#with a shiny new tag for them too heh

[neonmice]

matchday doodls r back :D

[belle--ofthebrawl]

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2.6k

Pairing: Ifrit/Rain, mentions of Ifrit/Dewdrop/Rain

Tags: Public Masturbation, Semi-public blowjobs, possessive behavior, Cuckolding, kink denial on Dew's part but it's fine he's fine it's fine they're all fine.

Summary:

"Dewdrop." He finishes stupidly.

Rain shrugs, a strap of his camisole falling down one shoulder with the motion.

"My Dewdrop…" he muses, tracing patterns on Ifrit's thigh. "I like the sound of that."

Ifrit doesn't remember how the night began and he's certain he won't remember how it ends but that doesn't matter right now. Right now he's got a nice buzz going, a nice grassy spot under a tree to stare at the sky and his hand wrapped around his cock because hey. Why not.

If he concentrates, he can hear the others by the bonfire, still whooping and hollering as they dance and fight and fuck. He could join them but that would mean moving more than just his hand across his dick and he's not really feeling it right now. More interested in feeling himself. Maybe one of the others will stumble across, offer their own hand or mouth or even more but for now, Ifrit's intent on a little self-love.

There's no point in saying he's not vain because he absolutely is. This physical form had been good-looking to start with and when he found out he could modify it? Just by moving around or getting inked up? Siblings were practically lining up at the gate for his, heh, personal attention in the gym as a trainer. He was completely focused and professional during classes. But once that session was up? They knew where to find him.

Wasn't just the human Clergy either. Mist liked it when he wrestled with her, winner take all. Alpha needed the occasional beatdown too and Omega was perfect for when he wanted his ankles by his ears and a fat cock pushing so far into his guts he could taste it.

Just thinking about it made a pretty pearl of cum bead up from his tip. He smears it over the ruddy head with his thumb, rolls his hips as he toys with the slit and thinks about the others.

Dew was so cute to rile up. He could get spitting mad over some teasing and all Ifrit would have to do was look down and see where all the blood went. Only made the little guy madder, but all Ifrit had to do to apologize was kiss it until it was all better and the flush on Dew’s face was from pleasure and not fury.

Been a while since they hooked up, Ifrit thinks. A little bittersweetness lies in the memories, how Dew had found himself wrapped up in a new role and a new pack while Ifrit was left behind but he doesn't hold a grudge. Just wishes they could meet up again, see if he still has a temper or he’s gotten it under control. Ifrit's seen the way that multi-ghoul needles him, nothing short of a masterpiece there. He’d love to team up with him to make Dew cry sometime and his cock throbs in agreement.

Then there's that pretty water ghoul. Rain. Ifrit's been dying to get to know him all kinds of ways. See if he gets as wet as Dew used to, before his transition. He saw the two of them earlier, before the party really got going and okay, they looked good together. Dew looked downright snappy whenever someone tried to lure Rain away and that was just adorable. Like a dragon angrily guarding the first shiny trinket of its horde.

Monogamy isn't really a thing to the ghouls. Why would it be? Still, sometimes they can get possessive over each other. Dew's definitely got the worst case of it Ifrit's ever seen over Rain. He'd curled himself tight around the water ghoul, scenting him something fierce. Ifrit could pick it up from halfway across the field. And okay, it was a little cute. New love, and all that.

He blinks. Right, that's how he came to be here pumping his dick. He got so caught up in the vision of Dew and Rain and their entangled limbs, combined with the noises of a few threesomes happening, his mind laid out a beautiful picture of himself sandwiched between the two of them. Maybe he could coach Rain on how best to rile up Dew, get his little cock as red as his face. What to say to make his brow furrow even as he huffs out a too-quick orgasm.

Speaking of…

His balls already tight, Ifrit lets himself go and sighs at the way it aches when he does. He's got better stamina but he's been here a while, whatever he drank is working its dirty little magic on him and the night is still young. Wouldn't want to wear himself out too quickly.

If he listens, he can hear Mist crying in that perfect way she does when someone's licking her cunt and someone else is doing her gills. Belial, she's cute. Maybe he just has a thing for water ghouls, but who wouldn't with all their sensitivities and tendencies to get so wet. Maybe he should get up and join them, attack her gills from the other side and really get her going, get a few fingers stuffed up her cunt, make her squirt like she always does. His hand wraps around himself again and before he knows it, he's got his tongue in Rain's gills instead, frenching him from the inside while he bounces on Ifrit's lap, claws digging into his shoulders. Feeling Rain gasp for air as he creams around Ifrit's cock, Dew’s eyes dark with fury.

“You look like you're having fun.” Comes a soft voice and Ifrit chuckles, squeezing the base of his cock.

“Just thinking about you.” He says honestly, cracking his eye to peer at Rain. He looks good tonight. Always looks good but this is the first time Ifrit's seen him in something other than his uniform, a pair of light blue shorts that skim the tops of his thighs and a sleeveless shirt with thin straps and thinner fabric. Ifrit’s eyes lazily slide up and then firmly look back down, no shame. Dew’s not here to hiss and snarl, Ifrit's going to take advantage. As much as Rain will let him.

“We’ve never been properly introduced.” Rain muses, coming closer. “I know your name though. Seen you around. Seen some footage.”

“Do you like what you see?” Ifrit asks, angling himself so Rain can get an eyeful of his body, toned muscles and cock on full display. Like before. He's not shy about his own vanity. He half expects his confidence to intimidate the quiet water ghoul but Rain…Rain laughs at him. No one's ever laughed at Ifrit before.

He doesn't know if he likes it or not.

“Dew said you were cocky.” He drops to his hands and knees, tail coiling behind him. His eyes narrow as he comes up between Ifrit's thighs and smiles with a little too much fang for comfort. “He wouldn't be happy if he knew I was with you.”

“Then why are you here anyway?” Ifrit asks bluntly, trying to regain a foothold in the strange shift that he's pretty sure just happened.

“Because sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Rain tells him with a nip to his skin that sends Ifrit reeling. No way this is happening. He can still smell Dew on Rain's clothes, smoke and anger and lust. So much lust.

"Isn't Dewdrop your, uh…" Boyfriend is the first word that comes to mind but it doesn't feel right. Too human, too exclusive. Packmate would be the best option yet it still feels too casual for whatever the hell those two have going on. He and Dew were packmates and they were never so touchy-feely as he is with Rain. He vaguely remembers Dew getting a little weird about Aether when he was first summoned but it still had nothing on how he behaved now. Rain seems to humor it and continue to do his own thing when Dew's not looking but he still doesn't want to get on the little guy's bad side and ruin any possibilities.

"Dewdrop." He finishes stupidly.

Rain shrugs, a strap of his camisole falling down one shoulder with the motion.

"My Dewdrop…" he muses, tracing patterns on Ifrit's thigh. "I like the sound of that."

His fingers tickle dangerously high and Ifrit squirms against the tree.

"Well," Rain continues thoughtfully, casually wrapping his hand around the base of Ifrit's cock, hiding the sudden flare of his tattoos as he begins to stroke him slowly. "My Dewdrop said he didn't want you touching me. So don't touch me. And we'll be alright."

Ifrit feels far from alright at this moment in time, but then Rain's bowing to dab his soft tongue to the underside and he can't find it in him to argue. The first gentle lap hits him harder than a punch, the second, somehow even worse. Rain entertains himself with Ifrit's cock like he's got all the time in the world; sliding the foreskin to and fro over the ridge, mouthing at the tip and going even lower to fit both of Ifrit's balls in his mouth. Going back up and rubbing his cheek against the head to smear the beads of pre cum all across his face.

"These are pretty," he remarks, so casual as if he was admiring a garden or a display of jewelry. Ifrit doesn't even know what he's talking about at first until Rain starts tracing the outline of his tattoos with his tongue. He got them done months ago, glyphs written and designed to further pleasure a partner. Maybe one or two thrown in so no matter how he thrusts, he always hits the best spots.

"Enchanted?" He asks, looking at Ifrit with his dark eyes, pressing a kiss to the shaft. Ifrit nods stupidly, fingers curling in the grass to keep from grabbing Rain's head and pushing him down again, make that pretty mouth drool with how Ifrit would fuck it.

"Thought so." Rain says with satisfaction. "I like the way it tingles when I touch them. Must feel good to get fucked by a cock like this."

"I've had no complaints." Ifrit gasps as Rain lays his tongue flat to slap his cock against it. He's such an active participant in his past flings that it feels off-putting to just sit here and let himself be…be toyed with. He doesn't even think Rain's blinked once since settling between his thighs and it's unnerving.

"When Dew calms down a bit," Rain starts, moving Ifrit's cock this way and that to admire all of his tattoos as they glow. "With this whole possessive thing. Maybe I'll ride it."

"Fuh-" Ifrit hisses as a large blurt of precum oozes out of his slit. Rain drinks it down then goes even further, opening his jaw for Ifrit to easily slide in without grazing any fangs. "Fucking, oh, oh that's good."

He's so pent up from touching himself earlier, thinking he wouldn't have to worry about stamina. Now he's got Rain making the sweetest, choked noises as he fucks his face on Ifrit's dick, nice and sloppy, getting his saliva all over Ifrit's balls while he gags on it. Ifrit's tearing up handfuls of grass as Rain brutalizes his own throat, moaning and trying to stifle his moans at the same time, lest Dewdrop catch them in the act and get royally pissed off.

Rain would probably just kiss him with a mouth of Ifrit's cum, his brain offers up and it's over.

He cums with a pained noise, faster than he'd like to but again he’d been working himself up decently beforehand and if he knew Rain was going to go to town on him, he would have saved his stamina. He tries to warn Rain with a stuttered exclamation as his body locks up. Rain just pulls away to tug at his cock and Ifrit starts praying Rain will put it back in his mouth and swallow but he keeps pumping his hand at first. Aims so the first spray lands thick over his eyelashes, the second glossing his full lips, smearing the head around before kissing it and pushing down to take Ifrit in, letting him finish directly down his tight throat.

“Fuck!” Ifrit shouts, hitting his head on the tree when he throws it back, trying to fuck Rain's mouth for the last few flexes of his cock. Rain keeps still, lets his jaw hang open as Ifrit pushes his cum back in as it drools out, relishing the slide of Rain’s tongue on his skin even as he slips into oversensitivity and the friction is too much. Rain lets him go with a final kiss and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he sits up tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. Ifrit's cum is dabbed off Rain’s eyelashes with his ring finger, also licked clean. There's something almost feline about him as he does it, looking so beautiful in the fractured moonlight coming down from between the branches.

"Can I," Ifrit starts. "Do you…anything?" He sounds stupid to himself and can't even imagine what he sounds like to Rain, staring down at him with a passive, unreadable expression.

"I already got mine." He says carelessly, flopping back and spreading his thighs to show off the wet fabric of his tight little shorts clinging to his cunt. Ifrit swallows thickly, eyes riveted on the way he drags his fingers softly over it. He can see the way they bump over the shape of his swollen clit and Ifrit moans right along with Rain when he rubs the tip of it.

"Swiss and Aether." He tells Ifrit, a subtle lift at the corners of his mouth. He raises a leg and uses the motion to flip himself over, lifting his tail to reveal another damp spot just underneath that's slowly drooled out enough cum to combine with the first one.

"Mountain."

Ifrit practically convulses with the longing stab of arousal the sight gives him, wheezing as Rain wiggles his shorts down to give him a better look at his well-used holes, swaying his hips and letting them gape for the briefest of moments, before shimmying his clothes back on and doing something elegant and twisted that results in him standing up, hand on his hip. Looking down at Ifrit with an amused little smile.

“Dew always forgives me if I confess everything. Helps to give him a demonstration too…So he knows what he missed out on.” It's said in such a blaisè tone for all the heavy implications in the words, Ifrit can't quite believe what he just heard. Just stares open mouthed at Rain with his soft cock wilting against his thigh and his ears ringing. Rain covers his laugh and leans close. Lets Ifrit get a nice view of his tits down his top as he takes two fingers, the two he'd touched himself with, and pets Ifrit's tongue. Before he knows what he's doing, he closes his lips around them and sucks, shivering at the faint taste of salt and sex.

“You're cute.” Rain says. “I hope I get to play with you again.”

He tries to say something but what exactly he wants to say he doesn't know. It just comes out as a stupid little uh-huh around Rain’s fingers as he withdraws them. He chases them but then Rain’s giving him a little head shake, wiping them on Ifrit's cheek and he falls back, defeated and stunned. Rain giving him that mischievous little smile the whole time.

“See you ‘round.” He says, tapping those same two fingers against his eyebrows, giving Ifrit a lazy salute. The fingers go from his temple to his mouth, where Rain spreads them and licks lasciviously in between with a wicked little wink before turning and walking off, leaving Ifrit to stare at the way his hips swing in well fucked and insouciant little half circles. How he's not limping is beyond anyone's guess.

“Damn…” he wheezes, head hitting the trunk. “Just… damn.”

What a night.

[sanvirtheobserver]

SMG4 Fanon: FOOD WARS, The Second Course

I officially bring to you my first fan-written episode, as well as the prologue of my new fanfic Taking Flight.

Hope you enjoy!

____________________________________________

We begin in the gaming room, where we see Tari on the couch playing Lies Of P, Luigi playing some pong by himself for some reason (and somehow still losing), Bob and Boopkins playing that weird ass version of Monopoly they like, and Mario on the computer ordering some Pizza.

Pizza Chef: What kind of toppings would you like?

Mario contemplates the meaning of the question for a moment, wandering deep within the wrinkles of his brain in search of an answer. But that didn't work so he just resorted to smashing the keyboard and bury the digital chef in toppings until we are left with an abomination of an order that will be ready shortly.

Mario: PIZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

And he's off to go get the goods, zipping by Meggy who has entered the room with her own box of goods in hand. Surprisingly enough, we also see Whimpu and Belle tagging along.

Belle: Whats got him all worked up?

Meggy: Eh, you know how Red is around food.

Boopkins: Oh! Ko'nichiwa Whimpu-sama, it's been a while.

Whimpu: It is good to see you too, my Furui Yūjin.

Belle: Oi rags, I got the vials. Bushmaster's blend.

Bob: Oh hell yeah! I'll get the vase!

Belle: Aces.

As Bob go gets the "vase" and the weebs start catching up, We see that Tari has just beaten the Puppet King. She collapses into her seat in releif as Clench starts cheering. And it only took them 35 tries.

Clench: THATS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE THE MVP! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE THE GOAT! THE GOAT!

Tari: *heh* Oh, hey Meggy.

Meggy: Hey Tari! Guess what I goooooooot.

She then noticed the box Meggy's hands, which was more than enough to get her on her feet.

Tari: *gasp* Is that.........?

Yep, within the box was none other than Gnomeson's gourmet candies. We look to the window seeing Gnomeson himself.

Gnomeson: TASTE THE RAINBOW MOTHER******!

Tari: Oh my gosh, you actually found him!?

Meggy: Yeah, we met up at the gym and he hooked me up.

Tari: Then what are we waiting for?

Meggy takes a seat and they both......um.....I'm struggling to find a cigarette analogy to describe this. Anyway, they both take a lollipop.

We then shift perspectives to SMG3 and SMG4 as they begin to head out.

SMG4: Oh C'mon, Three. This'll be fun! ...........Y'know, as long as you behave yourself.

SMG3: I will, I will! Geez, you're the closest thing to a mother I've ever had.

Just then, Mario triumphantly returns with his bounty of 10 whateverthef*** specials. Nice and piping hot.

Mario: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- Hm? Oh, hi SMG4! Hey, where are you going?

SMG4: We're heading over to Bloopersville to meet up with FM and X. Apparently they got new looks sometime after the whole Lawyer Kong thing.

SMG3: Yeah, I can't wait to see how dumb they look now. Just wait until they get a look of me.

SMG4: Yeeeaaaah. Anyways, we're gonna be gone for a bit. Don't you have TOO much fun, now! Heh heh..........also at least TRY not to set anything on fire, okay?

Mario: Pingas.

SMG4: Close enough. Let's go.

Now they're off on their ~~honeymoon~~ trip, leaving Mario with an...........idea.

That's right, IT'S HOUSE PARTY TIME!!!!

The main hall is a buzz with games and laughter. We see Bob and Rob cheering on Kaizo as he bobs for corn, Chris and Swag playing Pin The Tail On The Teletubby with Luigi, Boopkins teaching Jub Jub how to play Bakugan, Shroomy doing some target practice, and Whimpu showing off his cool rock collection to impress the ladies. Well, more like lady since Melony is the only one who's actually paying attention to the shiny things.

Whimpu: And this is Neodymium glass. It can actually change colors depending on the lighting of the surrounding environment.

Melony: Wooooow! That's so cool. What does that one do?

Whimpu: Oh, this is just Mahogany Obsidian.

Saiko: It's a wonder how she's still awake.

Belle: Honestly, I can't blame her. It's like a Spanish soap opera. You don't know what the hell they're saying, but then you start to piece together what's happening then your hooked.

Saiko: You really have gotten a lot softer, haven't ya.

Belle: Oi, Pot. You got something to say to the Kettle?

Saiko: *chuckles* Alright, alright. Forget I said anything.

We see Tari and Meggy headed to the party table with their Gnomish Candies..........where Meggy noticed Mario with his Pizzas coming over as well. Mario then takes notice of the girls and their Candy. It was when their gazes met that thing's started to get quiet. Everybody took notice of the two staring each other down at the party table.

Meggy: Hey there, Red. What ya got there?

Mario: Pizza. How about you?

Meggy: Oh, just some candy.

Mario: I see.

The energy has changed. Meggy turned her gaze to her fellow Sweet Tooths, and Mario turned his gaze to his fellow Greasy Bois. The line has been drawn. The board is set. All the pieces are taking their places. Their gazes meat once again. A fiery determination glowed within both.

Mario: So................what happens now?

A rhetorical question. You know what happens now. Brace yourselves people, for you are about to witness a...........

Mario & Meggy: FOOOOOOOOD FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!

And here we go! The main hall is a Frenzy as sweets, spice, and everything completely unhealthy roars through the air. Kaizo and Bob clash blades, their movements as swift as lightning as sugar and grease flake off like sparks with each strike. Whimpu lays down suppressing fire with a fan of Pretzels as Belle showers the room with a hail of Doritos. Shroomy is blasting condiments in all directions, Saiko's KFC hammer shakes the earth with every impact. Chris and Swag take artillery positions, raining down rock candy artillery as Melony retaliates against Luigi's Unicorn Lollipop Lance with her Pizza Sword, all while Boopkins, Jub Jub, and Tari act as field medics for the Sweet Tooths. We then pan over to Mario using his Pizza Shield to deflect the projectiles of Meggy's M&M16.

Meggy: It's no use, Mario! I have the high ground! Surrender now and we can end this quickly!

Mario: You wish it would be that easy.

Mario throws his hat, but Meggy dodges into the air. She aims down sights towards Mario. All she needs is one clean shot and-

BAM!!!! A surprise sideswipe sends her skidding. Luckily, Tari was able to catch her. Both were shocked to see none other than Pepperman! Mario catches his hat and plops it on with a smirk.

Mario: Thank's for the save, Peppino.

We pan over to see Peppino Spaghetti and his whole crew tipping the balance of the battle. It looks like Mario called in backup this time around, leaving the Sweet Tooths outnumbered by the Greasy Bois.

Meggy: Dammit.........FALL BACK TO THE CAFE!

And so, the Greasy Bois are victorious as the Sweet Tooths are pushed back to SMG3's Café. A Pizza Tower is placed on top of the Castle as proof of their dominion. An impressive win, but this was just the first battle in a war that has just begun.

Behind the Cafe's doors, the Sweet Tooths have regrouped and are now planning their counter attack. Boopkins and Jub Jub are preparing what appear to be makeshift candy explosives. Once the prep work is done, they gather around Meggy as Tari lays out a map of the Greasy Bois' Pizza Tower.

Meggy: We're never gonna end this war if we can't retake the Snack Table, and we can't take back the Snack Table without getting through that Tower.

She points to four different areas of the map.

Meggy: Mario and the Greasy Bois have the Table stashed at the top of the Tower. They may outnumber us, but we'll have a better chance if we can deal with each floor without alerting the floor above. Once we've reached the top and all the ICDs are placed, we deliver our last payload to the Table and bring the whole thing crashing down.

Tari: We lost our last battle because we couldn't take them all at once, so this time we'll need to take them on one floor at a time. It is crucial that we stay together in order to have the numbers advantage against each single floor, so no slacking behind and no rushing in alone.

Luigi: The ICDs are ready for transport Ma'am.

Meggy: Excellent. Any word from our scouts?

Chris: Front door is a no-go. Too heavily guarded. Swag had to stay behind to cover our escape. God be with him.

Bob: Our best chance is to enter through the window of SMG4's room. That will give us the clearest path up stairs.

Meggy: Alright then. Remember to stick together and stick to the shadows. Do not engage unless I give the order. You need to take someone out? Do it quietly. Everybody ready?

The whole team nods in agreement. Meggy turns to Tari, who gives a confident smile.

Tari: We can do this.

Meggy: Then what are we waiting for? Let's give em a good ol' fashioned Sweet Tooth Surprise!

And so the Sweet Tooths are off, preparing to make their move under the cover of night. Kaizo notices them mobilizing as he scouts from the roof of the Castle.

At the peak of the Tower, we see Saiko and Belle dragging Swag to the foot of Mario's Pizza Throne. By his side is Peppino, watching down upon the interloper with a judgemental gaze.

Saiko: Kaizo saw this one skulking around the Main Lobby.

Peppino: I see. What exactly were you doing here, hm?

Swag: Oh, nothing. I was just waiting on a date.

Peppino: Is that so. And who exactly is this date of yours?

Swag: Your mom LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

And just close that, he was sent to THE PIT! Which in reality was just a kiddypool full of Extra Hot Marinara Sauce that REALLY stings when you get it in your eyes. It was then that Kaizo had arrived to deliver the news.

Kaizo: The Sweet Tooths are making their move. It looks like they plan on taking the fight to us. We should act now.

Belle: HA! I say let the Gutbags try.

Whimpu: But if they get here, they could take our table and all will be lost!

Peppino: Indeed. Without the table, our Golden Crispy Kingdom will be lost forever! We must mobilize and-

Mario: No.

All eyes turn to Mario as he walks to the edge and turns his gaze to the Showgrounds below.

Mario: Let them come. Let them see our glory and try to stop us. These Grounds are just the beginning. We shall soon spread across the Mushroom Kingdom. Then the country. Then the world. All shall know the glory of the Greasy Bois! AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Well that escalated quickly. Though, I've seen worse paths to world domination than a house party turned civil war.

Anywho, the Sweet Tooths enter through SMG4's Room Window, with Meggy and Bob quickly dispatching some Pig Cops.

Bob: I love myself some fresh ham. So good you could ea-

Meggy: Bob I swear to Greg I will actually murder you.

Once the room is secured, the rest enter and Tari is the first to enter the main hall, her Candycane Crossbow at the ready. Luigi and Boopkins are right behind her as they make their way up the staircase. At the door, Luigi uses his Astral projection to peer into the floor above. Apart from a few Cheeseslimes, the coast seems to be clear for the most part. He returns to his body after locating the entrance to the tower.

Luigi: Alright. We should be clear to proceed.

Clench: I don't like this. It sounds like we're walking into a-

?????: Going somewhere?

The trio quickly turns to see Saiko, Kaizo, and Melony on the edge of the balcony. Boopkins quickly aims his Dessert Eagle as Luigi readies his Unicorn Lollipop Lance, but Tari is frozen in fear with her back to the door desperately trying to get it open.

Saiko: Well well well..........

Saiko makes her way towards Tari as Kaizo and Melony face off against Boopkins and Luigi. Tari raises her crossbow as Saiko approaches.

Tari: Stay back! I'm warning you!

She fires a Candycane, but Saiko catches it with ease and crushes it in her hand. She then rips the Crossbow from Tari's hands and pins her against the door by the shoulder.

Clench: Hey, watch it! It takes hours to get a jacket looking this good.

Tari: I.......I'll never surrender to you!

Saiko: Come on, Tari. You can be so much more than this. Just come with us, and we can have a little talk.

Their talk is interrupted by a boot to Saiko's face, courtesy of Meggy. Saiko tries to retaliate with a swing of her hammer, but is intercepted by Bob and sent flying off the balcony with a well timed parry. Chris arrives, pulls Tari aside, and blows the doors wide open with his FR-GL.

Chris: Come on you apes! Do you wanna live forever!?

Bob: Keep going, guys! We'll hold them off!

Tari snaps out of her shock and makes her way through the door alongside Meggy, and Chris. They all make their way to the entrance of the Pizza Tower, where they encounter Shroomy with his dual condiment cannons.

