even’’

Peter mumbled, still very much looking at you. You turn to look at him with a crooked grin and a raised eyebrow

‘’You good, dud—!’’ Peter cut you off by grabbing your cheeks and leaping foward, pressing his lips to your so gently. You froze, arms to your side until you brain fully apprehended what happened. Peter kissed you… PETER KISSED YOU!! You melt against him, arms coming up to rest your hands on his gently, smiling into the kiss. You were content, stretch that, you were ecstatic! Even when he pulled away, and.. whooped, huh. Strange way to react to your first kiss with a girl.. why did you find that cute? You laughed aloud, along with him. He swept you in a one armed hug

‘’That was the best decision I’ve made ALL NIGHT, woo’’

He chuckled and squeezed you against his lovingly, silence falling between the two of you until the end of the ride.

When you stepped out you were greeted by your three friends waiting for you, Jean grinned and looked over at Jubilee, who’s jaw dropped. You glance at Peter to find a lipstick mark over his lip. You snort and quickly join the girls while Pietro joins Scott, who’s deliberately holding back laughter, much to Peter’s confusion. As you’re walking out the fair, Jean leans in and whispers;

‘’You owe me 50 bucks’’

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

is it over now with conrad pleasse

First request I finish in a while 🎉 This is progress for my writer block!

Who else is loving the new vault tracks? We were all clowning and hoping for a Harry Styles collab...and were gifted these masterpieces

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

The timeline of your and Conrad’s relationship was a block of confusion. There were so many times where one of you had walked away from a fight or unspokenly called it quits that you didn’t know where your relationship stood. Were you still together? Or was it over?

The first time hearing that your ex was seeing someone else always stung. You heard the rumor from your friend Inez, who had seen him out and about with some brunette. They were getting coffee on Saturday morning, but by the slightly smeared mascara under her eyes, she and Conrad had spent the night together. Inez didn’t want to hurt you, but she wanted you to know in case you were still together. 

A week later, your mouth was moving against Conrad’s, his hands unbuttoning your blouse as yours were pulling at his hair. 

Maybe you were not over.

You accompanied Conrad home for his mother’s birthday and spent a few days at your parents’ mountain cabin for Thanksgiving. It was nice to spend time together with each other’s families. Your relationship was doing better. 

Then you found out what happened during Spring break in Cousins and red flashed in your eyes. Not only had Conrad cheated on you, but he did it with Belly. Of all people, it had it be her. The girl he swore was a family friend, a little sister to him. 

‘’I can’t believe you had sex with her!’’ you lashed, your voice trembling as tears welled up in your eyes. ‘’You’re such a lying traitor, Conrad Fisher!’’ 

‘’We were apart,’’ he fired back, defending himself. ‘’I did not cheat on you—’’  

‘’You did. Steven heard her on the phone talking to Taylor about it.’’ You looked at him with the deepest hurt in your eyes. ‘’How can you do this to me?’’ 

The crack in your voice tugged at Conrad's heartstrings. He hated to see you crying and hurting. The last thing he wanted was to cause you suffering, but he did, and there was no way to undo what he and Belly had done. It was a regrettable mistake, and he wished he could erase it.

‘’I understand that you are upset and I wish you hadn’t found out like that,’’ Conrad began, his voice softer, remorse seeping through. ‘’But I love you. Belly…Belly was a mistake. We were both sad and lonely, and she was just there.’’ 

‘’And you couldn’t control your hormones? This is a teenager's excuse, Conrad. Grow up.’’ 

You didn’t hear from him for the following two months. Summer went and gone, spent traveling around the country with your friends and tanning on all the beaches. It was nice to not hear his name for a while. 

But eventually, Conrad found his way back into your life. As if he had ever truly left. 

‘’His new girl looks exactly like you.’’  

‘’Inez…’’ 

‘’See for yourself.’’ The blonde pulled out her phone with Conrad’s new girl’s instagram page on the screen. 

She was right. Her hair was the same color as yours and she had the same lips shape too. 

‘’I bet he still loves you.’’

After your last fight, all that was left of your relationship had shattered. The trust was broken beyond repair. 

You shook your head and took a sip of your iced coffee. ‘’We’re over.’’ 

—

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[cecilysass]

Shine On (14/16)

Read on AO3 | Tagging @today-in-fic

Chapter 14: Rotten Wood

Farrs Corner, Virginia February 25, 2015 Two days later

The house is silent when Mulder steps through the kitchen door. At first he thinks no one is there, and he has a little corresponding stab of anxiety.

