#voyager makes me want to pull my hair out WHY did things turned out this way man the POTENTIAL alone ugh

[vanfleeter]

Bound for Earth: Chapter 3

Characters: Jake Kiszka, Josh Kiszka, Marlie (Star) Warnings: 18+ || Language. Fluff. Crush. Admitting feelings. A little bit of flirting, if you squint. More brotherly antics. Angst. Frustration. Secrets. Allusion to anxiety. Smut. Allusions to masturbation. Allusions to sex.

Bound For Earth Masterlist

Shoving Josh against the wall of the corridor, I run off into the common room and hastily greeting people as I fly by. No way am I letting Josh touch my bacon. I did call it a luxury after all. Making it up to the breakfast line, Josh appears beside me and shoves me off to the side. I shove back and we continue on with it until we’re both on the floor and wrestling each other.

“Enough you two,” I hear the robotic voice of Marvin call as he glides across the floor. “There is plenty of food for everyone.”

“Relax, Marv,” Josh says as he shoves against the tile flooring and stands to his feet. “We’re only playing around.”

“Yes well, one of these days your “playing around” will cause bodily harm..again.”

Josh holds out his hand to me and I grab hold of it. He pulls me back to my feet and fixes my hair. I swat his hands away and straighten out my clothes.

“Good morning boys,” Moira says as she hands over the bacon to put it on our trays. “How’s everything working out with the launch tomorrow?” She asks, looking at me.

“Everything looks very promising,” I say. Little does anyone know that I have a plan up my sleeve–although Josh might know. “I’ve been double checking all of the codes and such, it all looks good.”

“I cannot wait.. I’m supposed to be on that trip. I’ve been missing my daughter.”

I can’t help the smile that forms on my face. “You’ll be seeing her soon enough.” And I will be seeing Earth soon enough, if everything works out accordingly.

Taking our food and going over to an empty table, Josh sits across from me and nudges my shin with the toe of his boot. I look up at him and he cocks a brow. “This launch has to go off without a hitch,” He says.

“I know, and it will.”

“Jake, I swear to God–”

“Keep your trap shut.”

“At least take me with you,” He whispers. I shake my head and he rolls his eyes. “Come on, please?”

“You were so against this, and now all of a sudden you want to go?”

“I can’t let you experience Earth without me.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

Josh grins wickedly and happily chews on his bacon. “I really want to try waffles. You’ve had me thinking about those.”

I scoff, shaking my head. “Don’t make me regret this.”

For the rest of the day, I worked on finishing the coding for the launch while adding a couple extra spots on the cruiser. Fingers crossed no one will notice. All I know now is that I won’t have a use for Charles’ badge. I quickly toss into the incinerator before getting started on forging different ones. Since Josh decided he wanted to join me, I’ve had to come up with a plan B. So that means recreating badges from two crew members staying here in the station. We’ll be able to take their spots on the cruiser and once the launch is complete, no one can do anything. Can’t exactly turn that thing around like it’s a bus, doesn’t work that way.

My computer beeps and I look up at the screen. A smile spreads across my face.

Star: Changed your mind yet?

Setting the files off to the side, I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and click on the message to respond.

Voyager: About telling you my last name?

Star: Yes.

Star: Why won’t you tell me?

Star: Are you in the Witness Protection Program or something?

I laugh, throwing my head back.

Voyager: No.

Star: So then why won’t you tell me?

Star: I tried looking for any and all ‘Jake’s in Texas and I don’t know which one is you. Are you a farmer? A bar owner? A teacher? A gigolo?

Voyager: Never thought of being a gigolo.Voyager: I’ll just tell you that I don’t live in Texas.

Star: Oh?

Star: Then where?

Voyager: You’d never guess.

Star: Try me..Star: Do you at least live in the US?

Voyager: I do have dual citizenship, but currently? No, I do not live in the US. But soon..

Star: You are killing me.

Voyager: Don’t you live in Texas?

Star: You already know that.Star: Are you really that afraid of telling me who you are?

Voyager: Afraid? No. Nervous? Yes.

Voyager: You wouldn’t believe me.

Star: Jake…

Voyager: Marlie..

Voyager: I do want you to know that I’ll be radio silent for a while.

Star: Why?

Star: How long?

Voyager: Six to eight months, give or take.

Star: Are you a fugitive?

Voyager: Nothing illegal..

Voyager: I think..

Star: You think?

Voyager: I’m taking a trip with my brother and we won't have much contact.

Star: Will you message me when you get to wherever you’re going?

Voyager: Why don’t I just come see you?

My heart races in my chest. Do I really want to do that?

Star: You want to come see me?

Voyager: Yes. If that’s okay.

I mentally cross my fingers as I wait for her response to come through. My heart still races and I swear I feel sweat starting to perspire on my forehead. I’m nervous over a woman I’ve never even met. Is that what having a crush feels like? Does she even feel the same way about me?

Her message pops up and I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.

Star: Of course it is.

Star: Call me when you make it in from your trip.

Star: 214-555-5501

I quickly scramble to find a blank sheet of paper and snatch up a pen to quickly write down her number.

Star: When do you leave?

Voyager: Tomorrow.

Star: So soon.

Star: Whatever will I do without getting to talk to you every day?

I chuckle, chewing on the end of the pen.

Voyager: You’ll survive.

Star: I hate you.

Voyager: I love you.

Wait what? My eyes shoot up to the screen. Oh god. I told her I love her? Jake, you idiot. I barely know her. I mean sure we’ve been talking for months now but I don’t love her. Do I?

A couple minutes went by as I waited for her response. My eyes are glued to the screen, my heart racing, and my palms starting to sweat. Suddenly the bubble appears as she types out a response but then it disappears. A couple more minutes go by and she still doesn’t respond. Fuck, I definitely screwed this up.

Standing up from my desk chair, I drop the pen on the desk and pace back and forth. She hasn’t logged off yet, but she hasn’t responded. My heart still races in my chest. I flex my fists, open and close, while I wait. The computer beeps and I freeze. Looking over at the screen I see that she’s sending a video chat request.

Crap..

Sitting back down in the chair, I grab the mouse in my hand. The cursor hovers over the accept button. Just do it and get it over with. Suddenly I’m clicking the accept button and she appears on the screen. Her eyes grow wide when she sees me. Her eyes. They are brown, a similar shade like me and they are beautiful. Her hair is a dark brown, almost black and it’s long enough to drape over her shoulders and down her chest. She may be dressed in only a gray sweat suit but she still looks beautiful.

Wow.

I definitely am crushing on her.

“Jake?”

I awkwardly wave. “It’s me.”

“You’re.. Oh my god.. You’re..him.”

“Define ‘him’,” I say as I lean forward on the desk.

“T-The space guy. You were born on Mars.”

“That would be me.”

“And your brother.” I nod my head and I watch as she leans back. “This.. This is not what I was expecting.”

I chuckle and slide off my glasses and I set them aside. “What were you expecting? A gigolo?”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “That was a joke.” I crack a smile. “So this trip.. Are you coming here? To Earth?”

“I’m going to try.” I say. “A lot is riding on this..”

“Is Josh coming?”

“Unfortunately..”

She giggles and the sound alone makes me feel warm. Her voice is sweet too. I don’t really have anything to compare it to, except for maybe a 1950s romance movie. “Do you not want him to come with you?”

“No, of course I do,” I say. “Just kind of stresses me out. Somehow I have to sneak us onto the cruiser.”

“How good is your stealth?”

“Umm… Not good..” I say, thinking back on getting caught driving the ATV. I don’t stop the smirk and she giggles again.

“So about what you said..”

“Oh uh–” I stammer, averting my eyes to the many files spread out on the desk before me. “That uh–that slipped..” When I finally looked back up at the screen, she had a small smile.

“You know.. There’s no shame in admitting it,” She says.

“Not too fast?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

“I might feel the same way.”

“Might?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Guess you’ll definitely have to come here and find out.”

“Guess I will.”

I can hear voices in the background and she looks upwards before looking back at me. “I have to go, but I’ll see you when you get here. Don’t lose my number and call me when you get here.” She leans forward, her hand resting at the top of her screen. “It was nice to finally see your face.” She gives me a small wave with her other hand before the screen glitches and goes black.

Leaning back in my chair, I can’t fight the smile as it comes back in full force. I’ve only ever dreamed of this when watching movies. I never thought that I’d actually be experiencing it. I want to go to Earth now to see her again, and she can help me do everything that I’ve always been wanting. She can help me feel normal.

–

“You’re sure this is going to work?” Josh says as I hand him his helmet and the badge. He flips it over and stares at it in confusion. “Roger Flint?” He says. “Seriously? I get the guy who vomits every time he goes through the simulator?”

“You aren’t him, you’re just using it to get on board.”

“But he isn’t even meant to be on this trip.”

“He is now.” I smirk. “Now come on, we have to get on there before the others.”

Swiping the badges through the scanner, the light turns green for both of us and the doors slide open to the corridor that leads to the cruiser. We put on our helmets and help each other click them into place. I press the button that opens the sliding doors of the cruiser and we get inside. I turn to look at Josh once we’re inside and I nod my head towards the back row of seats in the cabin. Once the cruiser is in a stable position, everyone on board will be able to move freely about the big, metal pod.

Taking our seats in the back row, we buckle ourselves in and await the arrival of the others. The shields on the helmets are dark enough that no one will be able to tell that it's us. Seeing Josh move beside me, I turn my head and I see him holding his hand out to me. I reach over and hold tightly to his hand.

Step One: Board the cruiser - Check.

Soon the others were beginning to board the cruiser and buckling themselves into their seats. I quickly let go of Josh’s hand and relax back into the seat.

You can do this.

“Artemis 052, are you ready?”

“Ready,” The captain speaks. Rollin Wayne. He’s been the captain of this cruiser for the last twenty years, almost our entire lives.

“Everyone is on board, you are clear for liftoff.”

I look over at Josh and he’s tapping his fingers in a rhythmic pattern on the arm of the seat. He’s nervous. As he should be. I can’t blame him, because so am I. This is the first time doing this, we don’t know what to expect.

The cruiser begins to violently shake as it begins to detach from the station and I grip tightly to the arms of the seat.

Breathe.

Remember to breathe.

In.

Out.

Slowly.

You’ve worked for this. You didn’t do all those training sessions for nothing.

“Takeoff commences in ten…”

Breathe in.

“Nine…”

Breathe out.

“Eight…”

In.

“Seven…”

Out.

“Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”

I’m being pressed into the seat, tighter than I ever expected it to be. I need to keep breathing. You can do it. Even if it’s difficult, keep breathing. The brightness of the sun fills the cabin of the cruiser and I close my eyes. Focus on your breathing. It won’t be long until the cruiser stabilizes.

The shaking and the pressure, it’s too much. My heart is pounding in my chest and my suit feels so tight against my chest. I can’t turn my head, nor can I move any part of my body. I can’t see Josh so I can’t see what he must be going through.

Keep breathing. We’re almost free.

Soon the pressure decreases and I can finally breathe normally and I can move. I turn to face Josh and he turns to face me. I can see a glimpse of his face through his mask as the sun still shines in the cabin. Relief shows in his eyes, yet he also looks excited. That glimmer of hope shines in his eyes.

We’re doing this. We actually made it off Mars. We’re going to Earth.

“You are now free to roam the cabin.”

Josh glances at me and I nod my head towards the door that leads to the back of the cruiser. We don’t want to be noticed right away so we have to be careful when making our way back there. Unbuckling ourselves, the two of us cautiously move–or more like float–towards one of the sides of the cruiser to look out the window.

The sun was brightly shining off in the distance while stars were passing by. They look a lot different from a closer view. Not as pretty as they are viewing them from the ground.

“Helmets may now be removed.”

Josh and I both look at each other. Here goes nothing. We each unhook our helmets from our suits before sliding them off. Once they’re removed, we’re throwing our arms around each other. We might get caught but that doesn’t matter right now. We made it off Mars and we’re headed for Earth. I’m headed to Earth.

“Oh my god..” Pulling apart from each other, we look behind us to see Rollin.

“Oh hey Rollin!” Josh beams, trying to act innocent. “Excited to be going back to Earth?”

“How in the world did you two get on here?” He says. His eyes move to look at me and I wave. “You… Your brain is a dangerous thing.. Jake, you know you two shouldn't be here!”

“Rollin, please..” I beg as I step up to him. “Please, please don’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t tell anyone? Are you insane?”

“Rollin, please?”

“This could be dangerous, Jake, and I do not want to be responsible if something were to go wrong.”

“Do not say anything, please. Or so help me God I will make sure you don’t come back up here.”

“You’re threatening me?” Rollin laughs. “Listen here, boy–you,” He stabs his finger into my chest as he speaks. “Have absolutely no control over me. Got it? They will figure out that you aren’t back at the station and when they do, they will come asking. I cannot lie. This is dangerous and you know it.”

I roll my eyes. “How do we know? Huh? How would we know if we don’t at least try? After all, we are your guinea pigs.”

“Oh quit with the guinea pig shit… You are not–”

“No? Then why the fuck do we have to wear these monitors? Hmm? Why do we get tested every other week? They want to know if we can survive because if we do, they’ll give the okay that humans can live and populate on the god forsaken planet. No one truly cares about our wellbeing, they just want answers to their questions.”

Rollin sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “If anything happens to either of you, it is on you and not me.” He starts to move away but stops and turns back around. “And another thing.. When we land, you two will be kept at Headquarters. They will not let you leave until the next transport is ready to make the trip back to Mars. So enjoy your freedom for now, because it won’t last long.”

-

It didn’t take long before we were discovered to not be at the station anymore. By midday, the following day, the cruiser is being contacted. Josh and I were still asleep inside our shared sleeping quarters when we were called back into the seating area. Pulling ourselves along the corridor, we step into the room and Rollin is waving us over. As soon as we make it over we’re met with our mother glaring at us from a holographic screen.

“I should have known..” She says as soon as she sees us. “Jacob, I’m not surprised, but you Joshua? Did he make you do it?”

“You’d be pleasantly surprised to know that I made the decision on my own.” Josh says. Mom gives him a disapproving look and he awkwardly smiles. “Okay, maybe not pleasant..”

“This has got to be the most irresponsible thing you have ever done, Jacob.” Mom says. “You are risking your life as well as your brother’s!”

“I think we’re doing pretty well so far,” I say. “Come on, Mom. Think of this as the ultimate experiment. Can humans who are born on Mars survive on Earth?”

“This isn’t funny, Jacob.”

“I’m not laughing, Mom, I’m serious.”

“And I’m serious too! This is dangerous..”

I can’t help but to roll my eyes. “Everything we do is dangerous it seems. We’ll be safe, I promise. We won’t do anything that’s strenuous. And besides, we’ll get to see Dad in person.”

Mom’s eyes grow wide. “Wh-What? Y-You’re gonna go see your father?”

My eyebrows crease and I look at Josh. “Yeah? Why wouldn’t we?”

“Uh well, you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“He’s… He’s on a trip.. He won’t be home.”

“Okay? Then we’ll wait until he gets back.” I say shrugging my shoulders. “And while we do, I’ll be off doing other things.”

“You are not leaving Headquarters.”

“I am leaving headquarters when we land and after the initial twenty-four hour hold. You can’t keep me prisoner..” I hit the blue button beside the hologram and it disappears. Josh looks at me in bewilderment. He’s never seen me stand up to our mother before, because quite frankly I never have. Sure I get a little crabby with her but not once have I done anything like that with her. “What?”

Josh shakes his head. “Nothing, nothing..” A smile starts to form on his face. I can’t help but to smile back and he laughs. “We are so fucked when we get back..”

I shrug my shoulders and push off the table, allowing myself to float off through the room. “We’ll deal with that when we come to it.”

–

“I got us food,” Josh says as he pulls himself into our sleeping quarters.

“Be careful opening the milk.” I say.

“Why?” Josh says as he proceeds to break the seal on the bag. A stream of milk starts flowing out of the bag and floating in the air.

“That’s why..” I say. “You need to connect a closable straw to the bag.”

“Ohhh, so that’s what this thing is,” He says, holding up a plastic tube. “I thought it looked a little odd.” I roll my eyes and take my food.