Shroomy: Stop right there! No sugary treats are allowed beyond this point.

Chris: Don't worry. I got this.

Tari looks over to Chris preparing something. He swiftly slides a can of sugar frosted sardines right at Shroomy's feet.

Chris: Wait for it.

Shroomy: I will now require your immediate and unconditional surren-

Suddenly, a bear rips it's way through the woodworks, scooping up the sardines and thrashes Shroomy around before dragging him screaming below the floorboards. Looking back on it, I realize having so much unguarded food in a location surrounded by woodlands that are full of wild animals *probably* wasn't the best idea.

But enough semantics. It's time for our PIZZA TOWER ANY PERCENT SPEEDRUN. Our trio blitzes through each floor with breakneck pace Meggy's aim is swift and true. Chris' explosive ordinance blankets the battlefield, and Tari.......well, she's too busy trying to keep up while also setting up each ICD within the tower. Their progress is interrupted with the arrival of Peppino along with Pepperman, Vigilante, and The Noise. The battle is intense, as each side throws everything they have at one another.

Vigilante: Ya got moxie, kid. But ya'll need more than that.

Meggy simply smirks as she notices Pepperman coming in hot from behind trying to get in another sideswipe. But as Vigilante unloads a hail of bullets, Meggy expertly dodges and Pepperman ends up passing right below her. He gets riddled with bullets as he crashes into Vigilante, taking them both out.

Meggy: That enough *Moxie* for ya?

Pepperman/Vigilante: My scrotums.

We then cut to Chris facing off against the Noise, who isn't really fighting him so much as trying to bore him to death with an "intimidating" speech.

Noise: I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire PT armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my-

Chris just pulls out an RPG and blows his ass to high heaven. That just leaves us with Tari setting up another ICD before being confronted by Peppino, who uses his signature beyblade attack. Tari panicks as she frantically tries to avoid getting ripped up, but is driven into a corner.

Peppino: Give up, blue girl. Your gaming skills are no match for the Spaghetti Family Swag.

It is then that Tari notices a crate next to her labeled "Materiali Pericolosi". Seeing no other option, she quickly rummages through the crate as Peppino goes in for another attack. But right in the nick of time, Tari manages to force feed him a freshly baked pizza. With Pineapple. The crime against Italy is too much for Peppino to handle as he collapses onto the ground screaming and defeated. Tari very awkwardly steps around the suffering Italian man and regroups with the others as the trio makes their way to the final battle. They make their way to Mario's Throne Room, where Bell is ready with her Takigun and Whimpu is using Rob as a Spear as they guard the Snack Table.

Belle: C'mon ya Muckers! Ya feeling lucky?!

Whimpu: Surrender now if you value your lives.

Rob: Please put me down I am very tired.

Meggy: Let us handle the goons. You just focus on delivering that payload.

Tari nervously clutches the last ICD as Meggy and Chris lock and load.

Chris: This is for Swag, you Greasy Bitches!

Chris kicks off the fight with a barrage from his FRGL, while Belle and Meggy exchange hails of gunfire. Tari makes a break straight for the Snack Table. Whimpu is in hot pursuit, rearing Rob for a surprise attack but is then intercepted by Chris's boot.

Chris: Keep going! I'll cover you!

Whimpu proceeds to swing Rob around like a hammer at Chris, much to Rob's motion sick dismay. Belle is still preoccupied with Meggy as Tari see the table. But right as she is about to set the device...........

Mario: Hey stinky!

Tari looks up and is shocked to see Mario standing on top of the massive floating Pizza with a sinister face.

Mario: Your pathetic resistance ends now, Sweet Tooths! Me and Pizzaface here are gonna show you what's for! With our combined pow-

But just then, Pizzaface flips around and flings Mario straight into the floor.

Mario: HEY, WHAT THE F***! We're supposed to be working together!

Pizzaface: YOU THINK I FORGOT OUR LAST MEETING, MARIO? THE ONE WHERE YOU ATE ME?

Mario: Oh.............I sense I've made a mistake of some kind.

Pizzaface then goes on a rampage, crashing into everything in sight. Belle is unfortunately caught in one of Pizzaface's attacks, knocking her unconscious. Whimpu drops rob and heroically catches her in his arms before running away to safety. Chris and Meggy open fire on him, but are then sent flying with a whip from his green pepper mustache. Meggy is flung towards the balcony, hanging from the edge, whereas Chris is flung into the PIT where Swag is.......chilling, for some reason.

Chris: OH GOD MY EYES AAAAAAAAHH!!!!

Swag: Oh hey Chris. I just made some Bloody Maries.

Tari is petrified in fear as Pizzaface stares her down with a sadistic grin. She crumples to the ground, clutching her head as she braces for the end. But just as all seems lost........

Clench: Hey, Tari........

Tari turns her attention to her robot arm.

Clench: We have a mission to complete. Remember?

Tari: I......I don't know what to do. Everyone's down and everything is falling apart. Clench.........

Tears begin to well up in her eyes.

Clench: Listen to me. I know you're scared, but that hasn't stopped you before, has it? Remember that time Waluigi turned everyone into zombies and tried to take over the world, and you saved everybody by beating him at a fighting game?Remember when Meggy was abducted by that lizard weeb guy, and you joined the assault on Anime Island to save her? Remember when that Zero guy tried to recycle the universe and you joined the fight to beat him? And surely you remember the time you were stuck in some kind of bootleg Westworld and created your own pocket dimension to save everybody? Those were all scary too, weren't they?

Tari contemplates Clench's words. Those moments WERE scary.......yet that didn't stop her from helping her friends when it mattered the most.

Clench: You don't need to be fearless to be brave, Tari. You just gotta do what needs doing.

It was in that moment Tari felt something. She got back up to her feet and gazed defiantly straight into Pizzaface's Pepperonis. Her fear didn't disappear......it just didn't matter anymore. Clench was right. You don't have to be fearless to be brave.

Just then, Tari's eyes lit up with a vivid azure hue as a surge of energy coarsed threw her. Meggy managed to pull herself up just in time to see Tari levitating in the air. From her back emerged a pair of translucent blue wings crackling with energy. Tari then flew into the sky, breaching the clouds as the first sight of dawn broke. She then rocketed back down at Mach speed, her robotic arm crackling with power as it made contact with Pizzaface's cheese. The two crashed through the tower's floors, before breaking through the Castle's roof. Both Greasy Bois and Sweet Tooths present ceased their fighting as a massive crash shook the foundations of the Main Hall. When the dust had settled, they saw a crater in the main hall riddled in Pizzaface's mechanical remains. At the center of the crater was severely mangled Pizzahead and an unconscious Tari.

We then cut to later in the morning. SMG3 and SMG4 return to see the Castle abuzz with activity. The war was over, the Pizza Tower was destroyed, The Sweet Tooths and Greasy Bois have reached a truce, and the festivities had resumed. We see Kaizo bobbing for corn as Bob, Rob, and the Noise cheer him on. We see Boopkins, Jub Jub, and Melony sitting down as the Vigilante tells them the story of how the military once bombed his buddy Keith. Whimpu is once again showing off his rock collection to Belle, who seems to be actually paying attention this time. Chris and Swag are laying back and enjoying some Bloody Maries as Shroomy arm wrestles Pepperman. At the foyer we see Peppino and Mario spinning pizzas and playing tunes on the turntables. The SMGs make their way to the Gaming Room where they see Saiko and Meggy watching over Tari as she lays down on the couch.

SMG4: Looks like we missed quite the party, huh?

SMG3: I'll say, judging by the hole in the ceiling. And the Crater in the main hall. And the ambulance outside. And the tower pieces every- WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?

Meggy: It's a long story. How you holding up, soldier?

Tari: Just fine, captain. A little dizzy, though.

Saiko: I have to admit. You did quite a number on poor Pizzahead. I didn't think you had it in you to even fight someone, let alone.........THAT.

Tari looks down at her robot arm.

Tari: Yeah. Neither did I.

SMG4: Well, the Castle is still in one piece for the most part, so I guess it's fine. It's definitely gonna delay the second floor, though.

Saiko: Hey, how was your trip to Bloopersville?

SMG3: ABSOLUTELY EMBARRASSING! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT FM GOT ABS AND I DIDN'T! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?

SMG3 continues to be a deva as the camera zooms out from the Castle and into the woodlands, where we see.......something........moving in the trees as the screen fades to black and the credits role.

[chevvy-ryder]

[NC_RES]_2717311327 mercs_o-r-c-a_01.file ///core:_the_boyz.file\\\

—

Vijay belongs to me. Arki bekongs to @nervouswizardcycle. Ryder, Thyjs & Jaysen belong to me as well.

⚠️ READ: Please do not repost/reupload any of my art here or to any other platform, or I will be forced to do anything to get it annihilated.

This set only exists because when I went to test shoot the gorgeous new netrunning suits made by @gloryride and searched for a nice location I randomly teleported up to the orbital space station and shot Thyjs there — accidentally switching to a saved outfit with one of the awesome standalone netrunner coats done by Corpoghost and I liked it, so yeah!

So, everything else went that way, too. About two weeks ago I also decided to create Vijay's twin brother Jaysen, so I quickly took shots of him as well. And of course I also had to include my beloved Arki in this set because he is part of the team. Can't miss that opportunity (I know he'd have loved more shiny gold but the red black fits so good on him too with that golden coat).

It literally makes no sense that Ry'n'Thy (heh) wear runner suits at all since they do not make use of netrunning — but this is just for the the looks :P. And I damn like the suits on them, ugh. I can still imagine them wearing these suits on missions too, I'll just pretend they are some modified suits not made for netrunning.

—

Whats with the O-R-C-A btw?

To 95% I think this is going to be the team name. I don't exactly think mercs actually have team names in the Cyberpunk world but I might chose this as 'team presentation' here from now on and also tag it with that so it can be found when searched for.

More info if you're curious:

Orca — yes the killer whale. Vijay is the 'inofficial team leader' so it's named after a his favorite oceanic animal and it does make sense: Orcas are the apex predators of the ocean (they can kill great white sharks and humpack whales), they hunt in packs and are almost always successful. No one can reach them — one orca alone on the contrary is to be left stranded literally (Vijay would be too).

But it goes further:

'Orca' is the only species in the genus 'Orcinus', which means "of the kingdom of the dead' or 'belonging to Orcus" – 'Orcus' was a god of the underworld — a punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology.

The name 'Orcus' seems to have been given to the malicious and punishing side of the ruler of the underworld, as the god who tormented evildoers in their afterlife. Like the name Hades, 'Orcus' could refer both to the underworld itself, as well as its ruling deity. In the charitable interpretation for such a place, it was believed to be an abode for purification of the souls of the deceased.

So I was thinking some parts of Night City literally depict some kind of underworld as well: down in the streets (dark alleys and red neon lights, steam coming from sewers and vents, vomitting out all evil settling in there) and Mercs hunt the bad ones — doesn't matter if amongst them or up high in the sky on a seat playing god. And the team is going to hunt them down for what they've done to Night City.

[vemuabhi]

The New Year Special Chapter

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 

ITS NEW YEAR ACCORDING TO MY TIME (IST)

Please take this long Chapter as a gift this new year everyone!

Pairing : Sanji X Reader

Word count : 7.4K (I know its long, sorry)

Summary : Reader, a member of Kidd pirates, when drunk meets Sanji of Straw hats and develops a crush instantly. They both drink together and thought of meeting the next day to go on a date. But Sanji forgets what ever happened between him and reader. Meanwhile Kidd and Luffy have a quarrel. What would happen next?

Warnings : Mention of alcohol, Angst, Long story, tried to make it gender neutral but it’s not so good, sorry for any mistakes.

Tagging : @yuiroha164​ @vangooh-works​ @sanjis-simp​

again sorry for tagging without permission. just ignore this if you want.

Happy New Year

We docked on an island one evening. Our captain Eustass Kidd as usual wanted to go to the bar as soon as we docked. We followed our captain into the bar and soon started to drink. My idiot best friend Heat and I were talking as our captain was picking a fight and killer was trying to stop him. The crew was having a lot of fun. Being a member of the Kidd pirates wasn’t easy but our captain, known for his ruthless nature, really cared for us, his crew very much.

It’s been a while since we started drinking and I really wanted to go out and explore. I excused myself from everyone else and opened the door and let myself out with a big alcohol bottle in my hand. The cool breeze felt so good on my flushed face. it was 10:30 and most people went home and who still remained were drunk or people of bars.

I was walking in some alleyway and I didn’t know where really I was heading. I took small sips from the bottle and headed forward. The place was almost dark except for the light from the stars and the moon, which I am thankful for, showed me the silhouette of a lean tall man at the end of the alley. The way the moonlight shone on his blond hair made him to look like a prince from where I was watching him. Being drunk I really thought he was a prince and walked towards him. As I approached him, he turned his face towards mine.

My (eye colour) orbs met his half opened sky crystal eyes. I never met such a beautiful man. His flushed pink cheeks, his smooth lips, his pale face, his straight nose, his sharp jaw, his silky blond hair covering his right side of face. This person was definitely a prince. His swirly brow was very unique. He smiled at me and I started to melt at that sight. My heart started to beat faster. I felt drawn to him instantly. As if it was Love at first sight.

“Excuse me sir, are you a prince?”, being the drunken ass, I asked without even thinking twice, but all I heard was laughing. Why was he laughing?

“I.. Im no prince milady/sir. Im just a Pirate cook.”, he said after he stopped laughing and continued, “Why? Am I that handsome, making you asked me that?”, he playfully asked, still his eyelids half closed, a pretty smile still dangling on his lips. His smile was contagious, making me smile also for some reason.

“Yes, you are. Didn’t anyone ever tell you?”, I replied honestly, his smile dropped and was replaced with a stunned expression. As he was too quiet I asked again, “What happened?”

“No.. Nothing. I was actually surprised that a beautiful person like you was thinking I was handsome, and top of that.. you even said that to me, so, I was kinda.. taken back.. thankyou so much”, he bit his lower lip and looked at the ground averting his eyes from mine.

“Heh.. so cute that you are trying to hide your blush”, I playfully teased him as he looked up again and pouted. We both giggled and I was getting sober. I thought I could talk to him in some other place. As I was about to ask him, I was interrupted with two other drunk people, crashed into the same alley where we both were standing and started to throw up. As if it was a reflex, the blond took my wrist and started to walk away from the alley. His warm hands felt so good on mine. I was sober now and could think.

“I think its better if we talk somewhere else.”, he turned to face me and smiled as he said that. ‘Oh god is he trying to kill me while he smiles like that?’, I thought to myself as we came to a nearby area with only trees and greenery and the beautiful clear sky decorated with stars. ‘Woah! So pretty’, I thought at the sight of the place.

“How did we end up in a place like this?”, he asked as I shrugged in response. He was still having the pink face and I guess he is getting sober now from all the walking. He turned back to look at me.

“Oh lord, I don’t think I can stand properly”, he said sitting on the green grass while he pulled my hand down as if he wanted me to sit beside him. ‘Damn adorable’, I thought as I sat beside him.

“Wanna share that with me?”, he politely asked me pointing at the alcohol bottle in my hand, still not letting go of my hand.

“You sure you wanna drink?”, I asked him again because it felt like he already drank a lot.

“Yeah… I usually don’t drink so much but for some reason I want to drink now.”, he says as he smirks at me and takes the bottle from my hand then he chugged half of the bottle and licked his smooth lips after... My eyes opened wide in surprise at his actions.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”, I said to him as he wiped the side of his mouth with his sleeve. ‘God he sure is hot’, I thought as he chuckled and placed the bottle down beside him.

“Its just that, I have zero luck with women and love… So if you are an imagination in my head appeared while I am being drunk, I would want you to stay a little longer. I don’t even know what I’m saying, I actually don’t even know if you are real or not. I’m wasted and I’m not able to think properly.”, he said as he laughed at the end. ‘Why did it feel like it was sad? And his words were showing how lonely he was. So beautiful yet so sad.’ I thought to myself and continued talking with him.

“That’s sad, well don’t worry, I’m sure I’m real... Or wait… what if you are my imagination!?”, I asked him with gasp as I placed my free hand on my chest, trying a dramatic effect to cheer him up. Luckily he chuckled and smiled back at me and said, “I am Sanji, I’m a Straw hat pirate and I’m the chef of our crew, so what about you”.

“I’m Y/N, a member of Kidd Pirates.”, I replied, ‘as if I could imagine such a handsome person’, I thought as I smiled at him.

“Y/N huh… such a cute name.”, he smirked at me.

“Do you tell this to everyone you meet?”, I chuckled at his words.

“…..Actually, if they talk long enough then I do.”, he let go of my hand then looked down not meeting my eyes and said, “I swoon over every girl in an attempt for making them fall in love with me. I am very desperate for love. If I wasn’t drunk, I’d swoon over you too in order to make you fall for me”, he said as he chuckled and continued, “I’m sure you must’ve been creeped out by now.”

“Oh! Well this breaks the stereotype of the pickup lines, but I do appreciate your honesty”, I replied. For some reason he somewhat has an effect on me.

“Woah.. you are the first person to say that.”, he said as he looked at me again and continued, “Ladies kinda… Hate me… But I can’t stop appreciating them whatever happens”, he smiled at me but I could see it was a sad one again. ‘How could this man not be loved by ladies? He is handsome’, I thought as I averted my eyes from him

“And… I’m not creeped out… you know.”, I blushed as slowly looked at him after I said this in order to look at his expression. He was looking at me seriously and spoke, “Please don’t be a Dream.”

I chuckled again as he was being so darn innocent. ‘So cute’, I thought as I looked at his pink cheeks and ocean eyes. He covered his face with his free hand and said, “Agh… you are the first person to call me handsome. I’m so happy”. We both giggled and I playfully asked him, “So, why are you a pirate Mr. Handsome?”

“There you go again..”, he smiled and continued, “OH! I... I want to find the All Blue that’s why I became a pirate.”, he sat up straight as he said that.

“All Blue?”, I asked him and he nodded his head and closed his eyes as if he was imagining the place then said, “All Blue is a place where we find all kinds of fishes and sea creatures from the four blues at one place. It’s very beautiful also and every chef’s dream come true.” He smiled happily as his eyes fluttered open. He noticed me staring at him and raised his curly eyebrow at me without dropping the smile.

“Ah… it’s just that… You are so passionate about it and your face lit up like a child when you were talking about All Blue. I’m sure it must be a beautiful place. I am sure a person who is so passionate about his dream would definitely find it.”, I said and he lets out a cute hum as he again take my hand in his.

“Thank you… thank you so much Y/N”, he thanked so sincerely that his eyes were showing appreciation towards me. We talked about a lot of things and it was so fun. It felt good and nice. The calm atmosphere and beautiful sky made it even more amazing. We both started sharing the remaining alcohol as we slowly started walking hands linked. Enjoying each other’s company was more important to us than to think where we were headed to.

As if it was a magical moment, we both started to make out in the middle of the silent street under the shiny stars. I don’t know how I could kiss a complete stranger but… it just felt so right. As if… we were meant to be. I know it sounds cheesy and cliché, but… it felt wonderful. He tasted like alcohol and somewhere I could also taste nicotine. I’m not complaining. It was amazing. We broke the kiss and stared into each other’s eyes for some time then chuckled. We both leaned our foreheads together and stayed for a while like that before we started walking hand in hand again. Being so happy we didn’t notice the person who saw us making out. Sanji’s eyes were trying hard to stay open. His steps became wobbly than compared to before. I could see the shore before us.

There was one question in my mind that if I ask him on a date when we are not this drunk, would he be okay? And worse…. would he even remember me? As Sanji took the last sip of the bottle, I was about to ask him but then… I was cut off by another voice.

“OYE SHIT COOK!”, shouted a man who was coming in our direction. He was sweating a lot and looked like he needed help. He came towards us and stood before Sanji. He had one eye, green hair and wore green robes. He was pretty muscular. His brows were furrowed and looked like he was very angry.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT FILTH? YOU LOST AGAIN?”, asked Sanji as they both glared at each other. The Green haired man’s gaze now fell on me. he looked at our linked hands and his eye widened as if he was shocked.

“Hey you! Who the hell are you?”, he asked me. his voice was deep and raspy. Making me shiver.

“I.. I am-”, I was cut off in mid-sentence by Sanji.

“DON’T BE SO RUDE YOU DIM WIT. The names Y/N, be respectful”, he answered.

“Ok.. but lets go. Luffy is asking for food.”, the green haired man said.

“No… not now. He needs to wait till breakfast.”, Sanji said and the man mumbled something and said, “ vice CAPTAIN ORDERS!. You need to come back.” In a serious tone. I felt like he had to go. I actually wanted to stay with him more but he had to go now… I left his hand and he looked at me with sadness. I smiled and said, “Go. We will go on a date tomorrow, only if you liked my company today. Okay?”, I asked him and all he did was smile as his eyes completely shut and he fell on me. I caught him and balanced him on myself. What the! He is sleeping now. But why whatever he does makes me think he is cute?

The green cussed as he had to take him back, but after I said that the shore is just a few meters away from here and pointed it straight ahead of us he flinched and gritted his teeth.

As he took one hand of sanji’s and placed it over his own shoulder and started walking with me having one hand of Sanji over my shoulder. We walked to shore and we could see a ship with some lion’s head which was Sanji’s and I handed him to the grumpy man and was about to go to my ship which was a bit away from this place, but the green haired man stopped me in my tracks, “Don’t you dare take advantage of him and hurt him.”, and he took Sanji to the ship. I was completely shocked at the words of the man. I snapped and yelled, “I WONT BECAUSE I ALREADY HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM”. I shouted as the man took Sanji back to the ship. He turned back and grinned at me and continued to take him into the ship, not even saying another word.

‘Seems like the Ero cook is going on a date huh’, he thought as he smirked, “Even though I had to witness that disgusting moment by accident’, he was now cringed at this own thought.

I stomped to my ship furious at the words that man said. Then I saw Heat and killer completely pissed at me.

“Oh! Look who’s back! After all the training and fight in the bar, this is what I needed today”, Sarcasm was on point for heat now.

“hahahe… i.. I’m back”, I said nervously to the both men who were also my best friends on this ship.

“You disappeared when we were fighting and you appear now. Do you even know how worried we were? It’s 2:45 am now for your information”, Killer said making me feel guilt. So… I was with Sanji for like… roughly 4 to 5 hours? Maybe? ‘Well, they weren’t wrong. If they disappear without telling me a word, I’d be worried about them’, I thought as I sighed and looked at them apologetically and said, “Sorry for worrying you guys.”

They both looked at each other and again at me. Killer sighed as Heat grunted. “Its fine. Don’t worry us like that again”, Heat said scratching the back of his neck as he dropped his frown.

“What were you doing? Where did you go?”, asked Killer not even thinking of letting go of it.

“Quick! Think of a lie and escape this”, said heat. ‘Welp. So there is someone who is still not okay with my apology’, I thought as I said, “I… thought of exploring the place and…”, I stopped in mid-sentence thinking about how I met him.

“And….”, Heat indicated me to go on.

I sighed and continued, “I met this guy and we hung out till now”, I pressed my lips as I ended my explanation.

There was dead silence which was really awkward. “Well, good talk”, I said and I started to leave but was stopped by Heat.

“Wait… you met a random guy, a total stranger, I assume he was also drunk and let me add this in, you were really drunk when it happened right!?”, he asked

“Yes.”, I answered

“Was there any chance that you were hallucinating? Because you are desperate for love so I can understand if you were hallucinating”, said killer. As I was about to protest, of course Heat had to step in and make me even more pissed.

Heat placed his hands on my shoulders and said, “You know we can totally understand if you say that you drank way too much and fell asleep under a tree till now. We won’t judge. Its totally fine if you tell the truth. You don’t have to tell fiction”, heat ended as he patted my head and let go of my shoulder. These guys… welp… they are my best friends. I know they don’t mean any ill and these type of comments were really fine between us. Especially Heat, when someone else other than the grumpy captain of course, even tried to insult me, he’d burn them. Like literally spit fire. He says he can only be the one person who can insult me. I don’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult.

“You know what, I give up. When I tell the truth you won’t believe. I hate you both”, I grunted

“Oh god! So it was true!”, Killer exclaimed as heat gasped.

“Yes you idiots! It’s true”, I said as they both laughed.

“Oh god… so... Do you like him or what? I didn’t think you were the type to go and hit on people”, Heat asked

“Welp… I guess… I… I have a crush on him. He was really fun to talk, we shared alcohol and he seemed like a gentle man. He never let go of my hand.”, I blushed at the last words as I placed my hands on my face.

