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coriolantha · 3 months

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‧˚₊•୨ Patience ୧•‧₊˚⊹

mike schmidt x GN! reader

summary: mike comforts you after you've had a long day₊˚⊹:˚｡⋆୨୧˚

tags: fluff, mike being a sweetheart (as always), anxiety, reader has bad self image, insecurities, reader is overwhelmed and needs a break (so real), hugging, cuddling, comfort

wc: 1.1k

notes: hii this is my first fic i've posted on here. ngl i'm... scared. im not proud of this but i can't scrap it this time otherwise i'm never gonna get anything posted LMAO. please leave any criticism in the comments if you'd like, feel free to share any opinions, i want to improve the quality of my writing! thank you sm for reading! 🫶

today has been punishing.

rain trickled down the foggy window, making soft tapping sounds as they hit and fell, reluctantly racing down to gather in the weep holes. the rough, scratchy carpet beneath you beginning to burn as you shuffled around your desolate home.

exhausted, you gave up trying to distract yourself from your main task; your bedroom.

your eyes darted around your cluttered room, glossing over as you noticed every individual piece of clothing that wasn't hung up, organized, and neatly put away. you began to have a headache thinking about where to even begin. you felt like a filthy slob, your surroundings perfectly reflecting how you've felt all day.

you flicked the lights off, the warmly lit room now becoming pitch black, except for the small gleam of light that came through the open door. you sat on your bed, absentmindedly kicking your various pants and t-shirts away from you to give yourself some room to lay down.

mike wouldn't be back home for a while now. it was only 12:45am, which gave you 5 hours and 25 minutes to attempt to sleep before having to get ready for your office job... which would leave little to no time to spend with mike.

fuck mondays.

turning over to your side, you hugged your knees, shivering. no amount of blankets could fix how cold you felt. the truth was, you missed your boyfriend; longing for his cozy hugs and soft, gentle kisses he'd press against your cheek as he consoled you.

you missed him more than anything in the world.

with a blink, the tears that have been collecting in your eyes came down your flushed face at once. laying there, you accepted your pitiful reality, slowly drifting off into unwanted slumber, in solitude.

the time was around 2am when you felt a dip into the bed. panicking, you quickly awoke, shuffling to sit up as fast as possible. although you didn't know of the time, something felt off. mike wasn't supposed to be home yet, that's for sure.

panic turned into confusion as you heard mike, obviously feeling guilty for having jumpscaring you so badly.

"oh, shit- baby, it's me," he whispered apologetically, reaching his hand out to cup your cheek. turning on the dim lamp, he quickly turned back to face you. his eyes bore into yours, scanning to make sure you were going to be alright.

all day he was desperate to see your face, even after his shorter-than-usual-shift. mike couldn't get enough of your perfection, although you always brushed him off whenever he ever mentioned this to you.

he noticed your terrified expression which started to wear off, beginning to blend into relief.

"it's just me... you don't need to worry about anything, okay? i'm right here, no one's gonna hurt you," he muttered, leaning over to press a chaste kiss on your lips, lingering longer than usual.

weight lifted off your shoulders as you began to put pieces together. now, all you needed was an answer to your burning question.

"mike, why did you come home so early? did something happen?" you asked anxiously, looking right back at your boyfriends affectionate, adoring eyes.

"oh, sweetheart..." he soothed, "i got let out early today. nothing worth worrying about. i guess they didn't need me as much as i thought they did," he let out a quick, dry laugh, shaking his head dismissively.

"fuck, i've missed you all day, i'm so damn glad i could leave that job early. anything to see you, my love," he cooed, brushing a strand of hair out of your face, delicately tucking it behind your ear

you were in awe; it was a miracle he came home early, especially today. you were fighting to hold your tears back, mouth quivering as you bit your bottom lip. mike noticed your change in emotion immediately.

"hey hey hey," he whispered urgently, quickly grabbing your hand and giving it a light squeeze, "what's wrong?" his voice drowned in concern.

"i did nothing all day. the only thing i've done is just stand around and... thought of doing something, but i couldn't. i was so tired, but of what? like, why didn't i clean our room? and the worst part is, you have to come home, tired as hell, ready to go to sleep, only to see your messy room and your partner who still hasn't done anything about it," you quavered, sniffling softly as warm tears fell from your eyes.

mike said nothing, but you could sense how hurt he felt after you talked so badly about yourself. he sighed, laying down on the plush mattress. he patted his chest, inviting you to rest your head there. you did so immediately, closing your eyes as you listened closely to his heart beat.

"you know i love you, right?" he asked gently. you stayed quiet, knowing he wasn't expecting an answer.

"i love everything about about you. but the only thing i don't love is how badly you talk of yourself. i hate it. it doesn't make any sense to me," he stressed, stroking your hair soothingly.

"so what if our room is messy? i don't think about that when i come home. all i think about is how i can finally be with you. i'm not going to let some clothes on the floor get in the way of us, ever. or anything, in fact."

you nodded in agreement silently, your tears dry on your cheeks.

"we can tackle this room together. we can do this however you want- i can pick up your clothes while you organize them into whichever area they go to, and i'll pick up my clothes too, but you won't have to organize that, i'll take care of it. how does that sound?" he asked delicately.

you instantly felt a huge weight lift off your shoulders.

"thank you so much, mike. you don't know how much i needed you today," you exhaled, "really."

he looked down lovingly at you, curled up beside him. he kissed your head tenderly, rubbing up and down your back.

goosebumps spread across your arms. you felt so loved and safe.

"the real question is," you suddenly asked, "how are you so perfect? were you made in a factory or something?"

"says you," he laughed, holding you tighter.

the two of you basked in the love you had for one another for a while. no words were exchanged, only him occasionally rubbing his thumb against your arm, while you began to doze off, which caught his attention.

"want me to turn the light off?"

you nodded, wrapping your arm around his stomach.

he turned over once more, pulling the cord of the lamp light, the room now pitch black.

"i love you," he whispered, turning to his side a little more so he could be pressed closer against you.

"i love you too, mike. always," you mumbled back, the two of you drifting off to sleep.

₊˚⊹:˚｡⋆₊୨୧₊˚⊹:˚｡⋆₊

dividers by @f-loqweres 🫶

#josh hutcherson #mike schmidt x reader #mike schmidt x gn!reader #mike schmidt x you #mike schmidt x y/n #mike schmidt #mike schmidt x reader fluff #fluff #mike schmidt x gn!reader fluff #comfort fanfic #comfort fluff #comfort #lovers #self love #jhutch #fanfiction #fanfic

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dewdropdinosaur · 3 months

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Original Sin

LUCIFER x (GN ACE) READER

Summary: Lucifer really likes you and so flirts with you constantly. You like him too...just not in the way he thinks

Warnings: I am not asexual so I asked my ace friend for help on this but please let me know(kindly) if I need to change anything in order to more accurately represent the ace community

I can't remember who requested this - so if you did please comment below and I will tag you!

REQUESTS OPEN

In the bustling streets of Hell, where chaos and debauchery is always afoot, Lucifer Morningstar, the charismatic and mischievous ruler, was a force to be reckoned with. With his devilish charm and striking yet..short presence, he commanded the attention of demons wherever he went. But amidst the chaos, there was one individual who seemed immune to his advances—Y/N.

Y/N was unlike anyone Lucifer had ever encountered. They possessed a quiet demeanor that intrigued him, a calm amidst the storm of Hell's insanity. Despite his best efforts to charm them with his best sinful lines and flirtatious looks, Y/N remained seemingly unaffected, an imaginary barrier shielding them from Lucifer's flirtatious antics. Y/N's innocence and purity amidst the sea of sinners intrigued Lucifer, and he found himself drawn to them in a way he couldn't quite explain.

Yet, despite their differences, Y/N found themselves drawn to Lucifer in a way they couldn't put their finger on. His wit, his confidence, his undeniable allure—it all fascinated them, even if they didn't fully understand their own feelings. Despite Y/N's sexuality or lack thereof (which was something they were still coming to terms with), they couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement whenever Lucifer flashed them one of his signature smirks or delivered a smooth line their way. They admired his confidence and charisma from afar, secretly harboring feelings for the devilishly handsome demon.

As days turned into weeks, Lucifer's advances grew bolder, much to Y/N's confusion and internal turmoil. They found themselves torn between their growing romantic affection for Lucifer and their uncertainty about how to navigate their asexuality in a world where desire and passion ran rampant and was ruled by the original sin himself! They enjoyed his company immensely, relishing in the moments they spent together that weren’t full of his attempts. Those quiet moments when he would let down the persona and be the kind, caring, and intelligent fallen angel. But still, Y/N couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort whenever Lucifer's flirtation veered into more intimate territory.

One fateful evening, as Y/N found themselves alone with Lucifer in the opulent lobby of Hazbin Hotel, the demon king seized the opportunity to make his feelings known in the only way he knew how - more flirting.

"Ah, my dear Y/N," Lucifer purred, his voice dripping with charm as he leaned in closer. "You've been on my mind quite a lot lately.~"

Y/N's heart skipped a beat at the sight of Lucifer's devilish grin, their cheeks flushing with a mixture of excited apprehension. "Oh, um, h-hi Lucifer," they stammered, their voice barely above a whisper.

Sensing Y/N's unease, Lucifer softened his expression, his eyes reflecting real concern as he reached out to gently cup their cheek. "Is something wrong Y/N? You seem...distant. Oh shit…did I make you uncomfortable?"

Y/N hesitated for a moment, their heart pounding in their chest as they prepared to reveal their truth to Lucifer. Taking a deep breath, they met his gaze, searching for any sign of judgment or rejection. But all they found was genuine curiosity and concern reflected in his eyes. Y/N swallowed hard, their mind racing as they searched for the right words to express themselves.

"I...I like you, Lucifer," they confessed, their voice trembling slightly. "But...I'm not like everyone else here. I...I don't feel...desire you the same way they do."

A flicker of understanding crossed Lucifer's features as he processed Y/N's words. Despite his reputation as the literal embodiment of sin and temptation, he was no stranger to the complexities of human emotion and nature.

"Ah, I see," Lucifer murmured, his tone gentle as he brushed a stray lock of hair away from Y/N's face. He lowered his voice to a calm purr as he gave them some space.

Lucifer's expression softened, a genuine curiosity replacing his usual playful demeanor. "I do believe the term is asexual?" he repeated, his tone gentle as he sought to understand.

Y/N's eyes widened in surprise, a wave of relief washing over them at Lucifer's understanding. "Y-yes," they whispered, feeling a weight lift off their shoulders as they finally spoke their truth aloud.

With a tender smile, Lucifer reached out to take Y/N's hand in his own, his touch surprisingly comforting despite the fiery aura that surrounded him. "There's nothing wrong with that, my dear," he reassured them. "You're perfect just the way you are."

With a grin and a twirl of his cane, Lucifer plopped down on a lush chair beside Y/N.

"Tell me more, my dear. I want to understand."

And so, Y/N found themselves explaining their asexuality to Lucifer, revealing the complexities of their identity and the emotions that accompanied it. To their surprise, Lucifer listened attentively and asked questions when appropriate, his curiosity evolving into genuine empathy.

As Y/N poured their heart out to him, Lucifer's admiration for them only grew. In that moment, he realized that their connection transcended mere physical attraction—it was rooted in something deeper, something far more meaningful.

“Thank you for trusting me with this knowledge my dear, I am very grateful you told me! But not onto important matters…what color should your rubber duck shirt be now? Would you like it to be your pride flag? OOooo that would be so FUN!”