Suddenly he’s pushing off the wall and circling around the floating stream of milk. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Drinking the milk,” He says before opening his mouth and sucking in the stream of milk.

“You’re insane..”

“But it worked,” He winks with a laugh. “So.. What are you going to do first after the twenty-four hour hold? Or who?” He winks. I look at him oddly and he laughs. “What? I haven’t forgotten about Star..” He smirks. “Oh no, excuse me.. Marlie..” He rolls his eyes.

“I have to call her first when we get there. I have no idea where she lives.”

“And then when you do.. Are you gonna…” He wags his eyebrows and I shove him over. “Come on, I know what you do when you’re alone.”

“Are you spying on me?! You freak..”

He laughs and shakes his head. “No.. But you’re not exactly quiet.. I can hear you when I walk by your cabin. I’m pretty sure anyone could..”

“Can we stop talking about this?” I say. “But so what if I do…do that?��

“You might potentially have a kid on Earth..” He says nonchalantly. When I turn my head to look at him, I can see a smirk grow on his face and he looks at me from the corner of his eye. “Use protection, mmkay?” He pops a piece of dried bacon into his mouth. “I know we haven’t needed it, but if it happens while we’re down there, I’d prefer that we were safe.”

“Great talk, Dad.”

Josh chuckles and pops another piece of bacon into his mouth. “Start eating before I take it for myself.”

______________________________________________________________

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[trekkietales]

Pon Farr

Vorik x reader

Fandom: Star Trek

Requested: no

Captain’s log:

so i started watching voyager again and i can’t get Vorik out of my head. And no one posts for him. So yes this is just to fulfill my need of a random side vulcan.

You were a new crew member and even though you can do a lot you were told to report to engineering. You have been there a week and everyone was so welcoming. Except a certain vulcan.

“I just don’t understand. Why doesn’t he like me? I am super nice and helpful. Even tuvok likes me so its not a vulcan thing.” My best friend Tom Paris just shrugs.

“I can’t help you. I don’t know him well. All i can say is-“ Tom was cut off by the vulcan himself.

“Excuse me (y/n), i need help with something” There was something about his eyes but I couldn’t place the look. I nodded and told him to lead the way.

Once we get there i notice it was stuff that Vorik is proficient at and it was simple and he shouldn’t need help with at all.

“Vorik, I don’t mean to pry but why did you ask for my help? You do this everyday and never need help.”

“I wanted to be alone with you. I needed to propose something to you.” I nodded, though I was confused. “Do you happen to know what Pon Farr is?” I gave a slight nod, and he understood that I wasn’t an expert but knew he could continue his speech. “I wish to ask you to bond with me.”

“You have barely talked to me. Are you sure we would bond well?” I was worried he would make the wrong choice.

"Yes, I have observed you with the others, and you will make a fine mate. Meet me at my quarters at 5 for dinner, please,” and with that, he turned and walked away, leaving me confused.

I dug through all my clothes and decided on a red dress, red heels, and a nude makeup look, letting my hair out of its tight bun.

I knocked on his door at 4:49 and waited patiently until he opened the door. When he did, his normal neutral look turned dark. I had wondered if I had picked the wrong outfit, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the room.

“You look divine. I almost want to rip that dress off.” The combination of his deep voice and dark eyes went straight to my core.

“I was hoping you would,” I said, looking in his eyes.

“How much do you know about Pon Farr?”

“Just that you need to mate or you could die.”

“Mating doesn’t mean just sex; it also means to bond mentally. If you are not okay with that, I would recommend you leave now.”

“I am ready for anything.”

“I will also state this could take hours or even days before I will be able to stop.”

“Days!” Your yell caught him off guard and he gave a sad look. You knew instantly that he thought you were leaving him.

“Yes, days.” He looked down.

“I am sorry I yelled. I just wasn’t expecting you to say days. But i am here for you however long it may take.” I smiled at him brightly.

“Thank you. Now if you are ready, I would like to start.” I nodded. I felt like my voice would give out if i tried to talk.

Vorik put his hand against my face and i melted into him. He then put his hand up against my temple down to my jaw. I had no idea what he was doing until i felt it. Or rather him. I felt the way he yearned for me. I felt how needy he was for me.

“I am assuming by the way you are looking at me it worked.” I was about to answer when he held his hand up.

“Answer in your mind.” I felt our bond grow stronger by the second as we communicated.

Vorik kissed me and the need between us built until he pick me up bridal style and threw me on his bed.

The quiet Vulcan i knew was gone. He was now almost moaning words into my ear.

“Tell me what you want.”

“That’s my good girl.”

“Use your words.”

And a slew of Vulcan that i had no clue what it meant. Though i could definitely tell it was dirty. I had finally found my voice.

“You, I want you.”

“What about me?” He wanted me to say it.

“I want you to fuck me!” I couldn’t take his teasing anymore.

“Such dirty words for such an innocent looking woman.” His teasing continued as he pulled up my dress. His hand slowly going up my leg to the spot i needed him most.

“Please stop teasing me Vorik.” I tried to sound annoyed but my voice came out in a needy whisper.

“If i go the speed i want to go, i will break you.” I know it was supposed to be a warning but i couldn’t help but be turned on.

“Do it. Break me Vorik.” As i looked into his eyes I saw his control break.

Vorik flipped me over and put me on my hands and knees. He ripped my underwear off in one tug. It was a good thing I was already wet for him because he plunged himself into me.

"oh god!" His moves faltered a tiny bit to make sure I was okay. When he saw me, his speed became relentless.

Three hours went by before he even slowed down. When he was done, he pulled out of me and helped me lay down. "I am sorry. Did I go too hard?" Seeing him care so much was so cute.

“No, I am absolutely okay. I thought there would be more, to be honest." I tried joking with him, then I saw his smug smile.

"We are not done yet. This is what you guys would call a cool-down. Get some sleep, and I will wake you when I need you again."

"Please don't leave me while I sleep."

"I will be right here by your side the entire time."

I slept better than I have in my entire life. I was awoken by hands roaming my body. I opened my eyes and saw Vorik leaning over me. He noticed I was awake when his eyes met mine.

"I am sorry. I was starting to need you, but I didn't want to wake you yet."

"Don't you dare apologize. I said I was here to help." He smiled at me.

"This time is going to be about you." I was confused until he positioned his head between my legs.

"Vorik, I appreciate you wanting to do this, but don't you need me to take care of you?"

"The more we have sex, the more control I will have. And while I have complete control, I want to thank my fiancee." He could tell I was confused about him calling me his fiancee.

"When we bonded, that was me asking you to marry me. If you want it reversed, we can go back to my planet and ask the council to sever our bond."

"Absolutely not! I just didn't know that was what you meant by bonding. I am honored and excited to be your partner."

His eyes grew wide, and I could tell that he had never heard anything like that from anyone. Without saying another word, he dove into me. His lips wrapped around my clitoral area, and I could see stars. Before I knew it, I had come three times.

"I can see by your face that you are tired again. Would you like a nap?"

"No, I want to take care of you." He raised his eyebrow. I turned us over and slowly undid his pants. His member was hard and begged to be freed.

"Please don't tease me." I expected his voice to be commanding, but it was needy. If I were more mean, I would have gone slower, but seeing him beg made me want to help him more.

I pulled out his member and licked a stripe up to the tip. His eyes rolled back into his head. I took him into my mouth fully and continued to please him until he pulled away. I looked up, thinking I had done something wrong.

"It would be a waste to come anywhere but inside your womb." He mounted me again, and we went another four rounds before he was able to stop. We laid down and talked about what being engaged to a Vulcan meant.

When I started my new job, I never thought I would find my soulmate. But I am glad I did.

Captain’s log:

okay so i might’ve gotten carried away. But i had fun writing this. Hope you all enjoy it. And like i always say my requests are open!

[paramouradrift]

Forced to hurt a loved one

@febuwhump

Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender, Pairing: Zukka Modern AU in which Zuko is the captain of the fencing team.

This is up on AO3 as well, at this location. A preview is available under the cut.

Me: ABOUT ME AND ZUKO… Me: DID YOU TELL DAD!? Stupid Sister: No? Of course not. You said it was a secret. Me: OKAY Me: GOOD Me: WHAT TIME IS HE GETTING HERE?? Stupid Sister: Around 3 Me: THANKS

Sokka was packing his shit in a flurry of shirts, pants, and underwear. It was Winter Break, and his dad was coming to get him and Katara. This was Sokka’s chance to swap out any clothes he didn’t like for better ones he could induce his various family members to finance in the post-holiday sales season. That meant, despite having a few scant hours to pack, he had to conduct an entire wardrobe audit.

“Sokka?” Zuko called, poking his head in. “Aang said you might be losing your shit.”

“I am not losing my shit, I’m taking inventory,” Sokka said, dumping his last dresser  drawer out on the floor and pulling out a clipboard. Zuko stared at him, mouth agape.

“Uh.”

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?” Sokka said impatiently as he counted his socks, noting ankle height, color, wear and tear, and usage.

“Sure,” Zuko said. “Aren’t you leaving at 3?”

“Yes,” Sokka said, moving on to underwear. He picked up a pair of ocean blue briefs. “Do you like these on me?”

“No comment,” Zuko said, beginning to sort through Sokka’s pants to affect an air of disinterest; however, the red flush and pink ears could not lie.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” Sokka smirked, noting down Zuko’s preference. Together, they sorted through all of Sokka’s clothing, putting it into piles. Zuko stood back while Sokka mulled over the piles. So many decisions to make.

“So, do you want me to see you off?” Zuko asked.

“That would be nice,” Sokka said, looking up at him from his clipboard while he stood next to a stack of shorts. “I’d like that.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Zuko said with a grin. He leaned against Sokka’s desk and sat on his hands, which he only did when he was resisting the urge to hug or touch someone. It was extremely endearing, but Sokka felt a twinge of guilt in his belly.

“I, uh. I still haven’t told my dad,” he said. “About us. So.”

“No goodbye kisses,” Zuko said, nodding. “Um. I know it’s not my place to ask, but Katara knows about us and she’s okay with it. Why can’t you tell your dad? I’ve met him, he seems nice enough.”

Sokka sighed, and let his shoulders and clipboard-holding hands drop. He walked over to Zuko and bonked his head against his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“It’s stupid,” he said, voice slightly muffled by Zuko’s shirt. He turned his head so he could listen to Zuko’s heartbeat. “But, you know, my dad wasn’t always there for us. And when my mom passed away, it sort of felt like it was my job to be the man of the house while he was out at sea. He’d come back from these long voyages with all sorts of crazy and wild sailing stories, and he’d tell me he was proud of me for helping Gran-gran take care of things.”

Zuko wrapped Sokka up in a loose hug while he spoke, which felt warm and soft. Sokka nuzzled him, smiling.

“He never said or did anything bad,” he continued. “And now that Katara and I are all grown up, I know he’d want us to be happy and successful. But, it’s just, I spent so long wanting to be like him and make him proud, and he’d tell me things like, ‘Sokka, someday you’ll meet a woman who makes you as happy as your mom made me,’ or ‘girls like a responsible man, Sokka.’ ‘Treat your future wife with respect.’ ‘Just because she’s pretty doesn’t mean she’s right for you.’ Just, shit like that.”

Zuko hugged him closer, and buried his nose in Sokka’s hair. Sokka felt him kiss the top of his head a few times, and wondered what kind of face he was making. He didn’t pull away, though.

“I can’t tell him. I don’t want him to be disappointed in me. I don’t think I could handle that right now,” Sokka said, cringing at his own words. It was true, though. His relationship with Zuko was wonderful, but it was still too new and that made it feel fragile. Zuko took him gently by the face and lifted him up so that he could press their foreheads together.

“I get it, Sokka,” he said, smiling ironically. “I mean, if I told my dad I liked boys, he’d probably try to kill me.”

“I hope you’re joking,” Sokka said. Zuko gave him a look. “Oh, uh. You’re not joking, are you?”

“No. It’s okay, though,” Zuko said. “He hasn’t been a part of my life for years. I’ve been living with my uncle since I was 13. My dad and his bigoted opinions don’t matter, but I know my uncle would love you.”

“How do you know, though?” Sokka fretted. The idea of meeting Zuko’s family was terrifying, but also there was a certain appeal.

“Because I love you,��� Zuko said, kissing Sokka’s forehead. Sokka snorted and covered his beet-red face with his hands.

“Oh my god, that was so cheesy,” he said, trying to hold back his laughter and failing. “Zuko, that was so dumb. You’re killing me.”

“Shut up,” Zuko said, punching him on the shoulder. “Come on, get packed already so we can make the most of the time before you leave.”

Sokka hadn’t felt so motivated to pack a suitcase ever in his life.

(Continued on AO3...)

[legacyoftheogres]

13. The Envelope

[set longer into Izura and Thalanthe's relationship]

                The small flat was a bit dated, but it had many amenities. It was more than fitting for hosting a boyar such as Thalanthe. It was gracious of the Pantherine house to allow her to stay in it whenever she traveled to Durong for work, though, she supposed most of the work she did here benefitted them. A draft from the window eased some of the stifling heat of the city but could not provide much more aid. Kuotay’s heat was lessened by the sea wind, but Durong, at its center, often felt stagnant. Thalanthe had changed out of her ceremonial garb and wore a simple kimono that she had tied up the sleeves on.

Thalanthe eyed the sitting table in the main room, the two cups sat waiting and undisturbed. Perhaps not tonight, then. A low whistle came from the balcony, she turned, it was rare of Izura to alert her. When she saw him, though, she realized why. He was caked in dried blood.

“Not mine.” He answered before she could ask.

“Go wash up, and don’t make a mess.” She chided, hiding the relief in her voice.

“Good evening to you too, Thalanthe.” Izura chuckled, crossing the threshold and walking with silent steps toward the washroom.

Thalanthe finished the simple meal she had been preparing, it was far too hot to cook anything too involved, and brought it to the table along with a bottle of sake. Izura joined her a few minutes later, his long hair damp and unbound, and notably lacking his shirt, as it was hung up to dry. He sat down at the table and poured the sake.

“Thank you for the food.”

“It’s nothing special.”

“True, but most nobles don’t know how to cook at all.” Izura took a long draft of his drink and sighed, easing his posture and finally relaxing.

“Most of them were nobles for their entire lives. I was not.” Thalanthe replied simply.

“Where did you learn to cook, then?”

“I cooked for my family, when we lived in Illumaten. My parents were often away late because of their work. It was a skill I was glad to have when I made the voyage here from Quatansk all those years ago.” It felt like a long time, a few more decades and she would have lived on Materia longer than she had ever lived on Marza. She wondered if she would ever return.

“What was Illumaten like?” Izura asked, refilling her cup. Thalanthe raised a brow. Izura often asked her questions about her past, long ago she’d just thought him nosy, but she had since realized that with no memories of his own, he seemed to enjoy hearing about the memories of hers. Her eyes traced the myriads of scars that lined his torso, some were new, most weren’t. He did not know how he had gotten them; he did not even know his own age or original name. She often wondered who he had been before he turned up in the Needle, she wondered if he wanted to know. He certainly threw himself into the work for his clan wholeheartedly. Perhaps what was unknown was best left in the past.

“Illumaten wasn’t too different from Kuotay, it was lush and green, rolling hills terraced with rice paddies. It was often quiet, even though we were at war.” She continued, and Izura drank in the description in quiet contemplation. What he didn’t tell her was that he had seen such a place in his trances. A place not of his memories, but of hers. 

“And its people?” He asked.

 “It was… filled with elves, orcs, and all the mixes between. Far less diverse than here.” Sometimes it stung to remember what it was like to be among her own people, she wondered how they fared.

“Were there elves like me there?” It was the first time he had ever asked such a thing; it gave her pause. Finally, she shook her head.

“I have never seen an elf like you. Neither on Materia nor Marza.” She replied quietly. It was something she had wondered about, too. Where could he have come from? Surely someone out there knew. Izura nodded, seeming unsurprised. He seemed to let his thoughts wander, before suddenly remembering something. He crossed the room and pulled a small scroll from his bag.

“A gift. I wasn’t able to find all the information you were after, but this will be a start. Do promise to be judicious with how you use it.” He handed it to her.

“When am I not?” Thalanthe scoffed, placing it on the table.

