#vector is probably the only one...? you could ship with him?

[jorrated]

i think porker and vector should have a situationship

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 26: Gallifrey at War Part 4

TW: classic Gallifrey at War death, destruction, and violation of autonomy

Cass Fermazzi's ship was crashing only because the Time Lords had indiscriminately opened fire on a group of ships.

The War in Heaven had 920 fronts across space and time.

The Twelfth Doctor assisted the General in the War Room while the first thirteen incarnations of the Doctor were working to freeze Gallifrey in a pocket universe.

The Beyond was a place created by the Last Great Time War where overwritten timelines got remembered. While here, Braxiatel was devoured by one of the Ravenous.

This specific Ravenous had once been Zara, a soldier in the Last Great Time War who was being forced to relive the explosion of a star she had gotten caught up in over and over again.

Lehena had Susan go back to 1963 Earth to collect the Hand of Omega. Unfortunately, she had been a Dalek duplicate, and the Daleks wanted to use the Hand to destroy Gallifrey. The Eighth Doctor recognized Lehena as a duplicate of a Time Lord in the year above him at the Academy that he had had a massive crush on.

The Venue Accords were the only attempt at a peace treaty made during the War in Heaven. Negotiations lasted a single picosecond, and they concluded that peace was impossible.

The Tharils, Porfue, and Krajonnu were all forcibly sterilized by Rassilon during the Last Great Time War to ensure that there would be no other time-traveling races to threaten the might of Gallifrey.

The Clock-People were humanoids with clockfaces instead of human ones. They were the remains of members of the Faction Paradox clinging to life after the War in Heaven. They could manipulate and corrupt others' biodata to insert themselves in their timelines.

During Remembrance of the Daleks before stopping at Harry's cafe, the Seventh Doctor was contacted by the same Time Lord messenger from Genesis of the Daleks (by some accounted named Jelpax, Valyes, Ferrain, etc). The Time Lord warned the Doctor of a counterstrike that was being made by the Daleks - part of the Last Great Time War. The Doctor became concerned for the Hand of Omega and ended up electrocuting a Slyther that the Daleks had been using to obtain it.

During the Last Great Time War, the Doctor and the Master were both hit with a degeneration gun, causing them to uncontrollably flick between all their different faces, including ones they hadn't even had yet.

Once Padrac had become a member of the High Council, he discovered that Gallifrey would be destroyed in the future, possibly by time war, invasion, etc. The only projected future where Gallifrey would survive was the future in which only Gallifrey remained, so Padrac set about to destroy the whole universe and convert their life force into regeneration energy to make the Time Lords immortal.

A tour operator took advantage of Gallifrey's fall after the War in Heaven to organize time tourism. They said that since the Time Lords and the Enemy used time travel to pre-empt each other, the War was continuously getting shorter, its climax getting closer and closer to present day.

The Tenth Doctor became embroiled in the Last Great Time War again when the War Master sent him telepathic summons. During this time, both of them were restrained and telepathically contained by the High Vectors (to be put on trial and probably erased), but the Master managed to escape and erase them before this could happen. The Master then retrieved the Doctor, and they parted ways.

Scarlette - one of the many who had at one point married the Doctor - was a child of the Faction Paradox's remembrance tanks in Pompeii.

Two other time wars that predate the Last Great Time War include the Halldon-Eternal skirmish and the Omnicraven Uprising.

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28

[marsbarsfrommars]

alone with you (the only heaven I'll be sent to)

star wars: the high republic | rated t | complete | 2,344 words | avar kriss/elzar mann | fluff, a little hurt/comfort

summary

She nods and simply says the only thing she has to, “I understand.” 

“I knew you would,” he responds with a certainty that makes Avar's heart seize. 

or, in a quiet moment post-chapter 53, avar finds out about elzar almost dying on grizal

read

under the cut or on ao3 for better formatting

notes

first of all, this is dedicated to the person who headcannoned that elzar has burn scars on his hands from crashing his vector on grizal. I've tried, but I can't find their post, so if anyone knows whose post I'm talking about, please comment so I can tag them here.

edit: it's the lovely @ledalausnows and you should definitely check out her posts bc she's super cool!!

also, a huge shout out to the thr fans on tumblr: if it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't have finished this. thank you for all your support and I hope you enjoy this <3

this is the first time in at least six years that I've actually finished one of my wips, so while I'm a little proud of this, the quality might be questionable. my perfectionism made me proof read this so many times I could probably recite it from memory so I hope this is readable and I fixed all major mistakes. anyways, I hope you enjoy this

also, english isn't my first language, so please just ignore any grammar/spelling mistakes

content warning for mentions of scars, injuries, near-death experiences and past major character death. none of this is in any way graphic but I wanted to mention it anyways

The overhead lights in Avar’s quarters are turned down to a dim glow, and it's quiet apart from the gentle hum of the ship's engines. The night cycle must have started a while ago, but neither of them had noticed; both of them were too wrapped up in each other. Now, though, they're resting. Elzar on his back in her bunk, one arm gently wrapped around her with his hand lazily caressing her waist, and Avar on her stomach, half resting on his chest, the fabric of his shirt soft under her wandering hands. 

It's nice like this—peaceful. For a moment, Avar allows herself to forget about their upcoming task, about the possible danger the future holds, and just exist in this moment with Elzar. She feels more at peace than she has in months, possibly years. She slowly runs her hand down Elzar’s arm and intertwines her fingers with his, her thumb softly brushing over the back of his hand. The motion is familiar; they've held hands more times than she can count in those weeks since she escaped the Occlusion Zone, but there's something that makes her pause. It only takes her a moment to realise that tonight is the first time since that fateful night in the garden on Starlight Beacon that they've held hands without the barrier of Elzar’s gloves between them. Elzar wearing gloves is in itself nothing out of the ordinary for a Jedi; most of them routinely wear them as part of their robes, which explains why she hasn't noticed it before. Now that she really thinks about it though, it does strike her as odd that she can't remember seeing him without gloves even once since their reunion. 

She slowly brushes her thumb over the back of Elzar’s hand again. The skin feels rougher in some spots. Avar knows the feeling of scars, enough of them are covering her own body, but she can't recall Elzar ever suffering an injury to his hands that would cause scarring this significant. She raises their intertwined hands to his chest, and sure enough, a thin web of healed fine-line and burn scars covers the back of his hand and wrist. An uneasy feeling settles in her stomach. What happened to Elzar to leave his hands scarred like this, and why wouldn't he tell me? 

Elzar, sensing the subtle change in her demeanour, chooses precisely this moment to open his eyes and look up at her. And for a moment, as silly as it may sound, she feels overwhelmed by the sheer force of her feelings for him. She had missed him for years, and sometimes, even though it's been months since their reunion, she still can't believe she doesn't have to anymore. Avar is certain he already knows what she wants to ask about, but he doesn't say anything, waiting for her to take the first step, so she does. 

“These aren't recent.” It's a remark, not a question. She knows Elzar will tell her everything without her having to ask. There are no secrets between them; nothing is left unspoken. Not anymore. The thought makes a familiar warmth bloom in her chest. 

“No.” Elzar’s voice is soft, reserved for the quiet of quarters and whispered secrets after dark. “I got them on Grizal when my Vector crashed. The healers at the Temple did their best and apparently Bacta also helped a lot, but they couldn't prevent the scars.”

Avar furrows her brow. “I didn't know you were injured on Grizal.” She feels Elzar's body tense ever so slightly underneath her, anyone else wouldn't have noticed, but him and her—and Stellan, of course—have always shared an unusually deep connection, and now they're as attuned to each other as they haven't been in years, perhaps ever. 

“It was at the end of the battle. We thought we were winning, but we didn't know there were Nameless on Grizal. I don't remember this part at all, and most of what came after is pretty blurry in my head, but Stellan later told me that he saw my Vector go straight down. I don't understand why, but I must have passed out when the Nameless appeared. My Vector caught fire when it crashed, and the cockpit bubble shattered. I wasn't wearing gloves that day, that's why the damage to my skin there was so severe. Ty pulled me out, saved my life. I don't remember anything after, but I know Stellan was with me.” 

Avar takes a moment to process all of this. When she finally speaks, her tone isn't accusatory, there may be a tinge of hurt to it though. “Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't Stellan?” she asks. Before Elzar can answer, a terrible thought takes shape in her mind. “It's not that you thought I wouldn't care, is it?” 

No matter what happened, she had never and would never stop caring about Elzar and Stellan. She knows without a doubt that it's the same for them, but she and Elzar hadn't spoken for a year at that point, and her relationship with Stellan had already been strained, so what if they had started to doubt her? Avar lowers her head. She's not sure she can look him in the eyes when he answers, the possibility of what she'll see there—of what he'll see in her—too overwhelming. 

Elzar draws his hand away from her waist to gently cup her face and tilt her head up until her eyes meet his again. His gaze is earnest and there's an urgency in it—he needs her to believe what he says next. She already knows she will before he can utter a single word because she trusts him implicitly, and she knows that trust is mutual. 

“No, I never thought that, I promise.” He pauses for a second and takes a deep breath, “And I know that Stellan didn't either.” 

Avar lets out a shuddering breath and tries to quell her bubbling emotions, which threaten to spill over at his words. Even so, her voice sounds a little shaky when she asks, “Are you sure?” 

Elzar nods sincerely. “I am. Stellan wanted to comm you, but I told him not to. We argued about it, and he relented in the end.” 

The sheer relief she feels at his reassurance is dampened by one burning question, but she doesn't have to ask for him to tell her. 

“I wanted you to know, I really did, but you were halfway across the galaxy fighting the Drengir and I didn't want you to be distracted.” He briefly averts his eyes, as if he's unsure about his next sentence, before he says, “I thought if you found out, you'd want to come see me, but we both know you couldn't have, and I didn't want to make it harder on you.” 

Part of her wants to argue, wants to protest that she would have come if only she had known. But Elzar is right; she couldn't have. Still, she wishes someone had told her. But of course he wouldn't want that, she should have known. Elzar tends to view himself as selfish, but she has always known him to put the wellbeing of others, particularly hers and Stellans, above his own. 

“And later?” she prompts gently. It's certainly not a conversation either of them had expected to have tonight, and she never wants to push him, but they've spent so much time keeping things to themselves in fear of crossing a line that hardly existed in the first place, and what good did it do them? 

“As bizarre as it sounds, almost dying wasn't the worst experience I had that week.” Now it's his voice that sounds shaky. The experience has clearly affected him more than he's currently letting on, understandably so, and Avar sends a burst of warmth through the Force. 

“When I was fully healed, everything was still so chaotic after Valo and Grizal, and there was so much going on that it just didn't seem that important.” Avar hates that he thinks that way but doesn't interrupt him; there will be time for reassurance later. “I got used to the scars fairly quickly, and even though they should be a constant reminder, I hardly think about it now. And I don't wish to. I've made my peace with everything that happened and everything I did then, I truly did, but I still don't like to remember it.” 

Avar understands, of course she does. Enough bad things have happened to her in these last few years that she's made peace with, as is the Jedi way, but still doesn't like to think of. They're the same in that way. She nods and simply says the only thing she has to, “I understand.” 

“I knew you would,” he responds with a certainty that makes Avar's heart seize. 

There's a pause in their conversation then, both of them processing and coming to terms with what was and what hasn't yet been said. Avar is the one to break it when she says, “Please never do that again.” 

Elzar quirks an eyebrow, the tension caused by their conversation slowly melting away. It seems he has decided that the heavy part of their conversation is over, which Avar truly doesn't mind. “Which part? Almost dying or not telling you about it?” 

“Oh, do shut up,” Avar says, but there's no heat to it, just affectionate warmth. 

Elzar laughs softly and pulls her down for a gentle kiss. Far too soon, Avar pulls away again and cups his face with her free hand, her thumb gently stroking his cheek. This time it's her who needs him to believe her next words. Her voice is soft yet insistent when she says, “I care about you, El. I don't want you to get hurt. And if you do, I want to be by your side if it's in any way possible. And even if I can't be, I want to at least know, please.” 

Elzar nods, every trace of playfulness gone from his face and replaced by sincerity. “I know, and I promise you, the next time anything of the sort happens to me, I will tell you.” 

Avar nods as well. “Good.” 

A slow smile spreads across his face at that and the tenderness in his eyes is almost overwhelming. Avar thinks if she had a mirror, she'd surely see it reflected in her own eyes. 

Elzar turns his head and presses a gentle kiss to the inside of her wrist, and she feels the familiar warmth spread in her chest once again, chasing away the last remnants of distress. 

She leans down to press her lips to his once again, their connection in the Force glowing with love and understanding, making her feel almost giddy. 

The kiss turns heated when Avar slides the hand still cupping Elzar’s check back into his hair, her fingers tangling in the soft strands, pressing her lips to his with more urgency. Elzar responds in kind by wrapping his arm around her waist once again and pulling her as close as their current position allows. She feels butterflies in her stomach at that, like when she was seventeen and kissed him for the first time. It amazes her that time and distance haven't dulled the effect he's always had on her in the slightest, but then again, how could they? He's Elzar, after all, her Elzar. 

They don't belong to each other, of course not; there's no possessiveness to their love. But they belong with each other; side by side always. They both know it and the Force rings true with it. 

They break apart, eyes closed and foreheads still pressed together. The kiss has left both of them breathless, as kisses like this often do. Once they've recovered enough to open their eyes and ever so slightly pull away from each other, and Avar really gets to look at him again, she is hit with the realisation of just how beautiful Elzar is like this. She doesn't think there has ever been a moment where she hasn't thought of him as beautiful, but seeing him like this is something else entirely. The dim glow of the overhead lights is reflected in his dark eyes, his hair disheveled from where she ran her hands through it earlier, a soft smile gracing his lips. A sight that's reserved just for her. 

Avar's musings are interrupted when Elzar starts to speak again, his voice still sounding a little breathless. “Avar, I…,” he begins but then trails off, unable to finish his sentence. It doesn't bother Avar. She knows. 

She pulls their still-intertwined hands up to press a gentle kiss to his knuckles, then the back of his hand, then his wrist. She feels his sharp intake of breath more than hears it, and when she meets his eyes, he's gazing at her with a look in his dark eyes Avar can't quite place. Later, she will come to recognise it as pure, unfiltered devotion. 

“Stars, Avar,” he murmurs. 

Elzar seems to know exactly what she's thinking—or maybe he just shares the sentiment—because he kisses her again, his hand slipping under her shirt to gently caress the bare skin of her waist. It's an exquisite kiss, and for the moment Avar allows herself to get lost in it, in this, until the only thoughts in her head are how lovely it is to feel so at peace, and Elzar. Always, always Elzar. 

“What is it?” she asks. For a split-second, she's scared she's overstepped, but Elzar just shakes his head and leans up to brush his lips against hers in a tender kiss that ends far too quickly for her liking. If it were up to her, he'd never stop kissing her, she thinks, only slightly bothered by the fact that she sounds like a character in one of those stereotypical Jedi romance novels Kantam and her used to read to each other for fun in their Padawan days. 

[eorzeashan]

What's your favorite Swtor romance?

That's a tough question, given how I tend not to like inserting my own personal bias into something as varied as the SWTOR romances, but I'll do my best to answer!

