#you knew the answer to the ship question c'mon

[nrdmssgs]

Alex Keller meeting civilian reader scenario

Masterlist

Ok, so I'm well aware, that Farah exists, and I respect all those, who ship her with Alex. She is the queen, hands down. But I wanted to do a series of “COD men meeting civilian reader”, so sorry guys, this time you, readers, get him. The reader is just a small nervous overthinker here. So that's where all this "veterans" stuff comes from. I usually bear an AFAB reader in mind, but, I think, I've made no specific allusions to the gender of the reader here.

You didn't like this whole idea from the start. From the very moment, when a friend of yours paused from laughing on your joke and turned to her spouse.

"Babe, you know, who has a tad similar sense of humor? Alex does..." - yeah, that "Alex does" didn't sound good to you. This wasn't the first time these two had tried to end your quiet single life by introducing you to someone.

"Alex?" - you tensed up.

"Yeah Alex. He is a friend. A good lad.", they both grinned at you. "Good lad" was a very bad sign. A sign that this "good lad" was only a few minutes apart from getting your number from your friends.

"No. I'm done with this. The last time was... THE LAST EVER!", you really were hoping, you would convince these two to leave your single ass alone in your happy hiatus. The last guy they tried to set you up with turned out to be a disaster!

"I promise, it's not like that this time! He is funny, has a charming personality, absolutely your type, I think you even have the same tastes in music, if I remember correctly" - your friend started rambling.

And just when you were about to interrupt her with a reminder that you are too old to date guys based on the same taste in music, her husband added 4 words that made you stumble.

"He is a veteran."

Now that was a problem...

No, you didn't disrespect or dislike people with such a background. And by no means, you could even think to discriminate them. If anything, they deserved endless respect, gratitude, care and love. But you weren't naive. You understood that the life of such a person could turn into hell if he was not supported by someone incredibly strong. And you did not believe that you would ever become such a strong person. Damn, you had sometimes problems coping even with yourself.

But you also could never say, "I'll never speak to a guy, just because he is a veteran". No way.

So you sighed and thought to yourself, that you'll just meet him once, be nice and friendly, thank him for what he was doing, shake his hand and buy him a beer.

That's why you agreed to this date, albeit with a heavy heart.

So you ended up at the bar waiting for this guy on a chilly autumn evening.

You were still questioning yourself if it was even fair to go on a date that is meant to be the last one (and only one participant knew it for sure), when you heard someone call your name behind your back.

You turned back and froze for a moment.

Why did this guy had to have an absolutely disarming smile and those charming clear blue eyes and barely noticeable precious freckles?

Your brain seemed to short circuit, because all you managed to answer was "Oh..."

"I prefer Alex, but if it's a happy "oh" - I'm ok with that too" - he grinned and gave you a friendly hug.

And at that moment you knew, you were gone.

Well, maybe there was a tiny bit of hope for you... What if the guy was just a jerk? This would make stopping any interaction easier for you. "C'mon, help me out here, man, please!" - you desperately thought as the date began.

He didn't help you. Not at all.

As promised: he was funny, charming, wildly beautiful and... warm. Not "formally friendly", but really, sincerely warm.

In an hour, you didn't even feel like it was a date. You were just chatting with your old buddy.

And yes, he got all your jokes. The way he laughed, closing his eyes sometimes, just made you weak.

You even forgot to worry about all that "Oh no, how do I pay respect and show gratitude to the veteran" stuff. He made you feel comfortable and relaxed.

Well, at least until he caught you staring at his tattoos, when you thought, he looked in the other direction.

"Wanna see the rest?" - he smiled and rolled the sleeve of his shirt up.

You were a blushing, apologetic mess, till he turned it all up into a joke.

"C'mon, it's not every day, that I catch the attention of someone so adorable. Just pretend, you are interested and ill be reminiscing on how I showed you my ink for the rest of my life and boost my self-esteem" - he chuckled.

Oh, his sweet, a bit raspy little laughs.

He looked you right in the eyes, but somehow didn't make eye contact uncomfortable.

You didn't even notice how time passed until it was time to say goodbye.

"Did your friend already give you my number? No? Ok, time to fix this!" - he takes your phone from your hands and writes something down there. Then he laughs softly and makes a funny face at the camera.

When he returns the phone to you, his number is written there and there is even a funny photo on his contact.

"Alex "Oh" Keller".

Well, of course, he wrote his name down that way.

"Our mutual friend said that you somehow take the military too seriously. Here's a reminder for you that we are just goofballs in a uniform sometimes."

When you came back home, you opened a chat with your friend. Of course, she already spammed you with a ton of questions on how did you like Alex.

"What did you tell him about me?!" "I mean... thanks" "Hes perfect", you type, but then delete and type instead "Really, thnx!"

[winterinhimring]

"The Right Question" Deleted Scene

(This was written before a certain someone decided that dramatic self-sacrifice was the best way to deal with the Spider-man reveal instead of an argument. I'm too fond of the Osborn Angst TM which it contains to delete it, so here it is.)

Harry didn't even know what time it had been when he went to bed. He'd been too exhausted, mentally and physically, to so much as bother to change out of his clothes. All he knew about what time it was when he woke up was that it was light outside and his phone was ringing.

He flipped it over, saw the caller ID, and answered immediately only to hang up, put it on vibrate, and drag himself into the shower. He was...considerably less sore than he'd expected, given the fact that he'd climbed the stairs all the way up the damn Oscorp tower, which was probably thanks to the suit's healing function, but he was still tired and achy. Sleeping in your clothes was never a good feeling even when you hadn't spent the evening being electrocuted.

When he got out of the shower, he poured himself a glass of scotch. He shouldn't have been drinking in the morning, certainly not before breakfast, but what the hell did it matter? He was dying anyway. Even if he managed to get Oscorp back, all that would do was give him something to occupy himself while he died.

Slowly.

Horribly.

Turning into a thing like Norman had been, with green, scaly skin and pointed nails, until he had to hide himself in the dark behind curtains because anyone who saw him would rightly recoil in horror. It was all very well for Aunt May to say that it was your impact on those who loved you that lived on after your death; she had people who loved her.

People didn't love Harry. What was it about him, he wondered, that made everyone push him away? It had started with Norman, but it hadn't stopped there. Did they somehow sense the disease that was crawling through his veins, waiting to turn him into that horrible creature that still lived in his dreams? Did they know that there was something wrong with him?

He stepped out onto the balcony and looked out over the city he'd helped to save last night. That should have been a happier thought than the last, but it was soured by the reminder of Peter. Peter who'd sworn they'd be best friends forever when they were ten and Harry was shipped off to boarding school. Peter who had promised to be there for him after his father's death. Had hugged him.

Peter who had lied to him. Peter who was Spider-man, who could save him, but refused to.

Harry turned away from the view and choked on his drink, because Peter was standing on his balcony.

"You didn't answer the phone," Peter said plaintively, tugging off his mask.

"Why would I?" Harry asked.

Peter just looked at Harry with big, sad brown eyes. Harry wanted to punch him in the face. "Come to see what I'm turning into?" Harry asked, well aware that he looked terrible.

"No," Peter said. "Harry, my blood wouldn't save you."

Harry scoffed and turned away, reaching for the decanter.

"But I know how to make an actual cure."

Harry froze. "What?" he asked. "What are you saying?"

His hands were shaking again, and he put down the glass before he dropped it.

"I know how to make a cure that will work," Peter said. "The spider bite gave me my powers because my dad used his DNA on the spiders, so when he disappeared, nobody could continue his experiments or use the venom for anything – if they tried, it would just poison them. But he backed up all his notes, somewhere nobody would find, and I bet, with my blood, we can reverse engineer what he did and make a cure that will work for you."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I only just found out," Peter said. "My briefcase full of junk turned out not to be junk. It was the key to my dad's backup lab. C'mon. Put some shoes on, I'll show you."

[alexthefly]

Brains/Scott snippet

This is the second part of my answer to @quasar-concept 's fab Thunderpride Ask Game questions. Thankyou again for the ask and for inspiring this nonsense.

9: Describe a fluffy moment for a favourite queer ship.

Sorry it took so long, but please enjoy some Scott/Brains being cute.

Warnings: kissing, some hints of spicy, but nothing explicit.

********

“That smells incredible!”

A stray hand appeared from over Hiram’s shoulder, finger outstretched towards the sauce he was trying to persuade to thicken. He batted it away playfully with his spoon handle.

“Perhaps, but i-i-it’s also incredibly hot, so be careful please.”

“Aww, c'mon, I was only looking.”

Brains chuckled.

“You look with your eyes, Scott, not your hands.”

He could practically hear the man pouting.

The hand disappeared, only to reappear a moment later around his waist, joined by its twin to form an immovable circle of warmth around him. Hiram leaned his head back and rested it against the strong shoulder he knew was there.

“I just wanted to see what it is that’s got such a hold on my man’s attention.”

Brains scoffed.

“And I suppose it had nothing at all to do with the minor earthquake I can feel going on in your stomach?”

Scott’s arms tightened gently as he rested his chin on his shoulder. Hiram resisted the urge to kiss his cheek, and instead closed his eyes and listened the rise and fall of his chest behind him, breathed in the scent of him, revelling in the overwhelming feeling of safety and love.

After a few moments he felt Scott shift slightly, and then there were tender kisses trailing their way up his neck, gentle and loving, each one teasing slightly higher, sending delightful little jolts down his spine.

He sighed contentedly.

“Please?”

The word was murmured behind his ear, soft and low, making him shiver.

A ragged breath. 

“...Oh, alright.”

The steadying arms around him suddenly disappeared, sending Hiram stumbling backwards as that sneaky hand rematerialised in front of him, grabbed one of the spiced rolls he'd left cooling on the counter, and vanished.

Brains managed to regain his equilibrium just in time to see Scott scampering, roll in hand, towards the upper levels. Shameless, he turned for a moment at the foot of the stairs, flashed Hiram a thousand-watt grin, and blew him a cheeky kiss. Then he was gone.

Brains huffed, straightened out his apron and, rolling his eyes, returned his attention to the now slightly over-thickened sauce.

He would definitely make sure Scott paid for that later.

[winderlylandchime]

phewww it was tough finding questions i didn’t know the answers to 😂.

D, U, Y, por favor.

You know me so well 😂🥰

D. A pairing you wish you liked but just can't.

Michael/Ben this is probably an unpopular opinion and ofc I write them together because I don't care enough to develop an OC or anything. But, c'mon, you cannot tell me that a college professor has anything in common with Michael. What the fuck do they talk about?

Randomly, and I don't read fic in this fandom, but I don't get shipping Ted and Rebecca from Ted Lasso. I love them as friends. Just because someone has an incredible connection does not mean that they should be romantically involved. I love seeing a strong friendship and I'm glad the show ventured into some flirtation but did not make them a couple in the end. (Also I was a Ted/Trent shipper even though I knew that would never be canon)

U. Three favorite characters from three different fandoms and why they're your favorites.

Brian Kinney - forever and always. He has principles, but he develops and becomes flexible. He has trauma, and he wants better for those he cares about. He doesn't care if you like him. He makes you wonder, does he like himself?

Anthony Janthony Crowley - he is a demon, he's better than most angels. He has no gender and every gender. He's got a snarl but he loves plants and kids (children or goats? yes) and one (1) angel. He's traumatized.

Lucius Spriggs - he doesn't think he's cute but he's decided to carry himself like he is. He has a past as a pickpocket, but it's a mystery. He is the Emmett Honeycutt of OFMD (another favorite but the rules are the rules).

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms?

I am very happy for my friends in the 911 fandom for the bisexual thing that happened. In fact, I was able to tell my spouse that they should go ahead and watch this week's episode because of it. Oh and Hannibal. Everyone loves Hannibal. I think I've seen the entire series in gifs. But if something is on my dash enough and I've determined I'm not compelled by the power of the gifs, I end up blocking the tag for ease of scrolling.

[mrs-monaghan]

I'd love to know your thoughts on member dynamics during any Jikook dust ups over the years. Note: I believe Jimin is the original OT7er, and I agree with you that he probably put the group's needs ahead of their relationship. Every relationship has growing pains, though. Anyway, I tend to think Tae would side with whoever he thought was right in that moment. He definitely didn't like JK's tendency to be possessive of Jimin's time, in my opinion, and I think all the members probably checked JK on that at some point. I flip back and forth with Hobi b/c I think he's a peacemaker and probably wouldn't take sides. I'm not sure about Namjoon and Jin. Namjoon, being leader, I don't think he'd pick sides, but he did push back on JK's possessiveness in terms of skinship. I think Suga wouldn't give a flip.

Added bonus: this edit which I find funny though I haven't seen the original interaction to see where the creator took liberties, if any. I've seen Tkkrs use this clip as a "hey, Taekook approves of Yoonmin" moment, but, LOL, how? To me it reads more like Tae acting as a Jeon satellite assistant moment. Anyway, it's a cute edit. (I'm getting that error message that it's not a complete link.)

Oh no. Couldn't get the link 😪

Tarheeeeeeel. This is one hell of a question. But since you didn't say a break up i think it's quite easy. I believe all the members would listen to both sides and support the one they think is right. It wouldn't be about Jimin or JK it would be about reason. I think the Tannies are adult and mature enough to do this. So that's my answer. They would go by logic. And I can see RM and Jhope not even picking sides but rather talking to them and trying to get to the root of the issue.

So All would go by logic.

Except Suga.

U knew this was coming. C'mon. I don't even think Suga needs a reason; he is supporting Jimin no matter what.

Listen. Yoonkook are not close. 🤭🤭 How many ships are there in BTS? 22? 24? And out of all of them I would put Yoonkook at the bottom. Whatever number is last that's where I'm putting Yoonkook.

Disclaimer: Suga and JK love eo like all members love eo. At no point should you think I'm insinuating otherwise while you read this post.

But yeah. If I was to rate JK's ships I would put Yoonkook last. If we thought tkk was boring as a unit what about ykk? We all watched Irish bomb, come on now. There ain't no chemistry there either. This TT i shared here i would swap Tkk for Ykk. I mean, we talked about GCF Helsinki and Suga is the only one who remained dull and uncoloured.

And you know what? I don't blame JK. If someone kept looking at my boyfriend's ass and drooling over him plus checking him out when he showed a little skin, he wouldn't be my favourite member either. 🤷🏽‍♀️

So that's which side members are taking when Jikook fight or argue. I wanna talk about if God forbid there was a break up. Simply because I wanna hear what you guys think also.

So if Jikook were over (not gonna happen but if they were) and it wasn't amicable and members were forced to choose sides,

Let's start from the top. Who gets RM during the divorce? What do we know about RM and Jikook? We know Jimin is his confidant. We know he goes to Jimin when he's stuck and doesn't know the way forward. We know he and Jimin are always having heavy in depth talks and Jimin is always there for him. So I think Jimin gets RM during the divorce. Minimoni are legit.

Jin. We know after Jimin, JK is closest to Jin. The oldest member basically raised him. JK is Jin's baby y'all.❤ Tom and Jerry, they get along splendidly and there is never a dull moment when Jinkook are together. Even though Jimin has been there for Jin emotionally too, I personally think JK gets Jin in the divorce.

Suga. Do I need to say it? 😂😂 This dude is a no brainer. Of course Jimin gets Suga during the divorce.

Jhope. Another no brainer. This is Jimin's person. His best friend. His soulmate. His roommate for life. He knows where all the bodies are buried, Jimin trusts him explicitly. When JK messes up Jhope cannot wait to tell Jimin so yeah, I think we know who's side he would be on. 😂

Last but not least, V. Hmm... Kim Taehyung is a wild card. With him,

If you had asked me this before recent developments, I would have said Jimin gets V in the divorce. Easy. But now? Now Idk. He could be team Jimin, could be team JK, could refuse to pick a side and go wooga squad away. Who knows 🤷🏽‍♀️ As it stands I just dk who V would choose. Would love to hear y'alls thoughts though...

[mateidontevenknow]

ONESHOT ALERT

Fandom: WWE

Ship: Roman Reigns x OC (Fem)

Ice cream makes everything better, part 2

The biggest mystery in the WWE revolves around Roman Reigns, more specifically, the woman who saved him. It was easy to avoid the issue while he was injured, but the moment he stepped back into the ring, he was bombarded with questions. Questions he answered in the same way every time.

"She'll tell you all about it when she's ready."

Raina wasn't ready. She wasn't nearly as confident as Roman and it showed. She still showed up to his matches, in a little bit of a disguise. She'd put on sunglasses and a hoodie, and she easily passed as just another fan. Not even Roman knew she was there.

She wasn't ready and she doubted that she'd ever be. That was until Vickie Guerrero decided to stick her nose into Roman's business. It was eight weeks after the incident, when Roman returned for his first match back. That day Vickie decided that she would figure out who his savior is, if it's the last thing she does.

After his match against AJ Styles, she jumped in the ring with a microphone and a mission.

"Tell us, Roman, who is the woman who saved you from Brock Lesnar? The WWE Universe wants to know. Is she your girlfriend? A family member? A random fan?"

"Vickie, you know what I said at the press conference. My answer hasn't changed."

"Are you really willing to dissapoint your fans like that?"

That's when Roman saw a flash of black hair, rapidly moving through the crowd toward him. He could recognize his roommate anywhere. Especially when she was wearing his hoodie.

"Actually, here she comes."

She jumped over the barricade and into the ring. Roman made a point of greeting her with a hug.

"Hey, you want the mic?"

Raina nodded enthusiastically and Roman handed her the microphone. Vickie attempted to apply some pressure.

"Finally, this is what the fans have been waiting for."

"Vickie, what do you want from me? What are you hoping to gain out of this?"

"I want to know who you are."

"Well, in that case, I'm a 34-year-old with a caffeine addiction and a need for death. And that is all you need to know."

"I want a name."

"Why? Because you have nothing better to base this segment on?"

The crowd gave an "Ohhhhhhh."

"That is not your concern."

"But it is though. Because you spent an entire press conference and the last five minutes trying to get information from Roman that isn't his to give. Also, I think we should talk about the last time Roman appeared on this show when he was beaten up by a sore loser..."

Raina emphasized the last two words.

She was interrupted by Brock Lesnar's theme song and logo on the big screen. He came running towards the ring, stopping right in front of it. A staff member handed him a microphone.

Raina turned to him.

"You know what, get your ass in this ring, right now. There's something you still need to do."

"What?"

Brock spoke loudly, demandingly but Raina wasn't fazed, looking like she is done with the man in front of her.

"Apologize."