“A thank you would suffice; it wasn’t easy to get my hands on that.”

“I have something better than thanks.” From her pocket, Thalanthe extracted a small black envelope. “The names you asked for. The nobles who were far too interested in what Pantherine pulled from the bay.” Izura’s eyes darkened as he saw the envelope, his brows furrowing slightly. She handed it over, the little envelope felt heavy in her hands, she knew what happened to many of the names Izura received.

 Much of what they did together would have been frowned upon by both of their clans, and they kept many secrets. Yet, these exchanges had been a great help to both clans in the past years. It was a dangerous game they played.

[indigolover97]

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 15: My Time

“So, what exactly happened to the Stray Kids Gang?” Jungkook asked as he moved about the kitchen, making some dinner while Namjoon sat at the counter working on some paperwork with his dark rimmed glasses perched on his face.

“Hmm,” Namjoon hummed in question, his hand not faltering from his steady writing as he listened to Jungkook repeat his question.

“I mean, how did you guys put a stop to them so easily? They seemed like a big group,” Jungkook said as he rinsed some chicken breast in the sink before setting it in a marinade sauce to soak while he worked on chopping some vegetables.

Namjoon chuckled, “They were actually relatively small for a company, only a hundred lackeys in all. And that included the eight that made up Bangchan’s Inner Circle. As to what happened to them, well Tae was relatively tame honestly. Nothing our doctors couldn’t fix, most are being integrated into our outside territories. None can be trusted in Seoul.”

Jungkook nodded as he pulled a cutting board out and started slicing some bell peppers, “Is that what you do with most gangs? Integrate them into yours?”

“Unfortunately no,” Namjoon states firmly, flipping a page over to start filling out the back. “The Stray Kids Gang was a bit of a special case, there was only a handful of men within it that was truly on Bangchan’s side. We were trying a new method of infiltration with them, instead of outright fighting the company head on we slowly replaced their men with our own.”

“Then if most of the men were yours, why were you so mad at Han when he was starting to turn on you?” Jungkook asked, moving to chop some green onions next.

“Han was the closest to Bangchan, one of his most trusted at the time, he had been undercover the longest. When he started to show signs of turning against us, we needed to move fast. He could have revealed our entire operation to him.” Namjoon explained, running a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t Bangchan knowing that worried us, it was our methods getting out. If even one man got word to the underground about our operation, we’d never be able to use it again. And there are much bigger companies we would need to use it on. The Stray Kids Gang was a test for that method.”

“What did you do with Bangchan? He obviously wouldn’t have fallen in line easily.” Jungkook pointed out, shivering slightly at the memory of the man’s cold eyes.

Namjoon nodded, “You’re right, he wouldn’t. Which is why we have him locked-up in the Voyage house.”

“Weren’t you just worried about Jin-hyung escaping that place,” Jungkook asked, pointing his chef’s knife at Namjoon as he spoke. “How do you know he’s not going to escape?”

Namjoon smiled serenely at him, unbothered by the sharp object pointed at his face. “Because Bangchan is not Seokjin, thank goodness, he hasn’t had the type of training that your brother has. And Seokjin knows that house like the back of his hand, he could escape in his sleep.”

“I suppose that is the difference between them,” Jungkook murmured in agreement, returning his blade to the cutting board to chop some lettuce. “Does it bother you that I’m questioning your decisions about these things?”

Namjoon’s pen paused and he looked at Jungkook seriously through his lenses, “No it doesn’t, it honestly makes me happy that you feel like you can challenge me about these things. Even if you don’t understand all the reasons why I’m doing it, but that’s only because you don’t have all the information like I do. I hope it's not too bold of me to say, but I want you to be my partner Jungkook, not my subordinate when you join my company. I’ll always want to hear your opinion on things.”

Jungkook felt his cheeks heat with pleasure at Namjoon’s honesty, he smiled softly as he gazed at the man across from him. “I’ll continue asking then, you’ll get sick of my questions eventually.”

“Never,” Namjoon promised, smiling back before returning to his paperwork.

Jungkook chuckled as he placed all of his chopped vegetables into separate bowls before pulling the chicken out to chop it into small, bitesize cubes. “What exactly is involved in the training for your crew?”

“It’s actually pretty similar to military training,” Namjoon started to explain but paused when a thought occurred to him, he looked up at Jungkook. “Have you done your military service yet?”

Jungkook shook his head, meeting Namjoon’s gaze. “I’ve been waiting for my letter to arrive for the last two years, but it hasn’t.”

Namjoon clicked his tongue, “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you end up at least starting our version of boot camp before you leave for your service, you’ll be more than prepared for it.”

Jungkook nodded as he placed the cubed chicken back into the marinade and started washing his hands. “Did you do your military service already?”

Namjoon nodded and chuckled at Jungkook’s quiet murmur of ‘no wonder you’re so buff’. “I completed it as soon as I was of age. While my company doesn’t control anything to do with the military, you could say we have a certain influence to speed things up. Most of my men go through their military service immediately after passing our training, we don’t need them being called to serve in the middle of a mission.”

“Would you do that for me?” Jungkook asked, wiping his hands on a dish towel before starting to pull out various pots and pans.

“If you’d like,” Namjoon said softly, pulling a different stack of papers over to him. “I can start the process of claiming your records from them tomorrow. Even if you choose not to go through our training, you can at least choose when you will serve your military time.”

“If you keep doubting that I’ll go through on becoming part of your crew, I’ll throw this knife at you.” Jungkook threatened, pointing the chef knife at him.

“Violence is very sexy on you, baby.” Namjoon chuckled, not even glancing up from his papers. Jungkook rolled his eyes as he continued making their dinner, he was just starting to heat the oil after starting the rice maker when Jin walked into the kitchen.

Namjoon didn’t even glance at the man as he sat down in the stool next to him and started looking over the papers across the counter.

“You’re still fighting the drug cartels, Namjoon-ah, it’s been two years.” Jin scolded, flicking through various papers with his crooked fingers. The cast on his left wrist not hindering his movements at all. “They still won’t come to an agreement.”

Namjoon hummed as his pen continued to flow over the page in front of him, “They haven’t liked our changes to the contract they’ve given us.”

“Too many loopholes to benefit them, I guess.” Nodding when Namjoon hummed in agreement. “Why aren’t you just plowing them over and demanding their cooperation?”

Namjoon gave Jin a swift look before returning his gaze back down as he flipped another page over.

“Ah, I forgot.” Jin hummed in amusement. “You’re a pacifist, would rather try and talk to them for two years instead of just beating them bloody.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes and set his pen down, fixing a look at Jin. “Do you know how well connected the NCT Gang is?”

“Here we go again, I have not missed your lectures.” Jin muttered under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Namjoon.

“They are the largest and oldest drug dealers in history, most of the drugs around the world come from them. They have the largest underground manufacturing plant in the world. If I knew where it was, I’d have their operation in my hands before they could blink.” Namjoon states coldly, placing his linked hands on the counter. “It’s their most guarded secret, one I’m determined to know. So yes, I’ll continue arguing with their silly little contracts for another two years until they tell me.”

“What? Has Hoba lost his touch?” Jin scoffed, unfazed by Namjoon’s cold eyes. “Just sicc your big brother after him, I’m sure he’ll find their ‘secret lab’ in no time.”

“He’s tried, like I said it’s well hidden. There hasn’t been a record of its last location for fifty years.” Namjoon countered, sighing heavily as he dragged a hand down his face. “That's why I’m even entertaining their negotiations in the first place. Hobi needs more time to find it so we can make our move against them.”

Jungkook listened to all of this while he fried the chicken in the hot oil and sauteed the vegetables in some butter and spices.

“You make it sound like it's some lost treasure from a pirates movie,” Jin scoffed, rolling his eyes as Namjoon goes back to his paperwork. “Yah Jungkook-ah, are you sure you’re making that sauce right?”

Jungkook leveled a look at his brother over his shoulder, “Are you sure you’re allowed to judge my cooking skills? Don’t you have some soul searching to do, or maybe some meditation?”

Jin blinked, “Have you always been this sassy?”

Namjoon snorted when Jungkook simply stuck out his tongue as an answer before turning back to the stove top.

“How long do I have to wear this?” Jin asked as they sat down at the dining room table, lifting his leg to show off the ankle monitor on it.

“Until I can figure out how to wipe your memory of all the secrets you know,” Namjoon says with a smile, popping a piece of fried chicken into his mouth.

“You can’t put my brother into a coma, Namjoon,” Jungkook scolds before stuffing his face with a scoop of rice, humming happily as he chews it.

Jin blinks as he raises a scoop of food to his mouth, he looks over at Namjoon in shock. “You let him talk to you like that?”

Namjoon shrugs, “Why shouldn’t he? He’s my boyfriend, he can talk to me any way he likes.”

Jin opened his mouth then shrugged, stuffing his mouth with his scoop of food as he looked between the pair. His eyes narrow as he watches them pass small bowls of food to each other and as Namjoon opens a bottle of water for Jungkook, placing it in front of him before opening his own.

“You two,” Jin cuts in, making the couple look over at him as he points his chopsticks at them, “are way too cozy to have only dated for three weeks, what gives?”

Jungkook stared at his hyung in confusion, “I have no idea what you mean hyung.”

Jin narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to say something but the sound of the doorbell cuts him off.

“You don’t have a door, we came in through the elevator.” Jungkook says in confusion, looking over at Namjoon.

“It’s the intercom bell,” Namjoon explains, but doesn’t get up to see who it is. A moment later, Jimin comes around the corner. “You have the code Jiminie, why did you ring the bell?”

“Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t interrupting anything.” Jimin says slyly with a shrug, moving into the seat next to Jungkook and waving off the offer of food from him. “You asked to see me Namjoonie-hyung.”

Namjoon nodded, leaning back against his chair. “I want you to tell Jungkook what you found out about his BioChem professor.”

“Oh him,” Jimin says with an eye roll. “He was a real creep, Jungkook-ah, I don’t know how you put up with him.”

“I didn’t exactly have much of a choice,” Jungkook muttered, stuffing a piece of fried chicken into his mouth.

“Well he’s a class A creeper in more ways than one. His ‘tutoring’ session he tried to have you come to, was a cover for luring his students to his house.” Jimin explains, pulling out his phone and handing it to Jungkook. “He buried all of his victims under the foundation, most of them have been missing for the past few months but there are older bodies too. He’s been at this for a while.”

Jungkook swallowed thickly as he scrolled down the list of names and faces of the victims of his professor, some were young. Too young to be college students. “What did you do to him?”

Jimin hummed happily as he recounted, “I hung him by his intestines from his chandelier, then left an anonymous tip to the police. I think he finally died by the time they arrive on scene, whether it was from the blood loss or the choking we’ll never know.”

“It was probably the blood loss,” Jungkook says, setting the phone down and leaning back against his chair. “I assume you cut more than just his stomach to get to the intestines, shock would have entered the body as the blood left him. He probably wouldn’t have even felt his lack of oxygen.”

Jimin blinked, “I’ll remember that for next time then.”

Jungkook hummed as he tilted his head up to the ceiling, resting his head against the back of the chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, “If we find out another one of my professors is secretly a serial killer, I’m quitting school on the spot.”

Jin looks over at him, “You really think joining Namjoon’s company is going to be safer than staying at school?”

“Did the word safer come out of my fucking mouth, hyung?” Jungkook asked, not even moving to see the man blink in shock. “No, I don’t think it’ll be safer or easier or whatever the fuck you think I’d think it is. But at least I’d be informed upfront on who is trying to kill me and who isn’t.”

“Technically it would be safer,” Jimin cuts in, laying a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. “You have the most powerful man in all of South Korea at your beck and call. Only the truly stupid would try and lay a finger on you.”

Namjoon placed his hand on the table top, offering it to Jungkook. Jungkook places his hand into it without hesitation, dropping his head to look at him. “No one can do anything to you without your permission, but if it’ll make you feel safer, I can have Hobi give you some light training while you are still at school. As much as I would love to hide you away from the world, I can’t. You might not have any family on the outside that would report your absence, but the school would. That’s one of the reasons why I want you to finish this semester.”

Jungkook nodded, “I didn’t even think about that. If Hobi-hyung has the time, I’d like for him to train me a bit.”

“He’ll make time for you,” Namjoon promised, placing a kiss on his knuckles. “Jimin, can you keep an eye on Seokjin?”

Jimin nodded as Namjoon led Jungkook out of the room, up the stairs, and into a pair of double doors at the far end of the balcony walkway. Jungkook doesn’t even glance around the large room, as soon as he clocks the large bed, he shuffles over to it. He kicks off his house shoes and scoots inside the covers, laying across the mattress on his stomach.

He hears Namjoon shuffle behind him for a moment before joining him on the bed. Jungkook sighs as Namjoon lays against his side, his heavy, warm weight across him like a weighted blanket. Namjoon presses his forehead against the back of Jungkook’s neck, his breath hits his skin with a warm waft sending goosebumps down his spine.

Jungkook lays his hand over Namjoon’s on his stomach and closes his eyes. As he drifts off to sleep the last thing he feels are Namjoon’s lips against the back of his neck.

[fardell24b]

13th November 2023 Writings

13th

Excerpt from: Daria’s Voyager

“All this must be some kind of holographic projection.”

“Oh, you poor things. You must be tired out. Come on and sit down and rest awhile. Have a cold drink, hmm?” one of the projections said.

“No, thank you. My name is Daria Morgendorffer, Captain of the Federation Starship Voyager.”

“Now, just make yourselves right at home. The neighbours should be here any minute. Oh! Why, here they are!”

Sloane came back to where the Captain was. “The crew's scattered around this farm, Captain, but they're all accounted for.”

Words: 89

Excerpt from: A Night at Stacy’s

“Something wrong?” Quinn asked.

“Not sure what to get.”

“I’ll help you.”

“Thanks,” Stacy said.

Words: 15

Excerpt from: The Old Forest

“Follow me, and you’ll see,” Merry said.

He turned to the left along the Hedge, and soon they came to a point where it bent inwards, running along the lip of a hollow. They went into a cutting that had made, which had walls of brick at the sides. This lead to a tunnel which went under the Hedge and out to the other side.

There, Fatty Bulger halted. “Good bye, Frodo. I wish you were not going into the Forest. I only hope you will not need rescuing before the day is out. But good luck to you – today and every day.”

“If there are no worse things ahead than the Old Forest, I shall be lucky,” Frodo said. “Tell Gandalf to hurry along the East Road; we shall be back on it and going as fast as we can.”

The four travellers then rode down the slope and disappeared from Fatty’s sight into the tunnel.

Merry pulled the gate to with an ominous click of the lock. “There, you have left the Shire, and are now outside, and on the edge of the Old Forest.”

“Are the stories about it true?” Pippin asked.

“I don’t know what stories you mean,” Merry answered.

Words: 204

Excerpt from: Spider Quinn

“I knew it! It's just like when they made us have pep rallies for field hockey. We're being invaded by communists!” he said as he came to his locker.

“Remember that game when you fell on your head?” Michael ‘Mack’ Mackenzie asked. “Remember how you thought Vince Lombardi was sending you plays from hell?”

“Heaven, bro! Vince Lombardi did not go to hell.”

Stacy and Tiffany walked by.

“But... if Quinn's cousin is an atomic communist from Mars, shouldn't she have a more interesting outfit?” Tiffany mused.

“Stop it, Tiffany! You’re scaring me!” Stacy said.

“Sorry,” Tiffany said, not entirely sincerely.

Mack was taken aback. “Yeah, yeah, I heard it, too.”

He, Kevin and Brittany then went to their next class. However, they had been overheard by Charles Ruttheimer III. “Two of my favorite luscious ladies out to enslave Earth males and end gym class?” he asked himself before giving off a growl. “Someone's been reading my dreams.”

Daria and Jane knew it was an unusual day for Lawndale High. “A lot of weirdness around here lately,” Jane commented as they left the school building. She also saw SpiderGirl in the distance. ‘Huh?’

“Yeah. I won't be sorry to see this day end,” Daria commented.

“You say that every day.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Although this one was especially strange. But the worst is over,” Jane said.

However, the doors behind them flew open and they saw Mr. DeMartino being lead away by the agents in cuffs.