Then there’s a screech as Scully pushes her chair away from the kitchen table and stands to face him. He sees she’s set herself up there to work, her laptop nearly buried by drifts of paperwork.

He’s been having trouble interpreting Scully. Yesterday morning she drove off in his car with cryptic explanations, then reappeared an hour later with her laptop, a rolling suitcase full of clothes, and no further comment. Mulder assumes that means she’s planning on staying around a while. He hopes it does. He’s been superstitious about asking too many questions.

“Mulder,” she calls out, taking an awkward step towards him. He’s only been gone forty minutes to the hardware store, but her expression suggests she’s relieved to see him, like he’s been gone for months.

“Hey,” he says casually. “I think I found everything I need.” He holds up the two bags in his hands as evidence, kicking the door shut behind him. “Where are…”

He doesn’t finish, suddenly self-conscious about his choice of words. He’d almost said “the kids.” Way, way too strange.

“They went for a run.” A hint of a crease in her forehead. She pushes some errant strands of hair back behind her ears. Then she repeats the gesture, once, twice, three times as she walks distractedly to the front window. He gets it now: she’s anxious, she can barely keep herself still. “It’s been about twenty minutes since they left.”

Mulder follows her across the room, setting his hardware store bags down next to the boarded-up door frame, his project for the afternoon. He begins to pull the items he purchased out of the bag, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She’s wearing some soft gray sweater and tightly cut jeans that cling to her figure, making her look girlish. She leans against the window, her eyes scanning the road.

“Twenty minutes isn’t that long,” he comments, pulling some caulk out of the bag. “I ran with Jackson yesterday. He knows the route.”

She nods absently, still peering outside, her eyes searching up and down the road.

He stops what he’s doing, setting his repair supplies on the floor, and walks over to stand behind her, placing his hands on her small shoulders. Her sweater is so soft it melts under his fingers.

“You know,” he says gently, “you should probably worry more about us elderly mortals than about those superhero youngsters. They can take care of themselves.”

“I know,” she says, twisting her head around to flash him a smile that evaporates quickly.

“They’re what you might call resilient,” he says. “They’ve literally survived death, Scully.”

“You’ve survived death, too,” she says, her shoulders rising and falling under his hands. “And I still worry about you.”

“Do you?” he says in a low voice. His hands slide possessively from her shoulders to circle carefully around her waist, drawing her firmly against him.

She doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t relax into his embrace either. She turns to him, as tense as a coiled spring. “I worry about everything,” she admits. Her voice drops to a choked whisper. “Mulder. Didn’t you say you wanted us to be sure…?”

I’m always sure, he thinks. “Yeah,” he says, letting his arms release from her waist gently and reluctantly. “I did say that.” Be sensible here. Wait for more direct signs. He runs his fingers through his hair, breathing through his anxiety. “I need to get to work anyway, and I bet you have things to finish up, too.”

She watches him as he returns to his new supplies from the hardware store, seemingly hesitant to go back to her work.

“What did you get at the store?”

“Oh, I’m getting rid of rot,” Mulder says blithely. “Cleaning house. Same old, same old. I hope I’m more successful than I used to be.”

She frowns, crossing to stare at the damaged door up close. “Rot?” She folds her arms over her chest. “That’s not good in a wooden house, Mulder.”

“I noticed it around the cracked jamb,” Mulder says. “Just a little. I think it’s because there wasn’t a good seal and some moisture’s been getting in. So I can clean it out and fix it now before any more damage is done.”

“How lucky hybrid assassins decided to kick your door down. Or you would have missed it.”

There’s a certain snap to her comment that takes him back, makes him think of earlier iterations of their relationship. And she’s not walking back to her laptop. She’s staring at the door frame with crossed arms, idly shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“So are you going to help me?” he asks casually. “Or just sit around and make smartass comments?”

She turns her head to regard him. “Let me consider my answer.”

“Come on, Scully,” he says with a hopeful chuckle and a sideways glance.

***

She mostly watches him work, even though he knows she’s handy herself, probably more than him. He’s taught himself a lot about maintaining a house since moving here, but she grew up knowing how to use a wrench. Her father raised a daughter who knew her way around a toolbox, she always said. When they first moved in, they’d fixed up a lot of this house together, taking breaks to make love in any room they were in.