Brock looked at her for the first time, stepping closer to her. For the first time, Raina was appreciative of her height, 5'11, not allowing the giant to tower over her.

"Fine, I'm sorry-"

"No, no, no, it's not my ribs you broke. Apologize to Roman."

Brock sighed before yelling into his microphone, getting up into Raina's face.

"The Beast doesn't have to apologize to anyone!"

Raina took a moment, listening to the crowd booing, before continuing. Not backing down, she started softly.

"You know what takes balls? Admitting a mistake. And at this very moment, my 4-year-old nephew has more balls than you. You wanna prove you're 'The Beast', huh? Then grow a pair before you step to me. You are going to apologize to Roman and you're going to mean it. Understood?"

"You're treating me like a child."

"I am treating you like a child. Why? Because you're acting like one. Now c'mon, you know what to do..."

Brock sighed in defeat before turning to Roman.

"Roman, I'm sorry for freaking out and attacking you, alright?"

He held out a hand, which Roman shook.

"Alright."

Raina looked please with herself as she checked her watch.

"Well, now that that is over with, we should probably clear the ring. Finn Balor and Damian Priest are up next. And Vickie, you're welcome, for giving your audience an entertaining segment."

And with that, Roman and Raina slid out of the ring, Roman leading her backstage. The moment they were out of earshot of the fans, Roman started laughing. Raina couldn't help but smile in her confusion.

"What's so funny?"

"I didn't even know you were here and then you came running with sunglasses, that I didn't even know you had and one of my hoodies. Suddenly you're putting Vickie in her place and demolishing Brock's ego. Honestly, you surprise me every day."

He wrapped an arm around her waist before ruffling her hair with his other hand.

"You're just mad 'cause I wear it better. Also, since she's so caught up with who I am, I decided to have a little fun with it."

A man with long hair and a fashion sense came up to the pair.

"Hey, Roman! Is this the roommate you were telling me about? Raina, right?"

"Yeah. Raina, this is Seth, Seth Rollins. And over there is Becky Lynch, his wife."

"Nice to meet you."

Raina shook his outstretched hand.

"So you're the girl who kicked Brock."

"That would be me."

Becky heard that and decided to make her herself known. Raina was not prepared for the accent, personality or charm that the Man possessed.

"Hey there, I'm Becky. You know, I watched that clip of you kickin' Brock and I just wanted to tell you, you have a future in the women's division. You can come train with me if you'd like."

Becky finished with a wink, handing me a card in the process. Unfortunately, Seth decided to step in.

"Seriously? You've only been in this conversation for 5 seconds and you're already trying to steal his girl. I think it's time for you and me to go home."

Raina laughed as Roman's arm tightened around her. She decided to stir the pot.

"I'll text you later, Becky."

She heard Becky laughing as Seth dragged her away.

"I think it's time for us to go home as well, before you leave me for Big Time Becks."

The pair walked out the back door, heading toward Roman's car.

~

As soon as the door to their apartment swung shut, Roman had Raina wrapped up in a hug. An unrelenting one at that. She laughed as she squirmed.

"Let go, I need to go text Becky."

"Oh no, you don't. I think it's time you learn who you belong to."

Roman picked her up onto the kitchen counter top, securing himself in between her legs. His one arm held her around her waist while the other settled on her neck, using his thumb to caress her cheek.

"Is that so?"

Roman didn't answer, instead pressing a kiss to her lips. She kissed back eagerly, holding his face with her hand, the other falling on his shoulder. He moved even closer pressing himself into her even more as their kiss deepened. Her hand moved up to his neck in response.

After a few seconds, she pulled away. Her piercing green eyes gazed at him lovingly.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well then; we probably shouldn't do it here."

Roman nodded before picking her up off the counter, letting her wrap her legs around his waist. She pressed her face into his neck as her arms held him around his neck. He carried her into his bedroom. He put her down on the edge of the bed before kneeling in front of her, standing on his knees between her legs, their faces only a few inches apart. She leaned down to kiss him, her hands caressing his face.

He had planned this in his head and Raina let him continue, relishing in her own uncertainty. She was relieved to know how much her body trusted him. It was rare for her to give up control so easily, but with Roman she felt safe. It was a welcome change.

He broke the kiss, dipping down to kiss her neck. Her hoodie, his hoodie, proved to be a problem early on and Roman was quick to get rid of it. He found one of his shirts underneath.

"You really robbed my closet, didn't you? It's fine you wear it better anyway, especially this V-neck."

He tugged on the shirt before pulling it off, leaving Raina in her black sports bra. He took advantage of this, kissing and sucking at the skin on her neck. He was leaving marks but neither of them seemed to care. She hummed in appreciation as her body visibly relaxed.

Roman caught sight of this, gently laying her down on the bed. His body followed. He looked into her eyes, watching as they threatened to fall shut. He smiled at the precious woman in front of him. He lied down on top of her, his head resting on her heart. He took hold of her hand, intertwining their fingers before gently pressing a kiss to the back.

"I don't think we should do this tonight. We should talk about this tomorrow morning and then we'll make a decision."

"Alright..."

It was clear to Roman that she wasn't completely listening. He chuckled at the sleep in her voice. He slowly stood up off of her, watching as her eyes fluttered shut. He scooped her up, putting her down further up the bed, so her head touched the pillow. As soon as the contact disappeared, she reached for him, missing the warmth of his hands. He chuckled as he pulled off his shirt.

"Don't worry, I'm right here."

He changed his pants before joining her in bed, pulling the blanket over both of them. Raina cuddled up into his chest, pressing her face into his chest. He wrapped one arm around her, the other finding her hands. She took his hand in both of hers before bringing it towards her lips. She kissed the back of his hand before burying her face again.

She kept a hold of his hand, fidgeting with his fingers and tracing the lines on his palm.

"I love you."

She said it first this time. Her voice was tired and muffled but he heard it.

"I love you too."

He said it with certainty as the arm around her tightened. She leaned into his warmth. A smile graced her face as she processed his words. This had never happened to her before.

"Thank you."

[irisseireth]

For the Silm asks: 6 (👀), 13, 20, please!

6. Best m/f ship?

You already know the answer to this one, but I feel like I'm cheating if I say Andreth/Aegnor, since they aren't even on the published silm, and THAT'S A TRAVESTY. I have so many thoughts and feelings on this pairing that it would require its own post (or blog lmao).

If we don't count them I'm not very emotionally invested in the canon ships of the Silmarillion, to be quite honest. I do like the interracial pairings though: Beren/Lúthien, Idril/Tuor. I am also quite intrigued by the dynamics of Finarfin/Eärwen.

A non canon m/f ship I quite enjoy is Elendil/Tar-Míriel, both as one-sided when they were young, or in an AU where Míriel survives. I also enjoy the dramatics of Tar-Míriel/Sauron, as in both pretend to like each other to further their political goals, but in truth absolutely detest each other.

13. Where in Middle-Earth would you most like to live?

Is it cheating if I say Númenor? Since it's not technically Middle Earth but... it is supposed to be paradise, a variety of climates and ecosystems, always near the sea, and at least until they started getting weird with the human sacrifices, a peaceful and prosperous place to live. Early Númenor would be my first choice.

The second option would obviously be the Shire, for similar reasons: peaceful and prosperous, apparently quite nice weather. Points deducted for being far from the sea.

Other places I'm curious about and would visit, but probably not live: Gondor (too close to Mordor), Arnor (while it existed), Lindon (Gil-Galad seemed like a pretty chill guy who would allow other races into his realm), Laketown (the Venice of Middle Earth!), Gondolin (if it were possible to get an exit visa lmao), and Nargothrond (what? I'm curious).

20. Funniest moment in the Silm?

It has to be the moment Beren tells Thingol he has a Silmaril in his hand, but it just happens that his hand is not here. Gotta love Beren, what a legend.

Silmarillion asks

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

can we please have the next episode of the amnesia verse?

Dick let himself into your shop and paused at the door to stroke Sammy who was contentedly gnawing on his bone. Happy to look pretty for the customers and keep you company.

"Hey," you call from a ladder, adjusting a display. A tree made from salvaged copper. Handmade necklaces and a few pieces of in expensive vintage jewelry hanging from the lower branches, "Feel free to look around. Let me know if you have any questions!"

"Thanks," he said, roaming towards a display of little collectibles. Kitschy little knick knacks that little old ladies loved to collect. Glass dishes in every color. A few tea sets- one he'd LOVE to send to Alfred if only because it was tacky- peak 70's. Lime Green and mustard yellow with gold leaf making rose details. The man would be beside himself.

He ponders it for a second, wondering how he'd ship it back east when the bells above the door jingle and Dick looks up slowly to see a man. Maybe in his 60's. A farmer, probably. With close-cropped grey hair, a red face and a belly hanging over his belt buckle. "Honey Girl," he panted, "Ya gotta help me-"

"What'dya forget this time Merle?" you ask, looking around the display with a grin.

"Forgot Loretta's GD birthday. 42 years and I swear she changes the date-"

Dick watches, smiling a little when you climb down off your ladder and stretch lazily, "Well," you hum, "Does she know you forgot yet or-"

"Not yet. I stalled his this morning and I got a cake coming from Roxie but I gotta have a PRESENT."

"She still use her vanity?" you ask, unlocking the glass case in front of you.

"Every day," Merle said grinning, pleased with himself, "You really saved my bacon with that one Honey-"

You smile and pull a tray out of the case. On the tray, there was a silver hand mirror- a little tarnished and in want of a polish but Ornate. The slight fog on the actual mirror giving it a magical quality. And two matching silver hair combs. A matched set. Something somene had had made for their daugher when she turned 16. "This might just do it, huh?"

Merle rocked back on his heels and carefully picked up one of the delicate combs, "I dunno kid-"

"Come one Merle, 42 years and I bet she still likes feeling like a princess. Loretta does love a good updo. Some fancy combs for her french twist-" You break off, grinning as his face softened. The man loved his wife. Even if he was bad with dates. And you could see him picturing her face light up.

"Wrap it up for me?" he asked, reaching for his wallet, "Maybe find some nice earrings? Hell you know what she likes-"

"Come back around 11," you tell him, winking. "I'll have it all wrapped and looking pretty. She'll never know."

"Keep my tab under $300, huh? I still gotta pay the mortgage."

"Anything to keep my favorite customer out of the dog house."

"God bless ya, Honey," he said, setting the comb down, "Don't know how I'd stay married without you."

He turns to stroll out of the shop to get his other errands done, skulking around while Loretta was busy getting her hair done, and Dick watched him go.

"Honey?" he asked, watching you set about making a gift basket. Making good on your promise to make it all look nice.

You shrug, face heating when you notice how he's looking at you. "My Grandpa used to keep bees," you answer. "When he had extra he used to sell it but with the horses, sometimes e couldn't drop it off himself- so he used to saddle up a horse for me and send me to town. People startled calling me "The Honey Girl"... After a while it just got shortened to Honey."

"So does everyone call you that or-"

"Any more? People who knew my grandparents are the main culprits- but sometimes it's people who knew me at school."

You feel the heat flood your body and you have to try not to look at his lips, mentally smacking the back of your hand. Sure. It had been a while but-

"What's the matter, Honey?" he asked smirking, "You look a little warm."

"Dick," you protest.

"C'mon," he teased, "Let me see if you taste as sweet as you look?"

But before you can answer the door bursts open and a woman comes in, screaming kids in tow. And Dick had to turn quickly to cover his irritation. Last night, playing pool there'd been tension. A really delicious tension. And this just proved it. You wanted him s bad as he wanted you. He just had to get you alone.

[spaced0lphin]

Wish I May, Wish I Might

A Shoker Thing (Obviously It Is, This is Me We’re Talking About}

Time is a weird thing. Tied to the senses, in a way. Removed or dulled enough, and pretty soon a person thinks it's been an hour inside five minutes.

Stars. Blackness. Stars. Blackness. The difference between closing and opening his eyes was an ocean of sparkling dots. The floor below him - or beside, direction didn't really matter, here - was so far, and the dome before him so huge, that he seemed to hang suspended in space.

Doctor Chakwas’ sharp words still hung around the back of his mind. If he had his way, he'd never have come off the ship. But, stretching properly for the first time in way too long, a tingling flood of feel-good chemicals radiated up from his legs, and he had to admit she was right. Racking up some time in zero-gee was doing wonders.

Joker swallowed, the gross wet sound of it filling his ears with way more detail than he ever wanted. That was the worst; being forced to hear his own body's squishy noises.  

Ignoring the thudding of his heart in his ears, he drew lines in the air with his finger, connecting together familiar shapes in the stars. Asteroid stations in the middle of nowhere like this one were kind of appealing, when he thought about it. They weren't often this quiet, but they were often low or no grav. The less he weighed, the less the ache always living in his loose joints had anything to say. But, spend too much time in low grav, and bones lose density. For crumbly garbage ones like his, that was a death sentence. Gravity. What a bunch of bullshit.

The distinct hiss of an airlock sent a breeze blowing across his back. He frowned at the glimmering sea before him. Of course, having it all to himself was too good to be true.

"Was just leaving," he grumbled, fishing for his air jet. Magboots clicked softly on the grating; he must've floated up a long way.

"Relax, it's only me," a familiar voice called out to him. A warm fluttery feeling spread out in his belly.

"Shepard...? Hey, patients only," he said. Twisting around in zero-gee wasn't the problem, it was the whole stopping thing that always proved tricky. Where was that damn thing?

Standing with her feet clamped to the floor, she folded her arms and looked straight up at him. "I'm a Spectre, I can go wherever I want."

"Uh-huh," he said. A bit of starlight reflected off a cylindrical object, caught in a lazy spin at the far end of the room - his trigger. His face sank into his palm.

"Ah... is that yours?" She asked. The smile coming through in her voice was so clear he had to steal a glance. To him, that understated little smirk of hers shone brighter than any sun.

"Yep." Joker clicked his tongue. "Real rookie mistake." 

"You forgot to clip it?"

"Look, it's... been a while. A little help here? Or am I gonna have to start blowing?" He laughed. No answer. If he didn't know better, he'd say she looked a little transfixed or something. It seemed almost like she was staring past him - through him, maybe. Her eyes were locked on something out there. Alarmed, Joker craned his neck. Nothing, except the stars. Still and exactly the same as as they ever were. "Hey, what gives? C'mon, the water's fine," he said, waggling his arms, stuck in a slow barrel-roll.

"Yes. Yes, yes. I'm coming." That was hesitation in her words, he was sure of it.

"Uh, Shepard?" he asked with a bemused little chuckle. "There's nothing out there." 

"... I know." 

The buzz and clunk of her magboots' release busted the silence as she began floating up. Stars, Shepard. Stars, Shepard. Stars... Only a couple metres or so away now, and her eyes were squeezed shut. She looked like a terrified cadet out on her first EVA practise. Joker opened his mouth to deliver some crack asking her when the last time she'd been outside even was, when the millions and millions of lights in the void slid into his vision once more. He knew the answer to that question. He closed his mouth, heat prickling at the back of his neck. 'There's nothing out there.' Who’d know better than the woman who died choking on hard vacuum? What a jackass. Her long, shaky breaths filled the few feet of air between them.

"Hey, open your eyes," he said softly, knowing that even a whisper was enough. "You're gonna bump into me."

Without a word, her legs lifted and folded with the precision of a dancer, the spat-spat-spat of air bursting from little jets on her catsuit slowing her down. Every move was sleek and perfect, all the more so by how effortless she made it look. The result, he knew, of hours and hours of drills and practise. At last, the cosmos stopped their slow spinning around with the touch of her hand to his shoulder.

"Thanks," he said, offering a smile he hoped looked contrite. "Was starting to think I'd throw up."

"No you weren't," she replied, the tiniest little grin forcing its way out across her lips. "You grew up in space."

God, her eyes really were something else. What he wouldn't give to just reach up and stroke her cheek, to tell her it was okay. Tell her she had it under control, that she didn't have to be scared. The starlight illuminating her face made his breath catch. Joker swallowed heavily. This time, there was no gross wet sound, his throat dry as a bone.

Politeness demanded he look away, but he couldn't tear himself free. In those eyes was a depth stretching farther than even the most distant star could hope to reach.

"Eh, yeah... I just wanted you to feel like you'd saved me from something," he said. "Not that you haven't already. But, y'know. Heroic moment."

"What if I hadn't showed up?" She asked. "You'd have been stuck here for hours."

"Hours?"

"I booked it for a few. I wanted..." Shepard trailed off, searching for her words. "I wanted to take my time."

Somehow, his hands found their way to her shoulders. "Aw, you're just a bit rusty,” he said with a dismissive shrug. “It's been a while for the both of us. I forgot my clip, and you... Uh, well. Your breathing's slowed down now, that’s good," he pointed out. It was only when he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze that he realised she was gripping both his own, hard. "... All you need's a little practise. Hey, my trigger's over there," he said, gesturing. Shepard followed his hand at first, but soon her gaze travelled up, and up, as if called by something. Her fingers clamped down like a vice. 

"Watch it, hey, watch it!" he hissed.

She released. "Did I hurt you?"

"I'll live," he muttered. "Listen, you don't have to let go of me if you don't wanna, just... Don't snap me like a toothpick, okay?"

"Right. I'm sorry."

Shepard's hands fluttered down, settling on his waist instead. She'd chosen to hold him closer, rather than tighter. Joker cleared his throat, grateful for the dim silver light of the stars, surely disguising the heat spreading across his cheeks.

She was so damn brave. As he pulled himself free of her grasp and floated clear of her to give her air jets room, Joker imagined the kind of guts it must take to face a fear like this. Alone, too - she came here alone, planning to panic in silence, for hours.

"Yeah… Look, I got an idea," he said, placing his hand back on her shoulder. "Let’s go get it together."

Shepard placed her hand atop his, anchoring him as she lined up. With a sharp little burst, they were on their way.

“They teach you all kinds of stuff to be an N7, huh?” He asked, moving himself to block her gaze if she looked up. “You do the whole flippin’ around thing pretty good.”

“They do,” she said. “I used to enjoy it, once upon a time.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” he replied. “I’m surprised you haven’t been headhunted by the asari Stardancers.”

“You’re a fan of stellar ballet?”

“I’m a fan of the outfits,” he snickered. She snickered, too, and Joker allowed himself to float in just a little closer.

Shepard stretched out. With a deft flick of her arm, she flipped about to face him, eye to eye. The little device slid up between them, filling his vision, and she laughed, tapping him on the nose with it.

“Here you go, troublemaker.”

He closed his hand around it. “Thanks.”