“Remove these restraints! Governmental thugs! This isn't Stalingrad!” he cried.

“You're damn right, pal. And it isn't going to be,” the male agent said.

“You can't do this. I'm an educator!”

“Say it again! It only makes it easier,” the other agent said.

“Um, the worst is over now?” Jane asked in slight hope.

“Don’t bet on it.”

The Fashion Club met in Quinn’s room after Dinner.

“Meeting starts: 6:53 PM,” Stacy said.

“Quinn will explain why she is wearing all black, again,” Sandi said.

“After Sandi explains why she added sanctions about my hair without telling me,” Quinn said.

“It was a slip of the tongue,” Sandi explained.

“Didn’t sound like it,” Quinn shot back.

“Fine,” Sandi said. “I wanted to add sanctions for the hair, but I haven’t got around to it yet.”

“Right…”

Words: 381

Total: 689

[keirou-kun]

A Return Home

Co-written with a good friend, the tale of how my current renfaire character proposed to his wife [the second time; the first time she laughed in his face XD]

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

If there was one thing the auburn haired Maggie knew, it was that no matter what happened, she was alright on her own.  Sure, she had a mite of a sweet spot for one man in particular, but it hardly mattered when he'd been gone two years did it? Instead, she'd taken to keeping house for her mother, quietly intent on distracting herself rather thoroughly...until there was news.  She heard it as she got the things she needed to make meals.  A ship returned, and the name of ONE man she'd been sure she wouldn't see again...There was no way that Alistair Connolly was back...Right? ------ It had been a long voyage. Not the longest he'd been away from the isles that had birthed him, sure, but long nonetheless. Two full years, a trip to the other side of the world, and yet his mind had kept drifting back to a fiery Welsh lass living in an English port town. He'd proposed to her already, just before his ship had sailed at the end of the spring festival, and she'd laughed in his face. Maybe now, with a gift all but burning a hole in his pouch, she'd realize he'd been serious. Alistair Connolly had never counted on falling so hard for a bonny lass, but Margaret ap Rhydderch had certainly captured his imagination. He'd started asking after her the moment his boots had touched Scarborough's docks. Would she even remember him? A month's courtship - if one could even call it that, given she'd clearly not thought his proposal a serious one - might have left far less of an impression on her than it had on him. Well, he'd find out. They'd arrived just in time for the spring festival once more, surely he'd at least see her in the dancing if nothing else... ------ The festival was just in its beginning, and Maggie had enough time to hurry home, set down what she'd bought, and make it back in time to dance.  Her hair was done in a braid, curling waves framing her face beneath her cap as she couldn't help but let a friend pull her in to it all. Dancing was, after all, a favourite past time, and a good way to pretend that she wasn't paying any mind to Alistair Connolly who most certainly was halfway to the pipes and strings that made up the country dances. ------ It had been the dancing that had drawn his eye to Maggie two years ago. The way she'd moved, light and light-footed, graceful as a bird in flight...Alistair strongly doubted there was any man in Scarborough who hadn't taken notice of her, especially paired with her beauty. That fiery nature of hers, though, her willingness to give just as much as she got, had cemented things for him. He was going to marry that woman if it was the last thing he did. Now he hurried through the village streets, following the sound of the music and revelry to the fairgrounds. They were, naturally, already bustling with people, the scent of food and smoke and incense filling the air, music and laughter ringing over the crowd; the festival was in full swing already. Alistair's eyes kept moving as he let his ears guide him, following one melody in particular until he'd reached the small throng gathered around the dance. There she was, already whirling through one pattern and into another. The Scotsman grinned, watching the dance and waiting his turn; this dance was hardly one to steal in on, after all. Besides, he wanted a full dance with his bonny Welsh lass. As the next dance was called he made his move, stepping up quickly and offering his hand, that crooked grin widening as his eyes met hers. "Maggie. Will ye no' dance wi' me?" ------ She had been spun dizzy would be what she gave as an excuse if anyone asked her why she'd gone and danced with Alistair Connolly.  She was still breathless from the last round, sipping at the small ale in her mug when a hand was presented, and that smirk that quirked his lips drew a smile from her own. He was all too good at that smile.  "Alistair Connolly.  Heard thou had made port earlier, an' thou com'st straight here askin' me for a dance?"  Chuckling, she rested her hand in his, "Well, on with it then." ------ Oh, she hadn't forgotten him. Not a bit. He laughed as he led her out into the newly-forming set. "An' why should I no'? We had fair winds guidin' us back, an' wi' th' festival goin' full-on is it truly any surprise I came straight here?" He gave her hand a squeeze. "As tae askin' ye for a dance, should a man no' seek out th' bonniest an' lightest o' foot if'n he be lookin' for a good partner?" ------ Her flush colored her fair cheeks, and she laughed at his platitudes, "Good God man, listen to thee on."  Like he thought she as was something so special.  He had courted her a few seasons ago, offered her the same pretty words and dances, and then asked her to marry him.  Strange.  Amusing, and....very pleasant. "Thou hast thy dance, Master Connolly."  She answered, "Do no' go pushin' your luck." ------ "Aye, an' is that nae what luck be for, Mistress Ap Rhydderch?" He raised an eyebrow at her as they spun through the steps, his grin not changing. "Aside o' that, if'n ye truly didnae like my speech I cannae imagine ye would still grant me th' time o' day, much less a dance." He hadn't even begun to push his luck with her yet in any case; that would come after the dance, when they had a proper moment to speak. ------ Rolling her eyes, she indulged the widening of her smile as he spun and danced her through as though they'd never stopped from that last season. As though she fit there, with him.  Every turn and twist belonged to the two of them.  "Oh hush." ------ He just laughed, the pair of them whirling through the dance without missing a single step. She was just as graceful as he remembered, and two years at sea didn't seem to have done his own skills any harm; at the least he managed to avoid treading on her toes. When at last the dance ended he took her hand again, leading her off to the side and back to the mug of small ale she'd left on the table. Alistair could do with a drink himself, but it could wait; he had something far more important on his mind. "Ye certainly ha' been keepin' well since I left ye two years hence," he commented, leaning against the table. "I wouldnae ha' thought it but somehow ye ha' only gotten bonnier, Maggie Ap Rhydderch. An' still out-dancin' every boy in th' village." ------ That had her pausing in her drink as she looked at him, raising a dark brow idly.  Such flattery...He was after SOMETHING, "...Tell me then, Alistair Connolly. What art thou on about, because if thou art goin' on about flatterin' me, thou dost want somethin."  Sharp as a knife this girl. ------ "Do ye no' recall wha' I did ask ye two years ago?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Ye go tellin' me no' tae push my luck, bu' I tell ye this, Maggie, I be a man o' my word, an' willin tae push any luck I do have all th' way tae Cathay an' back again." The way his heart pounded now had nothing to do with the dance they'd just shared. He'd imagined this moment so many times this last voyage, planning out just how he'd pull this off, especially once he'd been able to obtain the final piece, the lynchpin of this entire plan. Without breaking eye contact Alistair pulled open the pouch at his belt, reaching in and fumbling for a moment before he pulled out a pair of silver rings. "Spanish silver," he told her seriously. It had taken almost all his earnings from this past voyage to afford such a luxury, but if this worked it would be entirely worth it. "I told ye I would bring ye summat back as proof o' my intentions. There wasnae a day gone by when ye didnae cross my mind these past two years. Will ye no' marry me now, Maggie Ap Rhydderch?" ------ The fact that he'd gone to Cathay thrilled her more than she cared to admit to.  There'd always been some dream of travel for her, the vague memories of coming to Scarborough from Wales a constant memory that moved through her mind.  So when he mentioned being a man of is word...Wait. No.  There was not a chance that he'd made the- The moment those rings were pulled out and he showed her the two bands of Spanish silver? She was speechless.  Anyone who knew her knew that Margaret Ap Rhydderch was hardly EVER speechless, "...Thou didst truly go...all the way to Cathay...and brought..."  By God's graces.... She ought to say no.  This man was clever, and cocky and....Oh.  "....Well, it is right hard t' be sayin' no when thou hast traveléd to CATHAY to ask me to marry thee..." ------ Was that a yes? That was a yes, wasn't it? He had to remind himself to keep his breathing steady as he watched her reaction. Were there people staring now? Possibly; they were in the middle of the fairgrounds, after all, and even with the music and the dancing still going very little stayed secret in Scarborough for long. Hell with it, let them stare. Alistair wasn't going to hide his intentions from anyone, God or man, and he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Is tha' answer tae be 'aye' then, Maggie?" he asked her, his voice softer now as he took a step closer, offering his free hand. "I ha' nae been one fer poetry or fanciful speakin', bu' I keep the promises I make, an' I swear tae ye by th' tides themselves tha' I do love ye, Margaret Ap Rhydderch. An' if ye will ha' a sailor lad, I will always come hame tae ye." ------ The sound that came from her was a wet chuckle.  The brim of her green hat had been hiding her face as she looked down, but as her gaze turned upwards once more, it was teary, though she smiled bright as a star.  Two years and a day he hadn't waned.  Two years and a day, he'd gone and seen some of the world and STILL chose to turn his eye on her! Her, a Scarborough girl, born Welsh, who'd likely never travel further than perhaps Hull if she must.  "...Even with th' sea and the call to see th' world in thy bones, thou hast still come home an' say thou dost love me so."  She managed to push out of her lips. That same wet laugh escaped her again, "Aye, Alistair Connolly.  I will be marryin' thee."

[v-e-l-v-e-t-g-o-l-d-m-i-n-e]

Not to bash on Voyager once again (I swear i DO like the show lmao i wouldn't be rewatching otherwise) but the fact that the crew is not as close as I would like drives me up the wall, like

what i mean is that Voyager is completely isolated, unlike any other crew. All the other crews are allowed shore leaves, time off the ship/station, visits and calls to family and friends, even in hard times, and Voyager doesn't have this luxury - they only have each other, quite literally, which means to me that they should have been a little bit closer than they are. this is something i find more realistic about the Equinox crew, for example - like, heck, I can understand Janeway's policy of keeping command structure and discipline to not go down on madness but tbh the bonds between the people of the crew should be more obvious. they should be better friends.

and i mean sure we are /told/ that they are but I think I can see this closeness in every other crew and find it believable. TOS crew sacrificing their careers so they could honor their (un)deceased fellow friend Vulcan traditions? I buy that. TNG's crew does seem like close family too, in great part because they got along so well behind the scenes, but every time those bonds are tested, I bought it too.

DS9 is the most misfit crew and the one who started with the possibility of being the most distant, but the events of the show did a lot to make it believable that when they went separated ways in the end, they were as good as family. Even the Enterprise crew has this close sense of union, be it on the friendships (like Malcolm and Trip), T'Pol's loyalty towards Archer or even her romance with Trip, like, I can buy it! Discovery crew is also tight as heck, Saru and Michael are as good as family, it's too soon to tell with the new Picard crew and Lower Decks also has that same sense of union but like...

I always find it missing on Voyager. Always. Not that there isn't friendships and good relationships in the show - Tuvok and Janeway's friendship is great, I think Seven and Neelix build a really good relationship with Naomi, but overall the crew lack a greater sense of union to show the depth of their relationships.

I mean, during the sixth season - in a seven seasons show - we have Janeway and Chakotay turning on each other and doubting each other viciously, and all it took was Seven of Nine's mad theories of conspiracy for them to reach this point. In one episode we have the EMH encouraging Janeway to date a hologram, and two episodes later he's practically shouting on her face You don't think I am an equal to you, and you never did with gravity enough for us to see he's not joking, and the show doesn't have a good enough record with Janeway for us to think the EMH was exaggerating.

and I think there's two main reasons for this a) Voyager's lack of continuity (a whole other can of worms) AND the constant tension behind the scenes (it's miracle the characters can be civil enough all things considered tbh)

tl:dr Voyager’s distant and at times overly formal crew when by all rights they should’ve been the closest one drives me up the wall

[126dvtn]

— hey, are you okay?

summary : the genshin men find you crying in solitude.

cw : none to note!

genre : comfort ; fluff ; established relationship

characters : diluc, kazuha, thoma, scaramouche

diluc ragnvindr ; overpouring affection.

the first thing diluc sees when he opens the bedroom door is your crying figure sat up on the bed. his first instinct is to drop everything he's holding, along with everything he planned to do in his mind. his is a nervous but steady walk, and he approaches you with concern pouring from his eyes. there are so many things he needs to know; what happened? why are you still awake? who- and a wave of rage engulfs his heart- who did this to you?

but none of those questions leave diluc's lips. instead, he takes you in his arms; steadily stroking your hair in an attempt to calm your sobs. the uneasiness in his heart clogs his throat. thus, to make up for his inability to verbally comfort you, he leans down and plants a lingering kiss in your hair. and when he's finally able to speak, he speaks a lot- his whispers of affirmation accompanying your sniffs. "i've got you, my love." he tilts your face towards him. "i love you so much. please don't cry." he leans down carefully- kissing your tears away.

kaedehara kazuha ; a quiet distraction.

if kazuha can hear the winds' calling, he can most definitely hear your weeping. he's met with many tears on his numerous voyages- learning the many ways one can soothe another's distress. not to mention his own; a result of loss and overwhelming grief. with you, he knows to be kind. he comes up to you carrying a compassionate smile. he then wipes your tears away with his thumb (which proves to be futile with the way they still flow) before cuddling up against you.

"can you take some deep breaths with me, my butterfly?" kazuha's loving gaze doesn't leave your face. "in, out. in, out- lovely. just like that." he smiles again. there's no reason to fill your heart with further despair- and he strongly believes in that. so he offers to distract you; humming a familiar melody. his hand, while calloused, is gentle when it reaches out to hold yours. the relaxed pace at which he caresses you lulls your heart to rest. and when your eyes finally shut, and your breathing evens out, he leaves a swift peck on your cheek as he tucks you in.

thoma ; all he could give.

it doesn't take thoma more than a second to know that you're crying. he hears your muffled cries from the other room, and immediately gets to work. his mental checklist of all he wants to treat you to only grows. soft, fluffy blankets for your comfort. all your favourite foods to make you happy. a pack of tissues that's all for your tears. and most importantly, his time and energy- to hold you for hours and give you all the love you need.

thoma enters your room with his arms chock-full of items. "i didn't mean to listen in, but... i heard you were crying." he kneels in front of you, draping the blanket over your shoulders. "is everything okay?" when you shake your head no, he pauses and looks into your eyes. "i know. that's alright. i'm here now." with his hands still on your shoulders, he pulls you towards him- and kisses your forehead. to him, it's okay that you're not okay. no matter your state of mind, he'll love you either way.

scaramouche ; with uncertainty.

at first, scaramouche doesn't know what to do. the only tears he's seen are his, and there's no way he'll treat you the way he treats himself. he contemplates letting you be- there must be a reason you're not calling for him, after all. but he hears your muffled sniffs turn into sobs, and that's when his impulse pushes him to comfort you. there's a small distance where he sits; a silent message that you have a choice to push him away. you don't.

so scaramouche sets a firm hand on your back. he starts patting. "don't cry- uh..." it's an awkward movement- stiff from inexperience. "actually, just let it out. i'm.. i'm here for you." his voice is laced with uncertainty- but sincere nonetheless. and when you slowly lean towards him, he pulls you against his shoulder, arm reaching across your trembling shoulders. "do you wanna talk about it?" he asks in a hushed tone. and it doesn't matter if you do or don't- for he will listen. if not to your voice, then to your breaths, until they slow into a rhythmic pace- signifying that rest has finally reached you.

[monocaelia]

inazuma bound headcanons

their last goodbyes before you depart to the land of eternity.

feat. childe, diluc, kaeya, kazuha, xiao

warnings : inazuma spoilers, slight angst but mainly fluff

❀ childe

despite inazuma being a place not many have ventured to and from, childe isn't the slightest worried for your safety. he knows the dangers of the storming seas surrounding inazuma and of the situation the people of inazuma are in due to the vision hunt decree.

but he prides in the fact that you're strong enough to handle what inazuma has to offer to you. abyss, you've defeated him in battle, there's no way you can't handle a little thunderstorm.

the cheerful chirp of your name alerts your attention to the ginger haired harbinger as he approaches you on the streets of liyue harbor. you raise an eyebrow at him, knowing full well that he shouldn't be here and should be stationed at dragonspine.

before you can scold him about his responsibilities, he scoops you into his arms and spins you around. his laughter rings in your ears and you can't help but smile. any and all thoughts of being mad at him are washed away as soon as his eyes meet yours.

the rest of your day is spent with him, as he won't be able to see you off before your trip to inazuma. he buys you trinkets, food, slings an arm around your shoulders all so you could be reminded of him and how fun it is to spend time with him.