In that moment, Y/N felt a wave of warmth wash over them, their fears and uncertainties melting away in the presence of Lucifer's understanding. And as they gazed into each other's eyes, they knew that their bond was stronger than any fleeting desire—it was built on a foundation of trust, acceptance, and unconditional love. All of Hell did agree, they did make the cutest couple in the end carrying those twinning pride flag rubber ducks around.

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not-terezi-pyrope · 5 months

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Ok. It's pretty clear you are more welcoming of AI, and it does have enough merits to not be given a knee jerk reaction outright.

And how the current anti-ai stealing programs could be misused.

But isn't so much of the models built on stolen art? That is one of the big thing keeping me from freely enjoying it.

The stolen art is a thing that needs to be addressed.

Though i agree that the ways that such addressing are being done in are not ideal. Counterproductive even.

I could make a quip here and be like "stolen art??? But the art is all still there, and it looks fine to me!" And that would be a salient point about the silliness of digital theft as a concept, but I know that wouldn't actually address your point because what you're actually talking about is art appropriation by generative AI models.

But the thing is that generative AI models don't really do that, either. They train on publicly posted images and derive a sort of metadata - more specifically, they build a feature space mapping out different visual concepts together with text that refers to them. This is then used at the generative stage in order to produce new images based on the denoising predictions of that abstract feature model. No output is created that hasn't gone through that multi-stage level of abstraction from the training data, and none of the original training images are directly used at all.

Due to various flaws in the process, you can sometimes get a model to output images extremely similar to particular training images, and it is also possible to get a model to pastiche a particular artist's work or style, but this is something that humans can also do and is a problem with the individual image that has been created, rather than the process in general.

Training an AI model is pretty clearly fair use, because you're not even really re-using the training images - you're deriving metadata that describes them, and using them to build new images. This is far more comparable to the process by which human artists learn concepts than the weird sort of "theft collage" that people seem to be convinced is going on. In many cases, the much larger training corpus of generative AI models means that an output will be far more abstracted from any identifiable source data (source data in fact is usually not identifiable) than a human being drawing from a reference, something we all agree is perfectly fine!

The only difference is that the AI process is happening in a computer with tangible data, and is therefore quantifiable. This seems to convince people that it is in some way more ontologically derivative than any other artistic process, because computers are assumed to be copying whereas the human brain can impart its own mystical juju of originality.

I'm a materialist and think this is very silly. The valid concerns around AI are to do with how society is unprepared for increased automation, but that's an entirely different conversation from the art theft one, and the latter actively distracts from the former. The complete refusal from some people to even engage with AI's existence out of disgust also makes it harder to solve the real problem around its implementation.

This sucks, because for a lot of people it's not really about copyright or intellectual property anyway. It's about that automation threat, and a sort of human condition anxiety about being supplanted and replaced by automation. That's a whole mess of emotions and genuine labour concerns that we need to work through and break down and resolve, but reactionary egg-throwing at all things related to machine learning is counterproductive to that, as is reading out legal mantras paraphrasing megacorps looking to expand copyright law to over shit like "art style".

I've spoken about this more elsewhere if you look at my blog's AI tag.

#not-terezi-speaks #asks #anonymous #ai

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lemonlurkrr · 2 months

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lemon i hope you know (if you didn't already from your notification boom solely from me) that your prev hero au designs did something to me. fundamentally altered my brain somehow. im literally stuffing them in my mouth how did you do that

HHEELLLOOOO THIS WAS A LOVELY NOTIFICATION BOMB TO WAKE UP TO, HOLDING ALL THESE TAGS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART

as for how (i'm seizing this as an opportunity to share a bunch of process work):

there was a butt load of trial and error

From what I can remember (this all started 3 years ago holy shit,,,) I worked on Kevin's design first. The only 2 ref images I've found are included in the screenshot, but I'm pretty sure I was looking at those in addition to all of the other Impa+Sheik designs from the games, OG Hyrule Warriors concept art for Impa+Sheik, and the Sheikah pages from BOTW's Creating A Champion.

here's Link's stuff and YIPPEE I HAVE HIS REFERENCE IMAGES 🙌🙌

(BIG BIGG shoutout to @/historyofhyrule btw for archiving so much concept art and everything from all of the zelda games. None of this brainrot would've been possible without them.)

butt load of trial and error cont. especially for the colour of his scarf omg (I was looking at some of the hero's garb colour variants from OG Hyrule Warriors, and was conscious of the two other scarf wearing Links in Zelda Not Canon)

I can't find Zelda's inspo/ref images either but I remember referencing Griffith and Casca from Berserk, Kushana from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Ashei from TP, some of the OG Hyrule Warriors concept art for Princess Zelda, and of course some of the other canon Zelda designs (ALttP, TP, HW, OoT, BOTW).

I'd say Kushana was and still is the biggest inspo for Prev!Zelda, even personality wise I find myself looking back to her and how she was in the Nausicaa manga and movie.

final design thoughts: I really REALLY wanted the three of them to look cohesive with each other SO,

I always carried over screenshots of the other members of the trio onto their individual canvases to make sure that any changes I made to one design didn't stand out too much from the others,

I'm also pretty sure I worked on Link and Zelda's design simultaneously, or at least flipped back and forth between them a LOT when doing their armour (I wanted it to be evident that they were produced by the same smiths of the royal family yknowww),

and finally I made sure there were a couple of shared colours between their colour palettes

Thankee Thankee for reading this far and I hope y'all enjoyed my process stuff :))!!!

#lemonreplyrr #lemondoodlrr #RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH #WOOOOOOOOO #it was actually so much fun looking back through the files and all the layers (i wish past me had named them though oh my god)#no promises atm BUT!!!!! with school finished and the LOZ brainrot slowly trickling back in I hope to make some more #prev hero au #stuff over the summer #i miss drawing these guys #and the design process is so much fun I reeealllyyy want to start designing the other characters I had planned for the AU #designing au stuff is like this insane puzzle where there isn't really? a wrong answer? but I'm cherry picking all of the pieces myself #from canon and outside sources and it's so satisfying when they all come together at the end #anyways #RAAAHHHH BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK

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gffa · 10 months

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saw someone say "dickbabs is bad cuz they're written as a stereotype of smart nerd/dumb jock which is a disservice to their characters" and its so weird cuz i cant think of any comics where they're written that way?? like the best comics of them are the ones where they're working on cases together combining both of their strengths and resources to solve crime and theres plenty of those.

also i've noticed so many dickbabs antis have a problem with barbara's intelligence in general which is odd to me. esp when dick himself is never intimidated nor threatoned by it and its sad. its like ppl claim to like girlboss/malewife couples but then when there's actually a couple that displays that dynamic in a way that matters and isnt just based on appearance or physical traits its too much and they back out!

I just wish certain Dickbabs antis would stop putting their "why this other pairing is so much better than DickBabs" stuff in the #dickbabs tag, like you are not helping me think better of your competing ship with that kind of behavior, it just comes off as so desperate to be mad that other people like something you wish they wouldn't like. Otherwise, I don't really wander into spaces that aren't into the things I'm into, because I'd much rather spend my time yelling about why I DO love the thing I love, so in that vein, LET ME TELL YOU WHY I LOVE DICKBABS SO MUCH. (To be clear, it's perfectly fine not to like the ship or like it in a different way, we'll still get along fine! It's not the sum total of EITHER character's role in the comics, there's plenty to talk about them without getting into this relationship! I'm just not here for those who need to go out of their way to shove it in my face that they don't like the ship, but disliking it and staying in your lane--as many, many lovely people do! the majority I would even say!--is of course fine.) (To further clarify, I don't know the context of the original post mentioned here, it's not part of anything I'm speaking of, this is purely about trying to shove it in others' faces, not about how other people interpret ships differently from me while staying in their own lanes. So I'm probably not speaking about the original post whatsoever here!) For me, I think the heart of their bigger relationship is built on their mutual support for each other, that they each have established themselves individually and have their own books and their own time in the spotlight, but they keep gravitating towards each other because they're better and stronger and more fun together. That each of them gladly takes their turn being the support for the other, because that's what relationships do! And they do it with such love, like-- I love them because they've known each other so long that they really get each other, they get that the other isn't perfect, and they've made the choice to be with that person even when their issues have thorns. Like, I loved everything about their conversation in Nightwing #96:

That is exactly what he needed to hear--she wasn't being cruel or dismissive of his issues, she wasn't even really being mean about the issues he picked up from Bruce, because she's right, Bruce does have some really shit traits that he passed on to his eldest. She's not saying that either he or Bruce are bad for it, she's just accepting that it's part of the man she loves and she'll cut through it with him because he's worth any effort it would take to be with him. I love that she laughs right in his face about breaking up, because that's not cruel or dismissive either, it's just Dick being ridiculous and sometimes it's part of his charm and they've always teased each other--the thing is, it's also always followed up with warmth and care, she asks him point blank, are you happy with me? Because you are allowed to be happy. I'm allowed to be happy and I'm happy with you, you're worth dying for, let's do this together. Or I love their earlier dynamic in the Batgirl comic as well, just after Bruce and Selina's failed marriage (this is before they got back together, like in the above):

I love SO MUCH that Babs isn't sure that she necessarily wants a marriage any time soon, she doesn't trust yet that it could last, but what she does want is someone who would be there if she needed them, that at this point in time she feels like moments are all any of them are allowed to have, so what she wants is someone who will always answer when she calls. At this point, she's afraid to commit because she doesn't feel like they get that kind of thing, she's afraid of her own feelings, that really gets hammered in during the Death Knight storyline where they're fighting against the end of the world, the collapsing of the multiverse, and Bruce is tired of their bickering, so he tells them to just "skip to the end", which is basically, Dick wants to symbolically marry her, but she's afraid because she doesn't want her feelings for him to get in her way, she's terrified of losing him again:

But he's there for her, he says that it's just for tonight, he can put it aside when they need to, and later he'll win her back. This is who Dick and Babs are to me--they dance around each other because their feelings are so intense and sometimes it feels like they're on different pages (Dick's a romantic who wants to get married someday and knows it, she isn't sure she wants marriage but something less defined), but then you dig into it a bit and realize they are on the same page, it's just that their costumed lives, the traumas they've both lived through, make them scared of that level of intensity. And that's why Babs being the one to say, once they're together, no, we're happy together, we're allowed to be happy together, is so important. It's why she refuses to not come along with when Dick is going to the founding of the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation and doesn't take his shit about trying to keep her safe in Nightwing #88.

Because they take turns supporting each other, they take turns being the one to say I love you so much that I would fight the world for you, that they make each other stronger and shore each other up. Even before they got back together, they supported each other and were always there to listen, to joke around to lighten the mood, to just be a friendly ear without expectations of anything else:

Plus, they are adorable when they're flirting:

DICK'S IDEA OF A HOT DATE IS A NIGHT ON THE SOFA IN SWEATPANTS, EATING POPCORN, AND WATCHING THEIR FAVORITE SHOW. HE UNDERSTANDS HER, OKAY.

Ultimately, I love them because sometimes she goes to him. Sometimes he goes to her. Sometimes she cuts through his bullshit with love. Sometimes he cuts through her bullshit with love. They're always there for each other, even when they're not together. They have a blast flirting with each other. They're both aware of the other being a hot mess sometimes, but they know that's part of the person they love and deal with it. They're partners.

#lumi.txt #dc #batfam #dick grayson #barbara gordon #dickbabs #long post #really long post

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so-long-soldier-writes · 4 months

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drabble #10 - aphrodisiac

kai parker x reader

summary: you can only listen to damon ramble on for so long before you lose focus. unfortunately, this time, your zoning out manages to cause maximum embarrassment when the rest of the group follows your line of sight.

tags: pomegranates, references to greek mythology, teasing, flirting, embarrassment

word count: 936

a/n: i wrote this a little bit ago, and even though pomegranate season is over now (😭), i'm gonna post it bc i've been lagging recently!

