#well i drew the first panel as warm-up and then was like. why not go all the way.... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

severedfromthesource · 3 months ago

Text

Heart of the Forge

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Adam's heart keeps the Pennydurren running-Tav keeps Adam's heart running. Original concept by @emptycalories-splitlip. This part features stething, mild cardiophilia, semi visible hearts. It's a lot of set up for resus and whump down the line.

Lives depend on you.

The little note greeted Gustav every morning, and every morning, he lay in his bunk to stare at it, taped to the ceiling above him. Some days he greeted it with more resentment than others, but most days it was just reiterating what he already felt deep down. The weight of at least a thousand workers, families, and passengers depended on him keeping the Forge going. So he did.

He scrubbed at his hair and slid into his work jumpsuit, his work boots, and slipped a cigarette between his lips as he left his quarters. His bedroom was nearest the engine room, so it was always muggy and damp with heat, the kind that not even sweat could fully cool off. They were in the bowels of the Pennydarren, tucked under the first link of the chain of cabs that, to Gustav, seemed to go on forever. It was impossible to tell really; only fog divers were allowed outside the train. Not unlike saturation divers of old, they had to be acclimated to survive out in the dense fog outside the reinforced steel walls of the Pennydarren in order to patch holes in her hull. Again, he thought of the poor shmucks going crazy in the diving bells, and again he was thankful for the job he had in engineering.

He waved and greeted the others working on the machinery, the walls tens of feet high, some with tall enough components a man had to be hoisted by a pulley to work on the mechanisms. Another job he didn’t envy. They all nodded respectfully back. Another perk of the job compared to others. Folks knew their lives depended on him too. If the engine went dark, they’d be swallowed up in the fog.

Adam was already on the walker as he drew nearer the panel of glass separating them. “Good morning, Tav,” he said, a little out of breath. Tav checked his watch. Adam's skin glistened with sweat, and judging by the time he was nearing the end of his mandatory exercise routine. “What’s so good about it?” he said, stubbing his cigarette out on the wall, scorched black in one spot from this ritual of his. The door slid open between them and he stepped through as Adam flashed him that warm smile. “We could be in the back of the train shoveling shit.” “Fair enough.” He grabbed his tattered wheelie chair and rolled it over to the other man’s side. “Tell me a joke,” Adam said as the walker under his feet slowed and finally stopped, a panel sliding back over it.

He retrieved a small spiral notebook from his breast pocket and a pen, clicking it a few times. “Why was the politician out of breath?” He said as a metal chair, or throne, as it had always seemed to him, shaped out of riveted paneling in the floor underneath the other man and Adam sat as well. “I don’t know,” he said, already smiling. “He was running for office.” said Tav.

Adam laughed, a good natured laugh that wrinkled his eyes to slits and showed off his pearly teeth. “I like that one.” “You always like them.” Tav turned to his equipment laid out nearby. He rolled over behind Adam and began checking the ports protruding from his back. Six of them, three on each side, starting at his shoulder blades and going down in tighter circles to the small of his back. From these, huge ropes of cable hung up into the engine, which hummed with orange and yellow fire from the ever burning fuel within. The fire was mimicked in Adam’s chest, which glowed bright as an xray. His ribs, cartilage, and organs cast shadows, along with the webbing of nerves and veins where the glow turned sort of reddish from the thin tissue. His heart was a flashlight burning from inside his body. It was Tav’s job to keep that heart in good order. Adam, similarly, had only one job: keep his heart beating strongly.

Being that this was entirely an unconscious matter he had no real control over, he did as he was asked. He allowed himself to be poked and prodded. He did his cardio every day without fail, as well as strength exercises to keep his body in peak form, though it had once seemed a waste to have a perfect body when one was relegated to however long the cables reached. He ate the disgusting nutrient slurry they provided which kept his every hormonal and blood level in balance. He read when there was downtime.

Mostly, he watched Tav. He was the only one allowed inside the inner chamber of the Forge, outside of skittish Fetchers who brought him his meals and supplies and the engineer who sometimes worked on the engine. On his birthday, they let his mother visit.

Where Adam was all tone and muscle from a life where his every physical need was met, Tav was scrawny and underfed. His head was shaved on the sides, and tattoos of every shape and color peeked out from the edges of his clothes. He was literally stamped by an existence outside the walls of the chamber which had been most of Adam’s life. He drank. He smoked. He lived beyond the twenty feet of cable tethering Adam to the life of a Forge. He was not stuck with an umbilical cord to an unfeeling mother made of bolts and steel.

He went through his checklist (Shortness of breath? No. Deficiency cravings? No. Muscle cramps or weakness? No. Fatigue? Always, he’d secretly wanted to say. No.) and when he was done, he retrieved his stethoscope. He rolled the chair close enough their knees touched and Adam suppressed a shiver at the minor point of contact. The bell was warm where it had sat between Tav’s palms and he gave the diaphragm one last warm breath before settling the circular piece of metal under his nipple, at the apex of his heart. He pressed two fingers against his throat to feel the pulse at his carotid. This was the part he liked the best, never knowing that Tav liked it too. He lingered always a bit too long when he had the excuse to touch him.

Tav’s eyes flicked up to watch his heart moving, silhouetted by the light behind his ribs. There was a small surgical scar down his sternum, the only mark on his body, from where he had been implanted with the spark that made him a Forge. He’d been a child, picked out of many, to serve as the new heart of the train. Tav had been in that crop of children too, but he was always skinny and too sickly to be of any use. Once, he’d envied that Adam had been made special. After years as his Keeper, he no longer envied him. He situated it over the tricuspid point between the swell of Adam's pectorals. His heart beat steadily against the steth, louder in his ears now that he was closer to a valve as it opened and closed with each pulse of blood. He watched the shadow of his heart as it moved in his chest, contracting and expanding in tandem with the beat he heard swelling in his ears.

"What's new topside?" he asked as Tav lifted the bell to reposition again. He sat the diaphragm against the aortic site near his collarbone, his hand drifting down to touch the pulse at his wrist as well. "Well," sighed Tav, "Nothing, as per the usual. Some weirdo zealots have been tagging the mess hall again. Separatists or whatever." "The radio was talking about them." "It's all the radio is talking about because it's the only thing happening. The people in the lower cars are having a tizzy about it because they're told it's this big uprising, but it's nothing. Couple kids getting a hold of spray paint. Deep breath." Adam obliged. Then he said, "Do they really think we could survive out there? In the fog?" "Who knows what they believe. Kooky shit, mostly. Bet none of them have spoken to any of the divers. Stick any one of them in one of those diving bells for an hour, they'll stop yapping about leaving the trains pretty quickly."

Adam looked around at his chambers and wondered if the diving bells were much smaller, or much more claustrophobic than his own living quarters. It was hard to imagine a place being smaller. He was quiet as the stethoscope was pressed to both sides of his neck and the sequence repeated with the bell of the stethoscope. When Tav made a 'come here' gesture with two fingers at the end of it, he sat up. His head settled in against the smaller man's shoulder as he stethed points around his ribs and his back. He breathed in steadily and deeply, and if he noticed Tav turning his face in towards his neck to soak in his body heat, even in the sweltering humidity of the engine room, neither of them said anything. He didn't want to bring attention to it and break the spell. Tav smelled like whiskey and smoke. He turned in towards him as well. "Deep breath for me." Adam drew it in through his nose, so close now to Tav's skin he was almost touching his cheek.

"It's picking up a bit," said the Keeper, bringing his other hand up to touch Adam's shoulder. "Try to relax." How could he? There was no hiding how the other man affected him. His traitorous heart wanted to bust from his chest and leap into his hands. Do something with me, do anything, I'm yours. Just make me useful to you. He swallowed in a dry throat. Behind them, the engine's cradle glowed a little bit brighter. In the other cars, the lights warmed and brightened, and a few people had to shield their eyes for a moment before the regulators kicked in and diverted the unexpected power surge into other channels. He hated knowing every denizen of the Pennydurren knew when his heart was speeding up. During his exercise sessions, the engineers knew to be on the lookout for surges, but outside of those allotted times, it was a cause of concern. More often than not it ended with his Keeper being sent in, and how was he supposed to explain himself to the man responsible for his racing heart? How could he look at Tav and confess he had been curled on his side in his simple cot, taking himself into his hand, thinking of those inked hands roaming over his body and auscultating his pounding heart?

He squeezed his eyes shut and imagined the bulbs in the third car market glowing hot, imagined that everyone knew his thoughts as soon as they looked at the little suns above their heads, and he took a series of deep breaths. Eventually, his heartrate steadied.

"There we go," Tav said softly, his fingers curling in against Adam's waves of dark brown hair. "Much better." Adam's hands itched to be around him. Instead they hung at his sides. His head laid fully against his Keeper's narrow shoulder. He thought again of all the time Tav spent with him. Not just these checkups, but most times he was the one to bring him meals. The one who doled out his medication. The one who talked him down from panic attacks and nightmares. He'd soothe him and stroke his brow until his heart no longer felt like it was going to pop, and he had never asked for anything from him. Could ask nothing of him, really. What more could Adam give him than a working train? He'd given him his heart; to the Pennydurren, that was all he could give.

"Do you resent me?" he asked suddenly. He felt Tav stiffen a bit under him and the other man shouldered an earpiece out. "Do I what?" Adam squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to swallow those words the moment they'd hit the air. But they couldn't be retrieved now. He took a shaky breath and asked again, "Do you resent me? You... you're always at my beck and call. You have to take care of me more than anyone else. You can't really live your life, you're... leashed to me."

Tav leaned back, taking him by the shoulders. "Adam. The hell are you talking about?" When he opened his mouth to answer, he shook his head, taking him by the chin to make him look up. "No. No, of course I don't resent you. I could never. You think I'm stuck here?" He scoffed. "Buddy, I pop pills in your mouth and listen to your heart once a week. I'm not so irreplaceable I couldn't ask for a different station." "But-" Tav squeezed his cheeks towards his mouth before he could protest. "I like taking care of you. I like talking with you. You're my friend. You're..." He looked down into those twinkling doe eyes and his breath faltered a bit. Adam had the most open, earnest eyes of anyone he had ever met. He didn't know how to lie. He had never been hurt and he had never hurt anyone in turn. And yes, he was more than a friend. But Tav wasn't like him. He hurt people, people he even cared about. He didn't want Adam to be one of those people. So he smoothed his hair away from his forehead and said in a low voice, "You're my best friend. And I'll be pissed if you think otherwise again. So... stop acting like you're some burden on me."

He pressed his forehead against Tav's palm, nodding. "Okay..." He pushed his head back a bit until their eyes met. "Hey," said Tav, "What do you get from a pampered cow?" The corners of the Forge's lips turned up and he shrugged wordlessly. He scrubbed his hand over his hair. "Spoiled milk." Adam scoffed, "That one's stupid." "They're all stupid."

But he liked them anyway.

As their session for the day came to a close, Adam leaned back in his chair, the cables running from his back slotting easily into the grooves cut into the back, and watched his Keeper leave. Tav gave him a little wave over the shoulder. Neither said what was really on their mind. As one went to sulk in his bunk and the other leaned his head back to run every touch over in his mind, neither could imagine the turmoil brewing in the lower cars. They couldn't know how far some people were willing to go to try and escape the confines of the Pennydurren.

They didn't see a boy smuggled into the Fetchers, who ferried the Forge food and any other amenity he would need. Nor could they see the little package of white powder he surreptitiously slipped into Adam's usual medication for that evening.

#resus community #whump #cardiophilia story #resus writing #stething #heartbeat kink #visible heart #scifi cardiophilia #got a little bit away from me but promise theres kinkier stuff coming lol

31 notes · View notes

theidiotwhowritesthings · 2 years ago

Text

INEVITABLE [5]

din djarin x female!reader

warnings: language, discussion of the slave trade, past trauma, some canon violence, mentions of murder

word count: 5,458

Summary: It was like fate or destiny had planned from the beginning for you to be on the run from the law. With the words ‘I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold’ adorning your rib cage you always wondered what was worse: Knowing you were bound to being wanted or realizing your soulmate was a cursed bounty hunter. You had a mission to finish and no bounty hunter, soulmate or not, was going to stop you.

[previous][next]

05: RIGHT PERSON, WRONG TIME

"you never meet the right people at the wrong time because the right people are timeless. the right people make you want to throw away the plans you originally had for one and follow them into the hazy, unknown future without a backward glance." -heidi priebe

The sight of Tatooine was oddly comforting, and you weren’t sure why. It wasn’t like you particularly liked this world. Mando was sitting in the pilot seat, guiding the ship down to the garage he had gained permission to land in, and you sat in the passenger seat with his son in your lap. Grogu had started out in his pram off to the side but had randomly crawled out of it to find you. At first, you had been worried Mando would be upset, but he didn’t even look twice at the action.

“You’ve been to Tatooine before, haven’t you?” Mando asked.

You chuckled. “Of course. It was one of the first worlds I searched. It was obviously a dead end. Wouldn’t that have been nice though? If the first world I searched I found who I was looking for?”

“You still haven’t told me who you were looking for.”

“Sure, I did.” You chirped. “A guy. Remember?”

Mando glanced over your shoulder and the energy could only be described as exasperated. You shot him a grin. Grogu chirped something out and you glanced down to offer the boy your hands. He wrapped his fingers around one of yours and you bounced him in your lap making him giggle. When you looked back up, it was just in time to see Mando’s head snap back to face forward.

It only took a few more moments before Mando landed the Razor Crest in the bay of a mechanic’s garage. Grogu was the first person to move. He leapt off your lap into his pram and then you watched as he hovered down into the cargo bay. Mando leaned over on the control panel to open the ramp.

“He seems excited.” You commented.

“The woman who owns this garage is a, uh, friend.” Mando nodded and motioned for you to head toward the ladder first. As he climbed down you watched a curly haired older woman holding Grogu and cooing at him happily. Mando landed beside you with a solid ‘thud’. He motioned toward the ramp. “Peli is…a lot, but she means well.”

You opened your mouth to question what he meant by ‘a lot’, but the sound of a new voice drew your attention away from him. “Mando! You take ages to visit, depriving me of little Bright Eyes here, and when you do show up the Crest looks like this!” She motioned to the Crest with the arm not holding Grogu. “I oughta⏤” Her eyes landed on you then narrowed. “Who in the hell is this? You finally get yourself a girl, Mando?? She looks too pretty to bother with you, tin can.”

Mando let out a tired sigh and you couldn’t help but chuckle. “I like her.” You walked down the ramp to introduce yourself⏤ offering your name. “Peli, right? It’s nice to meet you.”

Peli grumbled a bit more about Mando before she started examining the ship. A few ankle tall droids trailed behind her and every once in a while they’d get under foot and she’d lightly kick them aside with a snide comment. Uninterested in hearing her diagnosis of the ship, you didn’t know enough about mechanics for it to really matter, you carried your bag down the ramp to explore her garage. The wall of Tatooine heat beat down on you instantly and you began to shrug out of your jacket.

It occurred to you, while you were folding up your jacket to place in your bag, that it really had been some time since you visited Tatooine. Perhaps it’d be worth it to check out the cantinas while you were here. The plan had been to visit more worlds before you started repeating, but if you were already here…

“I think we’ll be able to leave tomorrow afternoon.” Mando’s voice called out. He settled beside you and the glare coming off his beskar was almost comical. “Is⏤Is that alright?”

“Hm?” You questioned. “Oh. Yeah, of course.” You nodded your head toward the garage’s exit. “I was actually thinking of checking out some cantinas while I was here.” Mando bobbed his head, glancing back at the Crest. “What time should we meet up?”

His helmet’s visor snapped to stare at you as if you had said something shocking. You raised an eyebrow in question, and he crossed his arms. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure what part of that sentence was confusing, bucket head.” You teased. You meant it in good nature fashion. “If I’m bumming a ride off you then it’d be helpful to know when I should get back to do so.”

“I don’t think separating is a good idea, mirdala runi.”

The words caught you off guard. He was obviously referring to you as something, but of the questions that arose you chose to focus on the content instead. “Uh, what?”

“Tatooine is dangerous. Especially when you have a bounty on your head.”

You furrowed your brow, keeping an amused smile on your face, “This may come as a shock to you, Mando, but I know that already. I don’t need a Mandalorian bodyguard.” Mando made a sound as if to argue, and you shook your head⏤ more firm with your words this time. “No offense, but you’re like a walking, talking beacon, bucket head. If I wanna stay under the radar I can’t walk down the street with you.”

“I just don’t⏤” Mando forced himself to stop talking. It was the only explanation for why his words came to such an abrupt and sudden stop. You appreciated that he didn’t continue with whatever line of thought he was going down.

This was a budding friendship that you were more than happy to attempt, but if he thought that allowed him any sort of control in your decision making process then he was wrong. You gave him a tight lipped smile, reaching out to pat his arm, “Thanks for the concern.” You swung your cross body bag over your chest. “You have my communicator number, and I have yours.”

“Be careful.” Mando grumbled as you turned for the exit.

“I always try!” You could feel his gaze following you on your way out and lifted a hand up in a nonchalant wave.

All Din could think about was the fact that the last time you walked away from him you nearly had your arm sawed off in a dirty alley. He hated to admit it, but it gave him an overwhelming sense of anxiety. More so than it should considering the length of time he had known you. Literal days. Not even a full two weeks.

“Peli, can you keep an eye on Grogu?”

Peli scoffed despite Grogu still being in her arms. “Does this look like a babysitting service to you??”

“So you won’t?” Din challenged.

“Of course I will, tin can. Get outta here. Bring me something to eat or more credits.”

Din nodded his head at his son. “Cuyir jate, ad’ika.”

Grogu chirped back an acknowledgement and the tone was mischievous. It had been a while since he had this much open space to find trouble in. Din made his way to the exit. With every step, he knew this was not a good idea. Following you, when you specifically said you didn’t want him joining you on your journey through the cantinas, was an invasion of privacy. Din understood that. However, he couldn’t bring himself to listen to his own logic. Tatooine was flushed with bounty hunters and you were a popular quarry.

Din kept a distance from you⏤ to ensure that you wouldn’t spot him⏤ but he did follow just close enough that if something were to happen he could jump in at a moment’s notice. The cantina you wandered into first was one of the larger ones. There was no way he could walk in and not be spotted, but this bar had an upper story that peered down onto the main floor. He slunk in through the back door and settled on the edge of the upper floor in a shaded area. Luckily, the cantina was so crowded that one more body, even a shiny silver one, hardly went noticed.

You were sitting at a table alone and a waitress swung by to grab your order. Din wondered again who exactly you were seeking out and why it involved waiting in cantinas like this. It very clearly had to do with your plan to kill the bastard who wrapped that gold bar around your neck. Din just didn’t know how to connect point A to point B. He couldn’t make it make sense.

It only took half an hour before his fear became reality. A man shoved through the crowd and Din stiffened as he realized where his path was taking him. The human bounty hunter came to a stop in front of your table with a long vibromachete. Din’s hand drifted to his blaster, but you seemed the picture of casual patience. The entire cantina seemed to pause so they could watch the interaction. It was the only reason why he could hear what the hunter said to you.

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”

Maker, maybe that line was overused.

You tilted your head. “Would you really arrest your soulmate?”

Din felt his hackles raise. He did not like hearing you say those words to somebody that wasn’t him. The words etched on his skin should be meant for him and him alone. It was the first time in his life that he felt a possession towards the mark. It was odd after years of wishing them away.

The hunter had a moment of confusion, a question left his lips, and you used that window to attack. Din drew his blaster, but he didn’t even need to aim it. You disarmed the hunter with practiced movements and then pinned him to the floor with his own weapon held to his neck. A swell of pride filled his chest at the display. His soulmate was a fighter. His soulmate was fearless. His soulmate⏤

“Hey, Mando!” Your voice called out and he stiffened. You were grinning at him from down below. A foot pressed to the hunter’s throat as you waved at him. “You wanna head out?”

His soulmate knew he was here.

Dank farrik.

You leaned against the wall outside of the cantina waiting for Mando to join you. The vibromachete you stole from the hunter was kind of neat. Not your usual weapon of choice, but it had its charm. Mando rushed out of the cantina’s door as if he were going to have to chase you down, but he came to a screeching stop when he realized you were waiting for him.

“Took you long enough, bucket head. Did you get lost on the stairs?”

“I needed to… talk to the hunter that approached you.” Mando replied vaguely. He shifted in place awkwardly. It was always an adorable sight to watch the Mandalorian squirm. You really hadn’t thought it possible. “Are you upset?”

You shrugged. “Why would I be? Because you stalked me into the city despite me saying that I’d be better on my own?” Mando’s hands clenched and unclenched. You chuckled. “Nah. It’s fine.” Even despite the helmet, you could tell the man was confused. You began to walk away from the cantina and Mando followed. “I said I didn’t want to be seen with you and technically that never happened.” You glanced at him and motioned between the two of you. “Until now.”

“Oh.” Mando replied. The two of you got a good ways down the busy street before he spoke up again. “Still, I am sorry. I should have trusted you. You…fight well.”

“High praise from a Mandalorian.” You teased.

His shoulders seemed to relax marginally. For a Mandalorian bounty hunter, you thought he’d have more tact in following a mark. Granted, he had hid himself well on the streets and if you hadn’t been drawn to look up then you never would have noticed him. There was literally zero reason for you to glance up at the upper half of that cantina when you did. However, you looked up and your eyes found him almost instinctively. Maybe you were supposed to be upset with him. If anybody else had done that you would’ve torn them a new one, but the sensation of someone having your back was a new one and you found that you didn’t quite mind it. Mando had still let you handle the dumbass hunter who tried to attack you.

“How often do you say that?” Mando suddenly asked. You shot him a curious look and he nodded. “The⏤ The soulmate thing.”

“Oh.” You twisted your wrist to spin the vibromachete casually. “Every time someone tells me they’ll bring me in warm or cold.” You had deepened your voice to say the last bit with a snicker. “You hunters really need to get more creative.”

Mando shook his head. “Trust me. I don’t plan on saying those words to anyone else ever again.”

“Aw. I was your last?” You cooed. His head tilted briefly to the side as if he had been planning on saying something but decided against it. “How about you though?” He stared at you for a beat, and you clarified. “I mean, soulmate wise. Are you marked?”

He answered quickly. “No.”

There was melancholy in his strained tone, you picked up on it easily, and you briefly felt bad for him. Personally, you lost faith in the concept of soulmates ages ago, but the way he talked about them⏤ how they were admired in his culture⏤ it must have stung for him not to have one. You hummed. Perhaps that’s why he felt so strongly about it in the first place. The poor guy would give anything to have one and he had to watch you talk shit about it.

“Sorry.” You shrugged. “If I could peel off my words and give them to you, I would.” Trying to lighten the mood as it had been your fault that it went in this direction, you nudged him with your elbow. “I don’t know how much you’d want my soulmate though. He’s an asshole bounty hunter from what I gather.”

Mando chuckled. “Think of your poor soulmate wandering around with the words of a criminal on his skin.”

You laughed. “True. I’m no catch myself.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t a catch.” Mando corrected quickly.

“Wow. You think I fight well and I’m a catch?” You let out a low whistle. “Bucket head, you’re gonna make me blush.”

Mando chuckled under his breath. The two of you were closer to Peli’s garage when his steps slowed. You glanced at him curiously, wondering if something was wrong, but you could tell he was talking on a communicator through his helmet. You paused beside him feeling odd walking ahead without him. After a moment he sighed and shook his head.

“Telemarketers? Did they finally reach you about the Crest’s extended warranty?”

“No. My friends want me to visit.”

“I thought Peli was your friend.”

“She is. I have more than one friend.”

You grinned, “Well, now you’re just bragging, Mando.”

“I think I’m more insulted that you assumed I only had one friend.” He countered.

“I didn’t say just one.” You argued. “I was counting Grogu too. So, that’s two right there.”

Mando cleared his throat and nodded in your direction. “Are we not friends?”

“Jury’s still out. I’m trying to figure out what perks I get from calling you friend other than free rides around the galaxy.” You smirked at him. “Would you like to plead your case?”

His hands settled on his hips and he shrugged, “I have a few ideas. Come on.”

Mando sounded amused as he continued towards Peli’s garage and you couldn’t help but chuckle under your breath while following after him. An hour later, after he had grabbed his son and packed up a speeder bike, the three of you were flying over the sandy landscape of the Dune Sea. Grogu was squealing from the bag he was nestled in as the wind whipped his ears back, and you kept your arms wrapped tightly around Mando’s middle.

He had grabbed a pair of Peli’s spare goggles, despite her copious complaints, and you now wore them over your eyes to protect them from the sand. It was the only reason you could see what Mando was driving towards. You leaned closer, your entire body pressed tighter against Mando’s back and you felt him stiffen at the motion. He probably wasn’t comfortable with you being so close to him, but that was the only way he’d hear you.

“That’s the Daimyo’s palace, bucket head!” You yelled over the whistling wind.

“I know.” He called back with a chuckle. “I already told you. We’re visiting my friends.”

Your jaw dropped in shock and you were happy to know he couldn’t see it. Was this Mandalorian insinuating that he was friends with Tatooine’s current daimyo? Being that you haven’t spent much time on Tatooine, you didn’t know much about the man other than he had showed up out of the blue one day and mowed down Fortuna⏤ taking his throne.

The speeder came to a slow stop in an open drive thru garage portion sticking out the side of the palace. Other speeders and a few ships were parked there. Mando climbed off the speeder, but you stayed seated in place still in awe. You tore the goggles down so they hung around your neck.

“Mirdala runi.” Mando hummed. Your eyes snapped back to him to see he was holding out a hand. You took it and allowed him to help you climb off the speeder. Mando picked up the bag Grogu was in, wrapping it around his shoulders, but the boy had different plans. He hopped out and began to bounce toward where the entrance into the palace was. Mando chuckled. “The one common trait all my friends share is that they spoil Grogu anytime we visit.”

“Of course they do.” You chuckled. “Have you seen the kid? Big, precious eyes like that. How could you say no to him?”

“He’s a menace.”

“Sounds like his father.”

Mando scoffed, but the sound was amused more than insulted, “I’m a menace?”

You placed a faux thoughtful look on your features. “Hm, do you remember how I saved your son and then you handcuffed me to yourself as thanks?”

“Do you remember when you handcuffed me to a pole in the street?”

“I never said I wasn’t a menace, Mando.” You winked at him.

You began to walk toward the palace while letting your eyes trail over everything in sight. Mando kept pace with you, just a step behind, and you paused at the entrance feeling odd just waltzing into a building like this. Mando’s hand brushed against your arm in reassurance as he passed you and began to walk down the winding stairs leading into the palace. You followed after him and enjoyed the slightly cooler air that being underground and in the shade brought.

Halfway down the stairs, you could hear a deep voice and you assumed the owner of the voice was talking to Grogu based on the cheerful one sided conversation. Mando and you stepped into the palace’s main room and you silently gaped at the Mandalorian sitting on the throne with Grogu bouncing on his knee. The daimyo was a Mandalorian? Well, that explained how your Mandalorian knew him.

The daimyo’s armor was painted in shades of forest green, yellow, and red. Unlike your Mandalorian though, he did not wear his helmet. It sat perched on the throne’s armrest. Behind the throne stood a pretty woman who had a deadly and skeptical glare leveled at you. She was also pointing her rifle at your chest which was a fun addition.

“A desert rat followed you in, Mando.” She hummed.