"you know, it's a shame i wasn't stationed in inazuma next. i would have loved to explore it with you and fight at your side for a while longer," childe muses to you as the streets of liyue begin to light up for the evening. his hand is in yours and you squeeze it in reassurance.

"i'll miss you, a lot." your heart swells at his words, pulling him into a comforting embrace. your lips curve into a smile when his arms tighten themselves around you and you can't help but think that you'll miss him too.

"don't forget to send me letters about your visit to inazuma! or else i'll go over there and hunt you down myself, [name]!"

❀ diluc

diluc is not too thrilled to hear that you're departing to inazuma. not that he has anything against the nation, but he knows how hard it is to enter and leave and he knows of the situation the people under the shogunate are in.

but he isn't going to harp you on making sure you can protect yourself. he has faith in you that you'll have a safe voyage over and stay alive while on your journey in the land of eternity. he's seen you singlehandedly defeat and restore dvalin; there's no need to worry about your wellbeing.

his hand brushes against your cheek, moving the hair that curtained your slumbering face. you look so peaceful, so at ease resting against his lap as if you aren't about to set off overseas with no guarantee of your safe return.

you stir from your short slumber, leaning into his touch and diluc cannot help the small smile forming on his lips. "did you sleep well?" he asks, watching you as you slowly get up from his lap. you hum in response and stretch your limbs.

"have you finished packing for your trip?" diluc's question earns a slight frown from you and he raises an eyebrow. "you didn't finish preparing for inazuma, even though you're leaving soon?" diluc's assumption is proven correct when you begin twiddling your fingers and struggling to find a good excuse.

a sigh leaves his lips, getting up and offering you a hand. you bashfully take it. diluc hoists you up and you let out a little laugh when he sends an unamused frown your way. "i'm sorry! i was supposed to finish my preparations today, but i wanted to see you before i had to go."

it's a good thing that diluc has a soft spot for you, otherwise he would have given you the scolding of a lifetime. instead, he gently grasps your hand and flicks your forehead with his free hand before leading you inside the dawn winery so you could properly prepare for your journey overseas.

"i can't accompany you to inazuma, unfortunately, but i'll wish you a safe journey. take care, [name], i'll see you when you return."

❀ kaeya

kaeya is intrigued when you tell him that you'd be leaving for inazuma anytime soon. it's not often that people willingly want to enter storming seas and a land that isn't fond of people traveling to and from.

if anything, kaeya wants to tag along and fight by your side in inazuma. there's not much to do in mondstadt anyways. with jean and diluc keeping everyone in check kaeya didn't really have anything to do besides stir up some drama between the people of mondstadt or provoke enemies of mondstadt.

but he knows that shirking from his duties as captain of the calvary just to accompany you to inazuma wouldn't fare well with jean.

"i'm sad to see that our journey together ends here," kaeya tells you during your final visit to angel's share, for a while anyways. you roll your eyes and gently shove him with your shoulder. you know he's trying to pull at your strings from the way his sapphire eye glimmers in mischief.

"it's not going to be forever, you know. i'll be back before you know it," you reply, taking a sip of your drink. "you're acting like i'm going to inazuma and dying there." you bite back a smile when kaeya sighs dramatically and leans his entire bodyweight on you. a groan leaves your lips from the pressure.

"it's like i can still hear their voice." you snort and shove kaeya off of you, earning a snicker from the taller male. "say, [name], why don't we leave the bar and have a night of our own? just the two of us before you leave."

you pretend to ponder at his question for a moment, but say yes. you don't miss the way his lips curl into a feline smile, or the way his hand encases your own as he leads you out of the tavern and into the chilly evening of mondstadt.

but the chill doesn't bother you. not with kaeya's warm hand intertwined with yours as the two of you laugh and chatter in the warm glow of the street lamps lining the streets.

"are you sure you don't want me to tag along? wouldn't want you to miss me, haha. come back soon. don't keep me waiting."

❀ kazuha

knowing you're about to take off to the nation he escaped from puts him on edge, if he's being honest here. he knows of how brutal raiden shogun can be, stealing the visions of the innocent so she can remain eternal.

yet, seeing the reassuring smile adorning your face calms his nerves. he knows of your strength, of the rumors and tales of you fighting a dragon and a fatui harbinger, but he can't help but worry nonetheless.

his hand gently grasps your own, his fingers drawing shapes along the curves of your knuckles and brushing over the callouses that have formed on your fingertips. your head rests atop his shoulders as the two of you sit on the deck of the crux underneath the stars.

"is something on your mind?" you ask when he pauses in his ministrations. kazuha sighs, pausing briefly before replying to you.

"will you be okay? alone in inazuma, i mean. my homeland is a beautiful and wonderful place, but there is a corrupt and unjust leader ruling over it. i fear you'll be harmed and-"

"and you won't see me again?" you smile and pull away to meet your companion's gaze. there is a storm of worry in kazuha's ruby eyes and you hold his jaw in your hand, thumb rubbing calming circles on his cheek when he leans into your touch and holds your wrist.

"i'm stronger than you think, you've seen that firsthand. i'll be okay, kazuha." your reassuring words seemingly relax the inazuman traveller, but you can still sense the uncertainty surrounding him.

kazuha presses a gentle kiss against your inner palm before sliding his hand up to interlock your hands together.

"should anything happen to you, the wind will guide us together and i shall protect you. stay safe, dear [name]."

❀ xiao

xiao is a bit... unsettled when you give him the news that you're leaving for inazuma in a few days. it isn't often that you get to see him due to his job as one of liyue's yakshas and your travels across teyvat's lands.

he knows you'll be okay in inazuma, but he has no jurisdiction nor power in inazuma. his responsibility lies in liyue and he cannot leave until his duty to protect the nation of contracts has been fulfilled. yet, he wants to accompany you so he can assure your safety and survival against the stormy seas of inazuma.

"oh, there you are," your voice calms the worrying adeptus, even more so when your presence is beside him. he doesn't respond to you verbally, but he spares you a glance before fixing his gaze back to guili plains.

there's a comfortable silence between the two of you, neither of you feeling the need to speak up. but xiao's gentle voice breaks it with a statement you've been anticipating. "it's not too late to stay in liyue so i can dispose of those who harm you."

you turn to face him, not surprised at all to see his piercing eyes already staring at you. "i have to, i need to find my sibling and meeting the shogunate is the only way forward." his lips form a thin line at your answer.

your fingers inch forward to touch xiao's hand; he flinches when your fingers graze his out of instinct. but he grasps your hand before it can retreat, squeezing it as if it would make you stay beside him.

but he knows you have to go, have to find answers on the whereabouts of your sibling even if it meant risking your life.

"if i can't protect you, promise me you'll protect yourself. if you were to get hurt... forget it. just make sure you stay alive."

[hyunsuks-beanie]

Come With Me

Culinary major! Soobin x food vlogger! reader; just some teeth rotting fluff

Word Count: 3.35k words

Mellow speaks: So I finally completed this long overdue and super fun request!!! Honestly, writing this was just so amazing, and I kinda drew Y/N based on my own self, so I hope you enjoy reading it!!

Rushing into his apartment, Soobin didn't waste a single minute in discarding his bag on the floor, rushing towards his laptop and turning it on. As the screen booted, the final-year culinary major prayed to the gods for the livestream to not have started yet. The winner of the contest from last month was to be announced at the beginning of the stream, and even though Soobin didn't have any hopes of him winning, he couldn't help the tiny voice at the back of his head saying, "What if?."

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a voice, sweet and velvety as always. There you were, on his screen, the biggest of smiles plastered on your face, making him feel warm all over. Y/N L/N, his favorite food vlogger in the world, ready to start another livestream. Soobin had always been more of a silent supporter, his introverted self being too shy to even post a comment under any of your videos, partly because you had a habit of replying to as many of those comments as possible, and he knew for a fact that he would combust on the spot if you were to ever reply to his praises of you.

You see, he greatly admired your love for food and your wanderlust. He was also a great fan of the way you spoke, and the way you articulated your ideas and thoughts. Truth be told, he genuinely liked you, and not just your voyager self. Watching your videos over the years, he had found himself developing a small crush on you, knowing full well that it was probably just him being starstruck. So, gathering all the bravery he had, the boy had finally pressed "Send" on the application form for the competition on the last day, after contemplating it for God knows how long.

There had been only one question on the form, asking respondents to describe what food meant to them. A smile had graced Soobin's lips as you answered it, pouring in his most sincere thoughts on everything culinary. What had pushed him to participate, you ask? It had been the prize, of course. A chance to hang out with none other than you yourself, through a one-on-one video call. He had always wanted to see you in person, to tell you how much your vlogs meant to him. How they had helped discover his own love for food, had helped him find his happiness in the kitchen.

And that had brought him to right now, biting on his fingernails as he listened to your regular introduction, one that he knew by heart and repeated after you, subconsciously. "Hey my food-holics! How are all of you doing today? Hale and hearty, I hope!," you said, following up quickly with a brief overview of the contest, before announcing the winner, as Soobin waited with bated breath. "All your answers were amazing, and I could relate to so many of them! It really sucks that we can only have one winner, since you're all winners to me!," you smiled, and he caught himself copying your expression. "So now, the winner of the contest, and the person who gets to be my new friend, is @aglio_olive!!," you exclaimed, clapping your hands as your eyes crinkled up in joy.

The fact that you had just announced him as the winner of registered belatedly, as Soobin was busy gushing over how adorable you had looked while clapping. He felt his mouth drop open, finding it hard to focus on what you said next. "I'll be contacting you via email shortly," you had said, and that was all it took for the rest of the livestream to go by in a blur for him, as he waited for your mail, checking and re-checking his inbox every two minutes. But it wasn't until the next day that he finally received what he had been peeling his eyes out for. An email from your official account (or that's what he figured), informing him that the meeting would take place on the coming Saturday, at 6:00 pm. Now all he had to do was wait three days, but it was easier said than done.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Soobin was equal parts bubbling with excitement and panicking with nerves. Reluctant to trust his own fashion choices, he had called over his best friend, Yeonjun, hoping to get some much needed guidance. "Should I wear this suit? Or will simple tracks be better?," he had asked, making the older boy shake his head as he patted him on the back. "My friend, Y/N's neither your professor, nor your friend. You're meeting them for the first time, so why don't you just wear something comfortable, that would make them feel at ease too?," he smirks, throwing a plain blue hoodie his way.

As the clock struck 6:00, Soobin found himself seated at his study table, ready to start the meeting. He had even prepared cue cards to help him if he got stuck, and they were propped conveniently next to the laptop. He reached out for them, but just at that moment, his screen came alive with someone waving at him with a smile on their face. Awestruck, he simply waved back, too tongue-tied to say anything. "Wow," he thought to himself, "They look so much better without makeup." A couple seconds later, a new kind of panic set in. "Am I staring too hard? Is it creepy? Should I look down? No but I need to keep eye contact!"

Little did he know, you were having similar, if not identical thoughts. "Wow, no one told me he was gonna be this cute. Blue suits him so well! I'm no staring, am I? Should I speak first? Or should I wait for him to say something?" This finally resulted in the both of you speaking at the same time, something you would later smile about. Because saying "How are you? I'm Soobin," and "I'm Y/N! How are you?," helped you crack into laughter, breaking the ice and easing the awkwardness. Once you had gotten past the niceties, it was time to get to know each other better. The cue cards lay unused, as Soobin just spoke about whatever came to mind, praising your vlogs and thanking you for teaching him more about cuisines. You, on the other hand, took the time to get to know him better, asking him questions about what it was like to study culinary science, something you had never gotten the chance to do.

The hour-long virtual meeting flew by in the blink of an eye, or so it seemed to the both of you. Talking to you, Soobin didn't once feel that you were a stranger or that he was just a fan. You seemed like a genuine and warm person to him that he couldn't help but admire you even more than he did before. To him, somewhere during the meeting, you stopped seeming like a famous vlogger anymore, and instead, all he saw you as was a friend. You, on the other hand, had made up your mind about him being the most interesting person you had ever met, and couldn't stop a sad sigh from escaping your lips as you looked at the time. "Well, Soobin. It's been a pleasure meeting you," you had said, making him smile wistfully.

The moment he had logged out of the meeting, he found himself missing you. He thought back on how nice you had been, smiling when he pictured your face, your hair slightly messy but not too unkempt, an oversized hoodie thrown over your body. To him, it had honestly felt like he was conversing with a friend, and he couldn't bring himself to let such an amazing person walk out of his life. So, without thinking, he began typing out an email to your account, his finger hovering just above the "Send" button. He stopped short though, realizing that your official account wasn't meant for personal mails, and realizing that he had no other means to contact you. Pouting, he fell face-first onto the bed, his energy going down all of a sudden.

He woke up to a "ping," indicating an email on his phone. Unlocking it, he noticed a mail from an account he had never contacted before. Clueless, he clicked on it, the phone nearly falling out of his hand as he read through it. It had been you, after all, reaching out to him through your personal account, and telling him that you had loved talking to him, and would like to be his friend. And thus began the most beautiful friendship either of you had ever forged, full of memories even though you hadn't met each other.

Late night video chats and good morning calls became a ritual, and Soobin found himself busily typing away on his phone every free second he got. You told him all about your escapades and trips, sending him photos and urging him to try cooking whatever you ate and whatever you liked. He, on the other hand, would teach you to cook, sending you tips and giving you suggestions on what to eat. Food was an intergalactic part of the relation you shared, but it was far from being the only thing.

When things got hard for him, you were there to push him towards his dream, reminding him day in and day out that he would have to give in his all to achieve it. "You'll be the greatest chef one day, Soob," you'd giggle, causing him to let out a whine as he said, "How would you know? You haven't even tasted my cooking yet!" He too, was there to provide you a taste of what it felt like to be grounded to one place, to have everything you wanted right next to you. He was there for you to cry to when someone posted a nasty comment under you video, and he was there to virtually feed you when you missed a home-cooked meal. Inside jokes became a thing, as did bitching about classmates and complaining about managers.

Over time, your friendship started blossoming into something more, as Soobin found himself catching feelings, real feelings, for you. The way you smiled, the way you would bite your nails just like him as you went through what people had to say about your videos, the way you cracked stupid jokes and laughed at them alone, he found himself loving them all. He had given his heart out to you, and he didn't want to take it back. You, meanwhile, had been a bit more careful of your feelings, wary of harboring any hopes for a long-distance relationship. But over time, you too, found yourself drowning into the oceans that were his eyes, watching the way his lips moved through the screen, imagining them on yours. Over time, you too, felt your feelings grow, but being your stubborn self, you didn't act on them.

Days turned into months, and soon enough, you were keeping Soobin company through his late night study sessions, talking to him in the hopes of keeping him awake. Helping him prepare flashcards, and letting him teach you a full four-course meal so that he could practice for his practical exams. "What are you gonna do once you graduate?," became a regular question you posed towards him, and every time, it was the same reply. "I don't know yet, Y/N. I want to do something like you. I want to travel the world and learn about different cuisines first-hand."

As Soobin's exams drew nearer, you found yourself bring just as worried as he was, worried about how he'd fare in the examinations, worried about what he'll do when he gets his degree. But keeping your concerns aside, you did your best to push him to do his best, study that last chapter, practice that last technique, memorize that last recipe. "I just wanna sleep, Y/N," he'd whine, only to have you let out a giggle at how adorable he looked. "It's for your own good, bub," you'd reply, your smile somehow managing to give him the strength to put in just a little extra effort.