“Elena, you’ll be here, with me, on the lookout in case he comes this way. Bonnie, you’ll be here, with Matt. Caroline, with Stefan. Kai, I only trust you with Y/N, and certainly not by yourself, and you two will be here.” With each delegation, Damon looks to the person for a nod of confirmation. Everyone’s given him one so far… except you. “Y/N? Are you listening?”

Caroline lets out a giggle, knowing exactly where your attention has landed, and it’s definitely not on Damon’s plan.

Damon looks over to the blonde, then to Elena, who also lets out a chuckle. “Y/N?” Stefan stifles a laugh. “Y/N…” He rolls his eyes. “Kai, can you stop plucking that pomegranate for one moment?!”

“How am I bothering you? You said I could eat it-”

“Just stop for a second!”

Startled, the boy puts down his fruit. He holds his hands above the napkin, not letting any juice drip onto the Salvatore’s thousand dollar rug. “Happy?”

“Shh! Y/N!”

You’re in a daze. Entranced. You can hear Damon talking, but none of his words register. Something much more interesting’s caught your eye: Kai. Specifically, Kai and his pomegranate that he’s been working on for the last five minutes.

The juice looks like blood on his hands, dripping down his delicate fingers, staining his skin. He plucks out each seed individually, gently and skillfully, as he loosens them from the pith. He takes his earnings between his pink lips; you can see his jaw working against the crunch hidden inside.

You understand, now, why pomegranates are considered aphrodisiacs; how Hades captured his lover, luring her towards him by way of the fruit.

You’re not sure when watching becomes staring, but at some point, it does. You’re not sure how long you’re staring before you attract quite the audience.

Kai, of course, is too focused on his fruit to realize. That is, until Damon asks him to stop so that he can get your attention. Kai looks around the room, wondering why all eyes are on him, but then he notices they're all actually gazing on you. They’re watching you watch him. He’s confused, at first, then a little self-conscious, but then finds himself enthralled at the idea that you, of all people, are so focused on him.

“Y/N!” Damon shouts and claps at the same time.

You startle, jumping out of your trance and looking down at the carpet. You’re not sure when Kai stopped eating, but you quickly realize he had caught you staring at some point, and now you’re overwhelmed with embarrassment. “Sorry,” you say to no one in particular. Kai, mostly, maybe.

Sorry, I was completely daydreaming. Sorry, I was captivated by your fingers. Sorry, I was wondering what they’d feel like on my skin. On my…

“Y/N! Focus!”

“Shit! I’m sorry!”

“Damn, girl, you doing okay?” Caroline asks, amused.

“Yeah… didn’t sleep a lot last night.”

“Oh that’s too bad.” She totally didn’t fall for that lie. You curse yourself in your head. “Did you hear Damon’s plan?”

“No.”

Kai’s gone back to his pomegranate. You force yourself to look away from him.

“Y/N, you’ll be stationed with Kai,” he then mutters, “your little pomegranate buddy,” then, louder again, “because you’re the only one I trust with him, and I don’t trust him to be alone.”

“Okay.”

“Good.”

You stare at the floor for the rest of his speech, trying desperately to not look back up at Kai’s pretty pink lips.

~~~

By the end of the “meeting”, everyone’s places are announced and Damon’s satisfied with his decision making. You’ll all go after Lily tomorrow, and hopefully, if all goes well, she’ll be in the dungeons by the following morning.

Sometime after he’s dismissed you, you search for Kai, feeling an intense need to apologize. Luckily, he’s over by the sink. When you reach him, he’s rubbing his hands and arms clean. The juice turns the soap, then the water pink, and his skin goes back to its usual shade.

“Hey,” you approach, somewhat out of the blue.

He smiles at the sound of your voice. “Hi.”

“Sooo… we’re partners for Damon’s little plan.”

“Yep. If you ask me, it’s totally not gonna work.”

“His plans tend to be a hit or a miss.”

“Mhm? And which will this one be?” He jokes lightly.

You tap a finger to your chin. “Definitely a miss.” He chuckles, then nods at you for a paper towel, which you provide. “Hey, Kai? I’m, uh, I’m sorry for staring at you earlier. I was completely lost in another world.”

“No biggie. You don’t need to apologize.”

“Okay. But I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything…”

“You? Make me uncomfortable? Not possible. It’s not everyday you manage to get a pretty girl’s attention. Especially not when you’re eating the messiest thing in the world.”

The compliment - flirt? - speeds your heart up fast. It makes you admit the stupidest thing possible in the next couple of words. “Ah, well messy or not, you made it look hot.” Your eyes widen immediately. “I mean, like, you were- the fruit- I- um- shit.”

He chuckles. “Don’t sweat it, I’m gonna take that as a compliment.”

“Okay,” you reply, voice small.

Kai stares at you for a moment, expression unreadable. Then, “well… see you tomorrow, Y/N. I gotta go find Damon and thank him for something.”

“Damon?” You ask, surprised.

“Yeah… thank him for pairing me with the cutest girl in the gang.” He winks as he passes, and you just about die on the spot.

#kai parker x reader #malachai parker x reader #tvd fanfiction #kai parker drabble

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torukmaktoskxawng · 1 year

Text

tsamsiyu ta'em - new names, familiar faces

Masterlist - part three

Summary: Kayla is held captive by her long-lost, recently-found brother and his people. She feels like a prisoner on the outside, looking in as he introduces her to his family

Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character

Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic

posted on ao3

Word Count: 5k+

Taglist: @mooniequeen @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @heart-an0n

Warnings: canon-compliant, canon-typical violence, mature language, adult content, slow burn, polyamory, found family, cool aunt agenda, alien/human (technically avatar), jake sully sister agenda, time skips, I'm trying to hurry up and get to the good parts so bear with me, fluff, angst, adopted spider, tags to be added

Outnumbered by Na'vi men and women, Makayla wisely chose not to fight her own capture. With pleading eyes, Jake had begged her to just let the natives tie her hands and pull her into the forest by a rope, leading her away from Hell's Gate and weaponless. Jake sticks to the front of the group after instructing their hoard of banshees to fly away, while Kayla was being led around from the back. She barely spoke a word after initially hugging her brother out of relief and surprise, and instead chose to carefully observe her captives and kept her face neutral. Her biggest observation was about a certain Na'vi woman who walked closely to Jake compared to all the other warriors, the same woman who would occasionally look back to check on their avatar captive. Kayla wasn't blind but chose to keep the observation to herself for the time being.

They walked forever until Jake instructs the war party to rest for a bit now that they were safely distanced from the former military base. Kayla is pushed to the floor and forced to sit, her hands still tied in front of her. Jake and the mysterious Na'vi woman move to sit in front of her in their own little tight circle while the other people around them either rested or scouted ahead. This is where Jake told his sister everything, from the moment he left Earth to recent events following the arrival of the Sky People. He left out Neytiri and their children for the time being, hoping that Kayla would simply believe he did everything he could out of love for everyone and everything on Pandora, internally aware of how stupid she would make him look if she knew he had done it all for his love of one individual.

At first, Makayla appeared cautious and doubtful, some small part of her still making her suspicious as to whether or not the Na'vi in front of her was really her brother, in an avatar body that didn't bore any of his old tattoos. She wished she could spit and curse at him, demanding that he tell her the truth instead of this stupid, made-up fairytale. However, some of his tales back up what she had been told of the Na'vi people, the same people who fought and drove the RDA back from their homeworld and forced them to return to Earth. Jake relayed parts of those events that were recorded in RDA data files that Kayla couldn't afford to ignore. She was forced to believe him, especially in her predicament.

When Jake finished his story with a question of his own, wondering how she got here, Makayla's words felt heavy on her tongue as she answered, "Seven years ago, I was given this job opportunity to come to Pandora. General Ardmore said that in exchange for helping her establish evidence that human civilians could live in and out of the avatar link safely, she would help me find your remains and have them sent back to Earth," she caught the slight wideness of his yellow eyes before elaborating, "I was told you were killed in action so I wanted to find your body and send it home to be buried beside Tommy."

"Why does Ardmore want civilians to have avatars?"

"Earth is dying, Jake," as predicted, the Sully brother didn't look all too surprised and Kayla continued, "There's not much left of it, at least that's what it was like before I left, hence why I didn't need a whole lot of convincing to leave. The RDA is not mining for resources or anything like the last time they were here. No, they're now colonizing. Building roads and dams and skyscrapers. Ardmore's objective is to make Pandora our new home."

Neytiri hissed quietly from the back of her throat, "This was our home first."

Kayla's ears flattened for a moment, eyes carefully inspecting Neytiri's every movement before Jake purposely drove her attention away, "So they want you to... what? Be their guinea pig?"

"Essentially," she shrugged, "My job is to test the boundaries and see how far I could go in this body while mine still lies in a lab back in Bridgehead. They want to know how long I could stay in the link without breaking it. If the tests are successful, then they can get the green light to make more avatars, and this time for the civilians once they all move here."

"Tell me about General Ardmore."

"Logical. Analytical. Devoid of any kind of human emotion," Kayla let out an amused scoff, "I wouldn't be surprised if we woke up tomorrow to learn that she's actually a synthetic android. They chose her to run this task force because they knew she would never suddenly feel pity or empathy for any native life here on Pandora. She'll get the job done without even breaking a sweat or a tear. Nothing is personal to her. That makes her dangerous."

Jake slowly nods, adjusting his crouching stance before leveling Kayla with an interrogating look, "You sound like you know her pretty well."

She glared back in defiance, "She recruited me herself. She said I was exactly what she was looking for in a soldier. Now looking back, she probably recruited me to draw you out."

His ears visibly lowered in shame, along with his eyes when he realized he couldn't stand to look at his sister anymore, voice quiet as he spoke, "I'm sorry."

"Uh-huh," cold, unconvinced, and honestly uninterested, she moved onto an interrogation of her own, eyes flicking over to the Na'vi woman crouching beside him, "Who's she?"

Jake raises his arm and gently touches his mate's, "This is Neytiri. My wife. Neytiri, this is Makayla, my sister."

Neytiri, stern and neutral, dutifully nods to the avatar woman, "Hello, Makayla te Suli."

"Did you say your wife?" Makayla's mask slips as genuine shock graces her face, her traitorous tail wagging in curiosity behind her as she closely inspects Neytiri with her eyes. Regaining her composure, Kayla tries dropping her voice into a proper accent while nodding to her sister-in-law, "Kaltxì."

Both Neytiri and Jake curiously watch Kayla and she quickly backtracks and curls further in on herself, prepared to defend her pride, "Did I say it right?"

Jake smiles a little, "It's a little rusty, but we understood. How do you know Na'vi?"

"I was only in cryosleep for three years instead of the full trip here. I wanted to research as much as I could, but reading the words... it's harder to grasp the pronunciation compared to actually hearing it. I don't know most of the language, just the basic phrases."

"Did you... did you by any chance read Dr. Grace Augustine's book?"

She frowned, thrown off by this sudden small talk, "I did."

"Grace has a daughter who we adopted. Her name is Kiri. If you still have your copy--"

"Kiri?" Some angry emotion resembling betrayal flares in Kayla's gut as her tail suddenly goes still in alertness, "You have a daughter?"

Jake realized his mistake a moment too late, quickly looking away again, "We have two daughters. And two sons."

"Jesus Christ," Kayla rocks back on her heels for a moment, the resentment taking over for a brief moment as she raised her voice, "Anything else you'd like to dump on me?"