“Okay, that’s kind of rude.” You mumbled to yourself while holding your hands up in surrender.

Mando slid a step in front of you and shook his head. “She means no trouble, Fennec.”

“Any guest of Mando’s is a guest of ours.” The daimyo chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at her.

“Mando’s guest is a slaver with her face painted on bounty pucks all over the galaxy.” Fennec countered.

You peered around Mando’s broad shoulders with a frown. “The bounty pucks are lying and I think I preferred it when you were calling me a desert rat.” You pointed at her. “If you looked deeper into who put that bounty out you’d see the name belongs to a big name slaver. He lied about why he’s after me.”

Fennec raised a dark eyebrow at you. “And I’m supposed to just take your word on that? How do I know you’re not a slaver turned traitor and your boss is after you now?”

“Uh, this is gonna blow your mind,” You scoffed, “But sometimes flesh traders lie.”

“Then maybe you’re lying to me now.”

You opened your mouth then paused. Quickly, you shut it then nodded with a hum. “Yeah, you got me there actually because if I were in the flesh trade then I could just be lying to you right now. I’m not though. If that counts for anything.”

“Look at her neck, Fennec.” The daimyo commented.

At his words, feeling their gaze on the gold band settled on your skin, you slunk back behind Mando with a frown. What was it with Mandalorians being able to tell the band was a collar so fucking fast? It was better when people just assumed it was a gaudy piece of jewelry.

“Could just be a prop.” Fennec hummed.

You peered around Mando once more to see she had lowered her rifle despite the words. “You are extremely paranoid and untrusting. I respect that.”

Mando held a hand up and introduced you, name and all, “I can vouch for her.”

This seemed to please Fennec and the daimyo so you stepped around him. The daimyo motioned for you to come closer, and you chose that time to raise an eyebrow at Mando. “Took you long enough to come to my aid, bucket head.”

“You seemed to have it handled.” He chuckled.

Your lips curled up in a genuine grin. Mando was fun when he accidentally forgot to be stoic or nervous around you. His dry humor matched your own well, and you loved that he seemed to always have something to say back. As you drifted closer to the center of the room, a large roar shook the ground itself and you scrambled back in panic. The sound came from a cell built into the ground and when you leaned over to peer in you saw a large, familiar creature peering back.

“Maker, is that a fucking rancor!?” You cried.

The daimyo held a hand up. “Have no fear, little one. He is harmless.”

“He tried to crush my skull with his jaws last time I was here.” Mando replied dryly.

Without missing a beat, the daimyo arched an eyebrow at your Mandalorian, “You survived, didn’t you?” He called out a word in what sounded like the same language Mando spoke which seemed to calm the rancor down. Then he turned back to you with a friendly smile. “I’ll introduce myself as Mando doesn’t seem to have the manners to do so.” You heard Mando release an audible sigh. “My name is Boba Fett. This is my associate Fennec Shand.”

“Nice to meet you guys.” You nodded. “This,” You motioned to the entirety of the room, “Was quite the surprise today.”

“Didn’t expect Mando to have friends in such high places?” Fennec questioned.

“I was surprised he had friends at all.” You countered. Boba let out a loud laugh that Grogu joined in on after a second, amused by the man’s amusement, and Fennec’s lip quirked up. Boba rose and motioned for you to follow him deeper into the palace. You glanced at Mando who was shaking his head in exasperation before following.

Despite the relationship starting at gunpoint, you got along very well with Fennec. Then again his relationship with you also started at gunpoint. Din was starting to wonder if that’s how you met everyone. However, after the dinner Boba had the palace staff prepare, you and Fennec had stayed deep in conversation while drinking the local Tatooine brewed liquor. Boba had motioned for Din to come along so he left you behind with Fennec to speak with him.

“So, what is the deal with your new friend, Djarin?” Boba questioned. They had wandered out onto a balcony and one of Tatooine’s suns had dipped under the horizon making the air a bit cooler.

“I thought I was here to talk about a job.”

“You were, but then I met your friend.” Boba chuckled. “So?”

Din shook his head. “There is no deal. I’m helping her out on a…job.”

“She is paying you?”

“Well, no, but⏤”

“Then you’re choosing to do this out of the goodness of your heart?”

Din shot the man a glare. He knew Boba would be able to feel the tone of it despite the helmet being in the way. “Am I incapable of doing someone a favor?”

“Of course not.” Boba replied with a shrug. “But I have known you long enough now to know something is going on there. You orbit around her, consciously or not, and when she speaks you stare at her like she hangs the stars and moons.”

Din scoffed. “I’m wearing a karking helmet. You can’t see how I stare at her.”

“True. It was a guess.” Boba raised his eyebrows at him. “Yet, I don’t think I’m wrong.”

Din blew out an annoyed breath, but he knew his annoyance was probably more on himself than it was on Boba. There was a comfortable silence between the two men that Boba didn’t interrupt. He knew that Din needed a moment to collect his thoughts before admitting to anything. Din glanced over his shoulder, ensuring they were alone, then set his hands on the stone railing in front of him.

“She is my soulmate.”

Boba’s eyes widened, “Wow. Congratulations.” Din tilted his head in a slight nod. Boba glanced back to the palace then narrowed his eyes at Din. “Does she know this?” Din was really starting to hate how well Boba knew how to read him. Having friends was great. Being known was an annoyance. “Djarin.”

“It’s complicated.”

“You’re making it complicated.”

Din felt his irritation lash out in a flash of anger as he snapped, “She doesn’t want a soulmate, and I spent most of my life resenting her. So, no, Fett. I’m not making it complicated. We’re already there.” His frustration was coming to a head. If the two of you had met in any other way at any other time it would’ve been better. “We wasted too many years separately loathing the concept of soulmates. The timing isn’t right. We missed our window.”

“Di’kut.” Boba scoffed. Din whirled to face the man, ready to argue further, but Boba cut him off. “You missed your window? What does that even mean? Fate painted those words on your bodies, and according to fate you weren’t supposed to meet a moment sooner. You did not miss anything, and the timing is not wrong. That’s an excuse cowards make to keep from acting.”

Din stepped toward Boba, his words a hoarse growl, “Do not call me a coward.”

“Then do not feed me stupid excuses.” Boba retaliated. He scoffed and spat out Din’s words, “Wasted too many years.” Boba shook his head then pointed his finger at Din accusingly. “The only time you are wasting is right now. Any moment before the two of you met is not yours to claim. But now? Now the clock is ticking, Djarin, and you’re actively choosing to let it slip away.”

“What would you have me do, Fett?!” Din snapped. “It’s been nearly two weeks since we met. I can’t tell her now after all that time has passed.”

Boba furrowed his brow, more in disappointment than frustration, “Do you think by waiting that decision will become easier? It is only going to get worse.”

Din knew his friend was not wrong and that’s what bothered him most. Every second that he let go by made it more and more difficult, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. To admit the lie he had already fed you. Silence continued until faint footsteps filled the air. Din recognized the sound. The gait was yours.

“You owe her the truth.” Boba said. His tone again was less one of scolding and more one of concern. Din understood the man was just looking out for him, but it was easier said than done. Only a beat later you stepped out onto the balcony, but paused to ask if you were interrupting. Boba chuckled and left the railing to meet you. “Absolutely not. We were just catching up.” Boba cleared his throat. “Think about what I said, Mando.”

You came to stand beside him while Boba’s footsteps faded. “Are you sure I didn’t interrupt? Because it definitely feels like I am.”

“No.” Din shook his head. “Boba is just being nosy. He has that bad habit.”

You chuckled with a soft sigh. “I still cannot believe we’re spending the night in the daimyo’s palace. That’s insane.” You bumped your shoulder into his. “You know any other royalty? Kings of any planets?”

Din felt his lips curl up as the frustration from his conversation seconds ago began to fade. He leaned his forearms against the railing and tilted his head. “Well, I’m the rightful ruler of Mandalore. Does that count?”

“Ha. Very funny.” You snorted. Din chuckled and turned to stare at you. He watched your face drop from amused to confused then settle on disbelief. “No, you are not. Shut up.” Din shrugged. “What!? This entire time I’ve been traveling with you, you didn’t think to mention that!” Din’s smile faltered. That wasn’t the biggest secret he was keeping from you. You reached out and gave his shoulder a light shove. “Mandalorian King.”

“Mand’alor is the correct honorific. Technically.”

You leaned against the railing beside him. “If I had known that, I would’ve been more respectful.”

“No, you wouldn’t have.”

“No, I wouldn’t have.” You chuckled in agreement. “But I would’ve had a whole plethora of different nicknames for you. Instead, now you get ‘bucket head’. Sorry about that, your highness.” Din groaned in response and you laughed again. Din found that he liked the sound of your laugh a lot, but he loved being the one to bring it forth. “What is it you’re calling me?”

Din hummed in question.

You shrugged. “You said it earlier. You called me like… ‘Murder Hall Running’.”

“Murder Hall⏤” Din registered the sounds you were making and laughed. That happened a lot around you, he found. “Mirdala runi.” He shook his head, still breathing out soft laughs. “But I suppose you were close.”

“Whatever.” You grinned. “What does that mean?”

“There’s no fun in me telling you.” Din countered.

“Uh, wrong. I think it’d be very fun for you to tell me.”

“Fine. I just don’t want to then.”

You shot him a mocking glare. “Just because you’re a King you think you can just push us peasant people around.” Din shook with laughter again. “Honestly, I don’t know how you fit such a big head in that small helmet.”

“Talk all you want. You’re not getting an answer from me.” Din stood up and found he was standing closer to you than he thought. He had to tilt his head down a bit to keep eye contact with you. Only a sliver of Tatooine light remained and it made your skin glow. A repeated thought drifted to his mind, but for the first time he was willing to not swat it away. You were gorgeous to him. A sight to behold. Your smile, not the smirk you used as a shield, was more radiant than the rays of light Tatooine’s suns cast, and the mischievous energy dancing in your eyes as you stared up at him felt like electricity brushing against his skin. Din felt alive, and for that reason he couldn’t tell you the truth. It was selfish and he hated himself, but he knew the moment he did you would run. You would leave, and Din wasn’t quite ready to let you go yet. “It’s my secret to keep, ner mirdala runi.”

mando'a translations

Cuyir jate, ad'ika: Be good, little one Mirdala runi: Clever soul Di'kut: Idiot Ner Mirdala runi: My Clever soul

taglist:

@onceinamando @hrtsforpascal @lil-dragon-draws @harriedandharassed @aheadfullofsteverogers @elfamosotoga @the-anchored-sailor-girl @garbo-lesbo @moonlqghts @stokeholdsblog @morks-watermelon @http-onie @chonkercatto @xalphafox @pedrojoe @zarahbronstein @cockscombkingdom @ale0m @shelbyteller @fallinallinmendes @grandtheoristpeach @perilous-pasta @love-the-abyss @kneelforloki @insomniac-nerd-posts-things @marvelouslytrekking @lady-winchester @liadamerondjarin @vampseddie @guccistardust @smexy-bucky-waifu @mayaaaaah @theway-thisis @keepingitlokiii @catharinaroxastova @andreasworlsboring101 @theclassicvinyldragon @your-slutty-gf @i-cant-write-for-shit @ponyboys-sunsets @honeybug-victoria @godesspsyche

#the mandalorian #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #mando x you #mando #mando x reader #mandalorian fanfic #mandalorian x you #mandalorian x reader #soulmate au #reader insert #inevitable

359 notes · View notes

thebadbatch · 3 years ago

Text

Thunder - Tech x Gn!Reader

Plot: Tech protects the reader from a storm that they're terrified of.

Warnings: Thunder, fear, descriptions of anxiety and a panic attack. Fluff accompanies it!

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

One, two, three.

You were currently lounging aboard the Havoc Marauder, swinging in the co-pilot seat as Tech lay beside you fiddling beneath the control panel. These were the afternoons you were used to, some of the batch scattered around the ship whilst others went out for supplies. You and Tech currently remain on the ship, occasionally handing him the necessary tools to complete his job.

"What's something you're scared of?" You aimlessly asked, spinning a little in the chair leaning back whilst occasionally gazing over in Tech's direction.

"Scared of?" He responded, placing his hand out for the next tool he required. Once you placed it into his hand and he began to work again, he spoke. "I suppose in any circumstance I'd be afraid of losing my brothers and you." Smiling lightly at his answer you cuddled back up on the chair humming at his response. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just a little bored and curious." He chuckled at your answer, finally completing his task and sitting up to face you.

"Well I think this is the most entertaining activity but each to their own interests I suppose." He stood and brushed his hands against one another to brush any dust off of them. "May I return the question?" Nodding softly you began to think,

"I get really scared of storms." He tilted his head, grabbing his datapad in his hands and returning to the seat before the main controls. "They're terrifying don't you think?" He shook his head, ensuring all the systems were online on the attack shuttle.

"No, I don't think that." You mustered a simple 'ah' as his blunt answer responded. "Only because I was created on a planet with constant storms, I grew used to it and to find comfort in them." He took a gentle breath in, examining your expression. "But I understand why many may be afraid of them, they're sudden and can spark anxiety."

Before you could reply, Hunter and Echo walked in with a crate of supplies, placing it down in the cockpit.

"Here we go, everything we need." With a smile you got out of the chair, giving each of them a warm hug before opening it.

"You boys go and relax, I've got this!" They nodded and both ruffled your hair as you carried the various supplies to their locations, sorting through them and finally reaching the fuel. Lifting it up, you turned to Tech who still remained seated in the pilot's chair. "Hey Tech? Should I fuel up now or keep it stored?" He moved to face your voice, gazing down at his data pad before moving to view the controls.

"The Marauder could do with some fuel now, this will do nicely." He paused as he stood, walking over to you. "I'll help you fuel it." Nodding you soon followed after him, walking down the ramp and allowing your eyes to roll over the scenery. Darker clouds rolled over the sky, the various loads of nature shaking against the wind that began to kick up the dust against the floor. "Okay, here. Place the fuel against this and it should do it manually." With a soft nod, you did as instructed and allowed the fuel to roll into the ship, fuelling its systems for the next chaotic missions to come.

"Thanks Tech!" You spoke as you removed the empty fuel canister with him shutting the area closed and checking his datapad with a satisfactory nod.

"Not a problem, we should return to the ship and signal for the others to return - it's getting rather dark." Once he activated his comm system, he spoke into it signalling for Crosshair and Wrecker to return to the ship - none of the bad batch had a clue what could happen on this planet as this was the first time you had all stopped here for supplies. He gently gestured toward the ship, a soft smile against his lips. "Come, let's get in." You followed his instructions and returned into the ship with Tech closely behind you as you put away the crate that you all had used. Crosshair and Wrecker had soon followed, Wrecker being the first to greet everybody and picking you up into a hug which you always adored. He was always so warm and kind, something you definitely needed a lot of the time. You were known to be anxious, Tech knew the details of your anxiety but it never got into your way of missions which was good. But even if it did, Tech assured you he would always be there to help which in all honesty gave you a great amount of comfort.

"Did you have fun?" You asked, exchanging stares with both Wrecker and Crosshair who walked into the cockpit after you. Wrecker laughed lightly and nodded, Crosshairs voice speaking instead of his own.

"Just some basic training while we can." He mumbled, offering you a gentle gaze before heading toward the bunks clearly already worn out. Wrecker ruffled your hair softly before moving in a similar direction, leaving you with Tech, Echo and Hunter. Yawning gently, you moved back toward the copilot seat and watched as the darkened clouds rolled overhead and covered what was left of the already darkening sky.

"Do you think it'll rain?" You questioned nobody in particular, watching the darkness of the clouds thicken made your chest grow tighter as you spoke.

"Looks that way, it's probably a storm." Echo replied, fiddling with something before looking at your worried gaze. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine." He offered you a small smile before gently pushing an overtired Hunter toward the bunks for some sleep. Tech ran his eyes over the system once again before ensuring that everything was off in preparation for whatever weather was about to occur.

"We better turn in for the night too then." His voice filled the empty air as he stood, beginning to walk to the bunks alongside you. "We will be collecting a mission tomorrow so ensure you get plenty of sleep, y/n." With a smile you arrived at your bunk and removed your armour so you were in your blacks with Tech doing the same.

"Alright, sweet dreams Tech!" Nodding gently he got into his bunk, switching off any lights that were left on via his datapad.

"Goodnight y/n." With that, the Havoc Marauder fell silent, everybody on board within a deep and calming slumber and everything was okay. Tomorrow would go just as you all planned it to go, simply and swiftly.

You were awakened suddenly by a loud boom and the ship violently shaking against the ground. Rain was hitting against the ship heavily and the room lit up when a clash of lightning filled the sky. The first impression you had in your half- awake state was that you were under attack, but as soon as you heard the rumble of thunder and clash of lightning accompanied with the heavy rain your suspicions were confirmed. It was a storm and you were absolutely terrified. Taking in a sharp breath, you hid beneath the covers that give you nightly comfort and protection from whatever your anxiety mustered up. Tears automatically welled in your eyes and your breathing seemed to escape you leaving your chest feeling tight as you gasped for air.

"Hey, is everything okay?" The blanket was softly removed from your face revealing Tech stood beside your bunk. Upon seeing your terrified self, he crouched down and sat you up so you could lean against him whilst he rubbed your back. "Breathe, Mesh'la." His gentle words helped ground you, but the louder rumble of the thunder reversed whatever good he did. "Breathe with me." His instructions were simple and clear, but everything felt like it was too much to face. He took a deep breath in which you were able to replicate though jaggedly and exhale. You both repeated these slow motions until you were finally in control of your own breathing again but the crying didn't subside. Ever so gently, Tech picked you up and held you in his arms with your blanket still wrapped around you. He had brought you both into the cockpit, sitting you upon his lap and hugging you closely as you both watched the storm unfold before you. Streaks of white lit up the sky along with the rain hammering against the window, dripping down to make various smudged patterns of mist.

"It's loud." You whispered against him softly, his hand gently rubbing your cheek in an act of comfort. His gaze was filled with softness when his eyes met your own, face filled with concern.

"I know cyar'ika, I know…" Tech's voice continued to soothe you but it didn't prevent you from jumping slightly in fear again as another bang filled the sky with thunder. "One, two, three." You watched as he counted, another bang following the numbers. Softly moving your eyes to gaze at him, you gently held onto his blacks as he continued. "One, two, three, four, five…" Another followed which made you gasp lightly, but his hand against your back soothed you almost immediately.

"W-what are you counting?" Your voice asked, hiding against him whilst gazing out of the window before you both. You watched a smile form against his face as his hand continued to rub soft circles against your back.

"You can count the storm to see how far away it is or how near." He paused for a moment allowing the rain to fill the new silence, "It's getting further away see?" Nodding softly you clung to your blanket and watched as the sky lit up, the fear from earlier growing less and less as time went by. "... Five, six, seven." Another clap of thunder was heard, but further away now - the ship no longer shaking whenever the clouds clashed among each other. A smile soon crept onto your face as you watched feeling safe within Tech's arms, the storm no longer causing your chest to tighten in fear. Yawning again you cuddled back up to Tech who happily held you into his arms, the rain starting to soothe you asleep again with your eyes fluttering shut.

"One, two, three..." You whispered, no thunder following it which made both of you smile. Tech drew in a gentle breath as you both watched the trees before the ship wave against the harsh wind.

"Sleep, Mesh'la - I will protect you." A soft hum from you was all it took to allow sleep to overtake your mind and body, Tech holding you and protecting you from the storm outside. Everything was alright, things were safe now.

Once morning had arrived, the storm had long gone as the sunshine took its place. The rest of the batch had wandered in and couldn't help but melt at the sight of you both huddled together in your blanket with Tech's protective hold of you. Opening your eyes you meet Techs awake and gentle ones, a sleepy smile soon on your face.

"Thank you for last night, you really helped me." His fingertips brushed some stray hairs away from your eyes, a chuckle leaving his lips.

"I love helping you, it wasn't a bother." You paused in thought for a brief moment before speaking,

"You remembered I don't like storms?" He nodded with a light smile as he gazed before him,

"Of course I did, I realized the storm coming may have affected your anxiety and I couldn't just leave you alone." He grinned as he faced you, "But it shouldn't be such a shock that I listened to you - I always listen to my Mesh'la." Standing, you moved to kiss his cheeks in thanks.

"Sure you do, Teccie." You couldn't help but laugh as he stood with you trying to defend himself before you spoke again, "I'm just teasing, you always listen to me - thank you." He smiled at your response as you both cleaned up the blankets to prepare for the day you all had ahead. Everything would run smoothly especially after such a lovely nights rest.

#The Bad Batch #Tbb #Clone Force 99 #The bald batch x Reader #Tech x reader #Starwars #Fanfiction #Fluff

205 notes · View notes

2jaeh · 3 years ago

Text

Bibliophile | Xiaojun x Reader

Genre: fluff, smut

Word count: 2,3k

Warnings: mature themes

Author: SIN

Two literature master students decide to make their steamy romance troupe debates a reality.

——————————————————————————

Your heels clicked against the marble floors as you ran over to the university library, hoping the evening rain wouldn’t worsen when you crossed the open courtyard.

Most of the students were either heading back to their dorm rooms or messing around in the common areas, while the only thing that rang in your head was to not be late for your part-time job at the restricted section of the library.

At first you had no damn clue why they needed someone to work there, especially since some of the books were even restricted to lecturers. But thanks to your century old university and their obsession with keeping their sacred books in pristine condition, all they needed was a literature masters student to help out from time to time.

You entered the library and greeted the woman at the front desk before she buzzed you in through to the door that led upstairs to the restricted area.

You quickly jogged up the stares and swung open the door only to be greeted by the only other person working around here, Xiao Dejun.

“You’re late again” his lips curled into a smile as he pushed up his gold framed glasses and inspected a dust covered book.

“Yeah the rain was just-“

“Crazy ?” Dejun peered up and pursed his lips, knowing that every excuse you had always ended in the same word.

“Yeah crazy” you half chuckled and removed your burgundy coat, making your way over to sign in the shift card.

All you knew about Dejun was that he finished his masters and was offered a lecture position at the university but decided to take up this job instead. He was very reserved and once told you that he craved the utter peacefulness of the restricted area, where he was usually either on his own or with you.

“I’m halfway on my thesis now” you said casually as you started fixing the binding of a physics book from the 70s.

“Oh?” Dejun raised his eyebrow and pulled out a chair next to you to tend to his own book repair, “I’m sure you’re glad it’s almost over right?”

You squinted your eyes and sighed, burying your head in your hands as that familiar migraine began to set in. “I’m....stuck” you groaned and peered up at Dejun, “I decided to dissect the romance genre of literature and honestly most of it is hot garbage.”

Dejun let out a laugh and you admired how his dark eyebrows knitted together, making his face look quite animated.

“What books have you studied if you don’t mind me asking ?” Dejun asked, his curious eyes met with yours as he shifted closer in his chair.

“Everything from Shakespeare to Nicolas Sparks, I just hate them all” you pouted and slumped back in your chair, moving the half bound book aside,

“Don’t get me wrong, I chose romance because I love it you know ? I just don’t think that those ‘classics’ do it any justice.”

Dejun nodded at your words and shrugged, “I agree with you, not a fan of that forbidden romance and rich girl poor man stuff either.”

“Right ?” Your eyes lit up and Dejun grinned at your passionate attitude. He’d always found you cute. Every so often he had the chance to work with you on a shift we’re always his best days. He’d listen to you rant about your professors, the music you hated on the radio, or the fact that someone stole your favourite parking spot.

“So....” Dejun folded his arms, “how would you change it ?”

“Change it?” You quirked a brow.

“What’s your perfect romance troupe ?” Dejun smiled softly and his soft brown eyes drew you in and made you feel warm, safe.

“Well for starters I think intimacy should come first and then the characters learn how to love each other as they develop their relationship” you explained, getting up from your chair and began pacing the small room,

“I don’t mind the cliche of they grab the same book or vinyl, I just prefer that instead of 7 chapters of them thinking about that moment they just take the leap right there.”

Dejun pondered on your words for a bit and also got to his feet, leaning against the table as he watched you pace back and forth.

“Would it work for people who somewhat knew each other before hand though ? A friend ? A colleague ?” Dejun quizzed and you nodded quickly,

“Yeah if there’s no prior feelings or hookups then why not ?”

“I guess we can’t test it then since we like each other huh ?” Dejun smirked returning to his seat innocently as you stopped abruptly and quickly tried to process what he had just said.

“I....we...don’t like each other ?” You stammered while ignoring the fact that your heart was racing against your chest.

Dejun chuckled as he carefully inspected one of the pages of his book, “the funny part is that you’re practically experiencing your ideal romance troupe and contradicting yourself by not owning up to the fact that we do in fact...like each other.”

Your mind was racing on every evening that you’ve spent with Dejun up until today. First day it’s true you both did a double take on each other and you found him extremely attractive. Day seven the two of you reached for the only hard cover copy left of Pride and Prejudice and spent the whole night critiquing the book until you lost track of time. Day seventeen you were packing books on the top shelf and as you descended down the steel steps you lost your balance and fell right into his arms.

You were literally living a goddamn romance troupe without even knowing it.

“By your words y/n, we need to skip a few steps now shouldn’t we ?” Dejuns eyes were still on his book, but he knew damn well that your eyes were on him.

“You’re right Dejun” you finally said and folded your arms across your chest.

Dejun turned his head to face you and narrowed his eyes, “I’m supposed to be the one making the move ? What happened to a change of scenery ? Uh women empowerment?”

You grabbed his hand and headed to the back of the room where the roof slightly slanted and the window panels were covered with water droplets as the night sky drew in. You neatened your blue plaid skirt and leaned against the old wood of a work station desk. Dejun cocked his head as you bit down on your lip, not knowing how to proceed to the next step.

“Why here ?” Dejun raised an eyebrow, removing his glasses and tucked them in the top pocket of his white buttoned down.

“I don’t know the setting is....pretty, also when we first met you were sitting at this desk reading the last book a literature master student would be reading” you stifled a laughter.

“Hey Harry Potter is my childhood” Dejun groaned, cutely rolling his eyes, something he did quite often and you would pester him to the point of seeing that reaction.

“Dejun,” you placed your hand on his cheek and his attention was focused on you, those soft brown eyes bore into yours as he took a step closer.

You felt the butterflies in your stomach as he softly wrapped his hand around the small of your back and placed the other on the back of your head. You finally leaned in and he did the same meeting your lips, for the first time and sighed. The kiss was soft, the two you just melted in the instant connection, basking in the feeling before continuing to deepen the kiss.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer until your bodies were pressed against each other, fitting each other’s silhouettes perfectly. Dejun slipped his hands down to your thighs and picked you up and placed you on the desk, not breaking the kiss as he slipped in between your legs.

“I’m afraid I’m going to want more than this” you sighed into the kiss, unable to remove your hands from his toned body as you felt the closeness of him between your legs making you feel aroused.

“Come back to my place” Dejun whispered as he began attacking your neck with kisses and played with the hem of your skirt.

You can’t remember if you said yes or just nodded but you were now in Dejuns car on his way to his place. You enjoyed the passionate kiss he shared with you at the stop street and the occasional squeeze of your thigh when he would make turn into a new road.

The rain had begun pelting down and thankfully you were already pulling into his apartment lot before it became really hazy. Dejun turned to his backseat and realized he had left his umbrella back at the library and sighed,

“Running hand in hand in the pouring rain troupe ?” He held out his hand and you chuckled, “always been on my bucket list anyway.”

