#you think you two discovered 'teamwork'?

[uchihakeimei]

But... you did this?

Again. Kaiser. You are the one who did this.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Kaiser, honey, I love you with all my heart but have some awareness 😭

[goodlucktai]

9, raph and leo?

dialogue prompts

9. “I know, I know it hurts.”

x

When Raph was eight years old, the twins decided they needed their own bedrooms and, like with all other things they had ever decided, they made it everyone else’s problem. As a united front, the two of them had the capacity to wear down a squad of Navy Seals in a manner of days, let alone one overtired single father. 

The campaign for separate bedrooms turned out to be a long con. Donnie had been denied an evil science laboratory by Splinter multiple times, on the grounds of it being dangerous, and Donnie being seven, and evil being bad. But a room of his own could be whatever he wanted, and he wanted a lab. 

It took most of a week for Splinter to discover that the twins were still doubled up in the room that was ostensibly Leo’s while Donnie’s was being used for nefarious purposes, but by then Donnie had installed an electronic lock on the door that he built out of components gutted from old kitchen appliances and was fully ready to die on that hill. 

While Pops and Donnie were locked in a contest of wills that would ultimately go in Donnie’s favor (because Splinter’s achilles heel back then—and even now—was that he thought little turtles at their most sulky and unreasonable were just adorable) Raphie had looked at Leo with a confused frown on his face. 

“How come you went along with it, Lee? You didn’t even get your own room.”

Leo shrugged, bright gold eyes shining with interest as he watched his twin and his father argue back and forth. He was following it carefully, probably ready to join in if it looked like Donnie was going to lose—more engaged than he ever was playing video games or flipping through comics. 

At the time, all Leo said was, “Just wanted to see if I could.”

Raph thought it was because he was a troublemaker, and he maintained that idea up until Mikey—intuitive beyond his years, even as a sweet little six year old—said he figured it was just that Leo’s head went as crazy fast as Donnie’s did, only in ways that didn’t involve breaking and building things. 

A full decade later, Raph knows Mikey was right on the money. Looking back, he sees a kid who was wickedly smart and terribly understimulated. Leo didn’t create trouble for the heck of it, he just liked having problems to solve. He wanted conversations and tricks and puzzles, he needed hoops to jump through like dolphins did on TV, or else he’d get cranky and sneaky. 

Their world became a much simpler, more peaceful place once Leo got his first phone and discovered an online chess app with a leaderboard. 

All this to say, Leo has had a mind for strategy since before he could talk in full sentences. He’s a natural-born leader, and after the failed Krang invasion, he really stepped up and took it seriously. Raph is so proud of him he doesn’t have words big enough to contain the size and shape of it all. It isn’t as hard as he had imagined it would be to let go of the reins and give Leo the room he needs to shine. 

Some days are better than others. For the most part, Leo says jump and his brothers don’t even ask how high, they just shoot for the rafters. Their teamwork is cohesive, as solid as it was when they initially realized their ninpo, and Raph thinks he’d feel sorry for the Shredder if that guy showed his face in their town again. 

But there are also days like today, when Leo says something that Raph’s big brother meter pings as Leo being silly, stirring shit up for lack of better thing to do, and he doesn’t linger on it past that initial knee-jerk impression. 

They’re working with a group of mutants out of Hell’s Kitchen, mutants who are walking the line between vigilantism and outright crime. They’re rough around the edges, but good-natured for the most part. The turtles kept bumping into that other group as they crisscrossed around the city until finally their leader, Old Hob, said, “Why don’t we just get on the same program instead of stepping on each other’s heels?” and a tentative partnership was formed. 

It’s been a week since then, and in that time Raph and his brothers have been firmly adopted by the grown-up mutants, who ask pointed questions about what time they went to bed the night before and whether or not they had a decent breakfast and how their online classes are going. 

“This must be what having overbearing aunties is like,” Donnie said to April on the phone none-too-quietly, and Sally, feline mutant and aforementioned overbearing auntie, knocked her knuckles on his battleshell reprovingly. But that about summed it up. 

There was one spanner in the works, and that was Liam.  

——

“Anyone else getting bad vibes from that guy by the way?” Leo says one day. 

There’s something performative about it, his usual pomp and charisma with a plastic edge. Mikey tilts his head like a service dog who just caught the scent of a potential medical emergency. Donnie looks up from his phone, eyes keen the way they only are when he and his twin are about to communicate with the telepathy they’ll deny they have.

But Raph is having a bad pain day, and his well of patience for shenanigans is much shallower than it normally is. 

“Leon, don’t start,” he says, rubbing the slider’s head playfully to take any sting out of the dismissal. “If I have to put up with any middle child nonsense today I’m gonna scream.”

There’s a beat, his second-youngest brother visibly hesitating on a mental fork in the road. He’s gotten so good about being forthcoming but his first impulse is still to play along, deny, conceal-don’t-feel. He still has this idea in his head of what a good leader is supposed to be, and he’s still willing to whittle parts of himself away that don’t fit that mold. 

To his credit, Leo tries again. “I don’t like him,” he says with less certainty. 

“You don’t have to be best friends with the guy,” Raph replies. There’s enough warning in his tone that Leo knows to drop it. “Just get along until we go home.”

He works his shoulder, trying to do something about the solid ache it’s become, and Leo’s eyes drop to the mass of scarring there and then flit away. He starts to outline the route their patrol is going to take, reaching into his belt bag for the jar of Tiger Balm he’s taken to carrying with him and handing it over to Raph as he talks. 

Raph smiles, the warmth in his chest ballooning up to swallow the impending impatience and annoyance brought out by pain. That warmth stays with him through their whole run, even as Donnie video-calls April and deadpans “POV you’re tailing some guy who didn’t get the memo that armed robbery is cringe as hell,” even as Mikey goes out of his way to jump and tumble off a fire escape in time to give Mondo a high-five as he skates by in the opposite direction, even as Leo progressively gets quieter the closer they get to their two AM check-in at the Mutanimals’ railyard base.

Looking back, Raph can count all the red flags he missed and hates himself a little more for each one. Leo sometimes causes problems for fun, and he likes to see what trouble he can get away with or get himself out of, and he is a downright menace to society when he’s bored—but he’s good. He’s sweet, and charming, and wants to help. He wouldn’t have raised an issue with the other group of mutants, potentially cutting ties with useful allies, unless he had a decent reason to. 

And that reason, Raph discovers that night—after information has been exchanged and all that's left is to hang out at the base watching TV and playing table tennis until Splinter inevitably texts to remind his sons of their curfew—is Liam. 

He doubles back into the meeting room where he left his phone and sees the goose mutant has put himself between Leo and the only exit, head lowered on a serpentine neck, beak open to show a flash of sharp teeth in a display that Raph’s animal hindbrain reads clearly as threat. 

His grip on the doorframe causes it to crack. 

“Leo,” he says in a voice he doesn’t recognize. 

His little brother’s head jerks up, half-hopeful, half-disbelieving. Later, Raph will hate himself for putting even a sliver of doubt in Leo’s mind, for unknowingly invalidating his feelings. Leo should never be surprised that his big brother showed up for him. He should never have been left to fend for himself in a situation that made him uncomfortable, especially after he found the courage to be upfront about it. 

“C’mere,” Raph says, lifting an arm��a little turtle’s cue to tuck themselves safely against Raph’s side. 

Whatever his expression is doing, it’s caused dead silence to blanket the room like a foot of packed snow. Liam looks markedly unhappy to see Raphael standing there, but Leo runs to meet him. 

A strategist, a faceman, a leader, and barely seventeen years old. 

“We were just talking,” Liam says with a lightness that rings as false. 

“Next time I find out you and my brother were just talking, I’ll wring your skinny neck,” Raph replies, matching his tone. Liam may be twice Raph’s age, but he’s half Raph’s size, and Raph has gone head-to-head with the Krang general and the Shredder and walked it off each time. Raph is fully prepared, in this moment, to murder this fucking goose. 

Leo taps on Raph’s carapace, just as one of his violent inner voices is lifting its head in the back of his brain and considering making an appearance. On Leo’s end, a warning that someone else is coming from down the hall. On Raph’s end, a reminder that his first priority is the one he’s holding. 

He turns, keeping Leo beside him, in time to see Hob appear around the corner. The cat mutant stops dead in his tracks, slitted eyes moving from Raph, down to Leo, to the doorway beside them, and back again.  

“Problem?”

“We’re going home,” Raph says, a rumble in his voice he wouldn’t know how to temper even if he wanted to. “And we’re not coming back. Don’t call us unless someone’s dying or there’s another alien invasion.”

“Knock on wood,” Leo mumbles near-silently. 

Old Hob doesn’t answer right away. It’s impossible to tell what the older mutant is thinking on a good day, outwardly recalcitrant and unfriendly, even though he has never snapped at Mikey’s cheerful rambling or Leo’s wheedling attempts to goad him into yet another chess match or even Donnie’s accidental ninpo-related shortage of every appliance in the Mutanimals’ kitchen. He and Sally and Ray and Herman all go out of their way to make their base comfortable and accessible to the turtles and Mondo and Pete, like it really matters to them that the younger mutants have a safe place tucked away that they can fall back on. 

And Raph had appreciated that, up until now. Up until they proved it wasn’t safe, actually. Up until he’d seen a grown man leering meanly at his baby brother, just because he thought he could keep getting away with it.

When Hob does speak, all he says is, “Get home safe, boys.”

Raph shoulders around him, and collects Donnie and Mikey from the main room immediately. Mikey says, “Woah, are you guys okay?” and Donnie shoots a poisonous look behind them, like if he glares hard enough he can see back in time to what happened to put those expressions on Leo and Raph’s faces. 

“We’re peachy, Miguelito,” Leo says, disquietingly convincing. “Just had a difference of opinion with our hosts is all.” 

“Stay out of Hell’s Kitchen from now on until I say so,” Raph adds sternly. 

Raph tells dad about Liam when they get home, because there is no universe where that doesn’t happen, and Leo immediately gets hauled into Splinter’s room for what sounds like a very serious conversation. Raph, Donnie and Mikey cluster shamelessly outside the door to eavesdrop, and some frightened thing in Raph’s heart lets out the breath it’s been holding when Leo says, “Nothing happened, papa, I promise. He was just weird.”

“Let him be weird to my Baby Blue one more time and I will show him exactly why your father was the undisputed Battle Nexus champion,” Splinter says. He cups Leo’s face and rubs his thumb over a striped cheek, as if he’d like to keep his son right there where no one had the capacity to hurt him. “Thank you for telling us. I’m so proud of you. I will actually kill him if he looks at you again.”

Leonardo smiles brightly, daddy’s boy of the family and glutton for attention that he is, those leftover dregs of anxiety in his eyes finally melting away. 

“I think we should let dad kill him,” Donnie announces, eyes icy, tone flat. 

“Nah,” Mikey says, disingenuously cheerful. “Next time we run into Liam I’m setting him the fuck on fire!” 

“Language,” Raph scolds by rote, but his heart isn’t in it. 

He can’t get that scene he walked in on back at the railyard out of his head. He can’t help thinking what if something worse had happened because I didn’t listen? 

It feels like there’s a ghost in his chest, rattling his heart. He’s haunted by the what if. 

——

After dinner, Leo looks at Raph meaningfully and points at the infirmary. Doctor Leo’s orders supersede all others, 100% of the time, so Raphael sighs and surrenders his controller to Mikey’s grabby hands without bothering to make the token argument. He keeps driving Princess Peach off the track anyway. 

“Have you been stretching?” Leo says, feeling along Raph’s upper arm, where the muscles are visibly knotted. Even his careful touch hurts—that whole side of his body is tender with pain. Raph can’t help but flinch when his shoulder spasms and Leo hisses. “Shit, sorry, I know, I know it hurts. God, Raphie, you gotta say something before it gets this bad. I’m not afraid to bench you, big guy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Raph says, amused by his little brother’s no-nonsense tone, warmed by the care Leo always takes with his family when they’re sitting in his infirmary and putting their hurts in his hands. 

There’s nothing performative about him here. It’s just Leo, stripped of every false layer. 

“Let’s try to massage it out,” Leo says, all his attention bent to the task. “Then we’ll apply heat.” 

Raph hums, watching him work. His arm radiates pain, and he has to grit his teeth as Leo goes to work on the knots and the ache flares close to unbearable and wanes to a dull throb and then flares again. 

“Hey,” Raph says before he can overthink it any more. “What would you have done if I didn’t see you and Liam?”

Leo pauses, but only for a split-second. He’s as good as cornered here, because there’s no way he’ll leave Raph when he’s in pain, and there’s nowhere to hide. Thankfully for Raph’s sanity, he doesn’t try to pretend he doesn’t know what they’re talking about, even if he takes a long moment to finally answer. 

“Would’ve made Angie make me a Portal Promise to never be alone with him,” Leo admits. Flushing slightly, he mumbles, “It’s, uh, a thing we do—we both make portals, you know, so—it just means we have to keep that promise no matter what happens or what rules we have to break, and we won’t get in trouble later as long as we’re honest.” 

Raph’s heart hurts. His little brothers are so sweet, and people exist in the world who would hurt them, and he has no idea how to reconcile that. He hates that both things could be true at the same time. 

“Tello doesn’t need to be encouraged to stay away from people, and I’m pretty sure he can read my mind? But I would’ve told him anyway,” Leo goes on. “I tell him everything. I’d try to word it so he didn’t get angry enough to do something drastic, like, cut the brake lines on Liam’s Toyota Corolla. And I’d have to make it sound like you and I were on the same page, otherwise he’d go to you about it, and you’d—uh, be annoyed that I didn’t drop it, I guess.”