“You should probably get this whole place inspected,” she comments, sitting on the floor with her knees hugged to her chest. “Rot can be insidious.” He’s using a crowbar to pry the rotted wood from the frame, and she’s wrinkling her nose when he’s successful.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I should. I will. Especially if I put the place on the market soon.”

“The market?” she says sharply. “You’re selling the house?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

She sits up straighter, dropping her knees, taken aback. “But you love this house, Mulder.”

Mulder digs his crowbar in deeper. “I did love this house,” he corrects her carefully. “I’m not sure I love it in the same way I used to.”

She seems to digest this a moment, looking around the room as though seeing it anew. “But where… where would you move?”

“Somewhere closer to work, I thought,” he says. “More intown. If we’re going to be back in the Hoover building. Maybe Arlington? I don’t know. And, uh—” He successfully ejects several shards of wood onto the floor. “I’d like a bigger place, maybe.”

“A bigger place?” Scully shepherds the discarded wooden shards into a pile with the inside of her foot.

“Yeah,” he says, feeling a flush of embarrassment. “So that, you know—maybe these new family members could all stay over. Have their own rooms. No more couches and air mattresses. Big old Mulder family holiday or whatever.”

She stops pushing the shards with her foot, her eyes on him. “You’re assuming Rose and Jackson are going to remain in our lives.”

“Yeah,” he admits simply. “I’m assuming that.”

He doesn’t say what they’re both thinking: that Jackson’s criminal charges are still unresolved, and that even if they were resolved, the two of them have no legal standing in his life at all.

“You’re … considering Rose your family member, too?”

He gives her a look. “She’s Jackson’s sister, isn’t she? Also, I think I might know her mom from somewhere.”

The corners of Scully’s lips lift, but she doesn’t say anything right away. “We’ve barely talked, Rose and me,” she says in a monotone voice. “She seems a little … distant.”

Mulder digs the crowbar in again. “She probably has understandable reasons for that, huh?”

“Yes.” Scully’s voice doesn’t waver. “I know she does.”

“But acting distant doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t care,” he says, pushing on the crowbar’s handle. He gives her a sly look. “Right, Scully?”

Her expression doesn’t change, but her eyebrow twitches. “Right.”

He manages to catapult another cascade of rotten wood chips onto the floor, and Scully watches him silently.

“You’re sweet, Mulder. To think about Rose and Jackson staying at your new house. To … plan around it.”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m sweet.” He swallows the lump in his throat. “Truthfully, I was also thinking you might be there.”

“Oh yeah? Do I get my own bedroom, too?”

He stops working and turns to look at her. “God,” he says. “I hope not.”

Her return gaze burns into him. With painstaking slowness she licks the rim of her bottom lip. He knows he needs to find this out.

“If I could shine into your head,” Mulder asks, “and see what you wanted, Scully … would I see you living with me again? All the time? Or is that just something I want?”

She doesn’t answer right away, pushing herself up from the floor, brushing herself off. “Mulder, I’m very grateful you can’t shine me,” she comments. Her hands, rapidly smoothing down her sweater, begin to slow down, and her tone softens. “But I think you would see … that. Us living together again. Yes.”

His heart rate picks up. Good, but this isn’t all he needs to hear. “And … this Mulder who you’d want to live with.” He leans his head back, feeling at a rare loss for the right words. “Who is he, exactly?” She reacts to his question, obviously puzzled. “William’s dad? Agent Mulder? The guy who runs errands to the hardware store?”

“Aren’t you … all of those?”

“I don’t know,” he replies shortly, and he’s surprised that there is such a crackle of resentment in his words. “I know that I’m the man you left. The one you could have moved back in with at any point in time. Anything that’s changed recently, to make this situation different—that doesn’t have anything fundamentally to do with me. I’m the same guy.”

“I don’t think you’re the same Mulder as when I left,” she replies. “I don’t believe you really think that either.”

He doesn’t, as a matter of fact. He turns away from her, setting his crowbar down meticulously, and he walks to look out the window.

“And I didn’t leave you, Mulder. I left a situation,” she adds to his turned back. She seems to search for her next words. “Something was destroying both of us, and we couldn’t help one another.”

Mulder turns around again, scratching his face. “I was the one having mental health problems though.”

She huffs, then smiles sadly. “Your perception of that says a lot,” Scully says. “We could barely see what the other was going through.”