The two of you ran for about half a minute in the pouring rain but it was enough to completely drench you from your head down to your shoes. Dejun quickly punched in the code of his door and pulled you inside, already covering you in kisses as his blonde hair stuck to his forehead.

It was one item of clothing after another as the trail of clothes led down to his bedroom, where he had you in just your lacy nude coloured two piece set while he was slowly ridding himself of his pants.

You fell into his bed as you watched him slowly pull his leather belt from its hoops and his black slacks finally fell to the ground,

“You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met you know that ?” Dejun groaned as his eyes scanned over your body and he hovered over you.

“I could say the same about you Xiao Dejun” you mused and pulled him in for another hot passionate kiss. His warm body settled on yours and you wrapped your legs around his waist, wanting him closer even though it wasn’t even possible at this point.

Dejun unclipped your bra and moved his lips down to your breasts, squeezing one in his hand while licking and nipping at the other. You arched your back wanting more but also not wanting to rush him.

“Really want this to last much longer but I’m at my wits end right now” you moaned and Dejun chuckled as he peppered kisses all the way back up to your mouth.

“We have tonight, tomorrow, the next day and the day after that” he smirked against your lips before tugging on your bottom lip with his teeth.

Distracted by the stinging sensation from your lip you shivered at Dejuns icy fingers that was now hooked in the waistband of your panties, slowly pulling them down.

He watched as you squirmed beneath him. Watched how your eyes closed and how you sucked in your bottom lip, awaiting his next move.

You mewled when you felt the cool air hit your arousal and Dejun rubbed slow circles on your clit before pushing two fingers inside you, making you moan his name for the first time that night.

His fingers moved slowly but roughly while his lips softly pecked your hips, abdomen and the very top of your mound.

He was so gentle with you but his movements were still dominating, the mixture was absolutely intoxicating. You pulled him up missing the taste of his lips and before pressing his mouth on yours he caressed your cheek,

“Let me know if it’s too much okay?” He whispered against your lips and you nodded not knowing what you were in for.

Dejun locked your arms above your head and used his free hand to remove his boxers before entering you, already finding a rhythm to his thrusts. You threw your head back and moaned his name yet again as he slammed in and out of you, his grunts and your whimpers filling the bedroom.

His hand stayed locked on your wrists as he used his other hand to knead your breast, giving you multiple sensations at once. You almost hated the fact that you were close to your peak and it hadn’t been more than five minutes of him inside you.

“God I really don’t wanna cum right now” you whined as he still pounded mercilessly inside you.

“Good thing I’m not gonna let you” Dejun murmured and just as you thought your orgasm had reached, he pulled out of you and rolled onto his back,

“Get on top.”

You listened to his instructions but before sitting back on his member you gave him a few pumps, finally able to see him squirm under your touch this time round. Dejun gave you a small smack on your butt, and you finally abided to his request and sat on top of him, the new position already bringing you back to where you started.

Dejun sat up to meet your thrusts as you rode him, and you found your hand tangled in his messy locks as the two of you practically screwed the hell out of each other. The kiss this time was filled with lust, filled with lip biting and exchanging of saliva as you felt your orgasm fast approaching and noticed Dejun’s pace was slowing down too,

“cum for me baby” Dejun mused as he used the last of energy to give you a few hard thrusts until you finally came undone and he followed quickly after.

It took about two minutes of trying to catch your breath before you finally rolled on the bed next to him and wiped the beads of sweat from your forehead.

“Yeah this...this was definitely missing in some of those novels” you turned to Dejun who had a smile spread across his face.

He pulled the covers over your bodies and pressed his lips to your forehead and cheek,

“Should we write our own novel then ?”

“Yeah, yeah we should” you smiled, closing your eyes feeling at peace as his warmness enveloped you.

#nct scenarios #nct smut #nct imagines #nct angst #nct au #nct drabble #wayv imagines #wayv au #xiaojun smut #Xiaojun fic #Xiaojun au #wayv smut #xiao dejun #kpop smut

173 notes · View notes

brandyllyn · 4 years ago

Text

Flexibility (noun)

Poe Dameron / f!reader [no use of y/n]

Summary: Making Poe’s dreams of sex in an X-Wing come true. Alternatively: The things we do for those we love. Even if it means pulling a muscle.

Part of the "Goofballs in Love" Series of One-Shots: The Scoundrel’s Reward, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Flexibility (noun), Give me my sin again, Writing on the Wall

My Masterlist

Words: 3k (Read it on AO3.) [complete] Rated: Explicit Warnings: language. PiV sex. fingering. bruises.

"This is the worst idea you have ever had."

The metal of the X-Wing was cold against your back, Poe’s body in front of you warm against the cool night air. He had one hand on your hip, the other playing with the edge of the skirt you had put on for the occasion. His face nuzzled into your neck and you felt more than heard him laugh.

"Well that’s not even close to true."

You snorted, wrapping your fingers in his curls and pulling his mouth back to yours. "Ok then Flyboy, let’s get this going before I change my mind."

The grin he gave you was boyish and wide, grabbing your hand and pulling you over to the ladder. He took the steps quickly, glancing back at you a couple of times before he lifted the edge of the transparisteel and slid into the cockpit in one smooth movement. You paused, staring at him and then at the cockpit controls.

"Are you sure that it won’t…?"

Poe nodded, holding his hand out. "Half the engine is scattered across the hangar. Even if it was powered up it’s not going anywhere."

You took his hand and let him draw you towards him, saw him press his lips to your knuckles. You eyeballed the cockpit dubiously. "Poe, there is no way-"

"Yes there is," he cut you off, flattening himself against the nearly vertical seat. He gestured between his thighs, "Right here."

It was maybe eighteen inches of space between his chest and the flight controls. Maybe. But that wasn’t even the first problem. You leaned in, searching the cockpit for somewhere to put your feet. His hands were instantly around you, pulling you down before you had a chance to get any leverage and you tumbled face first into him, one of your knees landing on his thigh, the other leg still hanging out the side of the X-Wing.

"Oof, Poe!"

He groaned, trying to shift your weight and you felt a muscle in your leg pull in a way that muscle was never intended to.

"Poe stop, Maker I-"

"If you don’t move we won’t be having any fun for at least a week," he grunted and you suddenly realized that maybe your knee had landed higher than you thought. You braced your arms on the side panels, lifting and twisting your body until you were sitting in his lap rather than kneeling in it. It wasn’t comfortable. At all. One of your legs was bent between the two of you, sideways against his chest with your knee under his chin. The other leg stretched over his shoulder, ankle high in the air behind his headrest. The flight controls were digging into your back and you clutched at his shirt to relieve some of the pressure.

"This is-" you started but he cut you off.

"Sexy as hell."

Your eyes flew to his but he wasn’t looking at your face. He was looking at where your skirt had fallen back and he could see that you’d taken his advice and gone without underwear. You squirmed, trying to get comfortable and Poe helped. Well, "helped." He pulled at the leg pressed to his chest and maneuvered you until both your legs were over his shoulders.

"Oh yeah," he moaned, still looking down at you and you arched your back away from the control stick digging into your spine. He made a soft mmph noise, one of his hands sliding around to tuck between you and the offending object.

You huffed, letting your head and body fall back, forcing him to catch your weight with both arms. You could hear him laugh but you were staring up at the hangar ceiling. "Well? What now Flyboy?"

He pressed a kiss to the inside of your knee, his breath warm and tickling. "This is not exactly how I imagined it."

You either. Bent into a 'v'-shape in the cockpit of the X-Wing, your feet poking up into the air behind his head. "Really?" you asked, still limp across his arms, staring upwards. "This isn’t the sexy good time you were dreaming of?"

"Come on," he patted your ass, "let’s get your legs under you."

You grimaced, lifting your head finally to glare at him. "Close your eyes."

His brows drew together, "Why?"

"Because this is not going to be attractive and I don’t want you watching me while I do it."

"Honey I-"

"Close. Your. Eyes," you said it more forcefully this time, biting off every word and glaring at him. He dutifully closed them, the corners of his lips tilting upwards and if you could reach his face you’d kiss it off of him.

Groaning you gripped the edge of the cockpit, pulling yourself forward. You didn’t quite have the strength to lift yourself but Poe was there, hands cupping under you and pushing you upwards until you could get the leverage you needed to hold yourself up by your arms. One of your feet pressed to his shoulder and you heard him grunt but ignored it. This was his fantasy, he could deal with the mechanics of making it happen.

Glancing around, you propped your foot on what you hoped wasn’t an important control panel by his left elbow. Finally having some stability, you pulled your other leg towards you, but there was no comparable panel on his right, just smooth steel.

"Dammit," you mumbled, crouched and barely holding yourself up on your hands.

"Just put your knees by my hips," he offered and you glared at him. He couldn’t see it of course, he was being good and had his eyes closed.

"There’s nowhere to put my knees, your hips take up all the space."

He frowned, "Don’t make fun of my hips, you know I’m sensitive about that."

Rolling your eyes you managed to wedge one knee between him and the side of the X-Wing, hearing him grunt at the sharp pressure. "I’m not making fun of them. I’m stating a fact."

You took a deep breath and sent a prayer up before you made your next move. Lunging forward you managed to wrap your hands around the headrest, pulling your chest close to his. You still had one knee up by your ear, your foot propped on the panel. His eyes opened when he felt the seat jerk, his arms wrapping tight behind your back.

"Better?" You asked, one eyebrow raised.

He looked down at the awkward crouch of your body and you saw his lips twist into a smile. Then his face scrunched up and he started laughing even as he drew you close for a kiss. He tasted like joy and Poe and you loved it.

"Okay," he finally said after a minute, leaning his forehead against yours. "Maybe I didn’t think this through."

"No no," you corrected, shifting your weight slightly, "this definitely works, I think I just need to…" you lifted your right foot off the panel and quickly shoved your right arm under it and grabbed his bicep. It was even more uncomfortable but the bark of laughter the new position brought from Poe was worth it. "See?"

"Stop," he nuzzled his nose against yours, "you’re going to hurt yourself."

"Oh that ship has long since sailed," you muttered, wrenching your arm back out and trying to find a contortion that wouldn’t send you to the MedBay.

"Maybe if you face the other way?" He asked hopefully and you gave him an incredulous look. "What? I’m just saying that it might work better."

"You are lucky I love you," you grumble. "Okay, hold me up while I let go of the headrest. Otherwise I’m going to impale myself on the flight controls and good luck explaining that."

He laughed, arms tightening around you and you let go of your death grip on the seat and placed your hands on the sides of the cockpit again. Using your grip and his steadying hold you managed to lift yourself and lean forward.

"Oh this is nice," his muffled voice came from between your breasts.

"For you," you mumbled under your breath, pushing off with your foot and twisting so you were sitting on the edge of the cockpit, feet propped up across from you. Your knee caught the side of his head as you settled and he made a harrumph noise.

"Remind me to wear my helmet next time," he griped.

"Do not even start with me Poe Dameron," you cautioned, stopping for a minute to catch your breath, fingers rubbing at the bruise you knew you were going to have on your thigh.

His hand came up immediately to the same spot, soothing his fingers over it. "Honey, we don’t have to-"

"No," you cut him off. "I said I’d try and by the Maker I will. We will try every way your little heart can think of and when none of them work you never ask me again."

You could tell he was trying to hide his smile this time and you took a steadying breath before you twisted again, sliding down his chest and settling into his lap, your back to him and your feet propped up on the control panels. Your knees were bent awkwardly in the air but at least it was a normal amount of awkward.

"See?" he murmured into your hair. "This isn’t so bad."

It wasn’t actually, not that you were going to admit it. But you could already see the logistical problems in your future. "Yeah, this isn’t going to work either."

You could feel him pout, his hands cupping your breasts under your shirt. "Why not?"

"Because nothing is lined up."

"Just put your-"

"Poe I swear if you use the word 'just' with me one more time…"

He was quiet for a moment. Then he coughed, "I was going to say if you leaned forward a little?"

I love him, I love him, I love him. You repeated the mantra over and over as you searched for a way to wedge your feet around his legs, finally managing to gain some purchase. The flight controls dug into your stomach when you leaned forward and rested your forearms against the control panel. It wasn’t comfortable, not even a little - but you tilted your hips, arching your lower back, and suddenly everything did line up. You could feel it.

His hands tugged at your skirt and you felt the cloth sliding across your skin before it came loose and you were bare against him.

"Oh yeah," you heard him groan. His fingers wedged between you, trying to unfasten his pants. "Can you move forward-"

"No," came your short reply. "There is literally nowhere for me to go. I mean that."

"Not even-?"

"If I move any further forward I’m going to be riding the flight controls not you."

A beat of silence.

"That would-"

"No," you cut him off, glancing over your shoulder with a glare.

He looked utterly unrepentant. "It was just a thought."

"What did I say about that word?"

He was thankfully silent, his hands on your hips. You tried to ignore the sharp jutting presence of the flight controls in your stomach, the toggles and switches that were going to leave marks on your forearms from having your weight rest on them. You heard him heave a sad sigh.

"Should have taken my pants off before you sat down."

"Oh now you’re thinking about the mechanics of this."

He pinched your hip and you squirmed. Then, in the saddest voice you’d ever heard from him, "I guess this isn’t going to work."

You hung your head for a moment, the controls shifting slightly to jab into your abdomen. Then you huffed a breath of air.

"You’re going to have about six seconds to get your pants open. Can you do that?" You barely waited for his reply before you lunged forward, fingers scrambling across the control panel for purchase, lifting yourself just a few inches off of him. The flight controls were hard against your pubic bone, and it probably wasn’t even six seconds before your fingertips gave out and you fell back into his lap with an oof.

One of his hands was still there but he managed to wriggle it around a bit. You could feel his nose nuzzle your spine through your shirt. "One more time for me?"

"I hate you," you mumbled, trying something different this time. Finding something you could press down on and lift yourself up rather than forward.

"You love me," he corrected, hand stroking along your backside and helping you lower yourself more slowly, taking his cock one inch at a time. "You fucking love me and I am eternally grateful for it."

It still wasn’t comfortable. But you were used to discomfort. That was part of being at war. Hells you’d even been shot. You could take some annoyances and discomfort for the man who was making the most amazing little noises behind you. Grinding his hips up into yours. One of his hands groped your breast under your shirt, the other trying to guide you against him. But all he succeeded in doing was rubbing the edge of the flight controls into you.

"Poe, this isn’t-" you started and he froze, his cock twitching inside you.

"What is it?"

You pulled his hand forward, turning it so he was covering the edges of the controls with his palm. That was better. Still like being slowly punched in the gut when you rocked back on him a little but at least it didn’t hurt. And you could tell he appreciated it too, his fingers pinching your nipple and his forehead falling to your back.

"Are you going to be able to-?"

"Not on your life." A huff of laughter and then a groan when you tightened your muscles around him. "But that’s fine by me. This is all for you."

"You’re so mmph good to me."

"Just remember this the next time I want you to wear something special for me."

"I’ll, fuck, I’ll wear anything you want," he promised. His breaths were coming faster, small grunts escaping him while he made what little movements he could in the cramped space. A sudden thought occurred to you and you arched your back a little more, letting him sink deeper.

"Black Leader…" you drew the words out on a breathy sigh.

He froze, his hand on your breast gripping almost painfully. Then his hips rocked up hard and you felt the breath get knocked out of you. "Fuck say that again."

"Fuck me Black Leader." You moaned it this time. Every part of your body might be aching and sore, but between your legs his cock was magic.

"Never gonna be able to fly again," he mumbled into your shirt. "Crash every time I think about this." You bit your lip and squeezed down, flexing every muscle you had on him. His answering groan filled the cockpit. His body was hunched over yours, "This is amazing. Fuck, you’re amazing."

"Black Leader you feel so good inside me." You cooed the words at him, purposefully making your voice low, breathless.

"Fuck I’m going to come." His breath fanned across your spine, hot and harsh even through the material of your shirt.

"Come for me Black Leader," you groaned and he did, hips pushing into yours, forcing you into the cockpit controls. You were going to have bruises for days and every one was worth it for the way this man held you and came inside you. Shuddering his pleasure into your body.

You both felt and heard his body fall back into the seat, leaving your back cold. Carefully, you shifted your position, pushing off the control panel and moving back. You felt him slip out of you then slide wetly along your ass when you leaned back and settled your head on his shoulder.

"If only this seat reclined," you sighed and felt him laugh when he wrapped his arms around you.

"If we’re going to make wishes, I wish this damn flight control was removable."

You glared down at the offending object, sticking up obscenely from between your spread thighs. A bubble of laughter spilled from your lips and you felt him doing the same, reaching up and turning your head to kiss you. You darted your tongue out to his lick his lip and then jerked in his arms when his hand lifted your skirt again.

"Poe…"

"What?" he asked, all innocence, his fingers unerringly finding your most sensitive places.

"Nothing," you sighed. "Don’t stop."

"I wouldn’t dream of it," he whispered into your ear. "You’re so good to me, you know that?"

You smile, raising your arms and settling them on the headrest behind him. "I think I might have heard something like that before."

He chuckled as he lifted your shirt, cupping your breast even as his fingers continued to tease between your legs. "Hmm? And have I told you today that I love you?"

"You know," you shifted slightly and gasped, "I don’t think you have."

He kissed your neck, fingers stroking with sure rhythm between your thighs. "I love you."

"I love you t-" your voice broke when you came. You heard his satisfied groan behind you, felt him press his face into your neck while you rode his hand through your pleasure.

You didn’t move when you came down, just lay against him and enjoyed the soft brush of his fingers on your breast, your stomach, your thighs. He stroked you lightly, occasionally stopping to run his fingers over the marks and developing bruises from where you had been pressed to the controls. He murmured apologies into your ear, so low the words rumbled through you and you sank back into his embrace further - convinced you could fall asleep like this.

His voice broke into your gentle reverie. "Now how do we get out of here?"

Giggling, you didn’t bother to move. You figured out how to get in. He could figure out how to get out.

#Poe Dameron / You #poe dameron / reader #poe dameron x you #Poe Dameron x Reader #poe dameron imagine #star wars sequels #star wars fanfiction #goofballs in love series #fic #writing

261 notes · View notes

dear-mrs-otome · 4 years ago

Text

Gute Besserung - IkeVamp (Faust)

'Tis a silly ficlet that's being rattling around in my head ever since that PV came out...and I'm a sucker for 'taking care of the sick'. 1500 words of Faust self-indulgence. Thank you to @mikotomizuki and @ambrosiallkiss for letting me scream about this!

She woke slowly. Swimming up through thick sleep that clung to her limbs and consciousness enviously, as if loathe to surrender her. Eyes too heavy to open still as she took stock - of the odd weight of her body, of what she could only imagine was the warmth of sunlight basking one half of her face, of the dry rhythmic scratch of nib on paper somewhere nearby.

Faust.

She knew without even needing to see for herself, recognized that omnipresent sound. Only he ever wrote thus, in a frantic scathing scribble, as if his thoughts were always tumbling faster than his hand. As if he were always racing time, trying to outpace something.

Ironic, given how much of it he had, she supposed.

Her own thoughts were sluggish, too-warm and chasing themselves in nonsensical circles, like withered leaves in the last heated gasps of an autumn wind. Her mouth dry with that patina so particular to a long convalescence.

She managed to crack her eyes open just as the writing stopped. Greeted by arched ceilings, stonework and heavy wooden paneling, walls lined with shelves that groaned beneath the weight of countless books. The faint astringent waft of chemicals framing a sharp counterpoint to the softness of the featherbed she reclined on. She needed no more than a passing glance to realize she was in Faust’s room...but why?

The ensuing silence was only broken by the slight tick of Faust’s glasses on the desk as she watched him set them aside, one hand rubbing at the bridge of his nose and over his eyes before raking through his hair, mussing the midnight strands with a sigh. His usual jacket had been cast off somewhere, leaving him in naught but rolled up shirtsleeves, looking altogether far more rumpled than she had ever seen. His broad shoulders bent as if beneath some burden, and in her daze she wondered what sort of weight could ever possibly bow his Atlas frame.

Her lips were parched as she sought her voice, finding only the barest ghost of it. “Faust?”

He jerked, snapping to attention, blinking owlishly in her direction for a moment before snatching up his glasses. They settled back on his face at the same moment his customary smile settled on his lips. Sardonically charming, effortlessly wicked.

She’d often thought the Serpent must have smiled at Eve much like that, from amongst the verdant fig leaves. More the fool she was then she knew, for recognizing it as such and still letting herself be seduced.

"Still among the living, then?" It was delivered in his usual droll style, the hint of a laugh always threatening to break through it seemed, as if ever ready to have a joke at her expense...but there was something taut about the inscrutable gaze he leveled at her. A wariness, almost. That of a breath long held, not yet released.

She sighed her indignance as best she could, offering him a kitten-weak glare even as an answering smile tried to tug at her lips. "Feel too terrible to be dead."

He hummed his assent, the sound rippling into a chuckle as he scooted his chair closer beside the bed, reaching for a pitcher and glass upon the nearby table and pouring a small measure out. Swift deft movements helped her to sit up against the pile of pillows and held the cup to her lips, letting her have her fill of water.

“What happened?” she managed, when her tongue no longer felt bone-dry and cleaved to the roof of her mouth.

“You fainted dead away in the midst of the soup course, four days ago. I was unaware that you found broccoli so repugnant.”

“Hah,” she huffed, and he seemed to relent.

“It would appear you came down with an illness of some sort. You’ve had a fever, some delirium, these past three nights. Influenza, or scarlet fever perhaps, though I see no sign of you presenting with a rash…” He trailed off, speculation creasing his brows as he lay a hand on her forehead, gauging her temperature. "The fever only broke this morning."

She sifted through the shards of memories his words unearthed, trying to puzzle them back into something whole. Snatches of long hot spells, of strange dreams and visions and feeling utterly wrung-out. A voice speaking often, low and sonorous, syllables broad with the brunt of German. And amidst all that, blissfully cool touches much like the fingers still settled on her brow.

She didn’t even realize she had been nuzzling into the reprieve of them until she felt them lingering on her cheek, their slight chill a welcome comfort - pausing just a heartbeat past propriety before withdrawing, pulled back so that his fingers could twitch into a tight knot on his lap.

“You've been here the entire time?” She framed it as a question, but they both knew it wasn't.

It was an attempt to avoid, perhaps, that had him turn towards the notes on his desk and shuffle them. “Was I to pass up an opportunity to observe the course of an illness up close? To see how a modern constitution fares against diseases of the past? A vampire’s physiology requires little in the way of rest.”

A wry smile did manage to find its way onto her lips them. “You could have just said yes.”

Faust sniffed. “It was either that or leave you to that jackleg Charles, and that was not going to happen. You needed proper medicating. I administered antipyretics first, though they seem only to have taken the edge off your fever. Phenazone, then phenacetin -"

He had taken on an all too-familiar tone, and she attempted to head him off before he got lost in his suppositions. "Faust."

"Although again with little effect. I thought perhaps simply an analgesic would at least allow you rest but opioids are for hacks. Not to mention that a soporific was the last thing you needed, given our attempts at getting you to -"

"Faust."

He rolled on over the top of her interruptions, almost rambling...but this was no mere animated lecture. It was the first time she'd ever seen him anything other than poised, and her attention came to rest once more on the dark circles carved beneath his eyes, those self-imposed bruises poorly masked by the disheveled tangle of his hair. "-regain sense enough to drink. Dehydration was certainly a concern, and your -"

She reached a hand out from beneath the covers and set it carefully on his knee. "Johann."

The muscles of his leg beneath her fingertips flinched, then seized, his words dying in a slight intake of breath. She saw him swallow thickly before he continued.

“You called for your mother. Crying like a lost child.”

His abrupt bald statement startled her, both the unexpectedness of it and the morose implication. Wondering just how closely she had flirted with death after all.

“You called out for me as well. In the throes of your fever.” He spoke to the grip she still had on his knee at first, before his stare shifted to pin her. A hoarseness running through his words, faint but unmistakable. One lone snagged thread in the dark-silk weft of his voice. “And there was nothing I -”

His jaw clenched down on the rest of that sentence and the silence drew taut, like a bowstring poised to devastate.

She didn’t know what to say to that, didn’t know what to do with it. Didn’t know what to do with the green gaze that searched hers, questions sparking through it like sunlight off jade. And so she sidestepped it, let the elephant in the room settle into safe, uneasy repose.

“Thank you,” she told him at last, earnest in her gratitude. “I know I couldn’t have been in better hands.”

The ghost of his usual confidence haunted the lopsided smile he offered her. “You’re welcome.” He adjusted the blankets around her once more, hesitating the barest of moments before taking her hand in his and cradling it in his lap, fingertips pressed to her wrist. “Your pulse seems to be stable.”

But he didn’t relinquish it, long after she knew he must have counted out the heartbeats necessary...and she let the languid sweep of his thumb along her skin lull her back towards the exhaustion that welcomed her with open arms. “You’ll put me to sleep doing that,” she mumbled on a smile, eyes already closed.

“Rest then. You need it still.” His own words were no more than a low murmur now, almost more felt than heard. A soothing rumble that traipsed up her arm and seemed to make itself at home inside her chest. “Schlaf gut.”

And she wondered if she was asleep already, perhaps dreaming, when she felt the careful press of lips against the fingers curled around his - as if to seal that sentiment in place.

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp faust #my writing #ahhdkslfj what is writing even anymore #sobbing

167 notes · View notes

ohheyitsokay · 3 years ago

Text

earn

pairing: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) x reader

wordcount: 2k

warnings: implications of an abusive household/family

summary: this started out as a fic about the fact that the Razor Crest was destroyed, and ended up being a fic about the reminder that your value to a person should not have to be earned

You needed to sell your cousin’s ship.

Well, you didn’t really need to – he had given it to you when he settled down. A gift, he said, for the only other adventurer in our family. Your mother hadn’t heard, or she would’ve glared even more.

Since you could remember, she had not liked that you yearned to search and explore the stars. She did not like your desire to help people, to be your own, to change.

She hadn’t liked that you’d chosen smaller adventures on your planet, either, but you had finally learned that she could not stop you, even if you still avoided extra conflict. You helped and narrowly escaped the local authorities depending on the day, and tried not to resent the mediocrity of both.

The ship should’ve just been yours. It could’ve been, would’ve been, had your grandfather not held your hand with his frail fingers asking you to stay a little while longer. It was a big ship too, flown better with another person, and you had no one who understood your desire to leave your little planet. And you couldn’t stand the beautiful thing nestled under tarps, mocking you. If you sold it, you could at least buy a more modest one for yourself later.

That’s what you told yourself, as you spread the word all around that you needed a buyer. Selling it bought good favor it bought with your family, which you used to take your time as you looked for a suitable sale, searching for stories as to warm your heart.

When the two Mandalorians created a stir a town over, and you were there immediately, drinking in the interesting shapes and veiled voices hungrily, wishing the excitement of their lives could rub off of them onto you.

They had a woman with them, tall and lithe and wary and you saw your future in them, and ached. Tucked in a corner of the gathering area, you watched for awhile before averting your eyes, knowing they were like your ship all those miles away. Just salt in the wounds left by your invisible shackles.

The night was lovely, too beautiful to be fair, as you walked towards your home town, and you kept your eyes off the sky.

As your crossed into the outskirts of town one of the Mandalorians was standing at in the shadow of a tall plant, as if he was waiting for you.

“Why were you watching us?” He moved into the light and his armor gleamed and it was distracting, how unmarked it was.