Getting impaled by the Krang hurt less than this, Raph thinks. He feels sick. 

“Leo—”

“I know,” Leo says quickly, a little too loud. “I know that I don’t always take stuff seriously. It’s not your fault for thinking—you know. You didn’t do anything wrong, Raphie. I just gotta grow up.”

This kid, who—like the rest of them—has already matured well past his age, well before he should have had to. Who’s terrified of letting his family down, who has so much he thinks he needs to live up to. Any perceived failure weighs on him like the death penalty, and Raph knows he had a hand in that. 

He needs to listen. Even when he’s aching and short-tempered. Even when Leo is talking around something that scares him. Maybe especially then. 

“Can we make a deal?” Raph says, reaching up to hold Leo’s hands still under one of his own. Leo is staring hard at Raph’s plastron and doesn’t seem willing to lift his eyes for love or money, but he jerks his head in a nod. “Next time I’m not hearing you, and it’s something serious like today was serious, tell me, and I’ll stop.”

Leo’s mouth twists a bit. If it were for anyone else’s sake, he’d get in Raph’s face and make himself heard no problemo, but it’s an entirely different story when it’s his own safety in question. That part of Leo that wants to always rely on his brothers is constantly at war with the part that believes he’s not supposed to need anyone’s help anymore. 

It would be impossible for him to plant himself like a tree and refuse to be budged and demand Raph’s attention if he thought for one second that it would make Raph angry at him. 

“What if we came up with a code word?” Raph offers, squeezing Leo’s hands. “If I’m being a stubborn punk, you can tell me the code word, and I’ll listen, and I won’t get mad. Even if it turns out to be a mistake or a misunderstanding. Okay?”

He finally gets a peek of gold as Leo dares to make eye contact. He looks embarrassed, like they’ve made a huge deal out of this for no good reason, and hiding inside his shell until everyone promises to pretend like nothing happened is looking more tempting by the second. 

But he’s Leo, their fearless leader. He stared down that portal into the prison dimension without flinching. If he can do that, he can do anything. 

“What word?” he finally says. 

“You pick,” Raph tells him. 

A smile creeps onto Leo’s face, picking its way carefully across shaky ground. 

“‘Goose’,” he suggests.

"‘Goose’ it is," Raph replies firmly, committing it to memory.

He lifts his good arm and drags his little brother into a solid hug, ignoring the twinge in his back and side. Leonardo scrambles to return the embrace, shoving his face against Raph’s unscarred shoulder and clinging for all he’s worth. Which is a lot. He’s worth so much. 

Later, when Raph’s got the electric heating pad on his arm and he and Leo are watching TikTok compilations to pass the time, Mikey comes through the infirmary door at top speed, waving his phone above his head like a maniac. 

“Look what Mondo sent me!” he shouts at full volume. “I put it in the group chat!”

The video shared in the Mad Dogz chat shows Liam being kicked out of the railyard, his bags tossed into the road. Sally is going off at him at the top of her lungs, and Hob is standing by with his arms folded like he’s fully ready to let her maul the guy, and the rest of the grown-up mutants are making it pretty clear with their body language that the goose isn’t welcome anymore. 

“Dunno what they saw on the security cam, but they effin’ hated it,” Mondo says in the recording, unbothered by the absolute chaos unfolding in front of him. “Good riddance, Liam sucks. Oh, Mikester, Hob wants to know if you guys’ll be back in the Kitchen for Herman’s D&D oneshot on Saturday so he knows how much food to order. He said you should bring your dad around this time—as if we need another boring old man in the group, ugh. Anyway, let me know and I’ll pass it along, dude!”

A weight Raph hadn’t even realized he was still carrying melts off his shoulders. Leo huffs under his breath, a disbelieving little laugh. 

“Can we go, Raphie?” Mikey asks with wide eyes. “Don worked so hard on all our character sheets. He even 3D-printed custom figurines.”

“My bard is going to carry this team,” Donnie says loudly from the next room, because he’s never met a private conversation he wouldn’t shamelessly listen in on. 

It’s so important to the Mutanimals that their young friends feel safe with them, and here’s proof of that in Mikey’s hands. Raph doesn’t fully understand why they care, but he’s grateful that they do. It didn’t hit him until now how much it hurt to have the railyard taken away—and how relieved he is that they can go back, after all. 

He squeezes the arm he still has around Leo’s shoulders, prompting his brother to look up at him. 

“What do you say, Fearless?” he says warmly. “Your call.”

Raph’s listening this time. 

[gothamhappiness]

Being in a relationship with Bruce Wayne: a journey - First time (part III)

It's a big series about an afab!reader who doesn't like Bruce Wayne and who still falls in love with him (he fells quicker and harder)

Reader's origin story // Part 1 // Part 2

Warnings: no proof reading, sexual activity (explicit), mentions of reader being attacked by Double Face's goons, wild cat!reader, needy!Bruce

You had told yourself you would only have one more date with Bruce, just one. For investigation purposes and nothing more.

And yet, when it was time to say goodbye to the man, you realised you didn’t ask the questions you had prepared. You had been too caught up in the moment to care about anything else.

So you promised yourself just one other date, and this time you would ask the questions you had. You didn’t really know why Bruce was so eager to have dates with you. You didn’t seem like the kind of woman he usually went out with.

And really, you had no idea how you ended talking to him everyday and seeing him whenever the two of you had time, even for a quick lunch. You were both always finding a way to make time to see each other. It was important. It felt important. You couldn’t even pretend it was because you wanted to know all his secrets anymore. Of course, you wanted to know, but not because you were a journalist, because you really liked to spend time with him.

It seemed Bruce quite enjoyed himself when he was around you as well. For the first time in his life, he did his best to balance a little more his life as Batman and his life as Bruce Wayne. It meant he was trusting his children a little more with the vigilante work. He was now talking a lot about teamwork and solidarity. And so far, the children couldn’t say Batman was lying to them.

A few months passed by, and you were both still spending as much time as before together. It started to be obvious you were finding each other very attractive. 

You couldn’t deny it anymore when you ended up in a very luxurious hotel room with Bruce Wayne. At first, it was because you both wanted to go a little further and the hotel was very close by. That night you just happily kissed each other and slept in the same bed. Bruce left in the middle of the night, and left you a little note to thank you for the evening. 

If it started for kisses, after a few nights, his hands got a little more greedy. He had been careful to not do anything that would make you uncomfortable. When he had moved his hands under your skirt, he softly asked you if it was okay.

You nodded, and started to undress him as well. 

You couldn’t think. 

You just wanted to touch him, you wanted him. You had sex with guys and girls before, but you had never wanted someone that badly. The more heated the kiss was getting, the more desperate for him you were getting as well. You were relieved to feel that it was the same for Bruce.

He needed you.

And yet he took his sweet time to discover your body. You had thought he would be the kind of guy to try and skip the preliminaries, but on the contrary. He was almost scientifically looking for your most sensitive spots. He expertly found them and used them against you. You even forgot about his pleasure when he was playing with you so efficiently. He made you come twice before you asked for him. He wouldn’t have stopped if you hadn’t asked, no matter how hard he was. Hearing your moans, seeing your face screwed up in pleasure, feeling your body against his were heaven to him. He was getting absolutely obsessed with you, even more than he already was.

Once he got inside of you, for a brief instant before the pleasure completely took over, he thought that he would go absolutely insane if you ran away from him after this. He already knew he would forever want more of you. 

You played with each other as if you could feel what the other wanted. You were in sync.

You both climaxed and Bruce gently removed himself from you before bringing you against his chest. He fully leaned against the pillows and closed his eyes in bliss. He felt truly good for once. He knew he needed to let his children know he was going to be so late for patrol, but for the moment he just wanted to enjoy what he had with you.

You snuggled against him, but you thought you needed to go. You wondered if that was not a mistake. You had promised yourself something like that wouldn’t happen.

Why was it feeling so right at the same time then?

“I should come home” you whispered

“Stay a little longer, please” Bruce murmured back

You looked up at him and you didn’t have the strength to leave his embrace. You completely relaxed against him, and the man softly hummed in appreciation. You started to trace all the scars littering his chest. You hadn’t noticed them when you had undressed him. You had felt them when you were making love, but you hadn’t really registered them. Now you could have a closer look at them.

However his own touch was distracting you. He was drawing abstract patterns on your back. You didn’t want to leave his embrace anymore and he clearly didn’t want to move either. The man was fully relaxed for once. 

The comfortable silence around the two of you allowed you to get a hold on your thoughts after a little while. 

You were wondering what the man did to get so hurt. The scars were deep and you had felt that they were present on his whole body. However Bruce Wayne wasn’t known to be a warrior of any kind. He was so muscular too, so strong. His suits were hiding how powerfully built he truly was. He reminded you of someone but you weren’t too sure of whom yet.

Your mind thought once again about all the "toys" produced by Wayne Enterprises.

You also remembered about his adopted kids who all seemed very well trained as well. And funny enough, whenever Bruce got a new child under his roof, now you thought about it a little more, it seemed like Gotham got a new vigilante.

Batman was known for his silence and his secrets. Bruce too.

You also remembered last week, when Batman saved you and your colleagues from Double-Face goons. Your newspaper had written and published quite nasty words about Harvey Dent so he had sent men to destroy you. Batman had been quick to react, quick to save you all. You had never seen him so close before. You had noticed the broad shoulders and the tense jaw. He had helped you back on your feet and checked on you to make sure you were all good. The intensity of his look reminded you of someone, but you didn’t think of Bruce yet. His presence was familiar; you just thought that was because you lived in Gotham for years now and that Batman's presence was familiar to everyone. But obviously, it was something else.

Now you understood. You personally knew Batman, you just didn’t know it then.

“You’re Batman, aren’t you?”

Bruce stopped stroking your back for an instant before resuming the gesture and cuddling you closer to his chest. It was easier now there was no more secret between the two of you. He had been late to quite a few dates and it was getting harder to find excuses. He had noticed you weren’t always believing him when he was talking to you too. Now he could simply focus on seducing you.

“I knew you’d figure it out easily. You see and get stuff rights away.” he hummed onto your hair before kissing the top of your crane. 

You looked up at him, reaching for his shoulder.

“You don’t seem to mind that I know who you are… And I guess your kids are the other vigilantes in town” you hummed

“From the beginning, I knew you would discover our secret identities if I keep seeing you. But for once I wanted to be selfish” he admitted

“Selfish?” you asked

“I really like you. You… make me happy” he whispered and you sat up to face him

“Look, I don’t usually like rich people, even if… well I guess you’re pretty decent. And yeah Batman is doing a good job. Most of the time. But I don’t know if a “us” would be a good idea” you said

“Why not?” he gently brought you closer to him

“I’m not certain I want to start something, even with a normal guy, which you are not” you admitted and he chuckled

“I’m not asking for any commitment. We can just keep having dates, spending time together, having sex if you want this too. You can see other people. I just need you to stay around.” he offered even if you could tell he wanted more than just this.

“I’m surprised you’re not asking me to keep your identity a secret” you said

“I trust you. You are a good person, you only write about bad things” he said

“How do you know Batman isn't a bad thing?”

“I know you’re not my biggest fan. But I believe you will, from now on, tell me directly what you think and not have to write it down somewhere else.” he replied “You didn’t answer about our relationship” he commented

“Alright”

“Alright?”

“I don’t mind keeping going with whatever we have. As long as this isn’t anything official” you didn’t even really know why you agreed but you enjoyed the sincere smile appearing on Bruce’s face and lighting up his eyes.

--

PART 4

--

Taglist for all my work <3

@blublock404

@wind-canoe

@silverklaus

@couldeatthatgirlforlunch

Taglist for Bruce Wayne <3

@alishii

Taglist for this series <3

@Esposadomd

@moraxussy

@resident-cryptid

@legendarypiratecheesecake

[blackstar-liveblogs]

Thinking about tr!Scott again.

I've had these thoughts ever since the 4 Warriors lore was layed out in front of us.

His investigative and questioning nature came into play so well today. Bek was explaining everything that happened and was discovered, and Scott asked all the right questions to make sure no rock was left unturned.

He saw the chance that there could also be information regarding him spawning in as a giant snail and he was not wrong. Still, he was caught a bit off-guard at the answers he got.

Scott's initial response was: ''That's... a lot to take in, but makes so much sense at the same time.''

And while he's still processing and receiving the information, he asked for his log.

You can hear in his voice that he was at certain levels of surprised with what the log said. Still, he confirmed with Bek that the 4 warriors were him, Krow, Freddie and Jonnaay, and went quiet for a second, before opening the log again.

''It's like finding your diary and not even remembering you did what it's in there.''

It's just those words in the log: ''Clearly the memory wipe has made him soft.''

And thinking about how recently Scott has been so against violence and any kind of violent retaliation. He literally got excited at the potential idea that Ros could not be a fan of violence anymore a few days ago.

He's building a corporate retirement home so any team can use to solve their issues with teamwork activities and chill away from everything else. He's trying to find non-violent solutions to the continuous conflicts he sees around.

He was overstimulated with everything that was going down the day of Bad chasing Foolish, and horrified when others even dared to hit therapy dog.

And, of course, he's doing everything in his power to stay out of the conflict between Tubbo and Blue. He's not a fan of the war that was declared everytime it's mentioned.