The short of it is that I really feel that all of the romances have the potential to be someone's favorite depending on how they roleplay it with their own characters, so I don't actually have a favorite, in addition to not having seen all of them.

But if I can shoutout a special few, then it'd have to be Theron, Lana, Koth, Andronikos, and Khem Val.

The KOTXX people I feel a little bad about choosing given their obvious popularity save for Koth, but I've met so many amazing people through the shared love for those characters so it's highly ranked for me--I even stopped shipping my own character with Theron because I was more interested in others' versions of their own romance with him. That's how good that romance is. Lana, on the other hand, was my first WLW ship so that's both a special experience and self explanatory as to why she's a favorite. She'll always be my JK's wife (and mine).

Koth is probably a shocker to be on here but I genuinely think he deserves a lot more credit even with all the writing and content setbacks he had. For what little he's given to work with, what he has is both solid and extremely heartwarming, especially with his latest date night. I just think he has that much potential.

Andronikos I didn't even actually romance but I think his character is so strong and loyal that it had my heart fluttering on a Male!Inq. Also highly underrated romance, plus his dynamic with his Sith is always a treat and well-written. 8/10, with only -2 points for having no moments in KOTXX. But even his letter makes up for that.

Khem is a bit cheating given it's another Inq comp, but I think for something so short and sweet it's also incredibly compelling and serves his character while being unique. It's not every so often you see a romance where the recipient isn't ready to be touched but still wants to express their love, and as an aspec person, it's nice to see that kind of representation when a lot of the romances are very sensual. It speaks a lot to Khem's willingness to learn how to love despite not knowing how and his dedication and I think that's just really, really great as a romance, especially when said character is unconventional as one.

Others that didn't make this list because I could really go on forever would be Kira, Risha, Akaavi, Vector, etc. they're all special! Okay!

[swaps55]

Snippet Sunday

Tagged by @cr-noble-writes. Thank you!!

Tagging @bioticbooty, @shadesofmauve, @pigeontheoneandonly, @laelior, @crescentbunny and anyone else who feels so inclined, no obligations!

From Mezzo.

~

Shepard lets go and takes a step back. Something red flashes in his eyes, eerily reminiscent of staring down Sovereign’s main gun. We rebuilt him, Lawson had told him. Like Shepard was a drive core that could be taken apart and put back together. The Two Billion Credit Man.

By comparison, Joker’s bone weave procedure had been a hell of a bargain. In addition to the Hero of the Citadel, you can also have a fucked-up pilot of your very own for a fraction of the price!

The Alliance hadn’t thought that was much of a deal. They wouldn’t even pay for the bone weave. Nice to know your life pencils better if you just ally yourself with terrorists. If Cerberus really wants to bump up their recruiting numbers, all they really need to do is lead with the health plan.     

“The Illusive Man said he had a pilot I could trust,” Shepard says.

“He may have been exaggerating. My track record isn’t great.”

I killed you. But here you are, alive. You, and my ship.

Shepard stares at him with that ice gaze, like he’s processing something and the gears got caught.

Coming back from the dead probably makes you think about a few things. Joker wouldn’t know. He hadn’t died. Because Shepard had done it in his place.

Why do you always have to be such a fucking savior?

“How did you get here?” Shepard asks finally. “Did you know about…whatever this is?” He nods out the window, at the silent, sleek Normandy that’s just as new and perfect as the one that had set out for Eden Prime three years ago. Like everything Joker wrought had been forgotten.

“Yeah,” Joker says with a nod. It was their biggest selling point. It…and you.

“This has to be bullshit. The Normandy is the only stealth frigate online. The Ain Jalut isn’t scheduled for shakedown for months. It’s—”

“Ain Jalut’s been flying for over a year now,” Joker says, guts twisting into a knot. And they didn’t put me at the helm. “Three more are in production now, last I heard. No idea how Cerberus got the specs, but she’s definitely an SR. I toured the ship this morning.”

And it had felt like coming home.

Except, instead of Pressly grouching about relay vectors from the CIC and Addison Chase gossiping about Felawa while Joker ran calcs, a disembodied AI calmly answered all of his questions.

If you can’t beat the enemy, join them, Joker supposes. Just throw in a few cushy upgrades like leather seats and a tricked-out lounge, and no one will notice the missing people Cerberus didn’t resurrect.

The ones whose lives didn’t pencil.  

[sphinxlosestheirmind]

I swear I’m writing the fic- but more thoughts about it while I write~!!

I think that since they’re real people in this universe their ship names would change. Real-people fandoms seem to use their actual names fused together, so that’s how I think it would work in this au (meaning instead of gimmickshipping they’d be called like Reimaser or smth because I think that’s funny!!

Also yeah, Reiji and Thomas WOULD use their names or Thomas would at least have it somewhat public despite going by IV, but Ryoken is only known as Revolver. I just think that fits him better.

Anyway I also love assigning people emojis so here’s me doing that for just a few characters:

IV : 🪆OR 🧵 (The doll because like that’s sort of his puppet thing? I don’t have a puppet emoji so :/. The thread is symbolic of strings- like puppet strings. I don’t really know with him. His I did last and I feel least confident about).

Reiji : 📏 (Businessman!! I think this one was probably Thomas’ fault, he probably used this at one point in his videos and accidentally locked the fandom onto it).

Revolver : 🔫 (Revolver. Gun. Thank you).

Nasch : 👑 (Because he’s a king.. also Thomas HATES that he got this so much. There is so much beef between them for awhile but no one knows why. They settle it eventually off camera and come back way more chill with each other but neither will give a proper explanation as to why, so their followers are left scrambling).

Durbe : 🪽 (Because of his horse/pegasus!!!)

Merag : ❄️ (Because she’s icy. I think this one is probably started by Nasch? He becomes popular before her, and maybe he calls her icy/an ice queen or something and everyone picks up on that then assigns her with a snowflake).

Vector : 🎭 (He’s two-faced c:. He probably does those stupid public pranks/interviews. Everyone hates him but he’s also annoyingly funny and does those impulsive things that you’d never do but kind of wish you could).

Yuya : ✨ (Yes okay I get that he’s a tomato, but like I think a star/shine would just fit him better? Especially since in this au he’d be like a performer or someone who does tricks- but I could see a tomato so.. 🍅).

Additionally about Thomas in this au:

Thomas is a YouTuber/streamer. He started with gaming content and kept his persona very gentlemanly and polite. He got extremely popular, though more so with men who were interested in that sort of good-guy stuff. This devolved into him starting to show more of a sadistic side and collabing with other creators (Nasch, Kaito, etc) then pulling in their followers a bit. This developed into him somewhat coming out? I think he’d do it in a quiet way in some sort of unpopular podcast or something that makes it ambiguous to what he actually is but also hints at it.

This leads to a bunch of queer people coming into his community seeing as he’s like- one of them haha. He starts doing more daily/vlog type things.

So how I actually am writing him:

He’s a bit more calm around the two of them (Reiji + Ryoken) I think because he almost sort of has to be the one to keep them on a straight path. Both are very headstrong and get lost in other things so he has to lead them to where they’re going- otherwise they completely devolve into some other random thing.

He’s also a mix of gentlemanly yet manic. He’s not completely one way or another, and he can play up either side when it comes down to it.

Anyway.. just some thoughts haha

[alacarhelsng]

The Spector

This was it, this was the moment he had been working towards for YEARS. The moment when he could get back the only troll that ever truly mattered to him. His Matesprite, Calmet.

"VECTOR!" The palmhusk in his hand trembled with his fear and excitement as he sent a message back to his contact: distantWorker- Ai found them. Violet right? distantWorker- ship #8375. It's not good. spirtualCarpenter- Omw spirtualCarpenter- Get out if you can

After a few moments of staring at the palmhusk his perpetual annoyance materialized behind him, making his presence known by shoving his face through Alacar's until Alacar could see the back of his glowing eyes. This, of course made the living man whirl around and physically slap the ghost using his ability to interact with spirits. "Ouch! Damn, I forgot you can touch me." "Yes well, perhaps you'll keep that in mind in the future instead of being a prick." "Ah but where is the fun in that?" The ghost pulled his legs up off the ground and sat criss-cross in the air, slowly rotating as he continued to speak. "So bossman, what did you need from your good ol' pal Vector the Spector!" Alacar pinched the bridge of his nose, if it wasn't for the joy of being able to see Calmet soon he wouldn't want to deal with this massive headache, but for them, he would do anything. "Do you know anything about ship #8375?" "I mean, sure! It's a ship, and its number is 8375."Vector smiled, now upside down and smug. "Do you know anything useful about ship #8375?" "Hey, those are both useful things, now you know it's actually a ship, and that the number for it is accurate." "V E C T O R....." "Alright man chill, look it's one of the common rotations for the doctor, and if the doctor is there you're probably gonna need some muscle because it's gonna be pretty packed on board if you know what I mean. Other than that it's a basic ship, I can give it a scout for you if you do something for me." Alacar hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. "Alright, what do you want?" "I want you to send a message to Feashe for me." Alacar's brows shot up, that was a person who was not easy to reach. "What do you want me to say?" There was a long pause from the ghost where he stopped spinning and went back to standing. So long was the pause that Alacar began to think Vector was messing with him again, but the dead man spoke and when he did he was much more serious than before. "Ship 8375 is actually the Empress's ship. going there is probably going to be your death, So gather an army, and make sure you have a way to get out because if you don't make it back I'm shit out of luck." Alacar debated how worthwhile it would be to be angry that Vector was planning on letting him go into his death, but it wasn't worth it, not if it meant possibly losing more information. "Also if you had a contact on that ship." The ghost continued speaking. "He's more than likely dead, spies don't last long on board, the empress has a way of smelling treachery, I think maybe literally.... either way, you're going to need to convince someone on board to help you or pray that she's not on board that day." "And if she is?" "Well then pray you didn't piss her off, then at least you'll die fast." With that, the sector began to fade. "But if you do make it back, then you can pay me back." Finally, he fully disappeared and Alacar was left to sit and think about how the hell he was going to raid the Empress's ship and live.

[brucenorris007]

PLEASE tell me more about the AU you have in that snippet you wrote! I want to hear all about it!!

I'd love to tell you more about it!

... Provided there was more to tell.

Honestly, that snippet almost wrote itself yesterday. The only sources I can trace it back to are my headcanons about an immortal Knuckles and the sort of relationship he and Shadow could have if given the opportunity.

They're fundamentally very different characters, but the potential for mutual understanding between them, to say nothing of earnest and interesting interactions, is maddening in that it hasn't been explored in canon.

So yeah, all that and me being in a mood for Destined Child just kinda spawned that scene. There are a couple details I'd thought of that didn't make it into the snippet that I can share:

I pictured that with all the time Knuckles spent uncovering the secrets of Angel Island, learning its capacity for travel through space, and teaching himself the ins and outs of the Tornado 2 for sake of bringing it home, he's the de facto mechanic of this ragtag group of functionally immortal misfits. It's closer to patchwork than anything Tails or an actual engineer could do, but it's enough to keep the bots from falling apart. He likely grumbled and groused about it early on, but like with Tails' plane, he self-taught what he needed, because he's still just that kind of echidna more than a century after his friends passed.

And like I said, I think Shadow and Knuckles could have some great conversations if just given the chance; the freedom to write them a century or more removed from canon, where they've already achieved that mutual understanding and are–perhaps not the closest friends like Knuckles and Sonic or Rouge and Shadow, but at least comrades who understand and would fight on the other's behalf–their interactions just flowed naturally.

I also figured that Vector would've been the last of Knuckles' tribe of choice to pass away, being a crocodile and all. I guess that means he'd also probably be the one hanging on to Gemerl by that point, assuming Cream didn't have a family of her own.

And now I've wandered into the stream-of-consciousness thing I sometimes do once I start typing; that is, details that are occurring to me right just now mixed in with half-thoughts I had before I started typing.

Might as well put in a cut at this point.

Anyway, the other point that I left out of the snippet is Silver, both through lack of mentioning him and by being vague about how many decades ahead of the canon timeline the scene is. I'd toyed with having Shadow or Knuckles bring him up, something something timelines so shouldn't interact with him but also maybe leave a clue that the ARK may be capable of contacting them off planet? Scrapped the idea for being too complicated for not being the focus of the scene.

I actually hadn't considered a particular reason for them to leave the planet. I think I felt that their grief–alongside Eggman being gone–plus the fact that Knuckles discovered they could without using the ARK or building their own ship was reason enough. Omega's primary objective had been removed, Shadow would probably feel relatively confident that Mobius wouldn't urgently need his protection anytime soon, a liberated Metal has no reason not to follow Shadow, Gemerl likewise had been freed from his self-assigned guard duty, and nothing in Knuckles' job description specified the Master Emerald had to stay on Mobius.

The fifty tons of ordinance line re: Omega was just... aside from Rouge, I wasn't sure what else they'd consider too important to leave without. OH. Circling back a bit, I had thought that perhaps Knuckles got a little less stringent with Eggman's leftover scrap on his island, (I'm thinking... maybe a fortress or two and other leftovers?) so long as it's not everywhere. Probably shoved it in one place rather than going through the trouble of tossing it all off the island. Extra pieces for damaged bots in a pinch and if Shadow, for whatever reason, misses industrial environments he can camp out for a few hours.

I figured as I posted the snippet that Gemerl's addition to the island, what he'd bring, would probably just be a designated plot to garden and attend to some plant life, reminiscent of Vanilla's.

I figure just about anything Metal needs it has in its supercomputer dome.

I didn't think of them having a specific mission in mind when they took off; perhaps scouring beyond the stars based on some clues about how Knuckles' tribe and species disappeared? That thought's also interesting because I could feasibly tie that into other thoughts I have about my Only Sonic Remembers AU, which would make this... er, Immortal Crew a spinoff I suppose.

That covers all I've got on it, really.

[holosoftheoldrepublic]

Companion Cooking

Haven’t done one of these in a while so let’s goooo

Jedi Knight

T7-01: … he’s a droid, leave him alone!

Kira: She can make a mean cup noodle.

Doc: He can’t cook much, but he has the basics down fairly well.

Rusk: Exists on rations. Can maybe brew a hot drink but that’s about it.

Scourge: He can… but it’ll be super basic with no flavour and not appealing at all.

Jedi Consular

Qyzen: You probably wouldn’t want to eat it if you’re not one of the lizard people.

Tharan: Dude could burn water. Great with a chemistry set, terrible in the kitchen.

Zenith: Nothing fancy, but he can also make (almost) anything edible.

Iresso: A real roast-and-potatoes kind of guy. Simple but delicious.

Nadia: She can’t cook worth a damn at the start, but she does her research and is making the tasty meals of her homeland.

Republic Trooper

Aric: Also exists on rations, but can cook a mean steak.

Elara: She’s not experimental so there’s nothing special about what she makes, but it’s tasty enough.

M1-4X: He’s a droid, and also he would probably set the entire ship ablaze somehow anyways.

Vik: It’s edible, but only to him.

Yuun: He’s a great cook. For his people. You’d probably rather not touch it.

Smuggler

Corso: Very down-home, simple fare that’s hearty and giving you the caloric intake you need for working the farms or shooting separatists all day.