“It does not matter,” you said stupidly, carelessly. He wouldn’t have asked if it didn’t matter, and his straightened shoulders snapped you back into reality. It should have been muscle memory by now, to watch yourself around a dangerous person.

“I have a ship to sell,” you corrected yourself quickly. A half truth.

“So I hear,” his voice rumbled, but it was amused. “You’re lucky I was the one who noticed you, little one.” You flushed, out of embarrassment and just a little bit of pride.

“It just so happens that I need a ship,” he stepped closer to you and you stood frozen as he drew up his full height, forcing you to bend back to meet his visor as he added, “and the whole truth.”

You told him a little too quickly for your pride. About needing to get out, wanting to make a difference, do something with your life, and seeing that in his little party. His posture changed again, when you spoke of your family’s control over you, and again when you spoke of staying, for your grandfather. The reputation of cold, stern, self-interested warriors did not match the understanding and instinctive protectiveness he was demonstrating. It was fascinating, baffling, almost too good to be true.

And he made you an offer before he even saw the ship.

At your grandfather’s house, you whispered it to him, as you smoothed the blanket over his stomach.

One boney, loving finger traced from the apex of your forehead down, over your nose and lips, to your chin. He was letting you go, and you swallowed, willing yourself not to ask twice. You kissed his cheek, and took the deal.

The other Mandalorian and his companion had looked you over and shrugged as you defended your usefulness, and left the planet before you and your new… boss? Comrade?

You did not know. You were still afraid of him, just … less than you were of staying, and it was your single chance. To take the ship and the adventure and not look back.

The agreement was that he would take you with him, and he would pay you for it over time. You’d get your shot at adventures, at freedom, and he got a near free ship for his use, a strangely perfect fit.

Despite such a dubious beginning, it didn’t take long for you to adjust to the life.

It was amazing, to see the bits and pieces of his work, to help him set up carbonite for his bounties and rearrange to make the ship more effective. He didn’t speak much at first, but you craved knowledge of the galaxy and he quickly realized you learned from the stories, soaking in information and connecting context like a sponge in water. Slowly he shared more and more, and realized beyond making you more useful, he enjoyed it.

Feeding you information paid itself back, as you always gave him eager, bright smiles in return, or helped him process information that even his sharp mind hadn’t thought of.

Sitting side by side as you shot through hyperspace felt more like home than either of you had bargained for.

Your first job on your own coincided with a longer hunt of his, when a mechanic offered you a quite high amount of credits to be an extra set of hands. In the morning you would roll out of your cot, set up the protocols for the ship, and trudge over to carry boxes and bins and hold tools and wires and panels of sheet metal. Part of the deal was that you would smile and make nice with the more advanced workers, as well as his clients, and you provided as best you could. At first, it was enjoyable, your learning curve was steep, and you liked to see creatures with lives from all over the galaxy. But you quickly began to understand you had little time for that, and were forced to duck your head down and, as always, do what you were told.

It was worth it, you told yourself, to be doing something productive while he was away. Already it felt like the ship was almost his, and you were grasping at your new freedom like an eel in the water. If you were useful, and brought in your own income, it would help you and least find your footing in the mud.

When he returned, you told him proudly of your work, showing him the credits like they were your first piece of beskar. His voice had a smile in it, as he watched you, and his gloved hand had touched you cheek gently. It was good, he told you.

Din liked the feeling he got in his chest when you were around him, when you looked at him, and especially when you smiled his way. He went out of his way, from then on, to create similar opportunities for you, to try new things and use your skills. For once in his life, he wasn’t hurting for credits, but it was lovely, to see you be proud of yourself. The missions were shorter than that first one, though, because he preferred being with you to almost anything else.

It made him feel lighter, after the chaos of the last few months, to work, and come back to a ship where you were waiting for him. He had never met anyone like you – selflessness disguised as ambition, as smart and careful and kind as you were strong and capable. After the child had been taken from him, he didn’t know if he would ever open himself up again, but he couldn’t resist.

After you came into his life, ship aside, there was no going back. You found ways to make rations more interesting, took the time he never had to scour the markets for tiny improvements, always kept a hand free when he needed something to hold on to. It made him feel like man, not simply a bounty hunter or even a Mandalorian.

There was no other feeling in all his travels, that compared to that of your weight against his side. It startled him, even though he had been the one to pull you there as the two of you stood, staring at the cargo bay, but it became as necessary to him as his armor. Din would reach for you, hand finding your opposite hip, and tug you against his ribs and you would melt into it. Your warmth seeped through the cloth, and the tension would ebb out of his muscles so much he could almost sleep standing up.

He tried to tell you sometimes, but words rarely felt necessary or like they actually communicated what he wanted to. And the way you touched his arm or hugged his clunky armor made his heart full, so he could only hope his touches and actions did the same, for you.

Still, you asked for words sometimes, so he told you stories of the Mandalorians, his childhood, and his adventures with Cara and Boba, and even the child. Once, he pulled your forehead against his helmet and told you his real name. Those were the words that sunk in like the roots of your relationship. The grounded you both, the foundation for understanding between two healing souls.

When he returned from a shorter mission to find you glossy eyed and frustrated in the kitchen, and you dropped his hand after a single squeeze, he was lost. Moving through the area, he grabbed food, trying to put it together the way you did, clumsily trying to show you he cared, how you did, to him.

It coaxed out of you the story of your day – the problem and the fall out. On the surface, he didn’t understand.

You had tried to get work and it fell through, everyone was feeling grumpy and you didn’t have the skill set they were looking for. Din wanted to shrug – it happened, and ask you if you enjoyed your day off.

But there was something more, of course there was, or else you wouldn’t be here with storms in your eyes, flinching from his touch.

“I’m sorry,” you concluded and he reeled. You were sorry?

“It’s fine,” he didn’t know what it was, but he was sure of it wasn’t already, it would be. You flinched, like he had confirmed something was wrong, and Din was even more confused.

Then it dawned on him.

All this time, he thought you knew. Not really one to say things so plainly, he thought for long moments over the exact right words he wanted.

“You… don’t have to earn your right to belong here,” his voice was sincere as it filled the dry air.

The tears slid down your face, and he rushed over to you, cautious but concerned. You were sitting in a chair and he knelt by your side, not touching you yet, but watching and listening closely.

“Really?”

If you could see his face, then you would see his unruly dark eyebrows draw together.

“Of course,” his hands reached for you then, brushing off your tears, and willing his honestly to sleep into your skin through his gloves until you believed it. “You do not have to earn your right to belong here, in my life. My family.”

There was a quiet crack in his voice, and it broke something in you, but the break was good. Like a tree you’d seen once, split open to let the poisoned sap ooze out a litter quicker. Din moved his hands to hold yours and you let him and the air was quiet, and for the first time fully peaceful, content.

Someone once told you “unhappiness cannot stick to a person’s soul if fit’s slick with tears” and you knew it was true when you rolled out of your cot the next morning. It would be a long process, to unlearn lessons you’d been taught grow, but as you walked into the cockpit, you felt for the first time you didn’t need the strength for it. He would help, and you would help him.

“Good morning, Din,” you murmured, and he looked up at you, warming you all the way through. “Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer you for a moment, just checked that everything was in place, and you waited. Then he stood his full height, and you almost had to bend to meet his visor - but you weren’t afraid. Pulling you into him, you could almost hear his smile when he spoke.

“Somewhere where there’s nothing to do, mesh’la.”

His forehead found yours, and it helped you not to ask are you sure?

After all, he wouldn’t have said so if he wasn’t.

taglist:

@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms @beautyagegoodnesssize @princess76179

#resisting the urge to apologize for this #din djarin #din djarin x you #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #maybe i don't know people

93 notes · View notes

ronnieiswriting · 3 years ago

Text

BY DORNE PART 3

F!reader x Oberyn Martell No descriptive terms for reader, no use of y/n, EXPLICIT, ongoing

Part 1 Part 2

Important: set WELL before the events in Game of Thrones/ Book one of ASOIAF- King Aerys Targaryen is on the throne, Elia Martell is alive, Ellaria Sand is not in the picture (yet?) and Oberyn doesn’t have any daughters yet. As for the universe this is set in, Each major house (Starks, Tyrells, Arryns, Martells etc) are the families that run each region of Westeros but with a 70s backdrop instead of a high fantasy one.

The reader is Oberyn’s favourite arm piece- one he brings to lots of events. He’s known as the hungriest of all the Martells and he likes to prove that to anyone who might question that, therefore, its no secret that Oberyn has had a number of partners and sometimes multiple at once, men and women. Insatiable appetite aside, Oberyn hasn’t enjoyed spoiling any girl as much as he does you, and he’s set on keeping you around for as long as you can keep up with him.

TAGS!!: female masturbation (descriptions, references, partner watches), subtle power play, 70s circle beds, crotchless romper, lots of praise, implied oral f receiving, other sex acts implied/ referenced, feelings, a little bit of angst at the end. ENJOY (if I missed any tags pls let me know!!)

“Did you touch yourself while I was gone?”

If you had expected any other words to be the first from your lover’s mouth the second he found you- after almost two months apart- you would've been disappointed. The first thing he had done, however, was pull you to him eagerly and greet your starved lips with a searing kiss. When you had separated only for the necessity of air, Oberyn had started remapping your body with his hands as if he had forgotten it in his absence.

You hummed against him, arms circling around his neck where his dark curls brushed against your skin. It had gotten longer since he had been away- you wondered if he planned to get it cut soon. “I missed you.” you told him, drawing in a breath of his cologne.

Oberyn groaned. “Honey, did you touch yourself?” His hands climbed up further, thumbs brushing against the sides of your breasts.

You nodded. “Of course I did. I missed every bit of you with every part of me.”

His brow creased in response. The world forgotten, Oberyn led you in the direction of his room. “How many times.”

You weren’t oblivious to the power you had over the man currently attacking your neck with desperate lips, and you couldn’t deny its effect on you- his effect on you- a welcome kind of intoxication. You gave him an answer, “I lost count.”

He nodded against you, lips dragging and stubble catching across your skin when he looked away to fumble with door handles. After he cursed them for sticking, he pressed a kiss to the corner of your mouth. “You’ll forget all about your fingers when I’m done with you.”

When he finally got the double doors open it was you that pulled him inside, slamming one shut again by shoving his back against it and the other with a kick.

He looked at you differently then- still like an animal of course- for you had never known the hunger running deep in his pitch black eyes to ebb its flow. But this look came when you would reach out and touch the power you had. And nothing needed to be said, no words to acknowledge the truth- the way Oberyn looked at you let you know exactly how he felt about you seizing power.

The hardening length of him pressing against the inside of your thigh also got the message across without spoken language.

You leaned into the sensation and ran a hand up his chest, along the thick chain of his heirloom necklace. Dropping your voice only slightly, you said “Why don’t I show you?”

Oberyn was leaning forward so far on the vanity stool that you were almost sure he’d fall off it and get a mouthful of the brightly coloured shag rug that covered one side of the room. He watched intently as you draped yourself over his circle bed, pulling back the sheer curtain on your way in a manner you hoped was seductive.

Since you knew Oberyn was coming back that day, you’d made a point to wear one of his favourite pieces- a slinky, lace romper with only a few skimpy panels of silk. Though, what he liked about it most (other than the way it barely brushed the tops of your thighs- and the fact that it was sinfully crotchless) was the colour; not the typical warm orange or bright yellow that the Martell’s so famously covered everything in. You were like a beacon in the room as soon as you took off the earth-toned dress you were wearing, capturing the man before you as he drank in the sight of the romper- rich, royal purple.

He had muttered something that sounded remarkably like an old Dornish verse at the garment, swallowed, and restrained himself to the seat where he adjusted himself shamelessly.

Once you had gotten situated against the pile of velvet cushions set up against the arched bedhead, you stretched for effect, reaching high so he’d get a good view of the way your pert nipples peaked against the fabric. Seeking the rush from his response, you looked at him through your lashes and let out the faintest of moans.

His full lips tugged up at that, edging impossibly closer to the foot of the bed. You found yourself wondering how he would look kneeling for you… another time, you thought.

When he smiled fully, you were unable to resist mirroring it. “Go on, baby.” he said, voice strained with admiration. “Show me how you missed me.”

You obliged him, edging a hand down between your legs that you parted wide for your man to see. When you reached your uncovered sex, your eyes locked onto Oberyn’s as you spread yourself open with your fingers and felt the wetness that had began to gather there. It started slowly, your digits easing the anticipation into a low pressure that made your entire body relax further into the plushness of the bed.

He praised the sight, “That’s it, honey.” and you agreed with a lazy hum.

For a few minutes, you were content with the languid pace at which you teased yourself, running fingers up and down your slit and coating your lips with your arousal. Sufficient pressure built, you tilted your hips towards him and pulled one fingertip over your clit. The pleasure was instantaneous but you resisted throwing your head back in favour of maintaining eye contact with the man at the end of the bed. You noticed that he had scooted the chair forward and contorted himself to be eye-level with your cunt, elbows on his knees, one thumb tracing his bottom lip as he drank you in. He began to compliment you again, “Sweet honey, you look so-” but you cut him off when you moaned his name- circling the bud again to the sound of his voice catching. Before you could hold back the flutter of your eyes at the sensation, you saw the devilish smirk that took to Oberyn’s lips. He repeated the sentiment slower this time and complete, matching each word to the tempo of your fingers, “Sweet, sweet honey. You look so fucking gorgeous.”

It was then that you were suddenly, painfully aware that the man who was so good at pleasing you was so close to you and yet wasn’t touching you- not his hands nor his lips or his cock. His tender words were nowhere near your ear and they weren’t kissed into your skin- it was as if he had become the presence you imagined when he was away. And while the both of you were so clearly enjoying the dynamic, it was an intense thing to act out what you had done to imitate his affections in front of him. There was a rush to it- something exciting about showing him how you could superficially replace him- and the powerful feeling you got out of it easily outweighed the frustration of not having him between your legs right then.

Oberyn seemed to enjoy it as much as you did. You coaxed yourself closer to release with one digit slipping just inside every few swipes. You could hear him through it, his voice harmonising with each breathy moan from you and it sounded like he was repeating phrases- thanking the gods for what he was witnessing, cursing himself for not coming back sooner, praising you, encouraging you- and you could tell he was dying to touch himself.

Though you had intended to watch him the whole time, your eyes kept rolling with the effort to chase a climax. Looking at him again, you could’ve pounced on him- he had shifted upright and was working idly at the buttons on his shirt, never taking his eyes off you. He noticed the way your attention drew to the tent in his pants because you showed your appreciation by wetting your lips and arching your back, fingers never stopping.

You moaned his name again and he chuckled. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m not going to touch myself. To think I’d come in my hand when your pussy is right in front of me- now that would be an insult.”

You replied without thinking, “You don’t have to come- you--” you paused to squirm, finding a better angle, “You could just stroke yourself a bit?” You were offering him the chance to even the dominance, maybe even take all of it. You’d let him.

It was a vain effort and a suggestion he refused entirely. “If I’m going to make you forget about your fingers- I need to see what they can do, right? I need to know what I’m up against.” He returned to his previous position, chain swinging heavily into his bare chest, hands locked together on his knees and gaze set on your dripping centre. “Don’t let up, sweetness, okay.”

His words encouraged you to go faster still and you moaned louder. When you started to thrust two fingers inside yourself everything felt enhanced. Your feet slid against the sheet as you struggled to ground yourself through the rapidly increasing intensity and your gasping breath turned into a string of words, “Gods, Oberyn- I missed you so much.” and “Did this every night- in every room.” A feat you exaggerated a little- Oberyn’s mansion was a relatively small building next to the Martell manor but it couldn’t be called humble. Your whole body started to burn when you told him how you missed his cock.

He didn’t hesitate to rouse you further, telling you how much he missed you- namely, “Your sweet cunt…” You lost sight of him when your head finally fell completely back into the mass of pillows but his voice rang equally insistent and lustful. “You’re my best girl, honey.” he said as you continued to tightly swirl your clit. “My sweet lover- that’s it, baby- so good for me.”

Tantalizingly close now, you reached under the romper to flick your nipples, squeezing because you desperately craved the same level of stimulation he’d so often saturate you with. Chasing that feeling further, you tried to hit your clit with the thumb of the same hand you fucked yourself on but you couldn’t.

For a second you almost gave up and asked him to help you come- add a finger- anything. But he got you there before you could even get out a word or a pleading moan. Oberyn’s praises came again and he practically begged you to come for him. “Come for me so I can make you come again and again. Let me prove that I missed you... Come so I can fuck you so good you forget the entire world--”

Your climax came out with a choked sob and in a white hot flash that drained all the feelings in your body. All of you went limp but your chest heaved in the air. The bliss was incredible and well-earned but there was so much more to be had.

With the little energy you could muster, you beckoned to him with the same fingers you pulled from yourself. They were still glossy with your slick but barely had the chance to cool in the air as Oberyn’s lips quickly latched around your fingers. His tongue swirled to devour your spend and hungry hands roamed over your tired thighs that trembled in the aftershock.

Kissing your knuckles once he had licked you clean, he moved the same hand to the crown of his head and encouraged you to grab hold. He gave your other hand the same treatment before he moved his lips over your thighs, massaging the tension from them with the pads of his fingers. “My turn.” he mumbled into your skin.

By the time Oberyn had proved himself better than your fingers, the sky was beginning to turn purple with dawn. When he had found you that day it had been just after 10pm.

Somehow, though, whether due to miraculous pacing or because neither of you had so recently exerted yourselves, you and Oberyn were still wide awake. He emerged from between your thighs again- this time without a heavy pant or a shiny chin- with a washcloth in his hand. Coming up to sit back fully on his knees, he unashamedly looked you over.

The purple romper had been folded down around your waist and you were sure one of the straps were broken from the force it had been yanked down with. He smirked proudly at the number of hickies he had left all over your skin as many of them would be seen regardless of what you wore. “You look good.” he said.

Oberyn was quite a sight himself. When he removed himself from the bed to return the cloth to his ensuite, you admired the way his skin gleamed with a thin sheen of sweat. His hair stuck out in every direction and before he disappeared behind the doorway, he rolled his shoulders and neck with a happy groan. You called out to him, “You make me look good.” Then, put off by the feeling of the lace against you, you kicked off the romper fully and stretched back out on the bed.

He replied, “I don’t agree with a single word of that, baby.”

When he came back into the room, you couldn’t help but admire the almost comical way in which he had shrugged on his favorite robe but not bothered with affording himself any more modesty in it than he had completely naked. You took the opportunity to ogle him openly, proud of the marks you had left on him and he wasted little time in crossing the room again to rejoin you on the bed. When he had gotten comfortable situated between your legs, this time on his back, with his head resting on your stomach and arms slung over your thighs, Oberyn looked up at you fondly. “I do think I proved myself though.”

“To who?”

That smug smile returned, “Well, to you.” Then he looked to think on it for a moment, pondering as his fingers drew half-thought images across the skin of your thigh. “Proved that I’m still good enough for you.”

You didn’t even bother to hold back from rolling your eyes. “You know that’s ridiculous, Oberyn.”

Oberyn nodded, warm eyes drooping before closing softly. “Mmhmm” he hummed.

It settled like that for a while. You stroked his hair, drawing more relaxed hums from him while a question started bubbling up in your mind.

You pushed it aside for a different one, “Why don’t we do something tomorrow?”

“Can’t, I’m afraid.” He sighed, “Doran wants me to come in first thing to review some clause in the trade documents with Lys- something about a weird shipment- it's all very complicated really. I’m sure he’ll find a way to keep me there longer too and spring more papers on me or something.” When he finished the silence started to sting. “I’m sorry, honey. You know I’d love to-”

You refused to let him get to the “but” in that sentence, “It’s okay--really! I mean we just did a lot… Maybe later in the week?”

Oberyn kissed your hand. He was visibly relieved of the tension diffusing between you.“You got it, honey.”

Oberyn left about an hour later, giving you a tender kiss on the forehead and the promise of “soon”. The warm spot beside you and the marks on you were the only tangible signs that Oberyn had even been there at all and you lamented the fact that they too would be quick to flee as the rest of him had.

You hated to pout but it was easy when your lover had barely spent a day with you before being snatched away again by something more important. Important, demanding or serious -any similar word- was more so because you were relatively less. You- unlike business or politics or events- could wait on his bed all day and night for his return.

Ultimatums weren’t known to be answered romantically every time. And you swore to yourself that you’d never force him to choose. Nevertheless, the seed of doubt had been planted and the casualness of your relationship with Oberyn nurtured it against your better judgement.

You stewed over these thoughts long into the morning, staring up at the canopy butt-naked.

He had told you something before he left for King’s Landing two months ago that you remembered suddenly. “... you are the reason I am going to rush back to Dorne.”, the unspoken idea there being that he would value your company above the general comfort of familiarity. You had almost told him then how you felt about him, but a nagging feeling had told you to hold it in and now you had to suffer under the weight of more doubts and insecurities.

Maybe if you had, he would have been able to clear up half of the doubts you were festering over- maybe he would have said he loved you too. It was a selfish thought but irresistible all the same and you were too quickly lulled into indulging in it.

#oberyn martell #prince oberyn #prince of dorne #oberyn au #oberyn nymeros martell #oberyn x reader #oberyn x you #oberyn fanfic #pedro pascal #game of thrones au #game of thrones fanfiction #game of thrones #asoiaf #modern!oberyn #ronnie's actual writing #ronnie's aus

58 notes · View notes

kylorengarbagedump · 4 years ago

Text

Defy Your Authority: Chapter 4

Read on AO3. Part 3 here. Part 5 here.

Summary: David Rose voice: Oh, my god!

Words: 3200

Warnings: dude

Characters: Kylo Ren x Reader

A/N: First: Thank you to @bastila-ren and @elmidol for their beta-kindness.

I'M ALIVE. I got super burned out at my job, took 5 weeks of FMLA, got incredibly depressed, but now I'm back! Very thankfully, my COVID symptoms were extremely mild. Thank you very very much for your well-wishes and your concerns.

I wish I could express enough apology for my lack of activity, but hopefully uploading a chapter is thanks enough. You all have been so supportive and kind to me. I am SO thankful and appreciative of everything y'all offer me!

(as a side note: I know some people do not like dude, that it throws them out. I am very sorry, but in the politest way possible: I am not going to stop using it. I like it too much.)

I also hope you enjoyed the chapter! God I wonder what's going to happen next chapter. I just don't know.

Love you all so much <3

“Piece of shit.”

Growling, you tugged out another panel from the silencer’s dash. At this point, about a dozen slats of buttons boxed you into the pilot’s seat, crowding you in the cockpit. All of them looked flawless upon inspection, and this new one was no exception. Wires were attached and the circuits were complete, every switch was grounded. You’d gone over a handful of systems already, trapped in this cockpit for hours. The silencer’s refusal to function made no sense. There had to be something you were missing.

The memory of smoke and flames licked at the perimeter of your mind. Yeah, there was a lot you were missing.

Pain burrowed, opened a well in your chest, and you shook your head, rubbing your tired face. There wasn’t time to think about anything else. Sitting forward, you started reattaching the panels to the console. You needed to focus on this. Even though the answer to where you’d go and what you would do once you were finished remained nebulous. Even though you were now apparently unknown and unloved by almost everyone in the universe, including the one man you’d waited on for months.

You caught a sigh in your chest, exhaling into your palms, shutting out the urge to cry. Crying right now was a waste of time. You still had about fifty systems to check, and you’d only read through about half of Kylo’s post-flight novella. Swallowing, you grabbed your datapad from the seat and flipped to the report, forcing yourself through the urge to skim.

It wasn’t like you weren’t interested. Normally this sort of thing was like a buffet for your freakish little brain. But you kept tasting embers on your tongue. Kept seeing your crew--completely unarmed, helpless fuel outpost workers--drowning in destruction. Kept hearing Hux’s voice: Multiple Resistance fighters… Heat gripped your neck, clogged your throat. Multiple fighters for a tiny station. Multiple fighters against three soft, fleshy bodies.

The First Order was not your creed; just your employer. The machine of war had always been an inconvenience to the prestige of working on elite starfighters. You knew that the loss of three cogs was nothing to that machine. In the past, it’d been nothing to you too. But you’d never eaten meals or laughed with or supported those lost cogs when they’d cried. This loss wasn’t just to war. This loss was horrifically and uniquely yours.

“Stop.” You shook your head, tossing your datapad back on the seat. You’d finish putting the console back together, then you’d figure out what to do next.

Jaw tight, you grabbed another panel, and your grip slipped. The sharp edge sliced your palm where the wood had lanced you earlier.

“Fuck!” You dropped it and clutched your hand, seething while you tried to squeeze away the agony. Everything from your fingers to your wrist throbbed, and your chin quaked, tears burning your sight. “Fuck! Fuck!” Snarling, you kicked the panels at your feet. “Fuck!”

The thin cut felt like a sobbing gash. You tore off your jacket and wrapped the sleeve around your palm, wincing when you tightened it to the wound.

“Stupid fucking panels!” you growled, kicking the panels again. “Stupid fucking ship, stupid fucking Kylo, stupid fucking Resistance!” The final kick dented a panel, popped off a shiny button. “Gods!”

You covered your face in your jacket and screamed until your throat crackled, until your lungs were dry. Head spinning, you drew in a breath and screamed again, stomping the floor until dizziness dropped you into the pilot’s chair. Warmth glowed at your cheeks, leaked down your back. Tremors rippled to your toes as you took in a long, steadying breath, exhaling in reluctant relief.

You considered sitting there forever. But it only took two seconds for you to remember how Kylo also sat in this chair thinking of and dealing with everything that wasn’t you before you grunted and climbed out of the cockpit.

The rest of the hangar seemed wholly unconcerned or otherwise ignorant to your tantrum. Wiping your eyes, you hopped to the ground, wagging off the lingering fury in your limbs. Maybe you just needed a walk. You cleared your throat and kept your hand clutched to your chest, the whispering ache pulsing in rhythm with your heart.

In all the hours you’d been in the cockpit, the Steadfast had continued to orbit Orinda. Xi-class shuttles whirled beyond the hangar entrance--probably staffed with crew collecting reconnaissance from whatever the Resistance left behind from the attack. Your feet carried you to the fuzzy blue edge of the magnetic shield’s barrier, meters from vacant space. A quiet hum resonated from its perimeter through your soles.

You gazed into the galaxy. Orinda was a glimmering grain of sand, adrift in the celestial trenches. A fuel outpost turned graveyard. An acceptable casualty of the Resistance. Another home where you couldn’t return. That whispering ache rumbled to a hiss and cast itself over your skin, raking it over with misery, with exhaustion. Your chin quivered. The only place you could think to sleep was the silencer. Eyes falling to the floor, you turned back to the hangar.

“My quarters.”

You squealed and jumped, clapping your hands to your chest. Feet away stood Kylo Ren.

“Shit!” you said, exhaling in relief. “How the hell do you do that?” When he said nothing, you continued, “Like, sneak up on me like that.”

“You’re not perceptive.”

You frowned. “Okay, well…” He wasn’t wrong. You sighed, shrugged. “Anyway.”

Kylo stepped forward, assessing you in your tank top, scrutinizing the tourniquet you’d made of your jacket. “Your hand.”

“It’s fine,” you said, holding it behind your back. “Your quarters?”

His stare lingered on your exposed shoulders, on your neck. “Stay,” he said. “Until the silencer is repaired.”

“That could be as early as next cycle.”