It places a lot of things into perspective and makes me ask:

Was he a no-hesitation kind of warrior before? Was he more willing to be violent before his snail consumed him?

Is it really the memory loss that ''made him soft''? Or is there something there in his subconscious that makes him reject violence so strongly? Something that happened before he forgot everything?

Or was he never violent before? Maybe the Keepers forced him into a warrior role to fight the corruption and he had no choice? Did he grow to care for any of the other three warriors and that could have been his motivation to fight despite his peaceful preferences?

I wonder what's going on through that cubito's head after learning all of this. Because it can go two ways.

a) He could decide to not care much about it and try to move on, focus on his peaceful builder life. Brushing it off as he attempted to do when the horrors of the calamities were right in front of him, even if he was genuinely nervous about them. Scott has a track record of the horrors finding ways to come to him regardless of his best attempts to ignore it, so it could be something that stays lingering near him and never truly leaves.

b) He could also let his investigative nature win and try to know more about the past he forgot. Ask around, maybe contact the Keepers about it, slowly find clues.

Who knows, with tr!Scott is literally option 1 or 2. Perhaps we can be surprised and ends up being a mix of both.

[guoduxass]

Oscar Piastri 🧡

Warnings: Erm angs I think....

Y/N stood by the window, staring out at the city lights. The apartment felt emptier than usual, echoing with the silence that had become all too familiar lately. Oscar Piastri, her boyfriend and a rising star in the racing world, had been increasingly distant.

She took a deep breath, gathering the courage to address the growing divide between them. "Oscar, we need to talk," Y/N finally spoke, turning to face him. His eyes, usually filled with determination, now seemed distant and preoccupied.

"What's there to talk about?" Oscar replied, not bothering to look up from his laptop. The glow of the simulator reflected on his face, emphasizing the growing distance.

"I miss you," Y/N confessed, her voice tinged with frustration. "You're always on the simulator or at the paddock. I feel like I'm alone in this relationship."

Oscar sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This is what it takes, Y/N. I'm working towards something big, and it requires dedication."

"I get that, Oscar. But we used to be a team. Now, it feels like you're living in a different world, and I'm just an afterthought," Y/N's voice wavered with a mixture of hurt and longing.

The conversation escalated into a heated argument. Y/N poured out her feelings, expressing the loneliness that had slowly crept into their relationship. Oscar, in his pursuit of success, struggled to see the toll it was taking on the person he cared about the most.

In the heat of the moment, Oscar uttered words he would later regret. "Maybe you just can't handle the reality of dating a racer. If you can't keep up, maybe you should find someone else."

Those words hung in the air, heavy with pain. Y/N's eyes welled up with tears as the weight of his dismissal sank in. Without saying a word, she grabbed her coat and left the apartment, leaving behind an air of anguish.

Two days passed, and Oscar's world crumbled. The silence of the apartment became deafening. Sleep eluded him, and the constant hum of the simulator mocked his solitude. The realization of what he had said hit him like a ton of bricks.

He replayed the argument in his mind, each harsh word cutting deeper. The emptiness around him echoed the void Y/N had left. Oscar, the rising star, felt like a falling comet, crashing into the harsh reality of his actions.

It was then, in the midst of loneliness, that Oscar understood the gravity of his mistake. The trophies and accolades seemed meaningless without the person who had been his anchor. Racing, once a source of passion, now felt hollow without Y/N by his side.

Determined to make amends, Oscar set out to find Y/N. He discovered she had sought refuge at a friend's place, seeking solace away from the harsh words that had shattered her. As he stood at the door, the weight of his remorse heavy on his shoulders, he knocked, hoping for forgiveness.

When the door opened, Y/N's eyes were red from tears, and the pain of the past few days etched on her face. Oscar took a deep breath, his words sincere and apologetic. "I messed up, Y/N. I shouldn't have said what I did. I can't imagine my life without you. I'm sorry, and I want to make things right."

Y/N studied his eyes, searching for sincerity. The silence hung between them before she finally nodded, her heart softening. "I need you to understand that I can't be an afterthought in your life, Oscar. We need to find a balance."

Oscar nodded, a weight lifting off his chest as Y/N allowed him back into her world. In that moment, they both realized that love, like racing, required balance and teamwork. As they embraced, the city lights outside seemed to glow with a promise of a renewed journey, one where they would navigate the twists and turns together.

[good-beans]

WHY

Sketches of Fuuta's sister for... ah... reasons.

(Totally not trying to get a reaction out of Beans what do you mean?)

I tried to match Fuuta's eye shape and make the hair more jagged, but it still looks like the girls with dyed hair...

[obiwansito]

spineless in my tomb of silence

the great war - chapter one

playlist 𐐒𐐚 taglist ʚĭɞ fic masterlist

pairing- obi wan kenobi x f!reader

word count- 5,02k

summary- after a few days of feeling bad, you discover something that will change your life forever. how will you explain it to obi-wan, if he is thousands of light years away?

tags for this chapter- angst, fluff, unplanned pregnancy, discussions about pregnancy, anxiety, minor discusions, intrusive thoughts.

a/n- welcome to the first chapter of tgw. buckle up, this will be a wild journey. this fic has been on my mind since march, and i have planned great things for it. enjoy <3

“Kriff.” You whispered, getting up from the refresher mat, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. It was your second time vomiting so far this morning, and you had been like this for almost five days.

You had recently arrived from a long mission, and now you were on your break, stranded in the Jedi Temple teaching younglings.

Actually, you were grateful. You had spent nearly five months traveling across the Outer Rim to fight on the front lines, so finally getting back to your routine at home was a relief.

Of course, it had its cons. You had gotten used to seeing your partner, Obi-Wan, every day, as the council assigned you together on most missions because of your great teamwork. But unfortunately, he couldn't get a break, and was still in the Outer Rim with Anakin indefinitely.

Though deep down you were glad he wasn't here at the moment, as he constantly worried about you and you knew he would be worried if he knew you had caught an illness.

Or well, you wanted to think you were sick. But the timing of your period told you otherwise, and that had you quite worried. At first you thought you had eaten something bad, but you realized that your period was almost a month late. Maybe it was the stress of the war, or maybe....

You shook your head. No, it wasn't possible. That absolutely could not happen. It mustn't.

You decided to seek help from your closest friend outside the temple, the one you trusted the most and knew could help you with your little problem. Plus, as a bonus, she was the only one who knew about your relationship with Obi-wan.

The lift opened its doors, revealing a young woman sitting on the couch in her home. Her brown curls fell to the sides of her face, and a purple robe wrapped around her growing belly. It was Padme Amidala, senator of Naboo and your best friend.

Her face lit up when she saw you arrive, smiling at you and rising to give you a hug. “My dear! How have you been?”

“Padmé! Sorry for coming unannounced. To tell you the truth...I've been better. And you? How are you? And the baby?”

Your gaze lowered to your friend's baby bump.

When you arrived on Coruscant two weeks ago, you got the surprise of your life when you learned that your best friend was pregnant.

“ You're... what?!” Padmé laughed shyly, her hands caressing her swollen belly.

“It was a surprise to me, too. When I found out, I was alone and so scared. But now I'm more excited.”

“And Ani knows?”

Padmé exhaled, shaking her head. “No... How do you tell your secret Jedi husband that you're pregnant with his child by holo-call?”

You sighed. It was true, Anakin had also spent so much time away -even now- and hadn't seen his wife for nearly five months. Now you felt grateful that you had been able to spend so much time with Obi-wan. “If I've known Ani at all in the last thirteen years, I can assure you he'll go crazy. He loves you dearly, and I know he'll be very excited.”

Padmé looked at you with concern at what you said. “We're fine... But I'm beginning to wonder how much longer Ani will be out. I've had to live most of this pregnancy alone...” She complained, then looked at you, a little flushed. “Sorry, I'm just venting. Come, sit down. Would you like something to drink? I can tell Threepio to prepare something.”

You shook your head, sitting down next to her on the couch. “Oh no, dear, don't worry. I... well, I came to tell you something. Or rather, to ask you.”

“Sure, tell me.”

You gulped. Your heart was going a thousand miles a minute, this was about to become real. “How... how did you find out you're pregnant?”

She raised an eyebrow, hadn't expected that question. “Well... At first I was very queasy and throwing up, I also felt quite tired and my appetite had increased. I thought I was sick so I called a medical droid, and when he asked me the last date of my period I realized. Then he diagnosed me and well...here we are. why the question?”

You sighed, looking away. Apparently, your silence spoke for you, as Padmé gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth in surprise. “...You're joking, right?”

You shook your head, a knot in your throat. “I wish I was. But... I really don't know if I am... you know, or not.”

“What makes you think you are?

“For starters, I've been feeling exhausted these past few weeks. And a few days ago I started with nausea and throwing up. I thought I'd caught an illness or something, but today I checked my period calendar, and...”

“Kriff.”

“Yeah, kriff.’ You ran a hand through your hair, stressed. Now that you'd said it out loud, it was more real.

“All right, don't worry, I'm here to help you.” She rested her hand on your knee, with a reassuring look. “Here's what we'll do. I'll call a medical droid and he'll check you out. Don't worry, he's the one who attends to me, so none of this will leave from here.”

You nodded, your heart feeling warm from your friend's affection. “And whatever the result, you've got me. We're in this together, okay?”

You leaned in to hug her, whispering thanks. You felt tears threatening to come, you were so glad to have such an amazing friend like Padmé. Jedi were supposed to control their emotions, but right now you were failing a little bit at that. Maybe it was hormones... No. You had to think positive, it was probably something else, you weren't unlucky enough to get pregnant in the middle of a devastating war.

Half an hour later, you were lying on Padmé's bed, a medical droid examining you. “How long is your period overdue now?”

“Almost a month.” You mumbled. Padmé was sitting next to you, one hand on her belly and the other holding yours gently.

“Very well, I have your diagnosis.” Announced the droid after analyzing the results. “Miss... Naberrie?” you nodded. You had given Padmé's real last name so there would be no data of yours reaching the temple. “You are pregnant, approximately six weeks. Congratulations.”

Your heart dropped. You felt Padmé get up and escort the droid out, but your mind was elsewhere. This can't be happening. Your breathing was racing, your gaze fixed on one point in the room as your thoughts collapsed. What am I going to do? This is bad.

You were pale, an uncomfortable warmth running down your neck. Your eyes, wide open, couldn't focus on anything clearly. The air seemed to become thick, and it took you a second to breathe normally.

Padmé came back into the room and sat down across from you, but you didn't look at her. I'm going to be expelled from the Order... Obi-wan is going to leave me. I was so stupid. This can't be happening...

“Hey, hey. Look at me. It's going to be alright, okay?”

You didn't listen to her, you felt a storm in your head, messing up everything you had structured so perfectly. This isn't real. This can't be...

“Hey. Look at me, beautiful.” His hands were now on your cheeks, but you weren't reacting. You hadn't realized it, but you were crying.

Padmé called your name, and you finally snapped out of your thoughts. You looked at her, her eyes were wide and she was looking at you with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yes... yes. I'm fine.” You wiped your tears away with the back of your hand, taking a deep breath. You were a Jedi, you couldn't let yourself get carried away with emotions like that. You had been raised not to.

“Alright...Listen to me.” She took your hands in hers. “It's going to be okay. You're going to tell Obi-wan?”

“Well...yes. But, I guess we're in the same boat now.” You let out a chuckle, even though you weren't having fun. “How the kriff do I tell my Jedi boyfriend that I'm pregnant when he's thousands of light years away?”

“Tell me.” Padmé sighed. “How do you think he'll react?”

“I don't know. I mean, it's not like we never brought it up.” Your mind wandered to a conversation they'd had months ago, in their quarters at the Negotiator. “We talked about our lives if we weren't... you know, Jedi Generals in a war that seems to have no end.”

“And what did you say?”

“We'd get married.” You smiled sadly. “We'd go to Naboo -sorry to steal your idea- and we'd have a cabin in Lake Country. Just us and nature.”

“That's beautiful. And the kids?”

“One or two.” You sighed, wiping away tears. “It was...a particularly difficult day, and we'd still be fighting the next day. We thought maybe, you know, it would be the end of us.” You shrugged. “So that's why we set about planning our life in an alternate universe.”

“Hey.” You looked at her. “It's still possible, you know, I've been planning... Maybe I shouldn't say this, but... Some senators and I want to end the war diplomatically. No more invasions, no more sieges. No more death. So our happy ending is still possible. Obi-wan and you, Ani and me. We can be free. Our children could be friends.” You both laughed. “It will be all right, you'll see.”

You nodded. Maybe you were indeed being pessimistic. It wasn't all over.

“There's something else.”

“Yes?”

“That day, Obi-wan told me something. He said that... If I wanted him to leave the Order, I just had to say the word. And he would do it.”

“That's good, isn't it? You can do that. I'll help you in any way I can.”

“No, no. It's just... I know he said it, and I know he means it. But he knows I would never ask him to do that.” You swallowed hard. “The Order is his life, Padmé. I've never seen a Jedi as dedicated as he is. I know, I know we break a thousand rules every day to be together, but besides that, he just... It's what he's made for. And I don't want to be the one to take that away from him.”

“Listen to me. Obi-wan loves you too much, my dear. I know you guys think you're better at hiding your relationship than we are, but it's the little details that make me realize how much he loves you. The way he looks at you, how he talks about you... Kriff, he doesn't know that I know, but when we're talking and he mentions you... I can tell he's deeply in love.”