Seeing him work so hard, you couldn't help but want to give him a surprise by congratulating him in person when he graduated. So, you decided to plan a trip to Seoul, shooting a film vlog just an excuse to finally meet your closest friend, and the person you had a crush on. You had initially wanred to keep the plan a secret, but soon realized what a waste it would be to not use it to your advantage. And so started your ingenious way of getting Soobin to hit the books. "I'm coming to Seoul after your exams, but I'll meet you only if you put in all your effort," you'd tell him, repeating it like a mantra day in and day out.

In response, the boy would pout and whine about how he "hated" you, but started putting in double the effort, just to make you proud. Your tactic seemed to work, but Soobin was still nervous. Nor about the theory, but about the practical exams. "What if I don't do well on the exam? It happens all the time on Masterchef," he said one day, looking into your eyes as you attempted to calm him down. "I know you'll nail it, Binnie," you replied, smiling at him through the screen. "Just think about what makes you happy while you cook, and you'll be good to go." As if on a whim, Soobin muttered out a soft, "You," causing your breath to hitch as you asked him to repeat. "You make me happy," he said again, looking down as he felt his cheeks growing warm. You couldn't help but smile at his sudden confession, sending a virtual kiss his way. "Now go study, you idiot," you giggled, proceeding to tell him about your day as he pored over his books.

The day of his practical exam rolled by, and as you had said, Soobin decided to cook while thinking of something that made him happy. He thought back on the day when you had told him about a delicacy from a city you had visited, and had convinced him to teach you how to make it. The memory alone made a smile appear on his lips, reminding him of how happy the two of you were. And so, that's what he cooked, passing his exam with flying colors. He was so happy he could have kissed you if you were there, and he told you that, causing a laugh to escape your lips. "I'll be there soon," was all you said, fighting to control your excitement.

Soobin passed with flying colors, earning his degree fair and square. And the one person he wanted to thank for it, was you. As you had promised him, a week later found you roaming the streets of Seoul, as you hurriedly made your way towards his college, ready to finally meet him at his convocation. Climbing up the stage to accept his degree, his eyes were busy scanning the crowds, eager to see your face. When he couldn't find you, however, he felt his smile falter, as he took in a gulp.

"Where are you Y/N?," he thought to himself, hand itching to check his phone that was lying in his back pocket. You had told him you'd be here on time, so then, where were you? Just as he feels himself falling deeper into his thoughts, he (like everyone else in the hall) hears footsteps running down the corridor, finally revealing you standing at the entrance, out of breath and with a huge smile stretching across your face. "You're here," he mouthed, his smile matching yours, as you replied with a simple nod and a "Congratulations," your eyes brimming with tears of joy for the boy.

Accepting his degree, Soobin walked off the stage to sit with his classmates, eyes meeting yours every so often as he tried to fight the urge to rush to you and hug you. Once the ceremony ended, neither of you wasted a second in finding each other, throwing yourselves into a hug long overdue. It didn't feel weird as you snuggled your face into his convocation robe, and it didn't feel weird as he did the same into your hair. Pulling away, you just couldn't hide the smiles that threatened to take over your entire face, taking each other's hand as Soobin left you to his parents. "Mom, Dad, this is my friend Y/N," he introduced, and his mom didn't miss the spark in her son's eyes as he looked at you.

Once you were done with the niceties, the two of you made your way out into the city once Soobin had handed his robe over to his mom. Walking the streets with him, with you cracking jokes and him pointing out tourist sights to you, you felt something you had never felt, no matter how many cities you visited. A sense of comfort, a sense of belonging. You felt like you were home for the first time in ages, and it was all because of the guy walking next to you. As if on a whim, you whipped out your video-camera, switching it on and turning it to yourself. Soobin belatedly realized what you were doing, when he heard you recite you introduction. Looking at you in shock, he felt his mouth fall open as he heard you say the words, "Friend," "Soobin," "Featuring," "Guide," in quick succession, piecing the sentence together in his brain.

"Y/N! What are you doing??," he whined, looking down to hide his face. "Awww Soobinnie is shy!!! Sorry guys, it's his first time," you cooed, a giggle escaping your lips as you turned your camera off, trying to convince him to feature in your vlog. "But I won't know what to say!!," he retorted, making you snicker. "Just take me out to eat somewhere tell, and tell the camera why you like the place you like and the food you like. It's not that hard!," you replied, and after much convincing (and some borderline begging), he finally agreed.

He showed you all his favorite eateries and restaurants, gawking at the insane discounts you got him, and just enjoying watching you eat in person, sharing his food. By the time evening rolled out, the two of you were full to your throats, looking out over the river from the bridge. "Thank you Y/N," Soobin said, turning to look at you. "For today, and for everyday. For being there for me, and for being the best friend I have ever had, and more." "Thank you too, Soob," you replied, your eyes stinging as you looked up at him. "Thank you for making me feel at home. Thank you for becoming my home." You hadn't noticed just how close your faces had become, both of you having leaned in subconsciously. Finally, Soobin closed the gap, your lips meeting his in a kiss that's full of the pent-up love and emotions.

His lips were soft against yours, molding with yours like two pieces of the same puzzle. Pulling away, a smile graced your lips as you looked up at him shyly, whispering an "I like you," causing him to repeat your words and adding a "too," cheeks rising up in a smile. Biting you bottom lip, you say, "Come with me," making him tilt his head in confusion. "You said you wanted to be like me. To learn about cuisines first-hand. Then come with me. I don't want to be away from you, I want to be with you 24/7, and not virtually. I want to talk to you in person, to hug you, to kiss you." You notice his smile growing wider, and so you ask, "So, what do you say?," as he replies by placing his lips back on yours.

[yesimwriting]

Searing Starlight (chapter two)

A/n Chapter twooo!! I cannot believe the support I’ve been getting on here im so excited to share my six of crows/shadow and bone fics with y’all!

 Lmk if you’d like to be tagged when I update this story!! And just letting y’all know I take requests so if you have an idea you’d like to see me attempt feel free to comment it or send it in :)) 

--

At least Kaz’s claimed ‘wraith’ (which is such an odd thing to just have) is a girl, and a seemingly kind one at that. She was quick to find me, body pressed into wooden shelves and glass bottles, and subtly gesture for me to follow her. It had been difficult to keep track of her flighty form through the crowd, but I think there was a point in her strange raveling, to make sure no one was following me. 

She’s not particularly talkative, but she doesn’t seem bothered by me. She tossed me a random oversized shirt to pull over my dress when she saw how I kept adjusting the fabric and crossing my arms. That was kinder than she needed to be. I think I’ll like her. 

“So you’re a wraith,” I manage, breaking the nervous silence, “Like a full time, constantly on-call wraith.” 

The question seems to puzzle her, dark eyebrows drawing together. “Yes.” The corner of her mouth twitches up slightly, a smile. “A full time, constantly on-call wraith.” She hesitates, perfect stance adjusting. “What were you doing before?” 

Great. This question. “Nothing important.” It’s not a fair cop-out. Especially since she answered my question. “I um...I’m indentured to Rollan Kenya.” 

I watch her reaction to the name. Some know of him. Some revere him. Some loathe him and everything he’s associated with. “His religious interpretations are controversial.” 

“If you think what he says to the public is bad you should hear what he says in private.” I push myself further into the chair I’m in. 

Something strange flickers over her features. “I can imagine.” 

Shaking my head, I hope I’m ending this conversation. “What’s your name?” 

A hesitation. “Inej.” 

I nod once, “I’m y/n.” 

“Do you need water, y/n?” 

I scratch my still exposed knee. “That’d be nice. Thank you.” 

She’s quick to leave, feet making no noise. A minute later she returns with a cup. I have no reason to suspect her, but I still sniff the cup before taking a cautious sip. I wonder if Anya made it back home. I wonder if she’s worse off for it. 

Before I can fall into a pit of debating despair, the door to the room Inej took me to squeaks open. On instinct, I snap my gaze towards the door, tensing. The first person I notice is Kaz, entering the room with a determination too intense for this time of night. Jesper is quick to follow, and I drop my stare. I’ve never had to interact with anyone I’ve lied to after taking their money. 

“Are they gone?” Inej asks, clearly accustomed to such brooding tension. 

Kaz nods once, “It took too much convincing--the Inferni’s more than she’s letting on.” 

I’m literally in the room. “I’m not--we’ve spoken two words to each other, sorry my abilities didn’t come up.” 

He turns towards me with a deadly grace. My grip on the cup tightens. What the hell is wrong for me? How deeply instilled is that god complex Kenya wanted in me? It must be as part of me as my name if I felt comfortable enough to speak that way to Kaz Brekker. 

I keep my eyes on his cane, waiting for some kind of physical retaliation. “Maybe the grisha hunting you would appreciate your sense of humor more.” 

It’s a bluff. He needs me. He’s desperate for something that can mimic a Sun Summoner. Still though, I’m not in the mood to poke a bear with a stick. “Speaking from experience,” I clear my throat awkwardly, “They tend not to.”

“Then I suggest you begin explaining before I decide I’d rather take my chances and you lose your worth.” 

Maybe if I hadn’t spent the last eleven years of my life with Kenya, his words would haunt me. I keep my expression set, but the lanterns in the room flicker. “It’s not as impressive as they’re making it seem--Inferni can produce fire, regular, red, bright fire.” I pause, feeling energy in my palms. “I can do the same, but I can also,” I extend a flat palm, “Do this.” 

I focus my energy on restraint, forcing the fire on my skin to remain there, covering my palms in a cold, blue glow. “It’s still fire, just blue--and that matters to them because blue light is the only kind you can use in the Fold.” Do they know anything about the fold? “Kenya, the man I’m indentured to, believes that this ability makes me eligible for Sainthood. He specializes in collecting people he thinks are eligible for Sainthood.” The low flame coating my palm licks upwards as I remember what disappointing Kenya means. “And if you don’t meet his standards, he’ll find a way to make sure you do. That’s why the grisha want me. He made me more and they believe that if they give me to someone who can give me an amplifier I’ll be able to produce enough blue light to protect an entire fleet.” 

“What do you mean ‘he’ll find a way to make sure you do’?” Inej’s voice is cautious. An attempt to be respectful. 

I drop my palm, letting the fire disappear into nothingness. “I wasn’t born with the ability to control the blue light so well--It’s difficult enough to produce for longer than two seconds let alone keep it from burning everything in sight. By the time I ended up in Kenya’s control he had learned that certain stimulants. Some scientists are working on a more grisha-targeted kind, but Kenya has managed to work with the generic well enough.” Hands shaking, I wipe the condensation off the side of the cup and hold out my wrist. Using the condensation, I begin to wipe at my wrist and forearm, smearing my makeup and revealing the needle bruises. “The key is withdrawals.”

Thoughts of begging Kenya, crying and screaming for another fix as he promised to give me that as soon as I showed some control of my abilities, make the shaking in my hand worse. I clasp my hands together, squeezing them in hopes of hiding the signs of withdrawal. 

I stare at the ground, not wanting to take anyone’s reaction in. I handle pity as well as I handle kindness. 

“Do you think you could produce enough blue light for one ship?”

Looking up, I take in Kaz’s measured expression. I’m glad he’s sticking to business. I’d rather that than deal with unpacking all of that with a group of strangers that don’t care if I live or die. 

“I could try.” I’ve never tried to protect anything that large. “Even if I can, it doesn’t mean a voyage like that will be safe.” 

“There’s no real safety in the Fold,” he replies easily. Realistic expectations. That will make this easier. “No one finds out about her--especially not Pekka Rollins.” 

I pull my arm towards my body, glad for the opportunity to hide the bruises. Signs of my weakness. The worst part was always the way Kenya would speak to me after. Pathetic. Weak. Trapped within the restraints of my flesh. 

“Who’s Pekka Rollins?” 

Kaz briefly turns his head in my direction. “No one that will ever concern you.” He ignores my annoyed huff. “We’ll use the Inferni to get to Alina Starkov.” 

Alina. Alina Starkov. “What do you want with Alina?”

 At that, the room seems to drain. I feel weirder than when they were seeing my abilities. 

“You know her?” Jesper’s surprise reveals more than Kaz wants him to. I don’t miss the glare he receives.

I half-shrug. “We were in the same orphanage for awhile.”

“How did you get to Ketterdam?” I don’t trust Kaz’s urgency. 

“I don’t remember, I was a child and I--I hit my head that night I think. I just woke up and I was with Kenya.” 

“How well do you know Alina?” 

There was a point in time in which she was my best friend. We learned how to braid hair by practicing on each other, we would draw maps together, and I was the only one who knew about her crush on Mal. “Not that well.” 

He takes a step forward, eyes almost squinting. The touch of distrust is evident on his face. “If you’re lying I’ll find out.” 

I owe Alina at least this. “Well then it’s a good thing I’m not.” 

I’m not naive enough to believe that I’ve convinced him, but his intense gaze does not remain on me. I’m relieved when his attention is off of me, but he’s only moving on to start planning the riskiest thing I’ve ever done. 

-- 

Taglist: @ambrosia-v-black 

[samstree]

hello my dear!! how about hugs 11 + kisses 27 for the prompts?? 💞💞

"Clinging to each other" and "desperate kisses" from the touching prompts. Thanks my dear! Here’s some cursed Jaskier + pining Geralt. 

The kissing is slightly dub-con for both of them because of magic. 

Read on ao3.

---

“Jaskier, what—”

The bard has thrown himself at the witcher, clinging as if his life depends on it. His arms are squeezing Geralt’s ribcage so tightly that anyone else would have been suffocated by the sheer force of it.

“Hey, what is wrong?” Geralt tries to pry himself away but when his hand comes up to the side of the bard’s face, he finds the skin there way too hot and almost burning with a fever. “Gods, what did she do to you?”

Letting the bard go with the mage might have been the worst idea he’s ever had, now that he realizes in the way Jaskier refuses to let go. Trusting her—or any mage, really—is always bound to end up a disaster.

“Geralt,” Jaskier mutters, his voice shaking, but not with fear. “You are here.”

“I’m here.”

When Geralt inhales the bard’s scent, the faint trace of magic is unmistakable. Underneath it is Jaskier’s floral perfume, the only one he uses since Geralt mentioned that it’s the only one that doesn’t bother his sensitive nose.

But apart from it all, there is the overwhelming surge of sweetness, thick like honey. It’s the same smell that he’s always associated with Jaskier, one that drifts into the air whenever the bard is purring with contentment.

It’s love.

It’s the same love that Jaskier carries for everyone and everything. The smell is so omnipresent that Geralt has longs since registered it as… just Jaskier.

But it’s ten times more.

“It’s a love spell, Jaskier,” Geralt says into the bard’s ear, worry churning in his stomach. “She put a lo—”

The sentence is interrupted by soft lips pressed against his.

The bard is intoxicating like this, nibbling and sucking urgently with his hands coming up to thread into Geralt’s hair. His fingers scratch at the witcher’s scalp and his legs almost melt under him. The love is so heady between their breaths and in each touch of lips that Geralt finds himself opening up for Jaskier, letting him in, letting him take more—

“Wait,” Geralt inhales weakly but is silenced by another bruising kiss. The burning heat on Jaskier’s skin, ironically, sobers him up like a bucket of ice water. “Wait, you are not in your right mind.”

Geralt cups the soft line of Jaskier’s jaw and keeps him away. There are only a few inches between them, the distance so easy to close but there’s no way he can ignore the unhealthy amount of love in the air.

Jaskier whines and desperately tries to lean in again.

“We can’t. Her love spell is making you want this.”

“No. No, it’s not her.” Jaskier reaches for Geralt’s hand on his cheek, holding it in place before turning to press a kiss in the witcher’s palm. Gods, can a witcher’s heart skip a beat? “I’ve always wanted it, Geralt, believe me when I say I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

Geralt shakes his head at the magic-compelled lie.

“Not according to you, Jask. You’ve never expressed any—”

“I was only afraid,” Jaskier says with so much conviction in his eyes, those cornflower blues are darkened with desire but it only serves to make his gaze more piercing. The flush of his cheeks deepens. Even his hairline is now soaked with sweat. “I’m not anymore. She helped me stop being afraid. Can’t you see?”

The bard bites his lips, his kiss-bruised, swollen lips, and Geralt’s resolve cracks, just for a second.

A second is all it takes for those lips to return to Geralt’s skin, peppering across his cheek, then neck, everywhere Jaskier can reach.