“Given your skill, yes.”

It was difficult to look in his direction. Every worn nerve screamed for his touch. “And then what?”

“You’ll depart to another station.”

You tried to flush the pain from your voice. “So,” you said, “you want me to stay with you through, like, one cycle, and then leave.” You looked to the ceiling in faux-consideration. “Cool. I think I’ll pass.”

Kylo’s eye twitched. He moved closer, tone icy. “You have nowhere to sleep,” he said. “I…” He paused. His tongue rolled in his mouth. “You mean to tell me you prefer the silencer.”

“Well,” you replied, “I’ve never fucked the silencer. I never told the silencer how I felt about it. The silencer has never treated me like a stranger who just walked off the plains of Lothal.” You tapped your chin. “So, yeah, I prefer the silencer.”

He grit his teeth. “You’re no stranger.”

“Sure could’ve fooled me!” A couple of heads turned in your direction.

“Quiet,” he hissed. “It apparently takes very little for you to be fooled.”

“Excuse me?” you replied. “Run that by me again, Supreme Leader?”

“Now your hearing fails you.”

“This is great.” You offered a false smile. “This conversation is going really well.”

Kylo snarled, shoulders bunching with restraint. “You speak this way and then question why you’re unwelcome,” he replied. “Deaf and foolish.”

“Oh!” A frustrated laugh escaped. “Okay, then. Talk to you later, Your Excellency. I need a nap before I keep trying to fix your dumbass ship.”

Shaking your head, you folded your arms over your chest and stormed past him, anger blurring your vision. Stupid fucking asshole--

You made it three steps before a warm leather glove grabbed your shoulder, and you stalled, goosebumps shooting to your hands. Kylo spun you, your face inches from his, your breath fleeing and forgetting to return. His lips trembled, his jaw tightened, his gaze boring into you before it met the floor, seeking to stare anywhere else. The pressure of his fingers was firm, then floating. And then he swallowed, grip crushing your shoulder, his eyes finding you again.

No one else in the hangar would’ve known, looking at him. But this Kylo Ren was familiar to you.

This Kylo Ren was terrified.

“I don’t…” His voice was a feather in the air. “You are…” He averted his attention, stiffening. “You have a home.”

Your chest swelled. Water stung your eyes. “I do?”

“Yes,” he replied, utterly sincere. “But not here. Not now.”

Hairline fractures crept into your heart.

“Kylo.” Your composure cracked. All of you wanted to melt, to disintegrate into his being and know each word trapped on his tongue. There was a reason you could not find him, that he would not unfold himself to you. “Please. Why do you want me gone so badly?”

His lips parted, as if he were about to speak--and he paused. He drew in a breath through his nose. “Complications,” he replied. “Factors you do not understand.”

You stepped closer, throat tight. His breath brushed your nose. “Tell me, then.”

Kylo huffed, shifting on his feet--and his face froze. His limbs locked, muscles taut. His gaze widened, fixated on something over your shoulder. Air leaked from him, like time was slowing to a close. You blinked, looked behind you. But nothing was there.

Frowning, you cleared your throat. “Kylo?” He didn’t even acknowledge you. “You’re really just going to leave it like that?”

His pupils were pinpricks.

It wasn’t like you were heartless. You knew that he was attempting wasn’t easy. But what you were feeling wasn’t a sail on a skiff either. You didn’t just deserve more. You needed it.

“Okay,” you said, backing out of his hold. “This was nice. But I have a TIE fighter to repair. So.” He didn’t respond. Didn’t even move. “Whatever.”

You turned--Kylo’s focus flicked to you. His mouth dropped, like there were words he wanted to and couldn’t speak. Instead, he remained silent, fury simmering in his gaze while you pivoted away. You didn’t say anything either. You didn’t think you had to.

When you arrived at the silencer, you clambered into the cockpit, like it was a hole you could hide in until he disappeared. Shame, stubbornness, or surrender--you imagined one of these was responsible for why he didn’t pursue you, but you didn’t care. This ship repair would be your parting gift to him, and you could take off, probably spending the rest of your life wondering how you’d managed to fuck up your affair with the galaxy’s most ineligible bachelor.

Loose panels still swarmed the pilot’s chair. You sighed and put on your jacket, settling in and throwing your feet on the dash. Your hand thumped with irritation as you closed your eyes.

Just a couple of hours. That’s all you needed. Then you’d keep working like the foolish little--

Clank.

You yelped, flinching in your seat.

Clank.

Heart fluttering, you scanned the cockpit before realizing the noise came from outside the ship.

Clank.

It was behind you. Someone was messing with the refuel port. Or the solar lines. You couldn’t tell. Grumbling, you scrambled out of the chair and hoisted yourself up the escape. If they were fucking up this stupid ship even further--

Clankclankclank.

“Hey!” You popped your head free. “Will you...”

For a split second, you’d thought Kylo had decided to rip the solar line access open and tear into his own power supply. But then your vision focused. The man crouched over the ship was a different intimidating masked man dressed only in black. Your stomach twisted. It was the one from the Buzzard. The one who’d shoulder-checked you.

“Kuruk.”

His head whipped in your direction, the talons of his predator’s gaze gouging your chest. He pulled his hands free of the solar lines, his gloves greasy with reactant.

“Lieutenant.”

Previously you’d thought absolutely no one but Hux could spit that word with that degree of acidity. But if Hux spat it like acid, then Kuruk hocked it--dragged it up through his throat and sputtered it like necrotic phlegm.

You crawled onto the dorsal plane with the coordinated majesty of a blurrg, trying not to heave and ruin any level of authority you might have tricked him into thinking you maintained. When you’d made it to both feet, you straightened, as if you did this all the time, and moved toward him.

“What are you doing?”

“Repairing a starfighter.”

You snorted. “Really,” you replied. “Tearing out a power supply is repairing?”

Kuruk jerked his arm, wrenching free another line, spewing collector dust into the air. “Closer to repairing than sleeping in the cockpit.”

Heat rushed your spine, swathed your neck. “Yeah, well…” You examined him, watching as he cocked his head to avoid the blinders attached to his helmet. “At least I can see properly when I work on a ship.”

“Magnification’s built into the visor.”

More heat, this time crackling in your cheeks, drying your tongue. “Look,” you said, “this is my job. I don’t need amateurs screwing it up for me.”

He paused, turned his gaze on you again. “Amateurs?”

You shrugged. “In comparison, yeah, probably.”

Kuruk leaned on his heels, wiping his gloves on his jacket. “I don’t think so.”

“Uh, I do.” This man looked like a weapon. Not an engineer. “What experience do you have?”

“It’s called the Night Buzzard,” he replied. “You might be familiar with it.”

You paused, brow raising. “You…” It was impossible to restrain your laughter. But he didn’t move. “You’re kidding. Right? That’s a joke.”

Kuruk’s hands tensed.

“Dude, that ship’s the ugliest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” you replied. “Did you modify it with a boiled chokeroot?”

His head tilted. He rose to stand, so controlled he looked to be fighting gravity. “I can do more work with a boiled chokeroot than you can do with an entire Star Destroyer’s worth of resources,” he drawled. “Lieu. Tenant.”

The hair on your nape stuck straight, your pulse leapt to the ceiling. But the knowledge that Kylo was within thinking distance abated your fear.

“Might wanna get one then.” You grinned. “You’re not making much progress here without it.”

He stared, filthy fingers furling into fists--and then relaxed, the tension sloughing like reactor slime from his frame. Silent, he returned to a squat, rending more lines from their channels. For some reason, a tiny, irreverent part of you was disappointed.

No, that was a lie. You knew why you were disappointed. But this man wasn’t the one you wanted to be taunting into a wild sexual rage. Exhaling, you crossed your arms.

“It’s still my job,” you said.

“And I’ve been told that once it’s done, you’ll be gone.”

“What?” You gawked. “What the fuck? You, too? I didn’t even do anything to you!”

“Debatable.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re mad because your Master didn’t want you to disrespect an officer.”

“No.” Kuruk’s attention snapped to you. “You’re loud.”

Blood drained from your face. “I’m…”

Moments blinked in your memory like a holodrama. Like how you’d spent the entire time aboard the Buzzard thinking about Kylo slamming you against the dashboard and breaking your pussy open. How you’d mentally undressed him, verbally taunted him, physically ached for him. How you’d blazed with hatred for him and stoked it with longing. And how you’d just noted that you were desperate to wind him into a state of frenzied lust so he’d wreck you entirely.

“Oh, fuck.” You glanced at the hangar’s entrance and wondered how quickly you could hurl yourself into the vacuum of space. Speaking of hurling… “Oh, fuck.”

You couldn’t spare Kuruk another glance. With shaking hands, you fumbled your way to the ground, steadying yourself on your weakening knees. There was no way you were going to spend another minute on this ship trying to fix a starfighter while getting thought-eavesdropped by multiple men, one of whom seemed hell-bent on doing your job for you anyway.

All you needed to do was find General Hux and get him to reassign you to another station. You’d figure the rest out later when you had time to process your myriad of losses and crippling rejection. You held your breath the entire trek to the command center, only releasing when the doors opened and you spied Hux at the head of the room, briefing someone on something you didn’t care about.

Wiping your forehead, you trudged over to him. Hux’s gaze darted between you and the other officer, his brow furrowing as you approached.

“A moment,” he said to the man. “Can I help you, Lieutenant?”

Yeah, it definitely sounded worse out of Kuruk’s mouth. “Can I get a new station? I, uh, I need a new station.” The officer peered at you in horror. You coughed, standing at attention. “General. Requesting a new assignment, sir.”

Hux’s lips pursed, his eyes narrowed. “The silencer is already repaired?”

“Uh, no. No, sir, it’s not.” You stared at your shoes. “Still requesting a new assignment. I believe my work here is complete.”

A pause hung in the air. Hux observed you like you were a recently apprehended criminal. He sighed.

“Dismissed, Captain.” He waited for the man to depart before turning to you. “What do you mean, your work here is complete?”

It was hard to find the appropriate words. “I mean. Uh. Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“No.”

You groaned. “Okay.” A long breath, flooding your lungs with air. “Well. My services are no longer required. My presence is redundant. I cannot return to Orinda. I’m requesting another station.” You exhaled. “Sir.”

Hux’s pink face pinched together. “Something happened with Ren.”

Warmth flushed your neck. “Uh, no--”

“Lieutenant,” he said, like the words were thorns on his tongue, “I unfortunately believe your insight and skill may still be of use to the First Order.”

“Sir?”

“The TIE project has been approved. You may be just the person to manage it.”

You balked. “Oh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea--”

“No?” Sharp green eyes pierced you into silence. “I thought you might leap at the opportunity, considering how cruelly the Resistance slaughtered your staff.”

Your heart clenched, your chest speared with pain. Better TIE units wouldn’t save them. But you could at least ensure their loss wouldn’t be in vain. Though you’d never supervised an undertaking of that scale before, the excitement of a challenge glittered in the distance. Glittered, then dimmed under a brooding, Kylo Ren-shaped shadow.

“Well…”

Hux glanced away, gazing through the thick panes of transparisteel, as if offering you any more praise would blind him. “Go to the Supreme Leader. Inform him of my plans.” He offered a slight shrug. “If he disagrees, then so be it. We’ll find you a new station.” The thought was left unfinished--he seemed very confident Kylo would not disagree.

Too bad you disagreed with him. “Yes, sir,” you replied. “I understand. Where might I find the Supreme Leader?”

Hux frowned. “Am I his keeper, Lieutenant?”

A brief, blissful image of your fist connecting with his chin flashed through your mind. You shook it away.

“No,” you said. “No, sir. I’ll find him. Thank you.”

He nodded. “Dismissed.”

Shooting him a glare, you pivoted on your heel, marching out of the command center. All you needed to do was find where Kylo Ren might be by searching the entirety of this huge Star Destroyer. That would be easy.

#kylo ren smut #kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo ren fanfiction #kylo ren #defy your authority #fya2 #fanfiction problems #GOLLY-GEE WILLIKERS

135 notes · View notes

dp-marvel94 · 4 years ago

Text

Danny and His Blob Ghosts

Summary: When two blob find and affectionately latch onto Danny, the halfa immediately adopts the small ghosts. But things are not as they seem. With Danny's horrifying recurring nightmares, Vlad Master's ominous behavior, and the blob's strange human-like eyes, keen intelligence, and intense fear of the older half ghost, there might just be a greater connection between Danny and his blobs, one that will shake the boy to his core.

Word Count: 11,420

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: Based on this post by @ectoblood.

You know how I said, I wanted to write a fic about the blob clones? Well...this is so late but I've been sitting on this for a while and finally finished it. So here's the story! This is an au where this story happens in place of Kindred Spirits. Instead of trying to make half ghost clones, Vlad creates fully human clones of Danny and....well...you'll see what happens to them. But anyway, enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think!

The boy looked about 10 years old, with black hair and lilac eyes. He stood in a sterile, metal room, looking so out of place. Machines whirled around him, vials glowed with something neon green, and in the center, sat a gaping metal hole in the wall.

"You want me to put this on?" The boy asked, holding up a familiar looking jumpsuit. It was white with black accents. He swallowed nervously, pointing at the ominous opening. “And go in there?”

“Yes child.” A cold voice answered, from somewhere behind the boy.

The child blinked. “Why?” He asked innocently.

There was a long suffering sigh. The boy turned at the sound, his eyes falling on a white haired man. “Must I explain this to you again?”

The boy looked down, cheeks reddening with shame but he said nothing.

The man stepped forward. “That is an inactivated ghost portal. A machine similar to this one gave me my abilities.” To demonstrate, he summoned a flame of red energy to his hand. “And this one will give you the same abilities. I will turn it on with you inside and you will become half ghost, like me. You will be powerful. Finally the perfect heir. The perfect son.”

The child paused, taking in the words. Tentatively, he glanced at the hole, swallowing. “Will it hurt?”

The man tisked. “Don’t worry about that. Now get moving. We haven’t got all day.”

The boy didn’t move, anxiously looking between the machine and the man.

The half ghost looked up. “Don’t you want to make your Father proud?”

The child bit his lip. “Yes..but-”

“If you do this, I will let you go upstairs.” The man offered, coldly. “There is a room for you with a bed and toys.” He wrinkled his nose like the word was distasteful. Then he looked down, hands ghosting over the control panel. “I will tell you your name as well.”

The boy’s eyes widened hopefully. “Really?”

“Yes.” The man hummed, replying passively as if the conversation was of little interest to him. Then he looked up. “Only my perfect half ghost son is allowed to know that information.”

The child nodded. The hope remained in his eyes as he put on the jumpsuit. He squared his shoulders, walking towards the tunnel.

“Very good. Now go inside.” The half ghost encouraged.

The boy stepped forward slowly, carefully stepping over wires.

“Stop and face me.”

The child stopped and turned around. He swallowed again, eyes flitting around the tunnel nervously.

“Now, do not move.” The man instructed. His hand moved to hover over a large button. “I will press this button. Again, I emphasize. Do not move. Do not run.”

“Run?” The boy squeaked out. “Father, maybe I shouldn’t-”

The man ignored the words, slamming his hand down on the button.

"Father, I don't wanna do this anymore." The child cried, reaching forward. He tensed, eyes widening as green lights sparked around him. “Father!” With shaking knees, he started forward.

The man frowned. “I told you not to move.” He pressed another button and a glass wall slammed down over the opening of the tunnel.

Inside, time seemed to slow. “Father! Please!” The boy ran to the front. “Let me out!” The green light grew brighter, the smell of ozone filling the air. “I don’t wanna do this!” The child shouted.

“Please! Father!” There was a ripping sound, quack of thunder, the smell of burning flesh. A blood curdling scream cut through the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny sprang up, a shocked scream in his own throat. His chest heaved and his hands shook. The images of the...nightmare?....rang in his head. That was a nightmare, right? But...but...the smell- ozone and citrus and chard flesh- burned in his nose. And that scream…..

Beside him, something buzzed. The boy looked down. “Oh, Aster.” His expression softened, his eyes met the blob ghost’s purple ones. The fist-sized ghost blinked at him, rubbing up against his side. “Thanks, little guy.” The blob purred, the sound vibrating through Danny’s side and his own core hummed in kind. A comforting emotion pressed into his mind from the other ghost and Danny sighed in happiness.

Not for the first time, the half was grateful for the small green blob ghost. He’d shown up about a week ago and had hardly left Danny’s side since, serving as a comforting presence in the boy’s stressful life. His name, Aster, had been based on Sam's suggestion, for a flower with purple petals much like the blob’s strange eyes.

Something brushing up against his arm drew Danny out of his thoughts. He looked down at Aster; the little ghost had flown up and was nudging his arm. In response, the boy moved his other arm to pet the blob, who again purred at the contact.

After a moment, Aster’s eyes again meet Danny’s. "Sorry I woke you up." The halfa muttered. “I had a nightmare about my accident. Except I was younger? And Vlad was there for some reason?”

Suddenly, the small ghost hissed in displeasure at the name. He puffed up, his dim aura brightening as a clear spike of his anger touched Danny’s mind.

The halfa raised a brow. “You clearly don’t like him either. Good call.” He hummed. “That man’s a fruitloop. Insane bastard.”

Aster hissed again, something like agreement projecting from him.

“You said it.” Danny replied. Then he yawned. “I need to go back to sleep, Aster. See you in the morning?”

The little ghost’s aura dimmed and he floated down, settling back on the bed, beside Danny. He squeaked once, before closing his eyes.

Danny gave the blob one more little scratch. “Good night.” He laid down and went to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny blinked awake to sunlight streaming through his window. Even without looking, he could still feel the cool presence of the other ghost beside him. He smiled, enjoying the warm bed and the comforting presence of his companion...before he looked at the clock.

The halfa’s eyes widened and he shot up. “Shit. School starts in 10 minutes.”

The movement shook the bed, startling Aster awake. The blob ghost squeaked in alarm.

“Sorry.” Danny muttered, jumping out of bed. “Gotta get ready.”

He scurried around, putting his clothes on while he brushed his teeth. Then he started stuffing material into his bag. “Where’s my math homework?” Rapidly, he shuffled through papers. “I know I did it!”

Something cold nudged his arm and Danny looked down. It was Aster, with a piece of paper clutched in a mouth-like depression below his eyes. Eyes widening, the halfa grabbed the paper.

“This is my math homework.” He muttered in surprise, looking down at the blob. “Thanks bud.” Danny gave the other ghost a pat, before Aster darted off.

The halfa shrugged, grabbing his shoes and rapidly tying them. Less than a minute later, there was a chirp in front of him. Danny looked up, again the green blob ghost floated in front of him, this time clutching a foil wrapped packet.

“Poptarts?” The boy grabbed the food. “You’re a really smart little guy, you know that?”

The small ghost hummed happily in response.

With his shoes on, backpack packed, and breakfast in hand, Danny stood. With hardly a thought, he summoned his transformation rings. The light passed over his body, replacing Danny Fenton with Danny Phantom. Now in ghost form, the halfa floated off the floor and towards the window. Aster followed.

Raising a brow, Danny glanced at his companion. “You’re coming with me? I’m going to school so you’ll have to stay out of sight. Don’t let any humans see you.”

The blob bristled, rolling his eyes. A very middle annoyance projected from him.

Danny held up his hands. “Alright, alright. You already know that. Come on.” He motioned for the smaller ghost to follow, both of them turning invisible as they phased out of the room and started racing towards school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day proceeded fairly normally for Danny. He went to class, ate lunch with his friends, and had to duck out of English when his ghost sense went off. The halfa darted to the restroom to transform and Aster appeared in the visible spectrum a moment later. The little blob followed him, keeping out of Danny’s way while he quickly captured the Box Ghost.

Once Danny capped the thermos, Aster floated down and rubbed up against the half ghost’s arm, giving a congratulatory squeak.

The ghost boy laughed. “Dude. It was just the Box Ghost.” He gave the smaller ghost an affectionate pat anyway. “I’ve gotta go back to class. See you later.”

After that, Danny didn’t see the little blob ghost again in public, though his presence was never far away. The weak ectosignature danced at the edge of the half ghost’s perception, suggesting the blob was hiding somewhere invisibly.

Soon enough, the school day ended. Danny said goodbye to his friends and started walking home, with the invisible blob ghost trailing him. A fifteen minutes walk later, the boy was walking through his front door. After grabbing a snack, he headed up the stairs.

Danny paused in the second floor hallway. A cold feeling swirled from his core, settling in his lungs. The prerequisite of his ghost sense. Brow furrowed, the half reached out with his core, trying to feel the signature of whatever was alerting his core. It was weak and….Danny’s eyes widened; the signature felt very similar to Aster’s but not quite the same. Confused and wary, the half ghost opened the door to his room.

Danny frowned in confusion. There, floating over his bed was a strange looking blob ghost. It was sky blue with white patches, like clouds flickering over its surface. It raced around the room, squeaking anxiously. Confusion and distress rolled off of the small ghost in waves, making Danny shiver.

Shaking his head, the half ghost closed the door and approached. The blob froze, neon green eyes falling on Danny. Its eyes widened, before it let out a happy and relieved squeal. In a flash, it flew at Danny, thumping against his chest with such force that the half ghost stumbled. For a moment, he was stunned. He would think it was an attack except…. The little ghost was trembling against him, relief pressing into Danny from the blob. It...no….he…(Danny had no idea how he suddenly knew, but the ghost, pressed right against his core, was a boy.) was purring, his emotions practically screaming Safe. Safe. Finally safe.

With a gentle hand, Danny cupped the sky-blue ghost. “Hey, hey. You’re okay.”

Beside him, Aster warbled questioningly before floating around to face Danny. The green blob wiggled up beside the other blob, maneuvering himself so Danny was holding both of the smaller ghosts. Aster hummed, pressing into the other blob and both closed their eyes.

Danny stumbled to his bed, bewildered by the situation. He patted the new ghost with his free hand. “Whatever happened to you, it’s okay now. I would let anything happen to you.”

At the words, neon green eyes looked up at him, eyes crinkling with adoration. He purred.

The half ghost smiled. “So...do you have a name, little guy?”

The blue blob looked down, sadness projecting off of him.

“Oh.” Danny frowned. “How about…..Skyler? ‘Cause you’re sky blue with white patches.” The new blob looked up, confusion poking Danny’s mind. The halfa shook his head. “I know it’s not that creative. I can think of something else if you want.”

The blue blob’s eyes widened and he chirped sharply, a clear no. Instead, he pressed into Danny again, humming happily.

“So you like the name?”

Danny didn’t know how someone without an actual head managed to nod but the little blob managed it.

“Alright then. Your name's Skyler. This is Aster.” Danny pointed. “And I’m Danny.”

Both blobs hummed, their affection communicated loudly. The half ghost smiled. “I love you guys too.” His core vibrated in his chest, purring with the other ghosts. Finally, he pulled his hand back. “I do have homework to do guys.”

Aster warbled disappointedly but backed up. Skyler hesitated, eyes flickering to the side uncertainly. The other blob nudged the newer blob encouragingly and with the prompting, the blue ghost floated away.

With that, Danny went to his desk to work on homework, while his blob ghosts watched, snuggling with each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skyler proved to be even more clingy than Aster. That night, the little ghost insisted on sleeping on Danny’s chest. The next day, he settled in Danny’s hoodie pocket as soon as the boy put it on.

“Come on. You can’t stay there.” Danny said, gently pushing the blob out of his pocket.

Skyler hissed in displeasure before burrowing himself in the fabric again.

The half ghost sighed. “Alright. You’ll have to stay invisible then.”

The blob poked out of the pocket just enough to give Danny a confused look.

“So people can’t see you.”

The confused expression remained.

Danny furrowed a brow. “Do you know how to do that?”

Skyler let out a defeated sounding sigh.

“That’s a no then. Here, let me show you.” Danny placed a finger of the blob and concentrated, turning his hand and the other ghost invisible. After a moment, he pulled his finger back. “Now you try.”

The small ghost pinched his eyes closed in concentration. He disappeared, flickering invisible and visible like a dying light blub before the flickering stopped.

Danny smiled proudly. “There! You did it.”

Skyler remained fully invisible in his pocket and that’s how he stayed for the rest of the school day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things continued like that for a while. The blobs snuggled with Danny while he was sleeping. They followed him on patrol. They hung out with him while he was doing homework. Aster and Skyler even meet Danny’s friends and sister.

“They’re so cute!” Jazz cooed, petting the two small ghosts.

In response, Skyler purred, leaning into the contact. Aster rolled his eyes and growled grumpily.

Bewildered, the redhead pulled her hand back from the green blob. “What was that?”

Danny snorted. “Aster’s mad that you called him cute.”

“Really?” His sister looked down at the green blob. “These two can actually understand what we’re saying?”

The half ghost raised a brow. “Of course they can.”

“It's kinda weird.” Sam said, uncertainly.

“Yeah, blobs aren’t normally that smart. Plus….” Tucker pointed. “Don’t those weird, human-like eyes give you the creeps?”

Danny turned back towards the blob ghosts, frowning at the statement. He studied the two, with tilted head. They did have round eyes, with pupils and sclera but inhumanly colored irises “I don’t think it’s that weird….I mean….blobs having eyes isn’t common but ghosts’ eyes can look really similar to humans’”

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz looked at each other questioningly before the goth shrugged. “I guess you're right. Ghost’s are pretty strange in general.”

Danny nodded and the conversation ended. The teens all got to work on homework with the blobs settling on Danny’s shoulders to watch. Then Danny’s phone rang.

He glanced down at it and groaned at seeing the caller id. Without comment, he answered the call. “What do you want Vlad?”

As soon as the word left his mouth, Aster and Skyler startled. Both darted back, hissing loudly.

“What is that noise, Daniel?” The older halfa’s voice came through the phone.

Ignoring the question, Danny looked back at the blobs, waving down with one hand. “It’s okay. Quiet down you guys.”

Across the line, Vlad scoffed. “Is that those obnoxious blob ghosts?”

“They’re not obnoxious.” Danny huffed. “Wait, how do you know about them?”

“I have my ways.” The older halfa said cryptically, before continuing casually. “Anyway, how are you, my boy?”

At the words, the blobs ghosts both hissed again. Skyler floated farther away from the phone, higher until he’s pressed against the ceiling. Aster however pressed right up to the phone, growling lowely.

Danny lowered the phone. “Aster, Sky. It’s okay. He’s not actually here.”

Over the phone, Vlad growled. “Control your pets, Daniel.”

The younger half straightened, narrowing his eyes. “They aren’t my pets, Vlad.” Despite what others would think, the two blobs were not his pets. They were….his friends, the ghost boy supposed.

“Of course not.” Vlad scoffed. “Just like that green mutt is not your dog.”

“No, that’s not…” Danny pinched his nose. “Why are you calling me, fruitloop?”

The half ghost could almost hear the eyeroll. “I was calling to inform you, I have business in Amity Park in a few days and your dear mother and oaf of a father invited me to stay with your family.”

The younger halfa groaned. “Are you serious?”

At the same time, the blobs hissed above him.

“Yes, I am serious.” The older halfa replied coldly. “And again, can you call your pets to quiet down?”

“Again, not my pets.” Danny gritted his teeth. “And no. I agree with them. Hissing’s the right reaction to you.”

“Now, don’t be difficult, little badger. Are you not looking forward to seeing your dear uncle?”

“F*ck off.” The boy hissed, earning enthusiastic buzzes of agreements from Aster and Skyler. His friends also chuckled, giving him approving looks while Jazz frowned.