~~~~~~~~~

Instead of telling her, Jake just showed her. Ordering his war party to move out, they call and summon their ikran and Kayla is forced onto the back of one. This was the only time she tried resisting, and the Na'vi warrior in charge of her gnashed their teeth at her restraint before manhandling her onto the back of the mighty creature. Still tied up and unable to flee, Kayla became as stiff as a board as they flew up into the sky, joining the rest of the group. Jake flashed a sympathetic smile from his mount before flying further ahead to lead the party home.

What felt like forever to Makayla was only a couple of hours of flying through the clouds until a large shadow formed ahead of them. Squinting her eyes, Kayla tries to make out what the shadow was until it grew closer and her stomach dropped. It looked like a mountain, but she couldn't spot any means as to why it was floating instead of rooted in the ground far below. As they pass the large rock facing, they fly past another, then another, and then another, until the sky finally cleared of clouds and Kayla's breath was completely taken away.

Hundreds of large rock facings, scattered around the skies, floating around and hovering high over her head. Large vines protruding from the rocks act as anchors and bridges between mountains, passing through small waterfalls and all sorts of life that were thriving on the surface of each rock face. Life forms and vegetation sprouted from each mountain, and hundreds of ecosystems much similar to the ones on the ground, all of which acted as their own individual continents on their own respective mountains. Kayla couldn't bring herself to look away, craning her neck up to watch the mountains as the banshees peacefully fly through them without much effort. She even took a moment of awe to lean forward and feel the mist of a nearby waterfall as they flew by.

The winds change and the ikran shift their wings ever so slightly, gliding sharply among the sky's current and forcing Kayla to hang on for dear life. They float higher than before and Kayla realizes that among the mountains were vast cave systems, all connected and large enough to carry cargo ships. The banshees slap their wings to slow their descent, landing at the mouths of the caves. Makayla is dragged off and her bonds are cut away. Rubbing her aching wrists, she looks around, cautious when she noticed more Na'vi than ever before, glaring as they walk past her to greet the returning war party. Various shapes and sizes of tents and huts line up around the cave walls, an entire clan of Na'vi shuffling past one another, breathing together as they went about their day.

Kayla nearly jumps out of her new blue skin when a hand claps down on her shoulder. Spinning her head around and pulling away, she doesn't even relax when she realized the hand belonged to Jake as he finally caught up with her. He draws his hand away when she flinched and proceeded to nod to the entire campground, "Welcome to High Camp. I'll introduce you to the Omatikaya."

A gathering of Na'vi begins to swarm around the returning troupe, especially around Makayla. Even though she had more layers on, she felt the most vulnerable, even compared to an infant she caught sight of, snuggled in a tight frontal wrap at its mother's breast. How a baby felt more secure in that than Kayla in her red-brown crop top and cargo shorts could easily stem from how the Na'vi people glared at her but fond over the child. Their looks of scrutiny alone made Kayla feel as though she was the child.

"Mama! Daddy!"

Kayla's head spun in the direction of a child calling out to her parents, spotting a young Na'vi girl, easily the same height as her hip, come running toward the war party. Her heartbeat nearly stops, however, when that child jumps into the arms of her parents, who are none other than Jake and Neytiri, and they happily embrace her.

"Tuk." Neytiri hummed with relief, closing her eyes in contentment as she held her daughter's head to her body.

Jake placed a gentle hand on the top of the little girl's head of short, braided hair while kissing the side of her temple, "Did ya give your brother a hard time?"

"Nope! We made a necklace for Grandmother today."

"Really? You'll have to show me later." He smiles warmly at Tuk, keeping her close to him and Neytiri even when her mother set her down. Jake looks through the crowd, eyes dancing around in search of someone before calling out in his marine voice, "Alright, Sullys! Fall in!"

Makayla watched as three other Na'vi children emerge from the crowd, though they stood at the height Kayla imagined Na'vi teenagers would be, significantly taller than Tuk but still shorter than their parents. One of the teenagers, the only other girl, lifts her arms and Tuk wordlessly clings to her side. The teenage girl also bore short hair, but it was unbraided and wilder than her sister's. There was a significant change in appearance between the two girls. One of them, Tuk, had the identifiable features of the Na'vi. Big eyes, no eyebrows, and only four digits on each hand. The older one, who Kayla assumed must be Kiri, bore smaller eyes, eyebrow hair, and five digits on each hand. Kiri and Tuk watch Makayla curiously, tilting their heads and even smiling sweetly at her.

The boys, however, are a different story. One was taller and clearly older, with the typical Na'vi features. The other was shorter and bore the features inherited by his father, fingers and all, much like Kiri. Kayla had clocked the younger boy right away. He had been the closest to resembling Jake's avatar form... but there was something about the way he held himself that gave Kayla a sense of déjà vu. Maybe it was the furrow of his eyebrows or the small frown on his lips, but a small part of Kayla recognized the human side of Jake in the boy. Neither he nor his older brother stared at her with kind eyes, like their sisters. They stared at her with caution and perhaps only a dash of awe.

Jake doesn't appear bothered by it as he places his hand back on Kayla's shoulder, nearly making her flinch again, "This is my sister, Makayla. Kayla, this is my oldest son, Neteyam. Our oldest daughter, Kiri. Our youngest son, Lo'ak. And this ball of fire is Tuktirey."

Tuk squealed with laughter when her father crouched down and scooped her up in the air. He placed the young child on his hip while turning to Kayla, smiling between his sister and his daughter while speaking gently to Tuk, "I want you to treat her like family, okay? Because that's what she is. Family."

All four Sully children relax at their father's words, though Neteyam is the last to do so since he had waited for his mother's nod of approval before also softening his gaze at Makayla. But Kayla was not as easy to buy into this new arrangement, finding herself taking a step back as her chest squeezed painfully. Her eyes dart to all the faces around her, not just her newly acquired nieces and nephews. This was all too much, too overwhelming. This had been too much information being dumped on her lap all in one day. It felt like some sort of fever dream that she was desperate to wake from.

Jake observed the way his sister began to close up on herself, eyes darting in several directions as if looking for an exit route. He hands Tuk over to Neytiri and slowly approached Kayla, "Why don't we bring you somewhere that's more familiar, yeah?"

His hand grips the back of her neck, squeezing once and Kayla gets the message. She doesn't have a choice even though Jake isn't ordering her. She moves forward with Jake right behind her, using the hand on her neck to guide her through the crowd of Na'vi, who part like the Red Sea for her and her brother. She keeps her eyes forward, timid, her jaw tight and her teeth grinding together uncomfortably, but Kayla refuses to show any physical signs of discomfort apart from gripping her hands tightly in front of her. Jake guides her away from the crowd and his family, all the while dread takes its place in Kayla's strong bones. Despite having a newfound family, they were all strangers to her, and she could feel those strangers' eyes all searing into the back of her skull as she walked away.

After a bit of walking through the camp and seeing the strange sights of Omatikaya life, Kayla discovers something familiar that Jake no doubt wanted her to see. Humans. Humans, avatars, exo-packs, and the topping on the cake was the inflatable but clearly man-made biolab trailer sitting at the edge of the Omatikaya's various campsites throughout the linked cave system. Standing outside, hands on his hips, was a human man waiting for the Sully siblings. He stood tall for a human, but clearly couldn't hold a candle to a fully grown Na'vi. Beaming behind his breathing mask, he waved them over.

Jake let go of his sister and stepped around Kayla, holding out an arm in the man's direction, "Kayla, this is Dr. Norm Spellman. Norm, this is my sister, Makayla."

Kayla didn't hesitate to shake the human's hand when he offered it up to her, already calming down at the familiar hand gesture of human customs. Norm smiled up at her, "Pleasure to meet you. Do you prefer Makayla or Kayla?"

"Kayla, if you don't mind."

"You got it. It's nice to finally meet you. I, uh... I knew your other brother. Tommy. We went through avatar training together."

Her eyes briefly widen before shrinking back to normal size. Well, at least normal for an avatar, "Oh."

"Yeah. I'm sorry about his passing."

"Thanks."

Norm nods to Jake before standing off to the side, gesturing for Kayla to follow him, "Let me show you around and introduce you to the others."

Kayla firmly nods, only briefly glancing back at Jake before leaving him behind, dutifully following Norm. He first brings her to a large, Na'vi-made tent that loomed off to the side of the inflatable trailer. Kayla later learns that the tent is called a marui as Norm points it out to her,

"So this is the Longhouse. This is where the avatars are stored and monitored when not in use. That's where you'll be sleeping."

Kayla nods, "Where do you keep the link gurneys?"

"Right this way," He walks toward the trailer, taking the steps up to the front door before turning to her, nearly standing at her height now with the help of the steps, "It'll be a tight squeeze for you in this form so take your time."

Norm turns back around and opens the door, closing it behind him to quickly take off his mask in the depressurized room before opening the opposite door into the lab, closing the door behind him, and waiting for Makayla. He was right after all. It was definitely a tight fit for her in a grown Na'vi woman's body. Kayla was crouching the whole way through the depressurized room, having difficulty closing the door behind her before entering the lab. Norm had waited patiently for her, smiling in sympathy when watching the way her entire body was hunched over in order to fit. He holds out his arm to her, and it's only then did she notice a separate rebreather in his hand, "Here's your breathing mask."

She mutters a brief 'thanks' while fitting the mask around her mouth, breathing in suitable oxygen meant for the native lifeforms on Pandora before Norm turns around to lead her further into the building, "Welcome to our biolab. Link Bay is over there and over here are our amino tanks."

They make their way over to the link gurneys where another man was stationed at. He was shorter than Norm in build and height, wearing a lab coat and glasses. Looking up, the man smiled and walked forward, "I'm going to take a guess and say that you must be Makayla Sully. Nice to meet you. My name is Dr. Max Patel."

"Pleasure," Kayla repeated automatically, shaking his hand in her overly large one before the three of them continued the tour through the lab together. Kayla had to be careful with her tail and long limbs when shuffling past desks and botanical gardens in small glass test tubes. Long rows of tables held various different stages of research, from files of paper all the way up to large samples taking up the whole end with large leaves and UV light lamps hanging over it.

She got to see the link gurneys and other useful tools she'll likely need as her avatar progresses out here without her human form present, but Kayla was barely paying attention to the tour. Instead, her eyes occasionally wandered to an amino tank in the corner of the lab, out of the way of the scientists' workstations, but it was a tank being closely monitored by various machines. Inside the tank, to her slight terror and curiosity, Kayla realized was another avatar woman, nude and floating soundlessly in the fluids of the imitating womb.

Norm caught her curious gaze wandering over to the side and he wordlessly walks over to the tank, turning back to Kayla while placing a gentle hand against the glass, "And this is Dr. Grace Augustine."

"Her avatar?"

He nods, sober and slightly grim as a shadow passes through his eyes, "It's all that's left of her, apart from her video logs. She died a long time ago in her human body. We're closely monitoring this body to try and get a better understanding of our avatars to see how we work and what limits we can stretch out, such as being able to stay linked to our avatars for days at a time."

"That's what the RDA is trying to test out with me." Both scientists simultaneously turn their heads to her, eyes wide. So Kayla explains to them what she had already told Jake, her mission, and her purpose. The three of them spent a while talking back and forth, asking questions and answering whatever they could. Kayla wasn't a scientist herself, but she tried her best to answer questions about how the RDA intends on testing her avatar and her neural link to its limits. From the look in their eyes, she could tell that Max and Norm were starting to form ideas of their own on how they intended to do the same for their own avatars and riders.

In between their discussion, the two men and woman missed the door outside opening and closing with a soft hiss. Patterns of feet against cold metal floors paddle over to them and Kayla finally catches the sound with a small twitch of her ears.

"What's going on, guys? Who's the newbie?"