He says nothing, considering her words.

“Losing William was something we never dealt with,” she continues. “We let our guilt and our pain sit with us for too long. We told ourselves we could handle it…”

“And we couldn’t.”

“And we couldn’t,” agrees Scully. “And it got worse. Until you couldn’t leave the couch, and I couldn’t stop working, and we couldn’t listen to each other or give one another what we needed.” She kicks idly at the wood pieces on the floor. “That’s why I had to leave.”

Mulder nods stonily, gazing up and down the door frame. He can see that she’s right. He can even see that she’s been saying this, in some form, all along, but he hasn’t been able to hear her.

“So maybe,” he ventures, gesturing broadly to the door, “we had to, you know, pry out all of the rot so the frame could survive.”

“Wow,” she says, “there’s a tortured metaphor.”

“You have no poetry in your soul, Scully.”

“All the great poetry being about fungal growth, of course.”

“The frame is … surviving, right?” Mulder says, his voice turning vulnerable.

Her eyes lock on his instantly. “You’re the one who turned me down,” Scully reminds him.

“Yeah,” he says. “I know. I … wasn’t sure if… I could…”

She walks over to him, cradling his cheek in her hand. Her fingers brush against the light stubble there. His breathing steadies.

“Tell me why you did that,” she whispers.

He stares back at her, his mouth cracking open in hesitation for a moment.

“I wanted you to want me again,” he confesses to her. “Not the family, not the job–although I want those things, too, of course. But I miss when you wanted me. Just me. Like you did in the old days.” He studies her face: smooth, unruffled. “At least I think you did.”

She says nothing, then slowly lifts her mouth into her closed-lip smile.

“What?” he says querulously.

Her smile evolves into a full-on, throaty laugh.

“Jesus, Scully, you’re laughing at me now? Really?”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But you are being a little ridiculous.”

Her fingers move up to ruffle his hair, and it reminds him of when she used to pretend to check him for head injuries for a transparent excuse to touch him. He permits himself to close his eyes and enjoy her touch.

“Don’t you have any idea how much I want you? How much I have always wanted you?” she asks, in the most sexy voice he’s ever heard. “If you could shine me, Mulder, it would only be you. Always.”

It’s such a silly and obvious statement, but it’s such a relief he could sob, he could sink to his knees and collapse. Instead, he retreats to familiar territory and makes a joke.

“Oh yeah? All Mulder, all the time? It sounds like it might be fun to shine you, Scully.”

“You did shine me once. Remember?” He cracks his eyes to stare at her and she’s smiling, Sphinx-like, continuing to run her fingers through his hair and down his neck. He realizes he is subconsciously leaning towards her, drawn in. Always drawn in, since day one.

“Yeah, but your thoughts were much more chaste then,” he sighs. “You hadn’t been ruined by my perversions yet.”

She snorts, which might be unattractive coming from anyone on earth besides Scully. “My thoughts about you, Mulder,” she whispers, her fingers lightly skimming down his jaw, “were never what I would call chaste.”

He slides his hands around the back of that sumptuous gray sweater. He draws himself into the familiar aura of her body heat, and he kisses her, unable to keep the reflexive smile off of his lips.

It feels so good to kiss her again that he thinks he could never stop.

His palms sculpt her silhouette, the curve of her waist and the line of her rib cage. She’s so soft, so touchable everywhere. She smells like Scully, like something sweet and sharply herbal, like coffee beans and clean sheets. He feels like he could sink into her forever.

He takes eager nips at her pillowy lips, and in response, Scully hums: a relieved, tension-releasing sound.

His mouth pushes in, tasting her again and again. His hands rest on her rib cage, his thumbs tracing the curved underside of her breasts. As soft as heaven. What a very good sweater. He’s going to ask her to wear this sweater everyday.

He breaks the kiss to walk her backwards, pinning her against the wall between the door and the window.

Then he stares down at her, amazed, and she stares back at him with a smile in her eyes. His beautiful Scully. He loves her looking like this: lips kissed hard, hair mussed, neckline of her sweater akimbo. It reminds him of their early days making out when they were still partners in the Hoover Building the first time.

He’s filled with the heady idea that this could be them for decades. That they could have this forever. Something ebullient fills his chest.