You smiled, your heart felt warm. “You are more important than anything, more important than the Order, than everything. And he knows that. So you don't have to worry about that, okay?” she stroked your cheek. “It's going to be all right, dear.”

You sniffled, trying to hold back your tears. “Thank you, Padmé. Really. You're wonderful. You know how to comfort me so well, even though you're in the same situation.”

“You don't have to thank me, darling. You know I'm here for you. And I know you're here for me. We'll work it out. We don't need men if we have each other.”

You laughed, nodding and leaned in to hug her. She was right. No matter what happened, at least you'd always have your best friend by your side.

You stayed for another hour in Padmé's apartment, chatting and making plans for when her baby was born. She only had one more month to go, so she told you how she wanted to paint the baby's room at the Naberrie residence on Naboo.

It was past noon when you arrived at the temple. You had one more hour before your class with the younglings, so you would take advantage of it to go to the dining hall. Usually you would prepare something in your quarters, but you were tired. Hopefully, they would serve something good... Or at least something that tasted okay.

As you walked through the halls, you came across a couple of kids running around. Among them, was Kyla, a togruta from your class.

“Slow down, little ones. You might get hurt.”

“Sorry, master!”

The little girl came up to you. She was ten years old and one of the best in the class. “Master, you will teach us today, won't you?”

“That's right, dear.” You crouched down to be on her level. “Lightsaber training. Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

You laughed at her enthusiasm. “Good. I'll see you in class, okay?”

She nodded, and you patted her back, standing up as you watched her go.

You had met Kyla when she was still a little kid, about five years ago. At that time, the temple was a better place. Now everything felt dark, empty. The aftermath of such a terrible war.

"Fond of the little one, you have grown, hmm?" you jumped as you heard those words behind you. You turned around, finding the grand master of the Jedi.

“Master Yoda, you frightened me.”

“Distracted you are. Otherwise, with the force you would have detected me.”

“I'm sorry, Master. I was just watching the younglings... It grieves me to know that they are growing up in the midst of a war.”

“Worry, you must not. Our best effort, we give, so future generations suffer, they will not."

“You are right.”

“To the dining room, you were going?” He pointed down the hall.

“That's right, I'm going to get something to eat before my next class.”

"Leave you, I will, then. Good luck, Master."

You nodded, and gave a little bow to leave. But his voice calling your name stopped you again. "A Padawan, good for you, it would be."

Your eyes widened. “What do you mean, master?”

“If you wanted, Kyla your padawan could be. Small she is still, but in a couple of years she'll be ready.”

You smiled. Your own apprentice. “I would love that, master.”

"Settled, it is, then."

He walked away, leaving you alone. You thought for a moment about what having a Padawan involved. Of course, you would love it, and a Jedi had to have one sometime, yes or yes. You had been lucky enough to be promoted to Master for your front-line achievements, but that didn't mean you shouldn't have one anymore. And you adored Kyla, she was a very smart and strong kid. You would make a great team.

Your chest hurt. Although you were trying to avoid thinking about it, it was inevitable. You were pregnant. There was no way out of it, no easy solution. You couldn't stay in the Order once the Council found out.

But that was hurting you, because you wanted to train her. She had so much potential and you could help her reach her maximum.

You were going to have to abandon her and all your children, whom you adored as if they were your own.

You shook your head, dispelling those thoughts. You had to focus on the present, then you would figure out the rest.

As it turned out, you might have been better off preparing something yourself in your quarters. The food at the Temple was, as always, terrible.

You were about to finish your... whatever it was they had served you, when you were approached by a pink twi'lek. It was Sammi, one of your oldest temple friends. You had met when you were barely younglings, and though you had drifted apart when you became padawans, the friendship was still there.

She called your name, coming to sit next to you. “How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while.”

“I got back a couple of weeks ago, I was sent to be a part of the sieges in the Outer Rim.”

The twi'lek raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Wow. What's it like to be on the front lines?”

Sammi was a Jedi healer, and worked in the temple's medical center, assisting Head Medical Officer Vokara Che. Therefore, she hadn't been sent to fight in the war like you.

“It's... difficult. I know we've been at war for almost four years, but I'm still not used to it.”

“I understand. You're going to stay on Coruscant for a while?”

You sighed. “I hope so, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Council decides to send me back soon.” You glanced at the clock on the wall, you were already running late. “Kriff.”

You stood up, grabbing your tray. “I'd love to stay longer talking, but I have classes. We can meet some other time, catch up.”

She smiled at you, nodding. “Yes, please. We can hang out at 79s, I might run into that lieutenant from your battalion...what was his name, Bones?”

You laughed. Sammi had never been the type to follow the rules, but you couldn't judge her as you weren't innocent either. “Yes, Sams, it's Bones. I'll tell Forge to go with the boys. I heard around that he thought you were cute...”

You liked chatting with Sammi. You felt like a teenage Padawan again, not a Master Jedi General with a hidden pregnancy.

The temple was quiet when you left your last class. It was getting dark, the wind filtered through the wide windows and made you shiver. You had spent a good time with the younglings, those children were hungry for learning and you were more than happy to teach them everything you knew.

You were on your way to your room when you noticed someone approaching you. As you turned around, you found Plo Koon, your master. He called your name warmly.

“Master.”

“My dear. How have you been?”

“Very well, but a little busy. You know, teaching Younglings.”

He chuckled. “I can imagine. You have a gift with those little ones, you know?”

“I worry about them. And for their learning. I fear the war is diverting us from our beliefs as Jedi...”

“I understand why you think that. But don't torture yourself, it will all get better eventually.”

You smiled at him. You were grateful, you couldn't have had a better master. He had always supported you in everything, listened to you and gave you the best advice, even though you were no longer his apprentice.

“I was looking for you, actually.” You looked at him curiously. “I was sent to lead the battle in Cato Neimoidia. We leave in the morning.”

You nodded. In the last three years, you had grown used to farewells like that. “Give Wolffe my regards.”

“I will.” You had fought several times alongside your master and his battalion, so you had had the opportunity to get to know the commander. At first you didn't get along so well, but over time you had learned to deal with his strong personality.

You sighed. You could guess what would happen next. “Now, my child...” He took you by the shoulders affectionately. “As always, take care of yourself. Don't fight too much with the council, and be patient with the younglings.”

You felt like a Padawan again. “I will, Master.”

“And remember, don't let hard times detract from your peace. Emotions are part of you, but you must not let them control you.” You nodded, giving him a tight-lipped smile. He probably felt your stress in your bond. “I won't take up any more of your time, you must be tired.”

“You would never do that, master.” You both smiled at each other. “May the force be with you.”

“And with you, my old padawan.”

He watched you for a moment, his gaze transmitting a peace you had always admired. Then, with a final squeeze of your shoulders, he let you be on your way.

You closed the door to your quarters, you were finally home after a long day. After taking a long shower, and changing into your sleeping robes, you lay down on your bed with your datapad.

You had decided to do a few missing mission reports before going to sleep, but a message on your comlink distracted you. As you turned it on, Obi-wan's warm voice flooded your room.

“Hello, darling. Sorry I haven't checked in all day, I've been a little... busy. Anyway, I know it's already dark on Coruscant. If, hopefully, you're not asleep, give me a call. I have a lot to tell you.”

You smiled, dialing his contact. He answered immediately, looking very tired. His hair was slightly messy, he had dark circles under his eyes and a frown. But his gaze softened at the sight of you.

“Darling."

“Hey, love.” You nestled your holo-projector on top of some books. “Where are you?”

“In a utility closet on Yularen's ship.” You raised an eyebrow and he laughed a little. “ Apologies for making you call me so late. You must be busy.”

“Oh no, don't worry about it. I was going to try to report on some missions, but you know... it's really boring. I'd rather talk to you.”

“I'm glad to hear that.” He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. You could tell something was bothering him.

“Are you okay, how did the battle go?”

“It was quite alright. Anakin ended up saving us with a crazy strategy, as usual.”

“Sounds like something he would do.”

“Oh, you would have loved it. The 501st has some new jetpacks that... Sorry, I am rambling.”

“No, that's okay. Tell me about it.”

“No, it's just that...” He sighed. “Something happened, darling.”

Your chest sank. Those words could mean so many things, good or bad. You were mentally preparing yourself when Obi-wan spoke again. “Ahsoka called.”

Your eyes grew wide, staring at him in surprise. You hadn't heard from her since she left the Order, months ago. “What?”

“That's right.”

“And Ani... how is he?”

“In shock.”

“Maker.” You sighed. “And- What happened? Is she okay? In trouble?”

“She's fine. It's just...” He ruffled his hair, an action he did when he was stressed. “'Maul's been found.”

You looked at him silently for a few seconds. You sure looked a little dumb, your mouth hanging open in shock. It took you a while to find your voice again, muttering, “You must go get him.”

“We don't have any information yet. Right now, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan are coming, they'll give us all the information...”

“Wait. Bo-Katan? ...Kryze?”

He nodded. He didn't need to say anything else, for you knew very well who she was.

“Well then wait for them to arrive, and go with them. It's time to finish him off once and for all.”

“It's not that simple, love. And you know it.”

You frowned. “Maul has been causing damage for years. You have a chance to finally defeat him and... what are you waiting for, the council's approval?”

“From what they said, Maul is probably back on Mandalore. You know that because of its neutrality, the Republic can't interfere in the affairs of...”

“That's crap, and you know it, Obi-wan.” He looked at you, a mixture of confusion and surprise in his gaze. “Since the start of the war, we've interfered quite a few times in Mandalore's affairs. You've done it several times. Why not now?”

“It's different. We're talking about a possible siege and...”

“Then do it. I'll go help you myself, love. We're talking about Maul, the thing that has done you nothing but harm. He killed Qui-Gon, he killed Satine...”

From the way his expression changed, and even how he felt in the force, you realized you had come a bit far. You hadn't mentioned Satine since months ago, when Obi-wan had arrived from Mandalore, crying in your arms, for she had died while he was holding her.

“I'm so sorry, I got carried away, I...”

“It's alright.” He interrupted you. “You're right. I'll talk to the Council tomorrow, I'm sure we'll come to a conclusion.” He gave you a smile with his lips pressed together. “Now... can we change the subject?”

“Of course.” You nodded, and his gaze softened.

“How have you been, how's life on Coruscant?”

Your hand automatically rested on your belly. Shit, with so much that had happened, you had forgotten the small detail of your pregnancy. You were thankful Obi-wan could only see your face, otherwise he definitely would have noticed your action.

“Well... They put me back to teaching the little ones. Kyla's gotten a lot better with her lightsaber.”

“Oh yeah?” You had told him about the little one a while back. It was obvious she was one of your favorites.

“Yep. And... I talked to Master Yoda.” He raised an eyebrow. “She can probably be my Padawan. When she's older, in a year or two.”

Obi-wan smiled at you at what he said. “That's amazing, darling. You'll see, having a padawan isn't all it's cracked up to be...”

“Oh well, you say that because you taught Anakin. That's just bad luck, darling.”

They both laughed. “You say that like you weren't his adventure partner growing up. I swear, Plo Koon and I were seriously done.”

“Isn't that a little weird?”

He tilted his head. “What is?”

“That...well, you and I are dating. I mean...you could have been my master. I grew up next to your Padawan. Isn't that weird?”

“It's very different, darling.”

“Why?”

"Well, first of all, you could never have been my Padawan. You're older than Anakin, and I agreed to train him because... you know." No need to bring up past traumas here. "The relationship between a Master and his Padawan is an incredibly sacred thing, and it's nothing like the bond we have. Besides, we barely spoke back then. You were with your friends, with Anakin or with your Master. And we noticed each other when the war started. So no, I wouldn't say it's that weird." He paused. "Darling? Are you listening to me?"

You shook your head, snapping out of your mind. You were distracted by his beauty. It sounds cliché, yes, but you could listen to this man talk for hours and never get tired of it. Shit, you missed him so much.

"Oh, yes. But not everything you say is true."

"What do you mean?

"Mmm, well, maybe, and just maybe, I had a crush on you when I was a teenager."

Obi-Wan let out a surprised chuckle. "Really?

"Yes... But it was a platonic crush. I never thought anything would actually happen."

You were both silent, just admiring each other for a few seconds. You had been through so much, but yout love only felt stronger.

"I miss you." Obi-Wan whispered, looking tenderly at you.

Your chest filled with warmth. You had been stressed all day and hadn't thought about how much you missed your dear. "I miss you too."

And it dawned on you, you could tell him. It was Obi-Wan after all. Maybe it wasn't the best news to deliver through a holocall, but you knew you could work it out together. You trusted him more than anything.

You were about to say something to him when voices came out of the hologram.

"Kark. It's Anakin." He whispered. "He's going to find me with the Force, I have to get out of here."

But before he hung up, he looked into your eyes again. "Rest, my love. I love you."

You smiled at him and replied, "I love you too," before the hologram disappeared.

The sun was just rising when you woke up. It was still early, so you took your time to shower, get ready, and even make a small breakfast before heading out.

The morning was quiet, some Jedi were walking around with their datapads, Padawans and Younglings were rushing to their first classes of the day. You considered going out into the courtyard to meditate, as it helped clear your mind.

What you enjoyed most about being in the temple was the peace. With every step you took, you felt a deep calm, something that was characteristic of the Order.

But as you walked, something changed. At first it was so slight that you hardly noticed it. You felt it in the Force, a slight pulse, a dark echo. It was cold, something that barely touched the edges of your mind, but there it was.