Kayla's head turns, looking around before looking down to find a teenage human boy. But for a moment, Kayla couldn't process this because, out of all of the other humans she had seen today, this boy had every aspect of a Na'vi other than the fact he wasn't tall or blue. He was the only human Kayla has seen not wearing normal clothes and was instead sporting leather armbands, beads in his long, blonde dreads, a knife at his hip, and a loincloth similar to Omatikayan fashion. Despite not being Na'vi, he had painted blue stripes all along his body and face, but his eyes were clearly human as he peered up at Kayla with wide, curious brown eyes.

Norm places a hand on the boy before staring up at Kayla, "This is Spider."

The boy, Spider, tilts his chin up as a small greeting, "Hey."

"Hey. Is this your son?" Kayla politely asked Norm. She wouldn't be surprised. Both the scientist and the teenager were roughly the same height.

"Nah," Norm fondly scoffed, lifting the hand on Spider's shoulder to ruffle the teen's dreads, "But we all look after the rugrat."

"Hey, cut it out!" Spider swats at Norm before pulling away to get some distance, fixing his hair in the process. Kayla let out a small snort through her nose, amused at the display.

Norm grins in response to the woman slowly warming up to their new faces, "You'll be seeing plenty of him since he tends to be your nieces' and nephews' shadow."

Spider missed the way Kayla's small smirk fell as he had to replay Norm's words in his head. Glancing between Kayla and Norm, Spider's dreads danced over his shoulders before finally staring up at the female avatar, "Wait, you're Kiri and Lo'ak's aunt?"

This time, Kayla's smile was thin and not as enthusiastic as she does a half wave, "Hi, I'm Kayla. Jake's sister."