“Such language, Daniel.” Vlad rebuked. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

The ghost boy narrowed his eyes. “Will you stop talking about my mom?”

“Now, your dear mother-”

“Will never love you, because you’re a creepy old man who can’t let go of your crush on a happily married woman. Goodbye.” With that, Danny hung up the phone angrily.

The halfa put his head in his hands and groaned.

“Dude. I’m so sorry.” Tucker said.

Danny just groaned again. A moment later, the two blobs who had been hovering near the ceiling flew down to the boy. Chirping soothingly, they brushed up against his arms. In response, the half ghost raised his head. He gently cupped both blobs in his hands and drew them to his chest. He looked down, addressing the smaller ghosts. “Thanks guys.”

Sam raised a brow. “They really don’t like Vlad, do they?”

“Yep.” Danny nodded.

The technogeek half-smiled. “They fit right in.”

The half ghost nodded in agreement.

After that, there was more complaining about Vlad. And finally, at Jazz’s insistence, the teens started on their homework, with the blobs watching from one of Danny’s shelves. Once they were done, the group watched a movie. After, Sam and Tucker went home and Jazz went to her room leaving Danny alone with Aster and Skyler.

The half ghost looked up, spotting the two blob snuggling together on his shelf. Sky was trembling slightly, eyes down cast. Danny frowned, reaching up to give each ghost a scratch. “Come on guys. I’m going to bed.”

The blue blob looked up, eyes brightening. He floated down the half ghost, purring as he nudged the boy’s hand.

With that, Danny settled into bed, with Skyler laying on his chest and Aster beside him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The little black-haired boy was crying, his blue eyes filling with tears. "Daddy, please I'll be good!”

Vlad sneared, gripping the child’s arm tighter. “Stop sniveling boy.”

He trembled, weakly pulling away. “I’ll be good, Daddy. I promise!”

The man shook him. “Be quiet.”

“No! Let me go!” The child cried, pulling harder.

“You are insufferable.” Vlad gritted his teeth. Letting go of the small arm, he roughly pushed the boy.

“No!” Snot started running down the child’s face. “Daddy!”

“If this works, it will be worth it.” The man sighed.

The boy’s eyes widened as he scrambled up. “Daddy, I’m scared!”

The man ignored the pleas, instead he pressed down a large button on a control panel.

The child stumbled forward, chest heaving as his feet quickened. His heart pounded in fear. “No! I’ll be good! Please!”

A glass wall slammed down in front of him and the boy screamed, pounding on the barrier. “Let me out!”

“It will be worth it.” Vlad repeated to himself. “He’s young and impressionable. A son I can mold in my image.” He pressed down the button and there was a flash of green.

The child panicked, the tears increasing. He pounded harder. “Daddy! Let me out!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His own heart pounding, Danny woke up to the sound of a child crying. His sleepy mind ran in circles. What was...who was...that dream….

Another wail of pure emotional agony. That little boy….he must be here…. With his eyes still closed, Danny sleepy reached towards the sound. In front of him? Above him? He needed to find the kid…

Danny’s hands reach out to comfort, falling on something cold and squishy, like jello. Wait...that doesn’t…..

Something shifted, the minimal weight on his chest increasing. He was touching something else, something fuzzy...and soft? He petted the things and the sound died down into a whimper.

Mind swimming and fuzzy with sleep, Danny fell asleep again before he could think more. In the morning, he thought it was all a dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Downstairs, the doorbell rang. It had been three days since Vlad’s phone call, three days since Danny’s half-remembered nightmare featuring the insane bastard. Below, the door opened and then closed a few seconds later. His father’s enthusiastic greeting boomed. From his seat on the bed, Danny groaned in annoyance; it sounded like the fruitloop was here.

“Danny!” Jack called. “Come say hi to your uncle Vladdie!”

The younger halfa groaned again, this time louder. Skyler, who’d been perched in the boy’s lab and purring, startled; the blob suddenly looked up, his eyes wide and fearful.

Danny’s expression softened. He patted the smaller ghost. “It’s okay, Bud.”

“Danny!” His father yelled again, this time more instantly.

The boy frowned. “I’m gonna have to go down there.”

The blue blob gave the half ghost a wary look, nestling into the boy even as Danny tried to push him off. “Sky. Come on.”

The small ghost whined, refusing to move even as he was trembling. Then Aster, who’d been relaxing on one of Danny’s pillows, floated up and towards the other blob. Giving the blue ghost a nudge, the green blob offered a comforting purr. Skyler chirped worriedly in response. Then Aster nudged him again, more encouragingly. With something like a sigh, both blobs floated off of Danny’s lap before setting onto his pillow.

“Danny! Come down here!” This time, it was his mom yelling with a serious tone.

“Coming!” The boy yelled back. He looked back at his blobs. “Just stay here guys, okay?”

Aster gave an agreeing if warry warble. Skyler, however, didn’t respond, still trembling slightly.

Danny sighed, his own stomach knotting with worry. Squaring his shoulders, the boy braced himself to face the other halfa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Fenton family, plus Vlad, sat around the coffee table with cups of tea and hot chocolate. Jazz and Danny traded warry looks as Vlad proved to be as creepy and obnoxious as ever. Making vague and not-so-vague ominous jabs at his dad, while paying the insults off as jokes. Shamelessly flirting with his mom. Overall making everyone, except the oblivious Jack Fenton, uncomfortable.

Danny gritted his teeth, barely holding back a seething comment about Plasmius. Oh, he wasn’t above underhanded comments about Vlad’s status as a lonely bachelor in need of a cat. But, even begrudgingly, their secrets were off the table. So no comments about the older halfa’s hairbrained schemes to kill his Dad, marry his mom, and convince Danny to be his perfect half-ghost son. The ghost boy shivered at those last words. That uncanningly reminded him of something he heard in his-

“Here Daniel. Let me take your cup.” Vlad said, interrupting the younger halfa’s thought.

Danny wrinkled his nose, giving the man a distrustful look. “Nah. It’s fine I can take it.”

The older halfa raised a brow, holding up the other mugs in his hand. “Really, it’s no trouble.”

His parents pinned him with questioning looks and the younger half ghost conceded, handing his mug to Vlad.

The corner of Vlad’s lip turned up, into something vaguely smug as he walked into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a dinner that was as tense and awkward as Danny expected, the boy went to his room with an excuse that he had homework to do. Really, he didn’t want to be in the same room as Vlad Masters for any longer than he had to. But his stomach still flopped. He hated the idea of that insane fruitloop being in his house, around his parents. The other’s presence gnawed at him, the barely perceptible ectosignature (not weak but suppressed by Vlad’s human form) constantly putting his core on edge.

Danny shook his head, forcing the thought away. He’d just have to trust that he’d be able to hear on the off chance that Vlad tried something. The boy did actually have homework to do. And he should check on Aster and Skyler.

With a sigh, the boy pushed open his door before closing it quickly.

“Aster. Skyler.” Danny called softly, his nose wrinkling as the two didn’t appear. “Guys, it’s just me.” The boy tried again.

Where were his blobs? With some concentration, Danny reacted out with his ghost sense. His brow furrowed, the signatures flickering into his awareness. The two smaller ghosts were close by. But where?

Danny searched, opening his closet and drawers. His eyes flickered over his bookshelf, dresser, and desk. “Come on guys.” He whined slightly at finding nothing.

Just then, a small chirp sounded. Danny turned, his eyes flickering down. There! Lowering himself to the floor and onto his stomach, he peered under the bed.

“There you guys are.” Danny rolled his eyes playfully. “Are we playing hide and…” He trailed off, finally taking in the smaller ghosts. Both were shaking, their eyes wide and fearful. Expression softening, the boy reached under the bed. He gently cupped each ghost in his hand and pulled them out from under the furniture.

“You guys are really scared of Vlad.” He said, voice only slightly surprised and pained.

In response, both blobs whimpered.

“Shush. It’s okay.” After slowly sitting up, Danny pulled both blobs to his chest. The action was as close to a hug as he could perform with the two fist sized ghosts. “Like I said before, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you guys. I definitely won’t let Vlad anywhere near you.”

Aster and Skyler both cooed, comforted by the words. They started purring, Danny’s core doing the same in response.

For a long moment, the three stayed together in their almost hug. Then finally the halfa asked. “Better?”

Both blobs blinked, before giving affirmative chirps.

“Good.” Danny smiled, letting the other ghosts go. “I do actually have homework to do. You guys can watch or….” He pulled out his phone, offering it to the blobs. “Youtube? I can put on a video for you.”

With a hum, the blobs took the seconds option. They huddled on the bed while Danny worked on homework. Several hours later, the half ghost finished and joined the other ghosts on the bed. They watched some videos before the half ghost yawned.

“Alright. I need to go to sleep.” He stood and started towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Standing in front of the door, Danny reached forward for the knob. It didn’t turn, locked apparently. Inside the toilet flushed. There was the sound of the sink turning on and then off thirty seconds later. Then the door swung open.

Danny frowned. “Vlad. What are you doing?”

The man raised a brow. “Using the restroom Daniel. What else would I be doing?”

The younger half ghost scowled but said nothing, instead stepping past the man and into the bathroom. He then slammed the door in Vlad’s face.

Danny sighed, looking down for a long moment as his annoyance at the older halfa flared. But he pushed the feelings away. The guy hadn’t actually done anything bad. Maybe he wasn’t actually planning anything worse than getting on Danny’s nerves.

After a long moment, the half ghost looked up again. Remembering why he came here, the boy reached for his toothbrush. And….his eyes widened. It wasn’t in the cup by the sink or on the counter. Danny wrinkled his nose. Taking a step back, he looked to the floor. Maybe he...or another certain halfa….knocked it over. But nothing. It wasn’t in the trashcan either or in the drawers. It wasn’t under the sink or even in the toilet or shower.

Danny rubbed his eyes, groaning. “Where is it? Did that fruitloop do something to it?” The boy looked up, shaking his head. No, why would Vlad do that? Well...he could take it mess with him but Danny could have left it at Tucker’s house the last time he stayed over. Or his mom or sister might have thrown it away. He really did need to get a new one anyway. He bent down, opening the doors to the counter under the sink. Like he thought, there was an unopened toothbrush. He opened the package and brushed his teeth before going to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Floating underwater. The sting of water and ectoplasm in his eyes. Gasping for breath.

The beep of a heart monitor. Cold metal on his chest. The syringe full of red blood.

Images flashed through Danny’s sleeping mind, his eyes flickering rapidly under his lids.

Waiting. Watching. Raining dripping down the window. Shivering in his thin hospital gown. Loneliness.

Green slime and sleek metal. The smell of old pennies. The roar of machinery. A scream.

The young halfa’s heart started pounding in his chest, a whimper exciting his throat.

Sudden silence. Wet leaves and earth. The sound of a shovel hitting rock.

He’s...where is he? What happened? Why can’t he...why can’t he feel his hands, his feet, his body?

The boy gasped in his sleep, his heart skipping a beat. In the waking world, there was a rustling, a soft thump.

A shadow falling over him. Red eyes loaming over him. The flash of a needle.

Several things happened at once. Danny’s eyes popped open. There was an enraged hissed and a sudden thump.

“Why you little!” A man’s voice growled.

The boy shot up in bed. It took only half a second to recognize the older halfa in ghost form. “What are you doing in my room Vlad?!” The angry demand evaporated as Danny registered something else. There, squeezed in Vlad’s hands was a trembling Aster. The half ghost’s eyes narrowed, his voice rising in hysterical rage. “Get your hands off of him!”

Without thinking, Danny transformed and flew at the older half ghost, throwing him into the wall with a punch to the face. The blob ghost squeezed in alarm while Vlad grunted. “Daniel!”

Behind him, Skyler squeaked in alarm.

The boy bared his teeth. “Let him go.”

Vlad let his eyes flash. “Or you’ll what?”

His hand lighting with ectoenergy, Danny’s eyes flickered worriedly to the squirming Aster. “I’ll...I’ll…”

Vlad smirked. “Thought so.” His hand’s grip tightened slightly, causing the small ghost to let out another whimper of pain.

Danny paled slightly, eyes widening in panic. Then the sound of feet pounding up the stairs rang out with the distant sound of his parents’ voices. Skyler whimpered.

His eyes flickering to the door, he considered for a second. Danny’s expression hardened. “I’ll expose both of us.”

For a moment, Vlad looked like he wanted to scoff, like the boy was bluffing. Then his eyes widened slightly. His gaze flicked to the ghost in his hand. “For this thing? You wouldn’t.”

Danny hissed. “You wanna test me?”

Feet continued to pound, the sound now coming from the end of the hallway. “Danny! We’ll get that ghost!”

The two halfa’s stood off for seconds but it felt much longer. With barely a thought, Danny summoned the ring of his transformation but paused it before he could change. Vlad’s gaze flickered down, considering.

The voices were right outside the door. In a second, Vlad released the other ghost and disappeared. The moment he was out of sight, Danny transformed.

His door banged open. “Where’s the ghost?!” Dad shouted.

Danny turned around, sighing in relief that neither blob was visible. “He flew off when he heard you coming.”

“He?” Mom asked.

“Pl- The Wisconsin ghost.” The half ghost said, suppressing a smile. He might as well get Vlad’s ghost form in trouble.

Dad’s eyes lit up. “The Wisconsin ghost! Madds, let’s go! Maybe we can still catch it!”

A worried look crossed the woman’s face. “Are you alright sweetie?”

Danny shrugged. “Yeah. He didn’t do anything to me.”

Mom studied him for a moment before her expression softened, seemingly satisfied. “Come on Jack.”

With that, the adults left Danny alone. As soon as the door closed, both blobs reappeared and flew at Danny. Silently trembling, they nuzzled against the halfa for protection. Deeply troubled, he sat down on his bed with the blobs settling into his lab. He petted them as they shook with fear.

Vlad was up to something. He must have been. He’d been loaming in Danny’s room while he was sleeping. The memory, those images kept circulating in Danny’s mind but he couldn’t make sense of them or of the strange images of his dream. Were those two things connected? And...anger boiled in him. Vlad had threatened Aster. The man had put his hand on his….not- pet. His friend? That wasn’t the right word either. There was something...more familial about what he felt for these two blobs. He loved them so much. And Danny had threatened to out himself to save Aster. It scared Danny to think...he might just have done it. But he tried not to dwell on it instead wondering what Vlad was doing. But no answers came to his mind, just more worry as Aster and Skyler remained as quiet as death.

Danny didn’t sleep again that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vlad left early the next morning without a word to Danny. He hadn’t tried to go into the boy’s room again. He hadn’t even made so much as an insult to Jack. Instead, he seemed vaguely angry, like whatever he planned failed. But Danny couldn’t make sense of that. What had Vlad wanted of him, while he’d been asleep? And….the boy swallowed. Vlad would have done whatever he wanted if Aster hadn’t attacked him.

But what had he wanted?

Eventually, Danny got out of bed. It was a lazy Saturday, just hanging out at home as he was grounded. It would have been a decent day except…

“Where’s my mug?” Danny grumbled. He really wanted his favorite mug, the one with the NASA logo, for his coffee. But it was no where, not in the cupboards, the dishwasher, the sink. It wasn’t on the counter or table or in the living room. Eventually he gave up, realizing it was the same one he used yesterday and handed over to Vlad to take to the kitchen. Danny groaned, putting his head in his hands. The man took it, didn’t he? The petty jerk.

Soon after, Danny found that his comb was gone as well, when he went to take a shower. His stomach flopped, getting an uneasy idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day, Danny did homework and hung out with Aster and Skyler. The two remained silent, bodies tense with stress despite the halfa’s encouragement. That is, they were silent until...Sky finally cracked.

It was that night. Danny took the pair up to the roof to look at the stars. It was nice and peaceful for once, the dark sky full of sparkling stars.

Then, a soft whine broke out.

Danny looked to the side, spotting Skyler. Eyes softening, he picked up the little ghost. “Yeah. It’s okay. Let it out.” Skyler whimpered, the sound growing louder.

Soon after Aster joined in also whining as Danny stroked both of them. The boy let them cry, frowning in consideration.

Wheels turned in his head. How much Aster and Skyler hated Vlad before they even knew him. The way they’d hiss and tremble. And yet...Aster was willing to attack the older halfa for him.

Danny glanced down, studied the two odd looking blob ghosts. Their large human-like eyes, their odd coloration, the variety of emotion and the keen intelligence, their ability to telepathically communicate their emotions to Danny.

The boy frowned. They were strange for blobs and they were afraid of Vlad. Skyler had come to him, to him specifically. He’d been panicked and afraid. And Danny had somehow known someone had put him through something horrible, someone that the boy promised he would protect the blob from.

The question sprung up in his mind and exited his mouth before he could think. “Did Vlad….” He looked down. “Did Vlad experiment on you guys?”

Aster and Skyler’s whines cut off suddenly at the question. Both pairs of eyes looked up at him questioningly and a cacophony of emotions poured into his mind, communicated by the blobs. Fear, shock, and panic. Then rapidly, Aster’s eyes flickered between Danny and Skyler. The other blob shook, eyes watering. Huge, mounting, panicked confusion hit Danny like a train.

He gasped at the emotion. “You guys don’t remember.” His eyes widened. “You can’t remember what happened to you before you found me.”

Aster wiggled in a movement meant to be a nod. Large sadness welled in Danny at the thought. He then looked at Skyler. “Sky, what about you? Do you remember?”

The little blue ghost didn’t respond for a long moment. There was no sound, no acknowledgement until finally, the blob looked up at Danny. He trembled and a mournful sound rang out.

Danny’s heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t a whine or a whimper. It wasn’t a squeak of pain or alarm. It was a heartbroken sob. The volume rose and Danny dropped the ghost in shock. It was...it was the sound of a child crying.

The half ghost shuffled backwards, the sound ringing in his head. That...he’d heard that before. “In my dream.” He muttered. “I dreamed...I dreamed about a little boy crying in a portal, with Vlad.” The sob increased and Danny’s eyes flickered to the blob. “And you’re…. you’re crying in his voice." He stood, shaking. “After my dream, you were crying like he was but…”

Something connected in Danny’s mind, his eyes falling on Aster’s purple eyes. Purple eyes...like his first dream, the ten year old with purple eyes, the same color as his mother’s. And Skyler...with the little boy’s, the little boy who looked like Danny, his voice. And….both of those children died.

But...a horrifying idea sprouted in his mind. His favorite mug, the one he’d been drinking from yesterday going missing. His comb, his toothbrush as well. His dream (?) last night. Vlad loaming over him with a needle. What if….what if that had been real? What if the older halfa was here not to mess with Danny but to collect more...samples? DNA samples to make more, to make another….

Danny gasped, shaking as a specific word rang out in his head. No. NO. NO! His mind cursed. That could not...that was not. That couldn’t be what happened. Vlad couldn’t do that. He wouldn't do that. Yeah he was a petty jerk, a crazy fruitloop, an insane bastard. He did horrible things, like stealing and lying and manipulating. He tried to ruin his Dad's reputation. He tried to steal their portal and kidnap Mom. And he infected Sam and Tucker with ecto acne. He made Jazz and him fight each other. And unleashed the ghost king. But… he wouldn’t do this. He wouldn't clone Danny. He wouldn't kill children to make a half ghost. And yet….

Wouldn’t Vlad? Wouldn’t the bastard do anything to get what he wanted? And wasn’t what he wanted most his perfect half ghost ‘son’?

Danny remained frozen, his mind rebelling, refusing the idea. It couldn’t be...His blobs couldn’t have been-

A questioning chirp shocked the boy out of his thoughts. He blinked, finally remembering where he was. On the roof, watching the stars with…. He looked down, eyes falling on the two blobs. Aster chirped again, his eyes wide, questioning and yet compassionate. Something in the expression calmed Danny.

After taking a breath, his gaze shifted, falling on Skyler. The boy’s brow furrowed. The blob had stopped crying, his round eyes full of guilt.

Danny’s expression softened. “Skyler.” He started.

The little ghost warbled sadly, floating into the air. Tentatively, he approached the half ghost. When Danny didn’t move to stop him, the blob gently nuzzled up again the boy’s chest in their version of a hug. Skyler hummed and an emotion….no, a word...pressed into Danny’s mind. Sorry.

The boy paused, from where he’d been gently stroking the little guy. That wasn’t a voice, not quite. But it was close, so close to being one. He could almost imagine-

Danny shook his head. “No buddy. It’s not you. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just...I think Vlad...he might have….” He swallowed. “I think you guys might be my-” The boy cut himself off, his mind rejecting the word.

He couldn’t think that, couldn’t wrap his mind around it. What that would mean for Aster and Skyler. What they were. What they are. What they lost. And...what this would mean for Danny, what these two really were to him. He couldn’t think about it all. So the boy pushed the thought out of his head.

Instead he held Skyler closer and after a moment, Aster joined him. Danny hugged his blob ghosts until the small blue one wiggled out of his hold, complaining loudly. The half ghost chuckled at the sight but his heart hurt. It ached, torn between acknowledging and rejecting its crazy hypothesis, even as Danny was lying in bed and falling asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grainy footage played on a computer. A ten year old boy holding a hazmat suit, listening as Vlad explained how an inactive portal will grant him ghost powers. A five year old boy, crying and screaming as the man threw him into the machine.

The viewer watched with wide eyes, his hands shaking. His heart pounded in fear. “He’s going to do that to me too.” A teenager’s voice muttered.

The footage continued, both children crying for the man to stop. The teenager tensed as the portal started up, green light flashing. He covered his ears, stomach threatening to eject his dinner as the crying morphed into horrific screams of pain. But his eyes stayed glued to the screen as the light of the portal solidified into a swirling green vortex and….the screams cut off.

The teen blinked at the monitor, waiting. After a small eternity, the Vlad on the screen moved forward. Strictly, he called for a response. None came, the portal and the lab silent. Then Vlad changed, transformed. In a moment, the human was replaced by a ghost and he floated into the newly opened gateway.b

Another long pause. The viewer twitched, his gaze flickering around the dark lab surrounding him, the same one that these videos were recorded in. His eyes moved back to the screen and finally….Vlad exited the portal.

The boy’s hand moved to cover his mouth and the cry that exited it. On the screen, Vlad was carrying a body. The charred and burnt corpse of a child.

The teen gasped, learning over in sudden nausea. The words poured out. “He...he killed them. He’s gonna kill me. I’m going to die.”

Words exited the speaker. “Another failure.” Vlad sighed, dropping the body. “Hopefully the next one will survive and I will finally have my half ghost son.”

The boy straightened, his brow furrowing. His mind raced with thoughts and questions. But paramount- “I need to get away from him. I have to escape.”

He stood, rapidly closing the video and logging off the computer. Rapidly, his brain planned. He needed to run or find a way to contact someone. The police? Or…that boy from the older videos, the white haired one who in human form looked like him. His name was….Danny? And he lived in a place called Amity Park? The boy frowned. That wasn’t that useful but maybe-

The hydrologic hiss of the lab door turning shook the boy out of his thoughts. His heart skipped a beat and he sprinted. He was supposed to be asleep on his cot. He flopped down and pulled the blanket over himself, just as the door finally opened. The boy kept his eyes half lidded, watching the man approach him in the dark. Just feet away, he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, faking sleep.

Vlad, the only person he’d ever known, his apparent maker, his capturer, his would-be murder, leaned over him. The boy froze, hardly breathing. He waited, hoping the man would go away. But then, there was a sudden pinch in his arm.

The boy screamed, startled, and tried to sit up but sudden dizziness overtook him. His head swam, his vision blurring before he passed out.

Sometime later, he blinked awake groggily. The boy groaned, wrinkling his nose. He was lying on something cold and metal. Something was digging into his back. He blinked again, his eyes slowly focusing on the ceiling. It was metal; he was still in the lab but….he shot up into a sitting position, his heart suddenly pounding. He was in the tunnel of the inactivated portal.

“Oh, you’re awake already.” Vlad’s voice came from outside the portal. He sounded disappointed. “It’s a pity. I’d hoped to keep you from panicking.”

The boy swallowed, standing. But he said nothing, glaring at the man even as he walked up to the glass wall.

“Do not bother to pound on that. I will not let you out.” The man said calmly. Then he rolled his eyes. “And do not snivel like a child. You are better than that.”

The teen balled his fists, anger rising. Oh, he wanted to do that. He wanted to scream and cry like the others had. The ones who died without even this man’s pity. He wanted to, because he was a kid and he didn’t deserve this. None of them had and it made him want to scream in rage. Instead, he bit back a growl.

Vlad looked up, slightly pleased. “You are being pleasantly calm, my boy.” He smiled, the pride on his face sickening. “Very good. Now just stay where you are and this will be over quickly.”

The boy scowled but kept his mouth shut. He resisted the urge to curse the man and tell him exactly how much of a bastard he was. Instead, he focused on the man with a determined look.

“I do hope this grants you ghostly abilities.” Vlad pressed down the button and the machine started to whirl. “You appear to have the spirit for it.”

The spirit, ha. The boy bared his teeth, the sudden chill raising the hair on his arms. It was starting. The opening portal would either kill him or..."I know what you did to the others. I saw the videos." He sneered, remembering the crying kids from the videos, the bodies left behind. The machine might do that same to him or...he remembered the other boy in the videos. Danny, with his white hair and green eyes. Images of him darting around the sky, shooting opponents with green energy. Ghost powers, like the man in front of him welds. Like he himself could...no, like he would gain. The boy straightened. "When I survive this, I will stop you.”

Across from him, Vlad’s eyes widened in shock.

The green energy was building around the teen, the smell of citrus and ozone assaulting his nose. “You'll never do this to anyone again."

The man stared at him in disbelief as the roar of the machine grew. The light burned the boy’s eyes and then...there was sudden pain. Screaming. The smell of burnt flesh. His heart pounded in fear before it twitched, the rhythm failing. His lungs spasmed, unable to take in air. His vision was overtaken with black as the pain ripped his body apart. His knees buckled, mind screaming for this to end. He never felt his body hit the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny woke up, a scream on his tongue. His mind raced, confusion overtaking him. What was that? Where...who? What…?

Above him, something hummed. Danny’s eyes flickered to the source of the sound. There, floating over his bed. It looked like...a piece of the night sky, suspended in his room. The half ghost’s brow furrowed, taking in the ovalong object. It was black as night with pinpricks of light, like stars speckling its body. Slowly, Danny reached forward, his fingers brushing something cold and squishy.

The things hummed again and Danny blinked, his mouth falling open as eyes opened above him. Icy blue eyes blinked, intelligently taking him in. Mind still trying to catch up, the boy sat up. He held out his hands for the ghost to land. Because this was a blob ghost, another one like Aster and Skyler and…..

The blob let out a soft purr, an emotion pressing in Danny’s mind. Relief. Determination. Knowing eyes focused on the boy and he swallowed in sudden dread and anxiety. It...He was exactly like Aster and Skyler.

The blob shivered, feeling the half ghost’s nervousness. A small measure of comfort touched Danny’s core. At the same time, the other two blobs who had been laying beside him, finally stirred. Both pairs of eyes flickered up to the other ghosts. Aster gave a curious buzz before floating up. A few seconds later, Skyler followed, more tentatively.

For a long moment, the new blob watched the other two, recognition dawning in his eyes. He quickly looked between the two but there was no realization, no understanding in the green or blue blob’s gaze. The starry blob chirped encouragingly, beckoning the other two forward. After a pause, Aster moved, gently nudging the new blob in greeting. Seeing it safe, Skyler hovered forward as well, greeting the new blob in kind. The dark blob hummed, enthusiastically greeting the other two ghosts. He bumped both, letting out a purr.