Taking hold of her waist, he leans down to bury his face in her neck. She makes a muted sound when his tongue meets her skin, something between a laugh and a gasp. And that sound, from her, causes his mind to leap to a hundred memories—his mouth nuzzling her collarbone, his mouth lapping at her nipple, his mouth buried between her thighs. His whole body begins to vibrate; he hardens fast. He pushes against her like an eager teenager, seizing her wrists.

“Mulder,” she sighs, not sounding exactly disapproving.

He pushes his nose past her hair and lets his mouth trail adoringly around her ear, suddenly wondering if this should continue right now. Because his mind races with possibilities. He could slide his hands underneath the sweater and avail her of it, or maybe cop a good old-fashioned feel over her bra. Or his hands could slide around and cup her ass—Jesus, he loves her ass—and hoist her up further on the wall, lift a leg, unbutton those jeans.

There’s no time to decide on any of these appealing options when other thoughts interrupt his.

Minor child returning to the house.

As before, the words come into Mulder’s head unbidden. Young innocent boy returning to your house in five minutes. Please, please be prepared.

Mulder closes his eyes, releases her wrists, and presses his forehead to Scully’s.

“We gotta stop right now,” he breathes.

“What’s wrong?” she whispers, her own breaths still coming heavy.

“Jackson and Rose are on their way back,” Mulder says. “I, uh, got a warning just now.”

“A … warning?”

“Uh huh.” He chuckles sheepishly.

He feels her muscles tense in his arms as she realizes. “Oh my god.” Scully slips her face down and buries it in his chest. Her words are muffled. “If he knew to send a warning… that means he knew there was a reason to warn you.”

“He’s thirteen, Scully,” Mulder says, arms encircling her. “He knows how babies are made. He’s been reading adult minds his whole life. I think he’s not going to be shocked or traumatized to know we might—”

“No, Mulder. Don’t even say it. It’s absolutely mortifying,” she moans. “We have some ... logistical problems to solve.”

“Sure,” he says warmly. “A few.” He pulls her even closer, rocking her back and forth, her head pressed against his heart. He’d never tell her, but he fucking loves these logistical problems. They are the best problems he can imagine.

For so long he couldn’t see anything to look forward to. Right now he can’t stop himself from looking forward to everything.

***

[lonelym00n]

The Road to Recovery

An epilogue for The Devil Likes the Pirate Series

Tara Carpenter x Reader

Word Count: 3.2k

Summary: Is it worth the effort to repair your relationships, or should you just let your friends go?

Warnings: Talk about injuries, nothing super gory

A/N: The epilogue is here (finally)! I hope it wraps up the series nicely. Thank you all so much for reading <3

The road to recovery, as it’s often said to be, is going to be a long one. You are confined to your hospital bed for a minimum of two weeks, set to undergo observation and a multitude of x-rays until your body has recovered enough for a laparoscopy to ensure that your wounded organs have properly healed. 

You internally groan when the nurse informs you of your long stay. The next two weeks are going to be extremely boring, especially because you've been instructed not to move unless you’re being visited by your physical therapist or it is absolutely necessary to do so.

If it’s not bad enough that you can’t move, as with every other hospital, your only form of entertainment is watching the crappy TV shows provided by the hospital’s very limited cable subscription. 

As much as you want to grumble and complain, all the effort that it’s going to take for you to heal is worth it because it means that you’re still alive. If your traumatic near death experience has taught you anything, it’s that you have to be thankful for life and its hardships even when you are desperately wishing for things to be easier.

In an effort to uplift your mood, you switch on the TV, dig into a cup of jello, and carefully shift into a comfortable position.

***

The two cups of jello that you ate must’ve had the same effects on you as a Thanksgiving feast, because your eyes droop shut during the second episode of Property Brothers. 

It’s darker when you awake, and after blinking away the sleep in your eyes, you notice that you have a visitor.

“Kirby?” 

The FBI Agent turns her head in your direction with a grin, “Hey kid!”

You both take a second to scan the other’s injuries. There’s an array of bandages on her face and you can just barely make out the thick gauze hiding underneath her loose shirt. 

Kirby’s lips curve into a frown at your pale and weak form, “He really did a number on you huh?”

You nod, “But the doctors say I’ll be okay.”

She shuffles over to stand right beside your bed, “I’m glad.”

There’s so much you want to say to Kirby that it takes a good few moments to gather your thoughts together. Ever since Tara told you that Kirby had survived, you haven’t stopped thinking about how grateful you are for the older woman. She trusted you when no one else did. 