Bowdaar: If you give him the chance to hunt down some wild game, he will make you an excellent dinner.

Risha: Very good at finding other people to make food for her.

Akaavi: She can make anything out of anything, and it’ll be extremely flavourful with all manner of natural herbs and spices.

Gus: Do NOT let this walking disaster in the kitchen unless you want to no longer have a kitchen. Or a ship.

Sith Warrior

Vette: Knows how to cook all the Twi’lek specialties as part of connecting herself to her culture. Tastes delicious.

Quinn: The best cook. Knows how to do everything. Grinds his own spices, the weirdo.

Jaesa: As part of her various trainings, she can make a variety of simple but filling meals. If LS, will probably continue learning from Quinn. DS doesn’t give a crap.

Pierce: Guy knows how to make the weirdest shit in the weirdest of ways (radiator Mac and Cheese, anyone?).

Broonmark: He eats raw meat with no seasonings.

Sith Inquisitor

Khem: I don’t think you’re getting anything edible out of this guy.

Andronikos: He’s very good at putting a ready meal in the microwave and knowing exactly how long to cook it for to be perfect.

Ashara: Her lack of patience means everything she can make is doable in under five minutes.

Talos: Makes the absolute best tea out of anyone. Has a family roast recipe that has been passed down five generations, but it always comes out really dry when he makes it.

Xalek: Of course he can cook, what sort of warrior would he be if he couldn’t make his own meals?

Imperial Agent

Kaliyo: Burns almost everything but insists it “adds flavour” and eats a few bites while you’re looking then tosses it out and orders out.

Vector: Was a fairly decent cook before the joining, but bugs don’t really have an appreciation for fine cuisine so it’s atrophied a bit.

Lokin: Eats the weirdest shit even before infecting himself with the rakghoul plague, but it someone comes out alright. Don’t trust him about the ingredients, though.

Raina: Can somehow make the field rations taste good decent. Probably the best cook on the Agent’s ship.

Scorpio: If she cared to she could be a master chef. But she doesn’t.

Bounty Hunter

Mako: Too busy with her HoloNet research and running around, just makes herself a cup noodle and calls it a day.

Gault: He likes the finer things in life, and has become the master of either getting someone else to pay for it… or the ol’ dine-and-dash.

Torian: An amazing cook. Knows the best seasons for hunting game, seasonal vegetables, and herbs.

Blizz: Is very good… and disassembling some poor shmuck’s oven.

Skadge: He’s as likely to throw you into the fire as to cook anything in it.

KotFE

Lana: She’s decent enough, but she has bigger concerns.

Theron: He learned many things being raised by a Jedi. Cooking was not one of them.

Koth: The master of throwing stuff in a pot and hoping it all works together. It usually does.

Senya: Her focus has been on other things. Could probably make scrambled eggs.

Arcaan: You know this man has never cooked a day in his life.

[carmypen]

hmm, foilshipping for 001, and ryou bakura, kaiba, and rio for 002?

I am sorry this took so long 😭

Foilshipping

when I started shipping it if I did:

I started shipping them around the time the Prince Vector Legendary Numbers episodes aired. For most Zexal fans those episodes were the Black Mist x Vector episodes. But for me they were my foilship awakening XD

my thoughts:

I don’t really have anything deep to say about foilship. They just spark joy for me. I do love stories about forgiveness, though. And Foilship can really scratch that itch.

What makes me happy about them:

I like the complexity of Foilship. There’s a lot going on with the up and down and deceitful/truthful nature of Yuma’s and Vector’s relationship throughout the show. The way they are narrative opposites (foils) of each other. The fact that they were unknowingly at odds with each other from the very beginning. The fact that their relationship can be read with many different interpretations. Also post-canon is basically free real estate for them, and there’s a lot you could dig into with Vector’s past human life and Barian Emperor self. I feel that variety/complexity is why the ship is so popular.

What makes me sad about them:

It bums me out that they have only like a 2 second interaction during the last episode. There’s so much going on with them, and what we got in the finale was really unsatisfying.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I write fanfic more than I read it. So I don’t know what common Foilship tropes there are. I feel like one thing that would probably bother me though would be if people wrote Vector as Shingetsu without acknowledging his Vector side.

things I look for in fanfic:

Again, I don’t really read much fanfic. When I do I usually just look for short one-shots with good grammar, a good premise and writing that has the characters relatively in-character. When I’m writing Foilship myself I try to make sure Vector is always a little bit of a manipulative jerk, even in his past life when he was “good.”

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Kotori or Astral for Yuma. Shark for Vector. For Yuma either of those would probably be a happily married sort of situation. For Vector and Shark the vibe would be more like, “Congrats on your new permanent roommate, NERD.”

Vector and Rio could be fun, too. I can see a comedy scenario where they fake date to annoy Shark.

Actually, I do enjoy VectorxKotori as a crackship, too.

My happily ever after for them:

I’ve actually never given much thought to what a happily ever after for Foilship would be like. I mostly want the Tsukumos to adopt Vector, though. So I guess if Yuma & Vector get together in some major way that could happen.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

I think that would depend on if Vector is putting on a more “Uguu, Yuma-kun 🥺” face or if he’s being his more natural self. Or if you’re going for an angst vibe and having one of them comfort the other. Either way, I see Yuma being kind of like an overactive puppy and accidentally kicking any potential cuddle partners and being kind of annoying in general 😆

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Probably playing Duel Monsters.

Ryou Bakura

How I feel about this character:

I can’t say he’s my favorite. I’m more interested in the Yugi-centric and Kaiba-centric sides of DM. But I do feel bad for him. On paper I feel like he SHOULD be one of the most interesting characters in the show, but he’s not because...Kazuki Takahashi didn’t feel like talking about him too much I guess?

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Aigami, Yami Bakura under specific circumstances (I want it to be with his Zorc side, I want Ryou to save the world by winning the love of card game Satan), Yugi

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

Can’t really think of any. I’d just like to see him doing more friendship stuff with Yugi and the gang.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I’m not really a fan of the popular post-canon thing where all the “Yami” characters come back in their own bodies. So I’m not really a fan of that happening with Ryou and Yami Bakura.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

It would have been nice if he had had some of his own focus episodes. Even if they were just goofy filler eps or something. Like, I would have absolutely traded Doma or Kaiba Land Grand Prix for like, a four-episode mini-series where Ryou has to duel with his occult deck. Or goes to Domino Comic-Con and has to face a rival in an epic duel of painting dnd mini-figures or something.

my OTP: Memoryshipping-Ryou x Aigami. I really like the complex drama of Ryou dealing with the guilt of kind of but not really killing Aigami’s dad. I think that would be so much fun to explore. And Aigami feeling weird about maybe falling in love with the person who he had hunted down to exact revenge on. I just think they’re neat ^^;

my cross over ship: Not really a ship, but I think Ryou and III from Zexal would get along really well. They have that soft yandere nerd boy energy. I can see them working together to create realistic miniature chronomaly ruins or something like that.

a headcanon fact: If Ryou and Aigami end up spending a lot of time together, Ryou would end up bonding really well with Sera. She would remind him a bit of Amane, and would bring out a doting, domestic big brother side in him.

Kaiba

How I feel about this character:

What can I say that other Yugioh fans haven’t said already? Love Kaiba. He’s the perfect mix of being a genuinely great character and being completely ridiculous.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Kisara, Yugi, Azureshipping is kind of fun on occasion, too. Also flareshipping. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I like the brotherly bond between him and Mokuba.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I’m not really big on pride or puppy shipping. I like all the characters involved and think they have interesting relationships worth exploring. I just don’t feel any excitement or desire to see the characters in a romantic relationship. Feeling this way does make my yugioh fandom experience kind of interesting, though XD

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I want the Kazuki Takahashi rivalship instagram post to be canon. More on that in the next section.

my OTP:

Rivalshipping!! And completely by accident, too. I’d seen a lot of analysis posts floating around on here about it. And I liked the post-canon possible future instagram post. Somehow that all congealed together in my brain into an idea for a novel-length fic, which I decided to make Rivalship because I thought adding a romance subplot would be fun. I then continuously wrote this fic from December 2020 all the way through April of this year. Writing that much of Yugi and Kaiba together basically made them my OTP. I love them so much. The idea that they can both come away from the sadness of Atem’s passing and build a happy future together based on the foundation of what he taught them is just so wonderful to me.

my cross over ship:

Not really a ship, but I want him to fight the Barians. Possibly all seven of them and possibly all at once. The card game is optional.

Also, I love the idea of sticking him in a board room with a bunch of other fictional company presidents and seeing what happens. Like, stick Seto Kaiba, Bruce Wayne and Kousei Kogami all in a room together and see what insanity ensues.

a headcanon fact:

Pegasus has definitely made a Kuriboh version of BEWD and Kaiba has definitely spent a significant amount of time being super bitter about it.

Rio

How I feel about this character:

I like her a lot, but she gets done so dirty by the show that I end up just feeling kind of bad for her.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Kotori, IV, Vector, maybe Durbe

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I still stand by the idea that her and Shark have the best depiction of a sibling relationship in all of Yugioh.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I would like to see more done with her fear of cats. It was such a random thing I noticed when rewatching Zexal, and it was even included in Duel Links. I think Rio deserves a goofy filler episode where she duels Cathy in order to stop Heartland from becoming a cat paradise.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Her getting to interact with IV would have been really nice. I’m really glad Duel Links picked up that thread. Even if it did take over a decade to happen T-T

my OTP:

I don’t feel like there are any Rio ships I like enough to consider an OTP. Honestly, I think Rio needs to work on finding herself a little bit. Get out from under Shark’s shadow and pave her own way. I OTP Rio with a promising Duel Monsters career, self-love and being alive.

my cross over ship: Ohhhhh there is a DM x Zexal crossover fic I have been writing in my head forever where past-life Nasch, Merag and Durbe go to Egypt and have an adventure with Pharaoh Atem. Rio gets to bond with Isis, Mana and Mahad over magic priest/priestess stuff. I think that would be so much fun.

a headcanon fact: Even though they were a rich family who never really cooked their own food, Mom!Kamishiro still had a special curry recipe she would make herself for the twins. Rio knows how to make the recipe and considers it to be really important especially in light of the fact that she’s not *really* Rio. She thinks that at least someone will be able to continue on the memories of someone who passed away, and that’s important.

[ackermanshoe]

Just a few things to talk about here: lengthy 😩

Levi being a 2 in teamwork meaning he never had chemistry while fighting alongside others, like ever. But then mikasa happened. As if isayama spelled it out for us that Levi and mikasa’s connection is so special, particularly to Levi, from the beginning. So now you realise that Levi has experiences with mikasa that he has NEVER had before with anyone, ever.

So you have seen this picture before but I’d like to take the time to dig deep into this. It’s from erens point of view and it most likely shows how he remembers these characters to be most of the time. Connie and admin being playful with each other, Sasha laughing at them, floch and marlo talking and hitch (?) just existing there because eren prolly never interacted with her.

Hanji in the background smiling at the group and Erwin giving them a soft smile. However there’s something particular about both Levi and jean isn’t it? Yeah you guessed it, both of them are looking at mikasa’s direction. ( I saw a post where they were trying so hard to refuse the FACT that Levi was looking at mikasa, even though they acknowledged that Jean was. 🤥🤥)

And lastly mikasa softly smiling at eren. You can clearly see Jean being glaring at that and the fact that isayama drew ALL of their eyes so crystal clear EXCEPT both Levi and Jean,,,, gets me. So you’re going to draw faces of people being themselves but what purpose does it serve you to draw both Levi’s and Jean’s( Jean who is a known mikasa simp) face looking at mikasa’s direction but not draw their eyes ( pupils ) clear? Was it forshadowing their mutual feelings towards her? Since “eyes are the window to the soul” and the drawing does not allow for us to get a clear view of their eyes was isayama implying that both Levi and Jean had hid their feelings for her?

Of course jeans face has a certain darkness to it because everybody is aware of his unrequited love and isayama does little to hide that. But notice how both Levi and his faces are tilted in a way. And the most obvious connection to both Jean and Levi are the way Levi is positioned almost in a line behind Jean, which creates a vector line from their eyes leading straight to mikasa.

Let's talk about this shall we? See how by placing the dark haired people on the front and centre has created a salient within this frame? Yeah the rest of the people in there are either blonde or light haired, Isayam placed each character there with a purpose. Now I'm not saying the 4 heads makes it look like a heart shape but that's excatly what I'm SEEING. maybe, just maybe this was a forshadowing of mikasa's choice, since she was placed in the middle of both Levi and Eren. Eren, whose face is not placed on the same level as Mikasa and Levi could possibly represent "dream" or a reality which would be hard for Mikasa to reach, therefore giving a hint of chapter 138 and mikasa's headache AU.

Whereas Levi, despite his height, face is on the same level as mikasa's. A form of equality, sameness, familiarity and most importantly symbolising reality.

Since he isn't hard to reach from where is Mikasa is placed. And lastly Gabi, we have all seen rivamika parental mode kicking in the recent chapters and here Gabi being in between Levi and her could possibly hint their parenthood, an option that will only be available if Mikasa choose reality: Levi. Therefore Gabi representing quiet simply Levi and mikasa's possible kid. Ackerbaby 👶

This panel, I'm dying to talk about this.most important question: is it Levi's tears that's falling?

I have stared at this for houRS, and I still don't have an unbiased answer. Although most would discard this as spit or sweat Levi probably has from yelling, I'm not fully convinced by it. Maybe it's my desparate rivamika mind that's refusing to let it go but how would spit or sweat end up where his bandage is?

On the too right corner we see multiple drops but why would anything but a tear be where you can see that single droplet of water on his bandages? It's literally so suspicious which is why isayama makes me mad, he teases so much and so subtly. He doesn't show Levi's eyes there, he could have, to emphasize on Levi's level of worry which could have been more effective when reading his expression and yet isayama chose to show his widened mouth to showcase Levi's anxiety.

I'm still debating on this however there's no mistaking it that Levi cares for Mikasa more than anyone.

Which brings me to this:

The similarities that I can not call parallels just yet, between erehisu and rivamika is really comforting as cruel it maybe to mikasa and historia. Levi is willing to have historia eat the beast titan without remorse, without thinking. Where as eren as we all know will do anything but sacrifice historia. Yes, anything. Even if it means putting mikasa ( and admin) on the boat as everyone else and letting them do whatever they want. In a way both of them are treating both mikasa and historia the same way.

Note Levi’s eyes while talking about historia almost looks psychotic which is unlike Levi and his eyes while looking at mikasa.

Eren who is pressed down to one single choice which might risk mikasa’s life but he won’t sacrifices historia. Protecting her.

Levi who decides to help mikasa has made a choice without any regret, relying on her.

And as for their respective person, both eren and Levi’s gesture and behaviour changes when they are around them. As eren said historia is the girl who saved him and the same way mikasa is the who may bring meaning into Levi’s life. I feel like these two couple has always developed together, take s3 aka rivamika season 🥵

The same way rivamika found trust and a way to bond, so did eren and historia. In their own way they. It’s funny because both of their development are so weirdly ignored by the aot general fandom, gee I wonder why 😒 anyway through these similarities or whatever you may call it you can really see who they each really care for and value over the other.