All the while, Danny watched, mystified. His mind sputtered, trying and failing to put the pieces together. His horrific dream with a new….clone. And then a new blob showed up. It couldn’t...it didn’t….. His stomach churned, revolting at the idea.

Finally, the new blob looked at Danny again. He sighed, pressing two words in the boy’s mind. Follow me.

The half ghost blinked in surprise at understanding the words. But he didn’t question as the blob floated up, off his hand and towards the door. Instead, he transformed. His core hummed as he hovered forward. He followed and it scared him that he didn’t hesitate. Because he should. He shouldn’t follow a ghost who just showed up in the middle of the night. Except…. While part of his mind whirled, the ghost part whispered, that this ghost was trustworthy and familiar, someone he knew closely.

Flickering invisible, Danny followed the ghost through the house and in the basement with Aster and Skyler following. The group continued into the ghost Zone and across the empty space. Just minutes later, they came to a familiar site. There, in a cave on an abandoned rock...was the metal frame of a man-made portal.

Danny froze. “That’s Vlad's portal.”

The dark blob stopped, turning back. He landed on the half ghost’s hand. Safe. He’s not here.

The boy blinked, understanding despite the few words. Vlad wasn’t on the other side and he trusted this new ghosts because he knew him, that he was a-

Danny shivered. “Come on.”

The group floated through the portal and into a metal covered room. The half ghost’s breath hitched and in front of him, Aster and Skyler whimpered. Danny swallowed. This was Vlad’s lab, obviously. But he...he recognized it, from his dreams. Shaking, he surveyed the room, eyes falling tubes of ectoplasm, metal and glass chambers, and...a cot in the corner.

Danny felt like he would be sick. But the dark blob nudged him onward before he could think. The group phased up through the floor and into a rustic looking cabin. This room Danny also recognized; they were inside Vlad’s cabin in the Rockies. The new ghost continued, into the forest. They flew for ten minutes before the starry blob stopped cold.

They were floating over a small clearing, tall grass surrounded by trees. Except….Danny’s eyes wandered and his heart dropped. In the light of the full moon, there were three patches of earth, each with vegetation of various heights. On one, the glass was maybe pinkie length. On the second, shoots were just bursting out of the ground. And the third….the earth was freshly up-turned.

Danny floated down, to the base on the first. His gaze flickered between the places as his eyes started to water. He knew...he knew what these were, what these had to be.

“These are graves.” He whispered, his knees shaking. His heart ached, shattering as a sob burst on his lips. “These...my dreams...my dreams they were real….Vlad really….he did….oh god.”

The boy doubled over, his stomach forcing its way into his throat. “Oh god. Oh god that bastard he-”

In front of him came a cry. Danny looked up. Aster was floating in front of him, facing away from him. The little ghost was shaking violently. He shifted in the air, gaze flickering from the ground to the next patch. And there was Skyler. The little ghost was crying again, the noise that of a young child. And...oh god. Aster’s voice….it was the same, a boy, maybe 10 years old, crying.

Danny’s eyes widened, reaching forward. “Aster...Skyler...you guys...you’re really…” He looked down, tears falling. “These...these are yours.”

Rapidly, Aster turned. His gaze flickered to Danny, below him, and then to the other two blobs. Horrified shock wavered, turning into equally horrified realization. His eyes widened, welling with tears, actual tears. He was shaking and crying and….Skyler was doing the same, an identical look on his face. And Danny wanted to race forward and hug them except for...oh god, they were floating on top of their-

There was a flash of light in front of Danny. It was...it was the two blobs. Their aura’s flared, the light enveloping their bodies so strongly that they looked like two balls of light. The half ghost’s heart pounding. What was happening to them?! What was-

The light expanded, pressing outward and up. Stretching and morphing. Growing into a shape. A shape that looked like- There was a pop as the light disappeared….and Danny wasn’t looking at blobs anymore.

In front of him were two humanoid ghosts. Directly in front of him, the boy (because he was a boy, oh god, this was a dead 10 year old child!), the boy had white hair, light green skin, a black and white hazmat suit. He was looking at his hands, flexing his fingers in awe.

And to the side was a gasp. This boy looked maybe five, with sky blue skin and clouds shifting over his skin and clothing. Glowing green eyes looked up at Danny, green eyes identical to his and exactly the color and shape of-

“Skyler.” Danny whispered through his tears. At the noise, the other ghost looked up. Familiar purple eyes fell on him. “Aster.”

With no more hesitation, the small ghost flew at him. He threw his arms around Danny, clinging to him in a hug. “Danny.” Skyler, because this was him, the same ghost as his little blob, whined through his tears.

“Sky.” Danny repeated, his whole body shaking. A moment later, another pair of arms clung to the older boy. “Ash.” He cried.

Danny returned the hug, clinging to these two. His sorrow swelled, tears streaming down his face. His knees shook, the weight of emotions dragging him down. The three collapsed to the ground, in a pile of limbs, tears, and sobs.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The half ghost repeated, like a mantra. “I should have….I should have known that...that.” He should have known who these two were, not just any blobs but his...clones...his clones. These were his clones. “Oh god, Vlad he...he cloned me...and he made you guys and….oh god he killed you!” Danny’s chest heaved. “I didn’t...I didn’t know...I didn’t stop him. I should have...I should have stopped him...I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The guilt poured out with the grief.

All the while, the other two ghosts wept in Danny’s arms. “I...I remember now.” Aster whispered. “I remember how I...I died.”

Danny squeezed him. “I’m sorry.”

Skyler sobbed, gaping Danny’s suit like he would disappear. “Why did he...why did he hurt me?”

The half ghost had no answer, not comfort. Instead, he promised. “He won’t hurt you. He won’t touch you again. I’ll protect you.”

The little blue ghost sniffled. “I..I love you, Danny.”

“I love you too.” Danny returned. “I love you guys so much.” And he did. He did so much. These two had been in his house, in his room, by his side for weeks. And he’d loved the two even when he didn’t know who they really were. And they were really his clones. His dead clones. They were dead because...he...he hadn’t been there when they needed him. He’d let Vlad kill them. They were...they were full ghosts because he hadn’t been there and…

The boy cried and his two clones cried for what felt like ages, until there were no more tears. Slowly, the two younger ghosts pulled away. Aster whipped his eyes. “It’s not your fault.” He said quietly, looking up at Danny. “You didn’t know what Vlad was doing.”

The boy blinked, his lip trembling. “But-”

A flash of light cut off Danny’s words. He turned his head, eyes falling on another morphing ball of light. The figure stretched, snapping into shape and leaving another human-like ghost. This one looked Danny’s age, like he could be Danny’s twin if it wasn’t for his starry, dark as night skin.

The new ghost slowly knelt down to be at eyes level with the others. He blinked, fixing glowing blue eyes on Danny. “He’s right. You didn’t know.”

Danny considered, taking in the person in front of him. His heart clenched at the words, guilt swelling. But he had questions, questions that were more important than wallowing in his guilt. “So...you’re a clone of me. Like Aster and Skyler here.”

The other boy frowned, pinning Danny with a serious look for ignoring his statement. Eventually, he stated. “Yeah. I am.”

Danny blinked, taking in the information. The confirmation of what he’d already worked out. Vlad had cloned him and those three clones were in front of him, including two who had been right under his nose and this new clone. Finally, the half ghost nodded in understanding. The next important question..."And what's your name?"

The blue-eyed boy bit his lip. "I don't have one yet. But I was thinking...Orion." He paused, letting the word linger.

“Orion.” Danny tested the word out. "I like it." He half-smiled.

"Figured you would.” The newly named Orion’s lip turned up in a slight smile. “I saw the glow in the dark stars on your ceiling and the model rockets." He looked down at his starry hands. “I guess liking space is something we have in common.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” The half ghost tilted his head, not knowing what to think of that. He decided to press on. "And… that last dream I had, earlier tonight? That was you….you showed me how you…uhh...how you..."

"Yeah.” Orion confirmed softly, understanding the unspoken end of that statement.

The half ghost shook his head, stomach flopping at the thought. “I saw...I dreamed about how it happened to Aster and Skyler too. But I thought they were just weird nightmares but...those weren’t.”

“No. Those were real.” The other teen replied. “I...after I….you know... I woke up in the Ghost Zone and… I found you...I guess...I kinda sensed where you were...and I found you but you were asleep.” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t know how I did it but...I knew that I could show you what happened...so I did.”

“And you brought me here.”

“Yeah...I just...I recognized that these two” He motioned to the other clones. “Were like me.”

“But we didn’t remember that.” Aster finally offered. “I just remember finding you, Danny, and knowing that you were safe and...you felt familiar.”

Skyler wrung his hands. “I knew you’d keep me safe.”

“Of course, I would… I will.” Danny threw an arm over the two clones. “You guys felt familiar to me too but...I had no idea why, just that… I cared about you guys.”

Slowly, the younger two clone’s (in appearance at least) lips turned up into smiles. Danny gave both a pat, before turning attention back to Orion. “So you brought all of us and these two remembered so….” He motioned to all of the former blob’s human-like bodies.

“Why aren’t we blobs anymore?” Aster questioned.

“Yeah.” Skyler wiggled his fingers. “I look different.”

“I think it’s because you remembered who you are now.” Orion offered.

“And you?” Danny raised a brow. “Why were you…”

The starry ghost smiled teasingly. His aura flared, the light blurring his features. The light compressed and….a blob was floating in front of Danny. The small ghost chirped, flying over Danny’s head to ruffle his hair. He flew back around to his spot. There was another flash of light and Orion was back in front of him, grinning brightly.

Danny’s eyes widened. “You can transform back and forth?!”

“Yep.” He affirmed.

“Can you teach me?!” Skyler interrupted.

Orion ruffled his hair. “Sure thing. You too, Aster. We can try it in a bit. But yeah...I can do both. Can’t really talk as a blob but...it’s pretty cool. I didn’t show up like this, since I wasn’t sure you knew about Vlad cloning you and…” He motioned to himself. “Meeting your almost look-a-like might have freaked you out.”

“It probably would have.” Danny worried his lip. “But I know the truth now. I know who you guys really are and what Vlad was doing and….” He looked down. “I saw how all of you died.”

Orion’s expression fell, the stars on his face a green tint in something Danny thought might be a blush. Skyler and Aster also blushed guiltily.

“Sorry.” Aster muted.

“No it’s….It’s okay.” Danny said. “I need to see but….” He looked at Orion. “I have a question about what you showed me.”

The other teen looked up. “Alright, what is it?”

"Why didn't you fight him?" The other boy asked. “When Vlad had you in the portal. You didn’t yell at him. You didn’t try to get out. You just...you just stood there.”

Orion sighed. “I knew there was no point. I couldn’t fight Vlad or convince him to let me go. I knew the portal...it would either kill me or I’d end up with ghost powers so I guess….I chose to hope I’d survive and end up a half ghost, like you.”

Danny frowned, considering the words. After a long serious pause, he said quietly. "But you didn't survive."

The half ghost regretted the words not even a second later as Orion's expression fell.

"You're right. I didn't come out of the portal a half ghost. I did die."

The heartbroken expression on the clone's face made Danny's heart clench. In response, he leaned forward to embrace the other boy. Orion tensed in surprise before relaxing and returning the hug. The two stayed like that for a long moment, the gesture gradually becoming less awkward and more comforting and familiar.

Finally, Orion whispered into his original’s shoulder. "But I'm still here, aren't I?"

Danny blinked, taking in the words. He pulled away. He wiped his wet eyes; he’d started tearing up again at the reminder of the other’s death. But….he slowly, tentatively smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. You’re still here.” He looked down at the other two clones and then over the field again. Those three graves, three clones that died but…. He looked back at the group of ghosts in front of him. The same three clones. Danny’s eyes widened. “All of you are. You’re all still here.” The words carried the weight of the realization as his heart swelled with hope.

The boy looked between Aster and Skyler on either side of him again, his eyes shining with affection. “And you guys are my….” He trailed off, at a loss for words. He’d said it in his head before; Aster and Skyler were his blobs, his...friends? That was the wrong word. They were his clones. No, not just...they were his- “You’re family.” Danny finally said with conviction. He looked across from him, at Orion, deliberately. “All of you are.”

The teenage clone’s expression softened. “I’m...I’m really happy to hear that.” He looked down, before saying quietly. “It’ll be really nice to have a family.”

Meanwhile, Skyler blinked up at the halfa. “Family?” He asked hopefully.

“Yes. Of course.” Danny’s heart clenched at the tone but he still offered a smile, ruffling the smaller ghost’s hair. “I wasn’t there before you guys...you know but…”

Aster cut in him. “I already said...you didn’t know so it’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Orion agreed. “You don’t need to blame yourself. I don’t blame you. I’m sure these guys don’t blame you either.”

The ten year old nodded his head. “No. I don’t blame you.”

Skyler, who’d been eagerly following the confusion, leaned over to hug Danny. “Me neither. So don’t be sad.”

With that, the half ghost was won over. He sighed. “Alright, alright. I get it. But still…..I’m here now. We’re all here now...and we’re together so….we’ll be there for each other no matter what happens now. Right?”

“Right.” Aster and Skyler said at the same time.

A moment later, Orion smiled proudly. “Right.” He then floated off of the ground, offering Danny his hand to stand up. “So how about we end this tonight?” Danny took the hand, standing with the clone’s held. The other boy then pointed back the way they’d come, through the forest and into Vlad’s cabin. “We make sure Vlad never does anything like this again.” He turned back around towards the fresh patches of dirt.

Danny turned, his expression falling as he understood Orion’s meaning. Then he straightened, determination overtaking him. “Yes. This ends tonight. That man’s gonna pay for what he’s done. Let's start with….who wants to help me trash Vlad's lab?"

The younger two full ghosts nodded while the teenage clone gave his original an eager smile. “Yes, please.”

The four set off, flying together through the sky. That’s how they’d stay, Danny hoped. He’d meant what he said. These three were part of his family and he’d stick with them. They’d stick together. And together, they’d make things right.

#Danny Phantom #My fic #Danny Clones #tw nightmares #clone angst #angst #hurt/comfort

102 notes · View notes

kintatsujo · 3 years ago

Text

LoZ AU- The Courage of Running Away Part FOURTEEN

You’ll see why this one took a while in just a second, I did that thing where I drew a whole ass scene again

Content warning for fantasy religions based loosely on Christian schisms

#AU August

#LoZ AU: The Courage of Running Away

So while Link is getting acclimated to Castle life and getting hugs from Marla and Tonbo (and also getting unofficially adopted by the royal family) Astramorus flies back to the Sky Temple with his loftwing.

And he has a lot of time to think while he’s doing it; I don’t know how fast a loftwing flies but even so it would have taken some hours on Hera’s back and you don’t have anything to do up there but think about why you got blasted through a wall by a god-queen. So he gets back and he’s feeling pretty fucking subdued when he hands Hera off to the Sky Temple commune’s gardener/bird caretaker, Maurice.

[Image description: Astramorus, looking tired and still missing his hat, his hair a mess, is standing opposite a short and round mustached man with bushy eyebrows dressed in the same priestly robes, except that this man has his sleeves shortened to his elbows and is wearing thick gloves. This man is holding Hera the loftwing by a lead, while she makes a particularly vacant happy face. “NAYRU’S EYES, man, WHAT HAPPENED?” Astramorus gives a very small smile, and after a pause, answers, “TURBULENCE.” The man harrumphs skeptically, then says, “Well, LORD SERENUMBRA from the LORULEAN ORTHODOXY showed up three days ago and he’s been giving me ADVICE ON MY TOMATOES, so turbulence or OTHERWISE I’d appreciate you DISTRACTING HIM before I commit some WEEDING.” Astramorus smiles. “Ah,” he says in understanding. “Yes, thank you for your PATIENCE, Maurice.” End ID.]

A note on Maurice, originally I was going to make him look like Gaepora OR Rauru and then Ice suggested basing him on Maurice-Belle’s-Dad and I liked that, so I blended the ideas a bit.

I think I’ve mentioned that Lorule and Hyrule have different takes on the Hylia religion, haven’t I?

Basically since this Lorule is just the country south of Hyrule instead of a dark-mirror-universe world, Invid suggested that part of the idea might be that Lorule insists that Hyrule is wrong about which country the Golden Goddesses left the world from, and that the Triforce belongs there instead. I kind of played with that a little further, and so now part of the thing is that their royal line is actually also descended from Hylia directly, except that at some point a sister broke off from (one or the other of) the royal family, founding the Hilda line versus the Zelda line.

And real quick here’s the Hilda of this story, which I promise is relevant:

[Image Description: Sketches of a tall, black haired woman with pale skin and blue eyes and extremely long pointed ears, dressed in a cape and dress of purple, dark blue, red and gold. She wears a blue and green belt trimmed with gold and black gloves, and a diadem featuring a red gemstone and golden spread wings. There is an inverted Triforce symbol on her sash. She is also wearing black lipstick and red blush and eyeshadow. A sketch to the side shows her making a decidedly less dignified expression with the note “All the finery and rouge is a desperate attempt to fool you into thinking Hilda is in her twenties but she’s only actually seventeen, same as Link.” Another sketch shows her next to an old man with round glasses and priestly robes different to the Hyrulean priests, who only comes up to her chest. She has her hands on her hips and is ranting at him. A note reads, “Hilda TOL.” End ID.]

Anyway the thing is that currently, the two churches are relatively peaceable with one another, they have joint gatherings to quibble about tradition and who should be allowed to have what sacred treasures and who has to bring the roast boar next time, and that is how a very young novice Astramorus ended up as friends with the man he would eventually match in equivalent rank, Lord Serenumbra. Who gets a nice picture equivalent piece to Astra’s introduction because of symmetry:

[Image Description: The same short priest from the picture with Hilda. He has white loosely curly hair, circular gold glasses, a hat similar to Astramorus’s but in red, a dark red robe over a black underdress, both trimmed in gold, and is wearing a heavy golden neck piece with an inverted Triforce and golden wings framing a blue disc. To the side are various comic panels; in the first, he has taken an extremely young Astramorus’s hand and is saying, “Let me be the first to CONGRATULATE you, my friend!” In the second, he’s spread his arms wide while approaching Astramorus and Catena, Link’s mother. “Let me be the first to CONGRATULATE YOU, my friends!” he’s saying, and Catena laughs, giving Astramorus a rough side hug that lifts him off his feet despite her only coming to his chest, while Astramorus gives her a gooey smile. “TOO LATE,” she says, “I told my mum first,” and laughs. In the last panel, Astramorus has collapsed limp into a chair at a dining room table, his hair in his eyes, his face wet with tears, propping his head on one arm as Serenumbra pats his shoulder from behind the chair. “Let me be the first to say,” Serenumbra says, “How DEEPLY SORRY I am, my friend.” End ID.]

This is awful but that’s currently my favorite picture of Astramorus.

Serenumbra’s design is based on the priest and philosopher from ALttP and Link Between Worlds; the philosopher’s robes were red so I sorta priestified them. The blue disc in the center of his neck piece represents the Moon Pearl from ALttP, which was actually red in the game but blue in some of the promotional materiel, and the blue was a nicer contrast. The Moon Pearl was mostly important because it let Link run around in his human form in the Dark World but I always liked it because it was sort of weird and mysterious. In Four Swords Adventures there’s actually a LOT of moon pearls and they let you make portals between the worlds. There isn’t going to be a lot of world hopping in this AU, I just thought it was interesting context.

Anyway here’s two old friends having a conversation, image description and a little more commentary plus some bonus poking at Astramorus at the end:

[Image Descriptions: Astramorus is entering a room with a rounded door and a coat rack on the wall. “Seren?” he calls. “ASTRAMORUS, are you QUITE all right?” Serenumbra answers. He is sitting at a round table in the center of the room; there are two dining chairs, one of which he is sitting in, and opposite of him is a comfortable looking rocking chair. “I came because I heard about your SON, have you still not found him?” Astramorus, looking deeply pained, straightens some of his hair with one hand. “I found him,” he says. He settles into the rocking chair with a long creak. Serenumbra is clearly shocked by his demeanor. “Astra,” he says, concern clear in his face, “What HAPPENED?” Astramorus stares at the ceiling while looking like death warmed over. There is a panel fading from light to dark to indicate the passage of time, then we see that Serenumbra has a hand to his mouth in thought. “So the queen refuses to see the DANGER here,” he says. Astramorus has folded his hands together. “She’s right about my SON, though,” he answers. Serenumbra is quick to defend Astramorus to himself: “Well- he’s such a SOFT BOY, you wanted him PREPARED,” he begins, but Astramorus stops him. “I pushed him too hard, too SOON, and with too little CARE.” Astramorus lifts his hands and grins painfully, continuing, “WHAT was I DOING, trying to teach him how to FIGHT when all I knew was an ADULT’S routine?” He puts a hand to his chin, still smiling. “I must be the STUPIDEST MAN ALIVE.” “Astra,” Serenumbra begins again, and Astramorus interrupts again. “My wife used to tell me I WORRIED too much, did I ever mention that?” He asks. His face turns solemn. “It was even one of the LAST THINGS she said to me,” he says. We get a glimpse of young Astramorus and Catena together backlit by the sun; she’s wearing a blue version of the classical Link costume with a sword strapped to her back and plate armor on her shoulders, he’s wearing his priestly robes and hat. She’s reached up to grab his face, grinning, while he’s put his hands on hers. “And then she died,” Astramorus says. He sits up, animate once more. “What else could I DO but worry?!” he demands. “You’ve studied the legends, same as I-” he subsides again- “That mark on Link’s hand may as well be a DEATH SENTENCE.” He puts a hand on his face. “And I’ve so THOROUGHLY FAILED him that now I’ve put the Royal Family in danger TOO.” Serenumbra puts a hand to his chin, thoughtfully. “WELL, you never KNOW,” he says, “Princess HILDA is more of an age with Link, maybe the Triforce of Wisdom will arise in the LORULEAN line this time.” Astramorus laughs. “That doesn’t change the SITUATION, Seren,” quietly adding “But also KEEP DREAMING.” He then puts his hand to his mouth. “How do I even BEGIN to atone?” Astramorus asks. “Ahh, old friend,” Serenumbra answers, soothingly. “If only Catena were still WITH us, she’d know how to ease the boy’s burden. Why-she’d face down GANON HIMSELF if it came to that!” Astramorus makes an intense face, as if he’s been suddenly burdened. Serenumbra stands and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Get some REST, dear friend, you still look TERRIBLE,” he says with a smile. Astramorus is wringing his hands, staring forward. End ID.]

DUMBASS BRAINCELLS ENGAGED.

I didn’t expect “Got pegged by his wife so hard that the mere invocation of her name knocked him back to his senses after over eleven years of fucking shitty behavior towards their son” to be on the bingo card for this character when I started this project either, but this is Draft 0.5 so anything can happen XD

Astramorus is so layered now what the fuck!

[Image Description: Serenumbra, face full of concern, asks, “Astra, what HAPPENED?” Astramorus stares at the ceiling like death warmed over. Behind him are the words “HELLO DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND.” End ID.]

[Image Description: Serenumbra, face full of concern, asks, “Astra, what HAPPENED?” Astramorus stares at the ceiling like death warmed over. Behind him are the words “WELL FIRST OF ALL I FUCKING DIED.” End ID.]

[Image Description: Serenumbra, face full of concern, asks, “Astra, what HAPPENED?” Astramorus stares at the ceiling like death warmed over. Behind him are the words “...my wife made this chair.” End ID.]

Catena got into carving as a hobby during long trips but she started making furniture while dealing with nesting urges while pregnant, so imagine this little tank of a woman assembling a rocking chair for her tol noodle husband while ranting about her weird cravings.

#my art #au august #loz #loz au #Loz au: the courage of running away

26 notes · View notes

lstories · 3 years ago

Text

Felix and Olivia (First Meeting)

I'm auctly making lore for my worlds? Weird. (Thanks for jinxing me, past me. I've been working on this since before I posted the Gaudi and Emma story)

(Safe, Soft, Unwilling then Willing vore)

Word Count: 3646

Olivia woke up to the sound of steel hitting stone. It wasn't unusual but it wasn't a good sound. She jumped out of bed and ran to her wall before she leaned out of her window, like magic her head and upper torso started to freeze in the snowy storm raging outside but her legs were still warm. She saw three men outside climbing the stone wall, each with clothes and masks covering their entire body's and face. "He holds a child hostage!" One of the men shouted, they were in more modern clothing than Olivia was used to so she would have to show her father once they were 'dealt with'. She ran to her bed, jumping onto it and grabbing the perfectly pink plushie on her smaller pillow. They climbed threw the window one by one, the one that shouted that she was being held captive tried to reassure her that she was being saved. Once they got close enough she leaned over and pressed a button on the side of her bedframe. The ceiling started to open as gun no bigger than a soda can was lowered down. After a second, a laser shot out to the forehead to each of the heroes. One pulled out a sword, the second drew his bow, and the last held out his hand as a small ball of fire started to swirl in his palm. "3 INTRUDERS DETECTED. 52% THREAT LEVEL. DETAINING." the robotic voice called out. Olivia covered her eyes, still seeing a flash threw her eye lids and the cracks of her fingers. She heard the mechanical wiring of the gun being brought back into the ceiling and opened her eyes, the three men were still standing there. Olivia started to count down "3... 2... 1..." and all the clothes they were wearing and items the had fell to the ground at the same time, their bodies gone and only their belongings remained.

Olivia slightly chucked at the clattering of the potions and sword. She grabbed the potions and put them on a shelf full of others with different colors and different shaped bottles. She didnt know what they did but they looked cool and the liquid inside constantly swirled which was mesmerizing. Olivia put all the weapons and books in her closet to sort out later. She started folding the clothes, slowly stacking them into a pile and putting all of their hats onto another rack almost full of hats from all over time. She finished folding the clothes, putting the plushie on top and ran out of her room with a grin. She ran down the hallways and corridors of the castle, light being created by an unknown source above her. She eventually slowed down while passing a room, she heard pleading to be released and threats on whoever locked them away. Threw the crack in the door she only saw darkness soon lit by a ball of fire and as it slowly moved and grew lightning cracked around them as the fire was snuffed out. Olivia ran off, her dad didn't want her to talk to people that came from other worlds or times. She ran down some more doors and hallways until she reached her dad's lab. Once she walked in everything changed from a medieval stone castle to a sterial white futuristic laboratory. She was able to slip by the cleaning robot, instead grabbing a small disk she put on her back. She ran into the lab and put the clothes on an empty desk which she also jumped onto and began to play with her plushie while she waited for her dad to finish what he was doing.

Olivia didn't know what her dad was working on immediately but she knew it was usually to help her, her mom, or her brother. Her dad walked out of a side room, a few barrels floating behind him. His eyes settled on Oliva, she looked at the ground as her dad walked over.

"What are you doing, you know your not allowed to come into the workshop."

"We have visitors and they had new stuff and I wanted to see what you were making"

"You could have told me threw the intercom, it reaches threw my entire workspace"

"The guy in the front scares me"

"Well... (sigh) I'll make something else soon. Please leave the clothes with him and go back to bed"

"But I'm not tired, and I want to help"

"You know you can't help. Not yet at least"

He started to guide the barrels to the top of the machine in the center of the room. A green, thin liquid flowed out of the barrel's and into the large vat on top. They could see it filling threw the glass in the middle of the machine.