Maybe he was just nuts, but, she seemed to be lingering, her eyes flicking from point to point. Perhaps she was just trying not to look at the expanse behind him.

“Whoops,” he said, nudging the trigger out, end over end, into the colossal empty room. “Dropped it.”

“Joker, I put my ship in your hands, and you have butterfingers?”

“Look at it this way, it’s more practise, right? Let’s go get it.”

She took his arm and looped it around her neck, setting out in a smooth arc. He smiled to himself, watching her glance this way and that. The fire inside Shepard was familiar. Watching it in action had this way of spreading, setting him alight, too. Maybe one day he could see her fly amid the stars without being chased by old ghosts. A sharp pang shot through his chest - those old ghosts only haunted because of him. Ghosts describing the way her body spun, shrank, and was swallowed by the looming blueness of Alchera. That was why she was here after all, and why she didn’t love the stars anymore. That little line of pain snaking through his heart blossomed into an open wound. He shouldn’t, really, he knew, but steadying himself as she flew gave him an excuse. He let his free arm drift in and cross her body, though he barely let it touch. Such a weird way to score an embrace, but, he couldn’t be there for her back then. At least he could be here for her, now.

“Joker?”

“What?” They’d stopped at some point, he realised. Dead centre of the dome, by the looks of it.

Shepard unfolded, filling all the space between his arms without a word. She was so warm. His chin came down to rest on her shoulder, his arms pulling her back against his chest. Her heartbeat raced against his forearm, even through her catsuit. He didn’t dare speak. Or move. Or even breathe, not even when it burned in his lungs. God, he wanted whatever this was to last, but he wasn’t an idiot - for whatever reasons of her own, she’d let him overstep a little, that’s all. Time to get a grip.

“It’s there,” he whispered, pointing at it. “See it? You don’t need me, you go the rest of the way.”

Her fingers closed around his forearm.

“Go on. Go fetch,” he insisted, offering a grin. “Not often I get to give you an order, huh?”

“… No, you’re wrong,” she said.

“Well, that’d be a first.”

“I do need you,” she said.

He felt his smile waver. “Um, okay, well, let’s take it at your pace, then. I’ve got until they finish installing that ablative plating stuff. Man, that’s gonna be sweet,” he said, giving in to the urge to hold her just that little bit tighter.

“I’m fine right here, for the moment, if you are.”

“Like I said, I’ve got like three days of doing nothing ahead of me, so… We’re on your schedule. When you’re ready, alright?”

She fit against him as though she was made for the job. Joker closed his eyes, writing every detail to memory.

“It’s quiet up here,” she said, just above a whisper.

“Yep. Can’t even hear the air recyclers.”

Her head slowly turned as she scanned around, exposing the length of her neck. Nothing ever looked quite so soft. Joker forced his eyes shut to keep from thinking about it.

“I’ve had nightmares about it for so long now, I forget how beautiful it really is,” she said.

“Mm-hmm. Yeah, it makes my list. A few things are a bit higher, but, not many.”

“Higher than this?” She breathed.

“Mmm, I dunno, those Stardancer outfits are pret-ty nice,” he said with a dry chuckle. She tutted, nudging him in the stomach with her elbow, and they both laughed. Shepard settled back against him like it was the most natural thing in the world. The fluttery feeling deep in his belly refused to budge. “You get bad dreams a lot, huh?”

“If I do this enough, they’ll stop. They have to,” she said, a certain hard edge creeping into her voice.

“They will, they will,” he said, nodding. “Don’t worry.” The fabric covering her shoulder was so smooth. So smooth. What was it made of? He’d been rubbing little circles in it with his thumb. “Ah, heh,” he murmured, clearing his throat again. “So. You still good?”

“Are you?” She asked.

“I only came up here to get some weight off my joints,” he said. “I’m still doing that.”

“It’s good to see you off the ship, you know.”

“Yeah, well. Chakwas told me if I didn’t go, she’d use the time I had sitting around to do extra tests. So, I bounced.”

Shepard chuckled. “That sounds about right. She told me something similar.”

“Yeah she sure has her own brand of looking out for people, I guess,” he said. A wave of tingly niceness made all his hairs stand on end as Shepard mirrored him, drawing wavy patterns on his forearm with the very tips of her nails. He sank into the delicious feeling. This was fine. Maybe not the most strictly professional thing, but, they were friends, too. This was totally fine. Joker rested his chin on her shoulder again. “Speaking of that kinda thing, I guess… Lookin’ out for people, and all that… You know you don’t have to do this all on your own, right?”

“What do you mean?” She asked, turning her head to the side and looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Well… You don’t have to face it all by yourself. You got me, if you want?” His heart leapt to his throat. “I’ll help, I mean. With stuff like this? All you gotta do is ask.”

“I know you’d help… and you have,” she said, tilting her head against his. “Thank you.” The wavy patterns stopped dead, and Shepard disentangled herself, gentle as could be. It was as if gravity had been switched on, but only for his insides. The spell was broken. He’d messed it up, somehow. Or, watching her float away, maybe he’d set it right? She had so much to think about and do, the last thing she needed was her horned-up helmsman putting the moves on her during a moment of weakness, which - Oh, no. Something slimy and cold started slithering around in his gut. That’s exactly what happened. A wobbling blob of moisture floated up off his nose. Jeez, it was hot in here.

“L-Listen, Shepard, I’m pretty sure I cro-“

“What?” She asked, slowly spiralling back toward him, wiggling his trigger in her hand. She ducked down, fastening it to his belt with a loud snap.

“-ssed a… line hey, nice going!”

She collided with him. Laughed. Shot away. He fumbled with the jet at first, righting himself just in time to see the most powerful woman in the galaxy blow a big fat raspberry at him.

“You- wha- how is this fair? I’ve only got one jet and you’ve got, what, like fifty?”

“Come on, are you the best pilot in the Alliance fleet, or what?”

“Oh, now you’re gonna get it.”

“I should requisition you one of these,” she said, sailing around him. “Maybe I will, if you catch me.”

“Pfft, promises, promises. I’mma hold you to that, and I don’t care if they cost half a planet’s worth of platinum. Your word is your bond,” he teased, doing some quick math. Was it cheating to use the wall? He didn’t care.

“Big words, ballcap boy,” she taunted. She could bust out such an annoying sing-song jeer when she wanted to. Joker launched himself off the wall at a speed Shepard clearly didn’t expect. She darted in the precise way he figured she would, sent himself tumbling through her first-year evasive manoeuvres, and straight into her.

“Yeah, yeah, you think you’re real clever with that suit, don’t you?” He intercepted her, using his own momentum to swing her, laughing, into his grasp. “That was easy. I’m kind of embarrassed for you, Shepard. All that training and all that tech and I beat you with one jet and an attitude.”

“Oh, I let you,” she replied, cracking up. On his life, she was… giggling.

“You didn’t.”

“I did, I did, I absolutely did,” she could barely speak, she was having such a damn episode.

“Now, you look me in the eye,” he said, pulling his eyelid down in an exaggerated stare.

“I can’t see,” she replied, wiping at shimmering silver blobs - tears - that, without gravity, refused to leave her eyes.

“Well, that’s what you get for getting the giggles in zero-gee,” he said, shaking his head. “Does Anderson know you’re like this?”

“He put it in my letter of recommendation,” she answered, shaking her head as she blinked the last one free. A trail of a dozen little spheres jiggled madly on the long way up towards the roof of the dome. He smiled up at them as, one by one, he lost sight of each, blending in with the lights all around. From shaking with fear to shaking with laughter. That counted as some kind of victory, he was sure of it. Something brushed against his cheek. Shepard’s fingertips directed his face back toward her. Painted in silver and framed by stars, she really was the most beautiful thing he ever saw.

“Hey.” It was all he could think to say.

“Hey,” she replied, her voice soft and low and breathy in a way that sent a tingle up his spine. She drew in, and he did too. He didn’t know who did it, but, her lips. They were hot, and her breath even hotter, and all of a sudden he never had to wonder again what it might be like to kiss her because now - now he knew, and he never, ever wanted to stop. Her fingers at the back of his head, running through his hair and cupping his face was all at once way too much and not nearly, nearly enough. She was lithe and firm and everything he ever hoped to feel, and in the rush of it he couldn’t tell if that little, desperate sound was hers or his own. It didn’t matter, because yes. If she wanted it, oh, he would give it to her. He would give her anything. Everything.

Breaking that kiss for air was maybe the hardest thing he’d ever done. Breath ragged and body trembling with adrenaline, Joker held her to him like she was tethering him to life. Shepard, for all her strength and fury, was nothing but tender with every kiss she placed and every touch to every part of him she felt - and, already, there were very few parts of him she hadn’t yet.

Her suit’s zipper peeled open and her skin was silky under his hands, dewy under his lips, and God, he could not stop shaking.

Soothing like water, she wrapped herself around him, cushioning his shuddering and her lips at his ear.

“Yes?” She whispered. It was a question. Calm and sweet and so utterly divorced from the maelstrom he was caught up in.

“Buh?”

She kissed his neck, maybe giving him time to think, before repeating, “yes?”

Oh, this woman. This wonderful, beautiful woman. “God, Fff-Yes,” he gasped. The word alone wasn’t strong enough and Joker grabbed her hips, grinding himself right up against her to let her feel how much ‘yes.’

His fly popped open and he lost any ability to think. There was only one thing to do, and it was very simple. Her breath was hot across him, and all of a sudden, full of sound. The most achingly beautiful whimper. He dragged his teeth up the soft skin of her neck that just a few moments before he’d tried so hard not to think about, and pushed.

Sweet fire. He lacked the words but maybe those would do. Sinking into her set every nerve alight with sweet, sweet fire. Her ankles crossed behind his back, almost spurring him on. Yes, yes, he had to be careful, but here, spinning with the stars, he didn’t have to be quite that careful. Whatever she was doing, it was working - with every stroke she tilted her hips a certain way and soon her eyes were fluttering closed, her lips parted, and her body squeezing in tighter. He still couldn’t stop shaking, but this time, the cause was obvious. Shepard’s mouth found his own and then there just wasn’t any holding back anymore. Her whole body locked up tight, her cry muffled by their kiss. He squirmed, straining to get even deeper inside somehow and rode it out with her, giving her his everything.

Breathless. Completely breathless. Curved around her body, he panted, his head resting between her breasts. God, he hoped it meant as much for her. If all the tingling as she laid kisses atop his head and fiddled with his ear was anything to go by, he figured it probably did.

“I hope they have a good filtration system,” she mumbled.

“I hope they don’t have any cameras,” he replied.

An orange glow hit the backs of his eyelids. “Well,” she sighed. “They don’t now.”

They snickered.

[lazuliquetzal]

in which Wind is a fan of Public Policy

[Dawn of the Fourth is a fanfiction distributed by LazuliQuetzal and licensed under a Creative Nonsense Non-Commercial--]

this was originally going to be the flashback scene in ch6, after Sky And Wind Have A Conversation, but then it got away from me and it did not fit or work at ALL. but it was a scene that happened, anyway

___

“Damn, you are really fucking up that tree stump.”

Link scowled. He dislodged his sword from the tree and turned around.

Tetra, who was leaning on the fence a few feet away, lifted an eyebrow. 

Link decided not to acknowledge the unspoken question and went back to hacking away at the wood. 

Tetra let him. Link was stubborn, but Tetra was more patient than he was stubborn, and they both knew he’d cave first. 

A full six minutes later, sweaty and exhausted and panting for breath, Link finally took a step back and relaxed his grip on his sword. The tree stump was a mangled mess.

“Well?” Tetra asked. 

Link huffed. “Aryll’s mad at me.”

Terra's other eyebrow rose up to join the first. 

Link lifted the edge of his blade and studied it closely. It was dinged to hell and back. The local blacksmith was going to murder him when he saw this.

“Oi, dumbass,” Tetra said, snapping her fingers to get his attention. “What the hell? You can't just drop a bomb like that and then not explain.”

“Aryll’s mad at me,” Link snapped. “That’s pretty fucking self-explanatory.”

“What’d you do?”

“The hell makes you think I did something?”

“Uh, ‘cause you're a bitch and your sister isn't?” Tetra said. “C'mon. On this ship, we own our crimes.”

Link threw his head back and groaned. “I didn't commit any crimes! Not against her!”

“Link.”

“She doesn't want to go to New Hyrule,” Link hissed. “She says, and I quote: ‘fuck your stupid kingdom and your stupid face.’ And then she flipped me off! Who the fuck taught her that?!”

Tetra stared at him. 

“What?”

“Okay, putting the most obvious answer aside, you do remember that she lived on a pirate ship for six whole months, right?”

“I get so mad when you make sense.”

“Oh, no wonder why you're always mad,” Tetra deadpanned.

“Ha, ha.”

Link sheathed his sword. He picked up his water skin and took a swig. It was warm, unfortunately. He’d been out here for far too long. 

“I just—I don’t, I don’t know what to do,” Link mumbled. “We finally found somewhere to build. We’ve been working toward this for so long, and it’s finally happening. And I, I thought she'd be happy, that we could go there and then get a nice house and be in a nice town and it’d be home.”

Tetra blinked at him. 

“It’s not like, I mean, It, it—fuck—it was. It's for her, you know? For everyone! We’ll have a community. We’ll keep each other safe. We’re gonna, we’re gonna have like, doctors and food and shit. We can build a school! I would have killed for school! I could have been an eight-year-old who could read! Maybe even a seven-year-old! Like some sort of child prodigy!”

“Oh, Nayru, have mercy,” Tetra muttered. 

“Grandma’s gonna have regular medical care!” Link said excitedly. “And we’ll have plumbing! We’ll be able to take a shit without having to shovel it out of the outhouse every three months! We won't have to worry about it getting into the groundwater! We’ll, we’ll have roads! That are paved! I can't believe Aryll doesn't want paved roads, paved roads are the coolest shit ever!”

“You're a fucking idiot,” Tetra declared. 

Link spluttered, too offended to form a reply. 

“We got here last night,” Tetra said. “We were out sailing for two years. And the first thing you say when you come home is, ‘we’re gonna move across the entire ocean! Pack your bags!’ Do you think your sister is thinking about the wonders of public policy? Did you even bring her a present?”

“Oh, shit,” Link yelped, and he dropped his water skin, splashing it all over his shoes. “Goddess-fucking-damn it, I’m the shittiest brother ever, oh hell—”

[internalsealpanic]

Sealing the Deal part 1

Summary: Always, always be nice to sea creatures but never ever accept their pelt.

  A/n: A fic I’ve been meaning to write since forever. My contribution to mermay.

  warning: Disgusting fluff and bad decisions

Main Masterlist

part 2

You look like you're gonna die from boredom in your little fishing boat. 

 Dick rolls over to where Jason was sprawled and used his momentum to push the larger seal into the water. Jason gives an undignified squawk of outrage. Dick just preens and looks smug. 

 You cup your hand over your mouth as you begin to laugh. 

 Jason glares even harder at Dick. Dick... couldn't care even less if he tried. All he can focus on is the wrinkle in the corners of your eyes. They'd been gone for so long these past few months. It felt like the first ray of sun after a long storm.

 Dick claps his fins in excitement even as Jason snuffs and rolls his eyes. You clap in return but accidentally drop your fishing pole into the sea. Reaching for it, you fall into the water. Dick feels a little bad for laughing but you manage to get yourself back up into the boat safely.  You sigh in defeat as your fishing pole drifts away. Dick notices for the first time that your face has grown gaunt from the last few weeks. Are you eating enough? Are you even taking care of yourself? Dick swims over to your boat as it rocks back and forth on the waves. He hops in easily and plops onto your stomach. You laugh and pet his head. It was a weak laugh so he croons at you in question. 

 “Sorry pup, I don’t have any food for you today. I mean I don’t even have any for me.” Despite the sweet timbre of your voice, Dick can still taste the bitter hopelessness in the statement. 

He nuzzles his face into your chest. He can feel just how thin you’ve gotten. He has to do something about this. 

To say Dick had been afraid of humans would be a monumental understatement. It had been around 200 years since humans had left the island and the first thing they did when they came back was hunt down selkies. Dick's parents had been two of the unlucky few who'd been hunted down.

 So when Dick found himself stranded onshore because of a fin tangled in a fishing line, he thought he was a goner. And when he saw you approaching; well, he still thought he was fucked but he thought you'd at least be nicer than the adults.

 Maybe if he acts cute enough you'll spare him. 

 Dick whimpered and he gave you the big innocent look. 

 You shushed him harshly. Dick flinched then you flinched and muttered apologies.

 You approached him slowly. You looked around before crouching and fiddling with the line Dick had managed to get himself caught in. Carefully, you began to disentangle him. It hurt, especially when you took the hook out, but once he was free. He clapped and trilled before you shushed him again.

 Dick thought that it was all over and he could just roll back into the sea until you scoop him up and swaddle him in your shirt.

 After 10 minutes of your father screaming at you, he agreed to treat Dick who knew better than to snap at him. Your father was kind with gentle hands. He worked on Dick while you fed him fish. It wasn't the best fish but  Dick can't complain. 

 After an hour or so, Dick started to wriggle and you pull him closer to your chest. 

 "Dad, can we keep him for a few days? He might still be sick." You plead with big eyes. 

 Your father glared at you then sighed. "No more than two. His wounds just need to close up, understand?"

 You squealed a little. Hugging Dick tighter, you thanked your father before scampering off to find you a basin to put Dick in. You, thankfully, had the good sense to fill it with lukewarm water.

 Dick lived like a king in those two days. You fed him a lot of fish much to your dad's exasperation. You kept him warm. You even read to him and sang songs to him. 

 Dick wanted to stay but he missed Bruce, Alfred, Damian, and maybe that new kid Jason.

On the fourth day (one of the wounds was deeper than expected), Dick was released back into the sea but he never did manage to stay away after that

Dick sets the odd little trinket down in front of Jason's sleeping form. It was something you'd caught in your net days before along with the meager amount of fish you'd managed to net. You'd busied yourself with it for days before throwing it out. Dick wasn't sure what it was; all he knew was that it was something Jason would like. 

 He waits semi patiently for Jason to notice it, nudging it forward a little until it touches Jason's snout and the larger seal is forced to pay attention to Dick. 

 "I know when I'm being bribed, Dickface." Jason says, glaring. 

 Dick volleys it with a wide-eyed hopeful look. He nudges the little trinket forward again. This time, instead of ignoring him, Jason rises to his full height, teeth bared. This... does not faze Dick. 