Lastly

LMAO idk how much people considers pieck and Porco canon as potential lovers but this shot of porco really reminded me of Levi’s jealous look. Not to mention pieck resembled mikasa with that ponytail

Although I support jeanpiku I always had this feeling that porco and pieck might have been shipped together and they are, in this scene ( I haven’t watched the ep) I ASSUME porco is looking at her this way because of these men around looking at her and blushing, well it does resemble another grumpy old man. Anyway I’ll never shut up about that scene with both historia and Levi looking at their partners, jealous and shit 💆‍♀️💅💅💅

Okay I’m done talking for now, thank you again for reading as always idk what this post was tbh I didn’t have it planned at all I just really wanted to talk about these that’s been on mind to spark new conversations about them.

I just wanna say I wish i was part of this fandom sooner, not only does this fandom has the best theorists but also such amazing people. I hope our shitposting and analysis of rivamika will not end with chapter 139. Rivamika will always make me happy and this place will always feel like home, thank you for creating this community 😭💜💜💜💜

[the-chavoi-legacy]

dire straits (theron x imperial agent)

in which theron finds a helping hand in someone who was supposed to remain an enemy.

“Well, this is going spectacularly.”

Maybe it’s a bit uncalled for, considering the situation he's gotten them mixed up in. His timing definitely needs improvement, but Theron thinks he’s earned the right to complain - after all, it’s been just over a month since he was caught scoping out the gang’s stronghold, just over a month since they slapped a shock collar ‘round his neck and locked him in a storage room.

The look on Nine’s face says otherwise.

“Ensign-”

“On it, sir.”

The speeder lurches out of the skylane so violently that Theron almost topples over the side, a blaster bolt grazing past his arm as Nine catches him by the wrist and wrenches him back inside.

“Nine, what - stars, Nine, what’d you do?”

Nine doesn’t answer, ducking down into the backseat to reload his rifle as quickly as Theron’s ever seen, with the custom detailing that Theron could recognize from lightyears away. The trade had gone pretty smoothly, in his opinion – several hundred-thousand credits in exchange for one undercover SIS agent, slightly singed.

And then the shooting had started.

“Temple suggested that our targets might’ve acquired sensitive information from your implants. I convinced Vector to let us borrow a fresh batch of fingerlings for the job.”

Wind whipping past his face, the graze on his arm stinging like the Void, it takes Theron a few seconds to understand exactly what Nine isn’t saying.

“Killiks? You set killiks on them?”

Whatever Nine’s about to say is lost as Temple banks the speeder around a landing pad to avoid another round of blaster fire, the three of them just barely keeping their balance as the altitude ratchets up.

“You,” Nine hisses, bracing himself on the seats to set up another shot, leveling an incensed glare at Theron over his shoulder that might’ve killed lesser men, “are in no place to judge.”

Well, obviously.

That’s never stopped him before.

                                                              /o/

It’s a miracle they all make it to the landing pad in one piece.

                                                              /o/

"Y’know, you never did say how you knew to come get me.”

“I have my sources,” Nine hums, perfectly non-committal, doing something with the circuits that makes Theron’s fingers go numb for a few seconds.

If he hadn’t spent the last month locked in a storage room with nothing but hindsight and a headache for company, Theron might’ve been willing to dig a little further. At the tail end of the ship’s night cycle, however, holed up in the conference room with the crew very kindly not interrupting them, it’s surprisingly easy to sit back and let an ex-Cipher tinker with his burnt-out cybernetics. Just like they’d been forced to do in the oppressive humidity of Rishi, without the blessing of the Phantom’s temperature regulation system and a full, well-maintained set of repair tools.

Any other time, any other place, Theron wouldn’t have considered letting anyone with even a hint of Imperial allegiances anywhere near his implants.

Might’ve even risked using a potentially rigged escape pod to get away.

But it’s not just any old Imperial.

It’s Nine.

He wonders what it says about him and his current loyalties that somehow that fact alone makes his current situation significantly less stressful.

"That should do for now.”

Quick work, given how often his hosts enjoyed shocking him. Theron holds himself still while Nine presses the scuffed casing back into place over the circuits, typing a few commands into a datapad before passing it over. The diagnostics aren’t too alarming – nothing in the damage reports that calls for a full surgical procedure, at least, but he’ll probably need a checkup from the agency’s specialists when he gets back to Coruscant.

Once Trant’s cooled down about him not requesting backup, of course.

Again.

Getting his implants on-line takes a few minutes, if only because the painkillers Nine nicked from the medbay are pretty effective at their job. He braces himself on the edge of the table as he tries to stand, legs a little unreliable, not quite lucid enough to keep from flinching when a warm hand rests gingerly against his lower back to steady him.

They’ve been here before. More than a few times now, actually.

Enough to make a habit out of it.

Not that Theron's complaining. Absolutely not. And not just because he's finding less things about Nine to complain about.

But he spent a week bunking with the two of the SIS's most wanted persons, doing his best to pretend he wasn't completely aware of their identities, and that's an experience he's not exactly keen on going through again. Not for another decade, at least.

"Kaliyo snores."

"I'm aware."

"Lokin keeps asking for blood samples."

"Ah. My quarters, then?"

Theron doesn’t need to be asked twice.

                                                            /o/

Imperial Intelligence and its near-endless army of ghosts might've been a persistent thorn in Theron’s side for the last decade, but he can’t deny the appeal of a private, top-of-the-line water shower ready to go at a moment's notice, even in the middle of a hyperspace jump.

One that doesn't have to be repaired every few weeks, no less.

He's sitting up on the bed when Nine finally steps out of the 'fresher, hair damp and falling into his eyes, the scent of something that’s too fragrant to be any factory-standard cleanser following in his footsteps. A far, far cry from the dedicated agent of the Empire that outbid every other lowlife in the Outer Rim who wanted to get their hands on a Republic spy, certainly, but it’s nothing Theron hasn't seen before.

A mask, one of many, carefully crafted to keep hidden something that few people in the galaxy are allowed to see.

Something Theron’s not sure that even he's allowed to see, no matter how many times it's been offered to him.

"Find anything worth sending back to the SIS?" Nine asks mildly, gesturing at the datapad Theron’s been digging through for the last half-hour, like it isn't the biggest breach in Sith Intelligence security so far this year.

He's tempted to lie, if only to avoid having to admit to Nine's face that he couldn't crack the few dozen firewalls keeping the Empire's secrets safe. Instead, Theron settles for powering off the datapad, putting it aside on the nightstand where there's a very high chance of it disappearing the second he isn't paying attention.

"Not really."

It's worth it, if only for the faint, amused smile he gets in return, for the soft brush of fingers against his pulse point as Nine climbs up onto the berth and straddles him in one fluid movement.

“Not that I don’t appreciate our time together,” Nine says, after a few minutes of comfortable silence and letting the pure, unadulterated chaos of the past day sink in, gaze lingering on the fading reminders of where Theron's spent the last several weeks, "but I'm actually getting quite tired of seeing you like this."

It's - it's hard to argue with that.

And with the overhead lights dimmed, the red of Nine’s eyes casting a soft, familiar glow over the room, Theron finds that he’s not exactly in the mood for arguing.

"You finally going soft on me, Nine?"

There's no answer to that, just a scoff without any heat behind it, the exact reaction that Theron was aiming for, and then Nine's ducking down to steal away his breath as expertly and efficiently as he does everything else, the bastard.

"Trant - Trant's going to start looking," is the only thing Theron can muster when Nine finally lets him come up for air, the bastard.

"We have a week."

It's not even close to the response he's expecting, and it takes Theron all of two seconds to decide that he really doesn't want to know the specifics of that arrangement.

A week. He can work with that.

“Guess we're taking the scenic route to Coruscant?"

This time, when Nine leans in to kiss him, Theron doesn’t have to look to know that he’s smiling.

[elthadriel]

Boosting Morale

It's been too long since Rex and Cody were together to let sharing a room with a dozen other men stop them from having sex.

And if their men want to watch, well maybe that can just be part of the fun.

Tags: Public Sex, Exhibitionism,   Begging, Anal Sex, Consensual Kink, Humiliation, Light Dom/sub, sub Cody, bottom Cody, Porn with Feelings, Praise Kink, Dirty Talk, Roleplay-ish, SubCody Week 2021 

Read on Ao3

It hadn’t even occurred to Cody to not to give up his quarters when Kenobi had mentioned there were going to be a total of six Jedi and twice as many Senators on the Negotiator for a couple of nights. It was sensible even if it hadn’t been proper procedure. He could find an empty bunk in the Trooper barracks easily enough, an event he doubted a non-clone would ever recover from.

Still, he was disappointed to be on the same ship as Rex and not have the privacy to enjoy it. At least they could still curl up in the same bunk, which was a whole lot better than being light years apart for weeks at time.

And, well, Cody hadn’t realised he’d missed sharing a room with his brothers. Private quarters once he had left Kamino were a luxury he could never have imagined and not one he wanted to give up, but there was something oddly nostalgic about being in barracks with a couple dozen other clones, a near even mix of the 212th and the 501st who had been invited to double up. He’d even missed the unashamed sounds of loud sex happening all around him as everyone settled in for the evening. The only thing that had really changed from when he shared a room with other CCs was that he wasn’t able to pick out exactly who was fucking who based on the precise sounds they were making.

That was probably a good thing; he didn’t need to know any of his men that well, or any of Rex’s for that matter.

And it turned out his frustration at not being able to enjoy one of the rare nights he had Rex got to spend together had been unfounded. It probably wasn’t the best idea to get so handsy in front of men they were expected to lead into battle, but if their vode had no concerns about getting off in front of them, it seemed only fair they got off too.

Rex kissed him like he was trying to drag Cody’s soul out through his mouth, hard and unrelenting. He was in a rough mood, teeth catching on Cody’s lower lip, tugging and sucking, drawing soft noises from Cody.

He was on his back, Rex above him, one leg pressed between Cody’s, rubbing up against him with any movement. Cody still resisted actively rutting against it, but he was more than aware the opportunity was there if he wanted it. Rex had an elbow either side of Cody’s head holding just enough of Rex’s weight to get the angle Rex wanted, the rest of Rex’s bulk heavy across Cody’s body.

Cody sighed into the demanding kisses, holding the front of Rex’s shirt to stop any chance of him pulling away; not that it was a risk he was particularly concerned about.

“Hey, Captain, nice of you to slum it down with the rest of us. Who’s your hot piece of ass?” A Trooper called out across the room with the confidence of a man who had just earned his paint.

Rex broke the kiss and Cody opened his eyes, getting a good look at him before he turned to address the Trooper. Rex was a little flushed, eyes dark, mouth quirked up in amusement.

“That would be Marshal Commander Cody,” Rex said. “Something you’d like to say to him?”

Cody turned to catch the man’s expression, the added bonus being that twisting his head displayed his distinctive scar. The Trooper went a rather dramatic shade of white.

“No Sir. Sorry Sir- Sirs,” the kid said, snapping his heels together and saluting. Around him his friends seemed torn between laughing at his misfortune and being appropriately deferential. It probably wasn’t the sort of thing they were going to let him forget anytime soon. It was an important lesson in being overly familiar with officers.

Not that it was always a bad thing for soldiers to be familiar with their COs. Cody tugged Rex’s attention back to him before the poor boy combusted. He liked how familiar Rex was with him.

“You’re a fucking moron, Vector,” one of the clones said, voice not quite low enough to prevent it from carrying.

“Gonna get your shebs sent for reconditioning. Gonna have to tell the Kaminoans you said a Superior officer could get it,” another said, Blue, a 212th man on a list in Cody’s office for potential officer training. He went a little pinker realising he was going to know exactly which of his people had watched Rex feel him up.

“Nah, the Commander’s always in a good mood when Rex is around, no rewards for guessing why. He’ll probably just put you on cleaning detail until you die.”

“It is a hell of a show though,” Blue said, and Cody knew he wasn’t supposed to have heard that part. He let it pass unchallenged. Rex’s hand was slipping under his shirt, warm even against his heated skin, and everything else seemed unimportant.

“He’s right,” Rex mumbled, breaking the kiss to suck at Cody’s neck instead. “You are a hot piece of ass.”

Cody rolled his eyes, but smiled despite himself. Their kisses were growing more heated, and the leg sandwiched between his own a more distracting presence. It was one thing to make out in a shared space, full of subordinates who were already paying more attention to them than they would any Troopers fooling around, it was quite another have sex with another officer right in front of them.

They could probably get away with frotting against each other at least. Except-

“Force, I want to fuck you so bad.” Rex said, mouth hot against Cody’s neck.

Cody groaned, shifting his hips, rubbing his semi-erect cock against the thick meat of Rex’s thigh. The muscles in his groin clenched at the suggestion, pre-come leaking from the tip of his cock, staining the front of his blacks. It had been almost two months since they’d had the time for penetrative sex, and now the idea was in his head he wasn’t sure he could settle for anything else.

Rex nipped at his jaw.

“You’d like that, huh? I could strip you out of your blacks in front of our men and fuck you while they watch,” Rex shifted from his elbows up onto his hands, looming over Cody.

“Rex,” Cody moaned, his hips twitching without his permission.

“What do you think they’d make of that? Watching the great Commander Cody spreading his legs and begging for it like a slut?

“Please.” He could already picture it, how he would look to them, reduced to a needy mess by the promise of a hard cock in him. He had such a carefully built reputation of control and unbending professionalism and there was something deliciously filthy at revealing to the men who respected him that he was as human as the rest of them, throwing all propriety aside in exchange for good hard fucking.

“Please what?” Rex asked, smirking ever so slightly. The only saving grace for Cody’s pride was the flush rising on Rex’s neck, making it clear he was as turned on at the thought as Cody was.

“Fuck me in front of them. Show them who I belong to.”

Rex’s breath caught in his throat. He pressed his thigh more firmly between Cody’s legs and Cody failed to muffle his cry. He buried his burning face into Rex’s shoulder. Fuck. The silence in the room was palpable, and he could feel the eyes of what must be everyone in the room turn to him.

He wanted this, the tent in his blacks made that more than clear, but the sharp embarrassment was dancing between exciting and too much.

Cody wrapped his arms around Rex’s back, holding him close as he decided where he was going to land on this. They’d played with this sort of fantasy before, toying with the intoxicating mix of humiliation and excitement of being watched, but fantasy and reality were two very different beasts.

Rex kissed the point just under his ear, voice more breath than sound. “We can go find a supply closet if you want?”

It certainly would be easier. They could steal from the room and find a private little corner of the ship, it wouldn’t even be the first time. But he wanted to do it here. He wanted everyone to know exactly how well Rex took care of him. He wanted the burn of humiliation fuelling his arousal.

“No. I want to do it here.”

“You sure?” Rex asked, because he worried like that.

“Positive.”

Rex bit the shell of his ear, giving a tug just the right side of painful. “You’ll let me know if it becomes too much?”

Cody nodded.

Satisfied, Rex sat back on his haunches, pulling his upper black up off over the top of his head, dropping them onto the floor by the bed. He had mostly healed burn from a too close for comfort blaster bolt along his shoulder where there was a narrow gap in their armour. Cody sat up, pressing a kiss just by the edge of it.