Heat, that jerk murmured gross as Killer chuckled at my actions and asked, “So will you guys meet again or did you take Den-Den mushi numbers?”

“I actually told him to meet me tomorrow… i guess today”, I said as Killer awed in response but Heat being Heat said, “Good talk, now Kill me please”, in his way he is happy. Why is he even my best friend?

“Go and sleep for now. You need rest”, killer being the sweet heart said it but… Heat had to ruin that it by saying, “Yeah.. you must be very tired hanging out and drinking with a guy but we are totally okay after taking care of the crew, the fights of the captain, the repairs and damages, losing most of my sleep and also searching for certain someone. I’m totally fine.” Heat getting a friendly punch in the arm from me, with that I went to my room and slept.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

“Oye! Ero Cook!”, called Zoro as he entered the kitchen, noticing that Sanji was behaving like a usual day. It was as if he…… didn’t remember anything.

“What do you want Marimo?”, sanji replied as he was stirring the soup.

“Don’t you… have to get going?”, Zoro asked looking at the blond as he continued cooking.

Sanji turned to look at Zoro and said, “I will go soon. Taste this place’s cuisine”

“No.. No, that’s not what I was asking. I mean… you know… your plan for today. You need to go right?”, Zoro asked Sanji as the blond turned to cooking again.

“Ah! As I already bought food, my plan is to help Nami san and Robin chan to carry their bags as they both shop.”, Sanji grinned as he imagined both the girls in new clothes giving zoro chills then the blond turned to Zoro as he had a disgusted expression and said, “Why do you want to know about my plans? You creep!”.

“NO YOU IDIOT! I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR PLANS! DON’T CALL ME CREEPY YOU PERVERT”, shouted the swords man

“THEN WHY THE HELL WERE YOU ASKING ABOUT MY PLANS YOU JERK”, this time the cook shouted expecting a fight from Zoro, but to his surprise, the swords man neither shouted nor replied, instead he grunted and tapped his foot against the floor.

The curious cook asked, “Seriously, what do you want to say?”

Hearing this Zoro turned to Sanji and questioned, “Do you remember how drunk you got last night?”

This made the chef to think about yesterday. He tried a lot but it was all blurry and he couldn’t remember a single thing. He looked at Zoro but didn’t reply.

“Do you not remember anything?”, Zoro’s question was answered as Sanji gestured no. the cook was getting worried what had happened because he didn’t remember anything.

‘Agh! Why do I even care?’, the swords man thought as he cursed under his breath and continued, “Can you tell me how much you remembered?”. Sanji took a deep breath and narrated what he could remembered, from the time the crew went to the bar and drank as Luffy ate, then how Sanji started to feel like drinking more and more and that was it. Hearing this Zoro sighed. The last Zoro saw Sanji was he going out of the bar for fresh air. Sanji seemed like he was sober but now he knew he wasn’t.

“Don’t beat around the bush. Tell me what happened?”, Sanji turned off the stove and came towards Zoro.

Zoro looked into Sanji’s eyes and sighed as he answered, “You got drunk and met a person and I am pretty sure you had a great time because they asked to meet you today”

Hearing this Sanji’s eyes widened and he couldn’t believe what Zoro said.

“Look, I don’t have time for your lies and jokes”, Sanji said as he glared at the swords man

“I don’t have any reason to lie to you. If I wanted to I wouldn’t have told you and let you miss your little date”, Zoro sternly stated making Sanji to think this through. ‘Why couldn’t he remember? Was that true? For the first time in his life a person showed him affection and he didn’t even remember? And how did this marimo know about this? Who was that person? What was their name?’, all thoughts flodded Sanji’s mind making him feel guilty and terrible.

“I’m sorry for you but I too don’t know where you agreed to meet”, Zoro said as he placed his hand on the cook’s shoulder and continued, “From what I remember the name was Y/N and seemed pretty interested in you because they even shouted at me that they like you.”, after telling this Zoro left Sanji in the kitchen and went to train.

Sanji looked at Zoro and thought about the name, ‘Y/N’… no matter how much he tried he couldn’t figure out who the person was. Sanji knew Zoro wouldn’t joke about things like this. ‘Where was he supposed to meet Y/N? Who was Y/N?’, guilt was killing Sanji inside as he thought about the mystery person. He completed making the soup but still he didn’t remember Y/N.

Then he heard a loud shouting from outside. He headed out and saw that Luffy was shouting at a guy with a metallic arm and red hair. He had some members behind him as they were looking sketchy.

“Not again Luffy”, Sanji said to himself as he went near Luffy to see what the problem was.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

After I woke up, I put on my best clothes and got ready so that I could meet Sanji. I didn’t tell him where I’d meet him so I just thought of going towards his ship. Kidd wanted to explore the island today because he just drank yesterday and picked some fights.

There weren’t many people on the deck so I assumed they took off with Kidd. I got down the ship and started to walk towards Sanji’s ship. I was very nervous and my heart was beating fast. I took deep breaths whenever I felt like I was about to faint. I heard some noises and shouting as I got close to the place. Curious to see what was happening I increased my pace and saw that my crew was there… near Sanji’s ship. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw my captain shouting at the straw hat man which I was sure of was the Captain of Straw Hat Pirates as I made myself go to the front line.

My heart started to beat even faster when I saw Sanji and the rest of the straw hats looked like they were ready to take on if things got out of control. Heat, Wire and rest of us were also looking like they were ready for combat. ‘No… no… no…’, I thought to myself as I imagined how terrorising the battle would be if they fought.

I slowly took a step forward and started to go towards Sanji but I had to go past my captain if I want to meet him. I’m sure Kidd wouldn’t be focused on me because he is busy, so this was my chance. My crew were definitely shocked... But I had to… I had to talk to sanji one last time if this small fight breaks out into a war. I slowly walked and I passed my captain but shockingly he was now focused on me. He stopped shouting at Straw hat captain and stared at me with the other captain.

“EEEEKKKK Why is she/he coming towards us? LUFFY DO SOMETHING!”, shrieked a person with a long nose.

“But I don’t get any evil intent”, said Straw hat Luffy.

“Tsk, so you were a member of Kidd Pirates?”, said the green head swords man.

“OYE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING”, shouted my captain as I stood before the blond man. I curled my fists into a ball and looked at him sternly. I knew if it was now or never. So I took deep breath and asked him, “Will you go on a date with me Sanji?”

My crew and the straw hat Crew Gasped at my words. I didn’t shout but as everyone was quiet they could hear it.

Sanji’s eyes wide opened as if he heard it for the first time and suddenly the green haired person said, “Oye cook! That’s Y/N!! I told you, you had a date today”.

“EHEEEEE!!! SANJI HAS A DATE!!!! I CANT BELIEVE THIS! IS THIS A JOKE?! EHEEEEEE”, Screamed the long nose guy, a big huge robot type guy and what I suppose was an animal?! What was this crew? There is even a freaking skeleton. Sanji told about his crew but I don’t remember their names correctly. Well… our crew also is weird. We have a masked guy whos face no one saw except for Kidd I believe and… Heat…. Yeah… I got used to them so I don’t find it weird anymore. But… We have Heat. This crew is weird as ours. That guy Heat spits fire. (Totally not insulting my best friend in my head)

“WHAT THE HELL? Y/N! THEY ARE OUR RIVALS FOR F*** SAKE. COME BACK!,” My captain shouted at me.

“CAPTAIN I JUST WANT TO GO ON A DATE! PLEASE I BEG YOU”, of course I’d never betray my captain nor go against his word. So, all I have got is let Killer help me and convince Kidd.

“EHEEE SO YOU WERE TELLING THE TRUTH! STILL AM NOT ABLE TO BELIEVE YOU GOT YOURSELF A DATE Y/N!”, totally not my best friend Heat insulting me in public. Let me just ignore him for now.

“What is a date? It seems fun! Can I also join”, this made everyone go silent as the straw hat captain laughed as he said it. Was he joking or plain innocent?

“OYE MUGIWARA! THIS IS NOT THE END! LETS SEE WHO WINS!”, grunted my captain

“OKAY! LETS START!”, Said the straw hat captain with full enthusiasm in his eyes.

“Oh No! PLEASE DON’T FIGHT, WE SHOULD NOT MAKE THIS A WAR”, I shouted this time only to be stared back with confusion and some face palmed at my actions. I looked at Heat who was covering his mouth holding his laugh in looking at me. ‘The hell? Why is that idiot laughing and why is Killer looking at me with a sorry aura’, since I can’t look at his face at least I can tell what he is feeling.

“Actually, they are not… fighting exactly”, this time it was the husky deep voice which I wanted to hear the most and heard now for the first time after a while. I turned back to look at Sanji as he said that. ‘What have I done?’ and next thing I know was the two captains in a restaurant, stuffing themselves up with food.

So… this was the fight that they had in mind. Heat was sitting beside me as I hung my face down as Heat tried to be nice for once and patted my head.

“Why are you being nice? Its not your style.”, I said not looking at heat as he gasped.

“What do you mean? I’m always nice”, heat questioned making me look up at him and laugh but the thing i did before made me hung my head down again.

“I am so stupid”, I said

“No... You just have bad luck when you think”, Heat said making me hit his shoulder because he just agreed in sarcasm. But I’d be lying if I said this didn’t feel normal between us.

“I thought the captains would fight a war and I’d never get a chance to ask Sanji out but… look at my position. I didn’t even get a reply from Sanji”, I complained to Heat.

But I as I still had my head down I didn’t notice the blue eyes which were watching me from the other side of restaurant.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

In the meantime, Sanji was talking to Robin as he stared at Y/N

“You should go and talk if you want to you know, looking like that at Y/N won’t do anything.”, Said the Raven beauty who noticed the upset look of Sanji.

“…But Robin chan, it’s just that… I don’t remember even a thing about Y/N”, admitted Sanji to Robin as he continued, “Still I don’t know why I feel like my heart is being crushed when I look at Y/N…. sitting with that weird blue hair guy. He never left even for a second.”

“You can know about Y/N again if you talk. Just go a date”, said the smart archaeologist.

Sanji grunted as he looked how Heat patted Y/N’s head and how Y/N looked at him and laughed.

The blond lit another cigarette and said, “I don’t know why I’m this nervous. I’ve never felt this nervous before when I tried to approach someone. I think its because… it’s the first person who openly showed affection to me, without even a small bit of hesitation.”, sanji paused in between as he looked at how Y/N playfully punched Heat’s shoulder. Sanji continued, “Tsk.. look at them. I don’t like it one bit.”

“So… basically you are jealous. Why not just say that you’d go on a date? I’m sure Y/N would be happy and don’t worry, we will take care of the situation with Luffy.”, said Robin as she continued to sip her coffee.

“Yeah… I guess you are right Robin chan. You know what… I’ll go and talk.”, declared Sanji as he got up from his seat. Robin did her classic giggle as she saw Sanji going towards his to be date.

‘Well I guess everyone is destined to meet someone’, thought Robin as Sanji made his way to Y/N’s table nervously.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

“Excuse me Y/N, can I talk to you for a moment”, said someone making me look up at them. ‘Oh god! Its Sanji!’, I exclaimed inside my head. Heat got up from his seat and made his way to where Killer was sitting. ‘What! Hea..Heat just went away?! But im scared’, I thought as I looked at the back of Heat as he left. I slowly looked at Sanji and saw he was nervous too but was still standing in his spot. ‘Why was he?! Oh god! Is he waiting for my permission?!’, My thoughts were exploding in my head as I tried to remained calm on the outside. Trying to hide my embarrassment.

“Please sit”, I gesture him to sit and he obliged. We didn’t talk for a good minute or two, ‘Was he not ready? Was I too forward? Is he trying to reject’, with all these thoughts in mind I spoke first breaking the silence.

“So… Sanji was that too forward of me to ask you like that in public? I apologise if-”

“NO Don’t”, My sentence was cut off in between by Sanji. He looked at me with what I can assume is guilt. And I understood why he was behaving like that.

“Oh… I understand. Its.. its ok if you want to reject me I-“

“Not that either”, he said as he took a deep breath and confessed, “Y/N-san, I must tell you this. I… I don’t remember what happened yesterday”, this made my eyes widen as I looked at him. ‘Then what about our time together? What about the deep thoughts we shared? What about… the kiss? Was it all gone?’, my heart sank

“I am sorry. But trust me, I tried… I really tried hard remembering you but… I couldn’t remember you. You can hate me if you want but-“

“Stop!”, this was my time to stop him in mid-sentence as I continued, “It’s ok. You can stop apologising now. It’s not your fault. We were just too drunk at that moment. I… am sorry for asking you out even though I am a stranger. You must’ve felt forced. You don’t have to feel guilty or sad. Its fine. You don’t have to go out with me. its ok. I can understand Sanji.”, I concluded my sentence with it as I got up to leave, I felt a hand grab my wrist making me turn back to look at.

“Please, wait. I’m sorry but, do you think, we can start over maybe? Will you go out with me Y/N? please”, he asked me with a pleading smile. Could I say no to those eyes and smile? No way.

“I’d… I’d like that. Okay lets go on a date.”, I  answered as I smiled at him. He felt relieved and stood up and said, “Then would you like to get out of here? I know it’s a good restaurant but… with all those people staring at us would be awkward”

I looked around to see except for the straw hat captain and our captain, everyone were looking at us with huge grins.

“Yes please”, I say to Sanji as we both started to leave the place quickly but I had a sad feeling that my captain wouldn’t like it. I looked at him once.

“Y/N”, said Kidd stoping me from my tracks.

“Have fun”, did my captain just indirectly gave me permission?!

“Thankyou Captain”, I thanked my Red hair captain as he continued eating.

“Sanji”, this time it was Straw hat Luffy. ‘Was he also going to give permission for us?’, I was getting my hopes up.

Then he spoke, “Dinner should be meat”, making everyone sweat drop.

“Oh… Ok”, Sanji replied as he offered his hand to mine which I accepted and we exited the restaurant.

We both were a blushing mess as we walked around the place. He told me he’d swoon over ever lady he saw but he wasn’t doing that now… so I decided to ask, “Sanji, yesterday you told me you swooned around all the women but… why aren’t you doing that now?”

“What! I told you about that?”, he exclaimed as I giggled

“Yeah. You told me most of the things about yourself. Like what type of cigarettes you like, what genre you prefer for stories, what you did while you grew up at baratie and how you wait for your letters of them every time even if you never ever told anyone about it and that’s it”, I tell him as I smiled at him.

“I am so embarrassed.”, he closed his eyes and let his head down.

“What?! Only for this you are embarrassed? I didn’t even get to all the ways you tried to make Nami and Robin chan fall in love with you”, I teased him more as I continued, “Nami swan~ Robin chwan~”

He sighed and chuckled as he said, “Oh god! You almost know everything about me and I.. I know nothing about you.”, he said sadly as he again looked at me and pouted.

“Awww, you are so cute when you pout”, I said it without thinking even once. This time we both are not drunk and I said it to his face. ‘Oh how much you are right about me Heat’, I thought as I heard the Heat in my head say, ‘Told you so’… I slowly looked at sanji again and saw what a blushing mess he was. Even he had some blood coming out from his nose.

“Are you okay? I just complimented you, nothing more”, I said as I wiped out the blood from his nose with my hanky.

“I’m sorry. Its normal for this to happen to me. so don’t worry.”, he chuckled

We both went into a small café and started to talk. Mostly about me if I’m specific. ‘All embarrassing moments are okay as well as cute childhood incidents. But somethings are better unsaid’, I thought as I remembered how he hated his three brothers who bullied him.

As we exited the café with our hands linked together. ‘PDA is his speciality I guess’, I thought because how much I liked it. We hungout in the park, the nearby small zoo, shopping places even though we bought only some things and he insisted carrying the shopping bags. Instead making me have an ice-cream in my hand. He made sure one of his hand was always free because he wanted to hold my hand, which was adorable. It was evening by now and we were heading back to the shore.

“Y/N-san, can I ask you a question if you don’t mind”, Sanji questioned politely

“You don’t have to be so polite. Just ask. What is it?”, I said as I gave a gentle squeeze to his hand with mine. He blushed again and asked, “Why… Why did you go on a date with a person like me? I completely embarrassed myself in front of you, gave you a bad first impression with being so much drunk and on top of that I didn’t even remember you”, he asked as he looked at me.

“You think too low of yourself considering how handsome you are Sanji”, I said as I smiled at him. I made him to stop in his tracks and turned him towards me so he could see me clearly.

“I went out with you because I felt comfortable around you. I liked how sincere you would be if you ever fell in love. I liked how devoted you are to your friends, and the way you respect ladies. I like how you are trying to find love. But more than anything, I love how passionate you are about your dream of finding All Blue and with that deep passion, I know you’ll definitely find All Blue”, as if there was a snap Sanji pulled me towards him into the alleyway beside us.

Sanji closed the gap between my back and the wall as he leaned down. Knowing he was going to kiss me I closed my eyes. But… he didn’t kiss me. instead I heard a question, “Is it… is it ok if I kiss you?”, I opened my eyes and saw he was desperately holding himself back as he bit his bottom lip. Blood already started dripping from his nose. I chuckled as I wiped the blood again and said, “Yes”, and that what all he wanted to hear before his hungry lips met mine. I could feel the burning passion in the kiss. It was more intense because we both are totally aware of whats happening. It was so good and my knees were about to give away. The nicotine and caffeine taste was oddly refreshing and I loved it. Too bad it had to stop because we both needed air.

Sanji’s forehead was pressed against mine as we both looked into each other’s eyes. We both smiled as I again wiped the blood from Sanji’s nose, again… and again… no.. we now weren’t kissing. I was just wiping his nose.

“Please don’t make it more serious like on the mermaid island.”, I said to him as I worried.

“So you know that too”, he sighed and continued, “Please don’t hate me”, I chuckled at his words and continued to go towards the shore again.

“Woah… I did expect that you’d request permission for every single thing you do, I mean you didn’t do like this when you were drunk”, I said as I chuckled.

“We… We Kissed?!”, of course he didn’t knew it.

“Yeah and you were still a gentle man but, you didn’t ask permission like this when you were drunk”, I admitted as we both blushed.

“How the hell could I forget it?”, he huffed

“It’s fine. Just don’t forget this”, I chuckled

“Never ever. I promise”, he smiled again

After a while we reached the port. We turned to look at each other, reluctant to go separate ways.

“So… this is it.”, I said to him as I smiled sadly, not wanting to let go of his hand.

“I… I think so”, He said as he returned my smile to me.

“You have my Den-Den mushi number and I have yours. So can I expect some call dates… Only if you would like to.”, I asked Sanji as he bit his bottom lip in an attempt to not cry.

“Thanks. I… I’d like that”, he managed to say before he hugged me tight. Well, we won’t be able to meet for god knows how long. So I also hugged him tight and inhaled his scent, so I’d remember. His exotic perfume, lovely shampoo and of course, nicotine smell, which now would make me remember him more whenever I smell this kind.

“Like I already said, don’t come to my ship to drop me. I look bad if I cry”, I said trying not to cry and I heard, “No you would never look bad, but I don’t want to cry in front of you either.”

“If fate allows lets meet again”, I said and he hummed in return.

We broke the hug not wanting to but had to and kissed again and went the opposite ways, I turned around to look at him while he stayed still looking at me, until I was out of his sight. This action of his made me miss him even more.

I went to my room and ugly cried. I didn’t know why a guy, whom I met yesterday had this much effect on me. if it was a simple crush im sure without having any contact, I’d forget him. but I don’t want to… I want to remember him. I want to meet him again.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Sanji was hurt to see Y/N leave. He was now fixated. No one till now understood him and liked him even when knew all his flaws. He still complimented Robin chan and Nami as he got on the ship. Made amazing dinner and fed the crew as they left the island. Tried to remain as normal and happy as possible. Even boasted about how amazing the date was. But for the first time he asked to take Zoro’s shift to be as the lookout for night. As he was then alone and knew everyone was sleeping, he let out his feelings in the form of tears. He didn’t want it to end.

Sanji was very grateful to Y/N because of the idea of calls. He couldn’t bring himself asking that question thinking of all his insecurities. He smiled at all the moments of the date and promised himself to never forget Y/N again and would wait for them to meet again. As he was wiping his tears he heard his Den-Den mushi ring. He picked it up and heard, “Hey! I know its way too soon and also late but if you aren’t sleeping… wanna talk?”, he heard Y/N chuckle. He didn’t expect a call now. He thought of calling Y/N but was afraid that he would disturb.

“Yeah! Actually, I would love to talk”, he said as he sniffed and grinned.

THE END

Every one happy new year!

[kanene-yaaay]

Go Virge, go!

Kanene’s note: TODAAAAAAAAAY IS A SPECIAAAAAL DAYYYY!!! DO YOU KNOW WHY?? THAT IS RIGHT! BECAUSE TODAY IS @why-not-a-tickle-blog BIRTHDAY!!!! Gooooosh!!!! I know I already did a whole speech before, mah friendo, but you’re just so amazing and lovely! Aaaaaa I’m happy for being your friend! <33

Okay, I got a little carried away! Enjoy the gift! x3

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belong to Thomas Sanders and his series Sanders Sides!

* This is a SFW Tickle-Fanfic, so, if you don’t appreciate this kind of content, please, look for another blog. There are a plenty of fabulous arts in this site!!  ^w^)b

* Oneshot. Something around 3.800 words.w-)b. Lee!Virgil and Ler!Patton in Human AU.

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* Since  it’s a gift: Essa fanfic não será traduzida, mals. Thankys for reading, my lollipops, especially you, Livvy!! Have a wonderful and incredible day just like you! 

[~*~]

Patton was confused. A lot.

��And that wasn’t even a whole brand-new thing in his life.

 Patton got confused quite frequently, being honest.  

He got confused when he accidentally fell asleep on the couch and woke up four hours later with all his house painted in the dark of the night and without a single drop of memory about where he is or who he is for some minutes. Patton got confused when his attention was caught in some adorably adorable video of kittens being the best thing in the world and quickly ran to Virgil’s room just to show them to him, not understanding why his friend can’t stop looking at him quizzically until Virgil finally asks why does he has a spoon in the knot of his cardigan and Patton jumps because HIS COOKIES ARE IN THE OVEN AND HOW MUCH TIME HAD PASSED-

 Oh. Wait. That is not what he was talking about. Focus, focus!

 Anyway. Life is confusing, feelings, thoughts, actions, trying your best, keep going, look at the refrigerator just to realize you have no idea of what you were supposed to be searching in the first place, humans…

 Yeah, especially humans.

 Patton stared at the figure of his friend laid on the couch, absently looking at his phone while a piece of smile adorned his face. The movie both decided to watch paused in the background as the one currently in the kitchen waited for the popcorn get ready, his hand held lightly his chin and a frown rest peacefully in his features, mirroring the same expression he always saw on Logan every time he was confronted by a problem whose solution seemed impossible to find.

 It was The Pose of all the incredible genius in the world, right? Therefore, in some moment about now the answers of all his questions should magically pop before him, unfolding and refolding in logic patterns just like in all the mystery series and books.

 Right about noooow…

 …

 Now?

 …

 Well, it didn’t work.

 Patton pouted, turning to pour the warm and probably delicious snack in big bowls that both would pretend they wouldn't be able to finish before even getting in the middle of the so expected movie. He grabbed the bowls and headed to the other room, reprising the entire day in his mind, a faint echo of Logan saying that could help basing his decision.

 Everything started in the morning with Patton arriving at their breakfast table only to find Virgil, but not his usual Virgil.

 That was a Virgil without his hoodie.

 Not that it was a totally strange thing! Usually by his free mornings he would prefer to wander in the house on his comfortable pajamas, however the thing today is… he wasn’t on his pajamas. He was prepared to fight the world – actually Virgil was just going to work, but he said this sounded more badass - on his black Slipknot shirt, jeans and the hoodie nowhere near to be seen.

 Besides that, today was predominantly cold. Cold enough for the one wearing glasses end up missing his favorite cat cardigan by the time he arrived their house, searching for the so dearly craved cloth in every little corner until Patton came across the scene of his friend - his best edgy, lovely friend cutely wearing it and being equally playfully bratty when tried ask it back, pulling out his tongue out as his form dazed in a chase the moment Patton’s promise of ‘physically fight for it!’ – which was a lie, obviously. He gave up the vestment the very moment his eyes locked in a Virgil playing with the cat ears sewed in it – flew from his mouth.

 And, after getting tired out, they cuddled! Okay, this wasn’t nearly a strange occurrence between both, albeit was one of those rare moments when Virgil was the one who initiated it, laying on his lap with a pout and a sharp look, as if he dared the other to say something (and Patton didn’t!! He swears!! Squeals. Do. Not. Count. As. Words.), feeling comfortable enough to even start a Poking War as they were accommodating themselves on the cushions, rays of giggles, squeaks filling the place for some heartbeats before both decided to metamorphose their last bit of routine into a movie night.