 "C'mon Jaaaaaaay," Dick says as if the prolonging of syllables would whittle down Jason's irritation. Jason suspects if he were less inclined to tell Dick to fuck off, it would have worked. Probably. But as it stands, Dick is responsible for ruining a very good, very rare nap for Jason and so he's on the shit list and has lost any favor privileges until further notice. 

 "I said no. Go away or ask Bruce."

 "But Jaaaaaaay, it's just a teensy tiny favor. It won't even take an hour. Not with your skill at least."

 "That kind of flattery may work on Harper and it may even work on West but I'm not an idiot about to get involved with whatever shenanigans you have planned with the human."

Dick lets out a long-suffering sigh. Jason isn't stupid enough to think that Dick has actually given up. No, the stubborn little fuck is worse than a barnacle. "You've left me no choice-"

 "I have given you plenty of choices. Most of them involve minding your own goddamn business." Jason says with a little snuff. 

 "-I'm calling it in."

 Jason narrows his eyes at Dick.

 "Don't you dare. That was 5 years ago."

 Dick smiles, evilly. "Unless you want the rest of the family to know about-" 

 "Fine! What do you want?"

 Dick looks smug. Jason wants to bite his face off. 

 "I need you to help me catch fish."

 Jason looks at him, incredulous. "Did you hit your head or something?"

 "Not recently. Look, I just need you to help me catch fish for the human." Dick explains like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Contrary to what Dick seems to think, Jason really isn't concerned with the one human on the island. Most of the selkies on the island have barely even interacted with you outside of staring at you.

 "You're insane."

 "I think we reserve that term for Bruce." 

 Jason raises his head from the ground. "You're not wrong."

   You think you hear the light pitter-patter of raindrops. You sigh. You would be lying if you say you aren't the least bit thankful for the excuse to stay indoors today. You... don't exactly like foraging for food. You had avoided it for as long as you had food in the lighthouse. You thought it would at least last you 'til the ships came in but whatever is going on in the mainland has kept the ships from your shores. You don't mind. You never did find the sailors all that pleasant on the rare occasions that you did have to interact with them. 

 You like your island the way it is but... you're not exactly the most skilled at hunting... or fishing. You have no idea how your father did it. You chucked it up to the miracles of loaves and fishes. You miss him.

 You curl around your pillow in a vain attempt to chase the wakefulness away but the sun in your eyes was too bright. You flutter your eyes open. The sun had the audacity to be there. Still the splushing sound continued. 

 You strain your ears to listen, trying to make heads or tails of it. It was a squishy sound, the sound of putty hitting stone over and over again. You scramble to the front door. In hindsight, you probably should have grabbed a weapon before running towards the strange sound. 

 Opening the door, you're greeted with the sight of a familiar seal caught red-handed with a fish in his mouth.

 You stare at each other for a long moment before your eyes wander down to a pile of fish. A large amount of fish. Laughter rolls from your lips, musical and manic as you bury your face in your hands.

You think the seal furrows his brow at you, dropping the fish in its mouth before plopping towards you. Plop. Plop. Plop. He looks at you with big dark eyes. Your mouth twitches between curling down into a frown and a smile that spread across your face. On one hand, you are confused. On the other hand, you were gonna be able eat some meat. 

 A concerned croon comes from the pup and your face decides that it would rather smile at the moment. You throw your arms around him, not at all caring about the seawater getting on your nightclothes.

 "Thank you." You whisper and the seal answers with a happy trill.

 Dick is over the moon. 

 He can't even help how loud his trills get. It's ok you don't seem to mind either. He's just happy that you get to eat now.... but you don't. 

 Dick's a little frustrated when you don't immediately start digging in. Instead, you go back inside your home, swear, shout in delight then come back out with a basin and a jar of white powder. You then run around to fill the basin with seawater then add what Dick finds out is salt into the seawater. 

 Dick is... concerned. 

 You go back inside the house. When you come out again, you have a knife in your hand. Dick waddles back a bit. He knows you won't hurt him but it's a habit. You develop these kinds of habits around Bruce. 

 You settle yourself onto the ground cross-legged and grab a fish. Dick looks on with mild curiosity. You begin to dismember the fish by cutting off it's head, cutting it up in the middle then removing the bones and stomach. That kind of makes sense, Dick thinks. The bones are kind of annoying. Dick nods his head agreeably until you toss the fish into the basin.

 Dick looks on in utter confusion as you repeat the process with most of the fish he's brought you. 

 You turn to him looking equally befuddled before your eyes soften. You look sheepish. "Sorry pup, I can't eat all of this today so I'm salting them so I can eat them the next few..." You count the fish in the basin. "... weeks."

 Dick tilts his head but doesn't say anything. You really should just eat more. Dick can get you more if you need it. You just need to ask but you seem content with what you're doing. 

Dick is about to rest his head on your lap when you shoot up and scuttle back inside. You return with a line and a smile. Dick watches you string the fish up like laundry. He could probably help you but he has no clue if he should. Just eat the fish damn it.

Finally after what felt like forever, you start preparing the fish and actually eat. You offer Dick some and Dick has to admit cooking the fish does taste odd but not unpleasant. It's totally different from eating it raw (the better way) but it's not horrible. Or maybe it just tastes good because you've got the biggest grin on your face while eating.

Maybe.

 Probably, Dick thinks as he munches on his fish, pressed to your side.

___

 You sing at the top of your voice. It's a cheerful song but Dick can't quite make out the words. He knows it's human but he's not quite familiar with it. The tune is nice though. Dick rests his head on your lap closing his eyes.

 He croons happily when you being to pet him.

 You stop midway through the song dissolving into a fit, of what Dick can only describe as, giggles snorts. It was a despicably adorable sound that was engineered to make Dick feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

 He looks up at you with big curious black eyes. He's not complaining but he hasn't heard you laugh this much before and he may or may not want to know how to make you laugh like this again.

 When you don't answer his questioning gaze, Dick nudges against your chest. Your shoulders are still shaking but you manage to stop laughing for a moment. 

 "Sorry pup," you say wiping a tear from your eye, "I must look crazy to you. "

 A little but not as bad as Bruce, Dick thinks. Bruce thinks you humans still don't know there are selkies on the island. Dick snorts at the idea. Everyone knows that all you humans know about selkies. That's why those men keep coming here trying to trap them. 

 You squish his face affectionately with your hands. "My dad taught me that song and  I just realized..." Your mouth turns into a curved line of held back laughter. "...It's a sea shanty about missing being between a woman's legs." The last few words come out more as giggles than proper syllables but Dick can't enjoy that because he can feel his face warm up from the thought. He hides his face in his flippers. 

 You squeal, absolutely delighted with his mortification. Smiling down at him, you say: "Yanno pup, sometimes I think you understand me."

 Thought process-wise, no.

 Dick snuggles up to you again, blowing air out of his nose to voice his ascent. You can't just say things like that but again, you just simply seem amused by his suffering when you bend down to press a kiss to the top of his head. 

 Dick looks up when you pull away. No! Give him more!

 Dick stretches up to return the favor, having to partially climb on your lap but only managing to boop your nose with his snout. You nuzzle your nose against his and Dick makes the happiest noise in the back of his throat.

   Sometimes after wandering around you had a habit of falling asleep on the shore which Dick thought was fine until he found out that you couldn't swim. Dick being the only with brains in this duo always nudges you awake when the tide starts getting too close. Dick doubts the lapping water will wake you up before sweeping you away. After all, you managed to sleep through Tim, Kon, and Bart's rock piling contest on top of you. Dick shooed them away but even after cleaning up, you didn't wake up.

 Dick sees the sailors on the shore and nudges you. You... don't even blink. You hum, content to bask in the sun as you wrap your arms around Dick. Dick huffs. He likes this but he really would prefer it if you move. Dick considers slipping from your grip and grabbing a fish to slap you with like last time.

 Dick cranes his head to look at the ship again. It was far too close now, too close for you to get away without being seen by the sailors. 

 Dick turns you back over to your back and proceeds to body slam you with all his blubber. He winces when you make a choked noise. Dick can give you apology fish later. 

 "Pup, what the fuck?"

 You see the ship. Your eyes widen then flicker to his injured fin. Dick had injured it when he’d been swimming by the docks and got caught in one of the old traps. You’ve done your best to help it heal but you only know so much. You’re still reading up on herbs in case it happens again.  

 You try in vain to push him off but he's a big loveable sack of blubber and he refuses to move.  “C’mon pup, you need to move. They’ll try to catch you if they see you.” You grunt but the sack of blubber refuses to move. 

 You and Dick stay still as the ship draws near, neither of your chests rises or fall as the ship rocks back and forth.

The ship passes and you let your head fall back with a sigh. 

 Dick nuzzles his snout against your face, his whiskers tickling your face. You giggle and try to push him off. It’s useless so you let him stay there. 

 You both decide to take a nap on the shore with Dick huffing in your face once in a while as he snores. 

You curl up on the floor in front of the fire, watching the embers flicker, flash, and fade. It's the best thing you can do to calm your fraying nerves. The storm rages outside violently as if it was trying to tear the lighthouse down brick by brick. The whole building shakes with another boom of thunder. You close your eyes and burrow under the thick blanket. 

 In the back of your mind, your father is chuckling. The absence of a hand on your head is disconcerting. You remind yourself that it won't come, that you'll have to learn to weather the storm alone. You sigh then tighten the blanket around you.

Tok. Tok. Tok. 

 You blink. The fire was dying. When had you fallen asleep? 

 Tok, tok, tok. 

 Blinking, you rub the sleep from your eyes, but the haze doesn’t lift, only growing as you watch the firelight.  

 Tok tok tok. 

 You shoot up and barrel towards the door with the frantic knocking growing louder and louder as your feet pound against the stone floor.  

 You run into the door in your haste. The loud thud of your body against the door causes the frantic knocks to turn into muffled shouting.

 Prying yourself from the door, you open it and you don't know what you expected but this wasn't it.

 Standing in front of you was a man soaked like a wet rat. You blink in confusion before pulling him inside. You run to grab him a blanket. Wait. You should probably get him a towel. No, wait. You should have gotten his name first. Fuck. 

 You shuffle back into the room with a towel, spare clothes, and an extra blanket. You.. what can generously be called a heart attack. 

 For the first time, in the soft glow of the fire, you can fully admire your guest. Not see, admire because there was a lot to admire.

 The light of the fire flicking over the planes of his chest, with a light dusting of chest hair, the amber glow highlighting all the muscles of his body, framing the ripples of his toned figure. Swallowing any good sense you have, you watch the rainwater turn golden as it drips down his perfectly bronzed skin. The water cuts through valleys of muscle that could have only been handcrafted by gods. Your eyes follow the flow until... Oh.

 You flush furiously, your face glowing brighter than the fire. He's- He's- Oh my god, he's naked. 

 You reign your eyes in. Ok, you let it linger down there a bit. Not long enough for your guest to notice. You concentrate on his face which wasn't hard to do. The man pushes his raven hair out of his face letting you fully appreciate his face. In keeping with his body, his fine boned face looked like Pygmalion himself spent hours shaping it, not satisfied until he's made the perfect face. It's handsome in an adorable way. Not intimidating. It's the kind of face you'd like to pepper with kisses. You try not to focus on his lips in case of any sinful thoughts. You just met the man. The only thing you will note is that yes, his lips do look absolutely kissable and it aggravates you. 

 The most striking feature however are his deep blue eyes. The kind of deep that you feel like you could drown in. The kind of depth that looked too pretty to agonize over the fact that your lungs are burning. You stare, trying to carve a perfect replica of those eyes into your mind. Those eyes... that are currently staring at you... as he steps closer... at an alarming speed.

 You hold the stack of fabric in front of you like a shield. Your guest stops, looking at the stack. His face goes from concern to confusion to blinding enthusiasm. He was probably freezing.

 A smile spreads on his face, the cutest dimples you've ever seen forming on his cheeks, as he accepts the stack. He thanks you and your heart leaps from your chest. Whatever chill you were experiencing from the storm was completely gone. You turn away from him, rubbing the back of your neck and mumbling a halfway point between 'no problem' and 'you're welcome'. You hope it came out as 'no welcome' instead of  'your problem'.

 The man snorts and you are pretty sure which one came out. To save yourself the embarrassment, you walk to the kitchen and start preparing tea. The man thankfully occupies himself by looking at the assortment of knick-knacks you've hoarded gathered over the years. It gives you ample time to breathe.

 "Do you like sugar in your tea?"

 The man nods enthusiastically. You can't help but smile a little. 

 You sit next to him in front of the fireplace as you hand him his mug. He leans his head against your shoulder. You can feel his body radiating a comforting heat. 

 You two sit in silence, sipping tea and watching the fire flicker. You wanna scold him for slurping his tea. You're not exactly his mother. You don't even know his name. 

 You turn to him, face scrunched and about to ask him for his name when he surges forward. His lips brush against your lips as he nudges his nose against yours. You fall backward in shock and the stranger falls on top of you, his eyes still glowing bright and cool against the amber light.

 There's a thrill working up your spine or is it fear? You squeeze your eyes shut and throw your arms over your face. 

 "Please don't hurt me." You plead barely above a whisper. 

 You feel the body above you lower itself on top of you. He chuckles and shakes his head. "(Y/n), you're being silly."

 You open your eyes. The man is laying his body on top of you keeping you pinned down and he's... pouting at you?

 "I- I don't know who you are. You can take what you want but please don't hurt me."

 The pout deepens into a frown.

 "(Y/n), I'm not gonna hurt you. Don't you recognize me?" 

 You blink. You would definitely remember someone this eye-catching.  "You always sing that sea shanty to me. The one about the sailor who misses his wife's..." The stranger flushes and makes a hand gesture. Your face scrunches again. The only person you've sung that to aside from your dad is...

 "Pup?!"

 His frown morphs back into a pout. "I'm not even that little."

 You squish his face with your hands before you let your mind wander. You think back to the scars crisscrossing his limbs and chest.  "How is this possible?"

 He laughs, prying your hands from his face. "I'm a selkie," He says as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "My name is also Dick, not pup."

 You stare up at him wide-eyed and stupefied. Dick snuggles against you like he always does. Somehow snuggling you in this form is better. He can hold you closer like this. You run your hand through his hair, fingers lacing through the tangles in his hair. He lets out an excited trill. 

 Dick might just be in heaven right now. 

 "I dunno how but you're somehow even prettier when I look at you in this form," Dick breathes contently. "I'm so lucky to have such a pretty wife."

 You stiffen. Dick looks up at you and the confusion in your face wrenches a knife in his heart. He swallows. "That is what you meant with this, right?" Dick asks, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

Your mouth turns into various shapes trying to piece together a coherent response. It settles on the simplest one. "No."

 Dick looks stricken like you'd taken a club to his head. 

 You reel back. "I just- I- I thought you were cold and you-"

 Dick's heartaches. It's a dull ache. He thought this kind of thing would be sharp like having a hook pierce your heart.

 His insides twist as he peels of you. 

 Your stomach sinks as you feel the cold fill your body once more. You don’t want him to go. The thought of being alone right now makes your stomach curdle. Your hands grip his shirt without meaning to. The look on his face hurts but the idea of him leaving felt unbearable. You know it's selfish but here you are begging him not to leave. 

 "Dick, I'm sorry... I didn't know... I-" 

 Thunder booms. You squeak and bury your face in his chest. You can't stand storms.

 Dick smiles down at you softly. It's still pained but it's bearable.

 He lays on his side and pulls you closer. He slots your face into his neck. You're still shivering even when he uses his body to shield you from the rest of the world.

 You whisper another apology.

 Dick shushes you, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

The sunlight floods into the room like it does every morning but the room is still cold. Your mind works to understand what's wrong with this picture. Your hand pads beside you. The space next to you is empty save for the blanket left behind.

 You sniffle, gripping the sheet in your hand. You messed up, you think, pulling it to your face. For the first time in months, the tears come easily. You lay there all day because the tears won't stop.

   "If you sigh one more time, I am going to rip your throat out." Jason growls not bothering to open his eyes. Why would he? Dick has been flat and mopey for the past two weeks and Jason is really starting to miss his hyperactivity. 

 Dick lets out another mopey sigh. Jason. Is. Going. To. Scream. 

 "Can't you be depressing in Roy's direction? Or Bruce's?" 

 Dick sighs even louder at the mention of Bruce and Jason, for once, is considering murder or at least maiming. 

 "She doesn't love me back."Dick sniffles and Jason really should have known this had something to do with you. 

 He turns to Dick. "I'm going to regret asking but how do you know that?" The sooner he sorts Dick out, the sooner he gets to sleep. "Did she tell you to go away and never come back?"

 "Well no-"

 It's Jason's turn to sigh. "You fucking moron, What did she even say?"

 "She said she didn't know." Dick lowers his head to the sand and Jason wants to slap him with his tail. 

 Jason is now fully awake and very ready to throttle Dick. Or he's just cranky. "Are you telling me Bruce was right?! This day just keeps getting worse."

 Something seems to click in Dick's brain. "Oh, crap Bruce is right." He mutters stupidly. 

Jason will take whatever consolation he can get out of this. "She probably thought you were just some random pervert flashing her then." Jason snickers. It's petty and childish but so is interrupting a well-deserved nap.

 "What?"

 Jason lets out an exasperated huff through his snout. He twists his body to look at Dick with minimal effort to lift his head.  "Let's see, you turned up naked at her door and then you called her your wife and nearly kissed her in what?  The space of 15 minutes?"

 "I got confused." Dick sputters. 

"Geez, I thought West was bad but you're just a disaster," Jason chuckles, "Oh! And you made the brilliant decision to leave without explanation," Jason is having far too much fun rubbing salt in the wound.  "She probably feels terrible”.

 "Are you guilt-tripping me?"

 "Is it working?"

 "What-" Dick growls. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

 "Hmmmmm, have you tried talking? Yanno the thing Bruce never does. But seriously, I can’t believe you call her your wife and then abandon her." Jason shakes his head. "And you have the audacity to call yourself the smart one."

 Dick strips out of his skin and begins running towards the lighthouse... naked.

 Jason debates on letting him.... he probably shouldn't.

"Dickface!" Jason calls out. 

 Dick doesn't stop, face crumpled in determination and his little Richard swinging wildly as he walks. 

 Jason is gonna die of second-hand embarrassment. 

 "DICKFACE!"

 "What?!" Dick asks turning around his hands on his hips. Like usual, his hip tilts to the side and his foot taps as he waits expectantly for Jason to gather a mildly coherent response. 

 "Your little Richard..." Jason says pointing with his fin.