The further you went, the more the perfect silence was broken. The lights seemed to dim and there was something heavy in the atmosphere. You noticed that your footsteps slowed a little, and a tension began to form in the back of your mind. It was as if the air was charged with something you couldn't see, but was ready to burst forth.

And then you heard it. A buzzing sound that grew louder as the seconds passed. It became a thunderous and intense sound. You looked up at the sky, and your gaze was filled with horror as you discovered the source of the sound.

Ships. Dozens of ships invading the planet.

The temple was tense. Jedi and Padawans stopped and looked at each other, all as confused as you were.

The buzzing became a roar. More ships, closer and closer.

A tremor shook the ground as the first explosion was heard in the distance. In a second, screams broke the silence and sirens began to wail.

Without thinking, you began running toward the center of the temple. You had barely processed the chaos when you saw Mace Windu, walking steadily, his face really serious. More than it had been since you had known him.

"Master Windu." You approached. You had barely noticed that you were trembling. "What is going on?"

He looked at you, his dark eyes telling you the gravity of the situation. "Grievous is here." He announced. "Coruscant is under attack."

And in that moment, you knew everything would change.

next chapter 𖥔 ͙ࣳ ⸰ֺ⭑

© obiwansito, 2024. reposts, copies and translations are not allowed. my work cannot be used for training AI.

[lilmarshie]

Quidditch Rivalry pt. 1 | S. Black x Reader

A Marauders Era Fic

Y/N - your name

When you join the Gryffindor Quidditch team, you immediately catch the eye of Sirius Black, known for his charm and competitive spirit. What starts as a playful rivalry on the pitch quickly turns into something deeper as you push each other to new heights. Through intense practices, thrilling matches, and moments of vulnerability, your bond grows stronger. As you navigate jealousy, injuries, and the pressures of the game, you discover that your connection goes beyond competition. Amidst the victories and challenges, you find yourself drawn together, leading to a heartfelt confession and a new dynamic that balances your fierce rivalry with a blossoming romance.

You were always one of the first fans to be in the stands during every Quidditch match. That is until, one of your friends convinces you to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team. You were a Keeper and were tasked with defending the goal during the matches. This proved daunting but you overcame the initial hurdles and challenges that came with learning a new sport. This helped you to immediately catch Sirius's eye with your natural talent and competitive nature.

During team practices, you and Sirius would engage in playful competitions, each trying to prove you’re the best. “Y/N! Bet you can’t catch this!” Sirius calls as he sends a bludger your way. But you immediately dodge it much to the dismay of your teammate. “Ha! You have to do better than that to dissuade me, Sirius.” You call after him as he goes off to do more warm up drills. You can tell that this bothered him that you were catching on quickly and learning all of the ins and outs of Quidditch far faster than he did. This led to you having a little rivalry amongst each other.

In a crucial match against Slytherin, this rivalry turns into seamless teamwork, leading to a thrilling victory. You never expected to get along with Sirius in this way let alone work together with him to defeat the Slytherin team. After the match, Sirius comes over to you and squeezes your shoulder in a friendly hug. “Great game, y/n!” He whoops, his fist pumping in the air excitedly. James, Peter, and Remus make their way over from the stands to congratulate you two on the victory. “Great job, y/n!” James cheers as he gives you a generous pat on the back. Peter and Remus both give you a thumbs up and Remus glances between you and Sirius knowingly. He smirks at you before whispering something in Peter and James’ ear.

The two of them glance over at you before straightening up as they moved over to Sirius. “You were amazing out there, Padfoot. Was he, y/n?” Remus says, looking at you for approval. You blushed madly and stammered, “Y-yeah, Sirius did a wonderful job out on the field today. I think everyone did.” A bright red flush across your cheeks. Sirius beamed and a huge grin spread across his face. “Well, me and the boys are going to head back to the dormitories to clean up a bit since well you know…” He said, looking down at the dirt that covered his Quidditch uniform. You nodded and waved goodbye as he turned towards his friends. “I’ll see you at our practice tomorrow, y/n!” Sirius called back with a wave before turning once more. You waved back and headed back in the castle for the night.

The next day, after your classes, you were at your next Quidditch practice. You and Sirius were paired up for a new drill, one that you’ve never seen before. As you made your way through the movements, Sirius would help you find the best ways to maneuver through your opponents. He would also help give you constant tips and tricks to be able to withstand anything that may come your way. Throughout the practice, Sirius would make you laugh but also help keep you grounded. It really helped to ease your nerves and relax into the rhythm of the game.

After practices, Sirius and you start to have deep conversations, sharing your dreams and fears, which strengthens your bond. You end up telling Sirius that you’re scared of not being able to protect those that you love. And Sirius confides in you that he’s scared that he’d be caught up in the dark arts and end up being a bad person. “You’ll never be a bad person, Sirius. There is always hope even when we feel like there’s no hope anymore. Don’t lose that hope. I believe that you are a kind and generous person, Sirius.” You say with a smile as you hold his hands in yours. “Thank you, y/n. I can always count on you to be there for me despite what my friends may say.” Sirius whispers softly. You brush his long black hair out of his eyes and plant a tender kiss on his forehead. He blushes and smiles softly. But on the inside, he was terrified. He worried about losing you to one of his friends or even another member of a different house. But you had a soft spot for Sirius but you didn’t know how to confess your feelings for him so you kept these feelings tucked away.

Sirius noticed that there was a Slytherin boy that kept making his way over to you almost on a regular basis. The boy would talk to you in the library, or in the Great Hall during dinner. When confronted by Sirius about this you told him that it was nothing and that it was just an over eager student who had a bit of a crush on you. Sirius did not take this lightly. This caused him to become extremely jealous and upset. And you could clearly tell that this was affecting him.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Sirius. He’s just a little bit of a fanatic that’s all especially when it comes to the Quidditch games. He watched us compete and he’s been obsessed ever since.” You said, reassuring Sirius’ with a light squeeze to the hand and a gentle kiss on the cheek. Sirius, still a little jealous, huffed and went to go sit over by the rest of the Marauders.

“Men…” You muttered to yourself as you continue to study for an exam that was coming up in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You needed to get this work done before your next match tomorrow. After you finish your studying, you head back to the Gryffindor common room to read a book before turning in for the night.

As you finished the chapter you were on, loud raucous laughter filled the staircase leading up to the dormitories. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were roughhousing and play dueling sending off quick sparks of light towards each other from their wands. You sigh loudly and move to get up and go up to the girls’ dormitories but James stops you from doing so. He’s standing in the way of the girls’ dormitory and won’t let you get through. “Can you please move, James? I don’t want to deal with this right now. I need to get to bed.” You say, loudly with a stamp of your feet to get their attention.

James snickers and pulls the book you were reading from your hands. “What’s this? Y/N is a nerd! Y/N is a nerd!” James shouts as he proceeds to throw your book back in forth between the other marauders. “Give that back!” You shout, reaching over to Peter who was flipping through the book. You snatch it from his hand and proceed to make your way back over to the staircase that led to the girls’ dormitory. James is standing there laughing along with Peter who’s trailing behind him like a lost puppy. Remus is wringing his hands nervously seemingly uncomfortable with the situation. Sirius is looking away from you but you can see a flash of anger in his eyes.

You would deal with this in the morning but for now you needed your sleep before the practice and the big game tomorrow night.

[homeofthelonelywriter]

Found you

(A/N) My thought process writing this: Gets request: Fuck yeah! A Chishiya request! Thinks about it: Fuck, what do I write. Opens new page: Whatever, I'll just start. Reaches apartment: No smut, no smut, no smut. Reaches kitchen scene: Fuck it! Smut!

Also, this is eight word pages long, I might've went a bit overboard.

Pairing: Chishiya x Reader (no Y/N)

Warning: AiB stuff, smut

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.”

If anyone had been watching you for the past few minutes, they’d say that you were running for your life. Not that that’s not true. Your visa ran out today and you may have forgotten to keep an eye on time when you found yourself in your favorite bookshop, close to where you used to live. To be honest, who’s to blame you? Books? For free? As many as you want? Now that’s heaven.

Were your boyfriend there with you, he’d have laughed at your childish excitement when you realized that you could read as much as you wanted. But he would’ve also reminded you of the time and that you had somewhere to be. Damn, this… apocalypse or whatever was going on.

You followed the light through the streets until an apartment building became visible. You pushed yourself to run quicker and managed to cross the border of the game at what felt like the last second, almost crashing into two men. Thankfully, the short-haired one managed to catch you, before you either knocked both of them off their feet or faceplanted. Either one could have happened to be honest.

“Woah, you okay there?”

You looked up at the other man and tried to smile through the pain that was encompassing your lungs.

“Yeah…yeah. I-I don’t do…cardio.”

Your answer was interrupted by your panting, but at least it made the man smile.

“Me neither.”

The short-haired man agreed with his friend while chuckling. He kept his hand on your shoulder while you recovered from the exhaustion. The other man meanwhile, went and grabbed one of the phones off the table and handed it to you. The usual jingle came from its speakers while the camera scanned your face.

“Registration has closed. There is a total of 13 participants. The game will now commence.”

Another man approached your little group. He seemed confused and asked about the game and the world in general. As the long-haired man was about to explain it to the new man, his friend stopped him.

As your breathing had finally calmed down, you were about to speak up and explain the situation, but the familiar female voice, introducing the game, stopped you and the third man walked away.

“Difficulty, Five of Spades.”

The duo you’d met just now looked at each other confused.

“Spades means that it will be a physical game. You know, running, strength, all that jazz. The suit decided what kind of game it would be. Clubs means teamwork, Diamond means intelligence, and Spades means physical. Hearts is the worst one, all about betrayal. Better hope you never join one with your friends. Hearts games never end well.”

The two nodded, but before they could say anything, the female voice rang out again.

“Game is ‘Tag’. Rule. Avoid whoever is ‘it’.”

Confusion broke out among the participants, but you kept your focus on your phone, knowing that every information you’d get was important.

“Clear condition. Discover and touch the symbol hidden in one of the building’s rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled. Time limit 20 minutes.”

You huff. That’s not a lot of time for a building with that many rooms. You glanced at some of your co-players. Many of them young, young enough at least to be of help. Or so you hoped.

“After twenty minutes, the time bomb hidden in the building will explode.”

Well, if that doesn’t motivate someone, then you don’t know what would.

Now that the rules and conditions were stated, everyone started to disperse. For a moment you considered staying with the two men, but ultimately decided against it. The group had to spread out to win this. So that’s what you did.

While most of the players decided to go to one of the upper floors, you thought you’d try your luck on one of the lower ones. You walked as quickly as you could without running until you hit a dead end. Good, that’s where you’d start. And all the while, you felt eyes on you.

“The game will now commence. The time limit is twenty minutes. Commence now.”

Without hesitation, you started, turning one doorknob after the other, hoping to end this game as quickly as possible. But it didn’t and before you knew it, shots rang through the night air. Out of instinct, you ducked, falling to your knees, before looking around.

“What the actual fuck.”

As soon as you were sure that you were not in immediate danger, you continued until you were done with your floor. But as you stood in front of the stairs leading up and down, you weren’t sure which direction to go.

That was until you heard the voice of the long-haired man.

“Everyone! He’s up here! Over here, he’s on the second level! He can’t see properly because of his mask! Tell us where he is if you see him, and let’s all look for the symbol!”

Fuck, second level. You hesitated again while you considered what to do next. But then a woman’s voice rang out, letting you know that it was safe to head to the second level since the killer was on the fourth one.

You continued, searching, letting the others know where the killer was, all while avoiding him. From time to time, you glanced at the phone, checking how much time was left. And it didn’t look good.

At that moment, you heard the long-haired man yell out that he needed help and that he found the symbol. You checked and realized you were on the other side of the apartment building and would never make it in time. Still, you started to run. You were one level above where the symbol was, when a jingle sounded from the phone, making you stop.

“Game cleared. Congratulations.”

A relieved sigh left your lips and you slumped against the nearest wall. You lived for another day.

While you were resting, you noticed the short-haired man walking up the stairs, and he was hurt.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He waved your concern off with a smile.

“Nothing I can’t handle. Have you seen my friend?”

You nod and tell him where you assume the man still is.

“Thanks.”

He hesitated before speaking again.

“Do you have somewhere to stay? If not, you could come with us.”

You shake your head with a smile and thank him, explaining that you have somewhere to stay. He nodded before taking his leave and searching for his friend. You decided to do the same. Take your leave, not search for his friend.

As you were walking down the front steps of the apartment building, a familiar voice stopped you.

“Found you.”

A quiet gasp escaped you as you realized who was standing behind you. You turned around, tears already gathering in your eyes.

“Chishiya.”

He smirked at you before opening his arms. You immediately rushed to him and threw your arms around his neck. He chuckled at your enthusiasm while pulling you closer to him.

“I can’t believe you’re here.”

You pulled away slightly, grinning up at your boyfriend. He smiled back before leaning down to press his lips against yours. You melted against him, reciprocating the kiss. Too soon, Chishiya pulls back before cradling your face in his hands.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

You shake your head, smiling at him.

“I’m fine. What about you?”

He shakes his head as well, his eyes scanning your body for any kind of injury before sighing in relief and pressing his forehead against yours.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, love.”

You grinned and closed your eyes.

“Me too, Chi.”

The two of you stay like that for a few moments, before Chishiya pulls back and takes your hand.

“Where are you staying?”

“In our apartment. Felt wrong to go anywhere else.”

Chishiya nodded, thinking for a moment.