"Holy shit," the statement is cut off by Max elbowing Spider's side, then the teen backtracks a little, "Uh, I mean, nice to meet you."

~~~~~~~~~

The communal dinner took place as the sky darkened and the fires ignited. Jake opted out of joining the large crowds of his people in exchange for bringing an extra leaf plate of food over to Kayla. Norm told him where to find her and sure enough, there she was, kicking back in a hammock within the Avatar Longhouse, alone, staring off into space while swinging her leg out to gently rock herself. Her ears perk up at the sound of Jake approaching her without her eyes ever looking away from where she had begun to disassociate. She snaps out of her imagination when the leaf plate is placed in her hands, and she stubbornly chooses to stare down at her food instead of looking at Jake, who situated himself to sit in the hammock beside her.

"What is this?" She asked while poking her food quizzically.

"Teylu. It's protein. And that?" He leans over to point at another part of her plate, "That's Spartan fruit. Try the teylu first. I promise you'll love it. Remember that time we had shrimp as kids?"

"Barely," she muttered, trying to recollect as she picked up the grub with her fingers, "Dad called it 'gold nuggets' or something like that since shrimp was hard to come by. I think that was also the last time we had it."

"This is better. Trust me."

His grin only widens as she took a tiny bite, pauses, then goes back for seconds. He didn't miss the way her eyes widen and her ears perk up before eating the entire grub and then grabbing another from her plate. Jake breathes out a small laugh, "See?"

"It's... sweet."

"And savory. It's one of my favorites. Try the fruit next. It's refreshing," he barely ate any dinner himself, too amused when watching his sister try out the new flavors. He mostly sat in silence as she ate, and waited to talk only after she was close to finishing, "Hungry?"

"I've been eating rations while I'm out here, and they don't exactly have five-star restaurants on the building to-do list back at Bridgehead."

He hisses through his teeth in sympathy, remembering those days with a pained expression, "Yeah... I don't care what they advertise. Those protein bars were shit. So did you enjoy the tour?"

Kayla takes a moment to look around, remembering where she was before stating, "It's a refugee camp."

It wasn't an insult or a compliment. It was a blunt observation. Jake nods solemnly, "I know. For now, this is all we can do."

She shrugged, "Overall, it's a good strategic point, I'll give you that. These mountains fuck around RDA's instruments."

"Yeah, that's the point. And it helps that the rogue ikran do most of the work for us if the Sky People try to come here."

"Ikran?"

His lips split into a smile again, "You'll be properly introduced to those tomorrow."

She finally looks directly at his face, frowning in confusion as she reiterates what he said out loud, "Tomorrow."

She repeats the word on her tongue, eyeing her brother carefully. Jake only nods back, not daring to look away, "Yeah."

"I have to go back, Jake."

"I know."

Taken back by his confidence, she scowled in disbelief, "Aren't you worried I'm gonna tell Ardmore where you are?"

He tilts his head, "Should I be?"

She wasn't sure if a simple 'yes' or 'no' would suffice. It was such a loaded question, given the circumstances. Instead, she pulls her rogue leg into the hammock and balances her empty leaf plate on her knees, taking the time to stare at that instead of Jake, "Twenty years is a long time. Long enough for someone to change."

A gust of air escapes his lungs, slightly taken aback, "Jesus-- has it really been that long?"

She snaps her eyes to him, narrowing her yellow irises into a fierce glare, "I was just rounding up. It's been longer than that. Nice of you to notice."

Jake visibly winced, looking away when he couldn't bear to face the heat of Kayla's glare. He knew he deserved that, but it still stung. The tent is met with silence, apart from the songs of insects and the singing and chatter going on at the communal meal echoing in the distance. Sighing mostly to himself, Jake reveals something he had been holding in his hand underneath his own leaf plate, leaning back over to place the item in her hands, "... Here."

Kayla feels the cool, familiar feeling of dog tags being placed in the palm of her hand. Without asking, she knew what they were and who they belonged to, but she shifted her eyes to stare down at the identification letters and numbers anyway.

It felt as though a weight had been lifted from Jake's shoulders as he let go of his dog tags, carefully watching the way Kayla held the chain in her hand, "In case you would rather go home and just bury that beside Tommy. Otherwise, come back tomorrow. I promise I'll make it up to you."

And with that, he stands up, takes the two leaf plates, and exits the marui, leaving Kayla alone to her thoughts. She juggles the dog tags for a bit, pondering as the night grows later and her eyelids begin to droop. Looking around the empty tent again, she takes her time to stare at each of the empty hammocks meant for the avatars. For the moment, she's alone, just as she has always been whether at Bridgehead or exploring the world of Pandora. If she stays up any longer, she'll be greeted by the other avatars, returning for dinner and getting ready for bed. A part of her wondered if reporting this to Ardmore would even be worth it, knowing that all this would go away with one swift attack and Kayla would be left alone again. All those people her brother introduced to her today would be gone, and part of Kayla's conscience knows that the guilt would just eat her up from the inside out, despite not caring too much for these new faces. With that in mind, Kayla pocketed the dog tags and leaned back in her hammock, trying to relax her mind. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and drifts off.

What felt like mere moments was actually a half-hour later, Kayla's eyes opened and the first thing she sees is the inside roof of her link bay instead of the ceiling of the avatar tent. It was dark aside from the soft glow of the memory gel softly hugging her significantly smaller body or the blinking lights of the neural induction probes acting as stars above her. Kayla wiggled around uncomfortably, noting that she no longer had a tail and her attire was more appropriate for an officer than an avatar. Finally, the lid of her link bay lifts, and Kayla sighs in relief, pushing away the censor cage from her torso and lifting herself up into a sitting position with a soft groan. Bringing her hands up, she rubs her face in exhaustion, trying to shake away the sleep as the scan head ring powers down, cutting off the link while a scientist comes around to check on her vitals. Blinking and looking down, Kayla feels a small wave of relief when her five fingers come back looking the appropriate color, pale and speckled with the occasional mole. She's not surprised that Ardmore is also there when she looked up, but Kayla still feels dread at the sight of her, regardless. The general is standing in attendance at the end of Kayla's link bay, as still as a statue, with her hands behind her back.

Like her eyes, her words are cold, "Anything to report?"

"No, ma'am. Nothing." Kayla shakes her head, using her hair as an excuse to look away while running her fingers through her locks to tame it. She didn't know why the lie fell so easily from her lips, but when she finally looked up to stare back at Ardmore, she doesn't feel an ounce of regret and kept her facial expressions close to empty.

Ardmore only nods, once, "Is the avatar safe?"

"Yes, ma'am. Hiding in a tree."

"Those savages are known to climb like monkeys in those trees. You better hope your avatar is still there when you get back."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll relocate for the next log-off."

A/N: Who's ready to get a montage of Kayla learning the proper lifestyle of the Omatikaya next chapter so we can get to the main plot of the story quicker? I know I am.

Lemme know if you have a request or if you wish to be added to the taglist!

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snippy-tano · 1 year

Note

hey snips! I've noticed that you haven't written anything about good ol' sergeant Hunter and I was wondering if you could do a Hunter x female senator maybe? In which the senator is placed under the Bad Batch's protection and the sarg falls head over heels for the reader? Thx 💗

so. this one kind of got away from me.

i didn't realize how long it ended up being until the end. sorry not sorry. part of me was like, i should make this more than one part, but then i decided against it and just figured it would be a helluva a long one-shot. either way, i hope y'all like it!

this ask has been in my inbox for a while, so i apologize for that. maybe it's tbb being on that got me in a hunter mood. oh well. i'm not going to complain. i hope you like it anon! let me know what y'all think! or if you want to see more hunter! *wink wink*

((as some warnings, there are threats against the reader's life. nothing specific, but it is talked about quite frequently as there is someone out there threatening her life. also, someone does get injured over the course of this one-shot and there's some canon typical violence. just want to cover my bases!))

masterlist is here!

taglist is here!

tagging: @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life; @marvel-starwars-nerd; @mackstrut; @dissapointingpancake; @ahsokatano-thetogruta; @welcometothepedroverse; @lightningwolffe; @fractiouskat; @mandaloriandin; @lussyyung; @lowkeyodinsong; @str-wrs-fics; @bantha-shit; @badbatch-simp24; @katelynnwrites; @s1st3r; @leotatombs; @torchbearerkyle; @rain-on-kamino; @the-navistar-carol; @bombshe77; @arctrooper69; @social-mockingbird

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Of Senators and Sergeants

The threats against your life were just that, blank threats from individuals determined to slow you down. But they would never slow you down. The now near constant threats showed that you were on the right track. Clearly there were individuals who wanted you to stop digging, stop pursuing the answer, but that was never going to happen.

They would have to make true their threats for that to happen, and you doubted they had the guts to do that.

But your aides were worried.

And because they were worried about the threats and your seemingly lack of interest in the threats, they reached out to the Jedi Council about providing protection.

You didn’t like that. You didn’t need the protection and the Jedi were busy with the war effort. You were a senator from a small mid-rim planet with hardly any pull within the senate. You didn’t need a Jedi to be pulled from work that was benefiting the galaxy just to babysit you.

Thankfully the Council expressed something similar, stating they didn’t have any qualified Jedi handy to keep an eye on you. Which was fine. You didn’t need to be watched.

Unfortunately, they did assign a clone unit to act as your protection until the threats stopped. Apparently they had been on a few continuous missions and needed a “break” from the specialty missions they were always assigned to.

You weren’t against the clones, not at all. You admired their skill and brotherhood. You only wished they weren’t forced to fight in a war.

You were sitting at your desk when Hana, your closest aide, entered. “The unit assigned to protect you is here.”

You let out a sigh. “Show them in please.”

After setting aside your holopad and flimsi, you stood up just as the doors opened and four troopers walked in. You hadn’t been given much information on the men assigned to keep an eye on you. Just the name: Clone Force 99.

Of course you were beyond curious and spent many nights curled up in your apartment, when you should have been sleeping, researching the unit. You came to learn they handled incredibly specific missions designed for delicate care. It didn’t always turn out exactly like planned, but they had a near perfect success rate. Their unofficial name was the Bad Batch.

Honestly, the more you read about them, the more curious you became. Maybe this wouldn’t be the worst outcome.

“Welcome.” You said with a smile, walking around your desk to greet the four men. “I may not agree with needing protection, but I appreciate your coming.”

“Just doing our job ma’am.” The one in the center said, his bucket tucked neatly under his arm. You met his gaze and gave him a smile.

“Thank you Sergeant Hunter.”

“Wait, you know him?” The tallest (and biggest) man said, only to be elbowed by the one with a tattoo of a bullseye over his eye.

You smiled softly. “Not officially. When I learned you were assigned to me, I did some research. It is nice to meet all of you. I again apologize you have to take a break from missions that actually matter to babysit me.”

“Every mission is vital to us.” The man with yellow goggles stated, Tech if you remembered correctly.

“You keep saying you were against protection, may I ask why?” Sergeant Hunter asked and you let out an empty chuckle. You waved to Hana who nodded before leaving. Then you headed back to stand behind your desk.

“I was against protection. Clearly I am on the right path with my inquiries and I do not believe I am in any real danger.” You said, picking up your holopad.

“Your life has been threatened quite extensively. And the threats were incredibly descriptive and accelerating in quantity.” Tech said, looking up from his data pad.

“They are just that, threats. I do not believe I am in any real danger. They are trying to get me to stop digging into their illegal exploitation of my planet and I will not be easily startled.” You stated.

“What exactly are they doing on your planet?” Crosshair asked, playing with the small toothpick in his mouth.

You sighed. “They have been smuggling spice through our agriculture exports. Normally, our police would have put a stop to this sooner, but I fear that the local police have been bought off. It was brought to my attention by several of my constituents who have been starving. With spice being moved instead of produce, their livelihoods have been disrupted. And with the added pressure of the war effort, my people have been suffering.”

“Isn’t that a job for your governor?” Sergeant Hunter asked. “I mean, you’re just a senator.”

“You’re right. This should be the governor’s responsibility. But the current governor could care less. As long as money is still moving and his expensive taste is quenched, he does not bother.” You said. “I am getting close to determining who is responsible, but I cannot quite seem to find the last remaining piece. Your assignment to me was urgent because I plan on returning home tomorrow. There is only so much I can do from my office here. I hope that by going home I will finally be able to put an end to this.”

“Tech, Hana has a copy of my itinerary. Right now, we have an official itinerary that is just a diversion. According to that, I am attending a conference on Naboo. My actual travel plans are only known by her and myself. If you would like copies of both, please see her. From what I read, you seemed to be the logistical member of your team.” You said, turning to the man who looked up from his datapad.

“Excellent observation. I am indeed.”

“More like the most annoying member.” Wrecker laughed loudly.

“I do not see how being logical is the same as being annoying.”

“That’s because you’re annoying.”

“Alright. Tech, go get both schedules. Wrecker, go with him, but keep the arguing to a minimum. Check the hallways while you’re at it.” Sergeant Hunter jumped in and the two left, still bickering. “Cross-“

“-I know. Go check the departure location. There won’t be any surprises tomorrow.” Crosshair said before turning and leaving. The door shut behind him and you continued to flip through your flimsi.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sergeant Hunter spoke and it startled you slightly. You let out a sigh, hands stilling. “I read some of the threats, Tech was being generous with his description. Anyone would be afraid or at least concerned.”

“I appreciate the concern but I am not afraid or concerned. They are just threats. It will take more than empty words to sway me. I will be fine once my people are no longer suffering.”

He clearly wanted to pry further, but you quickly brought him up to speed on everything you had found so far. He didn’t quite buy your distraction, but didn’t fight it. You knew he would likely bring up your blasé attitude towards these threats again, but for now, he at least was offering some assistance.

By the end of your work day, Sergeant Hunter and Wrecker accompanied you to your apartment. You waited patiently with Wrecker, chatting with him pleasantly while the tracking expert cleared your apartment. He returned a few moments later.

“I didn’t see anything. We should be alright to enter.” He said and you strode right past him.

“See? They’re just threats.”

You didn’t give him a chance to answer before you headed into the kitchen. You pulled out a few already prepped meals and placed them on the counter. “This is for you as well. Please make sure you get something to eat. I am going to wash up and get ready for bed.”

Sergeant Hunter nodded. “Wrecker will keep watch outside your apartment and Tech and Crosshair will be on a nearby rooftop. I’ll stay here to keep watch. You will be safe.”

You gave him a nod of thanks, grabbing a piece of fruit before heading for your room and closing the door. You slumped against the door, letting out a shaky breath.

Was this really a good idea? Were you over your head and out of your depth?

You shook your head before pushing off the door. Now wasn’t the time to think like that. You were so close to finding out. You couldn’t give up now.

You spent the rest of the evening taking a long turn in the refresher, packing a light bag, and reviewing all the documents you had gathered up until this point. Earlier, you had sent the records to Tech after he assured you his datapad was unhackable and untraceable. It was nice to know that the Bad Batch was not only protecting you, but had realized they wouldn’t be able to stop you and had opted to assist you in your goal. You only hoped they didn’t end up regretting it.