 Dick looks down and the look of mortification on his face is satisfactory. ".... Right. Shit."

 "Just steal some from her laundry."

  "But she'll be pissed."

 "Ok, so you would rather flash her then?"

 Dick sighs and this time Jason doesn't have the urge to throttle him only because Dick is already beating his own ego into a pulp. "I hate it when you make sense."

 Jason raises a brow, setting his head back down to the warm sand.  "I always make sense."

 Dick just cackles in response as he heads to the lighthouse.

Dick shifts his weight on the balls of his feet. He feels sick like he'd eaten one of those pickled fish you made him one time.  Maybe this was a bad idea. Why did he even listen to Jason? He flips onto his hands and begins to pace.  His stomach feels like it's being tossed violently by ocean currents. It feels like a shapeless lump sitting in the pit of his abdomen. Maybe you're out or maybe you never wanna see him again.

 Your face had been so blown wide with shock when he had called you wife that it looked almost foreign like the suggestion had been so audacious that your face had to reconstruct itself to accommodate the shock. 

 Dick puts a hand to his face trying to stem the flow of thought. He was such an idiot. Why did he assume you would love him like that and why did he just leave you? Dick closes his eyes and breathes. He'll knock just once more then leave if you don't answer.

 Tok.   Tok.   Tok. 

 The knocks register just above a whisper. He thinks you don't hear it. 

 He lets out a breath and walks away. This was stupid. He should never have come back. 

 Jason was right. Fuck. Dick buries his face as he walks away.

 Distantly, Dick hears the squeak of rusty hinges but it's lost in the tempest of thoughts plaguing his mind, in all the little hurts from that night. 

 "Pup?" The sound of your voice is followed by the pounding of your feet against stand. Dick's careening to the ground before he knows it as your body collides with his. 

  "Pup," you sniffle into his shirt, "it is you." 

 Dick twist in your grip so he's facing you. Your face is buried in his shirt. He strokes your hair, wrapping an arm around you, holding you tight. "Of course, it’s me. Who else would bug you at this hour?"

 Dick feels his shirt grow warm. You mumble an apology.

You look up to face Dick with half your face still buried in his shirt. You've clearly been crying based on how red and puffy your eyes are.  Dick's stomach churns at the dark circles under your eyes. He feels guilt stab him in the gut.  All of that combined with your generally disheveled appearance. Dick can just tell that you haven't slept well the last few days. 

 "Let's go inside and talk." You say, peeling yourself off of him. 

 Dick shakes his head, not loosening his grip on your midsection. "Let's walk around you look like you need some sun."

 You flushed and put a hand to your cheek. "Do I look that bad?" You ask absently, a shy smile creeping into your features. 

 Dick smiles at you and pushes your hair out of your face. "Never but the weather is sunny for once and we both need some air."

"So you really didn't know that the island was filled with selkies?" Dick asks, adjusting the infernal scarf you had forced him into. He insisted that he didn't need it. He could just cuddle up to you for warmth but you were equally stubborn about him wearing a coat and the wool monstrosity strangling him. 

 Your face scrunches up in confusion." I- I don't even know what that is."

 Dick stops.

 You slow down upon realizing he wasn't by your side anymore. "You... don't know what a selkie is?" He asks, his face the definition of dumbstruck. 

 You shrink into your coat." My dad wasn't interested in things like that," you shrug, "I dunno much about..." Your hand twists in a circle, reaching for the right words. 

 Dick tilts his head. That made sense. "You thought we were all just seals?"

 You nod slowly, looking like you wanna shrivel up. 

 Dick starts laughing and you look like you're a second away from throwing yourself into the water. 

 "I'm sorry," he says, flailing. He's screwing this up again. He breathes to collect himself. "I just thought it's funny that we all thought my dad was wrong about you guys not knowing."

 You rub the back of your neck. "Most of us mainlanders don't really believe in magic, yanno? It's just such a foreign concept. Kind of hard to wrap my head around it."

 "I get that." The smile on his face makes your gut twist. You fiddle with your hands. 

 "So what are selkies?"

 Dick tilts his head, not exactly sure of how to word it because how do you explain something that's been obvious to you since you can remember to someone who just found out about it a few weeks ago?

 "We're fae, I guess-" Your face twists in confusion.

 Dick needs to backtrack. "We're fae..." This is hard. "We have this human form and we have our seal forms. We switch between them using our pelt."

 Your brow knits in confusion. "Which one is your true form then?" 

 Dick wraps his arm around your waist and holds you closer as you walk along the cliff tops. He hums as he thinks. "Both?" 

 You look up at him with a weary smile. “That makes sense in a way.” You hum.  Swallowing thickly, you fiddle with your hands. "So what was with the... um..." You clear your throat. "What was with the wife thing?"

 Dick’s mouth dries.  “Well... when we want to ask someone to be our mate... we- we kind of give them our pelt and I thought it translated to human clothes…” He stammers out dumbly. 

 “Oh...oh!” Your eyes widen into a look of horror. You open and close your mouth trying to form words. “Dick, I didn’t realize , that must have - I’m sorry I hurt you.” 

 “Please don’t apologize,” Dick says and presses his lips to the top of your head.  His lips are warm and comforting. “I’ve spent so long in love with you my brain just didn’t...” Dick’s mouth twists. “It just didn’t do what it was supposed to.”

 You would definitely laugh at that last part but you’re still seeing stars from the startling confession he just hit you with. You snuggle tighter into his embrace as you look over the sea. You don’t know how to respond. You really don’t and it frustrates you. It was all just a lot to take in all at once like you’d been tossed into the sea and you’re flailing and grasping at water. 

 But if nothing else, you’re at least glad that Dick is still talking to you. 

 “If you don't mind…” Dick says carefully, the look in his eyes determined. “Would it be alright if I try and pursue you properly?” Dick braces for a no. He’s not dumb enough to be hopeful twice but he needs to ask. 

 Inevitably, you freeze. You pull his arm closer to your chest. Swallowing, you ask: “you mean like a human courtship?”

 He nods closing his eyes.  “Yes, I want to court you.” He coughs clearing his throat.

 You’re silent for what felt like the longest 30 seconds of Dick’s life. Dick cracks one eye to see you fiddling with your hair. “Uh Dick, there’s this one problem that might make that difficult…” Dick raises a brow. It wasn’t an outright rejection but it wasn’t an answer. 

 “I don't know how that works either.” You laugh nervously, burying your face in his arm. 

 “Good - then we don’t know if I’m doing it badly.” Dick beams with a blinding smile.

 You twist to look at him, the corners of your mouth twitching. “That sounds like cheating.”

 Dick snorts, “would you rather I court you the selkie way?”

 “I mean it depends. What's the selkie way?”

 “Fish.”

 Dick startles when you let out a loud bark of laughter. “Fish? You’ve already done that so many times.” You giggle.  Dick tries to wrangle his mind away from the fact that he can feel your lips through the thin fabric of the sweater. 

 “I thought it worked.” Dick sighs. He really did, but alas, miscommunication is a cruel mistress.  

 You lower your gaze trying to concentrate on the fraying needlework of his sweater. “Maybe it has.” You mumble low enough for a human not to hear. How unfortunate it is then that you’re dealing with a selkie. 

 Dick is beaming when you look up again. He nuzzles his face against yours. Dick is once again insanely, stupidly, incredibly happy. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Because neither of you knew what you were doing, Dick's attempts to court you ranged from ridiculous (a literal mountain of fish that you ended up drying, giving away to the other seals, and selling to passing ships.)  to ridiculously sweet (finding you handful of pearls).  Dick nudged a little shell overflowing with pearls and looked up at you with liquid eyes.  He could have gotten you pebbles and it would have been endearing.

 It wasn't always gifts though.

 Sometimes Dick would just sit quietly with you on the beach, snuggling against your leg as you scratched his stomach. You love the ways his squish vibrated as he purred. 

 When summer passed and it became unbearable to watch the stars outside, Dick sometimes spent nights in your lighthouse, wrapped up in your sheets or wrapped around you. It was nice having him around the house even if he was kind of a slob. You love him but he is a mess.

 You made the mistake of introducing him to tea cakes and got him addicted to November Cakes specifically. As it turns out, your cute pest has a sweet tooth and will nuzzle you into submission just for another bite.

 If you ever doubted that Dick was evil before, you now have proof.

 During the winter, Dick insisted on staying in the lighthouse to keep you warm. You wanted to point out that you had a fireplace for a reason but it was so hard to turn down hugs from him.

And because you hadn't had the heart to clean out your father's room yet and Dick clearly preferred it, you let Dick sleep next to you on your cot. You felt a bit bad but Dick was just so happy with the arrangement that you didn't want to make him go away. Besides, it was nice to wake up to his sleeping face in the morning, all sleep rumpled and drooling.

 __________________________________________________________________________

 "Hey Jay, do you have a book on selkies?" Dick asks, caterpillaring on the rock Jason is sunbathing on. 

 Jason takes the opportunity to roll down the rock and knock Dick into the sea before saying: "No." It shall be put on record that there are no drama queens in the Wayne family. 

 Dick shakes off the seawater, big puppy eyes staring at Jason. 

 Jason glares at him. He can't even let Jason have a second of smugness.  "Ask Selina."

 No one really knows where Selina came from or why she stayed (well, they had their suspicions), but if you need something you can't find easily, your best bet was to ask her and hope she doesn't ask you to do anything ridiculously hard.

 Dick hasn't had first hand experience but from what Bruce tells him, they're mostly silly things like recite poems or do a flip. He could do both those things. Well, depending on the poem. He gets tongue twisted sometimes. Hmmm, maybe he should ask if he can avoid tongue twisters so he won't bite his tongue.

 Sloughing off his coat, Dick walks towards the glowing cauldron. 

 "Still no clothes pup? You're going to give a poor girl a heart attack." Selina tsked, reappearing from one of the other cave entrances with a handful of things Dick can't recognize. 

 "Oh... I- I'm still not used to it." He says sheepishly. 

 Selina chuckles, dumping the handful of what Dick can assume is plant debris into the cauldron while before dusting her hands off.

 Dick stares at the thick vat. A bubble rises and bursts emitting what sounded like a human voice. "What is that? Should I be worried?"

 "Oh no, no, this? This is just a little soup for colds."

 "It screamed."

 "All soups scream."

 "I- anyway, I came here to ask if you have a book on selkies."

 Selina tilts her head to the side. "I believe I do-"

 "Great!"

 "Buuuut..."

 Of course, the price.

 "I brought pearls and some seashells." He says hopefully. 

 The angle of her head does not change. Though from the gleam in her eyes, she's clearly interested. 

 "Tell me why you need the book."

 Dick's thoughts halt. Should he tell Selina about you? His eyes dart to the boiling cauldron.  "... Why do you need to know?"

 Selina flourishes her hand. The book appears out of thin air."Do you want the book or not, pup?"

 Dick's nerves pinch. Why does everyone call him that? "I need it to teach someone Selkie customs." He manages.

 "Oh! The little lighthouse keeper!"

 "You know her?"

 Selina shrugs. "Do you really think I wouldn't know something going on about the islands nearby?" She pinches his cheek. "Oh little pup, I know about your little crush. You spend more time on land than you do in the sea these days. Dami's been all huffy about it."

 He has.

 "I've told you my reason." Dick says holding his hand out. 

 "Hnnnn, you have I suppose." Selina sighs.

 Dick takes the book, putting it into a waterproof pouch before gingerly putting his pelt back on. He happily caterpillars out of the cave with the pouch in his mouth. He really hopes you'll like this.

You really should just fix up another cot for Dick at this point and maybe buy him a set of clothes when you go to town. 

 "It's too cold to sleep outside." Dick whines, flattening himself against you on the bed. 

 You lift your book to look at him. Dick just gives you that wide-eyed look when he wants something. You roll your eyes,  letting him snuggle up to you.  "Dick, it is obviously summer and you're like 40% blubber." You snort. 

 Dick pouts.  "You're still gonna let me sleep here." 

 You scrunch your face up and sigh. "I can't exactly let you brace the summer cold, can I?" You say, running a hand through his hair. 

 "Eeeeeexactly." Dick says happily as snuggles into you tightly.  He nuzzles his face into your neck wrapping his arms around your waist. You hum helplessly, curling into his embrace.

 "See." Dick trills with a happy grin. 

 "Are you going to be smug about it all night?" You huff, throwing a blanket over the two of you.

 "No," he says,  "you assume I can't keep being smug 'til sunrise."

 "Dork," you snicker, setting the book down. It was a book on selkie traditions that Dick had gotten you a few days ago. You devoured it the same night but you're reading it again and subtly testing things while Dick was invading your house. You hum, running your hand through his hair, fingernails lightly scraping against his scalp. Dick purrs against your chest. "There was a one eyed seal on the beach the other day. He was a grumpy fellow but kind of cute. Seals really are a sleepy lot. The big lug started snoozing on my lap after like 5 minutes." 

 Dick tense under your touch. He looks up at you seriously.

 "That was a selkie." Dick deadpans. 

 You stop your rambling. "What?!"

 "That grumpy one-eyed seal was a selkie." He repeats carefully. 

 Your breath stutters. "Are all of the seals on this island selkies? ALL OF THEM?" Dick is pretty sure your eyes are mounting an escape.

 "All of them, darling." Dick nods. 

 "Oh." You are so screwed. "Do you guys all talk to each other?!" You shouldn't have told that seal about your little crush. You want the mattress to swallow you up. 

 "Yes? Should I be concerned?" Dick asks, lifting his head. 

 "No! No reason!" You squeal, shaking your head.

 Dick pouts at you with suspicion. It occurs to you with some amusement that Dick is actually glaring. You wisely decide to sidestep the conversation. 

 "You guys love taking naps on people, huh?" You say, absently twining your fingers into Dick's hair. He settles his head against your chest. "That's just cus we like you." He hums. 

 A snort rips out of you. "You're just biased."

 Dick looks up at you seriously again. "We selkies like pretty things like any fae." Dick says, wrapping his arms around you more tightly. He's being petty but Dick has always been protective of you and he isn't about to stop now. Besides... he doesn't want anyone stealing you away.

 You frown at him. "Dick, there are far prettier things on this island and sweet talking won’t magically make November cakes appear." You huff, kissing the top of his head before picking up the book and using it to hide the smile shaping your lips. 

 You feel Dick pick himself up off of you. You peek over your book to watch Dick. He scoots closer to your face until the only thing separating you is the far too thin book in your hands.

 "You don't believe me, do you?"

 "No." You say. You don't mean it but it's the easiest thing to conjure up when Dick is this close. Your lips prickle from imagining Dick's lips against yours. 

 You weren't paying attention. Dick has apparently been going on a two-minute diatribe on how pretty you are and in that two minutes, Dick has managed to scoot even closer. He gently takes the book out of your hands to make sure you're paying attention. He fails to take into account the fact that his face is in fact distracting. Your eyes zero in on his very plush and very kissable lips. If you just lean forward a fraction, you could...

 Your lips feel warm and soft against Dick's, the rest of his diatribe dying in the back of his throat as his eyes flutter shut. His mind might just be melting out of his ears because the only thing he can think about is how soft you are and how perfectly your lips fit against his. 

 "I'm sorry." You whisper shyly. You should be sorry, Dick thinks. Who told you to pull away?

 You touch your fingers to your lips. Fuck, what did you just do?

 "You can do it again." Please, he almost adds. 

 You lick your lips. Dick perks up and leans closer. His heart is going to leap out of his chest. You lean closer. Dick can feel his heart pounding against his rib cage. 

 You kiss Dick on the nose and pull away, hiding your lips behind your hand as you snicker. Dick scrunches his nose and blows air out of it. 

 "You know perfectly well what I meant." He huffs. 

 You lean back into your pillow, grinning at him. "I have absolutely no clue what you're on about." You say slowly, smug.

 "Let me remind you then,"A grin takes over his face. Dick leans in, pressing his lips against yours. You exchange breaths as you drink in the feeling of each other's lips. Dick caresses your sides. He feels you shiver and he smiles into your lips. "That ring any bells?"

 "Not really..." You say, flickering your eyes to him. "But if you try again... it might."

 "Oh sweetheart, I can keep reminding you all night." Dick chuckles, winking. 

 Covering your face, you attempt to hide your embarrassment. You hate how easily he flusters you. "You can't just say stuff like that." You whimper. 

 "Why not? I'm supposed to be courting you and that includes buttering you up," Dick says, nuzzling your cheek. You're just too cute.  Dick gently pries your hands away from your face. "Don't hide your face from me, Honey."

 "Oh god, you're making me regret letting you court me."

 "Never."

 ______________________________________________________________________

 Dick's eyes are struggling to remain open as he watches the fire.  He burrows further into the thick comforter you'd given him. It's not quite as warm as his pelt but the fabric is puffy and it has a sweet smell that makes his head swim. 

 Dick angles his head slightly to watch you. You've been toiling for hours and refuse to tell Dick what it is. Your back is still hunched over with your foot bouncing on the floor. Dick lets his eyes flutter shut, listening to the sound of your shuffling tools. 

 You glance down at the adorable mess dozing off on your sofa. You gently move his hair out of his face. He swats at you sleepily, face scrunched even as he sleeps. You sincerely wish you had Damian's talent for art or that you had one of those cameras. You really wish you could keep a picture of Dick's sleepy face. It's the cutest thing in the world.

 "Hey Dickie," you whisper.

 "Hmmmmm?" He groans.

 "Could you hand me your pelt?"

 "Sure," he moans, blindly padding around for it. You snort as he nearly falls off the sofa. After groping nearly every surface, he finally finds the pelt. "here you-"

 The fur brushes your fingertips before Dick stops. Dick shoots up, nearly clipping your nose with his forehead. He's looking at you fully awake, drool still hanging off the corner of his lips."Are you sure?!"

 "Hand it over coward." You smile gently at him. You try your best to fight off the excitement bubbling in your veins. 

 Dick is off the couch, his own excitement barely contained as his whole body vibrates with happiness. He sits up. You hold out your hand but instead of handing you his pelt, Dick drapes it over you like a wedding veil. It's thick and warm to the touch. You let your hands brush over the silken fur. You can feel magic thrumming from it. It feels like a minute current of electricity but it doesn't flow linearly. It ebbs and flows as it pleases, pulsing beneath your fingers. You burrow yourself in it. 

 Something warm spills in Dick's chest as he sees you wrapped up in his pelt. Dick kisses your nose. "You have now been wifed."

 You twitch your nose. "You missed."