“Kirby, I- I really can’t even begin to say how much I appreciate you having my back. I don’t think I would be here if it weren’t for you.”

She shakes her head, “I only did what was right, no need to thank me.”

Tears prick your eyes, “But I do need to thank you. You didn’t even know me but you were still there for me. None of my friends can say the same.”

Kirby sighs and gently grabs your hand. “I’m sorry. Have you talked to any of them about it yet?”

A shakily exhale leaves your chest. Though you’d seen Tara a few times, the two of you still hadn’t talked things through. You were terrified that it would break the honeymoon phase you and she were living in if you approached the topic, so you refused to bring it up. You knew from Tara that Mindy had been released from the hospital, but the Meeks-Martin girl had still made no effort to come see you. You tried your best not to hold it against her, but deep down it made you even more sad to know she was avoiding you all together.

A few tears trail down your cheeks, “No. Mindy’s treating me like I’m the plague and I’m too scared to talk to Tara about it.”

The agent squeezes your hand in an attempt to bring you comfort. “Mindy will come around, to be honest I’m betting that she just feels really bad. And Tara, well, I’ve heard the way that girl talks about you. It’ll make both of you feel better to talk things through and get that extra weight off your chests.”

“You’re right,” your heart feels heavy in your chest. You’ve been doing your best to avoid thinking about your time spent treated like a suspect, the hurt that it brings you is too overwhelming when coupled with the burning stab wounds littered around your abdomen. But now that it’s been breached, you know your feelings are going to come flying out like the contents of Pandora’s Box. 

“God Kirby, it just hurts so much to think that no one even gave me a chance. There was nothing I could say or do. How am I ever supposed to trust them again when they so clearly didn’t trust me?”

A deep frown stretches across Kirby’s face and she moves to carefully wrap her arms around your shoulders in a hug. “You don’t have to trust them. You don’t owe any of them a single thing.” She pulls back to get a better view of your face, “But, I know you still care about your friends even though they hurt you. Just talk to them, and after that, make them earn your trust back. Your relationships are damaged but with time, they’ll heal.”

“Okay,” you nod and lean back in the bed. “That sounds good, thank you Kirby.”

“Anytime. I’m here for you from here on out kid.”

***

Tara comes by two days later, with yet another bouquet of flowers. She’s accompanied by Sam, the older girl refusing to let Tara leave her side.

Under normal circumstances Tara would throw a fit but since they had almost died just last week, she lets her sister’s behavior slide.

The younger girl greets you with a kiss on the forehead and moves to replace the old flowers with the new ones. Sam offers you a smile and a wave before making her way towards the empty bed next to your own.

You scooch yourself over to make room for Tara on the bed with you. Your abdomen screams at you for the small movements, but feeling Tara’s warmth next to you will more than make up for it.

When she’s finished with the flowers, she slides into your bed. Her hands instantly start sweeping across your form, a new habit she picked up to reassure herself that you were still alive and breathing. You melt into the contact, occasionally humming in content. 

You let yourself enjoy the peace for a moment. It’s nice being cared for by Tara, letting her fiddle with your blankets and your hair as she quietly fusses over you. 

But as much as you want to continue living in this heaven with her, the gnaw of leftover hurt and dejection in your chest has grown incessant since your talk with Kirby. You’ve been avoiding rehashing the nightmarish events with Tara because you’re terrified to lose her again, like you have every other time the two of you have had emotional talks. 

Hesitantly, you grab one of her hands to stop its movement and draw her attention to you. Those big brown eyes of hers immediately look up at you, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly. The sight of her has you nervous and bumbling. Whatever you were going to say to approach the topic is stuck in your throat in favor of admiring her.

She tilts her head cutely and entangles the fingers of her trapped hand in yours. “Is everything okay?”

You close your eyes for a second and take a deep breath. When you reopen them, Tara’s eyes are filled with concern.

You swallow thickly, “We um,” you pause briefly, working up the courage, “We need to talk Tara.”

She freezes for a second but quickly finds herself again, “Okay. Yeah, yeah we can talk.”

Sam slides out of her place on the other bed swiftly. She squeezes Tara's uninjured shoulder as she passes by, “I’ll be just outside if you need me.”

The younger Carpenter nods to her sister in thanks. Sam sees the apprehension in Tara’s eyes and offers the girl a small reassuring smile. 

The tension in the room increases when the door closes behind Sam. You and Tara blink at each other for a few long seconds.