“I’ll show you,” Jaskier mumbles before sucking a bruise right over Geralt’s pulse point, drawing out a moan from the witcher. “Let me show you if you can’t see how much I love you.”

The passion in Jaskier's confession punches all air out of Geralt. He doesn’t know how he would have reacted in a different situation—probably frozen to the spot while jumping up and down on the inside—but now, those three words only fill Geralt with horror.

Pulling away from the bard for the second time might just be the hardest thing he’s ever done.

“No.” It takes everything in Geralt to say. “I can’t.”

Everything is so wrong.

It’s wrong that Jaskier’s eyes are brimming with tears because of Geralt’s apparent rejection, because gods know how much he wishes to never wake up from this dream. If only he can stay like this, with Jaskier in his arms forever.

If only Jaskier truly loves him.

“Why?” the bard chokes out a whimper. “I thought you wanted me, Geralt. I can see in your eyes. The way you look at me when—when you listen to my songs, and when I’m with someone else. I—I thought…”

He trails off, heartbroken, and Geralt doesn’t know how to make it better.

“I’m sorry.”

Geralt’s hand traces the familiar sign of Axii and Jaskier’s slack body drops at the same time as his tears.

Lifting Jaskier up makes him ache with how well their bodies fit into each other’s, with the bard’s curve pressed against his chest so comfortably, so easily. It’s only made worse when Jaskier nuzzles into his neck and slurs his name again.

“Of course I want you.” Geralt presses his forehead against Jaskier’s, feeling the magic burning under his skin. “But not like this.”

He will put Jaskier in the safety of their bed and he will keep guard until the spell passes.

He will never let anyone take advantage of Jaskier in this state.

Including himself.

“Never like this.” 

---

This is also heavily inspired by star trek: voyager. Sorry (not sorry) for the angst.

Tagging: @rockysstupidity @flowercrown-bard @alllthequeenshorses @mothmanismyuncle @theultimatenerdd @percy-jackson-is-sexy- @constantlytiredpigeon

Please feel free to tell me if you want to be removed or added to the list <3

[get-shiggy-with-it]

Ch. 2

Shigaraki Birthday Celebration! 18+ MINORS DNI

Pairing: Tomura Shigaraki x fem!reader 

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: reader is marked fem cause Tomura is a little sexist and hates you cause you’re a woman, no pronouns, incel!shiggy, collage au/no quirks, tomura is an asshole, gratuitous swearing, like so much, shiggy has a dirty mouth, mentions of shigs being anxious, brief male masturbation, tags will be added for smut in the next two parts

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6

Summary: In which studying is done, unwilling connections are made, and Tomura thinks about the way you smell a totally normal amount. 

AO3 mirror

Taglist: @dillybuggg​ (just shoot me an ask if you want to be tagged!

Tomura hadn’t stopped staring at his phone since he left the apartment. It was second nature by now—head down at a nearly ninety degree angle, hoodie pulled up to hide hair he hadn’t bothered to comb in weeks, and phone out, held just far enough away that he could see the pavement behind the screen. 

He’d found that people tended to naturally avoid him this way and he didn’t have to risk accidentally making eye contact. It was still a bit nerve wracking to venture into buildings he didn’t expressly have to for classes, so he was still hesitant to make the voyage from his apartment to the library.  But he’d made the mistake of mentioning plans to his roommate and the bastard wouldn’t leave him alone about it afterwards until he was practically shoved out with the door locked behind him. 

He was half tempted to make up some excuse last minute and go hide out at the only cafe on campus he could tolerate, but Tomura knew he was just delaying the inevitable. Biting the bullet now would help to not prolong his suffering. 

Your text thread glared up at him in stark white on blue as he pushed past a crowd of students by the library entrance and flashed his ID to the attendant. 

Group Project Bitch:

— hey I got us a room on the third floor, all the way in the back

—text me when you’re here I’ll wave you in, it’s kinda hard to find T-T

                                                                                                     sounds good— 

He shot off a quick text to you that he was hoping on the elevator. The other two guys in the lift may have given him a dirty look for only going up to the third floor, but Tomura sure as hell wasn’t going to risk the physical exertion of stares when just the thought being stuck in a small room alone with you for god knows how long already had him sweating. 

When he stepped out, you were leaned against one of the 90s-green shelves, scrolling aimlessly through your phone. He panicked momentarily, thinking he’d have to get your attention cause just walking up without saying anything would be weird right? 

He wasn’t sure. 

He didn’t do shit like this. 

Thankfully, you looked up at the chime of the lift and waved him over. His red sneakers squeaked as they scuffed the linoleum floors and he already regretted choosing his tighter fitting pair of sweats. The tapered legs that hugged his ankles and thin calves rubbed against his skin and stung the raw patches. 

“Hey, thanks for coming,” you said softly and he nodded, following as you began to weave through the stacks. “Sorry it was short notice, graduation’s coming up so I'm swamped with meetings.”

“It’s fine, I didn’t have anything going on.” 

He cringed internally at the way his voice cracked, trying to keep the usual rasp to a minimum. His roommate said it was from the innumerable hours he spent shouting at his monitor or on discord, which was probably true but to you he was sure he just sounded like a fucking teenager. 

“Cool, I’ve been set up for awhile so feel free to move some stuff,” you talked a bit louder now that you’d both stepped into the study room and shut the door. 

Tomura looked around. You’d snagged one of the nicer ones at least, with the big monitors he could cast his screen onto and those comfy chairs he liked but could never beat anyone too on the lower floors. 

You were right, there was shit all over the big table at the center of the room. Notes and printed out readings with highlights galore and sticky notes littering the pages were scattered all over. What a show off. You probably tossed all this stuff out so he’d think you were actually intelligent or some shit. 

Kicking a pile off of the nearest plush armchair, Tomura took a seat and pulled his laptop out. There was a jack in the middle of the table and you plugged yours in to cast onto the big monitor. 

You made a fucking power point for him. 

This couldn’t be real. 

“So I know I ran some stuff by you in class but essentially I was thinking we make like a simple Twine type thing using the rhetorical argument Swift is making…” 

You started rambling again and Tomura almost immediately tuned you out. His eyes drifted between the rough outline you were flicking through on the board and the laptop you had your nose buried in. 

It was covered in stickers, pretty obviously stereotypical for someone as obsessed with being ‘cool’ as you clearly were. But as he scanned through the various old meme phrases and aesthetic shit, he caught a couple of game references he recognized and a panel cutout from one of his favorite manga. 

He almost fell into your trap for a moment, feeling a rush at the prospect of someone—much less a chick—being into his main hyperfixations. 

But it was quickly crushed under everything his years trolling subreddits had taught him. People like you didn’t actually have interests beyond the attention and dick it got them. Plus that manga was pretty popular anyway, you probably didn’t even read it, just thought the line was funny or made you sound quirky. That had to be why you felt the need to drop it in your first texts. 

“What do you think?” you asked, making good on your new habit of startling the hell out of him. 

Tomura blinked, gaze instinctively turning to you but the blatant way you stared made his mouth turn to sand paper, so he looked resolutely back at the color-coded bullet points on the screen. 

“Look’s fine,” he mumbled. 

The more he glanced over it, the more it actually did look fine. A bit more than fine, really, which pissed him off even more. The little choose-your-own debate style story was not a terrible way to make fucking Whatever Swift interesting and it kinda looked like you’d bothered to google some simple coding which gave him a better idea of what you were looking for. 

It was...good. 

And that so fucking annoying. 

Well, he wasn’t sure if annoying was the right word for it, but the proposal coupled with your apparent lack of disgust at working with him made his face hot and that only ever happened otherwise when his roommate left the dishes out for weeks or when some newb on his server fucked up their raids. 

Then, you had the audacity to plop down in the chair next to him and— 

“You can tell me to fuck off if you want,” you began, shuffling in the chair to cross your legs on the cushion, “but I was hoping you’d be willing to show me how you do some of the coding stuff? I tried on my own, but I have literally no clue what I’m doing.” 

He could smell you again, like the whole fucking health and beauty aisle at the grocery store. When he turned his head a bit to look at you around the curtain of his hair, you were crooked—back against the armrest and facing him. 

“Why do you want to know?” he asked, sounding a bit less rude than he would have liked to. 

You just fucking stared right at him though, didn’t wrinkle your nose at how greasy his roots were or how he was wearing the same hoodies as yesterday. 

“I’ve always been interested in it, but my program is kinda stressful and I don’t have much free time so I never learned,” you offered and for once Tomura found he didn’t feel his skin crawl under your unwavering gaze. 

The dry, cracked area around his eyes burned though as sweat beaded on his forehead and he quickly wiped at his face with a loose sweatshirt sleeve. The garment hung off his shoulders, bought a size too big that he never ended up growing into. 

“What’s your major?” 

He found the words slipped easily from him. It was the quintessential question you asked of anyone in college when you met, but he’d never been interested in the answer before. 

You babbled a bit about your specific area of study and your voice was surprisingly not as infuriating as he remembered it being before. It was softer, he thought, than when you were soapboxing in class about the sexist implications of old as fuck poetry—it had a less grating quality and was almost pleasing to the ear. 

Or Tomura would have said that if he thought you deserved the compliment. 

But, obviously you didn’t. 

So he didn’t. 

He just pretended to care about what you were saying and didn’t hang onto every word at all. Actually he was more enraptured in the way your lips moved when you talked. You used your hands a lot too, but his eyes were ensnared on the way your mouth quirked and dipped, at the occasional flash of your tongue between strong teeth. When he leaned in a bit, he could smell your breath too: fruity gum and the remnants of whatever you were always drinking in that loud as fuck cup. He wondered now what exactly it was, so he could buy it and get a better idea of what you mouth might taste—

Nope. 

No, see this was exactly what he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about. How were you doing this to him? What a fucking slut. 

Tomura steeled his nerves as you started explaining the extracurriculars you did on the side. 

“My roommate freshman year actually started a gaming club and so I’ve gotten more into that over the years,” you explained, pointing at the stickers on your laptop case. 

“Are you talking about The League?” 

“Yeah, I didn’t know if you’d heard of it,” you shrugged.  

He knew of the gaming club on campus. He’d thought about joining when he enrolled but the allure of anonymity online gaming provided was too strong. Plus his discord server didn’t have annoying weekly meetings. 

The thought of you, up late and illuminated by the blue light of a tv screen, tucked away in one of the basement rooms in the media building was...strange. It also prompted an array of new images—you in those fucking cat ear headsets, seated in his lap as he trashed you in Mario Kart which was even stranger. 

Tomura had to physically shake his head to dislodge the thought. 

“Uh, we should probably work on this right?” he cringed at the way his voice cracked compared to your own, smooth tone. 

You should narrate those fucking sleepy time mediation things. His roommate used to hide wireless speakers in his room and blast those when Tomura stayed up too late. It was annoying as shit then, but if it was you talking, he probably wouldn’t have minded so much. 

Or no, no he would definitely mind. 

Yes. It would have been worse if anything. 

“Oh shit, you right. It’s been like two hours.” 

He glanced down at his laptop and saw that it had, indeed, been two hours since he got there. He’d willingly spoken to you for two goddamn hours. It felt like no time had passed at all, but the sun was definitely setting, the overhead fluorescent bulbs taking over as the main light source in the room. 

Weird. 

So you settled back in your chair, typing away like you always did, but the sound wasn’t nearly as frustrating as before. Occasionally, you’d glance over his shoulder and ask questions about what he was working on, but mostly the two of you settled into a comfortable silence. 

This pattern continued for the next few weeks. As the weather warmed, you began to show a bit more skin. He never worked up the nerve to comment on the thick expanse of bare thigh that tapered off nicely into your calf, or the curve of your arms not hidden behind knit sweaters—hell even your fucking shoulders were hard not to look at. 

Maybe all those high school dress codes weren’t actually so full of shit after all. Cause he was definitely distracted by the way your neck swooped into the exposed skin of your shoulder and down your back on more than one occasion.

Did all girls know that? Was it some kind of massive conspiracy to crumble the patriarchy or some crap to go flashing bare shoulders everywhere? 

Regardless if you really were trying to hypnotize him into liking you, Tomura stayed resolutely in his monochrome, long sleeved attire, and if you noticed the behavior you never said a word. 

Never said a word about his allergy ridden skin, peeling lips or scarred throat. Never commented on his terrible posture or said his eyes were creepy. Even when he’d occasionally toss a negative remark your way, you never retaliated maliciously. Just brushed him off with a jovial ‘don’t be a dick’ and a playful, but hard slap to his chest or the back of his head. 

The two of you always met in the same, secluded room on the third floor. You’d talk with him in class sometimes or shoot him texts about random bits of inspiration or a late night game memes, but for the most part, your conversations were confined to that room. He found he preferred the study room ‘you’ best. You weren’t as stiff. There was more of a solidity to you, like he’d seen when you told off that Kai bastard. 

It...grew on him. 

He was irrationally anxious that there would be a time when you couldn’t secure this particular room—with it’s big monitor and comfy chairs and less annoying ‘you’—but he’d been reassured after your third work session. 

Someone had knocked softly at the thick, wooden door and a head of wild, bright pink hair peaked around the crack. 

“Sup bro,” the intruder quipped, as they stepped fully into the room. 

“Hey, Spinner,” you mumbled back, looking up momentarily from the essay portion of your presentation before going back to typing. 

Spinner had seemed to notice him at that point and offered a small wave in his direction. “Oh hey, sorry, thought you were alone,” he said quickly. 

“Nah, this is Tomura,” you said, glancing up again and jerking your thumb in his direction. 

Tomura nodded and tugged at his hoodie strings to stop from scratching under the newcomer’s gaze. He’d gotten used to you, but other people still made him a bit nervous. 

“Nice to meet you,” Spinner had a nice smile, bright and flashy when he spoke. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, looking around the room. “You got the nice one, huh. How’d you manage that?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” you half closed your laptop and stretched a bit. “Jin was working the front desk, so I’ve just been bribing him with vending machine snacks.” 

“He hasn’t gotten himself fired yet?” Spinner laughed incredulously, but not unkindly. 

“Surprisingly not, but he’s completely corrupt now,” you were picking at the cuticle of your thumb and Tomura fixated on the way the skin split off at the nail. Just like his. “A couple packs of chips and a Monster and I get the most bitchin study room whenever I want.” 

“Damn,” Spinner chuckled again and Tomura really wished that he’d leave already. He was beginning to feel himself fading into the upholstery as the conversation left him in the dust. The divergence of your attention away from him or the project was even more annoying that you were. “Well, are you coming to The League meeting tonight? We’re busting out a Smash tournament.” 

“That’s tonight?” you asked, eyes perking up but sliding subtly in Tomura’s direction. “Sorry, I think Tomura and I are gonna be working on this project for a while longer and I’m kinda burnt out. But next time, yeah?”

Spinner rolled his eyes but nodded and kicked off the wall. “That’s not very sexy of you,” he chided and waved a hand in parting. “Gonna work yourself directly into the fucking grave.” 

“Jokes on you, I welcome death.” 

You buried yourself in the screen again and Tomura actually felt a bit grateful for you ending the conversation before he got too painfully awkward. 

But Spinner stopped before he left, looking Tomura up and down from the frayed strings of his black hoodie to the tips of his worn red sneakers. 

“Nice to meet you, man,” he said with a wide grin. “Feel free to tag along next time if you want, we always need more players.” 

The door clicked softly shut behind him and Tomura relaxed back into the silence.

He did end up tagging along—though he spent most of the time hanging off your heels like a lost puppy—to the next meeting of your gaming club and the one after that. Frustratingly enough, he learned that your interests did also extend into skills as you almost bested him in a few rounds Smash. Your profile, lit only by the flashing screen lights, was even more striking outside of his imagined imitations. 

So much so that it found its way into his head late at night when he was too tired to log onto his server. So much so that it had his cock growing firm and tenting his grey sweats without even the visual aid of his go to porn clips. So much so that sometimes, he felt inclined to do something about the throbbing between his legs. So much so that he thought about the way you picked the skin by your fingers. How it looked like his. How your hand might feel like his but softer. Smoother around the edges. With your sweet voice whispering in his ear, making him whine and pant and spill white ropes of release onto his stomach. 