 "Nope. Don't think so. Buuuuut if you show me where you want me to kiss you..."

 You roll your eyes and surge forward, pressing your lips to his.  Dick smiles into it, pulling you close and savoring the sensation of your lips melding together. He makes a happy trilling noise while you laugh against his lips. 

 "That clear enough, Dickie?"  You ask, pressing your forehead against his. 

 "Yeah, I think I got it, wifey."

__________________________________________________________

THANKS FOR READING

Tag list:  @batarella​, @anothertimdrakestan, @lucy-roo, @multifandomgirl-us, @idkmanicantenglish , @birdy-bat-writes​,  @boosyboo9206, @americasmarauders , @l-inkage, @arestorationofbalance , @cloudie-skay, @wunderstell   @hyp-oh-critical @glorified-red @ marshmallow12435 @vvipgot7be​ @jadedhillon​​

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

Do you ship Tantoteazer?

Tell us about it from Tanto's perspective. What does she like about Rumple?

Rumpleteazer is, possibly, one of the strangest enigmas of cat kind Tantomile has ever met.

Perhaps that is unfair - the pot calling the kettle black, as Jellylorum would say - and, certainly, she was used to stranger company. But Rumpleteazer is...something else. She was not strange in a way that was understandable or clear cut; she was strange in a way that left the queen with more questions than she would ever have answers, and Tantomile was not at all used to that. 

She is not the most intelligent cat (though she is very clever, Tantomile had to admit), nor especially amusing, or even the nicest. She...just is. There is nothing more or less than that. Just is. 

Skimbleshanks had described his daughter once as being “effervescent”, which Tantomile supposed was a kind way of saying: “so full of energy it’s exhausting”. That was certainly one way to put it. Tantomile could hardly keep up with the speed at which Rumpleteazer’s mind seemed to work, jumping from topic to topic, place to place, everywhere and nowhere all at once. 

On more than one occasion, Rumpleteazer had popped up at their window in the middle of the night, scaring Coricopat half to death, requesting after Tantomile to come along for whatever harebrained scheme of an activity she’d cooked up for the two of them. When the queen was determined, she was determined. 

And she could hardly blame her; Tantomile’s curiosity had indulged her every time.   It was...certainly an exciting way to live, she had to say. 

Normally, Tantomile could discern all she needed to know about a cat by taking a peek into their subconscious. “Reading their mind”, if you will. A little poke here, a buried feeling there, easy. Perhaps that’s why she so often struggled to make friends - her impatient curiosity made it so she already knew what she needed to know about a cat, which made the process of “getting to know someone” thoroughly uninteresting to her. But Rumpleteazer was...like a maze that had no way out. A race track without a finish line. Reading her mind gave Tantomile a headache trying to sort it all out, and, hardly one to lie, she’d told her as much, wincing when she remembered that was not exactly a polite thing to tell a cat. 

But, far from offended, Rumpleteazer had started laughing so hard she nearly coughed up a hairball. Tantomile had harrumphed, sitting on her haunches trying to disguise the reddening creeping up her ears. 

She had gasped for air, tossing her arm over the other queen’s shoulder, eyes sparkling. “Wouldn’t be much fun if I didn’t keep ‘em guessing, would it, Smiles?”

Rumpleteazer is, quite literally, thoroughly unpredictable. Tantomile is not used to cats being unpredictable.

And there is something...thrilling about that. 

Which is why she finds herself on an outing on most nights, just like this evening, walking steps behind the other queen as she danced around her. 

Most cats are afraid to touch her - to come too close to her. If it weren't for Coricopat or Jemima, she doubts she would have ever been touched at all. But Rumpleeazer, casual and open with her affections, touches her all the time. She always feels those skittish paws on her arms, on her hips, slipped into her own with casual abandon. Her tail is always reaching out to grab hold, and she’s always using Tantomile’s shoulder as a headrest when she finally winds down. 

Tantomile hadn't been sure, at first, if she liked it or not. It was hard to like something you were hardly used to. But there was something to be said by the way it made the skin left behind tingle in its wake. 

“C'mon, Tomi-girl,” Rumpleteazer calls out behind her, balancing herself on one paw as her teeth glint in a smile. “We’re wasting moonlight here!”

Tantomile stares after her companion, exuberantly bouncing from perch to perch. There is such...confidence about her.  It is remarkable, Tantomile thinks, how open she is. How raw. Rumpleteazer radiates endless waves of self assurance, as if she had never been uncomfortable in her own skin. Perhaps she had never been given the option to be, perhaps she felt there was nothing to be ashamed of. 

“I’ll be honest,” she’d said once, hanging upside down from a bed railing as she listened to whatever Tantomile had chosen to talk to her about (and that in itself was...odd. Most cats got bored, after a certain point, of Tantomile’s endless waxing. Rumpleteazer, at the very least, sat and attempted to listen before rushing them off to the next activity). “I understand maybe 20% of the things you say to me, but I like how you say 'em.”

Not a discouragement, then, of Tantomile’s talk of stars, and auras, and bells, and glass balls; an admittance. An honest and forthright admittance, that even if she didn’t truly understand the other queen, she still liked her all the same. 

She still liked her all the same. 

Tantomile has turned these thoughts over in her mind, again and again, like a constant ticking metronome, but has never been able to reach any sort of logical conclusion as to why they added up. Why they led to her turning it over so many times in her mind, or why it made her...feel the way she did. The data was scattered - complicated in ways that she feels, a moment, she is not equipped to handle.

A way she didn’t understand, but she knew all the same.

“I love you," Tantomile concludes aloud, blunt, direct, her puzzling finally reaching its peak.

Evidently surprised, Rumpleteazer misses her next step and falls off the tire completely, crashing unceremoniously to the earth below. Thank goodness they had not been on one of their rooftop adventures, or it could have been yet another yowling trip to the vet for her. 

“Are you alright?” The queen asks, looking down at her.

“C-come again??” Rumpleteazer squeaks, staring up at her companion with eyes wide as saucers.

“I...love you," Tantomile repeats, slowly, this time sounding slightly less certain than she'd felt a moment ago.

For once, Teazer is absolutely silent. So silent, in fact, Tantomile fears she’s made a horrible mistake. 

"Do you...understand?" Tantomile prompts again, feeling regret climb onto her back like an unwelcome snake. 

"Oh, ah, yeah! Yeah, yup, I understand alright,” Rumpleteazer babbled, snapping back to the situation at hand. “You just...you just startled me is all.”

Rumpleteazer scrambled back up beside her, eagerly sitting and looking nowhere near as upset by the conclusion as Tantomile had feared. "You love me? For real? No take backs?"

"I...believe so," she murmurs, trying not to flinch when Teazer unexpectedly grabs her paw, shaking it eagerly back and forth. 

“Wow,” she whispers, almost shyly. Her brain looks to be running about six steps ahead of her mouth. “I mean - okay...that’s...okay! Good! That’s...that’s good!” 

She does not verbally return the sentiment, not at that moment, and perhaps that would be disappointing, if Tantomile had not felt the endless wave of warm and happy and bubbly radiating off of her in waves, so intensely she feels heavy headed with it. 

For once, in a lightning bottle moment, she almost knows exactly what Rumpleteazer is thinking as she presses her kisses to her cheek.

And, with that, she would rest well in the knowledge that that meant her conclusion was the correct one. 

[charspnp]

Hey can I request a really fluffy Karl imagine? Where they’ve been friends for ages and realise they like each other or something

- anonymous

not a kissing booth

「 karl jacobs x g/n!reader 」

a/n: i feel like i didn't really fulfill the request fully djddjf but i hope you like it! :)

masterlist

saying goodbye always was and always will be the hardest part of moving. it doesn't matter if you're moving a mile away or a thousand miles away, having to say goodbye to someone you love is borderline unbearable.

but... saying bye to karl was... different… why? well, who knows, really. maybe it was because you've known each other your whole life? or maybe it's because you spend pretty much every day together talking and talking but never running out of things to talk about?

or, perhaps, the reason saying bye to karl was so different is because you were in love with him. 

the hug you shared wasn't like any other hug you'd shared with the man. it was tight, comforting, a silent plea to stay in touch, to call or text him every day (as if you weren't going to already). then the very insistent, repeated, spoken plea to call or text him every day came and, for some reason, that's when you couldn't hold back your tears any longer.

as soon as he saw the first tear fall, karl grabbed your face softly and wiped it away.

"no, no, no, don't cry," he spoke softly, "don't-don't cry cause we're not saying goodbye, okay? we're-we're gonna talk every day, alright? every single day, i don't care what time it is for me cause i'll pick up, i'll answer. always. okay?" though he was asking for you not to cry, he started tearing up himself. he nodded to you, asking for an affirmation that you knew he would always be there. you nodded back and put your hands softly on his, leaning into is touch. you nodded once again, confirmation to yourself that he would be there. 

from behind the two of you, your mother honked the car horn to signal that you had to go. glancing back at the car then back to your best friend, you let go of his hands and wrapped them around his middle tightly. he returned the sentiment just as affectionately. 

"call me when you get there, okay?"

"okay."

"hey," he pulled away but still kept you close, "i love you, okay? and-and i'll miss you."

yes, goodbyes are hard, but the two of you kept your promise. although, it wasn't too hard when the both of you became streamers and played together 24/7. you and karl just had small names in the community before karl got picked up by mr beast and dream with his server. after the dream smp blew up, so did karl. any other person would've felt left in the dust or forgotten, but with you it was quite the opposite. you were happy for karl, ecstatic that he grew to fame and had so many loyal fans.

every time karl asked if you wanted to be on the smp, you declined, though, no matter how badly you wanted to accept. it was because of those loyal fans that you always declined. you were scared that they would psychoanalyze you and your behavior and find out about your crush on karl. yup. it's a stupid thought, but valid at the same time. you don't know when you started having this crush, whether it started when you two were in grade school or if it was recent, but it's the and you hate it. you hate having to hide your feelings from your best friend and lying to him when he asked for the reason as to why you didn't want to join the smp.

"but whyyyy," karl whined, hoping you would give a different reason as to not stream with him (or maybe even finally agree).

"because! that's a lot of eyes on me, karl. it's scary." liar.

"dude, you're a streamer, you have eyes on you anyways! you can't say you never thought you'd get over 1k viewers at a time."

"yes i can! because i never thought my best friend would get so famous so fast and suddenly have, like, over 60, or even 100k viewers at a time!"

"c'mon, just- please? please play on the smp with me? stream with me- for me?" he begged with his stupid, cute puppy dog eyes you can never say no to. bastard.

you huffed, "fine- fine! i'll play on the dream smp with you."

karl's face lit and as he bounced around his room, yelling, "yes! yes! finally!" 

you chuckled and shook your head at him, "yeah, yeah."

karl stopped hopping around and leaned down to his mic to speak, "when can you play?"

"just, whenever."

"tomorrow?" he grinned widely, excitement noticeable in his eyes even from across the country.

"t-tomorrow?" you weren't expecting it to be that early, but still, you couldn't let down karl. "s-sure. yeah, tomorrow's fine. what time?"

"3pm, my time." though he had calmed himself for the most part, you could still see him jittering and fidgeting with excitement.

"o-okay. sounds good," you spoke warily. changing the subject, the two of you continued talking all night.

when the next day came, you were immediately reminded of what was to come later that day when karl sent you your daily good morning text. reading through the small message, you ran a hand through your hair and sighed, turning to your pillow to just lay there. though it wasn't until the afternoon, you were already stressing how it would go.

after about 10 minutes of just lying there in bed, you responded to karl with your own good morning text then turned off your phone. running your hands down your face, you got up out of bed to start the day.

"how ya feelin?" karl asked, seeing how much you were fidgeting.

"nervous," you responded truthfully. karl already had his 'starting soon' screen up and you were yet to even begin yours. "i don't want them to hate me, y'know."

"dude, they're not gonna hate you, i promise. even if they don't like you, they'll see how much i love you and they'll learn to accept it."

you blushed at his words, knowing he didn't have a clue as to what they did to you. "y-yeah. yeah, i hope."

finally starting your stream with your own 'starting soon' screen, you tweeted out that you're gonna be playing on the dream smp, and almost immediately your viewership was more than it ever has been. taking a deep breath, you waited until karl turned on the facecam to his stream.

"hi! hello, everyone!" karl began, "welcome! welcome to the stream!"

while he made small talk with his stream, you changed your screen from 'starting soon' to your facecam. you deafened yourself on discord and began welcoming your stream as well. you explained what was happening and what you were gonna be doing when karl started spamming "UNDEAFEN" in your chat. you chuckled before undeafening, only to hear karl making a monotone "aaaahhhhhh" sound. you called his name a couple times and when he didn't stop, you turned on your funny mic to get his attention.

"KARL!" you yelled, the audio coming out distorted as all hell. he finally acknowledged you by breaking character and laughing. "let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

about an hour and a half and a whole lotta laughter later, karl took you over to a large red building in the shape of a heart. glancing at your chat, all you saw was "DON'T GO IN" but you just laughed it off.

"okay, y/n, this is not a kissing booth," karl explained.

"not a kissing booth?" 

"yes, definitely-definitely not a kissing booth. now wait-wait here," he instructed you before his character moved around the side of the building. you gave your camera a questioning look as you waited for whatever karl told you to wait for. as you were looking up at the building, you saw karl's character go inside the pink, glass heart. your jaw dropped at the adorable sight.

"karl! that's so cute!" you said as you crouched at his character.

"thank you," he giggled wildly (what you didn't know was that he was blushing profusely). "now," he exited the heart and came back around to you, "come in here."

he walked into the building and you followed, taking a quick moment to read the signs on the outside. you stood on the inside of the kissing booth, the crafting tables on the ground making you laugh quietly.

karl flipped a lever on one side of the room, "okay, so these are called the levers of consent. it takes two parties to consent, so mine is already down. if you consent, flip your lever."

you shook your head, but agreed anyways, "okay, i consent." you flipped the lever and suddenly the whole room went dark. you looked over to karl's character, only to see him crouching, slowly making his way over to you. you crouched back at him so you were eye level to him. your characters were close to touching before you got close to your mic and said, "are we about to kiss right now?"

his character stopped crouching as he started laughing wildly again, his giggles high pitched and absolutely adorable. our face split into a grin at the sound and your chat spammed your guys' ship name they came up with as well as "SIMP" which, in their defense, was very accurate.

deciding to mess with him a little, you looked karl's character in the eyes before saying, "karl, i'd say the s-word and get banned for you."

his giggles started up again, becoming high pitched and muffled as he covered his face. "no, no, stop, y/n please."

you giggled at him before pressing your character against his and making an over exaggerated "mwah!" sound.

to be expected, yours and karl's ship name was trending #1 on twitter with thousands of supporters.

[milkytheholy1]

Flying Lessons

A/N: Howdy everyone, so I've been wanting to do a Tech fic since I first saw episode one of the new series. Now I will admit I haven't seen season 7 of clone wars, I'm actually only up to season 3, so I'm a little scared if I've messed anything up; but I'm sure you'll tell me! Hopefully, I'll get more confident in writing for these characters, until then, enjoy!

Bad Batch Tech x GNReader

Masterlist

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

You had been with the batch for a few months now, growing accustomed to their way of living. And by that, you meant you were used to the fact that everything was usually dirty and or broken. You were the teams medic, after a few complaints from certain members in the group saying that their stand-in medic was useless, they shipped them out and sent you as their replacement. You had never worked for such a fun and chaotic team before, but you loved it nevertheless.

You had gotten along well with almost every member of the team, joking around with Wreaker, sharing stories with Hunter and Echo, teaching Omega about life on other planets and sharing spouts of wisdom with Tech. You loved spending time with the cloned genius the most though, if you were being honest with yourself. The way he thought so lowly of himself gave you a challenge to change that attitude, it was a slow process but it was definitely working.

You could often be found just mindlessly talking to Tech while he worked on repairs or just fiddling with files on his datapad, he would hum and nod when needed; satisfied that he didn't have to put too much effort into the conversation and instead just work. You didn't mind when he did that, knowing it wasn't coming from a place of rudeness but rather wanting to get the job done.

You had been begging Tech for a while to let you drive his precious ship, he had fussed at first, stating that the ship wasn't 'his baby' and that you didn't have the proper training to fly said ship. But that didn't stop you from bugging him until he eventually gave, you liked to think it was because of your amazing personality and not because Hunter told him to do so.

Anyway, the idea of wanting to fly the ship came to you one night when you caught Hunter behind the 'wheel'. You had asked him if he could show you a few moves, he flung his hands in the air in an act of surrender, claiming he shouldn't be the one to teach you.

"You'll pick up some bad habits from me," he said, an awkward smile on his lips, "You know who you should ask?" he mused, stepping from the pilots seat and towards the Havoc Maraude's entrance. "Who?" you questioned back, although you felt in your bones that you already knew the answer. And that's when you had been bothering the self-appointed genius for a week straight, just begging him to teach you how to fly the ship.

When he sulked into your quarters one day with a moppy frown, you beamed up at him knowing what this meant. "Fine, I'll teach you how to fly the ship," he huffed out, watching you stand from your cot and squeal like a youngling. "On a few conditions, of course." he crept out, adjusting the yellow-tinted goggles on his face. Your form deflated in disappointment, "Rules? C'mon, Tech, why can't I just press a button and go!"

"If that's how you think flying works then this may take longer than I had initially planned, follow me and we'll start with the datapads." he turned his back to you and began to leave the room, his foot stepping past the door. "Datapads? Tech, for makers sake, I'm not going to learn how to fly by readin' some dumb rules, I need to feel the engine rumble under me, feel the tiny meteors hit the outer shell." you begged, moving over to him.

"If you're being serious about flying this ship, or any ship for that matter, then you need to have the proper training. Now since you aren't a clone like the rest of us, that training isn't pre-programmed into your memory drive. Therefore, you need to be taught manually, and if that means reading datapads, then I'm afraid you're going to have to do it."

You huffed out a breath in mock annoyance, pouting with arms crossed over your chest, "Fine, I'll read you stupid datapads, but then can we actually try flying the ship."

"Oh, yes, of course," he spoke wishfully, moving down the corridors and back into the cockpit, "Right after we finish a pre-programmed fictional scenario."

"Teeeeccchhhh," you groaned out, his name dragging along your lips. Wrecker and Echo were nearby, hearing your constant whines and complaints, seeking entertainment for the evening they went for a closer inspection. "What's goin' on in here?" Wrecker asked, pushing his large frame through the door. Tech turned to his fellow companion and explained the task simply, well simple for Tech that is.