Before he could enjoy the rest of Rex’s newly exposed skin, Rex was tugging insistently on Cody’s own blacks, his shirt quickly joining Rex’s on the floor. Rex did exactly what he had just denied Cody, pushing him back into the mattress and ducking his head to suck a dark mark into Cody’s collarbone. Cody closed his eyes, sinking into the pillows, a soft sigh escaping his lips. Rex’s mouth was hot against his skin, and a deep satisfaction curled around his chest knowing how marked up he was going to be by the time Rex was done with him. He’d have fading bruises to trace long after Rex was gone.

Pleased with his work, Rex abandoned Cody’s collarbone in search of somewhere else to mark him only to be very quickly distracted by Cody’s left nipple. He licked a stripe over it before sucking it into his mouth, while Cody made a soft, pleased sound. Rex’s teeth teased the nub, a sharp pain that had him clutching at the back of Rex’s head to keep him in place.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” said one of the troopers said from a bunk over. They were slowly gathering closer, even those that had been actively fucking each other suddenly more interested in what Cody and Rex were up to. It was understandable, it wasn’t the sort of show that happened very often, if ever. “The Commander looks good all messed up.”

Cody wondered what Fox would have to say if he knew about this, Fox who claimed he intended to fuck his way through the entire GAR but wouldn’t so much as be seen in a state of undress more scandalous than removing his helmet by the men he directly commanded. If he and Ponds had ever managed to agree about anything it was that it was an officer’s responsibility to maintain an unshakable sense of integrity to his men. Cody somewhat doubted they would consider letting Rex fuck him as meeting that standard. This was going to make it back to the other CCs, it was inevitable, and the promise of their judgement did filthy things to Cody’s insides.

He hadn’t known this about himself, how hot he would find this.

“Check in with me?” Rex said, removing his mouth from Cody and leaving the wet skin to cool against the air.

“They think I’m hot,” he said voice already a little rough.

“You like that?” Rex asked.

Cody wanted to hide his face, somehow more embarrassed to admit that he liked being watched than in the being watched itself. There was nowhere for him to hide from how well Rex knew him however, so he just nodded.

Rex looked at him like Cody had hung the stars and planets beside. He kissed Cody with bruising force, before taking full advantage of Cody’s confession.

“They’re jealous,” Rex said. “They would do anything to be in my position right now. You spread out under them, desperate for their touch. If I wasn’t here, would you let them? Would you offer up your tight ass to your men?”

Cody whined, fisting the sheets under him.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” Rex was back at his throat, pausing his verbal torment to add another bruise to Cody’s growing collection. Only when he was satisfied with the angry mark did he continue. “Face down on the bed, ass in the air, let them take turns with you until you’re fat with their come. You think a single one of them could resist an offer like that?”

“Fuck, Rex.” He tried to grind his ass against Rex but he had no leverage flat on his back, Rex’s hands holding him in place.

“Ask me for it,” Rex ordered. “ Nicely.”

Cody let out a breathless laugh. Like he was in any state to be rude to Rex right now.

“Please, Rex.”

Rex rolled his hips, the hard line of his erection rubbing up against Cody and his thigh pressing teasingly down against Cody’s, but he made no other move to progress things.

“Louder. So our men can hear you.”

Heat throbbed sharply in Cody’s crotch.

“Please,” he said, barely any louder than the first time. Rex kissed him, mouth closed, surprisingly chaste considering the filth he had been talking only moments before. Cody squeezed his eyes shut and tried again.

“Rex, please. I need you in me. Stop teasing. Please. ” There was a tremble to his voice, but it carried across the room, and he heard someone off to the side let out a low groan accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a hand working slicked up flesh.

Force, they were jerking themselves off to this. To him.

Rex let out a low moan of his own, kissing Cody again with more force.

“You’re amazing,” Rex breathed. “I love you.”

He smiled, bright and warm, made braver by Rex’s words.

“Fuck me, please, please, Rex. ” He shifted his own leg, deciding it was only fair Rex experienced the delicious friction he’d been teasing Cody with, pressing his leg up against Rex’s bulge. Rex gasped, arms almost buckling in surprise, but while a couple of Troopers moved to sit on closer bunks for a better view, Rex wasn’t taunted into returning to their game just yet.

“I want them to see how perfect you are for me. I want them to hate me for being lucky enough to have you.” He said, voice low, speaking just for Cody. Rex threaded the fingers of one hand through Cody’s, holding his face with a gentleness that didn’t match bite marks littering Cody’s body.

They looked at each other for a moment, Rex smiling fondly, running his thumb down the scar on Cody’s face. Cody wanted him far more deeply than physically, wanted to whisper terrible vulnerable things to him, but while he was learning all sorts of new things about himself in that moment, like his apparent kink for being dommed with an audience, that was something he wasn’t willing to share with anyone but Rex.

Instead he kissed Rex’s palm and hoped that he knew.

Rex closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them his smile widened and turned more mischievous.

“If we don’t move this along I’m going to come in my blacks like a shiny,” Rex said. He released Cody’s face to trace a line over Cody’s ass through his blacks instead.

Shit.

“We don’t have any lube,” Cody realised. He’d left it in his room, hidden among his clean underwear. He hadn’t considered this as an option.

Rex hesitated for only a moment, before his expression turned smug. He dug his fingers into the flesh of Cody’s ass, teasing the waistband of his blacks lower on hips. “I’m sure one of our roommates would be happy to donate some to the cause if we ask.”

Cody was more than aware it should be embarrassing to have to publicly ask one of their subordinates for lube but with Rex’s obvious arousal at the idea pressing against him it was impossible to care.

He nodded his consent to the suggestion and was rewarded with a playful slap to his ass, though the angle was wrong for any real force.

“Hey, Fives,” Rex called across the room. “You got any lube?”

Five’s reply came quickly enough to make it clear his attention, seemingly like every other clone in the room, was already on Rex and Cody. “I thought being prepared for all eventualities was what separated good leaders from great ones?” He asked, in what Cody was positive was a reference to something he’d said. It sounded like the sort of bullshit he sprouted around shinies. Making that kid an ARC had been a mistake, that much recognition had given him a dangerous amount of confidence.

“Delegation is an important part of efficient leadership,” Cody said, which was perfectly true, but this was probably not what anyone had had in mind when he’d been taught that. There was a smattering of laughter across the room and Cody had to imagine it was less because they suddenly found him so very witty and more because his attempt at his officer voice was rather undone by his riled up state.

“Enough with the lip,” Rex said, with a hint of his own officer voice slipping through. “Do you have some or are you going to be the reason Marshal Commander Cody doesn’t get fucked tonight?”

Cody was absently surprised that he was even able to maintain an erection with how much blood was rushing to his face. Rex made him sound like he was gagging for it. It wasn’t inaccurate, but having it shared with so many people twisted his insides in delicious ways.

“I’ve got some, give me a second.”

Cody didn’t pay any attention to Fives trying to fish out the lube, his attention suddenly taken by how Rex’s pecs looked from this angle. He wanted to lick them. Rex had a head start on marking him up, but Cody would make sure he returned the favour, if not tonight tomorrow. Rex’s chest was beautiful, but it would look even better covered in dark bruises.

There was the sound of bare feet on the hard floor and a shadow fell across the bed. Fives could have thrown it from where he was sitting, but Cody had to admit that if it had been his superior officer in this position, if it had been Alpha-17, he probably wouldn't have turned down the opportunity to get a closer look either. Fives stared down at him, lube held loosely in his hand, largely forgotten. He hardly seemed to notice when Rex reached out and took it from him, placing it down beside Cody’s hip.

Rex twisted Cody’s nipple sharply, pain blurring with pleasure and Cody arched off the bed with a hiss.

“Say thank you,” he said, before dipping his head to press an apologetic kiss to Cody’s chest.

“Thank you, Fives,” he said, turning only enough that he could see Fives out of the corner of his eye. Fives didn’t meet his gaze, his eyes locked on where Rex’s hips were flush against Cody’s, between Cody’s spread thighs.

“You’re welcome, Sir.” Fives wanted to touch him, it was clear in the tension in his hands the effect it was taking to hold himself back. Cody wished he would try. It was impossible in that moment to have any interest in anyone’s hands but Rex’s, but Rex could play the possessive partner when the scene called for it, and Cody wanted to see Rex remind Fives of his place.

He rolled his hips fruitless up against nothing, the drag of his blacks against his cock nowhere near close to enough.

Fives had just enough self-preservation not to try, but he also didn’t leave. He sat on the bed next to theirs, his dick tenting in his blacks, hands in white knuckled fists on his lap. For a second Cody considered asking him to join them, he could take Fives in his mouth while Rex fucked his ass.

“Eyes on me, Cody,” Rex said. He’d sat back up, one hand down the front of his blacks, stroking himself, the material clinging to the outline of his dick. All thoughts of Fives slipped from his head.

Rex gave him an almost bashful smile, dropping his voice again. Fives might be close enough to hear, but it was enough to mark the conversation as not part of the game. “Last chance to think better of this,” Rex said, though of course it wasn’t. Cody had no doubt he could end this at any time. He had no intention of ending anything.

For all the bluster Rex was putting on for the role, he was far from unaffected. The paper thin skin at Rex’s throat fluttered with his rapid pulse and Cody pushed himself up onto his elbows to kiss it. Rex lifted his head, giving Cody easy access, sighing happily as Cody pressed hot, open mouthed kisses to his skin.

“If you weren’t so pretty flustered and on display I might be the one thinking better of this,” The teasing tone was back, Rex’s throat rumbling under Cody’s mouth. “You’re so beautiful, I almost can’t stand the thought of sharing you.”

“You can’t get us all riled up and leave us hanging, Sir.” Steel said, ignoring the elbows from his brothers.

Rex shot Steel a look that made it very clear how little he thought of Steel’s commentary.

“He’s right, Rex, bad for morale.” Cody nudged Rex’s side with his knee. He was aroused and excited, and wanted suddenly to goad Rex into action, face the consequences of a little cheek.

Rex caught on immediately, and there was a dangerous edge to his voice and Cody was abruptly shoved back down flat to the bed. “Want to make this a regular thing? We can have bi-weekly showings? Send holovids to the other battalions of me reducing you to a needy mess, begging for cock. See how good morale is when they have regular access to Marshal Commander Cody being fucked like he was built for it. They haven’t even seen how prettily you suck dick.”

“Big word for a man who still hasn’t fucked me.”

Rex grinned, wide and excited, before he pulled himself back into his role. He grabbed Cody’s balls firmly through his blacks, enough to tumble over the line from pleasurable into uncomfortable, boarding on painful. Cody scrambled at the sheets, arching up into the touch, the air punched out of him.

He loved it when Rex was rough with him.

“What was that, Sir?” Rex asked. “If you’re unhappy with how I’m doing things I’m sure someone else would be happy to take over. Get a little Trooper over here who’ll fuck you exactly how you ask. Do you think that would satisfy you?”

“ Rex, ” he croaked, barely managing to make a sound at all. His lungs were empty and he couldn’t pull in more air. Rex’s grip on him seared like a brand and he squirmed, desperate to be released and desperate to be held tighter. No one had ever been able to ride his limits the way Rex could.

“We both know that I know what you want more than you do, don’t we?” Rex eased up, just enough that Cody remembered how to breathe.

“You do, Sir.” The title spilt from his mouth without his consent, the scene getting twisted in his head, forgetting what game they were playing. He was going to come if Rex wasn’t careful, make a mess of his blacks and their plans.

“Then would you like to apologise, Cody?” Rex’s voice was perfectly level and it made Cody’s toes curl.

“I’m sorry, fuck, I need you, Rex. Just you.” It was more of a whine than words but it was apparently enough.

Rex released Cody’s balls and he could think again. He was achingly hard, throbbing painfully already pressed up against the point of no return. He had to hope the foreplay was turning Rex on as much as it was turning him on, because he felt he wasn’t going to last long when Rex started fucking him.

Rex ran his hands over Cody’s thighs soothingly.

“ Fuck.” Fives sounded almost as ruined as Cody felt.

“Something to say?” Rex asked, returning to the game at hand.

“The fucking noises he makes, Rex. Do you mind if I…?” Cody couldn’t see what Fives gestured to, but he could imagine. There was something almost comical about Fives asking for permission to do what half the other men in the room were already doing.

“Would you like that?” Rex asked Cody, and perhaps Fives just understood the scene a little better than the others. Cody didn’t know what to do with that information.

Cody nodded, probably too eagerly.

“I don’t think he heard you,” Rex said, conversationally, but he had that same ability that all officers had, to make his voice fill a room.

“Yes,” Cody said, trying to use his officer voice too, but there was a tremble to it that he couldn’t quite bring under control.

Rex took hold of Cody’s hips, applying just enough pressure to make sure Cody wouldn’t be able to forget Rex was in control.

“Yes he can masturbate to the noises you’re making while I fuck you?”

Cody’s pulse pounded in his ears, almost enough to drown out everything else. “Yes he can wank to the sounds I’m making.”

“Him or all of them?” Rex asked, still not done forcing Cody to admit exactly what he wanted.

“All of them.” Cody couldn’t get his voice steady but no one could fault his volume. “Fuck, Rex, every fucking clone in the GAR.”

Rex’s hands tightened on him, betraying his own need.

“Well if you’re the entertainment, we really should give them something to see. Wouldn’t want to lower morale.”

Sometimes when Rex took control like this Cody was left feeling like he was floating but this time he felt grounded, hyper-aware of every sensation he was experiencing. The sheets, damp with his own sweat, sticking to his back, the too tight cling of his blacks around his crotch, the achingly familiar calluses of Rex’s hands on his skin, the way the room was already filled with the distinct smell of sex, the scattered noises from their men pleasuring themselves.

He was on the brink of drowning in it, trusting Rex to keep him from sinking completely.

“Going to get you out of the rest of your clothes, show our boys how pretty you are. Bet they already fantasise about your thighs, I know I did while you were still playing hard to get. I think you owe them a proper look after flaunting yourself around for so long.” He dug his fingers into the muscles of Cody’s thighs to prove his point, squeezing once before he shuffled back a little and pulled at the waist of Cody’s trousers.Cody lifted his hips to help and Rex pulled his blacks out from under his ass and down his legs. The air wasn’t particularly cold, but being suddenly so exposed caused goosebumps to raise across his skin. Rex’s hands returned to his bare thighs, running his fingers lightly up the inside and despite applying almost no pressure, Cody spread his legs wide under the touch, lifting his hips, drawing attention to his erect cock.

For a moment he was at the edge of genuine embarrassment at displaying himself so thoroughly, at being so visibly desperate for Rex’s touch, but while the approving noises from the troopers did nothing to soothe him, he was also successful in gaining Rex’s complete attention.

Rex took Cody’s cock in his hand, and Cody moaned, falling back into the pillow, eyes closed, and any risk of shame was consumed by the heat of Rex’s hand. No one should be ashamed of wanting this. He wrapped his legs around Rex’s back, knowing full well he would have to release him almost immediately so Rex could finish undressing, but in that moment needing Rex to be flush against him too much to care.

It was hard to care about much with Rex slowly jerking his dick, rubbing up against his ass, and giving him a look like he was the most beautiful thing Rex had ever seen.