“Let’s go there for tonight, okay?”

You nodded and together you made your way through the city until you reached your apartment complex. Once there, you climbed the few floors until you reached the door to the apartment you shared before everything went to hell. You used your keys to open the door and let Chishiya in before closing and locking the door.

He took a few moments to look at the changes you’d made since everything happened. You’d moved the heavy couch that used to be in the living room, to the door, so that you could block it whenever you entered the apartment. You’d also used blankets and pillows to make a bed on the living room carpet. Chishiya frowned when he noticed that and turned to look at you.

“The…the bed felt too empty without you there.”

Your boyfriend immediately pulled you into a hug, apologizing.

“I should’ve looked for you again, every day, I am so sorry. I just…after I couldn’t find you the first day I’d been here, I hoped and convinced myself that you were not here. That you were safe.”

You were stunned.

“Chishiya…how long have you been here?”

He tensed under your touch before relaxing again.

“Too long. But I swear I checked if you were here. That’s the first thing I did when I arrived.”

You squeezed him tighter, burying your face in his neck.

“It’s okay, Chi. I believe you. And I only got here two weeks ago, there’s no way you could’ve known that.”

Chishiya nodded but continued to hold you tight for some time. You did the same, resting your head against his shoulder, relaxing in his hold. The two of you started gently swaying, making you giggle and Chishiya chuckle. It felt like back when everything was okay and he would come home after a long day at the hospital and sweep you off your feet to dance around the living room before you could object. Many dishes were burnt that way and many times you had to order takeout instead. But you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

After a few minutes, you pulled back to look at him, before pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

“Now, what are you in the mood for? Instant noodles, or…instant noodles?”

You pulled out of his embrace and walked to the kitchen, where you had set up a small gas stove, as well as canisters full of water and a few pots. Chishiya followed you chuckling, pressing his chest against your back and trapping you against the kitchen counter.

“Hm…I think I’m in the mood for something else completely.”

He started to trail kisses from your cheek to your shoulder and back up again. A shiver ran through you and you couldn’t help but press back against him. His breath ghosted your skin as he chuckled, his hands on your hips.

You turned to look at him and without hesitation, he hoisted you up and sat you down on the counter, standing between your open legs. You instantly leaned in and pressed your lips against his, pulling at the white jacket he was wearing, until it landed on the floor. His hands, which were placed on your hips, moved up and grabbed the hem of the t-shirt you were wearing and pulled it over your head, discarding it on the floor, somewhere behind himself.

Goosebumps erupted on your skin, as Chishiya’s finger trailed along your sides until they reached your bra. Instinctually, he reached back, but when he didn’t find a clasp, he broke the kiss for a second.

“Sport’s bra.”

Those two words were all you said, before pulling it over your head and throwing it behind Chishiya.

“Jesus fucking…”

His remark was broken by a low moan escaping his lips before he dove forward, lips wrapping around your left nipple. Your breath got caught in your throat at the sensation. Chishiya’s left hand left your hip and started playing with your right nipple as your fingers started to thread through and pull at his hair.

“Chishiya…”

Your pussy squeezed around nothing, making you whine. Chishiya pulled away from your chest and grinned at you.

“What do you need, love?”

You glared at his teasing, but when he thrust forward, giving you just a little bit of friction, another whine left your lips.

“You. Need you Shiya.”

He chuckled and dove in for another kiss. While his lips moved against yours, his hands found their way to your thighs and hoisted you up again. You squealed into the kiss in surprise and pulled away as you tightly wrapped your arms around Chishiya’s neck while he just chuckled and walked.

“Don’t worry, I won’t drop you.”

Right when he said that he loosened his grip on you and you squealed again as for a second it felt like he was indeed dropping you. Chishiya laughed at your reaction and continued walking towards your bedroom.

“Asshole.”

A slap on your ass forced a surprised yelp from your lips, but before you could say anything, you were flying through the air, before landing on your mattress. You bounced a few times, while Chishiya watched from the foot end, an adoring smile on his lips.

“You know, I love you, right?”

You finally stopped bouncing and looked up at your boyfriend, a soft smile on your lips.

“Come here, you idiot.”

His smile turned into a grin as he quickly crawled over you and reconnected your lips. While using one hand to keep his weight off of you, the other wandered down and started to pull at the hem of your sweatpants and panties. You quickly assisted him in getting rid of the offensive pieces of clothing, before you started pulling at his swim trunks, making him chuckle.

“Eager.”

You were about to insult him again, but his thumb rubbing small circles on your clit stopped you and instead, a moan escaped your lips, which were quickly sealed by your boyfriend’s. A few moments later two of his fingers started gently probing at your entrance before pushing inside. Your pussy squeezed down around them, bringing out the smug side of your boyfriend, who pulled away and smirked at you.

“Someone’s fucking nee-.”

You interrupted him.

“Shut up and fuck me already!”

You didn’t need to tell him twice, as he quickly got rid of the trunks and gave his cock a few lazy strokes, before positioning himself at your entrance.

“I don’t have a condom. Are you su-?”

“Chishiya!”

He took the queue and carefully started to ease his cock into your pulsing pussy, moaning at the feeling of you around him. He quickly started thrusting into you, hoisting your right leg up and over his shoulder to reach deeper. The new position caused his dick to drag over that soft spot inside you with every thrust, making you see stars.

It didn’t take long before you started to feel that familiar coil in your stomach and you reached up towards your boyfriend, not able to say anything.

“You close, love?”

You nooded vigourously.

“Yea, me too.”

He leaned down, pressing your right leg up to your chest, but you didn’t care as his lips connected with yours at the same time, his thumb returned to your clit. Within seconds you felt that coil snap as you came around your boyfriend.

A moan left Chishiya’s lips as your pussy kept squeezing him, until he came inside you, spilling his seed as deep as he could reach.

After a few steadying breaths, Chishiya wrapped an arm around your waist and rolled over, so that you were now laying on top of him. You were still panting, your eyes slowly closing. Feeling the sweat covered skin of your boyfriend underneath you and hearing his beating heart slowly coaxed you into a deep sleep.

As soon as Chishiya was sure you were asleep, he carefully pulled out of you and laid you down next to him. He rolled onto his side and watched you for a few moments, before pressing a gentle kiss against your forehead. With that, got to his feet and grabbed a towel, wetting it with the water from the kitchen, before he returned to you and carefully cleaned you up. After that, he quickly gathered all the pillows and blankets you had laid out on the living room and returned them to the bed, where he made sure you were comfortable, laying down beside you and gathering you in his arms.

He smiled as you instinctually moved closer to him, until you were practically laying on top of him again. A smile graced his lips as he pressed one more kiss to your forehead, before relaxing and closing his eyes, slowly falling asleep, three words leaving his lips before he was pulled under by sleep.

“I found you.”

Please consider reblogging and following me! It helps a lot!

Alice in Borderland - Masterlist

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello! A therapist friend of mine is wondering if you have any recommendations for games that have 2 players with a focus on collaboration/teamwork or exploration/socialization. If it's very rules light for their sessions, that would also be super amazing. Thank you!

Theme: Duet Collaborative Games

Hello friend, I’m hoping that I interpreted your request correctly, although I feel like I’ve been able to pull up a good variety of games. I’m also including a link to Lark Brigade’s Itch.io Duet games archive, which you might be able to scroll through for more options.

Lark Brigade’s Archive

Knots in the Sky, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

Knots in the Sky is a quiet, surreal game about a floating labyrinth and a traveller that have waited a long time to find each other. This tabletop role-playing game is designed to be played in a single hour-long session.

I like that this game has one person playing a traveller and one person playing a location - the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth playbook is very descriptive and focuses on world building, answering questions about its architecture and design. The Traveller is focused on exploring the labyrinth, and discovering what is within. This game definitely has the exploration themes that you’re looking for, and looks to be played easily within a short session.

Spaces Apart, by efarrisgames.

Everything was fine until all at once only the two of you were on the shuttle, all at once only the two of you drifting through endless space, all at once only the two of you unsure of where you'll land if you ever land at all.

This is a GM-less game for two players about astronauts stranded in space. Or perhaps it is a game about asexuality, about queerness, about finding where you belong. Things can be many things. 

While the creator made this game as a reflection of their own experiences, I think this game is flexible enough to make it meaningful for whoever plays it. The questions your characters will ask over the course of play might revolve around feelings of guilt, loneliness, regret, companionship and much more. You’ll also meet challenges as a duo, ranging from mechanical failures on the shuttle to negotiating with ghosts on the ship. If you want an intimate experience in the cold darkness of space, this might be the game for you.

shadow / giant by PsychHound.

It don’t matter how you got here. Don’t matter what the destination is. At some point, somehow, against the odds … Shadow felt safe with the Giant. And the Giant, though they mighta sworn off it before … cares for the Shadow. There’ll be threats. Always will be. But, maybe, you can get through. Find safety. Together. As long as it takes to get there. And through those long days, cold nights … the tears, the fears, the fighting … someone, somewhere … might just mistake you for a family. Well. Wouldn’t that be somethin.

Shadow / Giant is a duet roleplaying game about finding care, safety, and family amidst a malicious and unaccepting world. In it, one player will play as the Giant – a gruff and jaded adult who thought their care for the world was long gone – and the other will play the Shadow – a child with magical abilities who now relies on them for protection.

The game is asymmetrical: both child and guardian have different rules they play by, and different ways of interacting with the world. They must work together to rise to the challenges of living in a world that doesn’t seem to want them in it. But both can push their mission to the breaking point. All you want to do is find somewhere safe to go.

Even though the rules for each character are different, neither ruleset is very complicated. The Giant has a set of skills they’ve already acquired, and their chances of success depend on what they have at their disposal and whether or not Shadow is willing to go along with the plan. The Shadow, however, is in flux; their skill fluctuates between being eerie and being soft. This is a game about found family, about struggle in a dangerous world, and about reaching a safe destination. I heavily recommend this game.

Horse and Rider, by SmallRedRobin13.

Horse and Rider is a 2-player game about a horse rider taming, and forming a bond with, their horse. One of you plays the horse, the other the rider.  This game is inspired heavily by various cultures around horse-riding in Australia, from pony club girls to the modern-day cowboy.

The bond between a horseman and their horse is built on trust. Using trust-building mechanics inspired by real-world horse training techniques, two players will work together to build that bond with each other. The horseman will learn the different methods that go into training a horse while the horse reacts to these attempts and will show its growing (or falling) trust as they train together. 

I don’t own this game, so I don’t know exactly what the game covers, but I would expect that you could set up a premise for the game to be something that the horse and rider both need to overcome by learning to trust each-other. The game includes a braiding technique, representing the way a rider might braid their horses’ hair. If you want a game about learning how to interact with another creature, this game might be for you.

Into Blue Midnight, by Kienna Shaw.

The expedition was going so well, but at 3,000 feet below the surface, when the ocean turns from blue to black, everything goes wrong.

Something cracks. Water starts to fill at your feet. The crane at the surface jams. The radio line goes quiet. And now the two of you are alone, only a few layers of steel and a quartz window to keep you from death. You have one hour of oxygen left.

Conserve breath, repair the bathysphere as much as you can, record what you see in the blue midnight of the ocean…and hope that you will see the surface again.

Inspired by the voyage of the bathysphere and the world's first deep sea dive, Into Blue Midnight is a GMless two-player Wretched and Alone game that lets you play out the last hour of two scientists within the bathysphere when everything goes wrong. 

This is a game that comes with a lot of warnings, as it covers themes of death, desperation and despair. You are two members of an underwater expedition that is more likely than not going to kill you. Until that happens though, you will see things in the water around you, and take notes about how they make you feel. You’ll answer questions about who you are and what memories you carry. You’ll answer questions about what is both your sanctuary and your prison, and you’ll answer questions about your relationship with your crew-mate.

This game is designed to play within one hour. It’s about connecting with yourself and the person who you’re trapped with, but it’s also about discovery a new (if dangerous) world. If this game sounds promising, it should be introduced with the full knowledge that your characters are more than likely going to die.

Unfamiliar, by Ash Can Games.

You are a magical creature, a magician’s un-bonded familiar. You have been pulled into the underworld as soon as your magician died; you can feel your attachment tugging you forward, prompting you to journey through the underworld. As you travel, the Underworld will reveal your memories that you lost when you started down here, culminating in a question that your magician will have to answer truthfully once you find them again. What will you choose to do?

Unfamiliar is a 1-4 player storytelling game that uses a tarot or other image-based deck to guide your creature's story. The game also includes the option of playing with a personal talisman that you wish to empower with assuredness and confidence.

I listened to the duet version of this game on Party of One, and it was both touching and magical. Memories are recalled by drawing cards from a tarot deck, and interpreting the images you see. I think this game might be an interesting way to navigate confronting someone after reviewing your history with them, or exploring a relationship that you have, while placing the context in a magical and strange location. If that sounds up your alley, then check out Unfamiliar!

[anticidic]

Mori sending 15!skk out on a mission as a team-building exercise so that they can learn to work together, but when the two of them get to the designated spot down by a shipyard and discover nothing, they're confused at first but remain alert because Mori had been rather vague about the details of the mission.

After searching through the yard and dozens of empty shipping containers, they bicker over who's right and who's wrong: Chuuya thinks they must've gotten something wrong and they should inform Mori at once, while Dazai insists they stay put and keep searching, but if Chuuya wants to give up, he can go back to headquarters alone.

Then, they suddenly hear a noise and they're on high alert again: they get closer to the sound and it's a cat meowing stuck on a roof of a shack.