But it was only because you were hot. 

And you were practically begging for him to jack off to the thought of you with those outfits and liking all the shit he liked and noticing when he shrunk away from conversations or including him in them when he started to feel that awful sense of fading into the background. 

Yeah. 

Everybody jerks it sometimes to their group project partners if their ass is nice enough. 

Right?

[djadins]

aurora glow | thrawn x f!reader — part one

An alien ship lands on Earth after electrical failure. You have been surviving alone, the planet being struck by an EMP-like solar flare years prior. What happens when you meet the inhabitants of this ship on your travels?

warnings: violence, explicit language, canon divergence

rating: T

word count: 2.8k

a/n: Thrawn probably is and will be OOC during this series. also, as the story progresses i’m definitely bound to get things wrong and probably accidentally add something that’s actually from star trek (so apologies!) loosely inspired by the Voyager episode ‘Gravity’ and a book I recently finished!

You saw the crash before you heard the explosion.

It had been a long time since something had lit up the sky that wasn’t the moon, sun or auroras. You weren’t very far away from the crash site, you could tell. Although, admittedly, you were still bad at measuring distances. It was on your way southbound anyways - as it was fall, and winter and the first snow would be fast approaching.

You arms tightened around the smooth handle of your walking stick, one of your favorite found items. You preferred to think of them in this manner, rather than “looting” or “stealing”. Could they even be considered that if their owner was no longer there to use them? You didn’t think so, at least.

It took twenty minutes before you were close enough to see the smoke rising out of the giant space... ship. You felt a shudder rip through your body. You know exactly what you saw but it was still a concept you had to wrap your brain around. Believing for nearly your whole life that out there, somewhere, other life had to exist... and actually seeing it with your own eyes were two different things.

You instinctually began walking lower to the ground, closer to the shrubbery and trees, checking your hip for the well hidden, small 9mm you kept on you at all times. You knew you had few bullets left and would not use it unless you really needed to. There was a knife in the inside of your boot that you would try to use instead but only if the situation called for it.

You could make out many white, helmeted figures from here. At least, you assumed that was armor and not their actual bodies. There was also one, deep, calm voice alongside a fair amount of shouting that you couldn’t quite see. You walked in a semi circle, closer to the voices. There was a lot of brush, thankfully, that you could hide yourself in.

When you were close enough to see the event that was unfolding, you instinctively held your breath. There was the spaceship, in all her glory, smoking and partially buried in the ground. You were surprised there wasn’t more outward and obvious damage, but you weren’t sure of the full extent of the electrical failure or how far from the planet it had reach. Many of those white figures were scattered around, holding some sort of weapon in the direction of the action.

The shouting figures, which were now only a few feet from you, were holding weapons you recognized. Even with their backs fully or partially turned from you, you could tell that the three of them were human. Two men, who had their weapons pointed towards select armored white aliens, and one woman. She had a short-barreled shotgun that was pointed at the tallest of the aliens.

His crimson eyes caught your attention first and you released your breath at the sight of them. They were dark, reminding you of the Red Delicious apples you had stored in your pack. His vibrant blue skin contrasted harshly against his eyes and his pitch colored hair and uniform. His hair was short and slicked back but a few strands were hanging over his face. He seemed humanoid apart from his angular face, but even with that, if he wasn’t blue he might actually pass for human.

You realized the woman wasn’t shouting at him, but the uniformed men around him. Their weapons were pointed at the three humans but they were taking no action.

“We want all the food and supplies out of that ship, now!” she shouted. “If we don’t get it in five minutes, I’ll take big blue here down!”

You were close enough to see the jaw in the tall blue alien’s mouth tighten. He pinched his lips together tightly before responding in a cool, calm voice. “As I have already stated, my men will not respond to your demands. Neither will I, for that matter.”

The woman began shouting again. You bit your lip and wondered if you had gone mad for what you were considering doing. You didn’t even give yourself time to think if this was the smart move before you picked up the palm-sized rock that was on the ground beside you. There was a large, wooden warehouse on your right where one of the human men had been standing beside, weapon ready. You were about 30 feet away from it from your current position.

You wound your arm back and threw that rock with everything you had. It smashed through a wood panel, making a sharp cracking noise. All heads momentarily turned, except for the blue alien, who’s line of sight was now firmly focused in your direction. You had already taken off from the bushes, walking stick in hand, when you realized he was looking directly at you.

While everyone else’s attention was still focused on the dilapidated warehouse, you spun your walking stick behind your back and then quickly whipped it back in front of you, hitting the woman with the shotgun square in the head. Your walking stick shattered where it connected with her. She crashed into the ground with a bloodcurdling scream and you grabbed the shotgun she dropped. All eyes were now on you as you pointed it at her.

“Drop your weapons, you two,” you yelled, partially out of breath, eyes still focused on the woman on the ground. You poked her with the barrel of the gun. “Tell them,” you warned her.

She nodded her head and looked around at the two men. You heard the familiar crunch of grass as the two weapons were dropped, but your eyes were still focused on her. Then you heard the shrieks of the men and a sickening crunching sound that followed. Two of the white armored men now approached either side of you, weapons drawn. The blue alien was still silent, but he put his hand up towards his men. They lowered their weapons instantly.

He motioned for you to back up and you did just that. The two armored men flung their weapons behind their backs and went towards the woman on the ground. They restrained her before you finally drew your attention fully to the tall man in front of you. He had stepped closed to you now that you were hanging onto the shotgun with one loose hand, the barrel almost brushing against the grass.

He held a large, cerulean hand out to you. His eyes had seemed to lighten. “If I may,” he started, “it will take my men off edge.”

You nodded and passed the weapon over to him. He held it in both hands, studying it for a moment, before handing it to one of his men.

“Why did you betray your people?”

You looked from his hands back up to his eyes, your voice suddenly gone.

You bit your lip and looked around you, fully realizing the situation you had now put yourself in.

A handful of the armored men had restrained the three humans but the rest were looking at you and the alien. They still had their weapons drawn, and although they weren’t pointed in your direction, you knew that they easily could be.

“Th.. they weren’t my people,” you stammered, looking back into his vibrant eyes.

He tilted his head slightly. “Hmm.” He took his time, looking you up and down before doing the same to them. “They resemble you. Are you of a different race?”

“N.. no. I, uh,” you struggled on how to explain. You bit your lip again. “We are all humans, from this planet, yes. But I do not know them personally.”

Another hmm escaped his lips as you wondered how on this good earth you could even understand what he was saying to you. “I am still perplexed,” he admitted. “What would compel you to help me?”

You looked down at your feet after he asked you this. You honestly weren’t sure what surged through you in what had only happened moments earlier. You looked back up at him, directly in his eyes. “I’m not sure,” you answered honestly. “I have never seen an alien before and I didn’t want you to think we were all bad.”

His eyebrows scrunched together at your response, giving you what you could only describe as a quizzical look. It was as if he was trying to figure you out entirely by solely examining you. He took a step towards you.

“You have never met another who wasn’t from your own planet?”

You shook you head. “Before the blackout, it was a widely debated topic whether or not there was extraterrestrial life somewhere in space.”

He smiled at your response. “Well, I’m happy to inform you, there are many different life forms, spread across millions of light years.”

He watched your eyes light up at this statement. You couldn’t help but look up at the sky above you. You felt infinitesimally small in that moment.

“I am Thrawn, Captain of the Thunder Wasp.”

You looked back at him and gave your name.

“I am unsure of how your people greet one another, however it is a pleasure, nonetheless.”

You held you hand out towards him without thinking at his response. Some of his men tightened their grip on their weapons at your action and you flinched. He looked towards them and shook his head. He slowly mimicked your action, bringing his hand out but not quite touching you.

You grasped his hand, slow enough that he could pull back if he was uncomfortable. You looked in his eyes and smiled, slowly shaking his hand up and down. His hand was large, enveloping yours easily. He was incredibly warm to the touch. “Nice to meet you, Captain.”

He caught on to your action, bringing his hand up and down in a synchronous motion with you. When you both released your light grip, he smiled back at you. “Please, Thrawn is sufficient. I am not your commanding officer, but a visitor to your planet.”

After this interaction, Thrawn’s men separated, leaving the two of you to yourselves. There were still four guards with the other humans and only then did you bring your attention to them.

“Dirty bitch,” the woman spat at you and as soon as she did, one of the guards knocked her in the back of the head. A shudder ripped through your body after witnessing this.

Thrawn called out your name and you focused your attention back to him. “If I could borrow you a moment, I have some questions I would like to ask.”

You shook your head in affirmation. He turned on his heel, hands firmly clasped behind his back as he walked towards his ship. You left your walking stick on the ground as you followed behind him.

The ship was tilted sideways slightly, it’s nose buried in the ground while it’s backside was raised a little above. You approached the side of the ship, where two of his soldiers were standing in position beside a door.

At the Captain’s approach, they grasped what appeared to be suction cups on each individual door. The pulled and the door split open in the middle and Thrawn walked towards it, taking a large step up into the ship easily with his elongated legs. Upon realizing you would struggle a lot more to get in than he would, he bent down and reached a hand out towards you.

You didn’t hesitate as you put your hand into his and one foot on the floor of the ship. It was angled just above your waist and you could feel the stretch burn the back of your thigh. The sensation didn’t last long as Thrawn hoisted you into the ship, seemingly using little energy on his part. He dropped your hand as soon as you were steady and the doors were manually shut behind you.

The corridors were lit with dim red lights along the wall. Shadows bounced as you and Thrawn navigated through the ship. His skin looked almost iridescent in here.

You followed him through many different corridors until he paused in front of a door. He pulled a card out from somewhere in his uniform that he swiped against the panel next to the door and it slide open automatically. Same at the doors outside, just without someone manually pulling it apart.

You looked around as you followed behind him. You were in a large room that resembled an office and had another closed door leading to somewhere else along the wall. There were many different pieces of what you would describe as art scattered through the room along with a giant desk. It had two large, comfortable looking chairs settled on either side.

Thrawn pulled out the chair that had its back facing the door you had just entered, clearly made for whoever was visiting the owner of this desk, which you could only assume was the man in front of you himself. Once you had settled in the chair, which threatened to swallow you whole, Thrawn settled into the seat across from you.

He started by asking you what exactly you had meant by the ‘blackout’ you had mentioned earlier. You did your best to explain what little you knew of it, telling him that a few years prior the sun had sent out a solar flare strong enough to act as an EMP, effectively wiping out all electronics, everywhere, and sending humans back to the stone age. Thrawn listened to you intently, without interruptions as you did your best to work through what information you had gathered through the years. You ended your long explanation by telling him that approximately once every 30 days, another solar flare would hit the Earth for roughly 12 hours and restore most of the electronics during that time. You could tell it was approaching by the aurora that would brighten the sky the night before.

You both sat silently as Thrawn chewed through the information you had just given him. Finally, he simply said, “That explains some things.”

You waited patiently for his next question while he formulated it. You had trouble keeping your eyes off of him, but didn’t want to come off as rude, so you looked around the room every once in a while.

Thrawn called out your name softly while you were staring at a painting situated over his left shoulder. If it wasn’t eerily silent on the ship, you might not have heard it. You looked over at him. He was examining you as if you were that painting hung on the wall. Finally, after a minute that seemed like an hour, he asked what your plans were.

“Well, winter is fast approaching. I aim to keep heading south where it will be warm during the season.” You looked down at your feet. “I have found it best to keep migrating through the years. Staying in one place invites danger,” you practically whispered.

“Are you all alone?”

You held back the emotional outburst that threatened to rip through you at that question. You shook your head in confirmation.

“How long?”

You swallowed hard. “7, maybe 8 seasons.”

You could feel Thrawn’s pity even if you weren’t looking at him, even though if you had looked at him you would have only outwardly seen stoicism.

“When do you expect the next flare to hit?” he asked you after a few silent moments.

You looked up at him for the first time in a while. His red eyes were soft, the color nearly washed out compared to the first time you saw him. He had folded his hands on top of his desk and was hunched over — or what a military man like him probably considered hunched over. His back was still pretty stick straight.

You pondered his question. “If I had to guess, 10... maybe 12 days. I don’t keep track very well anymore and sometimes it doesn’t follow an exact pattern. But it always happens, eventually.”

Thrawn nodded. “Would you be willing to stay with us while we repair the ship?”

Your mouth fell open. Sensing your confusion he added, “You are the only one who knows this planet, we could use your expertise.”

You bit your lip so hard you tasted metal.

Thrawn continued, voice near a whisper. “I will take you off this dying planet in return.”

His transition from ‘us’ to ‘I’ didn’t go unnoticed by you. You still sat there, silently processing his question.

You took a sharp breath in and let it out shakily. Tears prickled at your eyes.

How could you leave the only home you had ever known, if Thrawn and his men could even get their ship working again in the first place?

How could you survive out there, in space? A place you didn’t know... none of your people really knew, where you didn’t belong.

Where would you go? What would you do?

But you had no one and nothing left here.

You gave him your answer and you could have swore you saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards in response.

[haledamage]

#love to be a fly on the wall for the 'oh btw my admiral is sending me with you' conversation :3 ( @queen-scribbles) weeellll, as it happens, I had written the aftermath of that as part of the fic originally, but it didn’t fit so I ended it earlier. it didn’t take much twisting of my arm to convince me to finish writing it ;)

---

The house was less lavish than Vasco expected. He’d assumed a diplomat of Nadia’s station - the daughter of a princess, no less - would live in something more like the governor’s palace. Empty marble hallways and sprawling rooms and enough space that no one ever saw each other if they didn’t want to. Soulless extravagance.

Nadia’s house was crooked and narrow, draped with layers of color and texture, with wooden walls that creaked like bulkheads whenever the wind blew. There were enough rooms for the four of them, plus a few others as yet unclaimed, but they would all still be living in close quarters, sharing a breakfast table and squeezing around each other in hallways.

He was grateful for it. It reminded him a little of home, if he ignored how steady the ground beneath him was.

He ran into Nadia in the hall outside his room, almost literally.

She looked smaller here, softer and somehow diminished, back in her fancy clothes with tidy hair and her arms full of books. The smile she gave him was almost nervous. “Hi.”

“Hello, Nadia.” In contrast, he felt too big for this space, like he was all angles and edges, and had to fight the urge to duck through doorways.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Just days ago they had been on the verge of… something. Something special. But now that their relationship, such as it was, had gone from 'temporary' to 'for the foreseeable future', they felt like strangers again.

He could still remember what it felt like to kiss her. Like holding a storm in his arms. Where were they supposed to go after that? Did they pretend it never happened, or go on as if nothing had changed?

"Did you still want to get that drink?" she asked, as if she’d read his mind. He didn't miss the hope in her voice, though he had a feeling she already knew the answer all the same.

"Not tonight." Vasco couldn't meet her eyes as he spoke, suddenly fascinated by the worn leather of his gloves. It was easier than seeing her disappointment. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m going to be the best company right now. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“I can imagine.” If Nadia was upset by his rejection, she hid it well.

There was a shuffling of paper that drew his attention back to her. He watched her dig through the stack of books in her arms until she found the one she was looking for. She pulled it out of the pile and pressed it to his chest, holding it there until he pulled his thoughts together enough to take it.

Her eyes were very blue when they met his, and the look in them was almost enough to make him forget why he’d just turned her down. “You know where to find me if you change your mind. Or just if you need someone to talk to.”

He nodded mutely, and watched her walk away. Only after her bedroom door clicked closed did he look at the book she’d handed him. It was the journal he’d seen her sketching in on their voyage. Every page was full of drawings, in chalk or charcoal or ink, of the Sea Horse and her crew. Some pages had notes written in the margins in Nadia’s delicate, spidery handwriting, providing context about the contents or her own thoughts about the people or subjects involved.

It was a piece of his home, of his family, that he could carry with him. A connection to the ocean while he was stuck on solid ground.

He didn’t even bother to return to his room to set the book down, simply brought it with him as he strode down the hallway in the direction she’d disappeared in.

She answered the door on the first knock, but clearly hadn’t expected him to be on the other side of it. “Vasco--”

Vasco spoke over the rest of her greeting before he could lose his nerve. “Maybe… just one drink.”