 Which was exactly what they were doing!

 Now, don’t get Patton wrong. He was absolutely delighted by everything! Knowing Virgil felt comfortable, safe enough to act nonchalant around him was so heart-warming he could almost feel himself melt in happiness!

 ….But…

 But there was this signal in the back of his mind. A particularly different gleam in the other’s eyes he had already seen before, however couldn’t quite place its meaning yet. Some words unpronounced amongst his lightly snarky demeanor. Some little thing that made Patton feel playful and happily bubbly as well, except he couldn’t really grab the exact information, the exact why or the exact memory.

 Not yet, at least.

  [~*~]

  Virgil was about to fucking quit it.

 No, actually, he was about to fuck quit everything when he woke up of his incredibly, horrible, wonderfully teasy tickle dream. The tingles of the dreamy tickles still ghostly buzzing on his body as he quietly giggled, burying his face in the pillows and kicking about everything on his bed, eyes firmly closed as the memories bathed his mind in a flow made to increase awfully his lee mood.

 And then one of his favorite artists posted some new things on Tumblr, which obligated him to see all their new posts and, who knows, accidentally click in the tag ‘My arts’ of them, which end up with him re-finding other works he had already forgot about, path that consequently leaded to some more reblogs and therefore another bunch of tickle blogs which, of course, made his lee mood at work almost unbearable.

 At least he had the cold to blame if someone questioned about the persistent blush spread on his features.

 After everything, finally: The calm and quiet of home, broken by his determined decision to try to make – somehow - Patton tickle him. His friend was soft and playful by nature, and he already knew Virgil liked tickles (quite of an interesting story involving a meme, a movie and the power going out. Heh. Do not ask about it.) so, I mean, the worst part was already gone, right? It wouldn’t probably be that bad. Virgil would just act naturally, smoothly following a few advices he found in some blogs discussing this topic and hope, for the sake of his life, the Universe wouldn’t follow Murphy's Law for ONCE.

 Of course, that didn’t happen. OF COURSE.

 Virgil tried first to be a bratty. He stole Patton’s cardigan and even ran across the house in an attempt to maintain his new possession. He stretched while laid in Patton’s lap: no hoodie, ticklish spots right there. In the last shot he even let himself giggle every single time his mind wandered to the dark corner designed especially for the subject. The one wearing smudged make up even started a poke war!! A poke war!! What kind of poke war doesn't evolve to a tickle war where he would, so sadly and despise his best efforts, lose spectacularly??

 He crossed his arms and DID NOT pout, blowing grumpily some strands of hair that fell in his vision’s field.

 “I would sell my soul for a tickle.” Virgil growled, his usually careful façade crumbling under the quite persistent thoughts of fingers spidering on his ribs, counting each one of them before lazily dragging the tip of the nails to his quivering tummy, dancing and poking unbothered by his squi-

 “What was that?”

 Virgil squeaked, jumping some centimeters in the air when the voice of his approaching friend filled the room, the words getting stuck in his throat, his head shooting in the other’s direction, wide eyes.

 “What.” He eloquently offered.

 “I was too far, didn’t hear what you said, sorry. Could you repeat, please?”

 Virgil tried – failing - to not blush. Patton was… actually being serious, right? That wasn’t any kind of tease, even if the traitor little demon he usually called brain unhelpfully unlocked all the memories of all the tickle fanfics he read that began with that exact same words. “Nothing. It was nothing.” He promptly ignored the way his voice came out slightly high.

 “Oh, okay!” Patton kindly smiled, putting the popcorn on the coffe table and looking for some space on the couch to lay down while Virgil pressed play, the show’s opening quickly filling the air and silence hanging between both. Patton stopped. Suddenly Virgil felt a shiver run across his whole body, his gaze turning to his friend, only to find the one wearing glasses staring at him intently.

 “You like tickles.”

 The word only was enough to jolt his body back to a sitting position, butterflies starting to wake up, proceeding to fly the most desperate as possible in his stomach, his brain fuzzing, crumbling for answers of How and When and What the Fuc-

 “What? NO! I mean, yes but how- when did you just…”

 “Oh!” Patton gasped and Virgil felt his whole face in flames once the realization of the shiny gleam in the other’s eyes, almost as literal stars shining, hit him. Maybe… Maybe something he had done before finally work? “That is why you initiated a Poke War? Were you trying to make me tickle you? Vee, you just needed to ask!”

 Yep. No. Nope. No way. That was definitely worse.

 Virgil tried to hide himself in his hoodie, deciding he could very much rather perish in his Lee Mood than stare at the pure love and awe gazed right in his direction. His lips curving in a shadow of a smile for a second when he pressed himself further on the furniture, noticing with a grumble leaving his mouth the only armor he owned was the cat cardigan. Hood pulled up and his face firmly pressed on his knees, he ignored the way his excited giggles started to bounce and dance in his throat, resulting in his own body bounce a bit.

 “Knock knock…” Virgil felt a light tapping on his knee.

 “Fuck off.” The hissed answer ran without letting he even think about it, too much occupied in pretending to not notice how much this position left his entire tickl- I mean, sensitive torso vulnerable and how much not seeing what was happening increased second by second the tingles and shivers crazily racing in his skin.

 “Gasp! Virgil!” The one dying in the cat cardigan internally rolled his eyes at the literally audible gasp his friend vocalized, almost being able to see the playful mood taking over his expression as it always has when they swore around him. “I should tickle you for this, Mister Potty Mouth!” Yes. Yes!! Come on, come on! “But I won’t.”

 Hey now, what.

 “What?!” His head shot upwards absurdly fast, a fact which, obviously, he would deny it to the end of his living and non-living days.

 “I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide or ignore your desire for tickles every time you have them! Especially…”

 ‘Please – see? I know how to use some freaking good words. - Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say, Patton. You’re cool, you’re a funny guy, you have good intentions but you have any ideas of what the fuck will happen??’ Virgil found himself almost pleading, the sentences already running in his head, but his lips firmly gripped in the fear to let out more than these simple words.

 “… Since I’m totally okay in tickling you! Oh, wait. Did you just squirm? Aww, Virgil!! That is so, so adorable! You’re blushing, too! Awwwwww!!! Okay, okay, okay, I’m… Imma gonna die of cuteness. You’re truly the most precious being I’ve ever met!!! Wait, what I was just saying…?” 

 ‘I will die! No! I’m already dying! See? You already accomplished what you wanted!! Let’s move on to the next damn part!’

 “Oh right!” Patton lightly hit the side of his head. “I’m glad to tickle you! Truly! All you have to do is…”

 ‘Dude, Patton, Pat-Pat, Popstar don’t…’

 “Ask me! Please, please, please!!” Virgil stared him dead in his eyes, crossing his arms, his cheeks so hot that he was surprised his face didn’t melt yet. “Aw, don’t give me that look, kiddo!” Virgil just narrowed his eyes further. Patton pouted, his ‘Puppy Eyes’ expression – more like an unfair weapon - showing and nailing cracks on Virgil’s resolution.

 They stayed like this for a while, until Patton abruptly lifted his hands, his fingers wiggling on Virgil’s direction, the movement so out of blue that catched his friend out of guard, a true yelp jumping from him before he grumpily growled and let himself fall on the cushions.

 “I can’t.”

 “Of course, you can, kiddo! I’m rooting for ya! Wanna see?” And then he started to fold and unfold his fingers, approaching them to Virgil inch by inch “Go Virge, go! Go, Virge, go! Goooo, Virgeyyyy, go!” Inch by inch. Close and then even closer. The boy with a wobbly smile in his face felt like he couldn’t tear his eyes from the movements, the butterflies seeming to freak out in his stomach in the rhythm of the cheers.

 He hides his face behind his hands. Patton was going to be the end of his existence.

 “Stohop it.” Dammit. He was breaking.

 ‘Come on, guy! You can do this!’ He internally whined.

 “Ooh, is that a beauty giggly giggle what I hear? The cheering should be working then, don’t you think?! We believe in you, Virge-poo! And we can’t wait for when we…” Virgil dared to spy the scene between his fingers, only to see Patton’s hands barely touching his sides, his fingers positioned in a claw shape. “… getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha!!” They suddenly moved, clawing unbearably away and terribly close at each couple of words.

 No. Virgil did NOT squeal nor squirmed closer to the fingers. Fuck you. Nobody asked. That is none of your business anyway.

 ‘Just… just don’t think about it! Pull it off. Like… I don’t know! Like a stupid band aid!’

 “It is going to be so much fun! I didn’t even tickle you yet and you’re already giggling excitedly! Think in all your wonderful, beautiful laughter flying everywhere when I finally tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle you silly!! You’ll be giggling up a storm! Happy gasp! Pun inserted!”

 Virgil obligated himself to take a deep breath and not stare the warm, teasy hands which were oblivious of the intern turmoil caused as they rested on his sides. Their tips very lightly, almost impossible to feel and – even more difficult to ignore - poking the ticklish skin, as if they simply couldn’t bring themselves to stay still. The one laid on the couch and yet hiding his face felt the urge to kick just to get off all the pleasantly nervous energy building up in his body.

 “Virgey-wiggly-wiggley…~”

 “TICKLEMEPLEASE!”

 Patton squeaked excited, the teasy grin immediately giving space to the joyful smile. “Of course!” He grazed his fingers up his sides to his ribcage, the nails lightly drawing circles around each one of the ribs, receiving a quick tasering in the middle of them before going up to the next one, letting for a piece of moment Virgil’s bubbly and more high-pitched giggles fill the room alone.

 The cat cardigan owner ran the tip of his fingers up and down, up and down, up and down his sides, watching in complete awe the way the other squirmed at each infinitesimal move. He stopped the movement on his right side, his eyes gleaming behind the lenses as accompanied Virgil adorably wiggling away from the reminiscent tickles, as if he tried to escape from the evil fingers scribbling in that exactly spot which connected his left side to his tummy and leaded cute, sweet titters escape from his gigantic smile.

 A devious plan shinned in his head.

 Patton ceased the tickling in order to give him a breath, smiling at the pout that didn’t take too long before blooming in the other’s features.

 He quickly poked his left side, immediately hearing quiet, bubbly giggles dance across the air as Virgil wiggled to his right, only to be warmly welcomed by scratches of one single finger on his lower back, making his breath stop so fast a snort escape. Virgil widened his eyes, his hands automatically clapping in his mouth at the same time a big, gleaming grin took over Patton’s expression. They stared at each other, fingers never stopping, squirms never ending.

 “No.” His voice was slightly wobbly, giggles beginning to intertwine his words as his friend scribbled softly again. “No no no! You are a- dON’T!- such a dork!!! No!!”

 They initiated the cycle again. Every time Virgil squirmed to escape from the left tingles to the right tickles one more finger was added to the attack, soon leaving the blushed poor victim kicking sporadically when the ten fingers resumed their light, tickly attack. “I’m going t-t-to kick you!!” and then was subdued to the snorts and squeals painting his fast titters.

 The one who wore the cat hoodie which moments before had slipped from his head in the ““fight””, now showing clearly the red strongly flaming his cheeks and the tip of his ears shook his head from side to side, the frown he tried to form being immediately won by the smile taking over his features. Virgil let himself embrace the feeling completely over, laughing freely, almost doesn’t believing this was actually happening.

 That it didn’t matter how much he tried to escape nor squirm, the tickling just followed his movements, just as all his (fake) protests didn’t stop the excited, evil teases pouring from the other’s mouth. Not to tell how only the big, happy gaze from Patton was definitely not helping in the slightest his current state at all!

 He was certain. There was no way out of this. He was going to melt and   d i e.

 And he was loving every single second of this.

 “Aww! Tickle, tickle, tickle, Virge!! Look at the happiness shining in your face!! Someone really, really loves some tickly-tickles, am I right? But don’t worry, Virgey-wiggley! I will give you all the tickles you could ever want! Like here!” He booped Virgil’s bellybutton “Here” A couple of fingers slid on his waistline “And here, and here, and here and everywhere!” Fingers flew quickly, traveling on his hips, collarbone, sides, behind his ears…

 The incapacity to know where Patton would strike next killed every single drop of coherent thoughts of his mind, which could only focus on the tickling and how much it was unbearable and everywhere and it  t i c k l e d . His giggles grew to chortles, his hands flying from his own face to lightly push Patton’s, dislocating his glasses and freeing surprised chuckles mixed with his own squeaks.

 “Virgil!!” Patton ceased the playful attack in order to retire the other’s hands off his face, before both knew they’re wrestling, laughter cutting their acts and weakening their movements. “Virge!! I will go to another spot this way!”

 In a blink of an eye one of his friend’s arms hugged his sides and Patton felt a malefic grin crawling his lips without even noticing its presence. Very much different from Virgil, who in the same heartbeat realized his mistake, using the opportunity of the instant of distraction to lightly push the cookie lover off him, quickly dashing across the house. All his instincts gleaming and sparkling the sign of ‘Survive’ in his veins.

 The only reason of what Virgil forgot about the numbness from spending so much time laid on his legs, resulting in trips that definitely made him lose some crucial speed as he encircled the couch, capturing with the corner of his eyes the scene of Patton jumping of the cushions and following his escape route. The crackling dancing in the air owned by nobody specific.

 His heart beat faster, the joy raced his nerves and made his tummy tingle in advance just for imagining the exact moment where two arms would hug him firmly yet gently from behind and his ears would be set on fire the very same moment Patton would say-

 “Gotcha, Giggly Storm! I gotcha, gotcha ya!!” Patton dug his thumbs right above Virgil’s hips, the remaining fingers clawing the poor, sensitive skin in his back, leading belly laughter to took over his friend’s sentence, his knees buckling and legs uncontrollable kicking as Patton sat with him on the floor, pressing his back on his chest and resting his head on his shoulder.

 “Patton!! Pahahatton, come on, no!” Patton just hummed, two fingers calmly walking on Virgil’s waistline. “Don’t you dare!! Don’t you fuckin- gah!” The nails began to slid in the length of the belly, going from a side to another as elected soft snorts and bouncy giggles.

 “Tickle, tickle, tickle, Virge!! Did you thought you could run away from the Tickle Monster? Poor unfortunate soul ~. Now the Tickle Monster has to give you a bunch of more ticklish tickly tickles just for this, don’t you think?!” And then Virgil felt the tickles speed up to scribbles and clawing and wiggles delivered in every inch of his tummy. Going in random patterns, drawing forms on his sweet spot, up and down, from a side to another, over and over again. Quick enough to make him sporadically squirm and kick, a rain of squeals, yelps and squeals flowing from his lips, yet soft and light enough to let him rest his head on the other’s chest and just enjoy the feeling.

 “Awww! Look at how much shaking your tum-tum is! It is probably so happy in receiving its so much craved tickle tickle tickles, right, Virgey-poo?” The answer was only a blushy Virgil hiding his face on Patton’s neck, giggling nonstop.

 “Nonono!! It’s not!” And, if that move only led to a now very exposed neck to be gifted with some special scratches? They both pretended it wasn’t on purpose.

 Patton just rolled his eyes, playfully exasperated, quietly chuckling when the other jumped with the quick squeeze delivered on his hip.

 It didn’t take long before Virgil let out his first ‘Stop’, which Patton happily obliged, don’t having the heart to move when he realized Virgil’s breath becoming calmer, his eyelashes closing as he snuggled closer to the one wearing glasses.

 The duo knew very well they would probably regret napping on the hard, cold floor later, yet none of them managed to bring themselves to care, especially when Virgil’s quiet snorts with the second tickle dream of the day lullabied Patton to an equally peaceful dream.

  [~*~]

  Random non-said thing: Patton only remembered that information because the movie they’re going to watch was one of the trilogy they were watching when Virgil gathered up enough will to tell him he likes tickling.

[concussed-to-pieces]

Stay Safe Part Nine: Swan Song

Fandom: The Mandalorian [Star Wars]

Pairing: Eventual Mandalorian [Din Djarin]/Reader

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Heh. Enjoy!

Tag List: @wrestlingfae @huliabitch @toxiicpop @renegademustelid @helplessly-nonstop @culturalrebel @sinnamon-bunn @hoodedbirdie @literal-fand0m-trash @thyestean-feast @fioccodineveautunnale @kateb013 @hxldmxdxwn @lizajane3 @thewaythisis @nellyneko @oh-no-who-am-i @crownofmanga @talesfromtheguild @robbinholland @kylolover96 @lukesrighthand @lackofhonor @lightan117 @misssilencewritewell

Part One: Should Have Known Better

Part Two: Tranquil Turmoil

Part Three: Vibroblade Mettle

Part Four: Reaching Out

Part Five: Dark Past

Part Six: Go Alone

Part Seven: Like A Ghost

Part Eight: Savior At High Noon

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains character death and depictions of vomit/bile. Stay safe!]

While the Armorer spoke quietly with the Mandalorian at length and continued to smelt the reclaimed armor down, you remained out in the hallway with the IG unit to scan for threats. You couldn't bring yourself to go into the forge and just sit quietly like Karga and Cara, your whole body still buzzing with the vestiges of the huge rush of adrenaline you had received earlier. 

The robot's many sets of eyes swiveled back and forth, silently observing the tunnel in front of you. It also seemed to take note of your fidgeting. "Never fear. I am programmed to protect." The droid assured you. 

"As comforting as that is…" you grimaced, obsessively checking your blaster over yet again. "I'd feel much better if we didn't have to fight. Or if we had decent cover. I never know what will explode." An explosion echoed faintly down the tunnel as if in response to your words and you went rigid. You gripped the blaster even tighter, feeling the stock dig into your palm.

"I would advise not shooting at the inanimate objects to avoid possible damage."

"Wonderful." You muttered, a reluctant grin making its way onto your face. "This is why I prefer my knife."

"If you would like to attempt such an inadvisable tactic, I am unable to stop you." The droid commented. 

"No, no no. I promise I won't be that dumb." Your laugh was too high, choking off in your throat when you caught sight of several headlamps down the tunnel.

"Engaging the enemy." IG-11 announced, the spindly ex-bounty hunter droid striding forward into the spillway with purpose.

"IG, wait!" You protested. "How am I supposed to-"

"Do not worry about hitting me. Aim for them." The robot interrupted you calmly.

"Aim for them, no shit!" 

You knelt beside one of the many, possibly-explosive crates, tucking the stock of your rifle up against your shoulder. You then used the flat surface to steady the gun as best as you could, gritting your teeth probably a bit too hard. 

IG-11 was a force to be reckoned with. The droid barely even needed you, only once caught off-guard by one of the eight troopers that bore down on it like an unstoppable (but ultimately doomed) wave. 

One well-placed shot from you blew that particular stormtrooper's elbow out, making him scream in agony. You froze at the sound, your body stiffening before you could fight it off. How many men had you killed today? You had pushed it down, shoved the thought away, but-

IG-11 spiraled and struck with terrifying accuracy, it's blaster searing a hole in the side of the last trooper's helmet. "You have been protected." The droid droned quietly. It went on to ask, "Were you harmed?"

"No, n-no, I'm...I'm fine." You breathed. "Sorry, I get all…" 

"You did well. It is advisable to use cover at any and all opportunities." IG-11 mused sagely. 

"No kidding."

A nerve-wracking five minutes later the Mandalorian finally walked back out of the forge area, Dune and Karga close behind. "We push forward." The armored man said, answering your unspoken question. "We'll hit the river, and it'll take us to the flats. All we can do now is hope that the Imps won't head us off." 

Karga passed a large, square object off to IG-11 while the Mandalorian spoke. The boosters on the bottom of it seemed to indicate that it was a portable jet pack of some kind. You also saw a shiny new addition to the Mandalorian's pauldron.

"What's…?" You trailed off, gesturing at the insignia that had been welded seamlessly to his armor. It looked like a stylized mudhorn, which, when you thought about it, suited him immensely.

"My signet. I...I'm considered a clan now." The Mandalorian hesitated, his hand finding the child's in their little bundle of robes. "I have a Foundling in my care." His voice was warm, an almost incredulous wonder shining through his words. "She used...she used some of your beskar to make it. The ingot that I took from you, I-I asked her to use it," he continued, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hope that's--i-is that alright? I'll compen-"

"It's definitely alright." You interrupted him, nodding rapidly and certain that you were smiling like an idiot. "Don't even worry about that. Obviously, you guys can put it to better use than I ever could."

"Thank you." The Mandalorian said sincerely.

Greef suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable. "How did you get ahold of that ingot of beskar, anyhow?" He asked narrowly.

"I was paid with it when I got hired to clean his ship." You explained. "But I guess the person that hired me was actually only interested in having me jimmy the boarding ramp open for them, because as soon as I got it open I was clocked with the ingot. They ended up leaving it with me, though. Maybe they didn't know what it was worth?"

The Mandalorian turned towards Karga and you could feel him glaring, while Greef simply hummed and looked anywhere but the glowering man. "Karga, did you-?"

"Whatever it is, the answer is no! But I can't take responsibility for the actions of every hunter under me." The older man protested, waving his hands. "You know the rules, Mando, no questions asked."

"You were the only other person who got paid in beskar, Karga." The Mandalorian growled. "If I find out that it was one of-"

"We don't have time for you guys to have a beskar-based pissing match." Dune interjected, "we have to keep moving, or we're Imp chow. Squash your shit now or deal with it later."

"I apologize for anything my associates may have done to you that, er, caused you inadvertent discomfort." Karga addressed you hurriedly.

"Uh, I...forgive...you?" You replied, more than a little confused. 

"There, you see Mando? No issues here!" The Guild leader said brightly. The Mandalorian shook his head, growling something under his breath and then stalking off in the opposite direction.

...

The rickety old lava skiff, while originally half-welded to the dock, didn't stay stuck too long in the wake of Cara's heavy blaster fire. Karga quickly grabbed the side of the craft, steadying it before it could drift away from the dock.

"Watch your feet, it's molten lava." IG-11 warned. When you turned to give the robot an incredulous look, you saw the Mandalorian and Cara doing exactly the same thing. Your deadpan stare cracked a little and you were caught off-guard by a giggling fit, clumsily stumbling over the lip of the boat as the armored man followed after you.

"Fucking droids." The Mandalorian groaned while shaking his head, though he sounded less irritated and more amused.

The droid that normally piloted the skiff appeared to be out of commission, but it was no matter. Even though the lava moved slowly, it moved enough to carry the boat along with it.

The child was still limp in Cara's arms, the former dropship trooper absently rocking them back and forth. Weariness dragged at you as well, grey static slowly encroaching upon the corners of your eyes, but you did your best to push it away for the time being. You weren't sure how much longer you could get away with that, though. Stars, once this was over you would sleep for a thousand years.

A sudden crackling noise behind you made everybody whirl, respective blasters and knives brandished. But it was just the ferry droid, emerging from the ashen lava that had entombed it. It held a punting pole in its hands and began to beep, sounding almost inquisitive.

The Mandalorian finally muttered, "I don't suppose anybody here speaks droid," his tone one of long suffering.

IG-11 helpfully supplied, "I believe he is asking where we would like to go." 

"Downriver. To the lava flat." Karga ordered. The droid gave a chirp of confirmation and jabbed its pole into the lava, propelling the boat onwards at a much less leisurely pace.

The Mandalorian sat down heavily beside you after a moment, his helmet in his hands. "I can't believe you came back." He mumbled. "I didn't think...I figured you wouldn't. Thought I did a pretty good job at ruining everything."

"I can't believe I did either, honestly." You answered him, wincing when you realized how bad that sounded. "Wait, no, I uh...I just mean I didn't really know what was going on. I followed the noise and found IG-11."

"So, nothing new." The Mandalorian replied, his voice wry. Then, he murmured, "my little mudhorn."

You shot him a confused glance from beneath your lashes, but for all you could tell he was staring at the floor of the boat. Your eyes shifted to the silvery signet on his pauldron, taking in the vicious contours of the mudhorn's silhouette. I'm considered a clan now. 

"What will you do after we take care of this?" Your words were audacious in their optimism and you knew it. He knew it too, if his snort was anything to go by, but he humored you.

"I have to find the kid's people. I can't train him, he's...well, he's not really the Mando type. But he's a Foundling in my care, so I'm to act as his father until I can either return him to his people or...or until he comes of age." The Mandalorian heaved a sigh. "And seeing as he's fifty now, I don't think him coming of age is something that'll happen in my lifetime." His hand sought yours out on the bench seat after a moment. "If you...I mean, I know that...uh, the kid likes you. So if you wanted, I'd...I'd consider…" He trailed off, squeezing your wrist gently.