"I remember this, it makes new life in an instant right, or it's supposed to"

"You... remember? What do you remember seeing it from"

"Oh, umm. I uh, saw it while reading from... your... private... collection.

His face shifted in anger slowly settling on disappointment. He grabbed her plushie and walked over to the control panel, shoving it into the small glass tube. "If words won't stop you from going into my library, maybe action will" he said while pushing a button, sending the plushie into the vat. Olivia ran over to her dad to try and stop him as she started to cry, his frantic button pushing wasn't even trying to experiment on it, just destroy. She tried to form words threw a blur of tears, just wanting her dad to stop. "Mom made that for me" she finally blurted out. Her dad stoped, remembering walking past the room of her mom stitching it together. He hit a release valve, a green steam shot into a containment vault above them. The plushie fell onto the ground, a thin white mist flowing from it. Her dad walked away, the plushie floating to follow him until he threw it into a chemical cleaner. The machine shook for a few seconds before the plushie was released. Olivia immediately ran over and picked it up to check what the damage was. An intricate design of thin green vines covered the pink plushie as if it was re-dyed. She was relieved that it wasn't damaged but she was sad it had changed color's. As she was thinking how she could dye it back to pink, she thought she could feel it move a bit. She looked down to see its front paws trying to climb her shirt like a puppy. She hugged it tighter, trying not to let it move. It made a small squeak as her dad sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry for my outburst, but you know why I can't let you read threw my collection"

"Beacuse if I read the wrong book I could die on the spot, I know. I just want to help you bring mom back"

"I would love if you could help, but what kind of father would I be if I knew the risks and let you take that chance. I want you to live your childhood which is why I'm making you a protector if I can't help you"

"Wait... this isn't to help mom"

"I will never stop trying to bring your mother and your brother back, but I still have to protect you. Please, stay out of my studies, I can't risk you getting hurt. Now, let's get you to bed"

He got up, carrying Olivia in his arm's. They walked out of his lab and her dad took the disk off her back and threw it onto a nearby table. As they walked threw the doors a disinfect mist sprayed out of the walls but hit an invisible bubble around them. Her dad walked threw the castle slowly so he wouldn't disrupt her. Olivia almost fell asleep, barely staying awake from the tiny movement of her plushie. They passed by the dark room, a red light started to grow as her dad walked closer, she heard screaming from the three people in the room and the door slammed shut just as he walked neer the red light shinning from the crack. She looked back just as her dad was walking away, she saw the red light die down threw the windows on the top as the screaming stopped. Olivia slipped in and out of sleep, her dad lulling and rocking her to sleep and the small plush keeping her just barely awake. As they walked threw the castle her dad was regal in his movements, though no one else lived in this castle to see it. They walked down the hallway to her room, the pictures on the walls shifted and seemed more picturesque than usual and the light that illuminated the halls started to dim.

The doors to her room opened as her dad walked down the hall, the light that illuminated it was completely gone by this point. He placed Olivia on her bed and tucked her in, the weather outside changed to a light rain and the tapping of the raindrops on her windowless windows finally rocked her to sleep, she didn't even hear her dad close the door.

After a few minutes Olivia woke up to the sound of squeaking and the feeling of her shirt being pulled. She looked down to see her plushie biting at the collar of her pj's, squeaking as it tried to stand but feel down. She picked up the plushie, holding it in her arms as it tried to bite at her sleeves. "It's never eaten before, it has to be hungry." She thought. "I've never needed to give you a name before... how about Felix." She said while grabbing the biggest pillow on her bed. It looked up at her for a few seconds when she said that before going back to gnawing on her sleeve. The biggest pillow she had was almost 6 feet long that she would sometimes hide in. She put Felix on the pillow while looking for something to feed him, he started to gnaw at the soft fabric before collapsing onto it. The pink fabric of his body started to break apart and the green fabric started to stretch over the pillow. As the green fabric touched the pillow the surrounding fabric formed into a fluffier pink fabric. Certain parts of the pillow started to constrict into limbs and in a matter of seconds her plushie had taken over her pillow. Felix started to move slightly, the fabric on his face shifted and his eyelids opened. His eyes were pure black as Olivia had seen before but there was small blue speckles she'd never noticed. His mouth showed a row of translucent rainbow teeth. He sat up, rubbing his head before looking over at Olivia, a confused expression showed over his face. She pushed the button oh her bed and stumbled over to Felix, picking him up and throwing him onto the floor. He may have been two feet taller than her but he was still the weight of a pillow. His face was stained with confusion and shifted to fear as the small gun lowered from the top of the room and shot out a thin laser that settled on his forehead. He looked around the room for somewhere to hide, eventually settling on the curtains and running over to hide behind them. They automatically closed to an impossibly thin line and he ran to the closest, then over to the hat rack, each hiding space stoped being usable as he got to them. Olivia was confused to what he was doing, it wasn't like any intruder that had come neer the castle or any of her dads monster she had found lurking outside whatever room he was in. She let out a small giggle, it was funny seeing him run around the room but she stopped when she heard the AI's voice.

"1 OCCUPANT DETECTED. -82% THREAT LEVEL. NO DETAINMENT NEEDED" the voice said before the gun retracted into the ceiling. The gun has never not gone off, even the most minor threat would be sent away. If he wasn't a threat then maybe he was a friend. Olivia sat on her bed staring at Felix while he tried to process what had happened. He knew the gun was dangerous but he didn't know why, he unfolded himself from the ball that he scrunched into and stood up while checking his surroundings. He questioned what he was doing out loud, surprised that he could talk when he did, he didn't sound any older than Olivia. She got a better look at him while he was mostly still, he was just a bigger version of the plush he was, though a few features were bigger. He looked over to Olivia, neither of them knew what to do. They sat in silence, studying each other and thinking of what to say. Both of them spoke at the same time and both apologizing as they interrupted each other, Felix lightly laughed to himself about it. "Who are you" Olivia asked as she scooted closer to the edge of the bed. "Oh, I'm Felix. That's what you called me before I-" Felix said as he tried to sit on the floor, he put his hand on the ground as his wrist and forearm sunk into each other and he fell onto the ground. He hit the side of his head, it sunk halfway into itself and lightly bounced back up. He took a second to figure out what happened as Olivia giggled at it. Felix sat up, pushing his arm into the floor and letting it crumble into itself. "Before I became this. Whatever this is?" Felix said as he looked over his body.

"Were you something else before my dad made you?" Olivia said scooting closer while her knees were dangling off the side of her bed.

"I dont think so. I remember wakeing up but I dont remember going to sleep, auctly I dont remember anything before walking up" Felix said while pushing his fingers into the ground, watching as they buckled and bent with a lack of joints then letting them extend and bend them like they did.

"So why are you he-" Olivia scooted too close to the edge of the bed and fell. She braced herself for the impending thud, but it never came. She opend her eyes the see the pink and green fabric under her.

Felix instinctively jumped under her. "I think I'm here to protect you" Felix tried to say with his face still pressed into the ground.

"Is that all, or do you also want to play"

"play what?"

"My dad talked about this old game he used to play when he was a kid called hide and seek. I'll count down from 30 and you go hide"

"oh, ok" Felix found a place to hide pretty quickly. Olivia was surprisingly ok with what was happening.

They played for a while, Felix never found any good hiding spots while the room seemed to help Olivia. Felix only found her when she started laughing. He didn't see the humor in it or why he did what she said but he was starting to have fun, and he was also getting hungry. Olivia was hiding in a new closet that opend up in front of her. The door looked like it was made out of the same stone as the wall which is why she probably hadn't noticed it before. Her eyes were getting heavy as she sat in the darkness. Her mind started to drift as she heard the rain taping on the windows outside. She could barely keep her head up for more than a second at this point. She heard the light shuffling of Felix looking for her while she finally fell asleep. After a while she woke up to Felix yelling her name, he sounded horrified. Olivia opened the wall door and rubbed her eyes. "Felix?" He looked over, he couldn't cry but he deffenetly would be. He ran over and hugged Oliva, pressing her into his body.

"Dont scare me like that, I thought you died. I need to protect you and you need to stay in my... line..." he trailed off and kept mumbling as Olivia talked

"In your line of sight? You sound like one of my dad's robots, I thought you were going to be fun to be around" she started to get sad as she tried to get away from Felix, she was just going to go to bed and be silently upset with her dad in the morning. "Hey, let go of me"

Felix stared at her, the blue specks defused into his eyes. "My- my li... my line of..." he couldn't keep a single thought strait besides his want for food. He needed food.

Felix slightly opend his mouth, his yellowish tounge gently licked across her face. She was the best and only thing he's ever tasted, he wanted more. He gently placed her whole head into his mouth, slowly licking at her face. Olivia was thrashing around just trying to get away from the thing that was currently eating her. Her movements started to slow as she felt what was happening, his tongue was super soft and weirdly warm. Her movements almost came to a stop, it was so soft and comfy. Felix worked her shoulders into her maw as he pushed her head into his throat. Olivia started to flail again, she was still being eaten, she couldn't just stop struggling. Felix worked her further and further down and she would occasionally stop and let the warmth and fluffiness surround her. Soon her head reached his stomach and small grey tendrils slightly rubbed at her face. She would have thought they would tickle but they pressed down almost like a massage. As more of her body found it's way into Felix's stomach, she could feel herself drifting off to sleep from the feeling, the gentle sound of his heartbeat and the muffled sound of the rain helping.

Felix finished swallowing her legs, he leaned against the wall to his side as the rest of her entered his stomach. Olivia studied the stomach walls a bit closer, she could see through them. She could see the light being broken by thin strands of various fabrics. It wasn't much thicker than a few dryer sheets, if she wanted she could tear her way out. A small strand of fabric moved through her line of sight and she looked back to her clothes. The grey stands were slowly tearing her pajamas to shreds and the cotton strands were being moved to find a place along Felix's stomach like they were always there. She held a hand to one of the grey tendrils, it gently pressed at her hand like it was waiting for something. She pressed back at the stomach walls, a muffed rumbling grew above her. He was purring, Olivia would've never guessed that he could purr but he was. She had to stifle a yawn, this wasn't so bad. Felix rubbed back at the light pressure in his stomach. He could feel every strand that was on the verge of snapping. He had done it, he ate the only thing he was made to protect... he ate...... oh no.

"Olivia, are you ok in there? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just got so hungry and I needed to eat and you were just-"

"Felix, please be quiet. I'm trying to sleep"

"WH- your in my stomach! How are you so calm!"

"Your warm, comfy, and your stomach gives a really good massage. Also, your not hurting me, its probably safer in here"

"But a stomach isn't safe. Your-"

"Can we just go to sleep. If you want you can sleep on my bed"

"I..." Felix looked over to the bed, he was deffenetly getting tired. He slowly stood up, having to carry his huge stomach until he collapsed onto the bed. Olivia kneaded into the stomach walls causing Felix to purr up a storm. He had to admit, everything about this felt amazing. The gentle pushes, prods, and rubs from inside his stomach along with the feeling of being overly full while protecting Olivia was heavenly to him. The gentle patter of rain, Felix's soft heartbeat and purring, and the massage his stomach gave started to lull her back to sleep. "Goodnight Felix" "Oh, goodnight Olivia" It didn't take long for them to both drift off to sleep.

:timeskip to morning:

"Goodmorning Olivia. I'd like to apologize for last night, and if you'd like you could help with-" Olivia's dad walked into her room. His eyes settled on the plush monster with an enormous stomach lying on her bed. Felix groggily opend his eyes as he moved to see around his stomach. His eyes widened as he saw Olivia's dad in the room. "Oh no- give me a minute and I can explain" Felix struggled to get up and Olivia started to wake from the movement. Felix was lifted by his arms and legs by an invisible force. "What... Did you do... with my daughter" Olivia's dad yelled as he started to tear Felix's arms and legs. Olivia fully woke to the sound of tearing fabric and her dad yelling. She tried to stand up and her hand sunk back into the fluffy fabric. She started to remember what happened last night and pieced two and two together. "Dad, stop hurting Felix" It took a while to sort out what happend and why she was inside what was previously her plushie. After a bit of explaining and pleading Olivia convinced her dad to let Felix stay.

#safe vore #protective vore #extreme cuddling #soft vore #Felix and Olivia

21 notes · View notes

hearts-hunger · 4 years ago

Text

ciryc ca’tra (cold night sky): chapter six || din djarin x reader

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four | chapter five

Series Summary: When you crash-land on a frozen planet on your way to Trask, you and Din work together to keep the Crest afloat and keep your little family safe under the cold night sky. || Part One of Jate’kara (Lucky Stars)

Chapter Summary: Din works tirelessly for his little family, and you trust him to get you and your son home safely.

Pairings: Din Djarin x Wife!Reader

Genre: Hurt/comfort, fluff, angst | Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings: None!

A/N: We’ve made it to the end of this little series! Thank you so much for all of your kind comments - they make me grin like an idiot every time I read them, and I’m so happy you guys are enjoying it! I’m working on a standalone epilogue, but I’m not sure when that’ll be done. For now, thank you so much for letting me share my imaginary world with you. I love you! ��

It was the cold that woke you.

Your eyes fluttered open as an involuntary shiver went through you. It was dark, and for a moment you were too dazed to tell where you were. You sat up a little too quickly; you winced at the bone-deep ache you felt and tried to get your bearings.

“Cyare?”

Din’s voice soothed you as soon as you heard it, and you remembered with a resigned sort of clarity that you’d fallen asleep while he worked on the cockpit.

“Yeah,” you said. You were surprised that your teeth chattered, and drew your cloak together around you. You noticed your son wasn’t sitting on your lap any more, and tried to make him out in the dim light.

“You have the baby?” you asked, your breath turning into vapor in front of you.

Din hummed in agreement. You thought you saw the gleam of beskar, but you couldn’t really tell the dark shapes apart on the cockpit floor.

You nudged your boot at one of the shapes. “Where are you?”

“Under the dash,” he said, his voice slightly muffled.

“I can’t see you,” you said. You heard a soft grunt when your boot met something hard.

“Well, you found my ribcage,” he said. “Don’t step on me if you get up.”

You laughed a little. “Sorry. I’ll try not to.”

You leaned forward in your seat, ducking your head to look under the dash that had been completely covered with a dull layer of frost. Now that you knew where he was, you could make out that he was lying on his back to work on the wiring on the underside of the instrument panel. Only his head and shoulders fit in the space, and the rest of him was laid out on the cockpit floor.

“What about you, ad’ika?” you called to your baby. “Where are you?”

You heard his soft coo from under the dash.

“Din, he’s under there with you?” you asked, a little uneasy at the thought. You heard the spark of frayed wires and didn’t feel any more confident.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Din assured you. “I’m not letting him get into anything.”

You gave a dubious frown, but realistically you knew Din would never put the baby in any danger. Even if hot-wiring a spaceship wasn’t your idea of a great activity for a toddler, you weren’t concerned enough to argue.

You rolled your shoulders a little, trying to ease the feeling of having slept in a cold, uncomfortable cockpit. “How’s the repair coming?”

You heard your husband sigh. “It’s coming,” he said. “Still have a ways to go. This is the last thing to do inside, but I have some work to do on the outside too.”

You winced at the thought of going out into the cold. While the Crest wasn’t exactly a sauna at the moment, it did protect you from the wind and snowfall, and you wished Din didn’t have to go out in it.

With a soft groan at trying to get your cold muscles moving again, you laid yourself on the floor next to Din and propped yourself up on his chest, one of your legs going between his. Your knee accidentally nudged his codpiece and he gave a slightly disgruntled noise.

“Can’t tell if that was supposed to be nice or not, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer nice.”

You breathed a laugh and patted his torso affectionately. “I know you would, lover. I didn't mean to knee you, sorry.”

“Hm. Why are you down here, anyway?” He didn’t say why are you laying on top of me while I’m trying to work, because he was far too sweet to say something like that, but you got the message anyway.

You rested your head against his chestplate. “Thought I’d keep you company.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, a brief slew of sparks lighting up the space where he was working; you heard the baby give an excited babble at the lights.

“Well, as much as I like laying with you, I’m finished under here,” he said. He made to push himself out from under the dash, but you put a hand on his chest to still him.

“Wait, just one more minute,” you said. It wasn’t comfortable lying all tangled up with him on the cockpit floor by any means, but you sort of liked it.

You felt him relax a little and breathe a laugh. “I’m halfway under the panel, cyare. Not exactly in a good place to romance you that well.”

“Mm, but you’re warm,” you said. Underneath his frosted beskar, you could feel his body heat through his flight suit. “Can we take a vacation after this?”

“Like where?”

You shrugged. “Maybe go back to Naboo. See the lake country.”

He sighed and ran his hand over your back. “Sure, cyar’ika. I’ll take you wherever you want.”

You stayed on top of him for a few more minutes, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest, hugging him tighter when you felt him shudder with cold. Eventually, you disentangled yourself and offered him a hand once he’d come out from underneath the panel, your little son in tow.

“Go see mama,” Din said, handing him to you. He was still holding his little ball, and the three of you sat on the cockpit floor in companionable silence for a moment.

“How was your nap?” Din asked you. You ran your fingers along the edge of his visor, trying to break up some of the frost.

“Good,” you said. “Thank you for letting me sleep.”

He nodded. “Do you remember what you dreamed about?”

You frowned a little; as attentive as your husband was, that question seemed a little whimsical for his tastes.

“I don’t think I dreamed at all,” you said. “Why?”

He shrugged. “You looked a little like you were having a nightmare, at one point. I thought about waking you, but before I decided, you’d settled back down. I just wondered if you remembered it. I’m glad you don’t.”

You sighed. “Yeah, me too.” You leaned your head forward, and he obliged you with a gentle headbutt.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to sleep,” you said.

He cleared his throat; he sounded congested and tired and very cold.

“I’ll sleep on the way to Trask,” he said. “Don’t worry about me, cyare.”

He touched a gloved hand to your cheek before he stood, offering you a hand to help you up off the floor. He stretched his back, and you heard a familiar crack followed by a small sigh through his vocoder.

“I’m gonna get started on the outside,” he said. “Your son probably needs something to eat.”

You went through your mental catalog of what you had in your pantry that could have survived everything. Not much, but it would have to do.

“Do you want anything?” you asked.

He shook his head. “No, thank you.” He leaned down to pick up his toolbox. “Knock on the glass if you need anything.”

He left to go to the outside of the cockpit, and you heard him speak briefly to the frog lady and give her an update about the repairs as you and the baby ventured towards the storage room. Your hand hovered over the button to open the door, and you couldn’t remember if it had been closed earlier.

You leaned over the ladder and tried to see if your husband was still downstairs. “Din?”

You heard his familiar tread come across the floor; he appeared at the bottom of the ladder and looked up at you.

“What do you need?”

You gave him an apologetic grimace. “Could you do me a huge favor, because you love me?”

He huffed a laugh. “Sure. What is it?”

You looked back at the storage room door. “I need you to make sure there’s no spiders in the storage room.”

He set his toolbox on the ground and came back up the ladder. “Stay here.”

You and the baby watched as Din pushed the button to open the door, hand resting on his blaster; he tapped the side of his helmet to activate the HUD and looked around.

“I think it’s ok,” he said, turning back to you. “I don’t see any - ah, kriff, hang on.”

He drew his blaster and fired up above the door; the lifeless body of the spider about the size of a dinner plate fell with a thunk on the floor. You winced and the baby cooed with interest.

Din kept his blaster up as he scanned the room again, and after a few moments, he seemed satisfied that it was just the one. He holstered his blaster and tapped the HUD off as he came back over to you.

“Good to go,” he said. Then, sensing your hesitation, he inclined his head to you. “I promise, cyar’ika. I did a full scan. I didn’t see any more.”

You nodded. “Thank you. Sorry you keep having to do... everything.”

“Well, what are husbands for?” he said sweetly.

You wondered how many more times you’d need to ask him for a favor on top of everything else he was doing. You had never felt yourself a burden to him before - you were his partner, and you carried your share of the responsibilities in your marriage and in parenting. You trusted him to protect you and provide for your family, and he had always done so with a very selfless love; but these past few days had driven you to true dependence on him, and for the first time, you felt a weight of guilt settle on your shoulders.

“Hey, cyare?” he said gently. You looked up at him.

He lightly tapped your nose, and you were so pleasantly surprised by the silly little gesture of affection that you giggled like a schoolgirl. His chuckle was warm through his modulator, and you knew that if he didn’t have the helmet on, you’d see a very warm smile on his face.

“I love you very much,” he said. “And I’m honored to be the one you chose to take care of you. You could have had anybody in the galaxy, and you decided on me, and I thank the jate'kara for that every day.”

Mandalorians had a concept of good or lucky stars that steered one’s fate, and Din had always made a habit of telling you his jate'kara were the best ones in the galaxy because they had led him to you. Your smile was a little wobbly as he cupped your face, and you leaned into his touch.

“I could not ask for a better fate than to serve you until my dying day,” he said gently. “You and our son are everything to me, and if I had to build this ship from scratch for you, I would.”

He gently tweaked your cheek. “And if I have to come up and take care of more spiders for you, I will.”

You gave a soft laugh and touched your fingers to your lips, then to the bottom of his visor. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said, and you could hear the smile in his voice. He brushed his thumb over your cheek and comforted you for a few moments before he turned to go.

“The repairs on the outside should be pretty straightforward,” he said. “I’ve already done all the wiring inside, so all that’s left to do is a patch repair that will let the cockpit pressurize before we hit the atmosphere.”

His gaze was steady, and you rested in his silent assurance that everything would be alright.

“Not long now, cyar’ika,” he said. “I promise.”

He rubbed the tip of the baby’s ear gently between his fingers. “Be good for mama.”

The baby cooed at him, and both of you watched as Din went back down the ladder to get to work. You carefully stepped over the body of the spider in the doorway; your son wriggled to be set down, thinking the spider to be an interesting toy, and you bounced him on your hip to soothe him.

“I know,” you said in a sing-song voice. “You’re not having the best time either, are you?”

He chewed slightly on the silver ball while you rummaged through the cabinets and shelves for something for him to snack on.

“Maybe when we get to Trask, we can convince daddy to let us eat dessert for a whole day.”

He babbled happily, perhaps at the thought of a whole day of sweet treats, and you smiled.

“Your daddy would go crazy,” you said. Din only liked sweet foods when he was in a particular mood for them, but you and the baby would happily eat dessert for every meal.

You found a stray packet of portion bread powder and mixed it with the little bit of water you could coax from the faucet. The baby made grabby hands towards it as it expanded into a small loaf of bread, and you tore off a piece for both of you. It was no Five Blossom Bread like the kind you’d learned to make from your mother in your childhood, but it would do for now, and you and the baby ate contentedly in the quiet of the storage room.

Your baby yawned when he finished his snack, one hand curled around his silver ball and the other grabbing a tiny fistful of your shirt as he leaned against your chest. You tucked the edge of your cloak around him and kissed his soft head.

“Should we go see what daddy’s working on?” you asked quietly. He gave a drowsy coo at the mention of his father, fighting sleep; you rocked him gently as you made your way back to the cockpit.

You could make out Din’s figure through the frosty glass, kneeling on the lip of the windshield to repair the seam between the metal and the glass. Sparks flew from the welding gun, reflecting on his beskar that looked densely covered in frost. A gentle snow fell and dusted his shoulders, and it almost would have been a pretty thing if you weren’t so desperately cold. You hoped Din was warm enough.

You knocked on the glass, but only to say hello; you gave him a small wave and a smile, and he cocked his head a little and waved back. You stood and rocked your baby as he fell asleep, watching your husband work and humming a lullaby that turned into little clouds of vapor with each breath.

Sooner than you’d expected, Din came back in and helped the frog lady bring her eggs up to the cockpit. When she was settled, the canister securely in her lap, he turned to you. He helped you put the seatbelt over your lap, careful not to wake the baby; his gaze lingered as he straightened, and he brushed a gentle finger over his son’s head.

“Okay,” he said, to both you and the frog lady as he took the pilot’s chair and started turning everything on. “Repair’s all done. Let’s see if we can get this thing going once and for all.”

The familiar sound of the Crest’s power-up sequence was a welcome bit of comfort, and you fervently hoped that everything went smoothly. If this didn’t work...

You took a deep breath as Din put a hand to the thrust lever. This was going to work. If Din couldn’t get the Crest to work, no one could. He eased the lever back and the engines roared to life.

The Crest rattled and shook like a thing possessed, but it did rise out of the ice, the metal groaning with the effort. The legs of the giant spider slid off in a final, terrible release of the ship it had damaged so thoroughly; the engines stuttered but stayed aloft as the right thruster knocked against the overhanging ice. Din eased the ship up through hole in the cavern’s ceiling as gracefully as he could, and before you’d even had a chance to process it, you were leaving the frozen planet. You gave a sigh of relief when the ship made it through the atmosphere and into the almost comforting expanse of space.

Din looked back at you, and you couldn’t help but give him a beaming grin.

“We made it,” he said, and you realized just how afraid he’d been that you wouldn’t. You reached out for his hand and he took it, holding tightly.

“I love you,” you said. “And I’m so proud of you.”

He touched his other hand to the bottom of his visor. “I’m proud of you too, ner kar’ta.” He gave your hand a comforting squeeze. “Let’s go somewhere warm, hm?”

You laughed, relief and happiness bubbling from you like a bottle of Daruvvian champagne.

“I’ll go anywhere you want to,” you said. Your ship was barely limping along, and both of you were tired and hungry and cold, but you were together, and safe, and off that frozen rock. You’d never felt more delighted in your life.

He released your hand with a little bit of reluctance as he set the course for Trask, and you felt a rush of happiness for your passenger that she would soon be reunited with her husband. You didn’t know what you would have done without yours by your side through this ordeal, and hoped you would never have to be separated from Din like the frog lady had been separated from her mate. She kept a loving hand over the canister of eggs in her lap, and you held your baby a little closer too.

“Wake me up if someone shoots at us,” Din said. “Or if that door gets sucked off its rails.”

The frog lady gave a concerned croak, unfamiliar with your husband’s dry humor.

“Din,” you scolded gently. He laughed a little and turned to face her.

“I’m kidding,” he assured her. It seemed he couldn’t resist one more joke, though. “If that happened, we’d all be dead.”

You rolled your eyes, affectionately exasperated. You saw him cross his arms over his chest and lean his head back against the headrest.

“Sweet dreams,” he said. You knew he’d be out like a light, and the frog lady settled herself to sleep too, resting her head on the top of the canister.

You curled up as best you could in your seat, gently shushing your baby as he had begun to stir at his father’s voice. You rocked him and brushed your fingers over his ear; you listened to the humming of the engines and the sound of Din’s slowly deepening breaths like a lullaby. You still had a long trip ahead of you, but the worst was over, and you rested in that as your husband and baby slept peacefully.

pedro pascal character taglist: @punkgeekchic, @tv-saved-the-teenage-girl, @stardust-galaxies, @theorganasolo ♡

series taglist: @kyjoraven, @sarahjkl82-blog, @remmysbounty, @bitchin-beskar ♡

let me know if you’d like to be added to either taglist! ♡

#i enjoyed writing this series so much y'all don't even know #and i'm so happy you guys are enjoying reading it <3 #din djarin x reader #din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian chapter 10 #chapter 10 the passenger #maddie writes stuff!#ciryc ca'tra #flashing gif tw

128 notes · View notes