"I'm teaching (Y/N) here how to fly the Havoc, once they've read all the information I could find on flying a ship and have successfully navigated through the fictional scenario, they'll be able to, in theory, fly the ship."

"What? that's no way to learn how to fly." Echoed chorused, stepping forward so the light of the control panel illuminated his face, "You have to jump into the pilot's seat and just go, you learn on the way; at least, that's how I learned to do it." he trailed off, seeing that there was no way of convincing Tech once his mind was made up.

"Yeah! Just let the doc sit in the chair and fly, what's the problem with that?" Wrecker agreed, slapping a hand against your chair, slightly jostling your form. Tech groaned, a frown everpresent on his face, "Many things, actually." he shrugged. "It'll be okay guys, I'm actually, sort of, enjoying this." you beamed, they seemed surprised at your response considering they heard you whining only five minutes ago.

With nothing else said, Echo and Wrecker left the room wishing the both of you good luck. You turned back to the datapad in your hands, smile washing off of your face and replaced with a stationary line. Tech turned to you with a raised brow, "Are you actually enjoying this?" shock in his own tone. You flicked your head back, a small rumble of laughter shaking your body, "No! I just said it so they'd stop glaring at the back of your head."

"Oh, right." his tone had dropped down a few octaves, the presence of sadness made itself known. Guilt washed over you from his reaction, quickly addressing it with rushed words and shaking hands, "Not that I don't enjoy spending time with you Tech, because I do. I just meant the whole reading datapad thing, promise." He seemed to lighten up at the admission, debating in that little head of his whether he should throw the datapad idea out the window and teach you by hand.

It wouldn't be the most logical answer but it could be effective if you paid attention long enough to not kill the whole team in a fiery crash. Stretching his hands out, he pressed a few buttons on the control panel then stood from his chair. He motioned for you to take his place, hiding his smile at the confused quirk of your lips, "I suppose learning from experience is a useful way to remember knowledge, it may not be the most effective like Echo thinks, but it can be quite...helpful."

You hummed out a small thank you and took up his offer, cheeks burning crimson when you felt his armoured form behind you. His pointed finger showed you every button you needed to press, mouth going a mile a minute. You tried your best to keep up with him, your actions frantic as you flipped switches and set coordinates.

"Yes, that's it, now slowly pull back the wheel." he whispered beside you, his breath faintly fanning past your ear causing a shiver to run down your spine. You did as instructed, heaving the steering wheel closer to your chest. Tech's hands motioned you to slow down, his voice calm, "Slow down a bit, otherwise you're going to fling us into the trees behind us."

You took his advice, slowing your actions down until the Havoc Maraude was off of the ground. You grinned, proud that you successfully took off without killing or breaking anything. Tech seemed pleased too, a slow expel of breath blowing past his lips in a soft sigh. His shoulders that were once tense, relaxed under his armour, a warm smile on his face, "Now just go up past the trees and into the clouds."

The ship's movements were a little janky, sudden stopping and slight shakes sent the crew forward and backwards in the common area, loud cries and swears falling from their lips. "Relax, just ignore them, focus on flying." Tech huffed, tapping a few commands on his tech-brace, moments later smiling when he heard the whines of his brothers now being cast in the dark. Tech knew it would be a good idea to hook up the ships electrics to his small computer, it was finally paying off in one of the best ways.

"Sorry," you apologised, voice weak with fear. You felt Tech's hand pat your shoulder soothingly, "No need to apologise, (Y/N), you're doing your best. Besides, Wrecker couldn't fly this ship with training wheels." You laughed at his snide comment, knowing it was just brotherly love and a chance to make you feel better.

"Thanks for teaching me, by the way. I know you didn't really get a choice in the matter, but-"

"There is no need to thank me, (Y/N), I think you're doing quite well at this, you theoretically didn't even need me to teach you." he waved off, finally taking the co-pilots seat. You flicked your eyes over his form, taking in his depressingly slouched shoulders and fiddling fingers, "Hey, there's no one in this galaxy I'd rather have teaching me to fly than you, Techy-boy."

He cringed at the oh so regularly occurring nickname, choosing this time not to point it out. "Yes, well, a teacher is only good as their pupil." he reminded, reciting some quote he read somewhere. His face lit up with a smile when he noted the ever red presence of blush highlighting your cheeks, flicking his attention back to the world outside he gave you the instructions to land.

"Now press that button to the right of you, no, no, not that one the other one."

"Tech, there are, like, a hundred different buttons to my right, you're going to need to be a little more specific!" you yelled in frustration. Tech grumbled, standing on his feet he shuffled over to your side once again; oddly feeling like home. His hand grasped onto yours and pushed your finger against the correct button, "There, now was that so hard to do?" he mocked, hand still holding yours.

You remained quiet, eyes on the trees outside. Tech's teasing smirk faded when you suddenly went silent, his eyes trailed down his arm to see your hands intertwined. Dropping the appendage, his arms found themselves around his back, a small 'sorry' escaping his lips.

"Now just gently ease the wheel down until the ship hits the ground," he continued as though nothing had ever happened. You managed to land with ease, well there were a few bumps and more complaints from the other occupants of the ship, but on a whole, you did pretty well. Peeling yourself away from the cockpit, you faced Tech with a nervous smile, "Thanks again for teaching me, I had fun."

Tech was taken back by the claim, but found himself feeling fond of the memory already, "As did I," he replied, his voice hush. The doors to the cockpit flung open, the rest of the batch falling in with wide smiles and raised hands, "Well done, doc!" Wrecker cheered, slapping a hand against your back.

"Yeah, but the credit goes to Tech, after all, he was the one to teach me." you praised, giving said genius a quick wink; Tech blushed at the action. Feeling a tug on his hand he looked down to see the widened eyes of Omega, "Does that mean you'll teach me?" she asked with a glimmer in her eyes.

"Karablast." Tech muttered lowly under his breath, looking back into Omega's hopeful eyes, he crumbled. "Perhaps Hunter or Echo would be more inept at teaching you how to fly, Omega. I'm not sure if I'm so cut out for it as I had originally thought."

"Oh, please! Pleeasseeeeee!" she continually begged, hands clamped together in a prayer motion. Sighing, Tech reluctantly agreed, he couldn't handle much more of this. But seeing the bright smile on your face made him feel slightly better, he'd have to worm his way into getting you to sit with him while he taught Omega. That would keep him sane.

[the-bau-quinjet]

Both of You

Tony x Reader based on this request!

Warnings: mention of nightmares

Word Count: 1803

a/n: This one makes me feel warm inside. We're just pretending Pepper does not exist because any mention of killing her off is too sad for me to deal with right now. Tony deserves happiness. Featuring The Best Day by Taylor Swift.

Also, I'm currently working on a Reid request, two Steve fics, and an idea I had for Bucky, but somehow this one was the one that got me motivated.

Masterlist

You were relaxing, aka being forced to recover from a gunshot wound before going on any more missions, on the couch in the living room for the third night in a row. To say you were absolutely bored would be underselling it.

You spent the past few days alone roaming the compound because everyone else was out on missions. Typically this would mean hanging out with Morgan, but Happy's been monopolizing her time.

You were just about to start another movie when your phone started ringing.

"Where are you?" The voice was desperate.

"Nice to hear from you Happy. How are you, today?" You sassed him back.

"Y/N, I'm serious." His tone put you on high alert.

"I'm in the main living room, what happened?" You sat up from the couch, ready to come to him at a moments notice.

"I'm in the elevator, I'll explain in a minute." He hung up before you could ask any follow up questions.

You were up and standing at the elevator in no time, anxiously awaiting Happy's arrival.

After what felt like an eternity, he emerged from the elevator carrying a sleeping Morgan in his arms. He walked past you to set her on the couch before explaining.

"May had a bit of an emergency, I need to go pick her up. She's fine, just a little shaken up. Can you watch Morgan?" You could see the lingering fear in his eyes.

"Of course. Please, let me know if there's anything else I can do!" You spoke in a fast whisper, getting the words out quickly but quietly to account for Happy already boarding the elevator and Morgan still asleep in the living room.

"I'll call you if anything else happens."

And with that he was gone.

You made your way back into the living room while trying to decide if you should bring Morgan back up to her bed. She would sleep better there, but you might wake her up on the way.

You were just about to pick her up when she let out a strangled sob.

"Morgan?" She still appeared to be asleep, but her face showed fear. "Morgan, honey, wake up."

You spoke gently while running a hand soothingly through her hair. Despite your best efforts, she woke with a start. Her little fingers balled into fists, tears pooling in her eyes before you could say anything.

"Morgan, it's okay! You're okay. I'm here." You gathered her in your arms to rock her back and forth. "You're okay. Everything's okay."

You continued rocking her back and forth while whispering words of affirmation until her crying stopped.

"I- I want my- my dad." She hiccuped.

"Oh sweetheart, he's not home right now." It broke your heart to disappoint her. "Do you wanna tell me when you dreamed about?"

She nodded slowly, but clung to your arms.

"I had a bad dream." You could tell she was till scared. "There was a monster and he took Peter away!" She was getting worked up again.

"Peter's fine, baby. Do you want me to call him?" You spoke softly while reaching into your pocket for your phone.

She nodded solemnly. "With video, please."

"Of course, honey."

It didn't take long for you to facetime Peter. You could only hope that he would answer on the first try. While it rung, you angled the phone against a candle on the table to include you and Morgan in the frame.

"Hi Ms. Y/N- oh! Hi Morgan!" Peter's cheerful voice rung through the living room.

"Hi Pete!" Morgan's voice matched Peter's cheerfulness, but you could still tell she was shaken up.

"See, baby. Peter's okay." You gently prodded her mind to accept that the dream was just that, a dream.

"Petey, I'm so glad you're okay! I was so scared." She ignored your comment, but you could tell the call was helping her.

"Oh Morgan, did you have another nightmare? I'm sorry! You can always call me whenever you need to. I promise." He did well to cheer up the young girl.

You sat back against the couch, just listening to Morgan and Peter conversing for the next hour or so.

"Alright, I think we've got to try to go back to bed now. Say goodbye to Peter."

Morgan pouted, but didn't put up much of a fight.

"Bye Petey! I love you!" She called happily, the nightmare all but forgotten.

"Bye Morgan, I love you too. Bye, Ms. Y/N!" Peter called out.

"Bye, Peter." You smiled as you hung up the phone. "Let's get you up to bed."

"Nooo!" She whined. "Can I just lay down here with you?"

You knew you were a goner the minute she started pouting. With a sigh, you easily gave in to her demands. "Yes, but you still have to sleep."

"Yay! Can you sing to me?" She laid down on the couch, putting her head in your lap.

"Sure, sweetheart. What song?" You began running your hand over her hair in an attempt to calm her down.

"The one about being 5 and having a good day!"

You let out a small chuckle at her description, but you knew the song she meant.

"I'm five years old, it's getting cold. I've got my big coat on. I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, and run and run."

As soon as you started singing, she closed her eyes and stopped moving around. You didn't really believe her, but she's always said your voice makes her feel calm inside.

"Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold. I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home."

You were so intently focused on Morgan, that you didn't hear the elevator doors opening and closing just down the hall.

*In the elevator*

"Someone's singing?" Steve phrased it as a question, but he knew he could hear it as the elevator moved up a few floors.

"Who?" Tony, although uninterested, asked.

"I hear it too!" Bucky chimed in, feeling weirdly at peace just from hearing the melody.

Everyone else in the elevator strained their ears to hear the voice, but came up empty until the elevator doors opened.

Slowly, Tony, Steve, Bucky, Nat, Sam, and Wanda piled out of the elevator.

"I don't know why all the trees change in the fall, but I know you're not scared of anything at all."

"Y/N..." Tony whispered, so as not to disturb you.

"Why would she be singing?" Wanda questioned. You always refuse to sing karaoke with them, so it doesn't make sense to her that you would be singing to yourself in the middle of the compound.

Suddenly, a much younger voice joined in on the song.

"Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away, but I know I had the best day with you today."

"Hey, missy. You promised me you'd try to sleep. That means no singing, just listening." Tony felt his smile grow as you playfully scolded his daughter.

"Sorry! Sorry, I'll be quiet." Morgan promised.

The group of Avengers listened as you began singing again. They slowly made their way toward the living room, moving silently so you wouldn't hear them and stop singing.

"There is a video I found from back when I was three. You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me."

Tony was just far enough past the doorway to peak over the edge of the couch. The sight of Morgan curled up in your lap made his heart flutter.

"It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs. And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world."

The entire group of Earth's mightiest heroes wore matching expressions of complete and utter adoration watching you sing to Morgan.

Tony silently gestured for the rest of the group to leave, ultimately staring them down until they did so. He watched as you sang the rest of the song, stroking her hair until she fell into a restful sleep.

"I didn't know if you knew, so I'm taking this chance to say: that I had the best day with you today."

You hummed a bit to ensure Morgan was asleep before you stopped singing entirely.

Tony realized you were going to pick her up, so he softly cleared his throat to gain your attention as he walked around the couch.

The soft smile on his face warmed your heart.

"Hi Tony." You greeted him as he picked up his daughter. "She'll be glad you're home." You decided to leave out the heartbreaking detail of her tears and broken cries for her father.

"Where's Happy?" He questioned lightly.

"C'mon, I'll tell you on the way." You grabbed Morgan's stuffed Iron Man from the couch and started toward the elevator.

"Happy had to go pick up May. He said she was fine, but it was some sort of emergency." You spoke quietly so as not to disturb Morgan.

"Thank you for watching her." Tony couldn't hide the smile that grew on his face at the thought of you and Morgan being so close. "Even if you kept her up way past her bedtime." He added playfully.

"She was actually asleep when Happy brought her down. He was probably going to take her with him if he couldn't find me." You felt yourself start to smile just from looking at Morgan in Tony's arms.

"What happened?" Your smile fell at the memory of Morgan's tear stained face.

"She had a nightmare. Something about a monster hurting Peter." You couldn't stop your eyes from welling up at the memory of how scared and upset Morgan was. "She's okay now though. We talked to Peter for a while on facetime. Well, Morgan talked to Peter. I just rocked her back and forth so she'd stop crying."

"My poor baby." He pressed a kiss to Morgan's forehead, lingering close to her. "Thank you for helping her with that."

"Of course, Tony. She's a brilliant little girl. You're doing a great job raising her."

You let out a small chuckle when you suddenly realized neither of you pushed the button for the residential floor.

Tony laughed as well when you leaned forward to push the button.

You walked with him to Morgan's room, helping to tuck her and her stuffed toy into bed. Just as you gently closed the door, Tony cleared his throat again.

"Y/N, I really mean it. Thank you for being there for her. It means a lot to me." Tony's face show a rare vulnerable side as he spoke. "You mean a lot to me."

"Oh, Tony. You mean a lot to me too." You glanced back at Morgan's bedroom. "Both of you."

Permanent taglist:

@averyhotchner

@jesuswasnotawhiteman

@strawberryspence

@sebastnstn

[trashy28]

Get Some Rest (Tech x Reader) Pt 2

Warnings: anxiety, angst-y ?, mentions of death/near-death experiences, blood/gore, mentions of violence, fluff at the end i promise (i would say im sorry, but im not) (bet you didn't expect this right after a fluffy first part >:))

Pairing: Tech x GN!Reader

Word Count: 5.1k

Part 1, Part 2

Summary: Oh no! It's a mission gone wrong trope! I wonder what could possibly be underneath this keep-reading cutoff! It totally cannot be where the reader and the bad batch go on a rescue mission only for something to go awry leading to treating injuries, and feelings.

"Everything is going to be okay. It will be alright. You got this y/n, you got this." You mumbled to yourself under your breath as you hid behind a convenience stall on some Outer Rim planet.

Something had gone wrong, VERY wrong. The mission was supposed to be easy: get in, get the prisoners, and get out, but it had all gone downhill faster than you could say dank farrik.

-

Earlier in the day, Tech had tapped into a secure Separatist transmission when messing around with his datapad. The Separatists were broadcasting a signal from a supposed neutral Outer Rim planet back to their base only a system away. They had taken the native people as prisoners and were going to use them for something, but none of you could figure out what. From then on, Hunter had taken charge, deciding that there was no time to ask for approval on the mission.

When the five of you reached the planet, you couldn't help but whisper to Tech next to you, "None of this seems right. If the Separatists did take these people as prisoners wouldn't there still be ships and droids?"

Tech simply looked at you before saying, "Not if they wanted to be secretive about it," and going back to his datapad.

You let out a huff. Things hadn't been that different between you two after the kiss you shared in the cockpit of the Havoc Marauder. When in private there would be shared tender moments, like there was nothing in the world that could come between you two, but with his brothers, Tech would regard you as the friend they all viewed you to be. They all knew something was going on between you two, and you had even taken it upon yourself to rant to Crosshair one night. He said he 'reluctantly' chose to listen, but he had calmed your anxious babbling about how you thought that Tech was embarrassed that you two were something now. That brought up another fact about how you two never addressed what you could call yourselves. Any time you tried to bring it up to Tech he would either cut you off with something else he was wildly researching, or one of his brothers would walk in and need either one of you. Crosshair's words did help to remind you that "That's just how Tech is sometimes. Clones were made to be fighters, not lovers." Leave it to him to say something like that. Out of every one of his brothers you knew he was the one who wanted a normal life the most even if he didn't show it.

As you and the rest of the group began your walk from the Marauder to the closest town you found yourself falling into step next to Wrecker instead of your usual placement besides Tech. Looking down at you, he asks, "Something bothering you? It sure looks like something is,"

Looking up to make eye contact with him you say, "I still don't feel like this is right. Everything seems to be falling into place too easily. This never happens to us!"

Wrecker turns his attention back to the surroundings passing a glance over the open area before stating, "Honestly, it is a little odd, but I trust the others and their intuition as much as yours."

The finality in his tone stood true as neither of you said anything for the rest of the walk into the town square. Walking past the empty booths would have been enough to send normal civilians running at the sight, everything was ruined. Curtains torn, fruit on the floor, and vendor booths destroyed. It was a depressing sight to see, but sadly one that the group was used to, it was a time of war after all.

After a little longer of walking and reaching the heart of the city, Hunter holds his fist up and all of the groups' motion ceases. "Tech," he says, "Can you pick up anything else from that transmission or anything that could give us a clue as to what else happened here?"

"I'm working on it, have been since we landed. The Separatists have scrambled all signals, so it’s taking me a while to try and find the frequency again," Tech answers before looking around the surrounding area, "As for what happened here, I think the evidence speaks for itself."