You opened your mouth to stammer something and then Greef inadvertently cut you off with an excited, "That's it! We're free!" The older man pointed ahead, indicating the daylight coming into view in the distance. You couldn't blame him for being relieved, really. This underground canal was stifling.

But the Mandalorian was already shaking his head, fingers tapping at the button pad on his gauntlet. "No. No, we're not." He said bitterly, getting to his feet. "Stormtroopers. They're flanking the mouth of the tunnel. It looks like an entire platoon." Your heart sank at his words. "They must know we're coming."

His shoulders slumped. You could feel the exhaustion radiating off of him. He had almost died, only for this to happen?

Cara, meanwhile, leaped into action. "Stop the boat." She demanded of the ferry droid, which just continued to chirp merrily to itself. "Hey, droid, I said stop the boat!" She barked, storming towards the robot. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" 

The droid carried on punting the boat forward and Cara grimaced, jamming her blaster into the vacant space between the droid's dome and body. One quick trigger pull sent the droid's head flying off with a loud crack!, the dome hitting the lava and immediately beginning to melt. The child started awake at the noise, tiny fists waving wildly in the air.

The boat continued to roll downstream, slowly but surely carried by the flow's current. "We're still moving." Greef pointed out, his tone laden with dread.

Dune swore under her breath, turning to face the rest of the group. "Looks like we fight."

The Mandalorian scoffed, "There are too many." His hand absently tapped the side of his helmet and you read his fingers: enemy ahead, five, five, five, so at least fifteen.

At least. Your heart threatened to pound out of your chest. It had been one thing when you were running along pell-mell with no actual thought put into your actions, but now-

"Well then what do you suggest, because I can't surrender." Cara snapped, cringing when the kid started to whimper.

IG-11 suddenly spoke up. "They will not be satisfied with anything less than the child. This is unacceptable." It rose to its full height, proclaiming, "I will eliminate the enemy, and you will escape."

"You don't have that kind of firepower, pal." The Mandalorian retorted. "You wouldn't even get to daylight."

The droid leveled him with a stare. "That is not my objective."

"We're getting close." Dune hauled you to your feet. "Saddle up." You obliged wordlessly, waiting until she turned away before you allowed yourself to grimace in pain. Maker, your side hurt.

"I still have the security protocols from my manufacturer." The IG said calmly as you and Cara maneuvered around it and the Mandalorian to prepare what limited defenses you could muster. "If my designs are compromised, I must self-destruct."

"What're you talking about?" The Mandalorian growled impatiently. 

"I'm not permitted to be captured. I must be destroyed."

"Are we gonna' keep talking or are we gonna' get out of here?" Greef enquired, waving a hand at the molten riverbank.

"I can no longer carry this for you." The droid murmured, pressing the jet pack into the Mandalorian's unwilling grasp. "Nor can I watch over the child."

"Wait." The armor-wearing man sounded like he was having trouble breathing. "You can't self-destruct. Your base command is to watch the child." Was he...was he arguing with the droid? "That supersedes your manufacturer's protocol, right?" He reasoned desperately, his head tilted up to look at the spindly droid. When the robot didn't answer immediately, he pressed, "Right?"

"This is correct." IG-11 allowed.

He was arguing. With a droid. Stars, you saw something new every day. "Good. Now grab a blaster and help us shoot our way out." The Mandalorian ordered curtly, turning to check over his own weaponry. 

"Victory through combat is impossible. We will be captured. The child will be lost." You watched the armored man's shoulders slump even lower beneath his pauldrons and cape, like an immense weight was pressing down on him. "Sadly, there is no scenario where the child is saved in which I survive." The droid carried on relentlessly. You abruptly understood what it was saying, and despite your best efforts you felt tears sting your eyes. First Kuiil, now this?

"Listen, you're not going anywhere." The Mandalorian said sharply. "We need you. Let's just come up with a-"

"Please tell me the child will be safe in your care." The IG unit requested. "If you do so, I can default to my secondary command."

"But…" the beskar-wearing man's voice faded to a hoarse whisper, "you'll be destroyed."

"And you will live, and I will have served my purpose."

"No, we need you."

"There is nothing to be sad about. I have never been alive." The droid said pragmatically.

"I'm not sad." The armored man denied gruffly. He was lying and everyone knew it. You could hear the tremor in his words.

"Yes you are. I'm a nurse droid. I've analyzed your voice." IG-11 reached out those metal fingers, gently running them over the baby's ear. Then, without further ado, the droid hoisted a leg over the side of the boat.

"IG-!" Karga began to protest, watching the droid sink into the lava. Flames licked upwards from the ex-bounty hunter's knee gaskets, but it doggedly headed for the light at the end of the tunnel. 

The Mandalorian stood still as a statue, just letting the droid go. You ended up burying your face in your hands, unwilling and mentally unable to observe what would happen. 

The ringing impact of beskar suddenly broke the silence and the Mandalorian began to sing, his words wrapped in a deep, mournful tone that sounded like it came from the center of his being. "Motir ca'tra nau tracinya," His voice faltered. "Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a! Cuun hett su!" 

The droid's self-destructive explosion rocked the tunnel and you heard the Mandalorian's breath hitch, the noise sharp and pained even through the modulator. 

He then inhaled deeply, the words reverberating off the sides of the tunnel when he roared, "Cuun hett su!" and slammed his gauntlet against his breastplate once more.

The skiff slowly slipped through the archway and out into the smokey sunlight. Fifteen broken stormtroopers littered the black ground around the mouth of the canal, none left alive in the wake of IG-11's sacrifice. You scrubbed at your face in irritation, choking back your tears. There will be time later, you promised yourself, time for Kuiil and the IG. Time to mourn them properly. You weren't permitted such time now and you knew it. People needed you, they needed--

Without warning, that ship you had seen earlier buzzed by overhead, its powerful laser cannons sending chunks of half-coagulated lava flying into the air on either side of the canal. 

"Moff Gideon!" Dune shouted, the Bren blaster whirring to life. The TIE fighter's engines screamed and whined, the craft circling back around. A line of ground to the left of the skiff exploded, green lasers punching through the cooled lava. 

"He missed!" Greef sounded absolutely thrilled.

"He won't next time." The Mandalorian replied grimly, loading a fresh canister into his heavy blaster.

"Hey, let's get the baby to do the magic hand thing!" Karga suggested, wiggling his fingers at the child. "C'mon baby, do the magic hand thing." The child stared up at him, waving their hand uncertainly. Greef sighed, "I'm out of ideas."

"I'm not." The Mandalorian snapped. He reached for the jet pack and you tugged his cape out of the way so he could attach it to his backplate. He pressed his forehead against your own briefly before he tapped at his gauntlet keypad, igniting the boosters for the pack.

"Here he comes!" Cara yelled, bracing herself back against one of the seats while her blaster roared away. Whoever Gideon was, he appeared to be coming straight for the boat. The fighter wasn't slowing one iota. 

Right as you saw the TIE fighter's cannons begin to light up in preparation to fire, the Mandalorian punched the controls on his jet pack. The armored man hurtled into the sky, easily clearing the TIE fighter and then shooting his grappling line at the back of the ship. 

Gideon took off with him in tow and Karga laughed incredulously, "you've got to be kidding me! That was your plan? Mando, you're a maniac!" He then grabbed onto the cooled lava wall that rose on the right side of the boat, fumbling his way up onto the relatively-sturdy riverbank with a muffled grunt of exertion. "Alright trooper, you're next." The older man said, extending a hand to help haul Cara out of the boat.

She too managed to get to solid ground, and she carefully sat the bundled child down for a moment before turning back to you. Cara held out her hand and Greef held out his. "C'mon rookie, get up here." She said with a tired grin. "We need good seats to watch your Mandalorian work his magic, right?" 

Your laugh caught in your throat, almost a sob, and you reached to clasp their hands. But then your breathing abruptly hitched as, in reply to the first tugs of the two individuals above you, the wound on your side made itself felt with a vengeance. You panted, half-blinded by the sudden pain and knowing that you had gone full dead-weight.

"Use your legs rookie, c'mon!" Cara complained, planting herself and slapping her other hand closed around your upper arm to help her leverage. You gritted your teeth and forced your body to cooperate in a last ditch effort to get you up onto the river banking. Despite that, you were still all but dragged the rest of the way, Dune and Karga barely managing to muscle you to safety. "Look at him go!" Cara exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the sky.

As you tipped your head back to watch the TIE fighter skitter and weave through the air, the ground suddenly felt like it was tilting under your feet. Your ears started to ring and your knees trembled unsteadily, threatening to give out beneath you any second now while the static at the edges of your vision that you had been keeping at bay crept steadily in from the sides. 

You clumsily took hold of Karga's shoulder, the older man giving you a confused look. "I...I don't feel so good." You stammered.

Cara turned to you, her mouth moving and her expression changing to one of concern, but you couldn't hear her at all over the ringing in your ears.

She grabbed your cloak, yanking it up off your body as you sagged against Greef. "Sorry," you breathed, knowing that she must have spotted the blaster wound on your side. Your own voice sounded so loud to you. Your bloodied fingers found her gorget, floundering desperately for a handhold. "Take care...of the k-kid-" you whispered, all of your adrenaline finally spent. 

You had been running on fumes for the last few minutes. You weren't sure how much blood you had lost, all you knew is that you had been bleeding since getting clipped on the battlefield. It hadn't hurt when you were moving or distracted, the urgency of your situation enabling you to draw on your body's ability to push through the predicament. But now, it seemed that your luck had run out.

Your eyes felt too heavy. You needed sleep. How long had it been since you rested? You deserved a rest. A rest sounded phenomenal.

"...shot, give--osi'kyr, let me see them!" That was the Mandalorian. He sounded terrified. You couldn't remember ever hearing his voice crack like that. What was wrong? When had he landed again? What happened to Gideon?

"S'wrong?" You slurred. You appeared to be laying down. Possibly. Up and down were a little confused at the moment. 

"Focus on me, please, you have to stay awake-" He sounded so sad.

"Going into shock--must have been when-" Cara's voice was faint and wavering, as if she was underwater. 

"Sweetheart, cyar'ika, please, please--" His helmet pressed to your forehead and you heard his breath rattle. No, that couldn't be right, the bacta spray should have fixed that. Was it your breathing that sounded that bad?

You dimly felt dried blood flaking off of your hands as you moved your fingers. "Want to sleep. S'dark." You mumbled.

"Don't you dare!" His modulated voice cut through the gray haze rudely, too loud and bright. "You're not going to sleep!"

"F-five minutes." You bargained, grimacing when his helmet banged into your forehead.

"You stay awake, you hear me?! I'm not letting you do this! Not after everything we've been through!"

"Never even...got to…" Your head felt as if it was stuffed with clouds, words trickling out of your brain and vanishing like water in the sand. "'Pologize…" He had your hand in his own now, leather rubbing feverishly over your knuckles. "Got so mad…"

"You're not the one who needed to apologize, dammit. I...I shouldn't have tried to leave you behind." His voice broke. "I-I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking sorry, I-" Blood was roaring in your ears, drowning out anything else the armored man might be saying. Your fingers were going numb. Flickers of conversation reached you, battling against the roar.

"-them still, Karga, he's got to close this, stop the bleeding--"

"-idea, but make sure it holds until we get back to town--"

"I love you, I'm so sorry, this will hurt--" 

Pain stabbed through your body, startling a ragged exhale out of you. Something was burning. It smelled disgusting and you retched without meaning to, bile foaming at your lips. You wondered absently if that was the smell he had been talking about when he had been poisoned, death-rot...

Metal was pressing against your forehead and a blinding heat seared at the wound on your side, the two sensations warring for your attention. Vomit surged up your throat, making you gag again.

This is it, you realized vaguely. This is how I die. Huh. The notion was not nearly as repulsive as you had expected. Dying sounded halfway appealing. You could rest then. 

"Stay awake, please stay awake-"

"M' here. M'wake." You assured whoever it was, your hand weakly patting at theirs. "So tired...can I sleep soon? Pl-ease?"

"Not now, not now, you h-have to stay awake." His voice was trembling. "The kid needs you, dammit."

"Need you to--to take the kid and run." You urged, confidently stating, "I'll hol' 'em off so y' can escape. They're comin' in warm an' I'm comin' in cold." You struggled to grab your blaster, but your arms refused to cooperate. "Did y' turn up the gravity? Can't...can't move…hurts..." The tears wouldn't stop rolling down your cheeks in a torrent. You weren't even sure why you were crying.

"Stay awake. Just like on Sorgan. All I need is a f-few more minutes, okay? Remember?" Your body tilted crazily, someone's arms fumbling beneath your shoulders and knees to hoist you off the ground.

"Mm, I can do that. Do whatever y' want." You mumbled. The darkness closed in around you, a sweltering maw that slowly drew you deeper and deeper into its grasp. "It's...it's so dark. M' scared." You admitted, your numbed fingers petting the hand that rested on your arm.

"I'm right here with you." He assured. "I'm not going anywhere. Sing that song, please? The one you sing to the kid. The...the lullaby."

Your brow furrowed with effort and you opened your mouth, your voice faint and pitchy in the blackness. "Stars fading, but I linger on...dear...still craving…" 

The words wouldn't stick. Your brain was drawing a blank. Why couldn't you remember the words?

You fell asleep.

...

You dreamed of wind whipping your face, steam that hissed and boiled on the lava flats, droplets trickling down from underneath a proud helmet to gather at the edge of his chin and drip onto your tunic.

You dreamed of drowning, thick liquid sliding over your head, enveloping you in its fetid grasp before your consciousness faded back out. 

You dreamed of a mudhorn in beskar, the shimmering silver-clad beast guiding you through the black.

Eventually you spiraled downwards into a deeper sleep, and finally you dreamed of nothing at all.

Interlude

[bates--boy]

“Okay, closer! Remember that this is the best day of your life! Terra, soften the lights!”

         If Peter said right then and there that he knew that modeling was hard from his “experience”, he’d be a liar just trying to soothe his worries and ego. His experience before this was chump work, and none of the filtering, editing, and social media marketing would have prepared him for even an iota of this type of work. Firstly, he had grossly underestimated how long this would take, and it definitely did not take the two or three minutes it would take to snap a selfie, or even the the half hour to get his makeup and hair in order. 

        Secondly, there had to be photos of everything. A toast at the table, Burak carrying Peter down the bridge, Burak making Peter wonder if the universe hated him by brushing away hair and cupping his cheek, Peter taking solo shots in a grayscale room for every. single. dress that the stylists picked for him. Posing on the swings, dancing to nonexistent music, lounging on a leather chair. Pierre wanted photos in as many angles as he can imagine, and fuck how beautiful Burak was, fuck how dazzling and breathtaking Peter felt in the dress once he became used to the silicone breasts -- Peter was ready to bite someone’s nose off by the fifth hour.

          "Alright, everyone, break time!” the manager, whose name Peter also hadn’t gotten but was too frazzled to even want to bother with, called out as she waved people over to the food table.

         Peter knew that if he was going to barrel through the estimated next six hours of this, he should have something nutritious in his stomach, but the bubbly golden champagne called out to him. He downed one glass at the table and carried another to the gazebo steps. His feet hurt, his everything hurts -- how does modeling hurt the body? How the fuck does that happen in a bridal photoshoot? -- but especially his feet, and once he sat down on the step, Peter unfastened the heels and peeled them off. 

        “This is not worth the money,” Peter grumbled, reaching down to rub one of his feet with his free hand. He winced and hissed through his teeth. “Fucking Christ on a dildo...”

        “You totally sound like a bridezilla right now.”

         Peter recognized the voice (because of course, he did) before his eyes snapped up to find Burak ambling over, carrying a plate piled with pastries and pieces of fruits and a bottle of wine with an empty glass. Peter couldn’t even find it in himself to be excited that this Michelangelo sculpture was coming to sit with him, and the alone time in this picturesque setting they were likely to spend together. He was just so drained and sore. Like a cat, a part of Peter wanted some alone time alone, to hide away and lick his invisible wounds and ponder why he was doing this when he knew that, even if his crew had enough money to buy that coveted studio, they weren’t going to get anywhere. Still, he didn’t protest when Burak took a spot next to him and sat the wine and food between them. 

         “You should eat something,” Burak offered oh, so helpfully as he filled his glass.

          “Thanks,” Peter drawled. He plucked a hulled strawberry from the plate and popped it into his mouth. He made sure to lean a little forward so that whatever juice may slip out won’t get to his dress.

       “You’re welcome,” Burak replied. “So, I take it you’re new to this?”

       Peter started to shake his head, ready to draw on his social media and webcam modeling experience, but he thought better of it. Why bother conflate the two for his ego? “Pbbbbbbbbt, yeah,” he answered. He raised his flute to his mouth. “Why? Was it that obvious?”

       “Yeah,” Burak nodded. 

       Peter’s hand stopped, then lowered as a brow rose. “How?”

       “Well, besides the fact that you look like you’re ready to collapse or claw someone’s eyes out? You constantly have to be told to tone it down and you look ready to run every time we have to act out something intimate.”

       “So, I just look unnatural?” Peter looked away and downed much of his drink in one go.

       “Yeah, but it was likely to happen,” Burak bit into a pastry. “I mean: how did you, a guy, get hired as a bridal model?”

        Peter didn’t sense anything offensive in Burak’s tone, just simple curiosity, so he replied honestly with a lazy shrug, “I don’t know. I actually applied for the groom position.”

        “Pffft, oops. Sorry about that. Well, that dress looks lovely on you.”

       “Thanks. That was one of the reasons they hired me as the bride.”

        “Hm...”

        Then silence came. Burak watched the photoshoot crew as he ate his cream cheese bear claw, and Peter watched the shiny of the sun glint off his glass as he slowly waved the flute around. 

       Polishing off the last bite of his bear claw, Burak asked, “So, how is your first professional photoshoot going so far?”

       Peter perked up, smile stretched from cheek to sore cheek. If his hands weren’t occupied with the champagne, he would have given a little clap to sell the reply. “Oh, it is fantastic! Wonderful! My body hurts, this dress itches, the hair care products feel cheap as shit and I’m sure I’m going to break out tomorrow, and I am never doing this shit ever again!”

        Burak leaned back, blinking. He cleared his throat. “Ah... wow. Well, it’s good that you figured it out before you really committed to the modeling career.”

        “I didn’t do this to get a modeling career.”

          “Oh?”

         Peter shook his head and took a breath. “No, I took on this gig to earn money to buy a studio.”

         “A studio...?”

        “Recording studio. For me and my music crew.”

         Now it was Burak’s turn to perk up, and truthfully, seeing interest light his face did make Peter feel better. “You make music?”

       “Yeah. I’m part of this new group called The MizFists. We’re a hip-hop collective.”

        “Hey! My cousin likes hip-hop! Do you have any music posted anywhere? I can tell her about it.”

        And Peter, all wide eyes as he watched Burak take his phone out of his pocket and swiped on the screen. “Oh! Oh, uh, yeah. Our website is M-I-Z-F-I-S-T-S dot com. All of our youtube channels and Bandcamp accounts are on there.”

       “Huh, never seen it spelled like that before...” Burak shrugged.

       “Well, we would have went with the proper spelling, but, you know, another group already has it, and we’re too broke for copyright lawsuits.”

        “It’s a cool name, still,” Burak said. He made sure the message had sent before placing his phone back into his pocket. He ate a piece of mango. “If my cousin decides to go to one of your concerts, I’ll have to tag along.”

       That... should not have been as easy as that. Sure, it’s likely that Burak’s cousin will dismiss their group as crappy wannabes, but still, the fact that Burak even shared their name like that... 

       And the food and bottle (which Burak had in his hand to refill Peter’s glass) -- Peter wanted to ask what was Burak’s goal here. Because who was this jovial with a cross-dressing stranger? Peter had to remind himself that not everyone had an ulterior motive for niceties, he still sought a way, an opportunity, to give this man the stink-eye and a “What’s your endgame, buddy?”

       Taking a drink, Burak passed his tongue over his disgustingly perfect lips and said, “So, since you’re pretty much a rap expert, you wouldn’t mind telling me if this verse--” and he did that weird cool guy rapper hand gesture, “--is fire, would you?”

       “Heh heh, go ahead!” Peter prompted, with that eyebrow raised once more in amusement this time.

       “Okay, okay!” Burak set his glass down and placed a hand on his chest and held the other in front of his face like a microphone.

       Burak stared at Peter, the hunched over bride shaking with his face twisted to hold in a laughter, his own face feigning a cold serious.

         Me and da babe looking heckin’ cool

         After school, hittin’ up the party pool

        Sitting on the grill of the big Bugatti

        All slutty, all thotty

        A couple rock stars making it rain at the pool

      They burst out laughing.

      And Peter didn’t even know why he was laughing; Burak was cute, and it was sweet that he came over here to chat, but it wasn’t funny, not that funny. Maybe it was the earnestness in the humor, or the needed release of stress. Whatever the reason, Peter dabbed at the tear in his eye. Thank goodness for the waterproof stuff.

       “You know? You might have something there,” he chuckled. “You’re definitely the new Will Smith!”

       “Pfffft, please! I am way better than Smith!” Burak tossed his hair. “But I’m going to let my cousin know that she was wrong, that an actual, bona fide rapper said I got some skills!”

        “Shit, if we’re ever looking for another member, we’ll hit you up,” Peter said, taking a grape.

       “Looking forward to it!”

After a friendly elbow nudge, Burak continued, "Seriously, that's cool that you're this serious about your music that you're doing this. I can tell that you're gonna go far. But I hope you don't drop this line of work, because you have a bit of potential in modeling, too. Who knows, you'll probably get famous enough that you'll have clothing brands begging you to model for them, and you don't want to pass up on those deals, would you?"

"Nah, I guess not..." The smile on Peter's painted lips dimmed, and he pursed them until he allowed himself to ask, "Uh... Why are you being so nice to me?"

Burak tilted his head. Oh, god, now he looked like a puppy. An irresistible puppy. "Am I not supposed to be?"

"No, it's just that, er... I thought that supermodels had to be brutal because, you know, this industry is dog-eat-dog."

Burak shook his head. "First of all, I'm not a supermodel; this is just a catalog shoot. Second..." He shrugged. "It felt like you were having a bad time and was uncomfortable around me. And we can't have that for our kissing photos."

For the slow way the words processed through Peter's psyche, his body was quick to react in its non-reacting form: body suddenly rigid, temperature swinging from ghostly chill low to loins on fire and I'm a sinner scorching, mind going as blank as his eyes gone wide.

"K... Kissing? We're going to--" Peter bowed his head with his hand over his mouth. "Oh, my god..."

He didn't see Burak's face, but he felt the indignation rolling off the other man who said, "I mean, I like to think I'm not a bad kisser..."

"N-no! No!" Peter lifted his face and waved a hand. "It's not that! I just--"

"Wow!" Burak snorted. "Wow! You are blushing hard!"

Peter gasped. "No, I'm not!" Of course, where they went for top-quality mascara, they'd cheap out on the foundation.

Burak laughed so deeply that he had to set his glass down. "Yes you are! Aw, look how red your ears are!"

"Oh, my god," Peter, once more, groaned. He bent his head so low that the veil fell from behind his back and draped over his shoulders.

So when he felt an arm slink around his waist, he was too unprepared to stop the yelp squeaking out of his mouth. Nor did he have any protection against the medical emergency fever burning through his body when Burak whispered in his ear.

"Don't you worry, Peter: as a gentleman, I promise you that I'll leave your honor intact and will be tender with you."

Whether Burak was serious or joking, it didn't matter when, to Peter, his voice was every bedroom song one to life. But Burak squeezed his shoulder, and when they've locked eyes, Peter could still see some of that sweet earnestness, that urge to lift Peter's mood, and he could help but smile.

"Gee, thanks," Peter tried with as much playfulness as he could muster.

A chuckle pass between them, and then

Flash. Flash.

Both men looked up to find Pierre lowering his camera. "Oh, that was perfect! I have to convince the magazine to use that in their layout."

"Uhhhh..." Peter said. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Reminding you two that break's over," Pierre said. "Now, let's go, we're burning daylight!"

"Well, that was a nice break." Burak stood and brushed the back of his pants. He held out a hand for Peter. "Ready to get back into the dog-eat-dog world of modeling?"

Peter's smirk was lopsided as he took Burak's hand to let him up. "Sure."

[doodle-zombie]

Lamia Bonding #7

It was pure luck that the very last Mamba from Marmalade's brother-clutch was still at the adoption center, a fact with astounded Valerie because his scales were absolutely gorgeous. The perfect shine of iridescence had drawn her in just as much as it had with Currant, the purple scales shimmering a rainbow of colors whenever the Mamba moved around. His coloration was the type that needed to be paraded around and she was thrilled to keep up a regimen that would maintain the shine of his scales, glad that she'd thought ahead and grabbed the best of the best when it came to products meant for lamia scale health.