His focus fixated on where the skin just above the waist of Rex’s blacks met the sensitive skin of the inside of Cody’s thighs. He needed more of Rex’s skin against him. He reached up, touching Rex wherever he could, running his hands over Rex’s throat, chest, waist, any part he could reach.

“You’re wearing too much,” he mumbled. “It’s not fair.”

Rex grinned cheekily at him.

“What was that, Cody?” He was still stroking Cody, with slow deliberate strokes that caused heat to pulse through him in encompassing waves. But it wasn’t what he wanted.

“Take your blacks off. Promised them a show,” he said, and then because he’d learned his lesson, added, “Please, Rex. I want to feel you, it’s been too long.”

Rex lent forward to kiss him again, hooking an arm under Cody’s knee, pulling it up with him as he moved, spreading him obscenely open, pressing their cocks together, only a thin layer of material still separating them. It was pressure that had no risk of having him shoot off early, like Rex’s careful handjob had, but the physical proof that Rex was as turned on as he was pressing against him was at least just as arousing.

It was also a deliberate denial of what Cody wanted and caught himself pouting into Rex’s kiss.

“I think the Commander gave you an order, Captain.” It was a 501st boy, one Cody thought he should recognise but couldn’t put a name to. He would have to learn it, give the little shit a medal.

“Don’t think the Commander is in any position to give orders right now,” Rex said, grinning as Cody sulked.

“Think that qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment, Sir. Blue-balling a senior officer.”

“Forget cruel to him, what about us? Gonna get a kriffing friction burn on my dick,” another 501st Trooper added.

“Your boys are as desperate as I am,” Cody said, awed.

Rex shook his head, not even really able to argue with that, but he was always one to recognise an opportunity when it presented itself.

“The 212th have been very shy,” Rex said, sitting back up, “What do you think, Clover. Want to see me fuck your CO? Want to see him squeal?”

Clover let out a sound that was more squeak than word.

Rex let Cody’s leg fall heavily back to the bed.

“Look at him, he’s desperate for it, wants to know how pretty you think he is like this, how pretty the highest ranked clone in the whole damned army is when his subordinate makes him beg,” Rex wore his achievements humbly, but smug pride at how wound up he had Cody was oozing off him in waves and Cody couldn’t get enough of it.

Rex rolled his hips again, pressing their cocks hard against each other and Cody choked out a desperate please. His head felt light, the excitement of the role catching up with him. It was so easy to let everything but his clawing need for Rex to fall away, shove any lingering sense of shame from his head. He needed Rex like he needed air, and he found it hard to care if everyone knew it.

He wanted them to tell him how gorgeous he was like this, not because their opinions mattered, but he needed to hear how perfect he looked to Rex, how jealous they were of what he provided to his partner.

“You’re keeping him waiting, Clover.”

“Yeah, I want to hear him beg, he’s so kriffing beautiful, Sir. Think they built him differently from the rest of us,” the trooper finally managed, without the confidence of his 501st brothers, but lacking none of the eagerness. “Give him your cock, Sir. He’s earned it.”

Rex pressed a finger up against Cody’s entrance, teasing the rim but refusing to push into him.

“You have been very good,” Rex mused, and then his hand was gone. “Seems to me your boys want to see you get fucked just as much as mine, yours are just politer about it”

He lent in very close, mouth brushing against Cody’s ear. “I’m desperate too. The things you do to me, Codes.”

Cody keened, twisting and catching Rex in the briefest of kisses before Rex pulled away.

Rex stood from the bed, kicking off his trousers before in record time before he was back between Cody’s legs, his cock rubbing up against the cleft of Cody’s ass, finally a promise rather than a tease.

He was gone for only a moment, but for those handful of seconds, alone without Rex’s body to shield him from the room Cody took a proper look around, and fuck, they really were being watched by everyone. His heart clenched in that perfect mix of nerves and excitement, the same feeling he got the moment between jumping from a LAAT/i and his jet-pack kicking in. He spread his legs a little wider, rolling his hip up into the air, delighting in how wanton he looked.

His eyes locked with Janad who had shed his own blacks entirely, shamelessly jerking himself off with one hand, the other wrapped around the dick of the vod next to him.

He winked and Cody blushed furiously, heat spreading quickly up his neck, but didn’t look away, not until the second Rex was back between his legs and demanding his full attention. He collected the almost forgotten lube, pouring a liberal amount out onto his fingers, some slipping off and landing on Cody, offensively cold against his heated skin.

“You know that’s the good stuff right?” Fives asked, almost disguising the shudder to his breathing. “Please don’t waste it.”

“Consider it the cost of entry.” Rex grinned, his fingers back at Cody’s ass, trailing his slicked up fingers down between Cody’s cheeks over his hole. “He likes it messy, likes it leaking out of him and down his thighs. Don’t you, Cody?”

He paused his exploring, touching the tips of his fingers against Cody’s entrance, a promise of what the correct answer would bring.

“Yes, Force. I love it when you make a mess of me. Fuck me hard and then send me off to a briefing, leaking slick and come, staining up my blacks.” They’d only done that once, and the discomfort had only just been outweighed by how hot it had made Cody feel. Rex however had been very taken with it, and fucked him again the moment he had returned to his quarters.

Rex made a choked off sound that was almost a curse and finally, finally , pushed two fingers into Cody. He let out a low moan, reaching blindly to hold whatever part of Rex was closest. His cock jumped against his belly as Rex gave him almost no time to adjust to the intrusion, pulling his fingers out to the first knuckle barely as heartbeat after he had pushed them in, only to shove them right back in again. It was a far cry from the stretch of Rex’s cock, but Cody was worked up to a point where he felt he could have fucked himself to completion on a single finger if it was all Rex was offering.

It felt so good to have something filling him.

Rex’s other hand rested on the inside of Cody’s thigh, keeping his legs parted as if Cody would close his legs for anything other than a Sep warship at this point.

Cody was up for a lot in bed, and liked to think he was flexible to whatever his partner wanted, but there was nothing that got him going in quite the same way as being fucked. He’d been utterly taken with the sensation from the very first time he’d pushed his own fingers into himself, face down in his pod back on Kamino, with medical jelly he’d stolen from the medbay as lube. He’d been so caught up in the thrill of this new way of pulling pleasure from his body he’d forgotten to catch his orgasm in the napkins he’d taken from dinner and he’d had to sleep in stained sheets for the next three days.

His own clumsy attempts had nothing on Rex’s fingers stroking against his insides.  

“Love doing this to you,” Rex said, Rex found Cody’s prostate with practised ease, curling the ends of his fingers up into it, pulling punched out gasps from Cody. He wanted to fucked, craved the fullness of it, but with Rex’s clever fingers working him open, he almost forgot that, ready to be brought off just like this. He groaned, struggling to keep himself still under Rex’s attention; he wanted to buck into that hand no matter how fruitless.

“That’s it, let them hear you.” Rex said, continuing his careful massage of Cody’s prostate, dragging more noises from him.

Cody wanted to hear them too, he wanted to know if their thoughts were as filthy as he imagined they must be. But they’d fallen silent again and Rex's efforts were making it hard to think straight.

“Rex,” he gasped.

“Tell me what you want.”

“I don’t- fuck, I don’t know.” He forced out between desperate breaths.

“Need more?” Rex asked. He could have let up, let Cody get his thoughts in order but instead he redoubled his efforts, moving his hand from Cody’s thigh to tease his balls, heavy and full beneath his straining cock.

Cody made an inhuman noise. “Please .”

“From me or them?” Rex sounded so calm, and it was driving Cody wild.

“Both, please, Rex, more.”

“Fives?” Rex asked, trusting their resident ARC to be able to run his mouth.

“Sir?” Fives was less successful in sounding unaffected.

“Is this the first time you’ve gotten off to Cody?”

Cody sucked in air sharply at the thought, Fives making the exact same noise across from him.

“No, Sir. Not the first time,” Fives admitted.

“When was the first?”

“Couple weeks after  Rishi. Echo and I got each other off and all we talked about was the Commander. How fucking hot he looked fighting those droids, his voice, his kriffing legs.”

Cody made a noise he didn’t have a name for, something desperate and eager.

“Look at him,” Rex said, and Cody could only obey.

Fives had pushed his blacks down his thighs, stroking his dick with slow deliberate movements, eyes fixed on Cody. Pre-come leaked from the head and trickled down his cock and over the back of his hand. He grinned at Cody, twisting his hand up over the top of the head of his cock, pulling most moisture from the tip.

“You want to taste it, Commander? I’m sure if you asked nicely the Captain would let you.”

“Careful, mir'sheb ,” Rex said, twisting his hand inside Cody in that particular way that sent a jolt of pleasure though Cody’s lower half. “Not sure that’s what the Commander-”

“No,” Cody cut him off. “I want to hear more.”

Fives finally looked away from Cody, but only to look at Rex, checking everyone was on board.

Rex seemed amused more than anything else. “You heard the Commander, Fives.”

Fives’ gaze snapped back to Cody, eyes darkened with lust at being permission to continue.

“You want to lap at my cock, Sir? I bet you look so pretty stuffed from both ends, can’t imagine one man is enough to satisfy you.”

Cody laughed. He’d been on some strong ass painkillers in his time and none of them had left him feeling as high as this. “Rex is.”

He shot Rex a smile, who managed to look almost bashful, ducking his head to kiss the inside of Cody’s knee. Funny that was what made him blush.

“He never shares?” Fives asked. He was getting close, jerking his hips up into his hand, his coordination abandoning him. Cody wanted to push him over that edge.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “Sometimes he invites the other CCs into bed with us, see how much I can take. Last time- Ah!”

Rex pulled his hand almost all the way out only to shove them roughly back into Cody, taking his cock in his other hand. The sudden sensations were enough to short circuit Cody’s brain, any hope of coherent sentences forced out of his head in favour of the dual pleasure of being filled and held.

If Rex wasn’t careful he was going to abandon the game entirely. He could flip them, pin Rex to the bed instead, ride him until his legs gave out. He could have Rex in him that very second. Waiting would be better; the tease was half the fun, and Rex always knew exactly how long to make him wait, but if Rex didn’t start something soon he was going to be too horny for something that required as much brain power as delayed gratification.

“Sharing all our secrets, huh?” Rex asked. The hand around Cody was lax, and Rex kept it perfectly still even while he continued to work at his passage.

“You tell him then,” Cody said. He bucked his hips up against the loose grip, desperate for any friction he was allowed, even if it was far too little. “It’s better when you say it.”

Rex smirked and pulled his fingers out with a wet sound that seemed impossibly loud to Cody’s ears. He allowed Cody one firm jerk of his dick before that hand too was removed. Cody whined at the loss, his attention well and truly back on Rex.

Rex however was still looking at Fives.

“The last time I was generous enough to let someone else touch him,” Rex said, picking up where Cody had left off, “we worked him open until he could fit both of us in him. He could barely keep himself upright, even pressed between both of us. It took ages to make him loose enough, and he was so fucking proud of himself when we were both inside. Came all up himself.”

Fives wasn’t looking anymore, his eyes closed, fucking frantically into his hand, consumed by the image Rex was painting for him. Rex picked up the lube from the bed, dripping more down his crack and then slicking up his cock.

“I fucked him again the next morning, he was still wet from the night before, and so loose I just slipped right in.”

Fives swore, hunching over on himself, ropes of come messing up his hand and the floor at his feet.

“And after all that talk.” Rex made a dismissive huff. “You couldn’t keep up, ARC.”

Cody wanted to kiss Rex, would have if he could have done it without distracted Rex from were he was finally getting ready to fuck him. His blood burned in anticipation, hot and pulsing under his skin. Fives panted to the side, seemingly run out of things to say.

Back on mission, Rex rearranged Cody to his liking, pulling him down the bed, lifting his thighs up onto Rex’s lap, forcing all weight up on his shoulders. It lined him up nicely, and deliberately denied Cody any angle to push back against Rex from, leaving Rex in control. Cody was spread completely open, entirely at Rex’s mercy and his heart pounded.

Rex gave him a hungry once over, eyes dilated. Cody wished he felt suave enough to smirk up at Rex, but with anticipation heavy in his chest, it was all he could manage not to start begging again. Rex traced a line down the v of Cody’s hip, his cock pressed hard up against Cody. If Cody had even a little leverage all it would have taken was the slightest shift to have Rex sliding into him.

Rex apparently had one last game in mind before he allowed that. “Vector, you wanted to see the Commander’s ass, come over here.”

Vector made a startled sound, jumping to feet in surprise. He shared a nervous look with his vode before stepping closer, wearily like he was expecting the offer to be withdrawn if he drew too much attention to himself. He wet his lips, eyes raking across Cody. He was hard in his blacks, the line of his cock obvious through the material and the seal of his blacks wasn’t lined up correctly, like he had had his hand shoved down them only a moment before and hadn’t had the time to lay them flat when he had hurriedly pulled it out.

Vector edged closer, until his knees were up against the bunk, looking over Rex, directly down Cody’s spread legs. One of the 212th boys, Sunny, if Cody remembered right, cautiously followed him, staring at Cody over Vector’s shoulder with an equally appreciative gaze.

Cody squirmed under their scrutiny, feeling a primal urge to cover himself. His cock pulsed with each beat of heart, a small pool of his pre come collecting on his abs. Rex moved, his cock head nudged against his entrance, but Rex seemed content just to tease him and Cody was in no position to do anything about it.

Well, almost no position.

“Please, Rex,” he whined, giving Rex the most heated look he could manage.

Rex gives Cody an unimpressed look, completely aware of what Cody’s game was. That didn’t mean he was immune.

“Please,” Cody said again, and Rex couldn’t hide how his dick twitched at the pleading. “It’s been weeks, Rex, please. ”

“He’s gorgeous,” Vector said, awed.

“Don’t talk about him like he’s not here, Vector,” Rex warned.

“You’re gorgeous, Sir,” Sunny said, before Vector had a chance to correct himself. “Never knew you were hiding all this under your armour.”

Cody was going to split into pieces if Rex didn’t fuck him that very second.

“Ready?” Rex asked. He was looking at Vector and Sunny, but Cody nodded anyway, squirming in Rex’s lap.

The head of Rex’s cock pressed up against his rim, until his body gave up its futile resistance and Rex breached him. He pushed into him in one smooth stroke, a motion that managed to be as breathtaking no matter how familiar it became. His mouth parted and his head fell back, exposing the long line of his neck. The only sound that escaped him was a shaky, extended exhale. So much of Rex’s bare skin was against his own, and he still wanted more, even filled to his limit he ached for more.

There was always something so utterly overwhelming about knowing Rex was inside him, touching him places he couldn’t touch himself even if he tried. Rex’s cock filled him in a way his fingers couldn’t, a perfect heat stretching him open and he didn’t think he would ever have enough of the feeling.

Were Vector and Sunny looking at where Rex’s body met his, where he stretched tight around Rex’s cock, his most intimate parts on complete display for them. Or would they have stared at his face, wanting to know exactly what expression Cody made when he was penetrated. Force, these men had to follow him into battle, trust their lives to his judgement and strategy. And now they would have to do it with the image of him being thoroughly fucked burned into their memories.

He wondered if he would be able to live it down if he came all over himself right then and there.