You shift your gaze to your waist and pick at the thin scratchy blanket. When you start worrying your bottom lip between your teeth, Tara reaches up with her free hand to cup your check.

“Hey, it’s okay, you can talk to me.”

You look up to meet her eyes and see nothing but care and reassurance. It gives you the push you need to open up to her. “Well, I wanted to talk about everything from last week, and uh, how it made me feel.”

Her eyes widen a bit but she nods quickly, “Okay. I’m listening, go ahead.”

“When I saw you in the police station, god I felt so betrayed Tara. I know that since I was the only one who hadn’t stayed over it made me look bad, but no one even gave me a chance to explain myself. I get why you might’ve given them my name, but it still hurt to know it was you because it meant that you didn’t trust me enough to talk to me yourself.”

Her eyes shine with unshed tears and she slowly trails her thumb down your cheek, “I’m so sorry, about that and about everything. Me and Sam were just so scared and shaken up, and Detective Bailey was asking for everyone’s alibis, and Sam mentioned that you hadn’t stayed over. I tried to tell her not to, but she had to tell him. He was the one who decided to bring you in for questioning, not either of us. I know that doesn’t make anything better, but maybe it helps you to know.”

It did make you feel slightly better. It’s not like she threw him your name and told him to question you. “It does help. When I got to the park, I just felt so judged and alone, like I was some sort of outsider. And then Mindy said all that stuff and it just broke me. It upset me so much that she called me out like that and turned everything I told her in private into a stupid motive.”

The memory of Mindy’s words is particularly painful for you to relive. You’d never felt so exposed and let down. Quietly, a few tears begin to slip down your face.

Tara’s bottom lip trembles with the effort it takes to hold back her own tears, “I hate that we made you feel like that. We’re your friends and that’s never how you should feel around us. And Mindy, god, I was so mad at her for what she said to you. I tried to chase after you when you left but Sam wouldn’t let me.”

The timid look that you give her nearly breaks her heart. “You did?”

A tear escapes her eyes, “Yeah. I didn’t want you to be alone, not when you looked so upset.”

“I was so scared that you were going to hate me, or reject me, and that you thought I was the killer. I had to get away.”

“I could never hate you. And I wouldn’t have rejected you, I really really like you. When I told you I only wanted to be friends, it’s because everything that happened with Amber hurt me so much. I was scared that I could get hurt again, so I pushed my feelings away. And that pushed you away, and I’m so fucking sorry. All the Ghostface stuff happened so fast, and I never got a chance to apologize or to explain myself.”

You’re both crying now. You tug Tara closer to you and she positions herself so her head lays on your shoulder, moving carefully so as not to jostle you or lay on top of any wires.

She looks up at you from her position, “I didn’t think it was you, Y/N. I was just trying to be cautious about trusting anyone. The only person I was sure it wasn’t was Sam. When Wayne had you, I hesitated because of everything Ethan and Quinn were saying. And I was so, so scared that all the Amber stuff was happening again, but I believed what you said. You’re nothing like Amber, you wouldn’t have done something like that. I’m sorry it took me that long to be sure of it.”

You wrap your free arm around her waist and bury your teary face in her hair. You feel infinitely lighter having gotten your feelings out into the open. Part of you has healed from hearing things from her perspective. 

“It makes me feel so much better knowing all of that, thank you Tara.”

“Of course, I’m sorry about how I made you feel.” She looks down at your wrapped abdomen, “And I hate that you got so hurt because of me.”

You tighten your grip on her, “It’s okay.” Then, a bit playfully you add, “And don’t blame yourself, it wasn’t you who stabbed me 17 different times.”

She lifts her head and slaps your shoulder lightly, gasping. “Stop that you know what I mean.”

You laugh heartily and Tara swears she could stay here with you forever. She traces her eyes along your features and finds herself in awe of your soft beauty, as she is everytime she looks at you.

Her hand reaches up to cup your chin and her fingers splay out across your jaw. You’re utterly lovestruck as you stare into her pretty eyes.

She leans forward and gently captures your lips with hers, sighing softly into the kiss. When she pulls back, she smiles sweetly up at you.

“I feel the same way, you know. I really love you too.”

***

Tara, and by extension Sam, visit you practically everyday after that. The younger sister brings her laptop with her so that you three actually have a good selection of movies to watch. 