Overall, this Mamba seemed to have a much calmer disposition than the others she'd glanced upon. He handled Currant well, taking the attempt to touch without permission as the praise it was and didn't seem too fussed when Valerie gave him a gentle caress across the dome of his skull. There was no doubt in her mind that he would become the king of the house and she was already jokingly calling him Milord in her head. But Val had her naming conventions and the base colors of his eye lights and tail was a beautiful purple-red that she adored.

Like Sangria, which she quickly picked as his name.

As for the Corny tag-along she was happily taking home, the darker circles on his tail were the color of lapis lazuli and that assured his name was Lapis. And his sense of humor was a breath of fresh air, considering he had wiggled into her heart in typical Corny fashion. A sign was certainly the best way to get someone's attention.

"Lapis, my little gem," she sang as she scooped him up in her hands to pet his head with the tip of one finger. The perfect ivory of his face flushed the color of his namesake and she felt her insides could have melted. "And Sangria, my perfect little lord."

The Mamba had been slightly miffed by her nickname for the bitty Corny but her title for him had immediately had him preening. Yes, the proper amount of respect was being paid to his magnificence. Sangria was allowed to find his spot within the van first, choosing the front seat as his throne (luckily Marmalade had moved the seat all the way back so a lamia could fit). Valerie felt grateful that Marmalade had also reminded her to pack some things that would make the ride much smoother.

A bag of mustard chips for Currant, some chocolate-covered mixed nuts for Marmalade himself, a few random assorted snack cakes (just in case Currant wanted something else), and the holy grail of Mamba snacks. Warheads, since toxic waste comes in nasty packaging. A small sampling of the sour candies that Valerie had picked up at the store while Marmalade protected her from getting jostled.

The car ride was peaceful with the treats handed out. She was quickly alerted to the fact that Lapis loved the little melonpan that she had ordered and brought along on a whim. He got custard on his face and all over her lap, where he was perched while he ate. Sangria was, luckily, distracted by his appreciation of the candies she'd offered to show her supplication to his wants.

Lapis would need a much stricter schedule than Currant, or else the little Corny would risk getting fat. Being a bit plump would be one thing but she didn't want to compromise his overall health.

Before the car had even fully stopped she had doors open with lamia spilling out. Sangria was quick to dart about and affirm that this was his territory, Marmalade following behind and Val was somewhat surprised to see Currant tagging along with them for a circle around the house. When Sangria and Marmalade disappeared into the trees Currant returned to her side.

"Well, I still have my gems," her gaze was drawn to one of said gems. Lapis was covered in custard and crumbs, still clothed in the standard clothes of the adoption center. "You need a wipe down, Lapis."

"heh..." his pale eye lights were drawn to the mess. "oops."

Valerie laughed, delighted that she would finally get to bring out the smaller clothes she'd gotten before Currant or Marmalade had entered her life. When she had contemplated other adoption centers that only had bitties and had impulse bought a lot of miniature clothing. There were a lot of pun graphic tees that should fit Lapis.

There was also the new blanket she'd gotten for Currant's nest, a thick and fuzzy one since he'd been such a good sport about the adoption of a new lamia. And if he happened to catch a glimpse of a couple more carefully hidden shiny stones on the way into the house, well, he had a good eye for that sort of thing!

[kbstories]

Axiomatic

ax·i·om·at·ic (adj.)

Self-evident; unquestionable.

The best part of battle is the afterparty.

(Or: Remember that banquet Luffy promised? This is it.)

Tags: Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Partying

Set in Wano. Spoilers for all of Wano. Read Chapter 2 here.

***

“What do you think?”

Lipstick glides over thin lips, the wax malleable and smooth as it leaves a coat of rusty red in its wake. Killer makes sure it’s perfectly even before he glances elsewhere. In the mirror, Kidd’s face is all scowled impatience.

One last run-down – eyeliner, mascara, lipstick: done, done and done – then Killer grabs the mask waiting for him. “Alright, let me see.”

Their eyes meet and Killer sighs. Metal over skin-and-bone, Kidd’s arms are crossed; his shaved brows push together further. As if Killer doesn’t indulge his every whim by the regular.

“I’m looking. Show me again.”

Kidd grumbles, “Watch.” He opens his arms, reveals an unbuttoned shirt tucked into his favorite patterned pants, glinting gold over black under a double-belted cinch at the waist. So far, so very Kidd.

No, the point of discussion is the frankly massive coat slung across his neck: Nice soft-looking suede on the outside and glossy-grey fur on the inside, it hugs Kidd’s shoulders in all the right places to then cascade down his back in a display of near-ridiculous opulence.

Extravagant, over-the-top, flashy. It’s hard to tell which type of animal had to die for this. There must be a lot less of ‘em now, with this monstrosity in the world.

Kidd is swiveling it back and forth with critical glances to the mirror, the coat wooshing with the motions. Killer takes in the fluid glide of fur over Kidd’s exposed chest, the contrast of impeccable couture against jagged scars. Loses himself for a moment or two imagining how it would feel like to run his hands over both.

An appreciative hum. In Killer’s educated opinion, Kidd looks damn near sinful.

“Yeah?”, Kidd asks and Killer nods. “Yeah. Heh, told ya the detour’s worth it.”

Perhaps it was, although sifting through Onigashima’s treasury whilst bleeding all over heaps of shiny expensive everything might’ve been a case of skewed priorities. There’s no need to talk about what-could-have-beens, though – they’re here, they’re rich and they’re long overdue at Strawhat’s banquet.

Killer’s practically done, tight jeans under a shirt that’s done up to the third button and left to flare open otherwise. It’s not his old favorite (that one stopped fitting him a good year ago) but similar enough, patterned in geometric black-and-white shapes. Definitely one of his fancier ones, not that anyone will care one way or the other where they’re going.

It’s… been a while since it’s been anyone other than them and their crew. Pirates are pirates, allied or no; Killer eyes the scythes neatly stored next to the bed.

Kidd is touching up his lips one last time, the same shade as Killer’s. “Bring ‘em. That Roronoa guy keeps throwing you weird looks and I’m not allowed to kill him.”

Yet goes implied. Killer isn’t wearing his mask and so he doesn’t roll his eyes. “He’s got every reason to”, he reminds his captain, focusing on the heavy clasps of his weapons to keep the memories at bay. The red mark on his chest stings, stuck in the limbo between a healing wound and a fresh scar for a few days still.

A testament to his failure that Killer won’t hide. If Zoro hadn’t stopped him that day his hands would be stained with blood that cannot be washed off, not entirely.

Kidd’s eyes are on him, dark. “I don’t care.”

Resentful as always. Killer reaches for him, digs his fingers into the fluffy lining of that coat and oh, the fur is as soft as it looks. “I do, though.” A firm tug, one Kidd follows until Killer can kiss him, careful not to smudge anything.

“No killing of allies today, ‘kay? We just came back from a war. The crew’s tired. I’m tired.”

“Mh” is all Kidd has to say to that, a grumpy huff against Killer’s lips more than anything. Kidd does give him a proper kiss, however, and Killer knows he won this one.

All he can ask of Kidd is to try, anyways – with two equally hot-headed captains and a whole host of morons around to rile him up, there’s bound to be blood eventually. The trick is to make sure everyone’s drunk enough not to take it too personally.

A pinch to his ass tells Killer he was caught scheming. Kidd smirks, tells him, “We’re getting wasted tonight”, all triumphant like it’s the best idea he’s had all week, and Killer doesn’t miss the emphasis on we.

“Two Emperors down! Strawhat better bring the good stuff tonight or this alliance is over.”

Killer groans, “Kidd”, but he’s smiling, too. Before he can be called out on it, Killer shoves his mask into Kidd’s hands, metal clanking against metal. “Make yourself useful. We’re late.”

Kidd’s laugh is more of a cackle than anything else – “Yes, darling”, said in that sarcastic lilt Killer knows all too well – yet Kidd complies. His hands, organic or otherwise, handle the mask they’ve built with care and precision. Soon, Killer’s vision is narrowed down to dots, the audio filter of his helmet kicking in soon after.

Killer rolls his neck and hums, satisfied. “Ready?”

Kidd throws a final look at himself in the mirror, grinning into the collar of his new coat.

“Hell yeah. Let’s go.”

*

The banquet is a sprawling, messy affair that swallows the entirety of the ramshackle village the Strawhats picked as their home in Wano Country.

From the moment the Kidd Pirates get there they are surrounded. Wherever Killer's eyes roam there are knots of people drinking, eating, laughing and crying, sometimes simultaneously – there, at the heart of it all where the crowd is thickest, burns the largest bonfire Killer has seen in a while, perhaps ever. Smiling faces all around and for once, it doesn’t make Killer’s stomach drop because they’re genuine.

Survivors of SMILE just like him, caught in the rush of real emotions for the first time in who knows how long. Killer has a pretty good idea how that feels like.

Next to him, Kidd is so tense he’s stalking, gaze intense, oozing Haki to keep people away; Wire’s hand is clenched to bloodlessness around his trident while Heat exhales a bit of smoke with every breath and yeah, Killer gets it. Can’t help it himself, either, scythes kept close to his sides to make sure they’re there.

The thing is: They don’t do these kinds of things. Parties, yes, many and often but not like this. Killer can count on one hand the amounts of times the population of any island was actually happy to see them, much less willing to send them off with one big feast.

Actually, he wouldn’t need to count at all because it’s simply never happened. Even filtered by his mask it’s… a lot to take in at once.

The entire damn country is here, it seems, all breathing a collective sigh of relief so monumental the air itself carries their joy. For all that the Kidd Pirates were in this for revenge and glory, Killer can’t deny it’s rewarding to see a nation so ravaged by an Emperor’s greed do whatever they want for the first time in decades.

Finally, a few familiar faces start popping up. Some of the samurai greet them with nods of their heads, overly formal like the people from Wano tend to be; here and there they spot the distinctly branded yukata the members of Trafalgar’s crew are wearing and, rarer but all the more noticeable, those animal people Strawhat dragged along from somewhere.

Minks? Or something? Killer is inclined to say it doesn’t matter if they didn’t have the habit to jump on them out of fucking nowhere. Looking for bone-crushing hugs and wet-nosed kisses, of all things, and– Oh no, he did not sign up for this.

Much less for whatever that group of cat minks are gearing up to, staring at the holes in his mask with eyes nearly swallowed by black, round pupils. Killer is absolutely, solidly convinced he doesn’t even want to know what that’s all about.

“Captain.”

And yeah, his tone is a little more alarmed than he truly means it to be. It gets Kidd’s attention, though – himself having fought off a dog mink enamored with his metal arm not too long ago – and he barks a laugh even when he ramps up his presence to an almost stifling degree.

“C’mon, I feel Strawhat up ahead.”

To nobody’s surprise, they find him smack dab in the middle of everything. Strawhat and his crew are lounging around the bonfire, there’s no other way to describe it: All broad smiles and flushed faces amidst the chaos, completely in their element, and it’s hard to tell if it’s the closeness to the bonfire or the vaguely impressive amounts of empty bottles lying around already. They’re certainly boisterous enough for it to be the latter, even Jinbei.

And no, Killer hasn’t quite processed that turn of events yet. The strangeness of seeing someone of that caliber wheeze into his mug with laughter as his (new?) captain takes a disturbingly big bite out of an even bigger chunk of meat is… not helping things, in that regard.

What a bunch of weirdos. In the safety of his mask, Killer allows himself a small smile.

From here the flames seem to reach for the sky, tinged in warm pinks and oranges by the sinking sun and there, very faintly, Killer can make out the first stars. He can’t remember ever seeing them, not with the factories running over night as well.

“Spikey!!”

Ah. Killer’s head turns with Kidd’s and it’s a good thing, too, because there’s a stretched arm coming for his captain – Kidd bites out, “Nope, no, Strawhat”, red eyes going wide – and Killer manages to side-step it in the last possible second. One, twice it wraps around Kidd, fancy coat and all, and then the rubber recoils.

“Killer!”

Oh my, Killer thinks mildly as he watches him go. Behind him, half their crew is flabbergasted and the other half is in stitches. “Captain’s gonna be in such a mood”, Heat says to Wire, and it just sends them into another fit of chuckles.

For Killer, finding a drink becomes his top priority. So much for keeping things peaceful.

>>Chapter 2.

[thetravelerwrites]

Fuzz (MLM Mothman) Lemon

Rating: Explicit Relationship: Male Human/Male Mothman Additional Tags: Exophilia, Mothman, Male Reader, Male Monster, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons, Tabletop Gaming, Interspecies Romance, Social Anxiety, Gay Monster, Gay Male Character, Gay Sex, Anal Sex, Safe Sex, Condoms Words: 7185

A fun commission for @severedreamerbeard​. A man meets a shy silkmoth mothman in a hobby store during a free comic day, and invites him to play D&D with his friends. Please reblog and leave feedback!

The Traveler's Masterlist

Free Comic Friday always drew a huge crowd in your favorite local comic shop, but it was packed to the rafters today. The first issue of a graphic novel reboot had dropped and they were offering five hundred free copies, first come first served. You’d been dying to get your hands on it since the reboot had been announced, and you couldn’t believe it was finally out.

Happily swinging the bag around, you didn’t leave immediately once you got your copy like most of the crowd had done. This was one of your favorite places to hang out. It wasn’t like a lot of comic shops that seemed to only attract one demographic; there was always a nice mix of different people. Tabletop gamers, comic enthusiasts, collectors of various nerdy things, cosplayers who needed supplies to make their costumes: all sorts came through here and you loved it.

You got a text from your friend, Shannon, who knew you’d be there and snickered. She’d lost her D20, again, and wanted you to pick up another one in blue, preferably with sparklies so that it matched her current favorite set. Rolling your eyes and smirking, you headed for the dice aisle.

To your surprise, there was a very large, tall mothman standing there, though he was hunched over a little, rolling a die over and over. It was a new type of die that lit up when you rolled it, and the moth’s eyes brightened every time he saw the lights inside activate.

He was almost all white and extremely fluffy; the fluffiest part of him was the ruff around his neck. His large wings were folded against his back, complete with long tails on each like a lunar moth. He had four arms, the top pair larger than the lower pair, which were sort of wrapped around himself, and his hands had two long, large fingers and a thumb each, all a velvety brown in color. He wore no clothing, only a baseball cap with his brown, feather-like antennae sticking out of the holes at the top. The cap said “Will Work for Cuddles” on it.

Mothmen were rare, and you’d seen one or two before, but you’d never been close enough to one to actually talk to them.

“That’s a great set,” You said. “They just got them in last week.”

The mothman jumped, startled, but he grinned a little. “Heh…” He stammered nervously. “Yeah. I… I hate to perpetuate a stereotype, but I am attracted to things that light up.”

He spoke softly, like he was nervous people would hear him. It was cute, but you almost worried about him. The poor thing must have been terrified to come in here with so many people, but the pull of nerd junk can be strong sometimes.

“Do you play?” You asked him, gesturing at the die.

“Play?” The replied, confused.

“Yeah, D&D,” You said, and after a moment of him continuing to look confused, you elaborated. “Dungeons and Dragons. The tabletop game. What you use these dice for.”

“Oh!” He exclaimed, fidgeting. “No, I… I’ve never played. I’ve always wanted to, but… none of my friends are into nerdy stuff like I am. That and I’m kind of new in town, so I haven’t met many people yet. I was lucky to find this hobby shop. I was just walking past and saw it and figured I’d stop in. Is it always this busy?”

“On free comic day, absolutely,” I said with a smile. “So... not to be creepy since it’s literally the first time we’ve met, but my friends and I play every Sunday evening. We’re actually about to start a brand new campaign. You’re more than welcome to join. If you like, you can come ‘round Saturday at lunch and we can build you a character sheet, so that your prepared for the campaign.”

“Really?” He said, his voice timid but excited. “I’d love that! Thanks so much!”

“It’s no trouble,” You said, pulling out your phone. “Here, put your info in my phone and I’ll text you my address.”

He took your phone with a big grin on his face and put in his number. You took your phone back and looked.

“Fuzz?” You asked. “That’s a little on the nose, ain’t it?”

He laughed, a really pleasant sound. “It’s a nickname. Uh…listen… I… I’m actually on my lunch break, so I need to get back to work, but… I’m really looking forward to playing with you and your friends. I’ve always wanted to try.”

“We’d love to have you,” You told him, smiling. He bade you farewell and left, looking back before he headed out of the door and smiling widely at you one last time.

You looked down at the light-up dice, pursed your lips, and snatched up a whole set of them plus a carry bag. You were halfway to the check out when you realized you forgot Shannon’s D20 and doubled back for it.

The next day at lunchtime, Fuzz arrived at your home with pizza in his hand. You were going to throw together some grilled cheeses, but this was way better.

“Thanks, man,” You said, taking it and setting it on the counter in your apartment.

“No prob,” Fuzz replied. His neck ruff seemed to have been brushed shiny and the hat he wore today said “Nap Champion.” “I didn’t know what kind of toppings you’d like, so I just went for a good ol’ cheese.”

“I love cheese,” You told him. “I’ve got you a fresh character sheet printed out and the manual ready. You can look through it while I’m plating this up. What would you like to drink? I’ve got soda, beer, water, and apple juice.”

“Is it… weird if I ask for juice?” He said shyly, hunching his shoulders. “It’s better for my stomach than the other things.”

“Apple juice it is,” You said, pouring a glass. You took the plates and cups to the table, watching Fuzz go over the character sheet with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“I am very confused,” He murmured, almost to himself.

You laughed. “Well, that’s why you’re here. I’ll teach you.” I sat next to him and took a big bite of pizza. “Okay, so, first, you’re going to choose your race. It makes everything after that a little bit easier. I know this sheet tells you to choose a name first, but choosing a name is easier if you know what race you are, because certain races have naming conventions. Like, Tabaxis have tribal naming conventions, so you can’t choose a name like… Frank, for example.”

“Got it,” Fuzz said.

“Take a look at mine,” You said, pulling out your own character sheet full of annotations and stats. “My character is a calashite human cleric, which is like a priest, devoted to the god of knowledge, and my alignment is Lawful-Good. Now, most races will have default alignments, but you can decide what you want yours to be.”

“Okay,” Fuzz replied, trying to keep it all straight. “Hmm… are there any insect races I can play as?”

“Unfortunately, no,” You told him. “But, the cool thing about fantasy is that you can be whatever you want.”

“But I want to be a bug,” He said dryly.

You snorted. “Just look through and see if there’s something you like.”

“Oh!” He exclaimed, pointing at a drider. “That’s a bug!”

“That’s an arachnid,” I pointed out.

“Same difference,” He said.

“Don’t spiders eat moths?” You joked.

“I will take my pizza and go home, mister,” Fuzz said, poking fun right back. You were glad he was getting comfortable enough with you to joke around.

“Driders aren’t playable either,” You replied, laughing. “What about a shifter? That way you can take on aesthetic characteristics an insect, if you like. And the single-skins have white hair, like your fur.”

“Okay, okay,” Fuzz said. “What about a name?”

“Shifters usually have monosyllabic names, so anything you can think of with a single syllable.”

“Like Fuzz, you mean?”

“Are you really going to call your character by your real name?” You asked, smiling.

He smiled back, his lips the same velvety brown as his antennae and hands. “I told you, it’s a nickname. Trust me, it’s better than my real one. Only my parents and siblings know that.”

“Not even your girlfriend?” You asked him.

“Ah… no girlfriend,” He said, shrugging shyly and ducking his head, his antennae waving a little erratically. “I.. uh… don’t lean that way, if you know what I mean.”

You waved your hand. “I’m bi, so no judgment,” You told him, and he relaxed.

You both settled on alignment, level, and class, and then it was time to roll for his stats.

“Oh,” He said with a frown. “I… shit, I don’t have dice.”

“No worries,” You told him, taking out the bag you bought and rolling out the light-up set he’d been admiring.

“You bought those for me?” He asked, his shyness returning, reaching for the bag with a cautious grin.

“Yep,” You told him. “It’s no big deal. I knew you’d need a set and you seemed to like these, so I just--”

You were cut off when he grabbed you with his large upper arms and hugged you. God, his fur was soft. You’d never actually touched it before now, but with your face pressed against it, it was softer than angora and smelled like fresh herbs.

He released you suddenly, as if catching himself doing something he hadn’t meant to do. “Sorry, sorry… that was just… really nice of you.”

“Hey, it’s totally cool. I’m a hugger, too,” You told him, patting his upper shoulder. “Alright, let me show you how the dice work and then we’ll roll for your stats.”

You’d had a great time with him fleshing out his character, and once he got over his initial shyness, he was one of the funniest people you’d ever met. He had you in stitches until dinnertime, when he told you he had to go home and unpack. Apparently, when he said he’d just moved there, he meant just. You got another hug as he left, and it was just as soft and warm as the first one.

You felt a little disappointed after he was gone and couldn’t wait to see him the next evening.

For the next twenty four hours, you felt fidgety and restless, excited to see Fuzz again and start the new campaign. Rick had been working for weeks on the plot and obstacles, and he was always the best DM.

Fuzz met you at your house wearing a ball cap that read “Don’t Mess with Me*” and in fine print under the asterisk, continued with, “I’ll Cry A Lot and It Will Be Uncomfortable for Both of Us.” He gave you one of his warm, cuddly hugs and rode with you to Rick’s place. Rick, Shannon, Dag, and Jenna were standing out on the porch with sodas and beer, talking and laughing, and they saluted you with their various beverages as you drove onto the driveway.

“Hey, buddy!” Rick said as you got out of the car. “This your new friend?”

“Fuzz,” The shy mothman said, tentatively reaching out a hand.

“Ha! That’ll be easy to remember,” Rick said, shaking his hand. “I’m Rick. This is Dag.” Rick pointed at a large orc with a sort of a gold tan over his light green skin who gave Fuzz a half-salute. “Jenna.” She was a human with dark skin and tight curls who waved at Fuzz with a bright smile. “And Shannon.” Shannon was part fae, you knew, but you were never sure what her exact nature was. But, then again, all fae were like that. She had pearlescent skin and rosy hair cut short and buzzed on one side. Her bright green pupils were slitted and just a bit too large for her face. Fuzz ducked his head and and gave a little nod each time someone was introduced, trying to make eye contact.

“We’re just waiting for Russel. Can I get you something to drink?” Rick asked Fuzz.

“Do you, um… do you have water? Fizzy stuff makes me a bit sick,” Fuzz said.

“You got it, bud,” Rick said, reaching for a bottle out of the cooler.

Russel was Rick’s twin and lived next door, but he was always late. You didn’t understand why, but Rick shrugged and said he’d always been like that. It’s why Russel wasn’t allowed to DM.

Russel wandered over about five minutes later, and an a minute or two after that, the sushi that Rick ordered showed up. After paying, the seven of you went into the house to get started.

“Okay, so, everyone has their completed character sheets ready to go?” Rick asked, and you all held up your papers while stuffing your faces with california rolls. “Good. Dice? Minis?”

“We didn’t have time to make Fuzz’s mini,” You said.

“No big deal, I’ve got a ton of spares. I always keep a few blanks on hand because of this dingus over here.” He gestured at his brother. “He always forgets to make a miniature.” Rick handed Fuzz a box with blank miniatures in it, carefully separated by foam. Fuzz picked a slender humanoid and set it in front of him.

“Now,” Rick said. “If we are all ready to proceed?” He looked around the table and everyone nodded. Fuzz was shifting in his chair with both nervousness and excitement. “Very well. Our adventure starts in the midst of chaos! Inside a small inn of the road inside the land of Turmish, on the edge of the Sword Coast, a bar fight is raging. The bar is affectionately known by travelers as The Drunken Worm, and for good reason. Currently, though, windows are being smashed up, tables are being thrown, people are flying through the air, there is an absolute roar of voices drowning out any other sound. And in the midst is someone trying to calm the turmoil, only to have a chair smashed over her head. Shannon, that would be you, please describe your character.”

“Okay,” Shannon said, bouncing a little in her seat. “I am a very large, dark blue dragonborn named Anshez. I have a shortish snout with sharp teeth jutting out of my lips. I have two sets of horns on my head, which now have bits of wood dangling from them, and three lines of ridges down my back to the tip of my tail. My eyes are blue as well, and I’m wearing contrasting light blue robes with slits up to my knees for easier movement, and I have a large bastard sword strapped to my back.”

“Excellent,” Rick said, writing that down. “Now, for the unfortunate person who was wielding that chair.” Rick pointed at you. “What is your character?”