He could feel the weight of all the eyes on him, but couldn’t look away from Rex, and the way he was biting his lip to hold in his own groan, and the way his eyes had fallen shut, overwhelmed by the pleasure Cody’s body could give him. Cody was becoming rapidly addicted to how hot his men found him like this, but he wondered then how many of them wished they could be in his place instead of Rex’s, could be the person causing that expression on his face.

Anyone who wasn’t was an idiot; Cody was convinced he was getting the better end of the deal here.

“You feel so good, Codes,” Rex said, voice a little thin. “Fuck, you’re always so good.”

He pulled back slowly, dragging his cock against Cody’s insides until the head was catching on his rim. He thrust back in with a grunt and Cody arched up off the bed, keening high and frantic, clutching at the sheets with one hand and tugging hard at his own hair with the other, needing the bite of pain to make the overwhelming pleasure of being fucked open bearable.

“So tight,” Rex managed, between uneven breathing as he began a punishing pace with his hips, shoving deep into Cody each time.

“Rex,” Cody whimpered, “please.”

“Are you always this needy?” One of the troopers asked, and Cody couldn’t look away from Rex to check who. It didn’t matter much at this point.

“Yes,” he gasped. Rex slammed back into Cody, and Cody let out a choked off groan. “Every time.”

And he was, he supposed. Even over a year into their relationship, the fire Rex lit in his chest every time they fucked hadn’t faded. Every time they were together Cody was as eager for him as the last.

“Fucking desperate for me,” Rex said somehow making it sound dirty and sweet all at the same time. Cody reached out blindly, grasping at Rex’s hand on his hip, squeezing it firmly before Rex pulled it away. Before he could complain the hand circled his cock again and all possible complaints were consumed by the burning heat in his groin.

“More, Rex, harder, please.” Cody was only vaguely aware he was babbling, every passing thought that crossed his mind leaving his mouth. He wanted Rex to fuck him so hard he would feel it for weeks and something to that affect tumbled from his lips.

“You will, Cody, I promise.” Rex pressed deep into him, stretching him to his limit, making it abundantly clear he intended to follow through. “And everyone here is going to know why you’re walking funny.”

Cody moaned, deep in his chest.

“Harder” he demanded. “I want more, please. I can take it. Don’t hold out on me.”

Rex laughed, voice hitching every time he plunged into the tight heat of Cody. “I know you can.”

Rex shifted, putting his arms under Cody’s legs, pushing himself up onto his knees, lifting Cody’s lower half completely up and off the bed, folding him almost in half. The new angle was perfect.

Rex fucked into him with fresh force allowed by the position, dragging over his sensitive prostate with each thrust. His whole body felt taught, his orgasm building each time Rex bottomed out into him and each time Rex’s hand twisted over the head of his straining cock.

“Gonna make you come all over yourself,” Rex promised. “Gonna fuck you until you can’t stand. Is that what you want?”

“Yes, Rex,” he couldn’t think straight, couldn’t imagine anything beyond Rex.

“You ever get bored of him Commander and I’ll be happy to give you what you need. Trade him in for a younger model, ya know?”

Cody had almost forgotten Fives was even there and if he had any breath left in his lungs he would have laughed at the very possibility of what Fives was offering. The goading wasn’t meant for his reaction however, even if it was ultimately for his benefit. Rex snarled, slamming his cock back into Cody with an aggressive jerk of his hips.

Words abandoned Cody completely and he let out a wordless cry.

“Didn’t we already prove you couldn’t handle him, Fives?” Rex was setting the sort of relentless pace he would normally never be able to maintain but he was as encouraged by their audience as much as Cody was and seemed to have found new depths to himself.

In the very corner of Cody’s vision Fives gestured at his cock, already erect again. That man didn’t know when to quit; it was going to get him in trouble one of these days.

“Maybe you can’t go twice this quick, but they gave me a little extra.”

Rex laughed, sharp and mocking. “He has the entire Command batch to pick from, and he still picked me, what do you think that says about how well I fuck him? But you, three months out of ARC training thing you could satisfy Commander Fucking Cody? He’d eat you alive.”

“Rex,” Cody said, it felt like the first conscious choice he’d made about what left his mouth in a while. Rex was getting distracted, and Cody was feeling greedy; he wanted all of Rex’s attention for himself, he wanted the attention of every man in this room, but he needed Rex’s.

“I’d help,” Vector said suddenly, apparently rediscovering the conference he’d had at the start of the night. “Hold him down while Fives fucks him. Sunny could suck him off.”

Sunny made a pleased noise that made it very clear what he made of that idea.

Rex growled, fixing Vector with a glare, one he had learnt from Cody himself, that was normally enough to scare anyone with an ounce of self-preservation into silence; Cody was almost honoured that the desire to fuck him was enough to make that include almost no one in the room as the increasingly detailed mutterings of how they would take him apart didn’t pause even for a second.

“Can you imagine the sounds he’d make if you edged him? He was begging almost before Rex touched him, imagine if you denied him for hours. He’s be so fucking pretty that desperate,” a 501st man said.

“Forget that, I want to see how he looks three orgasms in and being worked up to another one, so thoroughly fucked he can’t even hold himself upright.” And that was definitely Lieutenant Janad.

Rex pushed deep into Cody, balls resting up against Cody’s ass, abandoning the promised hard fucking to grind deep inside Cody while he put their increasingly bold audience in their place.

Cody bit back a grin, everything felt so good, Rex surrounding him, Fives posturing, the impossible mix of reverence and debasement from his men. But he wanted to come, and Rex needed to be brought back to task. Di'kut the lot of them.

“Hardly a brag that you need three men to do the job I do alone. If you thin-”

Cody clenched hard  around Rex’s cock and he interrupted his monologue with a shocked gasp, curling forward, almost losing his balance and toppling onto Cody. Fives failed to fully stifle his laugh and Rex gave Cody a betrayed look.

Cody laughed breathily, pulling Rex down to kiss him.

“I was doing a thing,” Rex grumbled, but accepted the kiss.

“You’re an idiot.” Cody kissed him again. “I love you.”

Rex huffed out a laugh of his own. He held Cody’s face between his hands, their audience momentarily forgotten. The warmth in Rex’s eyes, and the fond curl to his lip affected Cody more than perhaps anything else Rex had given him that evening.

“That’s kinda  sweet actually,” Janad said to some murmured agreement.

“Show them,” Cody said, hands roaming across Rex’s shoulders and down his chest, touching him everywhere he could reach. “Show them how well you fuck me, please, Rex, I’m close.”

Rex bit at Cody’s mouth, catching his lip between sharp teeth and tugging before pulling back to give him the best angle. Rex had brought him close a couple of times already, each time backing off before Cody could come, but there was a determination that made it clear Cody wasn’t going to have to wait much longer.

“I want to see him break,” Nebula said. He had stood from his bunk, him and a couple others joining Vector and Sunny crowding the bottom of the bed, leering at Cody over Rex’s shoulder. Cody glanced at each of them but his gaze was pulled back to Rex as his partner hiked his hips even higher.

It was barely even a stretch now when Rex pulled most of the way out of him only to slid that burning heat deep back inside. There was lube leaking out around Rex’s cock and coating the inside of Cody’s thighs and a line of pre-come sliding down from his cock towards his chest, more pumped out with each thrust of Rex’s hips and slide of his hand.

It didn’t take much before he was right on the cusp of coming again, each time Rex moved inside him punching a sound out of Cody’s throat. He felt like he had been hard for hours. He jerked up into Rex’s hand, muscles tightening as his orgasm grew, his thighs trembling with the strain of it. Rex was close too, could feel it in the way Rex was holding him and see it in the set of his jaw. Cody tightened around Rex’s cock, his own dick twitching at the low groan it pulled from Rex.

“Just like that, Cody,” Rex said, “You feel so good.”

“Rex,” he managed, the tension throughout his body growing to almost too much. He was already past the point of no return, caught between the heat of Rex inside him, and the heat of Rex’s hand around him. He grabbed at Rex’s shoulders as he came with a wordless moan, the building heat and strain across his body hitting the edge he’d been chasing all night. He tumbled over it, his muscles relaxing all at once as his orgasm hit him, an intoxicating mix of relief and intensity. Pleasure coiled outward, his whole body suddenly warm and lax.

One of the watching clones swore colourfully.

Rex’s pace stuttered, as Cody broke underneath him, the scene all but forgotten. He managed only a couple more thrusts into Cody before he hit own limit and came with a choked off cry of Cody’s name. He spilt deep inside Cody, hips flush together, dropping Cody’s legs as he was overtaken by his own pleasure.

Come streaked up Cody’s chest almost to his neck, hands dropping from Rex, eyes closed as he rode out the aftershocks. He collapsed into the damp sheets, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Rex hunched over him, his own breathing equally laboured, head resting on Cody’s shoulder. They were still for a moment, the room either finally stunned to silence or Cody was just too out of it to hear. Rex pressed a clumsy open mouthed kiss to the side of Cody’s neck, the strength in his hold on Cody evaporating in post-orgasm bonelessness.

Cody clutched at Rex’s shoulders, to ground himself, a reminder that he was flesh and blood and not about to slip away into nothing. It had been a long time since he’d come like that.

The noise of the room around them slipped back in, the familiar sound of masturbating and men following their example and finding someone to help them get off.  Cody felt lightheaded.

He clasped his hands behind Rex’s head pulling him out from his neck to kiss him, as uncoordinated and lazy as Rex’s own attempts.

“Love you,” he mumbled into Rex’s mouth, feeling Rex’s lips curl against his.

“Love you too.” Rex paused, and made a face. “But I’m also going to cramp, hold on.”

Cody grinned, laughter bubbling in chest.

Rex pulled out of him, bringing lube and come with him, dipping out down the inside of Cody’s legs and onto the bed below. One of Rex’s favourite tricks was to turn Cody over and eat his own mess out of Cody’s sloppy hole, but even after sharing far more of his sex life with his men than he had ever intended Cody felt he would rather that habit remain between just them. The sheets were already filthy with sweat anyway, what was a little more bodily fluid?

Rex didn’t seem up it either way, as immediately upon extracting himself from Cody flopped back down on top of him. Cody stroked the softness of his buzzed hair. Rex hummed happily.

Someone came with a loud groan of what Cody suspected was his own name. He had assumed that once he had come, and he was no longer thinking more with his cock than his head he would feel embarrassed by his actions - real embarrassment, the sort that tied his stomach in knots, not the embarrassment they had played with in the scene, where the scandal was half of the fun - but despite his concern he was still utterly relaxed. He was going to get shit for this once the CCs found out, and they would, they always did, but he felt like he would be able to shrug it off and very honestly say it had been worth it.

It might even be better for how annoyed Fox would be.

“You good, Cody?” Rex asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, just, uh, it was a lot.” Cody said. “You?”

Rex hummed again, a deep, satisfied noise. “I’m fantastic.”

There was the sound of footsteps and Blue was standing over him, normally messy hair even messier.  Rex propped himself up on one elbow, glaring at the man who had dared interrupt their post-orgasm bliss. He was mollified almost immediately.

“Here, Sir.” Blue handed Rex a damp cloth and Cody remembered exactly why this man was being considered for a promotion. Cody decided to pretend he was imagining the dark spot on the groin of Blue’s blacks.

“Vector and Sunny look like they are doubling up if you want a clean bunk.” Blue gestured to a bed across the room.

“Thank you,” Rex said, also seemingly a little lost on how he should interact with everyone now the scene had ended.

Blue had no such reservations and saluted Rex, rotated just enough so that he was facing Cody’s straight on and clicked his heels in a second salute, as though Cody wasn’t still naked on his back, lube and come dribbling from his asshole.

Utterly unflappable.

And he would rather like to take Blue up on that offer of the bunk; he had outgrown sleeping on dirty sheets.

The cloth was cool against his overheated skin as Rex wiped up first the mess he’d made on his stomach and then down between Cody’s legs. He inhaled sharply as the cloth passed between his checks and over his sensitive rim, but even the most insatiable parts of him agreed that they were done for the night. Finally, folding the cloth over on itself to find a still clean section Rex gave his own crotch a once over. It wasn’t really enough, they were both still covered in a fine sheen of sweat, but Cody didn’t think his legs would hold him long enough to shower, even if he could face the communal freshers.

He’d been naked around enough of his men for one night.

“You want some water, Commander?” Fives asked, because apparently everyone was desperate to be helpful now. It was reassuring in a lot of ways, he wouldn’t know if he’d completely fucked up the chain of command until later, but now the scene had ended everyone seemed to be falling back into something that resembled polite interaction.

“Thank you.” He pushed himself upright, untangling himself from Rex only after reminding himself it would only be for a minute before he could cuddle up against him again, all the better for a clean bed and a cold drink.

Rex didn’t let him go very fair anyway, shifting to sit up against him, pressed together from thigh to shoulder.

Cody took the offered water bottle, noting absently that his hands were shaking just a little. He drank the cold water gratefully, very aware of his body’s needs now that they had finished. He wouldn’t have said no to something to eat either but sleep, and crawling back on top of Rex felt more immediately pressing.

He passed the bottle over to Rex who took a grateful couple of mouthfuls of his own.

“Something to be said for delegating the aftercare,” Rex said, nudging Cody’s shoulder with his own.

Cody snorted. “Maybe we should always have a shiny on hand to bring us fresh bedding and hand feed us fruit after sex.”

Fives opened his mouth to say something, but Cody shot him a look and he wisely snapped his mouth shut. Wordlessly, Fives took the empty water bottle back. It was nice to know publicly begging for cock hadn’t robbed him of his ability to glare men into silence.

“Fresh blacks for both of you on Vector’s bunk, Sir,” Janad called from across the room.

“Not sure about morale, but it certainly seems to have improved inter-battalion coordination,” Rex said, sounding genuinely impressed.

Cody rolled his eyes, painfully fond. “The 212th and 501st worked together just fine before I got my dick out.”

Rex laughed and stood, pulling Cody after him by his hand as he crossed the room over to Vector’s bunk

“I don’t know, I certainly feel like the inter-battalion coordination of certain officers is improved when you get your dick out.”

Cody groaned but didn’t try to hide is smile

Passing Rex the bottom half of one of the sets of clean blacks before climbing into his own, struggling with sluggish limbs that didn’t want to work the way he expected them to. He left the shirts folded at the bottom of the bed, sinking down into what passed as a mattress, tugging Rex impatiently after him. It only took them a second to arrange themselves how they wanted, cuddled up against each other.

“That was good,” Rex said, tracing aimless shapes onto the skin of Cody’s back. “Didn’t expect to get so into it.”

“If they don’t keep us up all night with their attempts to recreate our best hits, maybe we can give them another show in the morning,” Cody teased.

Rex’s chest rumbled under Cody’s head as he laughed. “Don’t say that too loud, they’ll get ideas.”

Cody grinned. He could think of worse outcomes.

[h3l10tr0p3]

BNHA OVA: Make it! Do or Die Survival Training!

SPOILERS

So, the Class A students are training for their provisional exams and have to operate in an underground mall rescue mission which caved in due to an electric fire. Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki, Uraraka, Asui (I mean, Tsuyu), Kirishima, Kaminari, Yaoyaorozu, Iida and Tokoyami embark down the site when a secondary disaster seperates them.