Chuuya's the one who caves and calls Mori thinking something must be wrong because they aren't seeing anything suspicious, just a stuck cat and the conversation goes:

Mori: "The cat is the target—it needs to be rescued. Elise-chan noticed it, but I thought it'd make a great mission for you two to work on teamwork."

Chuuya's trying not to crush the phone in his hand as he sighs and says, "Understood."

But when he gets off the phone, Dazai's right there looking really smug after hearing the whole conversation.

Chuuya's the one who rescues the cat from the roof while Dazai's shouting to him from the ground, "I told you so!"

Chuuya refuses to admit Dazai was in the right, but as he safely lands with the cat in his arms, he also refuses to hand it over to Dazai.

[keiaoi811]

Cooking your hates / Aquarium adventure

Jouno Saigiku x Reader / Tecchou Suehiro x Reader

Fluff

Drabble, headcanons? Idk how to name it

Just some short thing in subpoints

Jouno

•Jouno, our beloved mean gremlin

((ﾐ´ω`ﾐ)), i kinda love the headcanons about him being good in kitchen [while me, the best i can do is tea and scrambled eggs- mastechef is not title for me]

•But what if you have things you don't like? For example mushrooms, raisins, broccoli [kind of 'wink' towards me, heh]

•Will Jouno makes things without them or.....try his best to hides them in dish to hear your displeased noise when you find out? I think, you know the answer, dear reader ~

•Leaving Jouno for five seconds alone is the worst you can do. His disability won't stop him to sneak, "the worst things on the world" a'ka foods you don't like, into the soon dinner.

•A grin, this one, annoying one, that always appears when he did something. 'A proud cat, who just broke your favorite cup, because he found it not suitable on the table'; type of smile.

•You look at the dish before you, with suspicious sight, guard on. You really like his cooking, really, just this smile; it's very disturbing.

•-"It's gonna be cold, eat up"- Jouno said simple, continues to enjoy his own portion, listening with huge anticipation, to your heartbeat. Ah, teasing you is his favorite hobby after long and tiresome work week.

•Finally, you try his creation with surprise for you. It wasn't bad, entirely opposite, it was delicious.

-"Taste good?"

-"A lot, you never ending to surprise me, Sai."

You said with great appreciation towards the white hair man. This moment, however didn't last long.

•Oh, your heartbeat changed, giving signal to Jouno that his small "gift" got discovered.

-"Something wrong, dear?~"- He asked, like he had no idea, what makes your face frowning in small disgust.

-"You add something."

-"I added a of lot things, this is what cooking is, after all."

-"Sai, you know what i mean"

-"Oh, do i?~"

•Jouno playing dumb and you swallowing the piece of food like it was "poison".

Then you begins to complain, filling his ears with the pleasure he was expecting.

•-"You acting like some kid, who don't want to eat their veggies."- Jouno huffed nonchalantly and the grin on his face get only bigger.

•Maybe cooking with him gonna be better option to avoid eating the "humanity poison". While Jouno gets annoyed by your "guarding". It is nice to have your help, but having you to observe what his hands do without a blink, was getting on his nerve.

•Payback Jouno ((ﾐ´ω`ﾐ)) But in the end of the day, nothing can be avoid completely and maybe a compromise would be better.

Tecchou

•We all know, that this man can watch ants for eight, straight hours, right? Mostly for their teamwork and etc.

•But what if, take him to Aquarium? It sounds like a very nice date idea, pretty common too.

•All the colorful fishes, gracefully drifting behind the glass wall, a blue light filling every edge, very calming and beautiful view....until standing in one place for too long.

•Tecchou was like a frozen statue, observing all the fishes and other creatures behavior, like some kind of oceanologist.

•You were happy that he seemed to like this place, but you also wouldn't mind if he move a little....even slightly. We love you but please ಥ⌣ಥ

•Idea pop off in your mind and decided to test it. You walk away from Tecchou, to see what will happened but also to see other parts of Aquarium.

•Gone for hour or two, only to come back to your human like rock, who didn't even badge a step. At this point, you don't know if better laugh or cry. Also some other visitors was getting confused when passing by Tecchou.

•-"It's mannequin? Some kind part of the exhibition?"- whispers flows into your ears.

For gym or clothing shop, Tecchou would be a perfect mannequin; you joke in thoughts.

•-"Hiro, are you there?"- You said when approaching this "statue" and waving hand before his eyes. A small shocked expression sneak on his face when Tecchou finally turn his head towards you.

-"Yes? Something wrong? Tired?"

-"I feel like i should be the one asking this."

A chuckle left your lips, while Tecchou looked at you slightly lost.

•Two of you chat a little, asking him what he discovered from all the observation he made. Tecchou apologized when you tell him you were walking around, alone for one or two hours.

•Everything begins to be sweet and nice again when, suddenly a big fish eats the smaller one.

•Tecchou and you had a little open mouths in shock, dazed at what you just guys witness. It's not that was scary or something that would never happen, the natural food chain and etc., but fishes eating each other wasn't in yours to-do date list....

•-"Hiro....what do you say, for change the scenery? I think i saw a booth with ice cream somewhere."

-"It's sounds great to me, love."

Let the fishes enjoy their "dinner" without you and distract themselves with something cold.

•Except that one moment, date end up great. Tecchou shared with his thoughts about how great would the ice creams taste with shichimi or wasabi....well.

•But memory of his focused, amber eyes on the glass wall, brings you smile and a faint rosy color on the cheeks.

[jup1ter-moon]

just saw someone on reddit talking about how mischa said his favourite story was saw v (in ride the cyclone 2016) and how fatal five trial from saw v actually has some super interesting comparisons to ride the cyclone (in the actual show he recites the plot of saw vi, the movie after. and some shit about a rusty axe idk. but here i'm talking about the actual saw v. ALSO - warning for spoilers for the saw franchise (and ride the cyclone))

there's two (probably more, but i'm only covering two) ways of looking at this but i'm gonna start with the "jane is a test" version: the fatal five wake up after being abducted and have to go through a series of rooms with different tests and a different person dies in each one (because of the nature of the traps it appears as if this is intentional - in the first room, they are all chained together and have to get keys, but if they all run to get the keys one person is decapitated because of the limited length of chain, and in another room there are only three holes in the wall to hide from an explosion.) in the final room, the two survivors (britt and mallick) have to shed a certain amount of blood to get out of the trap. they discover that this final trap was designed for five people, so they would all have been able to give a small amount of blood to contribute to the total. and it turns out that all the previous tests didn't require a death each - in the first room, only one person needed to get a key and then could unlock everyone, and in the explosion room multiple people could fit in the same hiding place. they do eventually survive this trap but it's like a lesson about teamwork and such. anyway. have we ever seen anything about a morally corrupt girl learning a lesson about life & teamwork & other people....

also yeah something about how they all start competing but by the end (at least the ones that r still alive, in terms of saw) realise they needed to work together to survive (this either works in term of reincarnation theory for rtc, or you could see it in a more symbolic way as them being able to pass on peacefully after voting for jane) in this version, jane isn't a real person that died with them, but is a concept created by karnak to test the choir. these damn puppets and their tests, right?

(also yes, i know the tests are john's not billy's, but you get the idea.) the other option isn't a full theory but it's super silly to me that the first girl from the fatal five to die (ashley), who never really gets to interact with the rest of them or figure out what's going on, is a blonde girl who gets decapitated.

anyway i don't think this was intentional but it was just. super interesting to me and i wanted to yap about it.

[just-an-emily-existing]

The Origins of The Stesel Team

In the bustling world of Sodor, nestled in the sparkling blue sea of the U.K, is a humble but rightfully proud railway Island. For decades, Thomas the Tank Engine and his steamie friends ruled the tracks, their whistles echoing with pride through the valleys.

But unlike the happy-go-lucky atmosphere of Sodor, the diesel engines had long held a grudge against them. Engines like Rusty and Mavis felt shunned and misunderstood, being seen as the “Good Diesels” , at first thought, a compliment, but when you really think about it, it’s still just as bad as an insult. All the diesels could agree that their squared bodies and humming engines were not as loved as the traditional steam engines that paraded the rails.

The animosity had persisted for years. Any time a steam engine and a diesel crossed paths, huffs and puffs of disdain filled the air. “They’ll never change!” They would scoff to each other, their eyes narrowing on the steamies as they puffed on without a care. Steam looked down upon diesel, some claiming that their rumbles could never match the beautiful chuffing of a steam engine.

But soon, everything would change on Sodor.

A massive, almost supernatural storm had formed on the horizon, swirling fiercely and threatening to sweep across the island. Rain poured relentlessly, causing landslides and blockages on the tracks, while flooding made many stations unreachable, as winds would tear down communication lines.

Soon after, a series of announcements buzzed through the air, the engines were needed more than ever to work together to clear the tracks and get life back to normal. “This railway will never get back on track without teamwork!” cried Sir Topham Hatt, his words wavering against the looming despair. "Every engine must work together!"

At first, the Steamies were apprehensive about teaming up with their diesel counterparts. They could still hear the echoes of past conflicts rattling in their rods. But as the two factions stood staring down the broad stretch of tracks engulfed in mud, something remarkable happened. Percy, the small green engine, spoke up, his voice carrying strength. “We can do this, and we must! I know we engines usually grumble about working together, but maybe we have ideas we’d never be able to discover if we didn’t work together!”

Reluctantly, Thomas nodded. “Okay, it’s worth a shot. Let's try working together, just for a little while.”

Meanwhile, Diesel and his friends were sceptical, yet they knew the severity of the situation. Diesel 10 growled, but even he was beginning to recognize an undeniable truth: the storm wouldn’t wait for old grievances. And so, the Stesel Team was born. An unlikely coalition of steam and diesel engines. In the spirit of determination, they gathered together at Tidmouth Sheds, exchanging brief glances filled with uncertainty. “Alright,” Diesel 10 announced, trying to sound professional. “We may not like each other, but we all want the same thing, so let’s make it happen before I change my mind!”

With a plan set, teams formed: Teams like Thomas and Mavis paired up to clear debris from the main line. Teams like Gordon and Rusty worked together to shift heavy rocks blocking a tunnel, while Percy and Toby teamed up with Diesel and Daisy to transport supplies for the workers maintaining the tracks. At first, it was awkward. Mavis and Thomas stumbled over their words, with Mavis insisting on a new route only for Thomas to disagree, claiming it would be slower or which way to go next, but soon enough, they found common ground, realising that blending their strengths made a powerful team. Mavis had an efficient eye for navigation while Thomas provided positiveness, lifting everyone’s spirits amid the rain-soaked chaos.

Days passed, their resolve flourishing, and the once dense tension gradually faded. Watching the engines mingle with newfound camaraderie sparked a warm light in the heavy atmosphere. Soon, laughter filled the air, steam and diesel harmoniously blending in a symphony of clinks, clatters, and chuffs. Finally, the storm passed. With the tracks cleared and order restored, the Stesel Team gathered one last time at Knapford station, exhausted but triumphant. “Who would have thought we could do this together?” Thomas exclaimed, looking at Diesel 10 with excitement. “Not me, that’s for sure!” Diesel replied, a hint of a smile creeping across his face. Sir Topham Hatt stepped forward, beaming with pride. “Thank you, all of you! You’ve shown just how powerful teamwork can be. Today, you’ve not only cleared the tracks; you’ve cleared the air between steam and diesel. I’m proud to say you all are really useful engines!”

Roars of whistles and horns echoed through the station, and some would say the whole world. From that day forth, the Stesel Team remained a part of Sodor’s image. The steam engines and diesels continued to work together on special projects, celebrating not only the differences between them but the strengths they each brought to the railway. Even those who weren’t Steam and Diesel were accepted with open arms as old rivalries evaporated like steam in the sun, and the laughter of engines echoed through the valleys, promising that Sodor would not only endure, but that friendship would prevail

One chug at a time.

🚂💨💨💨

[pixiedurango]

Antivan Postal Service - Letters from the Crows

@shynmighty asked a few days ago from one of the circulating ask games a bunch of questions. One of them was: 13. What would Rook write in a letter to their LI Since I opened the Antivan Postal Service letterbox game just today, I allowed myself to take this one first and will come back to the others (no letters) in an extra post. Hope you like what I did. It's set super early in the game and addresses how Lucanis and Cara know each other from their youth in Treviso. Have fun with my two idiots in love (they don't know yet)

Transcript: Lucanis, I hope you have settled in well with us already. You know, whenever you feel like wanting to move from the pantry to another room, I’m sure, the Lighthouse will provide. The spot you chose however, it seems to make sense for you at this point. Moving from a very limited, confined space to somewhere that seems to have no ceiling and no bottom can be a challenge. I get that, and of course respect your choice of where you want to lay down your head to rest. Hopefully. Rest I mean. Because in all honesty, it worries me a lot, to see you barely finding rest. I know your reasoning as of why you avoid falling asleep, but if we could work out a safe way for you to rest, I would feel way better about your well-being. But that concern shall be topic for another exchange.

What now is first priority: We haven’t talked about anything since your arrival. I gave you the time to settle in, but it makes no sense, to postpone it longer than necessary.

Of course, we’ll need to address Spite and what it means, that he’s now a part of you. How he may influence the way you live your life now. Or who you are as a person. And more important, if and how he may influence your work. And I need honesty here!

I am not going to make it a big group affair and would rather prefer it to be a talk just between you and me. As much as teamwork is a major factor in our missions - what will stand at the very end are you and me and that damn dagger against not one, but two ancient gods.