“I’m calashite human cleric,” You said. “My name is Khemed Pashar. I’m quite up there in age, as far as humans go; before I decided to travel, I spent forty years in a monastery in study and prayer. I have greying hair and a pale complexion, and I’m wearing white robes with a green panel down the front lined with silver embroidery. The panel has the insignia of the god of the pursuit of knowledge, Oghma, my patron. My only companion is a guide I hired a few days ago.”

“Why is a cleric hurling chairs?” Dag asked.

“I’m just going with the story, man,” You said.

“Anyway,” Rick said. “Anshez, who was once trying to calm the situation, is now slowly drawing her blade from the sheath on her back. Suddenly, someone appears and grabs her arm.”

“That would be me,” Jenna said. “I am a mustard yellow tiefling ranger named Varan, with horns and hooves that are shiny black. My eyes are also black and reflective. I’m wearing a knee-length dress of tightly woven chainmail and a leather vest over it. I have bracers on both my lower and upper arms. I grab my friend’s arm to stop her from hurting the frail looking human and try to calm her.”

“Roll a persuasion check,” Rick said.

“16, and I have a +2 advantage,” Jenna said.

“You are successful in talking down your partner, though she is still angry.”

“If I apologized, would she forgive me?” You asked.

“Roll for it,” Rick said. You rolled. Nat 1. The table burst into uproarious laughter.

“She would not,” Rick said with a chuckle. “In fact, she can barely hear your apology over the din, so she thinks you’re mocking her and she’s now holding a grudge against you.”

“Shit,” You said, grinning.

“Can I jump in?” Fuzz ventured cautiously.

“Definitely,” Rick said. “Your character?”

“I’m a wildhunt shifter druid,” Fuzz said. “I’m just under seven feet tall, and my current mask takes on the characteristics of a brown bear. I’m wearing a hat with a veil that covers most of my face and a pair of loose pants that doesn’t obstruct my movement. I’m in the employ of the cleric; he hired me to be his guide.”

“Good, good.” Rick makes notes. “Your name?”

“Fuzz,” He said.

“Your character name,” Rick said.

“That’s is my character name,” Fuzz said with a shy grin.

Rick snorted. “Okie-dokie. What are the two of you doing in all this?” He asks Dag and Russel.

“We’re bards,” Dag said. “I’m a halfling playing a fiddle.”

“A halfling? Really?” Tiny Shannon said, snickering.

“You’re a dragonborn, shut up,” Dag said, and Shannon giggled, playfully slapping his arm. “My name is Taurin Goodwort. My companion and I are on the small, dingy stage in the corner, trying to play over the noise. We’ve been paid, so by gods, we’re going to do our jobs. I’m wearing a coat that’s slightly too big but my clothes underneath are finely tailored and well fitted. I’m a dapper dude.”

“I’m also playing, but I’m a lute player,” Russel said. “I’m a grey tabby tabaxi not much taller than my halfling friend. My name is Game of Chance, but I go by Chance. My clothes are flashy and covered in shiny trinkets and bells that jingle to the beat when I stomp my paws.”

“Aww,” Jenna said, scratching behind Russel’s ear. He whacked her hand away, and she grinned.

Once the introductions were finished, the campaign was underway. Despite the chaos of the bar fight, the six of you hear the woeful tale of a patron of the bar, a missing son, an actual dragon, an actual dungeon, and all the traps that is implied. Fuzz opened up slowly as the campaign waged on, and his druid had the party in howling with laughter by the end of the night. When the seven of you wrapped up for the night, Fuzz had an open invitation to come back, with or without you.

Fuzz came to every Sunday session from then on, and though it took him some time to get over his anxiety around people, he swiftly became friends with everyone at the table. Despite how much he and the other were getting along, though, he always sat next to you. Perhaps even though he was getting over his shyness, he was still more comfortable next to you.

You weren’t complaining; you liked being close to him. In fact, the two of you had become really good friends, having lunch twice a week and texting constantly. You had your phone in your hand at all times, waiting for his response. You’d woken up with a dead phone on your chest on a number of occasions.

One weekday, after painting his miniature, he took you for dinner, although he didn’t know any good spots since he was still new in town and told you to pick. You decided on Japanese, though the restaurant was a bit full, and it made him nervous. You offered to go somewhere else, but he said it was fine and that he’d brave it, but only for you, making you blush a little. You grabbed his hand and led him through the throngs of people, and his grip tightened on yours.

It took a month for you to realize that… maybe you weren’t just feeling friendship for Fuzz. You liked him a lot. You thought about him all the time and looked forward to his hugs and touching his fur and listening to his laugh and the chittering noise he made when he was happy or excited.

Then, one late evening after the two of you had said goodnight, you had other thoughts. You wondered what his… intimate parts looked like. What they felt like. What they tasted like. And the idea excited you. Thinking about it, you felt yourself getting hard, and you stroked yourself to the thought of touching him, finding out where his private places were and playing with them, and teasing them. Kissing him and cuddling him and getting him to make those cute noises you loved to hear. You moaned at the thought, jerking faster as your imagination ran away with you. You came all over your hand and stomach, gasping and sweating, but it wasn’t what you wanted. You wanted him. Nothing else was good enough.

During the sixth session after Fuzz had joined the campaign, when he wore a cap that just said, “LAMPS!” in big, bold letters, your party had located the lost bar patron’s son, but he was a mind slave to an aboleth, one of many, enslaved to dig out an enclave for the creature to built it’s own small hold, so it could rule by itself. Aboleth’s are extraordinarily selfish creatures, and while they often group together, this one’s desires had driven him to make its own place to lord over. The trick was going to be defeating the aboleth without hurting any of the enslaved, as they were all sons and daughters of the local villages.

It was hard to concentrate on the game with Fuzz next to you. He always sat next to you during every game, but he seemed especially close this evening. You’d glance at him surreptitiously to find him looking at you. When you caught him, he’d smile and look away. He seemed to find reasons to touch you, whether it was to pass you something or to reach past you for something. His fur smelled as good as it always did.

You were filled with such doubts, though. Could you just be reading to much into it? You hadn’t really dated a lot, and you’d never dated a non-human. What if he was just overly friendly to compensate for his shyness? What if you told him how you felt and he didn’t feel the same? You enjoyed spending time with him, and he was so shy that you were scared of pushing him away with your feelings. You tried to push it out of your mind. You had an aboleth to defeat.

“For my turn, I’m going to make a mad dash an possibly take the hit so that I can cast Dispel Illusion to get rid of the aboleth’s secondary illusion,” Jenna said.

“Uh…” Rick checked his notes. “The aboleth is at level 13, and you are level 7, so you only have slightly more than half a chance of this working, so roll for it.”

“Um…” The clattering of Jenna’s die as it rolled across her board. “13, and I have +5 intelligence.”

“Okay, so your spell was successful, but it won’t stop him from creating another in a few minutes and that’s the end of your turn. You’re surrounded by enslaved and they are being driven to rip you apart.” He rolled his die. “They pretty much tear you to shreds. You take… 63 points of damage.”

“Gah!” Jenna said, flopping back into her chair and huffing. “Balls. I’m down.”

“I’m going to use the diversion to summon fiendish monstrous scorpions to draw the enslaved away,” Fuzz said.

“Nice,” You told him in an undertone. He grinned sideways at you.

“Chance and I take this opportunity to check the pond for other enslaved that we hadn’t seen.” Both Dag and Russel rolled. 18 and 12.

“You don’t see anything, only the aboleth growling menacingly at you, preparing to summon another illusion,” Rick said.

Shannon and Jenna then began pulling unconscious enslaved away from the pond.

“Alright, so my big finishing move,” You said, tugging at your sleeves confidently. “Now that I know the pond is free of collateral damage, I cast Lightning Bolt.”

“Roll for your attack.”

“Buh… Ooh! 27!”

“Lightning Bolt is affective!” Rick said. “But the aboleth is not completely destroyed.”

“So we all bum-rush him?” Fuzz asked.

“Hell yeah!” Shannon exclaimed. “Except for Jenna, cause she dead as fuck.”

Jenna stuck her tongue out. “Hey, I broke through enemy lines, gave you guys an advantage, and died like a goddamn hero, so you can suck on all my balls.”

“You ain’t got balls!” Shannon said.

“You don’t know my life!” Jenna shot back.

“I’m your wife, dumbass!” Shannon retorted.

“Would you guys shut your cakeholes and kill this thing, please? I would like to go to bed before 2 A.M. this time,” Rick said.

With the aboleth destroyed and the slaves freed, you collected a hefty bounty from the grateful townspeople and wrapped up the session with big hug all around.

As the night was winding down, with people finishing off snacks and getting their coats and belongings together, Shannon cornered you in the kitchen.

“So, what’s going on with you and Fuzz?” She asked in an almost-whisper.

You looked back over your shoulder anxiously, worried that Fuzz overheard, but he was talking to Dag and Rick.

“What are you talking about?” You asked.

“Oh, please, you are so obvious and oblivious at the same time. Everyone in the group know the two of you are practically in love with each other except for you and him.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” You told her dismissively. “Even if I did like him, I have no way of knowing if he feels the same way. And I’m not saying I do have feelings for him.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” She said exasperatedly. “I’ve watched the two of you make goo-goo eyes and ‘accidentally’ on-purpose touch each other all night. He’s head over heels for you. And you are for him, I can tell. We can all tell. Hell, we have a pool going for when you guys are just going to give in and fuck.”

“Shannon!” You hissed. She had said that last sentence a little too loud for your liking.

“Look, you guys have lunch by yourselves all the time, so it’s clear you’re comfortable being alone. Just ask him to go out with you!”

You sighed, looking back over at Fuzz, wearing that sweet smile on his face and laughing at something Dag said.

“I’ll think about it,” You told her.

“I bet I win the pot,” She said, grinning cheekily, and you shooed her off with an impatient grimace.

On the way home, you scratched the back of your neck and asked, “So, I know you’re new to the area, so I’m sure you don’t know much about the local events, right?”

“Nothing at all,” He replied. “Why?”

Your heart was hammering in your chest. You wondered if he could hear it. “Well, next week’s session is postponed because of our town’s fireworks festival. Do you like fireworks?”

He chirruped excitedly, which was probably the most adorable sound you’d ever heard in your life. “I love fireworks!”

“Awesome! That’s awesome…” You gulped a little. “That’s really good, because I was… wondering… if maybe… you’d like to go with me?”

“Yeah!” He said. “Is the group going?”

“Oh, yeah,” You said, clearing your throat. “They’ll be there, but I, uh… I was thinking maybe it could, you know, just… be the two of us?”

“Sure, that’ll be fun, but why aren’t we going with the group?”

“Because…” You said, struggling to get the words out. “This is special. I want to spend time with you. Just with you, you know what I mean?”

You pulled into your driveway and parked before turning to look at Fuzz. He was gaping at you.

“You mean, like a date?” He asked.

“Yeah,” You said. “If that’s okay?”

“That’s totally okay,” He said, a slow grin spreading across his face. “I’d love to go with you.”

You laughed in relief. “Awesome. I can’t wait.”

You both got out of the car and he gave you a hug before leaving, lingering a little longer this time. You ran your fingers through the fur of his back, up and down, and he sighed before pulling away.

“See you?” He asked.

“See you,” You replied.

The next weekend, you picked him up at his apartment. He had a basket in one hand and a quilt over his shoulder. His hat said “I Like Shiny Objects” on it. Apt for the situation, you thought.

He raised a free hand in greeting. “Hey!”

“Hey,” You said in return as he got in. “Ready?”

“Very much so,” He replied, and you smiled at him. “I’m glad you asked me out. I wanted to ask you, but I was too anxious.”

You felt a blush creep up your neck. You were glad it was already dark.

“When do the fireworks start?” He asked.

“Seven-thirty,” You replied. “I want to get there early to find a good spot.”

Fifteen minutes later, you arrived at the fairgrounds to realize that you weren’t the only person to have this idea. The place was already packed. You frowned.

“Well, so much for that idea,” You said.

“What’s behind that fence over there?” Fuzz asked, pointing past the field.

“Oh, nothing but forest,” You told him. “There’s supposed to be wildcats out there, so it’s to keep kids out.”

“We aren’t kids,” Fuzz said.

“Yeah, but I don’t know where the the gate is, and that’s too high for me to climb,” You told him.

“Oh, no,” Fuzz replied a little sarcastically, fluttering his wings a bit. “What a dilemma. Whatever shall we do?”

You smirked, feeling your heart flutter as well. “You want to fly over?”

“Got a better idea?”

You put your hands on your hips and ducked your head, unsure. You felt one of his hands on your cheek and you looked up at him.

“Trust me,” He said softly.

His large thumb was achingly close to your lips, but you resisted and urge to kiss it. “I do.”

He grabbed you around the middle with your arms around his neck and flew you up and over the fence from a secluded corner of the field. He managed to find a hill with a very small clearing, perfect for a quilt, sitting right next to a big oak tree.

“This is amazing,” You told him, looking down the hill with a clear view off the field and the sky. “You can see everything from this vantage.”

“You like this?” He asked, setting down everything he brought.

“Yeah,” You answered. “It’s incredible.”

“Good,” He said in a soft voice, coming up behind you and wrapping both arms around you. “We can be alone here for as long as we like.”

His voice was low, almost seductive, and you’d never heard him use it before. It sent tingles down your spine and in… other places.

The two of you lay out the quilt and the spread he’d prepared. It was the quintessential date picnic: fruit, cheese, wine, crackers, all kinds of fancy things that you’d never actually had before, like fig jam and stuff. It was all really cool, but it felt strangely “by the book.”

“Fuzz, can I ask you something?”

He looked at you with a surprised expression. “Sure, anything.”

“You’ve never been on a date before, have you?” You asked him.

His face fell a little. “That obvious, huh?”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,” You assured him. “And this is amazing, and I’m having a great time. I just don’t want you to think that you have to do all of this,” You waved your hand at the picnic. “To win me over. You’ve already done that. I wouldn’t have asked you out if I didn’t like being with you.”

He smiled. “I do have a tendency to second-guess myself. It’s just… being gay is difficult for humans, but it can be more so for non-humans. I don’t know why, but there’s this expectation that if your not human and sentient, you have to like girls. Human beings would be shocked how many non-humans aren’t straight.”

“I wouldn’t,” You said. “Shannon’s a lesbian, and I’ve known her forever. I know full well that non-humans don’t live by the same standards that humans do, and humans can be blind to that, even among their own people. I guess that explains why you’re so shy.”

He laughed. “Nah, I’ve always been like that. I’ve never really--”

At that moment, the first shell when off, catching Fuzz’s attention. He got up from the quilt and walked to where the hill just began to slope downward and watched the fireworks with a look of pure joy. Wanting to be close to him, you stepped in front of him and pressed your back against his front. He circled his arms around you again. And for a moment, the two of you just watched the lights.

You turned your head and looked up at his face, seeing the bursts of colored embers reflected in his large, black eyes, and you were mesmerized. He noticed you watching him and looked down at you, smiling his soft, sweet smile.

And he kissed you.

His lips were as velvety as they looked, and you spun in his arms to reach yours around him, pressing your body as close as you could. The pop and crackle and flashes of light against your closed eyes made this seem like a dream, but you were bathing in the sensation of having his body wrapped around you. God, you had wanted this.

When you broke apart, you were both breathing heavily.

“So…” You began stroking the fur on the back of his neck. “I had a question…”

“About?” Fuzz asked.

“Well… you don’t wear clothes… but I’ve never seen your… well… your dick…”

Fuzz’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He seemed momentarily at a lost for words.

“O--oh,” He breathed finally. “It’s… that’s because… it’s tucked away. Inside me. I comes out when I…”

“When you’re aroused?” You guessed. He nodded, not meeting your eye. “Is there some way I can… make that happen?”

He looked back up at you with wide, huge, terrified eyes, “Yes,” He whispered. He took your hand and led you back to the quilt. Cautiously, he reached out a hand and tugged at your shirt, but stopped short before actually removing it. You helped him get the shirt off you and he continued to undress you until you were naked in front of him. He ran the fingers of his upper right hand down your torso, starting at your collarbone and stopping at the tuft of hair that sat just about your ridged length.

“This is definitely helping,” He said breathlessly.

“What can I do?” You asked eagerly. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while now.”

“You have?” He asked hopefully. You nodded and he laughed in relief. “Me too.”

He sat back against the oak tree and opened his legs in front of you, reaching down with his lower pair of hands to part the fur at the apex of his legs. There, you saw a slit, mostly brown like his hands and lips, but fading to pink as it went inward.

“Just touch,” He said. “It’ll open.”

You knelt down in front of him and pressed a finger to the slit, slowly rubbing it up and down. A low trill issued from Fuzz as he let his head fall back against the tree and his breathing hitched. The hands of his upper arms took your face in his hands and pulled you forward for a deep kiss as you massaged the opening, feeling it begin to pucker and pulsate at your touch. It widened slowly, and you daringly inserted your pinky inside, feeling the tip of a slick organ begin to push itself out.

Fuzz gasped at this new sensation and moaned a little. Slowly, it came out and you were able to see it at last. It was pink like the inside of the opening and darkened to the familiar velvet brown at the tip. You put your hand around it and pumped it a few times before bending down and pulling the tip into your mouth. It was sweet, like honeysuckle. His hips convulsed and he started to whisper, “please, please.”

You felt around for your wallet and pulled out a condom and two single-use packets of lube. You tore open the condom with your teeth and started to work it down his shaft.

“I’ve never…” He said, gulping. “I’ve never done this…”

“Do you want to stop?” You asked him, your hand stilling on his hardened girth.

“No!” He said. “No, no, I want this. I just… I’m sure I won’t be any good at it.”

“That’s okay, Fuzz,” You said, kissing him as another shell popped in the distance, lighting up the sky and trees around you. “I’ll teach you. Trust me.”

“I do,” He whispered.

You took a packet of lube and tore it open, squeezing some of it onto his fingers.

“First is to open me up a bit, so to speak,” You told him, turning and kneeling over. “Massage it into the skin for a few minutes, and them push a finger in.”

You felt him follow your instructions and groan into the ground as he pressed and rolled and circled the sensitive skin, finally pushing one of his thick, long fingers inside you. You gasped at feeling and encouraged him to move it in and out, eventually adding the second finger.

Once you felt like you were ready, you told him to sit back against the tree, and he complied. You took the second packet of lube and squirted it into your hand, lubing him up before pulling yourself to face level and kissing him as you positioned yourself over him. Slowly, you slid down onto him, feeling him slide against the bundle of nerves deep inside you. Both of you gasped at the same time and clung to each other as the fireworks continued to light up your naked bodies in the darkness.

You started to ride him, listening to his trilling and chirping, and all four of his hands found interesting things to do. The pair on the bottom held your hips as you rocked back and forth, up and down, in his lap. His upper right hand caressed your face while the left reached between you and began to stroke you slowly, sweetly, in a way you had been dying to be touched.

You sped up, and his trilling got higher in pitch. You reached up and gently pulled his hat off, careful of his antennae.

“We should both be naked,” You gasped, laughing. He laughed too before moaning your name, kissing you and tightening his grip on your cock slightly. You held him close to you, whispering into his ear that you were going to cum. He said he was close, too.

You came before him, spraying yourself all over his stomach. He grasped your hips harder and thrust faster for a few moments, then he released a high pitched chirrup that repeated over and over, and you could feel him releasing into the condom inside you.

You could barely hear the sounds of the fireworks over the rushing in your ears. He held you tightly with both of his arms, gulping down air. Finally, you got up and pulled off the used condom. You had a small bag and a couple of single-use wipes in your wallet for such… situations. You cleaned him up and wiped yourself off, too. Then, the two of you lay there, nude, on the quilt and watched the grand finale.

Best first date ever.

The next day, you woke up in his apartment pressed into the fluff of his chest. You stretched and groaned sleepily, looking at the collection of ball caps displayed proudly on every inch of his bedroom walls. He roused himself as well.

“Good morning,” He said with a happy smile.

“Good morning yourself,” You replied, giving him a quick kiss.

“Do you work today?” You asked.

“No,” He said, stretching like a cat. “I took today off. I was hoping we’d end up like this, so I… planned for it.”

“Aww,” You said, scratching his unusually bare head. “Wanna spend the day together?”

“Sounds like a great idea,” He said, grinning. “Breakfast?”

“Breakfast sounds good,” You told him. “Is it alright if I run back to my place to grab some fresh clothes?”

Breakfast will be ready when you get back,” He said, bouncing out of bed.

You laughed at him, but really, you felt just as happy. You dressed quickly and headed out, popping up on tiptoe and kissing the back of his neck as you passed him in the kitchen.

Just as you got into your car, you got a text from Shannon: >Did you guys do it?

You rolled your eyes. >None of your business.

As you started your car, you got a reply. >Ha! I won the bet!

At your place, you grabbed a change of clothes and a couple more condoms and packets of lube, and started back for Fuzz’s apartment. While driving, something in the window of a store caught your eye and you decided to stop in. It was a little early for gifts, but… what the hell? This was the perfect thing and you knew he’d love it. How could you not buy it?

Back at his place, he was putting plates on the table.

“Hey, you okay? I was getting worried you weren’t coming back,” He said.

“Nothing of the sort,” You replied, handing him a bag. “I just saw this and thought of you.”

“You got me a present?” He said, both confused and delighted. “Why?”

“Cause I like you. I don’t need another reason,” You told him.

He laughed loudly and opened the bag. From inside, he pulled out a baseball cap that read, “My Boyfriend Thinks I’m Funny.” He smiled softly at it before putting it on his head.

“How does it look?” He asked.

You smiled widely. “It suits you.”

He grabbed your butt, pressed you to his side, and kissed you, wrapping you in his arms like the cuddlebug he was. Then fed you the best breakfast you’d had in a decade.

You guessed you owed Shannon a new set of dice. A nice set.

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience! To help me continue creating, please consider buying me a Kofi or donating directly to my PayPal!

Thanks for reading! 

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

[shandidellamorte]

~KISS AU writings 34~

Well I haven’t updated this one in a while! But I suddenly got a wave of inspiration! Heh heh..wave.. I’ll just see myself out. XD

~Shandi

As requested @smokeandmirrorz is on the permanent tag list for every new update! If you’d like to be on the list let me know! <3

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

~SIREN AU Part 3~

Featured Pairing: Ace Frehley/Paul Stanley

Special Guest: Peter Criss

Summary: After their last encounter Ace never expected the merman to return..but... (told from Ace’s POV)

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

When I finally wake up again my head is pounding. I groan and sit up. The tub is empty. Where did he go?! He couldn’t have just gotten up and walked out of here..he’s got no legs! Guess he must’ve had some kind of magic..or somethin’. I dunno. I can’t be sure that wasn’t all just a hallucination. That does happen sometimes when I drink too much. But..it couldn’t have been. I remember finding him washed up on the beach. I remember picking him up and bringing him inside. He was real! Ah well..even of he was I’ll probably never see him again. He was scared out of his mind. I remember the frightened look on his face. And that scream. I groan again and hold my head. Definitely time for the extra strength aspirin.

When I go downstairs I hear someone banging on the door. Frantically. Fuck..I do not need to hear this. Not with the monster migraine I have. I go to the door and open it. It’s Petey. Who else would it be? “Geez why don’t you use a battering ram while you’re at it!” 

“Where the hell’ve you been?! I must’ve called ya about 50 times! I thought you might be dead!” 

“Can you stop yelling? My head already feels like it’s gonna split open..it doesn’t need your help.” 

“Oh, so you drank yourself into a coma again. I shoulda known.” 

I go ahead and let him think that. I’m not about to tell him I had a pretty fishman in my bathtub. He’ll probably wanna have me committed or somethin’. I just wave him off and go into the kitchen. Fortunately my trusty bottle of aspirin is still on the table. I fill a glass with water and swallow a couple pills. Now to wait for them to start working. “I worry about you a lot, man..” Petey says, going over to my coffee maker. “I wanna help but I can’t if you won’t talk to me.” I sigh. “I appreciate it..I really do..but there’s nothin’ you can do.” 

“How do you know?!” 

Actually..that’s a damn good question. I hate it when he’s right sometimes. “Yeah..I guess I don’t. I mean..if you wanna come over more often..that’d be nice.” He pats my shoulder. “All you had to do was ask. I can come over whenever I’m able to. I’ll be sure to call ahead first alright?”