One night after Tara fell asleep, tucked into your side, Sam offered you an apology too. You forgave her immediately, though she hadn’t really done anything other than be her usual protective self, you appreciate the sentiment all the same.

It’s a quiet day when Mindy finally walks into your room. Sam had to sort out some work stuff, so the two sisters would be heading over a bit later.

“Hey,” she offers shyly. 

“Hi Mindy.”

“Is it okay if I come in and sit?”

“Of course yeah, sit anywhere you like.”

Seeing her here is shocking, but not unwelcome. Tara had informed you that she was trying to convince Mindy to come visit you so that she and you could talk. According to Tara, the short-haired girl was entirely sure that you hated her and would never want to speak to her again.

Mindy shifts around a little and her leg hasn’t stopped bouncing since she’s sat down.

Deciding to reprieve her from her fidgeting, you give her a small smile. “I don’t hate you Mindy.”

Her eyes are wide and they snap up to meet yours, “You don’t?”

“I don’t.”

She breathes out a sigh of relief, but still looks a little apprehensive. “I’m surprised you don’t. I would hate me if I were you.

You had thought long and hard about how you felt about Mindy, and while you were deeply hurt by her words, you could never bring yourself to hate her. You considered her your best friend for a brief moment in time and she was the only person that was there to comfort and support you when you were wallowing in your feelings for Tara.

“I thought about hating you, but I really care about you, Mins. I know that you feel some pressure to follow in your uncle’s footsteps. I just wish that you listened to me, and that you didn’t go so deep on the motive stuff.”

She cringes at the reminder, “I feel, so so stupid about that.” Her hands come up to cover her face for a moment as she groans. “I’m sorry, it was extremely shitty of me.”

“It was pretty shitty of you,” you chuckle, “but it’s okay. I’d probably be more mad if things didn’t end up working out between me and Tara.”

She smiles, “I’m happy for you both.” Her face turns more serious and she leans forward to softly place her hand on your thigh. “Genuinely though, I feel terrible. I was just so sure it was you and I guess it kind of scared me. I’m sorry, I know that’s no excuse. Is there any way I can make it up to you?”

You ponder it for a minute. Bingo. Your face twists into a smirk, “I have an idea.”

***

It’s a few hours later when Sam and Tara arrive. They’re wrapped up in a conversation as they enter, so they don’t notice the current state of your room.

Sam notices first, “What the-”

“Surprise!” you cheer.

Your hospital room has been completely rearranged. The two beds have been pushed together to form a makeshift couch, and the chairs are positioned beside each bed. Fairy lights have been strung around the room and a white sheet hangs across from the sitting area, placed perfectly in the center.

You, Mindy, and Chad (who’d been wheeled in by his sister) grin at the dumbfounded Carpenter sisters.

Sam, ever the mom of the group, raises a singular eyebrow, “What did you three do?”

Your smile stretches even wider. “We’re recreating movie night! Hope you Carpenters don’t mind not hosting for once.”

Sam rolls her eyes good naturedly at your comment. 

Tara walks over and hops up on the bed next to you. You greet her with a kiss to her cheek and she beams at you, pleased. “Baby this is such a nice surprise. But how’d you manage to put all this together?”

You share a secret little glance with Mindy, “I called in a favor from a friend.”

After a good few minutes of cheerful banter, the group settles in to watch the movie. You and Tara are pressed so close together that she’s practically sitting on your lap. 

After a week full of misery, things finally feel right. Your wounds are steadily repairing themselves and your relationships have been mended. Slowly but surely, you are healing.

Tara, the girl who started it all, who stole your heart away with her teasing smiles alone, leans over to whisper in your ear, “When you’re finally out of this hospital, I’m taking you on a date. Just me and you.”

Your eyes shine with the same love that you see reflected in hers. “I’d love nothing more.”

“It’s a date.” She kisses you chastly and quickly pulls back. Her hand reaches towards your face and when she boops your nose softly, you know you’ll be in love with Tara Carpenter for the rest of your life.

Taglist: @thenextdawn @dreifhraniquo29 @fanboy7794 @thelonewriter247 @cartierdreamx @btay3115 @friedryes @bananasplits-world @alexkolax @ordelixx @adaydreamaway08 @youralphawolf72

Note: The last installment for the series will be the alternate ending, which I hope to have finished by the end of this week. I won't be including the series taglist, so leave a comment or send in an ask if you want to be tagged in the alternate ending! Thanks for reading, the angst awaits!