Another thing I ask you to consider: What are your thoughts on how - if at all - we want to address the fact that we already met years ago in Treviso. I won’t dare to say, we KNOW each other or that we have shared HISTORY - because both would be a lie. BUT I know that you remember, just as vivid as I do, this summer, 17 years ago. We were forced to act as a team, but at the same time we were not allowed to actually build a rapport.

I dare say, we did good on the teamwork aspect and were adventurous enough to defy some dumb rules at least a little. Let’s rekindle our old camaraderie and that little bit of rebellion and anarchy that our friendship was. We protected and defended it so desperately from being discovered by our superiors, it would be a shame not to revisit it.

We were awfully young and yet we had seen and lived through so much. No one who’s not a Crow will be able to understand our type of resiliency.

As to how we shall approach to tell the team about how we met before, I think “we trained together” is a thing everyone, who’s not a Crow will be satisfied with.

The rest remains between me and you, unless we decide to talk more in depth about it. Let me know what you think and when you are free to sit down together for a talk (and some coffee). Your friend - Cara (“Rook”)

[sunshinebingo]

More fun and fluff for my lovely giftee @velarisbynight that I met through @acotargiftexchange. I hope you enjoy this one too 😊

Synopsis: Winter Solstice is a magical time that is best celebrated with loved ones. It is a time of hope and renewal; often also of surprises. These are particularly true for Elain and Gwyn who, for three consecutive years, will experience how special Solstice can be.

Word count: 2.6k

Read the 1st chapter here

Read on Ao3 here or below the cut

Twas the morning of Solstice, a year after they first met, when Gwyneth Berdara and Elain Archeron trudged through the snow up a hill just outside of Velaris.

It had been on that same hill that Gwyn had taught Elain how to use her fists and a knife for something other than cooking. The places that Elain travelled to as an emissary were relatively safe – being mostly High Lords and Ladies palaces and almost always escorted by guards when she walked the streets of their courts – but it was always safer to know how to defend oneself. This morning, however, they were only going there to enjoy breakfast while watching the sunrise.

In Elain’s arms was cradled the brown plaid blanket they always brought to sit on whenever they went out in nature. The bag at Gwyn’s back was heavy with the food and drinks that Elain had packed for them, but not heavier than all the layers they both wore to ward off the slight bite from the cold.

Gwyn could have used her magic for that purpose, but Elain had stopped her from doing so on the hike to their destination, knowing that the mission she had gone on with her Valkyrie sisters the night before had tired her a lot. It was best that she avoid a magical burnout by saving her energy. The gods knew all the people who would be worried for Gwyn if she ended up needing a healer again. One of whom being Elain herself.

“The sun is starting to rise so I think that’s the perfect place to stop,” Gwyn said when they reached the top, voice slightly muffled from the thick emerald scarf that covered her mouth and nose.

She removed the bag from her back and placed it down.

“Finally,” Elain sighed heavily as she plopped down on the snow, slightly panting.

Gwyn laughed next to her.

Suddenly the little drizzle of snow that had been hitting Elain’s exposed face – her nose and cheeks now red – stopped, as did the cold. Elain opened her eyes and frowned at Gwyn.

“Don’t worry El, I’m fine. I just don’t want us to freeze before we can enjoy a nice breakfast.”

Elain wordlessly complied, trusting Gwyn to know her limits. She turned on her side – not before struggling a little due to the heavy pink winter jacket that was almost twice her weight – and removed her woollen mittens now that there was no risk of her fingers falling off.

She proceeded to help Gwyn take things out of the backpack. In less than a minute, the blanket was already spread on the snow with two mugs and several fruits, biscuits and other pastries in boxes laid out on it. Gwyn poured the hot chocolate in their matching mugs before Elain added the marshmallows. As they had discovered over the past year that they been friends, there wasn’t much instructions needed to be passed between them for the two to achieve the perfect teamwork.

Their friendship was unlike any Elain had ever experienced before. After the night of Solstice when they had met, the two had seen each other again and again and again, sometimes in the presence of their found family, sometimes making plans alone like learning how to cook or braiding a friendship bracelet, having lunch or browsing the markets together. They had made time for each other simply because they wanted to. And right now, as she clinked her mug with Gwyn’s before they both looked at the horizon, Elain smiled, knowing that this moment was another that she would cherish forever.

The first breakfast they had shared on this hill had been on a morning of spring. The chirping of the awaking birds had created a symphony that had made the rising sun even more beautiful. The view today was however no less breathtaking. The pink and yellow of the sky coloured the pristine snow that covered the entire hill and the abundance of pine trees beneath. The gentle whoosh of the wind added to the serene atmosphere.

Elain took a first sip of her hot chocolate. When she turned her head to look at Gwyn, the sight of her smiling at the view only made everything more heavenly.

Elain released a happy sigh and reached for the biscuit box filled with little gingerbread men, all frosted in different outfits and facial expressions to show off their different personalities. Elain grabbed an angry looking one that some might argue looked like Amren and took a bite out of its head. The spices from Illyria she had used for the dough and the icing flavoured with Summer pears came together like a party in her mouth. Gwyn went for the largest strawberry she could find.

“So,” she said when she finished it. “What has the Mother shown you about today, oh great seer?”

Elain closed her eyes and lifted her chin exaggeratedly, as though the Mother was whispering secrets to her.

“I see tonight’s dinner at the River House. I see…” she dragged the word for some dramatic effect. “I see spilled drinks and I see someone knocking down the Solstice tree. I see chaos.”

Gwyn snorted into her mug. “I’m not a seer and even I could have predicted that.”

Gwyn turned to her with a smirk. Elain couldn’t help her laugh at the foamy moustache that her drink had left on her upper lip.

She took a napkin from the blanket and wiped it off, her eyes focused on Gwyn’s full, pink lips. Her hand brushed the white faux fur lining of Gwyn’s cloak as she lowered it. Her heartbeat picked up as she watched the rest of her, like it so often did when she looked at Gwyn. Or simply when she thought about her. At least now she knew why; she had embraced the reason why her body and heart reacted so much to her friend. She understood what those reoccurring visions meant now. What they had been preparing her for.

Gwyn was beautiful, more than anyone Elain had ever met. And her beauty did not stop at her freckled skin and silky copper hair, or her lean body that had been shaped and toned by endless hours of training. Even with eyes the colour of a sunlit ocean, there was a fire to her that Elain had found went beyond the powers that the Valkyrie possessed. The kind that she had discovered as she learned more and more about her. She possessed a fiery strength and determination, as well as an ocean deep compassion and care.

Gwyn was a force to be reckoned with. She was even more impressive when she used her intelligence and strength to protect and defend those she loved. No one needed Elain’s clairvoyance to see what a wonderful female she was. And if anyone thought otherwise, it simply meant that they didn’t know her well enough.

The sun slowly brightened the sky, turning it more blue and marking the official beginning of a new day. It also marked the fact that a whole year had passed since the Mother had blessed her with a friend as precious as any new day. A friend who, with every moment that they had spent together, Elain had found her heart growing in size for.

The way in which their relationship had progressed had been natural, following the pace of nature. And yet, once Elain had stopped and thought about it, the realisation of what had been happening all along had flooded her at once with a wave of emotions, drowning out her preconceived ideas of love and relationships.

It had felt like looking at a garden she had tended to for a while, but always crouching down and caring for the individual plants, one after the other. And when she stood back to admire the whole picture, it astonished her how everything had come together so beautifully. How even the tasks she had once thought inconsequential had contributed to the marvel before her.

Her growing relationship with Gwyn was the most beautiful of gardens. It was filled with flowers and ornate daggers, laughter and tears, deep conversations and silly jokes that only they would understand.

Losing it might cause an emptiness in Elain that she feared might never be filled again. But not voicing out the way in which that space reserved for Gwyn had grown might cause the walls to expand until it suffocated her. She wanted be brave and daring like Gwyn. Even if she was not physically there yet, at least she could be in another way. By saying out loud what she felt.

“I can see something else. But it is not something that is set in stone yet,” she said, searching the sky for courage.

“It’s more something that I feel really. About you. I mean for you.”

Gwyn’s brows lowered in a frown as she looked at her. Elain’s whisper seemed to bounce off the shield of warmth around them, a bubble of intimacy in the vastness that was the cold place in the middle of which they sat.

“You are my dearest friend and I have loved you as such for a while but then I have realised that my feelings are deeper than I had ever felt before.”

Gwyn took Elain’s mug from her hands and placed it next to hers on the blanket. Then she took her hands in hers. Elain forgot her words for a moment. But found them again in Gwyn’s teal eyes which looked at her, wide with disbelief and – Elain dared hope – love.

She took a deep breath in, untangling the words on the tip of her tongue and forcing them out.

“What I mean is... You don’t have to agree... I’ve never done this before but being with you feels amazing and sometimes I get the strong impression that maybe there could be more. But please feel free to tell me if I’m making some weird or rude assumptions here.”

Another deep breath in before Elain continued quickly speaking. What mattered was to get the words out, even if they weren’t coming out as eloquently as they had when she had rehearsed them in her mirror.

“I mean, I don’t want to lose your friendship but I also think... I was hoping, that we could, maybe explore this something more. But it’s fine if you don’t want to. I’m so, so happy to be your friend and I –”

Elain abruptly stopped, silenced when Gwyn grabbed her face and kissed her.

Gwyn had done it without thinking, driven by a need to put a stop to her doubts.

It had become like instinct to be there for Elain, to protect and reassure her. To make her feel seen, listened to and loved. Gwyn always tried her hardest to reciprocate everything Elain did for her. Not only for Elain but for herself. It was the only way she had found to appease the feelings she had towards her friend. Feelings which had grown and bloomed to become more than simply friendly.

How could it not when she got to witness a side of her that was rare to see outside of their friendship. Sweet, charming Elain who was also funny, stubborn and even at times petty.

What she felt for Elain had been earth shattering to say the least. The realisation that she could feel such things – both physically and emotionally – for someone had made Gwyn smile and cry and smile again. It had made her heart fuzzy with feelings she had never thought she would one day experience. So she had embraced it.

But soon after, fear had crept at the edges, telling her how shattered her heart would be if she dared give it to someone who would reject it. So, Gwyn had convinced herself a while ago that she would let Elain hold her heart even without telling her of what it truly hid inside. She would stand by her side in whatever way she could.

But then, Elain had opened her mouth to say things that Gwyn had only ever allowed herself to daydream about. There was nothing else she could do except seize this change at love and embrace her reciprocated feelings out loud. Gwyn reluctantly pulled away, instantly missing Elain’s lips.

“I’m happy to be your friend too,” she said, brushing her thumb over Elain’s cheek. “And I would be even happier to explore more.”

Gwyn’s gaze shifted between Elain’s brown eyes and her lips which were parted in shock, her confession replaying in her head over and over again. Time seemed frozen. But it was soon thawed by the grin that slowly appeared on Elain’s face.

“If, of course, I understood your adorable ramblings correctly and I’m not making any weird and rude assumptions,” Gwyn added, silently praying that her hopes hadn’t twisted the situation and that Elain truly wanted her too.

“You think my rambling is adorable?” Elain asked with a smile that was brighter than any morning sky.

Gwyn smiled back and kissed the tip of Elain’s nose.

“I think all of you is adorable.”

“Even when I scold you for placing your weapons on the counter when I’m in the kitchen,” Elain giggled.

“Pff. Especially then,” Gwyn replied with a roll of her eyes. “You should feel how my heart flutters when you get that angry look in your eyes. You could easily melt me on the spot.”

She looked at Elain with a wink that made the seer instantly blush.

“Don’t mock me,” Elain pushed her away with a frown that held no effect next to the smile that she failed at concealing.

Gwyn laughed. “I swear I’m not.”

In fact, what she felt for Elain was anything but a mockery. It was the most exhilarating, most all-consuming feeling she ever had. Right here, in this moment, Gwyn felt like she was looking at the biggest present under the Solstice tree with the tiniest, unvoiced fear of being disappointed with what’s inside; yet she was still buzzing with anticipation and excitement.

She cupped Elain’s face and kissed her again. Because she could. Because she wanted to. Because she couldn’t believe that this was real. But it was. And right now, reality tasted like Elain’s lips, plush, soft and sweet.

Gwyn sighed when Elain wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled her closer. The taste of the marshmallows from their hot chocolate was even better when Gwyn tasted what lingered on Elain’s tongue. She had imagine so many times what kissing Elain would feel like yet nothing compared to when it was really happening.

Gwyn got so lost in Elain’s lips that her magic fluttered, causing her bubble of warmth to abruptly drop and snow to hit their faces as a sudden gust of wind blew in their direction. Elain squealed and buried her face in Gwyn’s neck.

Gwyn immediately put her shield back up, adding as much extra heat to it as her remaining magic would allow.

“I will keep you warm, don’t worry,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Elain and hugged her.

Elain’s answering laugh came out muffled due to her face being pressed against Gwyn’s thick clothes. Gwyn felt the softest of kisses landing on her neck before Elain nuzzled her for some extra comfort. The kind that Gwyn was thrilled to finally be able to provide her with.

“I’m not worried,” Elain whispered. “Not when we’re together.”

Gwyn didn’t need confirmation from any magic or forces above to know that, indeed, everything was better when they were together.

Chapter 3...

Twas the eve of Solstice, a year after their first kiss and two after they first met, when Gwyneth Berdara and Elain Archeron...

Last one coming soon 🤭