“Yeah..that’s cool~” 

Petey stays for the rest of the day. We talk, we have coffee. It’s nice to have someone here to fill the emptiness of this big place, even if it is just temporary. When he leaves it all comes crashing back again. I think about maybe bringing a girl home but it’s not the same. So I go out to the beach for a walk. The colors in the sky are beautiful around sunset. The water and the sand feel nice against my feet. It’s perfect~ Off in the distance I see something..shiny. I think it’s just my eyes playing tricks on me at first, but when it happens again I wade into the water to try to get a closer look. Fortunately the tide is out so I don’t have to worry about getting swept away. I just..gotta know what that is. It feels like something’s compelling me. I hear a sound..an echoing, haunting sound..like someone singing. It draws me in. Relaxes me. There’s someone sitting on a boulder near the edge of the dock. I see long, dark curly hair. Scales shimmering it what’s left of the sunlight. A tail. It’s him. 

“You came back~” 

He turns and looks at me. His big, dark eyes are full of..regret..? Is he sorry for what he did? “Did you..come back to apologize..?” He nods. He can understand me after all~ I just shrug. “Don’t worry about it, Starfish..I get why you were scared. In a strange place with a strange human..I’d be freaked out too~” He leans forward and strokes my cheek, mouthing silent words. His hand is..very clammy, but it’s to be expected considering what he is. I climb up onto the boulder to sit next to him. I can’t leave him now..especially since he made the effort to come see me. He watches the sun set with his head on my shoulder. I watch him. He’s so fuckin’ pretty..and I think I’m falling for him~

To be Continued!!

[spazzbunn]

Emery’s First Christmas

The biggest holiday ever was here. It was Christmas! And every year, it would be someone’s first Christmas for the babies born in the year. One of them being a raccoon baby who was only four months old. The baby having the eyes of her mother and not so much of a trait of her father yet. Though, the parents both know she would get something related to him. The parents were Katrice Russets the red panda and Michael Warren the rabbit. Their child's name was Emery Russets. They both were confused slightly. Why did they have a raccoon child? Well, it was thankfully answered as it turned out that one of Katrice’s relatives long ago was a raccoon. So, she and Michael both ended up having her by pure luck. Still, they loved her. They cared about her and were so glad to have her in the world. Their excitement was beaming since it was the most wonderful time of the year. So her being a part of it really made their days, months, and years. They had their Christmas tree up with so many plastic and yet colorful ornaments on it. The lights being pretty bright and still as colorful as said ornaments. A bright yellow star on top of it. It looked amazing. Their house was a bit festive like. With stockings up for the parents and for Fever. Even having the Yule Log channel on which the raccoon baby kept watching and purring ever so loudly. It was odd, but it seemed like nothing to worry about. Around their breathtaking tree was presents for the family. Wrapped in so much Christmas themed wrapping paper with cute little ribbons and bows. They each had a little tag on them that told them which one belonged to. The parents were pretty smart when it came to it. First as Emery was asleep, Michael putted his and her presents under the Christmas tree. Then as the raccoon and rabbit fell asleep, the red panda took her turn of putting her gifts under that tree. Both of the parents were sitting down by the presents and Christmas tree with Emery being awake for this day. Michael grabbed a hold of one of the gifts as he looked at the top with it. He smiled and looked over to Emery. “Looks like Santa Paws got you something.” He said with Katrice, who was holding her close with both arms, being ecstatic along with Michael. He started to open the gift for the raccoon. She was watching him tear away as she was purring with the vibrations being felt by Katrice. The red panda thinking in her head how someone so small would feel like a phone on vibrate. The gift was unwrapped and what Emery got was something that made her eyes widen. A stuffed plushie of a raccoon that looks very closely to her. “Awwe. It’s a little Em!” Katrice said to her child with Michael gently giving her the soft warm plush as Emery holds it. Of course, as babies do, she nibbles on the toy by the ear of it but still her loud purrs continue. “Seems like she loves it.” Michael says with Katrice smiling at him. “You did a great job Michael. I knew she would enjoy it.” Katrice nuzzled close to Emery as she looked over at the rest of the many presents. “Oh! Pick that green and red one for me please.” Said the happy red panda as her rabbit husband goes and gets that gift she pointed at. “Oh. It looks like this one is also from Santa. Wow Fever, you sure are a lucky raccoon!” The rabbit acted pretty stunned and pretty much curious as he opens it up for her. Inside of the present was a cute little binky that had painted flames around it. Instantly, Emery’s eyes were glued to that and her happy purrs got louder. “Heh. I take it as ‘I love it’ purr.” Katrice said as Michael gives her the binky and after she plays around with it with her paws since raccoons have a very high great sense of touch, she puts it in her mouth and starts to chew and suckle on it as she still purred. “I wish they had a cool flame design on the raccoon plushie. But I feel like I would have gotten weird looks.” Michael adds as he chuckles with Katrice following suit. “Hey, you mind holding Em while I grab and open a gift?” Katrice asked with Michael grabbing Emery softly and holding her close as he was pretty much purring with her. Seeing how happy she is made him really happy enough to purr with her. Katrice grabs a present with tag labeled it was for her and it was from Michael. It was small. It felt light too. She was curious to know what was in it. She started to wrap open the paper until she saw a box. Her brow raised up in question. She opened it to reveal something shiny in it. She gasped with a smile starting to appear on her face. “Merry Christmas Katrice.” Michael said as him and Emery watched as the red panda was pulling it out to show what it was. It was a lovely sterling silver necklace. With the pedenant being of a heart shape and the gem being an emerald. She smiled and started to put it on. It was a perfect fit for her. “Thank you Michael!” She says as she gently hugs him and has him and Emery be close to her. The raccoon was feeling happy to see her parents hugging and nuzzling each other. Katrice kisses Michael’s cheek as he blushes and smiles proudly. “Anything for my loving wife.” The rabbit cooed softly as he looked over to the gifts as he uses his one arm to look around for a present. “Ah found one.” This one was gifted for him and it was from his lovely red panda. “Want me to hold Emery for you?” Asked Katrice with open arms. Michael politely refused. “No thanks dear. I think lil Em could help me.” He nuzzles his nose on her face as she giggles with the pacifier in her mouth. He pulls out the present and lays it in front of the rabbit and baby raccoon. “Wanna help daddy Emery? Let’s see what mommy got me.” The two of them started to unwrap it. With Emery tearing little by little of the thin paper with Michael purposefully going slow and tearing some holes open for her to tear and rip apart. After a couple of minutes that should had been a couple of seconds, the two mammals finally tear the whole present open. It was a brand new headset for the rabbit. Michael pretty much loved the look of it. It was blue and black with nice led lights on it. It even could glow in the dark. Of course the rabbit would love it. “Katrice you are the best!” “I try.” Katrice says with a smirk to which Michael moves forward slightly to kiss her tenderly and happily. They look at the rest of the presents with glee as they were pretty much wanting to open the rest of them. Of course however they had to wait. For family and friends were coming and they didn’t want to miss Emery opening her presents. The only reason why they opened some gifts was because of Michael’s tradition. The rabbits tradition was on Christmas Eve, him and his sister would get one present to open out of all the presents they had. For that would get them excited for the day of Christmas. Katrice was sort of not into holidays, but she wanted to make her husband and their child happy. Plus, even though she will not admit it, it was fun to see them open gifts and having fun. “They will be here in like half an hour. I can make the eggnog with lil Em here, and you get the turkey out of the oven. After that, I’ll help you cutting it into pieces after I get the hungry raccoon fed.” Michael finished the sentence in baby talk as he gently tickles Emery as she laughs again. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll give you a warm bottle of milk first before I get to turkey cutting.” Katrice tells him to which he nods and agrees with the idea. The parents get up and pretty much were smiling that morning. Mainly for the reason of Emery having her first Christmas. Seeing her love those two gifts, they were ready to see what her reaction will be for the other gifts. Katrice Russets belongs to @msitubeatz Emery Russets belongs to @feverwildehopps Michael Warren belongs to me ALSO Kazzie is a wholesome/joke ship!

[p3t3rjasonquill]

Easier- Part 1 (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

A/N: I haven’t written anything in so long, so this is probably hella rough and choppy. BUT, I had this idea for awhile, and hopefully it works? I crossed over themes from Lucifer into the Marvel universe, and well, Bucky’s the devil (; Heh. If anyone likes this, I’ll continue it. If not, it’s just gonna die out into nothing. All the while, it was super fun to write and I feel like I’m getting somewhere again. The song “Easier” by 5SOS is a huge contributor to the development of this, so bare with me here. I hope you guys like this. If you would like to be tagged in future parts (if it’s a thing) let me know by either commenting here, slide into my asks, or inbox me. ~

Word Count: 1148

Warnings: If you don’t like the devil, oops.

“Is it easier to stay? Is it easier to go?

I don't wanna know, oh

But I know that I'm never, ever gonna change

And you know you don't want it any other way”

 ~

Los Angeles: the city of Angels, so they say. You were about to find out how true that was, whether you wanted to or not.

You worked at the LA Times as a reporter. Usually, your boss, Leo, managed high-profile stories, such as the one that was assigned to you today, but had decided that it was time for you to get into the larger stories. After all, he was close to retirement, and you would be taking over as the head reporter once he left should you be able to prove yourself.

“Remember the mission,” you muttered under your breath repeatedly as you straightened your blouse and blazer nervously. The elevator in front of you dinged open, and you cautiously inhaled and stepped inside of the small space. The last thing you had expected to be doing was interviewing the one and only Bucky Barnes regarding his new nightclub that had skyrocketed in popularity during the past few months, catapulting him into the public eye as a self-made billionaire and inspiration to all. That didn’t take away from the fact that he was insanely attractive, and ten times more intimidating. Too soon, you reached your destination: his penthouse.

The location was conveniently at the top of the building in which his nightclub was located, so you snapped some photos of the luxurious club before the time of your interview. Stepping off the elevator into the penthouse, you were greeted by an all-black cat. Its beautiful, shiny coat glistened in the sun that peered into the room, and soon you found the cat coming towards you to investigate. “Well, aren’t you just beautiful” you marveled to yourself softly, not noticing that you were no longer by yourself in the entryway. “He usually doesn’t like others, but it appears you are a rare exception.” You shrieked loudly and backed into the wall clumsily as you placed a hand on your chest. “Jesus Christ,” you cursed as you waited for your heart rate to slow down.

“Definitely not Jesus Christ. Pardon me, I did not intend to startle you, ma’am” Bucky Barnes said with a smirk as he approached. “Of course, you know who I am, but I do not know you. Leo usually interviews me.” You felt the tension and nerves slip away as you locked eyes with the mysterious man in front of you. He was even more breathtaking in person: crystal blue eyes, brown tousled hair, and the faint hint of stubble on his strong and chiseled jaw. You found yourself thinking of what it would be like to touch it, to run your fingers across his jaw and into his hair. You noticed the metal arm other news outlets and reporters mentioned. Sun reflected off the metal brightly, in a somewhat beautiful yet twisted way. You wondered if it was cold to the touch, and what it would be like to tangle your fingers between his.

“Ahem,” he coughed, bringing you abruptly out of your fantasy. You blushed a deep red, and your eyes immediately darted down to the floor. He made his way to the large mini-bar to your right, mixing himself an Old-Fashioned. “Sorry about that, uh, my name’s (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Reporter under Leo, LA Times.” He smiled warmly as if your timid demeanor was endearing to him. “Would you care for a beverage, doll?” he questioned, gesturing to the large array of liquors and mixes that accompanied them. You managed to shake your head no, still somewhat intoxicated off his presence. He finished making his drink by adding a maraschino cherry and a cocktail straw.

“We can do the interview in the living room, it’s just this way.” Bucky extended an arm, offering to lead you to the room. Was he always like this with his guests? You decided to believe he was, especially since the tabloids all marveled at his ability to charm any woman with a simple smile and flip of his hair. “I can just follow you, no need for the excess manners” you said bleakly. The charms had now worn off you and left you feeling foolish as well as annoyed. You would not be another one of his many one-night stand that were talked about in Playboy. He was the ladies’ man of Los Angeles, for goodness sake.

After you had a messy break-up with a man named Clint not too long ago, you had sworn off dating, flirting, anything that meant romance. You had been cheated on for a year, and of course it was his co-worker Natasha that had stolen his heart, among other things. A five-year relationship down the drain because he couldn’t keep it in his pants. There was no way in Hell that you would even consider flirting with this man. This was work, and you were here for the dirt on how he got the money so quick.

You sat opposite of Bucky on a leather chair, and a coffee table separated the two of you. You pulled the recorder and your notebook from your purse and started taping. “I am here with Bucky Barnes, one of Los Angeles’ new powerhouses in the club industry. Many say that your wealth and fame have come from dirty hands. Would you say that is true?” you asked pointedly, your reporter voice thick with accusation and curiosity.

Bucky simply laughed. He laughed as though this was the funniest joke he had heard in his lifetime. “Mr. Barnes, would you care to share what has you acting this way?” You were livid now, why was he laughing? Did you ask a stupid question? No, it couldn’t have been the question. Many other reporters had asked him the same question, but never got an answer. “Doll, since you asked me so nicely, I’ll answer. I do favors for people, and well, they reciprocate by means that helps me live comfortably.” He took a sip of an Old-Fashioned that was on the coffee table, and you mulled over this answer. “So, you’re a saint of some sort?” you snorted. This answer was pathetic. What were you to do with this? What kind of favors? The mob? That’s what had been speculated more than anything. This question prompted an even larger chuckle, and he leaned back in his chair as the cat joined him on his lap.

“My father would keel over at that assumption. I’m far from a saint, doll.” You gritted your teeth as your irritation grew. Your patience was already lacking, but now he had made it a point to call you doll. “Mr. Barnes, can we refrain from pet names during a formal interview? I don’t have all afternoon, and you keep beating around the bush with my questions. What are you, then?”

Bucky didn’t even hesitate with the next answer to your question. His lips curled into a sinister smile, and you swore you saw a flash of red in his eyes for a moment.

“I’m the devil, darling.”

[blueangelicrose]

A New Beginning: Chapter 13 (part 2): Just Dance!!!

The atmosphere was tense and a bit awkward as the four of them, all decked out in their best clothes, were driving in Josephine's company's limo. It was only a half hour ago that Joan semi-explained what was happening to the Cup brothers and the casino crew. At first, Cuphead refused to go and tried to get out of his dashing monkey suit. But then his boss snapped his claw like fingers to use his magic to redress Cuphead. "Oh, no. You're not ditching out on this party. It's both you and Dice's jobs to make this casino more attracting to those sympathetic and selfish fat cats. Normally I would just leave it to Dice alone to do the job. And yes, having YOU tag along of all people to represent the casino is taking a HUGE risk. But it's time to broaden your horizons and make you somewhat capable of a decent job. Just think of this as one of those learning field trips. Only if you screw up I'll deduct your pay for the next 6 months and I'll personally throw you into one of my pits in Hell!" Cuphead gulped then looked at Joan who had the look of a sad puppy who had been rejected. Cuphead couldn't help that pang of guilt upon the realization that he unintentionally turned her down to go out on a date. He wanted to smack himself in the head for not realizing what he did. Then he had an idea. It was a stretch, but maybe....."Heh. Don't worry boss. Me and Dice will make ya proud! Especially if we're being escorted by these lovely ladies. Also, I'm pretty sure that if I do something stupid by accident; Joan will snap me out of it. Right Joan?"

She flushed a light crimson red when he said that she was lovely. And that she was being so highly regarded and relied on by Cuphead felt amazing. "Y-Yeah, definitely! I'll keep an eye on him! If I see him screw up on anything I'll fix it!" It was a little hard to believe her with that flustered look on her face and the shakiness in her voice. The Devil raised a brow then shrugged his shoulders like he didn't give a crud. "Just make sure he doesn't go on a drunken rampage. Again." He narrowed his eyes and glared at Cuphead when he said "again". Cuphead nervously smiled then saluted to him to indicate that he was clear on the subject.

It didn't take too long for Dice to get changed into one of his fancy royal purple suits. Only this one was different from the others that he wore. It was not only royal purple but it also had pieces of gold trim around the tux area and on his sleeves. And instead of a bowtie, he wore a gold tye. (For reference on how it looks like go to Zaraegis- Finale- a King Dice lyric comic. His design, not mine.) He looked absolutely splendid! Josephine, though looked cool as ice, deep down she couldn't help but feel like her body was hot as lava with the feeling that could only be described as LOVE. As they walked out of the casino, they saw the shiny limo pull up front. Which, in all its glory, wowed Cuphead with stars in his eyes. He questioned/begged Josephine if there was going to be alcohol in the limo while they were being driven. Josephine looked over to Joan and then at King Dice with a look that said, "Is it a good idea for me to let him drink the white wine that's in the limo?" To which their silent reply was, "NO!" And now we return to the present with the awkward silence that hung in the enclosed air that was within the limo. While Josephine gently sipped her drink, she suddenly thought of an ice breaker.

"You know Cuphead, Joanie over there has a fantastic singing voice! She always did. Ever since she was small. In fact, I asked my director if she could do a duet with me on stage at the charity ball!" That little tibbit failed to be mentioned to Joan when they were discussing the plans. "I'M DOING WHAT?!!!" Both Cuphead, Dice, and the driver jumped when she screamed this. Which caused the limo to swerve to and fro until it was stabilized. Josephine only flinched while tightly closing her eyes till Joan stopped screaming. This revelation lead to a telepathic argument between the two sisters. Joan being the one mostly doing the arguing and yelling. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME! I THOUGHT WE HAD AN AGREEMENT THAT I WOULD JUST BE A GUEST! NOT ONE OF YOUR SINGING PARTNERS!" "I'm sorry! I meant to tell you, but I thought if I did, you wouldn't come~!" "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DRAGGED ME INTO ONE OF YOUR SHENANIGANS THAT HAS ONE OF YOUR HIDDEN AGENDAS! AGAIN!!!". "Sorry~!!!!! But can you do it this one time? For me? For Cuphead?" She glared at her sister then her attention went towards Cuphead, he had nothing but curiosity in his eyes and a cute smile that just screamed vibes of one that was eager to find out something. Her look softened and then telepathically said to sister, "Fine! But if you pull something like this without my consent again; you're SO done for! Hear me?!" Her sister gulped nervously and nodded real slowly, "Yes."

Soon enough the limo pulled up front of town hall along with the other limos. And as Josephine stepped out, cameras were flashing, screams of the fans and cat calls from the perverts were made and of course the annoying reporters were all around her. The only thing separating them were the big burly bee police guards that were assigned to protect the celebrities at tonight's party. Josephine put on her sunglasses to protect her eyes from the flashes of the cameras, then turned around and held out her hand for Dice to take. He was a little taken aback by this. But regardless, he took it and slowly stepped out of the car. What she did next had himself even more surprised. She had linked her arm around his while still tightly holding his hand. And while they were walking down the red carpet, there was this frazzled looking reporter wearing a white blouse and black mid-length skirt and a pair of black flats. Her shiny black hair was relatively long with a single braided ponytail. And just like Joan, she wore thick glasses that hardly showed what her eyes looked like at all. And like Joan, she wore them for the purpose of disguise. She needed them to see of course, but she purposely had them designed like that. Mainly for the purpose of keeping a low profile and because she was very shy. Kinda contradicting for a reporter. But underneath all of that, she had the most the most unique and beautiful eyes. Her left eye was a golden brown while her right was a bright forest green. She also had cute thick freckles across the bridge of her nose and had a cute dimple of a chin. When she was a child she had been teased by the boys in her neighborhood about being a freakish looking girl. She held in her all her emotions as she was focused on her one goal. Getting an interview with the Isles' newest star!

"If I could get an interview with Miss Star, then certainly boss will raise my pay check! The sooner I get the money, the better." As she said this, she opened her small gold locket around her neck. In the locket was a small picture of her, her brother and her mother. Her mother had been sick for a while and her brother was attending college overseas. With both of the payments of medical bills and school fees she had to work numerous jobs just to get by. So if she got a raise in payment, then surely she could afford better treatment for her mother and more supplies for her brother. The only thing was, was that there was the huge and impenetrable looking wall of other reporters and fans. She tried numerous times to get through, but was only met with her butt landing on the ground. She huffed in frustration then realized something. She could always sneak in. She traveled to the back of the building and noticed the lack of security employees and cameras protecting the back entrance. She was wondering if there was some sort of plan afoot. But it just turned out that it was a lousy security guard's break time and the security's funds were short so they couldn't install cameras. Either way, she carefully snuck in and searched from hall to hall to find the party. But to no avail, she was officially lost. "What do I do now?!"

While all this was going on, the four "celebrities" entered the ballroom, sat at their tables, ordered something to eat and drink. (Joan, making sure that Cuphead didn't have too much of either of them), and decided to mingle with the other celebs that were at the party. Joan made sure to keep an eye on Cuphead to make sure he didn't do something stupid. (Which was a challenge in and of itself). A few hours of this went by and Joan was already feeling exhausted. She loved Cuphead but he had WAY too energy. But then, she noticed that they had already started the dances. Then out of the blue, Cuphead came from behind her and sheepishly asked, "W-w-would you like to dance?" As he said this he held out his hand for her to take while looking away and blushing a deep red across his cheeks. She blushed as well then smiled, "Yes, yes I would." Soon enough, she took his hand and the both of them headed to the dance floor. "Do you even know how to slow dance Cuphead?" "Ehhh, not really. Could you guide me through it?" She giggled, and said, "Of course." As they slow danced, she guided him one step at a time but yet making it look not suspicious that it was his first time slow dancing. They quitely talked back and forth getting to know one another, but of course, on Joan's end, didn't reveal TOO much. Not quite yet.

End of chapter 13 (part 2)

To be continued in chapter 13 (part 3)

[felurianrelar]

full name.  Felurian Re’lar (alias)/ Kaltea Swallowtail (given name) pronunciation. fell-uh-ree-an ray-lar/ Kaal-tay-ah swallowtail nicknames. Fel, Felly/ (no one knows her real name except her previous lover and tribe, of course) height. 5′2 age. 22 zodiac. Cancer (I think...) languages. Eorzean, her native tribal tongue, Xaelen dialect spoken in the Azim Steppe are her main languages; Echo grants her the ability to understand and speak all other languages though

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour.  Silver, tinged periwinkle eye colour. violet with lavendar limbal rings skin tone.  pale, white-tan body type.  slender accent.  a lilting accent, a remnant from her originally spoken tribal tongue dominant hand.  right posture.  generally very proper, even stiff at some times.  scars. cheek (a scar from being branded) tattoos.  None. most noticeable features.  the scar on her cheek as well as the many shiny jewels she tends to have on herself for casting

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth.  Othard Valleys hometown.  None birth weight / height. Unknown manner of birth. also unknown first words.  Book (but it sounded more like... boo....) siblings. none  parents.  Wildwood Elezen Mother and Raen Aura Father parental involvement.  Almost little to none after she was exiled from her tribe. But before, she was incredibly close to her father. Didn’t know much about her mother, as she was rumored to be deceased during her first few years of life. 

ADULT LIFE

occupation. WoL; alchemist; trader current residence. Dori Markets of Kugane close friends. None relationship status. Single  financial status.  At least enough to get by. Could have a hidden stash of goods somewhere.. ;) driver’s license. Yeah... I don’t think there’s any driving in FFXIV (NO THE REGALIA DOESN’T COUNT) criminal record.  I’m pretty sure she’s done some sketchy stuff in her past... maybe even in the present.. vices.  Tends to get so focused on her alchemic experiments that she forgoes everything else (even meetings, trades, quests, etc heh), takes things a little too personally,  

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.  Heterosexual romantic orientation. Heteroromantic, probably more demiromantic preferred emotional role.  submissive  |  dominant | switch  |  unsure preferred sexual role.  submissive  |  dominant  |  switch  |  sex repulsed libido.  normal for female turn on’s.  appearance, forwardness, humor, reliability turn off’s. being too clingy, not being given space/ personal time love language. clever word play, gentleness, personal touches (if close enough) in a private setting relationship tendencies.  although she can be loving, a lot of times she’s preoccupied with other things-- and sometimes forgets the other person exists (Even with regular people she interacts with... she’s working on it, I promise.) . But she would also love to show her SO the cool things she’s making, or drags them along to markets cuz she hates being near so many other people that she doesn’t trust. 

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song.  Tom Day- Who We Want to Be (edited!) hobbies to pass the time.  reading, trying new foods, experimentations mental illnesses.  abandonment issues, PTSD from past experiences physical illnesses.  none left or right brained. left fears. losing those she cares about (which is why she has to have none of those) self confidence level.  low (but in arguments of course its ridiculously high) vulnerabilities. altruistic to a stupid level (even though most people she interacts with wouldn’t think it), becoming too attached to someone/ something  Tagged by: @fonzeworth, @ofvesper and @sectnocturnal (thanks! :3) Tagging: whoever would like to do this because I’m super late to the party and a lot of people have done it already probably!