The OVA most probably takes place between Deku's visit to Hatsume Mei's Studio and the second scene at Gym Gamma where Deku kicks away a boulder dislodged by Katsuki's AP Shot in his recently updated gear (which he wore in the OVA too). In the OVA, Deku's kicks are also shown to be choppy and he doesnt have precise control over it as he kept falling off the ice-raft when he kicked holes through the ceilings of B6 - B3.

This OVA was filled with student interactions and shippy goodness.

We had IidaMomo, IzuOcha, OchaTsuyu, BakuKami, BakuTodo KiriKami and even a Todoroki × Tokoyami (Todoyami? Tokoroki?) even a rare TodoKami moment! (Todoroki calls Kaminari by his first name, Denki!!)

But at the end of the day, the bkdk feels hit it home.

That's it. THAT'S THE OVA.

What blows my mind is that when the Next big three were at level B6, using the geyser to get up to ground level- Studio BONES could have easily made them shoot up to surface without stopping on B3 and injuring Kacchan.

But they did.

This whole OVA basically revolves around injuring Kacchan and the "Be my cane' dialogue and you caNnoT convince me otherwise.

Now to some it may seem out of character/chronologically dubious for Kacchan to relent to easily to Deku in this OVA considering that this took place before Deku v Kacchan 2, and the OVA clearly states that Aizawa was training the children for the oncoming Provisinal Liscence exams. It was only after Kacchan failed the Provisional exams did DvK2 happen.

But there is a very thin vein of appropriation which makes Kacchan's reaction to accepting Deku's help justified with the time line and it all comes down to Kamino.

Hailed as a championing Kiribaku moment, what is often overlooked in this arc is how Izuku gave up his chance to reach out to Katsuki because he was afraid if it were him, Katsuki would not accept his hand. His anguish is easily overshadowed by the success of the rescue stunt.

Look at Deku in the second gif closely.

In the very last frame, his eyes are shadowed, like he is physically holding in the hurt at seeing how easily Kirishima can reach out to Kacchan again and again in a way Deku is not allowed to.

And it is my belief that Katsuki saw that look.

So, Kamino Arc comes and goes. Students are gearing up for Provisional Exams as shown in the OVA and near the end, there comes a time where Katsuki, injured, clearly needs assistance and this is what Deku says.

"I want to save you too"

Kacchan's response to this is clearly unprecendented, and let's face it soft. Him getting a character development like this before DvK2 when he should be steeping in self-loathing for ending All Might and already suspecting that Deku has AM's power, sounnds a bit far-fetched but consider, obliquely, for one moment that Katsuki knows what Deku feels like.

If Katsuki knows Deku wanted to save him badly back at Kamino, that changes things. It probably hints that Katsuki is aware that Deku relinquished the role of taking his hand to Kirishima fearing he wouldn't take Deku's. Katsuki understands that Deku was deeply hurt by this. So when Deku says "I want to save you too" it's like a callback to Kamino and what he means is -

I want to save you like Kirishima is allowed to do.

Katsuki's "I refuse" and consequent (meme-worthy) "Be my cane" dialogues have a lot more weight than comic relief in that context. He is acknowledging Izuku's help not only as a stepping stone, but also accepting it in a non-personal nature- it's like it is an integral part of his growth that he accepts the only way he knows how to-i.e. on his terms.

But the very act of accepting at this stage of their relationship speaks VOLUMES of how Katsuki percieves Izuku and cares for him beyond his brittle and bruised ego. Because despite the misconception Katsuki holds that Izuku is always looking down on him (right uptil the big fight in DvK2 I might add), Katsuki understands and acknowledges Izuku's hurt at not being the one able to save him. Most importantly,

He sees the anxiety Deku suffers from the mere thought of having lost him again.

By the way, the last time Deku looked even remotely concerned about Kacchan's well-being with such open anxiety on his face looked pretty much like this-

(Yeah...it did not go well)

Add that to the fact that Kacchan probably knows that Deku pushed Kirishima to save him when he blamed himself most (despite having nearly broken his whole fucking skeleton in the process) for not being able to rescue him at the Summer Camp itself.

Kacchan clearly understands the lengths Deku is prepared to go, and will go through again to see him safe and secure. Regardless of what kind of hit his ego takes from Kamino (which is compounded by his failure at the Provisional Exams), being saved by Deku in the wake of these realizations clearly surpasses the need to cling to his own pride in the OVA

And that Alone is a testament to the fact how Katsuki's character has been slowly and surely maturing even before DvK2 which makes him such a well-developed character. He is not completely without empathy Pre-DvK2.

He shows it, but sparingly. He convinces himself that he is saving people like Kirishima, Kaminari, Todoroki and Deku in the OVA because he doesnt 'want to owe it to anybody', but he has already started to internalize this attitude of 'Save to Win' this early in the series.

And the biggest proof in the OVA, of how Katsuki has taken the Kamino experience to heart is when Katsuki persists on the mission to save the dummy despite a secondary disaster complicating their exercise. In a way, It is a catharsis. It is Katsuki's re-enactment of Kamino from Deku's perspective, even if it is to save just one lifeless dummy from debris. He is not going to slack off.

(Funny how, here too, the one needing to be saved was ultimately saved by Kirishima)

He has already started to show (and accept) his dedication to saving as well as winning well before AM gives him the "Save to Win. Win to Save" talk, which cements the vector of his future development in the series.

All things considered, is this OVA a valuable addition to the main story of bnha?

Well, depends on the viewer. It has lots of cool highlight on character dynamics, character focus and fleshes out how the next Big Three seamlessly coordinate with each other. (Also shipping material) However in my humble opinion it seems to make the transition of Kacchan's char development easier for the anime-onlys or the anime-and-movie-onlys, so that the Class Exercise arc doesnt seem like a drastic change in his motivations.

(As if we need any more convincing how in-character it is for Bakugou to want to Save as much as he wants to Win)

[monocytogenes]

WIP Wednesday

Got tagged by @nirikeehan and I actually have some WIPs in the works for once! A few are Quinn/SW things, but what I've been working on most intensively is an IA story because I fell haaaard into a 'I will roast canon at 365 degrees and carve it for juicy bits' type of plot idea.

(spoilers for the Imperial Agent character story and agent-specific Shadow of Revan stuff under the cut)

I finished the Agent story last month and honestly had a blast playing it--I tend to play a lot of uptight professional men, and was like 'you know what? I'm going to do something different.' Hence, Pravin Winscliff II: charming snarkster, professional liar, unabashed slut, and state-sponsored murderer who in spite of his vices nevertheless seemed to always pick the heroic option when a really good What You Are In The Dark moment reared its head. I took the 'Batman' ending with him, and was honestly more attached to his Intelligence coworkers than the companions, so I was really pleased to have them show back up in SoR.

And then that parting conversation with Shara if you romance her? 'You'd be the same woman I've admired all this time. The same woman I'd cross a galaxy to protect.' Fuck me UP with that shit. I needed so much more of them, okay.

Hence, this! Had an idea where instead of assisting after the fact, he's straight up involved in the shipjacking to get her back (and having a lot of complex feelings about being called back for one last job by the Empire after...well. Everything.) Tweaked Lana's story to get her involved too because I just generally like her.

The shadowport, by design, was difficult to spot from orbit unless one knew what to look for—nestled among mountains in a stretch of Klatooinian desert, isolated from civilization. Pravin had found out about it from a client on Bothawui when asking about discreet trading posts, and given Lana’s request for planetary coordinates the place hadn’t been on Sith Intelligence’s radar either. Not that they had any jurisdiction there, of course: Klatooine sat on the bleeding edge of Hutt Space, its few urban centers closed to outsiders, one of the final stops before one crossed fully into the Empire.

Picking a place had been a lengthy negotiation, punctuated by Pravin’s insistence that rural Imperial worlds and disputed territories were not, in fact, “neutral locations”. The minister hadn’t wanted to travel too far afield, and Pravin hadn’t wanted to risk showing his face somewhere that the Imperial authorities could act with relative impunity. He was a Cipher off his leash, after all, a man without a country; his very existence an affront to the Imperial vision. Generous platitudes didn’t change that fact.

He’d flown in a day early, just him and Vector in his shoddy, nondescript shuttle, taking time to scope out the port. These sorts of meetings were best done where people were expected to gather, and in little time he’d pinpointed a cantina comprised of a rowdy bar and some high-backed booths. He wrote out directions to the restaurant, sent them to Lana’s number, and waited.

The response came: Confirmed. Requesting approach clearance, ETA 30 min.

See you there, Pravin replied.

He snagged a table while Vector parked himself at the end of the bar, facing the door; close enough to intervene if something went wrong. Darkness had set in outside; it was something like 20 hours local time, though places like this were usually open continuously. He had no idea what time his body thought it was, given all his recent travel; he’d slept a good while on the ship earlier but still seemed fuzzy and fatigued. Probably a bit of stim withdrawal. Rolling his shoulders, he could feel the ache.

He patted his pockets, only to find that he’d left the syringes behind in his cabin. Sighing, he ordered a caf.

Vector caught his attention as he put his lips to the foam of the drink. He gave an acknowledging nod.

The former minister was dressed more casually than Pravin had ever seen him, in a leather jacket and scarf with a flat cap shading his face. He slid into opposite side of the booth, stripping his gloves finger by finger, and regarded Pravin expectantly.

“Hello, Nine.”

“Hello, you old bastard,” Pravin said with a smirk. “What am I supposed to call you now? The once and future minister? The minister dowager?”

“I see you haven’t lost your charm,” the man replied evenly.

“I see you haven’t grown a sense of humor.” Pravin leaned back against the seat cushion. “And here I’d thought retirement might’ve softened you up.”

[cutegirlmayra]

What are your opinions on shadouge, silvaze, and tailream? I personally ship all of them.

I usually ship canon couples, meaning the company has chosen to make a romantically charged dynamic between one or more characters.

In this case, I believe Silvaze is the closest to having evidence from SEGA that they do intend to hint a little more towards romance but not by much. So I do support that, though I don’t think the two will ever be what they were in 06. I do believe, however, that they feel the residual lingerings of their past partnership continually, leaving for a tragic ending... (common in children’s video game media due to the ‘Star Rule’ of characters unable to be together.)

Blaze literally says, “But... I’ve always sort of liked that about you.” And in japanese, THAT’S GROUNDS FOR A CONFESSION PEOPLE! (though I believe the japanese script is slightly different. It still holds some weight towards this.)

It’s actively hinted at how well they work together due to their ‘erased’ timeline where they were so close. And there’s the hint that Sonic Channel art gives of them being the ‘separated lovers’ in mythology.

Also, matching outfits of this concept on ‘Sonic Speed Battle’.

This weird hinting of ‘missing/pining’ for the other is just--grips chest--AWgh. So heart warming but so tragic!

As for Shadouge, it was originally hinted at that Shadow would rival Sonic with Amy, but this was quickly scrapped and instead, Shadow and Rouge formed some unlikely teaming up and they expanded upon that relationship. Rouge actively goes out of her way to hint towards liking Knuckles romantically, but deeply cares about Shadow and his well-being. It’s clear she may like him too, but all evidence suggests she’s really just his only true friend, but then SEGA stated they don’t actually hang out much due to Shadow’s solitary lifestyle. In otherwords, her caring about him is out of loving sympathy, and though Shadow respects her, doesn’t let her influence him. So, it’s another tragic thing where Rouge’s care seems one-sided, but we’re all aware that Shadow would help Rouge and Rouge would help Shadow, whether he acted like he didn’t care or not, we all know he’s a good guy deep down inside XD

Rouge is often shown to have deep feeling for others, mostly through Knuckles and Shadow, so this makes sense that she’d mourn for Shadow more actively, and Sonic--being highly observant of others needs--would sense that Rouge’s sorrow is sincere. It would make sense to give her that last article of him.

Character placement in any media is important, this shows that they are close, probably the only true friend he has that cares about him actively. As for romantic, I often state it thusly, “She’s got her arms around both men, waiting for one of them to step up and make the first move...” but in all honesty, it’s canon that Rouge likes Knuckles, and is supportive of Shadow. (She should be his close friend, what the heck, SEGA. So he acts like he doesn’t reciprocate her worrying about him, so what? He’d still actively save/protect/be there for her if she needed him to be! That’s close enough for this edgy dude to consider them partners!)

As for Tailream, sorry to break any hearts, although I think it’s nice and don’t mind it much, I know that it’s actually canon for Bakkun to like Cream.

Rouge finds a locket in Sonic X that reveals his crush on Cream. Cream is also shown many times with Tails, but it looks as though each of those activities is ‘play’ like with young children, but not so much with any romantic intention within the cinema placement I before mentioned. It would fit within Cream’s character to admire Tails just like she would “Mr. Sonic” as heroes who have continually saved her and the world. 

How is this scene

Really all that different from him making a sandcastle with Cheese?

This scene is useful, because it shows Tails trying to comfort her in the way you would a small child, and sets up his view of Cream as a friend and little girl. Amy is often depicted the same way when it comes to comforting Cream like this, and showing friendship with Tails as well. Meaning, they both give Cream the same treatment, Tails is not ‘favoring’ Cream in any way.

There are clear differences in ‘proximity placement’ when you examine this and scenes with, let’s say, Cosmo and Tails in how they’re ‘next to each other’ verses the others.

Everything on screen is a choice made by the specific people of the animation and show. Nothing but animation errors are “accidents”.

Even Vector’s day-dream.... is a way to hint that others are noticing Tails’s feelings for her.

In canon, Cream is far too young to love anybody, and Tails is shown to canonically like Cosmo, who is closer to him too.

Cream is a little girl, maybe with age, she would turn towards Tails in affection, but for now, Tails seems to be kind to her but not really interested in a romantic pursuit. I think as they grow up further together, something could spark, but I’m not sure. It’s got no clear evidence that SEGA was leaning towards that.

We must also notice that Cosmo only existed in the anime, even if Cream wasn’t always featured in every game, she is canon to the game world too. I would just argue that maybe Tails doesn’t have a love interest within the game’s canon universe? He’s young too, you know XD Sonic is speculated to have been 11 when he first met 8 year old Amy. So Tails still has one more year before he meets his fated lover, eh? XD (I’m just kidding, but it’s funny to say XD)

It’s also canon that Cream uses her polite innocents to manipulate others like Sonic uses his charm and cool, good, dashing looks to manipulate Amy XD

Clearly, he milks it.

He’s such a bad example for Cream, lol

I remember he was shown with bubbles and such which is common in anime to reveal his ‘trying to charm her’ but again, I think I’ve made my points XD

I still think with time, Cream and Tails could become a future ship, but Cream is only actually in Sonic X mostly, and there aren’t many ‘signs’ of Tailcream in games cause they never really interact all that much.

However, the argument does stand that they are placed around each other quite often. So maybe one day when they’re older~<3

But you could also counter and say... that they aren’t always placed next to each other in this manner, so open-mindedness and accepting if someone likes them together still has some merit, so let people ship what they like ;)b

When you think about it though... who else would you logically place with Tails then? Sonic and Amy are taken, Knuckles and Rouge, so... who? Cream makes sense if you’re trying to pair Tails with someone, you know?