Hunter sighs before saying, "Alright, we'll split into two groups to cover more ground. Tech, and Wrecker you're with me. Crosshair and y/n, I expect no arguments coming out of this grouping."

Crosshair scoffs as you roll your eyes and make your way to stand next to him. "Didn't plan for arguments but maybe I'll start a few just to piss you off now," you say as you turn back towards Hunter.

"Just make it back here in one piece, we'll meet back up here at 1500, and if anybody is late, we assume they have gone missing and this was a trap," Hunter says before turning away and starting to walk down one of the many deserted alleys.

"Looks like we're stuck together again Cross," you let out before elbowing his side and starting to walk forward.

Following you and shoving a toothpick in his mouth he says, "As long as you don't complain about your problems with your boyfriend the whole time this might just be enjoyable."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get going you karking toothpick lover."

-

It had only been around half an hour or so of walking before you and Crosshair could hear blaster fire in the distance. You ask, "Hey Cross, am I dehydrated, or is that actual blaster fire?" Turning around to face the said man, he already had his eyepiece down checking for heat signatures and was pulling you by your arm into a space between two buildings.

"There's nothing around us, but I'm assuming the others encountered some clankers. They must have found something because well, we found nothing and have no one after us," Crosshair states before tilting his helmet down to you and reading your facial expressions, "You want to go back and help them, don't you?"

"Of course I do Crosshair! Don't pretend that you don't want to either, I know how you care for your brothers. Let's just try to make it back without alerting any of those damn droids," you reply.

Crosshair tilts his head towards a stack of boxes and towards the roof of the buildings, you were situated between. "I think I have an idea."

-

"Why the hell did I let you come up with the idea to get back to your brothers. Running from roof to roof isn't exactly easy and leaves us out in the open," you complain before hopping another gap in-between roofs to catch up with Crosshair.

Crosshair stops short in front of you on the next roof almost causing you to walk into him before turning around to face you, "Look, I'm just as anxious as you to get back to them, but they are all capable enough to take care of themselves and I trust them with that. You of all people should know that as well," he spits angrily, and could almost hear a growl with his final punctuation.

"I know Crosshair, I get that you are worried, but I just can't help thinking that something had to go wrong. Let's just hope that my intuition is the wrong thing," You say before putting a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon, let's make this fast."

-

By the time you had made it back to the town square, to your luck, you still had not encountered any droids except for the ones who were scattered all over the floor in pieces.

"Looks like Hunter got to work on these guys," you say as you bend down to touch the large gash left by a vibro-knife in the torso of a droid.

Crosshair is examining another droid with its head ripped off only a few meters from you, "Looks like Wrecker got these guys too. But the question remains: where are Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech?"

At this, you paused and drew your focus away from the droid and instead survey the area, "The real question is, why is there no evidence of Tech fighting back? There are no electro-proton bombshells and even no blaster marks on any of these guys."

"Maybe they split up," Crosshair looks at you before pointing down one of the alleys.

"Fuck, I hope you're right."

-

It didn't take both of you that long to find Hunter and Wrecker, but it also didn't take long for another set of droids to ambush you. That's how you found yourself pressed behind the convenience stall mumbling under your breath. You had managed to take down a few droids but were forced to take cover. The others were still scattered around picking off droids one by one just as you remembered that Tech was still nowhere to be seen. Your mind was rushing faster than you could've ever thought trying to find out any idea as to where he could have gone.

Suddenly the blaster fire stopped as you heard a final clank from a droid hitting the ground. As you stood up you looked around cautiously, and deciding the coast was clear you jumped over the stall to group up with the rest of the bad batch.

As everyone began looking over each other there seemed to be only one thought shared between the group. This was a trap and Tech was gone.

Trying to alleviate the sour mood the group was plunging headfirst into you chuckled before saying, "You guys can finally say I was right now."

The others groaned before Hunter said, "Now is not the time y/n, Tech's missing and we have no clue where the kark he could be."

"You think I don't know that Hunter?" You let out through clenched teeth before continuing, "I'm just as worried as you are right now, but let's get somewhere where we don't have to worry about droids ambushing us."

Crosshair let out a sigh from beside you, "They're right. We won't be able to help Tech if we're dead so let's get back to the ship."

Picking up what he was putting down you finished for him, "We can re-group our thoughts on the Marauder, come up with a game plan, and then retrace our steps. It will do no good thinking while our minds are in 20 places at once."

-

Back on the ship all of you had gathered around the small datapad you placed in the middle of the table. "Alright, I tracked Tech's datapad's last known location to here, but who knows if it even with him," you say before zooming in on the location, "We can't guarantee that it would be safe either, we all know the number of clankers they sent after us just to try and keep us away."

"As long as I get to blow something up and get Tech out, anything is a good plan," Wrecker says before heading towards the back of the ship.

Crosshair nods at both you and Hunter before getting out of his seat to go and follow Wrecker.

"I know you're really worried, you don't hide your emotions that well," Hunter says while placing a hand on your shoulder.

"No shit Hunter," you start while rolling your eyes, "I'm worried about what might happen if we can't find him, or even if it's too late and he's already gone. I don't know what I would be able to do without him."

Hunter gives your shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "It will be okay y/n. For our sake and yours, let's think positively."

-

The four of you had made your way back into the town square better equipped and without a problem. You had some of your own plastoid armor on now for a bit of extra protection in case things decided to take an even stronger turn for the worst.

"The signal from the datapad is down the alley to the Northeast," you say while glancing up from your own datapad.

The group nods back at you as you continue your way down the alley. It was quiet, the tall sand-colored buildings surrounding you couldn't help but make you feel claustrophobic. The other alleys were not like this. They had seemed to be more open, with a lot fewer canopies, but this one had canopies blocking almost all the sun. It also didn't help that it was starting to get dark.

As you reached another intersection, Hunter held up his fist to signify everyone to stop. A wave of déjà vu flashed over you, and you prayed to any gods that would listen that you wouldn't split up again. After a few moments, Hunter turned to you and tilted his head to the side, to which you answered by pointing your hand to the alley to the right. In a whisper, you add, "If we continue straight down that alley, we should reach another intersection. Tech's datapad should be there."

The four of you continued walking again and when you reached the intersection you couldn't help but let out a strangled sob. There was a pool of blood on the farthest side of the intersection that was smeared on one side. Rushing up next to the blood, you stopped mere centimeters from it as your eyes caught sight of Tech's datapad. Your hands were shaking as you reached for it and you brushed a finger over one of the bloody fingerprints. "Oh shit," you say letting out a shaky breath. How could you have let this happen; how could you allow yourselves to walk right into a trap? Now Tech was gone, bleeding out, or dead, and there was no exact way to trace him.

You see Wrecker's hands wrap around your own but don't register the feelings. Your whole body has seemingly shut off and stopped processing the world around you. Wrecker takes the datapad from your hands and passes it to either Hunter or Crosshair. You are too shocked to care as you collapse to your knees. Wrecker is at your side on the ground in seconds and pulls you right into him. The plastoid armor that would bring you so much comfort as you used to hold Tech close only burned as tears began to fall from your face. The air was thick with remorse and regret, but you couldn't hold on to the fact that he could be dead. After a few somber minutes recollecting yourself, you pushed away from Wrecker and pushed yourself off the ground, offering a hand to Wrecker to assist him. Once both of you were up and you had cleaned the sand off your pants, you turned towards Hunter and Crosshair. They were silent as ever, Crosshair had taken a seat on of the nearby crates and had his head in his hands, and Hunter had taken to looking at Tech datapad.

Breaking the silence, you spoke first, "We can't just give up and believe he is dead," startling Crosshair causing him to jump in his seat.

"Yeah, we need to think he's still out there, that the Separatist kept him alive for information," Wrecker added, backing you up.

Hunter had turned back around waving the datapad, "They were smart enough to keep his datapad here, but they weren't smart enough to wipe any messages on it."

At this, you scrambled over to Hunter's side and pulled that datapad closer to your face. Displayed was an unsent message to you that contained various numbers. "Coordinates," you say breathlessly as Crosshair joins the rest of you standing in a haphazard circle around the datapad. Adding, you ask, "Do you think those are the coords of the base where they took the prisoners too?"

"Probably," Crosshair speaks for the first time since arriving at the intersection, "Let's hope Tech's there too."

Taking Tech's datapad from Hunter, Crosshair begins off in the direction leading away from Tech's bloodstain on the ground, but also opposite the way you came. The rest of you fall into step behind him and continue your way to your destination.

-

On the way following the coordinates, all four of you were on high alert, but no droids had come to attack you, relieving some of the stress. It didn't help relax you guys upon seeing the droids surrounding a large sandstone castle-like building. Stopping at the crest of a hill a while away from the makeshift Separatist base, Hunter and you took to scanning the surrounding area, while Crosshair and Wrecker began to formulate some form of attack.

"Once again, I can tell you're worried," Hunter said as you both had scopes pulled out to try and find any weak points in the droid formations.

"And once again, we all are Hunter. I just hope we aren't too late," You reaffirm before pointing at a space straight ahead, "Look, they're rotating shifts. Maybe we could find a way in on their next rotation."

Hunter turns to look at you before saying, "How would we know when the next rotation is?"

"I don't know, maybe figure out what time it is Mr. Survivalist," you taunt sarcastically.

Hunter scoffs before saying "It's 1900, we could use the fact that it's dark out now to our advantage. It could help us slip in and out undetected if we want."

Nodding before standing up, you say, "True, let's go tell the others and see if it can play into their plan."

-

Once getting back to Crosshair and Wrecker, all four of you focused on a plan and decided it was best to split into two groups to help divide the droid forces. There would be no surprise ambushes by the droids, but instead an ambush on them. You and Hunter taking the back way in, through the gap in droid shifts you noticed earlier, while Wrecker and Crosshair would work on some sort of distraction from the front.

Wrapping up the discussion of the plan one last time before separating Hunter adds, "Remember, this is a rescue mission. Once we have Tech and possible other prisoners we get out as fast as we can."

You, Wrecker, and Crosshair nodded before wishing each other luck as they walked off from your position.

"You ready y/n?" Hunter asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be," you say back to him as you two make your way towards your position.

-

Once situated towards the back of the building, Hunter commed Crosshair saying, "The droids are about to rotate positions, on my word start whatever distraction you have in mind."

The two of you waited on edge while the minutes drew on. After what felt like forever the droids finally began to move. At this, Hunter commed Crosshair again with finality, saying, "Now."

From your position, you could see the blast from the explosives Wrecker had set off, along with the heavy concentration of blaster fire. The droids that were covering the area where you and Hunter immediately went to act as reinforcement to those affected by the blast.

Hunter and you ran from your location to the back of the building, quickly finding an open window. Pulling the window open more, you forced your way inside as Hunter followed. The room was empty, and most of the lights were off. Pulling out a flashlight you scanned it across the floor quickly before turning it off again to not be spotted, even if there was a small chance of that.

"It looks like we are in some type of living room," Hunter says before making his way away from the window and peeking his head around the corner of the door and into the hallway. "The hallway's clear, I would say split up to cover more floors, but seeing what happened last time I told everyone to split up... I don't think that's a good idea."

Nodding you made your way over to him to look out into the hallway as well. "I say we go to the basement if there is one. It would make sense to keep people prisoner there," You say before stepping foot into the hallway.

"Yeah, but the only problem is finding stairs that could lead to a basement," Hunter says while stepping into place behind you.

"It shouldn't be that hard, plus if Tech was still bleeding by the time, he got here, wouldn't you think there would be a trail of blood where they brought him?" You shuddered while stating the possibility out loud, just as Hunter made a noise of acknowledgment.

After what felt like hours of walking the hallways on high alert, and checking most rooms as you come across them, you staggered trying to stop yourself from walking as you finally caught sight of some blood on the ground. "Hunter," you whispered, "Look."

Hunter looked around your form to get a glance at what you were looking at, before shining his flashlight down the rest of the hall. "There's a trail too," he said while keeping his flashlight trained on the spots of blood.

"C'mon," You say as you grab him by the hand and pull him the rest of the way down the hallway.

Stopping at the end of the said hallway you are greeted by stairs to the left of you, and you turn to Hunter before silently agreeing to walk town together in sync. The stairs were solid sandstone, so you didn't have to worry about any creaky stairs, but you did have to worry about footing. Pulling out your vibro-knives at the same time as Hunter, you two started making your way down the stairs. The sight that waited for you and the bottom of the short walk would stick in your head forever. The basement was one single connected holding cell, with prisoners lined up against the bars trying to get a look at you. Some of them were crying, others wailing in pain, and some had fallen into silent spells. Noticing this, Hunter and you quickly put your knives away before you rushed to the gate with the main lock at it. While you made fast work of the lock and quickly picked it, Hunter had begun reassuring the people that we were here for help and that he was looking for someone who looked like us. With the gate, open people poured out in a mass exodus and began to make their way upstairs, without a single care of what could happen to them.

Once almost everyone was out, you and Hunter made your way into the cell where you were greeted with another terrible sight. Tech was there on a stone table in the middle of a cell with one of them, now freed, prisoners hovering over him. His armor was off and tossed to the side as he was only in his blacks, and he had a bacta patch wrapped around his torso. You rushed over to him as Hunter escorted the prisoner out of the cell and couldn't help but let out a sob for the second time today. Tech looked frail, and you hesitated to even reach out to touch him fearing that it would break him. You were immediately relieved after placing two fingers on his wrist and feeling his pulse. It was weak, but it was still there. "Hunter! I need some help down here," you call out before starting to run around the table to grab Tech's armor. Hunter came running back down the stairs at your call and once you saw him you continued, "I need you to carry him out of here. I'll get his armor, but we need to move fast before the droid realize that this was all a diversion."

At this Hunter makes his way to Tech's side without a word and picks him up and slings him over his shoulder. Grabbing the final pieces of Tech's armor, both of you begin to make your way up to the stair. Tapping the comlink on your wrist you hear blaster fire permeate through the room around you. "Crosshair, we got Tech. If I know Wrecker, he probably has some explosives, so as soon as we get out of the house, give him the word to blow this place up."

"Got it," Crosshair says before the comlink closes with a beep.

"Let's try a nearby window and get out of here as fast as we can before we tell them to set the chargers," you say to Hunter as you force your way ahead of him and into the closest room. Hunter follows you before grunting as a noise of approval. Making your way to the window, you grab Tech's helmet from where it sat under your arm and smashed it. Hunter gives you an exasperated look as he walks past you and out the window first, to which you only say, "What? It was a lot easier than putting everything down and opening it.

Once both of you are outside, you make your way to the location where you two started the mission. Reaching the spot a few meters away, you open the com with Crosshair again, "Crosshair, tell Wrecker to light it up. Now!"

Instead of getting an actual response as an answer, you could hear the various explosions coming from the area behind you.

"Nice work you two but meet up with us where we made camp before, it will be quicker to get back to the Marauder with Wrecker carrying Tech," You say into the com again before forcing yourself to walk in the direction of the temporary camp from before.

"Rodger that," Both Crosshair and Wrecker's voices come through the comlink before the transmission ends again with a beep.

-

The four of you, plus an unresponsive Tech, met up quickly and rushed back to the Marauder as soon as you could. Reaching the ship was a relief as Hunter had immediately gone into the cockpit and got you guys off the planet, and Wrecker took Tech to the bunks with you in tow with medical supplies.

Once Wrecker placed Tech on his respective bunk, you immediately rushed him out of the room and got to work. Removing the hastily applied bacta patch, you assessed the wound that Tech had got before he was captured. It was nasty at first glance, but you assumed it was even worse before he had the first batch patch applied. The cut ran from his left shoulder across his torso, coming to finally stop at the bottom of his right ribs. Luckily, the cut wasn't that deep, because there would have been hardly a chance, he would've survived that. Continuing your work, you cleaned the wound before wrapping it up again in another bacta patch. Standing up and observing the handiwork of your terrible medical experience, you run a full body scan with your datapad just to check for any other injuries that could internal. Thankfully, the scan came up negative and you could assume that Tech had just passed out due to blood loss. He still looked extremely pale as you stood there and stared at him, but some color was starting to return to his body.

Sitting back down, you grasped his hand in yours and looked at both hands together. As the weight of the day's events slowly started the catch up with you, you could hardly help yourself as you began to fall asleep. In a state of half-consciousness, you could've sworn you felt Tech's hand squeezing yours, but you were too tired to even process the notion that he might've.

-

The feeling of someone pulling your hand to their lips pulled you out of your nap and caused you to pick your head up from the side of Tech's bunk.

"Good morning Tech," you said before you could even process what was happening, but as soon as the words left your mouth your head snapped up and your eyes immediately widened. "Tech! You're up!"

Tech let out a breathy chuckle before trying to force his way up, only for you immediately to place your hand on his good shoulder and force him back down, "Nope, no getting up for you just yet. You had us all worried sir," you say while shifting your position to get a better look at him.

"I never meant to cause you guys any trouble," he says sincerely, "We had all got split up when those droids attacked us, and they caught me by surprise by sending in reinforcements."

"It's okay Tech, you don't need to justify your actions, you're alive and here back on the Marauder with us. That is all that matters," you say before gripping his hand again and squeezing it.

"Y'know while the droids were dragging me away as I was bleeding out, I couldn't help but focus on one thing," he says while squeezing your hand in return.

"Oh? And what was that?" You ask with a smile on your face.

Tech smiles back at you before bringing your hand to his lips again and placing a firm kiss on your knuckles, "I couldn't stop thinking about how I hadn't told you how much I love you."

Freezing in your place at the combinations of the words and the sincerity in Tech's tone, you couldn't help but find yourself smiling wider at what he had said. "I love you too Tech, too much. I thought I had lost you today but I'm so glad I didn't," you say with finality in your tone.

Leaning down to place a kiss on his lips you find yourself in a state of relief. Tech was back and safe out of harm's way, and he really does love you. Pulling away from the kiss, but still holding eye contact with him you say, "You still need to rest up, and don't think that kissing me will be a distraction."

Tech rolls his eye and lets out a groan before smirking and saying, "Well after I'm all healed you better make it up to me."

You smack his leg and let out a huff of frustration and as you go to walk out of the room you say, "We'll see about that one Tech. We'll see."

taglist: @bandaid-bunny @haloangel391

a/n: once again i feel like this is meh but i still dont know. i meant to have this done 2 days ago but almost passed out because of my second dose of the covid vaccine, plus i had a 6 page paper due so likeeee. anyway TAKE THIS right after the new episode, also if you guys watched it already... HOLY SHITTTT 🙏