There was a soft tap on your door just after midnight. You lowered your datapad and called them to enter.

Sergeant Hunter stepped in, not fully entering and keeping his eyes downcast. “Everything seems to be clear. If anything happens or you think you hear something-“

“Don’t worry Sergeant. I will call for you immediately.” You reassured and he nodded once before closing the door. You took another deep breath before setting aside your reading glasses and datapad, flicking off the light.

Maybe tonight you’ll actually get some sleep. Although you weren’t holding your breath.

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

You must have dozed because you awoke to the sound of scratching at your window.

It snapped you awake instantly. You have lived here for years. You knew what sounds to expect for the area you lived in. And those were not normal.

Your heart began to race and you worked to keep your breathing even and not show signs that you were awake. Fighting against all of your instincts to act immediately, you slowly moved your hand under your pillow, fingers closing around the blaster you kept there.

Your entire body was tensed, ready to move at a moment's notice. And then it came. You heard the sound of the window being opened and you moved. You rolled out of bed and immediately fired two shots at the window. There was a shout from the figure at the window and you were forced to duck down when they returned several shots. Your bedroom door burst open and more shots were fired.

There was a brief break in the firing from the window and you peered back over the edge of the bed and fired. A body slammed into you and you were forced to the floor as more shots hit the wall opposite the window.

“Tech! Crosshair! Do you have eyes on them?” Sergeant Hunter shouted near your ear and you winced.

There was a muffled response and then silence.

You let out a breath of relief, slumping further against the floor. You opened your eyes to see Hunter already looking down at you. His body covering yours.

“Still think they’re just threats?”

You supposed you deserved that.

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

You didn’t sleep the rest of the night. Once Sergeant Hunter had deemed it safe, he let you up from the floor and quickly ushered you into the living room. A blanket had been placed around your shoulders and reports from the rest of the batch trickled in.

They weren’t able to catch the culprit, but did find a few clues that may help point you in the direction of whoever hired them. Apparently even though they had been injured, likely from one of your shots, they were able to get away with help. The rest of the batch returned and set up a post much closer to the apartment.

You didn’t report the attack.

Sergeant Hunter had insisted, but you didn’t want anyone finding out because then security would tighten around you. You needed the freedom to move around when you got to your home planet. He also tried to talk you out of continuing with your plan, but you promptly ignored him.

The plans however, did change.

“I don’t like this idea, Hana.” You spoke to your closest aide who smiled sadly.

“You don’t have to like it. But it is what we are doing.”

After Hana found out about the attack, she insisted the plans change. Your official schedule still reflected a trip to Naboo, but instead of just no one attending in your place, Hana had insisted she go in your stead.

“Hana.”

“I am doing this Senator.” She said, placing her hand on your arm. “The guards will not know the difference. We need to make whoever attacked you think you are traveling to Naboo.”

You sighed. She was right, you just didn’t like it. It was one thing to place yourself in danger, it was another to ask a friend to do the same. “I spoke with Senator Amidala. Once you arrive, she will send for you and you will hide out at her private residence until everything has been resolved.”

“I appreciate that.” Hana turned to Sergeant Hunter. “Please make sure she does not get into any more trouble.”

“Hey!”

“I will ma’am.”

You crossed your arms, huffing in annoyance. Hana merely smiled at you. You pulled her into a quick hug. “Please stay safe.”

“You too, Senator.”

You pulled back, sniffling. You turned to the Sergeant. “I’m ready.”

And then the pair of you left. You and Hana had swapped clothes before leaving, but you still pulled up your hood to conceal your face. With the attack the night before, it had been decided that it would be best for the Bad Batch to take you to your home planet themselves. They had their own ship and hopefully those who were trying to kill you didn’t know that they were assigned to your protective detail. It was easier to control the situation with their own ship versus risking public transport.

Before you knew it, you were aboard their ship and on the way to your home planet.

The Batch for the most part left you alone. Wrecker had made a big show of giving you the best seat on the ship, aka the empty bunk towards the back of the ship. It wasn’t much, but it was sweet of him to try to make things a bit more comfortable for you.

About halfway through the trip, Sergeant Hunter came to check in on you.

“That was some pretty good shooting.” He said, startling you out of your review of your findings so far.

You felt your cheeks warm involuntarily and looked back down at your datapad. “It could have been better.”

“You still managed to hit the assailant, which isn’t easy to do, especially without training.”

“Who says I’m not trained?” You replied and he chuckled once.

“You may have been taught to shoot a blaster and have pretty good aim, but there’s a difference between that and proper training.” He said, taking a seat on the steps that lead up into the bunk you were sitting in.

“Is that a challenge, Sergeant?”

“Maybe it is.”

“Consider the challenge accepted. If I survive this, you’ll have to train me properly.” You returned to your datapad.

“Is there a reason you’re so set on proving this, even at risk of your own life? It seems you don’t care much for what happens to you.” Hunter said after a moment of silence and you clenched the datapad a little bit tighter.

“Incredibly bold of you to say Sergeant.”

“I’ve never been once to mince my words. Want to answer my question?” He countered and you let out a sigh.

“My people have always gotten the short end of the stick, ever since I was little. We always were the last to receive aid and no one really seemed to care about our concerns. I wanted to become a Senator so I could fight for my people the way no one else seemed to be willing. This is happening under my watch. I need to fix it for their sake. I don’t care what happens to me as long as my people can live without fear of starving or suffering.” You said, biting on your lip. “It’s foolish, I know, to think I can make a difference. But I have to try.”

“I think it’s admirable.” Hunter said and you looked up at him in surprise. “I don’t agree with your disregard for your own life, but I can admire your desire to give your people the best life they can have. We’ll do our best to help you and keep you alive to see the results Senator.”

You smiled softly. “Thank you Sergeant. Also, thank you for last night.”

Hunter shifted on the steps, clearing his throat and not looking at you. “It was no problem.”

“Still. If we all make it out of this, I will treat all of you to a meal. I promise.”

He smiled and you could feel your heart stutter for a moment. But you quickly pushed it away. Now was not the time for heart skip at the smile of an attractive Sergeant. You had more important things to worry about.

“Hunter?” Came Tech’s voice from the front of the ship. “We’ve arrived.”

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

It was decided not long after landing that was best to split up, but stay relatively close.

Your research pointed to two possible locations of where the smuggling was centered. One seemed to be more heavily fortified and the other was just a hunch of yours and likely wouldn’t pan out. Sergeant Hunter had tried to convince you to stay behind, but you insisted on coming. Besides, if something happened when they were gone, you would be all alone.

Sure you could have handled it, but it was enough to convince Hunter to let you go along. Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker would go for the more heavily fortified location of the docks. Hunter would accompany you to the location of your hunch. You didn’t know if it would pan out, but you had an unshakable feeling about the small seemingly normal storage unit.

After promising to maintain communication, the groups set off.

Your walk to the unit was quiet. It was late evening and most people had retired to their homes for the night. Which meant your walk was pleasant. Of course you were nervous of what you would find and hoped that you were right. Your people depended on it.

You both arrived near the storage unit relatively quickly. Hunter held up a fist to stop you both and motioned you to follow quietly. Your hand tightened around your blaster as you followed.

The storage unit area was empty, which was a bit strange. There was no one that you could see and you knew from your research that this place was usually pretty busy. It was enough to unnerve you.

The unit you were looking for was towards the back and in a dimly lit area. Hunter again motioned you to stay put and you obeyed, knowing he had more experience than you in this area. He listened against the door to the unit, before coming back to where you hid.

“I hear voices inside, but they’re faint. Almost like-”

“-there’s a secret unit and this is just the door.” You finished and he nodded.

“I think your hunch was right.”

That sent a swell of pride surging through you. You had been right. Something was going on and it did stem from here.

“Do we call the others?” You whispered, leaning closer.

He nodded. “I’ll send them a comm. We’ll wait until they get here and then investigate.”

You were about to agree when the door to the unit suddenly opened. Hunter’s hand found your shoulder and pushed you down, him following the motion. You could feel him behind you, eyes trained through the small gap of the crates you were crouching behind.

“-we need to move the supplies quickly.” came a voice and your blood ran cold.

Hunter must have felt you tense because he squeezed your shoulder. “What?” He breathed in your ear and you turned your head to look at him, nose brushing his chin.

“That’s the governor.”

The only reaction Hunter had was squeezing your shoulder again. You turned back to listen to the conversation and heard Hunter tap at his comm unit.

“Did you take care of the Senator?” The governor asked, clear disdain in his voice.

You winced slightly. Sure the governor and you didn’t exactly get along, but you didn’t think he had this much contempt for you. You didn’t think he cared enough to want you dead. But maybe you didn’t really know him at all.

“They were unable to kill her, but they tracked her to Naboo and will act soon.”

You were moving before you realized it. Even Hunter wasn’t able to stop you in time.

“It’s over, governor.” Your voice surprised the few individuals at the door to the unit, including the governor.

His surprise was quickly swallowed when he sneered at you. “I shouldn’t be surprised you managed to sneak on to the planet, you always were a nuisance.”

“You will be punished for this.”

He had the nerve to laugh. “No I won’t. Because you will never make it out of here alive.”

The men who were with him reached for their guns and once again, you were faster. You had shot one down and were shooting at the next by the time they drew their weapons. Hunter appeared beside you, shooting at the men that must have come from behind. The governor turned and began to ran, several men flanking him.

“Hunter!” You cried and he turned to look.

“Go! I’m right behind you!”

You moved immediately, chasing after him. For being such an old hermit, the governor sure moved fast. You caught up to him just outside of the units where a ship was waiting for him. You shot at one of the men with him, making them fall.

“Stop right there!”

The governor stopped at your words, slowly turning. He was still sneering at you.

“What do you hope to accomplish here? Even if I go down, the smuggling will continue. We are deeply entrenched here, nothing you can do will change that.” He said and you tightened your grip on your blaster.

“Doesn’t matter. I will not stop until the people are no longer suffering.”

He laughed.

“Hard to do that when you’re dead.”

You saw a flash of light and tried to duck, but this time you weren’t fast enough. A blaster bolt hit your arm and you fell backwards. You heard your name yelled and blinked open your eyes to see the Sergeant. His arm was supporting your back and pressing down on your wound.

“Hunter, he-” You started only for him to catch your pointing hand.

“It’s alright, I got him. He’s stunned. You did it.”

You let your head fall back, relief once again washing over you. You lifted your head to see Hunter watching you with worry, his hand still clutching yours.

Another flash of movement caught your eye and you saw one of the criminals getting up and raising a blaster at Hunter’s exposed back. You lunged for Hunter’s discarded blaster and shot, striking the man down before he had the chance to take the shot.

The Sergeant turned in time to see the man drop. He turned back to you as you dropped the blaster.

“Still think I need training?”

Hunter laughed and you felt yourself relax, vision starting to go dark. You could have sworn you heard him say something else, but it was lost to the ether as you slipped into unconsciousness.

In the days that followed, a clone battalion was dispatched and began weeding out the corruption that existed under the governor’s guidance. It didn’t take long, once he realized he was done for, he practically outed everyone without stopping to breathe.

Hana had commed you later in the days following to report that she was fine and would be returning to Coruscant to wait for you. You opted to stay a few days to make sure everything was taken care of. Your blaster wound was purely cosmetic, just a graze. It will likely scar, but you would have no other issues from it.

The Bad Batch had stuck around to help as well and then offered to escort you back to Coruscant. You were going to decline, but they had insisted and you found it was hard to say no to Wrecker, so you obliged.

It was your first day back at the Senate and your door was practically a revolving door with the amount of Senator’s coming to commend you on your actions. Some were genuine, some you could tell they wanted you on their side when it came to upcoming voting. You smiled at all of them and kept your answers as curt as possible. It was better this way.

Late in the afternoon the visits finally stopped and you were able to get some actual work done.

The door opened and you sighed. “Hana, please tell whatever senator that is here that I’m not here. Tell them anything, just let me have a minute to get some work done.”

“I’ll go if you want.”

Your head snapped up to see Sergeant Hunter motioning to the door.

“No!” You said almost too quickly as you stood up. “It’s okay. I thought you were another senator.”

“Tired of their constant praises? You deserve all of it.” He replied and you cleared your throat, feeling your cheeks warm.

“No I just - I just want to go back to work. Go back to doing what I do best.” You said and he nodded as he slowly approached.

“I understand that. I just wanted to stop by before the boys and I head out.”

“Another mission?”

Hunter nodded. “There’s always another mission.”

“I stand by what I said before.” You said, continuing when Hunter looked at you with eyes narrowed. “I want to buy you all a nice meal for your help. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”

“That’s not necessary ma’am.”

You said your name and he looked at you, surprised. “Please, call me by my name. I’d prefer it.”

He laughed lightly. “I think I can manage that.”

“Oh before you go.” You said, stepping around your desk and approaching Hunter. You placed a small piece of flimsi in his hand. “It’s my comm number. You did say you would train me.”

Hunter clutched the small piece in his hand before looking up at you with a faint smile on his face. “I’m starting to think you don’t need it. But name the time and place. I’ll be there.”

You smiled back. His hand enveloped yours and you squeezed his hand right back.

Sure your meeting was less than ideal and you did end up getting shot at the end, but you found that you’d do it all over again if it meant you got to meet Hunter. You didn’t know what came next, but you were excited to see where this went.

#wow #this really got away from me #but oh well lol #asks #askBri #hunter x reader #sergeant hunter x reader #clone x reader #tcw #sw #tbb #the bad batch

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enhashoutout · 4 months

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Plot Holes in High and Low We Need to Discuss

@tiredlittlewriter always gassing me up 🤭🫶🏼 @cheshirecatuniverse @mrskenpachizaraki @books-n-guns

Thank you so much everyone tagged for staying up and talking about the movies with me last night😂❤

Trigger warnings before you start reading, this ramble posts contains spoilers for the movies, cuss words, mentions of character d3aths, mention of SA that happens to a character, and other violence and cr!me associated with the H&L franchise. Please don't read if you do not want to see any of these.

Anywaysssas as you can tell by the title of this post and this screenshot, we are talking about plot holes in the High and Low franchise that we need to talk about because they BUG THE SHIT OUT OF ME.

I would like to start by saying that I do love this franchise, it is my everything. It's not like I have anything bad to say about it, I love it as it is, but some of the stuff within the franchise definitely could've been more thought out. It could've been worse! So I am thankful it wasn't bad but there are some things I wish the writing team did a little differently.

Also, I do attribute a lot of the plot holes to 1) the creators not being entirely sure whether or not they would get a green light on more movies, 2) trying to make sure the movies made money (it's a business unfortunately and not just art), and 3) High and Low is a multi-media franchise so some stuff is probably explained in the mangas, TV shows, games, etc. I will contradict myself and discuss this more in detail as we keep going.

These are in no particular order, just what comes to mind first

S.W.O.R.D Era

1)Noboru and Miho's story

I have beef with whoever on the H&L writing team thought that condensing the 2 seasons of Story of S.W.O.R.D into Road to High & Low was a good idea. "It's both seasons condensed into one movie" THAT'S A FUCKIN LIE. So much of what is in the shows is cut out from the movie.

Tell me why I learned here on Tumblr that Noboru actually spent a while in a coma in the hospital after getting body slammed by a Kuryu car? And then Cobra and Yamato had to do the "IF YOU DIE I'M GONNA BE SO MAD AT YOU" speech you always see in Asian dramas to get Noboru to wake up?!

And tell me why I learned from a fanfic on Wattpad that Miho isn't dead?! She literally comes to visit Noboru while he's in the hospital. Road to High & Low frames the situation to make it look like Noboru goes to beat up Miho's SA perpetrators after he finds he d3ad in her apartment. Then when I brought this up a couple weeks ago the Discord besties told me she broke up with him through a letter😭 A LETTER GIRL?! HE WENT THROUGH ALL THAT FOR YOU! IF I WAS YOU I WOULD'VE KEPT HIM. NOBORU. GIVE ME YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE PLEASE GOOD SIR💍 (I'm completely joking I don't think anyone is entitled to another person's feelings, love, affection, etc. I'm just delusional because I love Noboru and Keita Machida)

Then I learned last night from Discord that Miho needs serious therapy because she was working for Doubt and it was addressed in season 2 of the show. Like HUUUH?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!

I do think the storyline between them as a couple and their stories individually definitely could've been explored and explained more. It was probably explained better in the show than RTH&L but I don't have access to the show so idk... which brings me to my first contradiction!

LDH AND EXILE TRIBE PLEASE MAKE YOUR MEDIA MORE ACCESIBLE GOSH. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SUB IT THAT'S FINE AT LEAST MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND SO THAT WE CAN GET FAN SUBS OR I CAN JUST WATCH THE RAW FOOTAGE AND PRETEND I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. There's so many films like the 2 DTC films, the Mighty Warriors film, the shows, even the manga that a lot of us don't have access to😭 Yes this franchise is multi-media but at least make the media accessible😭

2) Mighty Warriors working with Doubt

In the first and second High & Low movie MW and Doubt work together... AND THAT LITERALLY DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. Last I checked Mighty Warriors don't fuck with tr@ffickers in general so I don't even know why this happened.

And last I checked, MW rescued Sarah from Doubt so why would they work with Doubt when one of their members was literally a Doubt victim? That just doesn't make sense to me. Like yes the MW tend to just take up whatever whack-ass jobs for money they can get considering they fought with literal children (Oya and Rude Boys. I'm like 99.9% sure the Rude Boys members were all 16-19 and that is the age of children. Smoky might've been 20-22 which is not exactly a child but he's still young compared to the MW who were all mercenaries and in the military before they were musical bandits alluding to the fact they are older) but you would think that people who claim to have a club that is a utopia with music that is supposed to impact people positively and save their lives just like music saved the MW members' lives, they would have more moral and standards than to work with Doubt.... but I digress.

3) The alliance with a foreign mafia

This one I can kind of understand but also can't.

I understand that MW take up whatever job they can to make money. It's said directly multiple times in the movies by a MW member that there is no use doing a job for someone without getting paid so they do a lot of stuff just for the money. I also understand Doubt take whatever job pays them but also benefits their tr@fficking business. Hence why they took this job because not only were they getting paid by Lee who runs the Korean mafia but they could kidnap women in the S.W.O.R.D district which worked in their favor.

What I can't understand though is how this alliance even came to be. Hear me out. MW and Doubt will probably do whatever to get money, but where did the trust come from? Like how did they trust that a foreign mafia of all people would uphold their deal and pay them? Was it because Kohaku was made the front-man/face of the plan? Like did they believe that it would be fine because Kohaku was the one "leading" even though it seemed like Lee was pulling a lot of the strings? DOES KOHAKU EVEN HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BE PAYING EVERYONE?! I SWEAR EVERY TIME WE SEE HIM THAT MAN IS JUST LAYING ON A SOFA IN A JUNKYARD! WDYM DOUBT AND MIGHTY WARRIORS BELIEVED THIS MAN WAS THE ONE WHO WAS GONNA GIVE THEM MONEY?!

4) Who the fuck are Bulge? And what happened to Kuryu?

In End of Sky, we learn that Bulge are interested in the fight between Doubt, Prison Gang, and White Rascals and would sponsor Prison Gang. That's why the scene where we see Jesse fighting with another prisoner, after he kicks him down the guards tell Jesse that Bulge wants to see him to. This is why Jesse and Prison Gang are released early. When Jesse goes back to Funk Jungle he's asking if Mighty want to join but Ice says that they are gonna focus on promoting Funk Jungle, but like he's a liar they show up at the fight anyways lol.

A the end of Final Mission, the movie closes off with a dramatic shot of Mighty Warriors and a typed out message stating "Hello, everyone. This is Bulge. The takeover plan has begun." We never get an explanation of who they are, what they do, etc. I did learn from Ryu's Wiki Fandom page however that "It is presumed that he and Bulge orchestrated the fall of Kuryu Group. In the music video of the MIghty Warriors' new song "Warriors Anthem", it is revealed that he took over Kuryu as the leader after the events of Final Mission, and having Mighty Warriors occupy the remaining 8 heads of Kuryu."

So who exactly are Bulge? How are they powerful enough to be able to take down all of the original Kuryu members who have been seen as indestructible the whole franchise? Why did they allow Ryu to be the new leader?

After Final Mission, the next media pieces that were released were the DTC show and DTC movie, and then we moved into The Worst era with High&Low: The Worst Episode 0 along with the two Worst movies that followed.

I had made the assumption that around the start of the Worst era the creators probably wanted to integrate more of Jr.Exile into the franchise because of their 1) popularity and 2) new stories. The popularity of Exile members like Hokuto and Kazuma would probably bring in more viewership which does good on the numbers and money side because as I said above, unfortunately this is also a business not just art. The H&L creators probably also needed new stories to follow because they can't keep adding to S.W.O.R.D

Vis said that they think the Mighty Warriors were probably dropped because we haven't seen anything from them since the third movie, but Taiga also brought up how the new Mighty Warriors music video was also dropped right around the time the most recent movie Worst X was released. This probably means they are trying to figure out the story within S.W.O.R.D behind the scenes and it's just taking a while to do the world building. Tired also brought up a good point that considering most of the actors in H&L are also Exile members, they have to also continue their jobs as artists so tours, making music, schedules, etc. are probably also clashing with filming and working on High and Low.

Hopefully that is the case and we see more because I have too many questions and no answers.

5) Wtf happened to Rude Boys, Nameless City, and Nikaido?

If you read my fics, you know that when I write about Nameless City after Smoky's passing, I write about how the Rude Boys, Lala, and Eri go and visit Smoky's grave all the time. About a month ago the besties in the Discord made it known to me that Smoky's gravesite and like 3/4 of Nameless City was completely blown up. I was like 😧when I read those messages because it wasn't even like a head-canon thing I genuinely thought that only a small section of Nameless City was blown up so we were fine BUT APPARENTLY WE AREN'T FINE. So what does this mean for the Nameless City residents?

Did they get government housing to stay in while they got tested for the disease from the pollution? Did the residents get released back into Nameless City after the whole casino project exposure? If they were released back into Nameless City, are they all just cramming into that little 1/4 of Nameless City that wasn't blown up?

What happened to Rude Boys afterwards? Are they all back in Nameless City? Or did they move to a different area? Where would they go though? Little Asia? Did Eri get adopted afterwards? Are they finding ways to make money like how they mined the crystal to get money to rebuild Nameless City? Do they even want to return to Nameless City considering the pollution from the toxic waste was causing the disease that killed their leader?

Wtf happened to Nikaido/Cain? Is he finally happy now that he purged his past? Was purging his past and killing his brother worth it? If Kuryu was overthrown and taken over by Mighty Warriors, what does that mean for Nikaido? Is he working for them? Was purging his past worth anything if he didn't even gain anything from it because MW took over Kuryu? Again, so many questions and no answers😭

6) Give us a more clear timeline

This isn't a plot hole, just something I wish the creators would do is give us a clearer timeline. We're never given any clear timeline of how much time has past between each movie or even how much time is between the S.W.O.R.D and Worst era. I'm always trying to calculate the timeline or everyone's ages based off of the only two characters we get ages for and Noboru's school timeline.

The only two characters in the whole franchise that we get ages for are Chiharu and Seki. At the start of the series we know that Chiharu is 20 because when he joins Sannoh, in the scene at the bar Cobra offers him a drink but takes it back and says "wait but aren't you underaged?" to which Chiharu replies that he is 20 (which is the legal adult age in Japan) and Tettsu makes fun of him for still being in high school as an adult (in good fun of course not in a mean way).

When we first are introduced to Oya, the narrator tells us that Seki is the oldest part-timer student there at age 25.

Noboru, Yamato, and Cobra were high schoolers while Mugen was still active. This is deduced by the scene where Yamato drops Noboru off in front of the school for the day he takes his exam, then when he opens up his college acceptance letter with them. I'm assuming Yamato and Cobra dropped out to be apart of Mugen and take care of their parents' shops. Then, we see when Noboru starts college but doesn't make it super far into his bachelors degree after getting sent to jail. We don't get to see how long he was in jail for, just that he was released early because Kuryu paid to get him out early.

I always use these ages and Noboru's vague school timeline to try and figure out the character's ages and shit but they are just estimates because we never get clear timelines from the creators. Like why couldn't they at least tell us how much time passed between the end of Final Mission and the start of The Worst?!😭anyways.... onto the next thing

The Worst Era (mainly X)

Like I said in the screenshot, The Worst isn't my favorite movie out of the franchise but I think it was the best executed in terms of plot out of all the movies. The plot was clear, very concise, and relatively had no plot holes. (I haven't seen The Worst Episode 0 so if there is something that is missing plot wise please let me know)

It was fun to see the cross with Housen and the themes and messages we got from not only the plot but also from each character were all really good too. It was a solid movie, no complaints.

The Worst X however... I have questions. It's not to say it wasn't good, I still liked it and obviously it was good considering I watched it with no context and it got me into the whole H&L universe, but I feel like it fell a bit short. There was more the writers could've done for not only plot development but character development.

1)How did that 3 school alliance actually even start?

From the movies, it seems like Kohei Amagai is well known as "the annoying son of the Amagai group". Like EVERYONE knows him and knows he throws around money to get people to work for him. And like yeah, we see when he is able to take control of the school with the beige uniforms because Senomon, Kamasaka, and Ebara are quite literally beating the shit out of them, but how did Senomon get Kamasaka and Ebara to cooperate?

I refuse to believe that Amagai was able to get Kamasaka who fight with weapons like brass knuckles and metal rods and Ebara who are all literal gym bros to join his stupid ass plan with just money. As dumb as I think boys are I don't think Reiji, Ghandi, Shoji, Raijin, or Fujin are actually dumb enough to join an alliance for money. Even if this alliance did win and take over Oya, what would they have done with each other afterwards? Those dudes have so much pride we all know that there is NO WAY they would all continue working under Amagai. Amagai is also stupid as hell if he thought he could be at the top without someone from Kamasaka or Ebara trying to overthrow him if he had taken down Oya like Kohei.... be fuckin for real bitch.

I need more of an explanation to this like someone from the H&L writing room please sit down with me and answer my questions so I can publish it in an interview for all of us we need answers.

2) What the fuck is the story behind Todoroki and the dudes from Ebara?

The whole time Fujin and Raijin are running around screaming about how they're gonna crush Todoroki and I literally sit there like

👁️👄👁️Why? No matter how many times I watch the movies because we never get an explanation! Idk was this in the show? Someone please tell me.

And like the scene after Todoroki beats up Fujin and Raijin, Shoji goes "you're different now" and I'm always like "Different? DIFFERENT HOW?! DON'T BE SHY SHARE WITH THE CLASS PLEASE"

Todoroki responds with something along the lines of "now I have friends to protect" which is so wholesome I love that, but what is the detailed history of him and the guys from Ebara? We never get that explained to us. I remember reading somewhere that Todoroki trained hard to beat his bullies and because he got so strong that's why he always tried to fight for the leader position because he believed he could beat Murayama. I also saw a clip on Youtube where when Murayama is fighting with Todoroki, he sees his old self in Todoroki who is being reckless which probably adds to Todoroki's character development.

Did the guys from Ebara bully Todoroki? Were they old friends who fell apart? Did they just have a bad run in when Todoroki was being a little shit and fought but now hold a grudge because they are teenagers with a lot of pride and anger issues and it's not that deep? Idk🤷‍♀️The thing that bugs me is the fact that their feud was added a solid amount to the plot and why Ebara joined then dropped the alliance so I don't know why we didn't get at least a vague explanation of who these characters are to each other.

3) Questions and what I want to see next movie

This obviously isn't plot holes but just some questions I have and what I want to see in the next installments of the franchise.

Why were these high schoolers doing THE FUCKIN MOST to see who was stronger?! The first time I watched I was so confused because why was this movie serious but also so unserious?! They did not need to be doing all that.

Why didn't Amagai get in any trouble for anything?! Is it because he has money?! Like how did this man commit literal crime and everyone was like okei. He literally kidnapped Tsukasa and tortured him for like half a day and 1 night...

How did Tsukasa not die?! The was literally beat over the head with a metal pipe, kidnapped, tied up, tortured, and then dropped from a balcony. I digress, he probably has plot armor as Sun calls it because how did he not die or at least end up in the hospital for a long time.

I want to see the movies circle back to the S.W.O.R.D plotline so it would be really cool if Amagai's little plan was part of a larger plan to break down the peace in S.W.O.R.D. It wouldn't be the first time the adults used kids to push their agenda. Kuryu originally wanted to use Murayama to tear down the peace in S.W.O.R.D because he used to look up to the man who was the head of Iemura but because he chose not to do it, they went after Noboru.

Maybe MW are thriving as the new heads of Kuryu so someone on the outside is trying to take over and Amagai's family is apart of that. Or maybe his family is trying to gain favor from Mighty and are working for them. Idk but it would be cool if we circle back to S.W.O.R.D and see the new Oya characters have to integrate into the S.W.O.R.D world also.

I also want to see a segment of how Rude Boys and Oya adjust to their new leaders.

I want to see what happened to the rest of S.W.O.R.D after the third movie. We saw Oya in The Worst era but what happened to everyone else? Which I also know these are probably kind of far fetched considering the Exile Tribe member who played Rocky is retired from the entertainment industry now... but a girl can dream I guess.

You made it to the end! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read this big rant. This wasn't proof read and is kind of everywhere but thank you for reading it anyways! ❤️

#high&low #high and low #oya high #high&low story of sword #oya kou #sannoh hoodlum squad #the rampage from exile tribe #hanaoka fujio #high and low the movie #high and low end of sky #high and low final mission #white rascals #daruma ikka #high&low rude boys #be:first #exile tribe #jsb3

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