#Um... We're back??

[523rdrebel]

Masterlist Chapter 13

Chapter 14 - Morning Glow

Summary: Crosshair and Isabella spend a cozy morning together. Isabella and Desi have a heart to heart. Crosshair, Hunter, and Omega team up on a project.

Word Count: 2,595

Warnings: 18+, mildly suggestive (but no smut)

A/N: Um, Surprise! I'm not gonna get into detail, but this last year kicked my butt and really killed all of my creative motivation. It took some time, and is still in the process, but I feel I'm in a better place now. I received a little boost of inspiration lately, and was able to finish up some bits that have kept me stuck.

If it's been too long of a wait, if you've lost interest in the story, or if you simply don't want to be on the taglist anymore, please message me and I'll remove you. No questions asked.

Dividers by @/dystopicjumpsuit, @/snotbuggle, and @/saradika

Isabella started awake at the sound of her comm ringing, loud and obnoxious– and far, far too early in her opinion.

The mattress shifted and she heard a deep groan. Crosshair's voice was rougher than usual, “Ugh, don’t answer–” He was face down covered almost entirely in the thick covers, an almost disembodied arm reached blindly for the offending noise.

Kriff, that's sexy, the thought burned in her chest. Isabella dodged his aimless move easily, “It’s Desi. Could be an emergency–”

Voice still muffled by the pillows, he countered, “They’ve got it covered–” This time, he emerged from the covers, hair attractively mussed, leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder.

With some effort, she resisted the urge to lean down and return the kiss and have a very different kind of wake up call. Instead, she angled herself just enough to keep Crosshair out of frame and answered the call, “Desi? What’s wrong? Is everything alright?”

The face of her dearest friend appeared on the holo, her face bright and full of energy, “Yes, Izzy, everything’s fine– wait.” She paused, squinting suspiciously, “Are you still in bed?”

“Mhmm.” Isabella nodded, hoping the fact that she’d just woken up would hide the renewed flush of her cheeks.

“Wow, two days in a row! That’s gotta be a record for you. Did Crosshair tie you down or something?”

Isabella coughed, catching Crosshair’s slight devious smile out of the corner of her eye, and shot Desi an intense glare.

“Oh, based on that blush maybe he should.”

“Anyway!”

Crosshair chuckled beside her and she shot him a wide eyed warning glare.

If Desi noticed, she said nothing. She clicked her tongue and grinned, “Alright, well, up you get! Get dressed. I’m on my way with pastries, but I still have to stop for the caf. You want your usual?”

Isabella gasped, almost choking on her own saliva, “No!” She yelled.

“No…” Desi scrutinized her friend more closely, “Izzy, you never say no to caf and pastries…” Movement drew her eyes down and to the side, Crosshair’s arm had wrapped around Izzy’s waist, pulling her closer. “Oooh! No wonder you’re still in bed.” Her eyebrows wiggled provocatively,  “Chuckles, that wasn’t really what I meant by keeping her busy, but…”

Isabella could feel his cheeky smile against her back and he mumbled, “It worked, didn’t it?” Earning him a swift elbow to his side.

“I’ll meet you at the Cafe, Desi.” Izzy snapped out a quick goodbye and ended the comm. “You both are going to end me.”

Crosshair, arm still curled around her waist, pulled her in close, finding comfort in how she simply followed the tug of his arm and curled up against him once more. Later his mind would likely find some way to convince him he should be afraid of the closeness they’d developed, or how much he craved it, but for now he would indulge.

Shortly, and much shorter than either truly wanted, Isabella extracted herself from their tangled embrace, and the enticing warmth of the covers, and placed a parting kiss to his temple. She took her time getting dressed, taking care of all her hygienic needs, before turning her focus to fixing her tangled hair. She sat at her small desk which was situated in the corner across the small room. She leaned forward, staring into the small mirror and willing her curls into braids, then forming the braids around two large buns. In the reflection, she watched as Crosshair sat up on the bed. His hair was wildly messy atop his head and she had to bite her lip to suppress the heat building at the sight of him. His eyes met hers in the reflection and he arched an eyebrow at her. Caught!

She cleared her throat, ignoring the pounding of her heart in her ears, and said, “Feel free to make yourself at home… not that you have to just sit around waiting for me to come back. You can leave, if you want. But you're welcome to stay…too.” She looked down instinctively as she stumbled over her words, feeling slightly like an awkward teen talking to their crush. 

When she looked back up, Crosshair rolled his eyes and stood, in two long strides he was behind her with a self satisfied smirk, “Hunter and Omega wanted me to come by to help with something, anyway. He thinks I'm avoiding him.”

“Are you avoiding him?”

“Only when he's being a pest…” Isabella stared pointedly at him and he shrugged, “So, Yes.”

She shook her head and stood, now finished with her hair, and reached a hand up to run her fingers through his curls “You've really let it grow out. I like it.”

He paused, thinking for a moment, then shrugged, “Hmm.” He glanced at the chrono and made a shooing motion, “Go on, don't keep Desi waiting.”

She nodded, gathered her things and took one last glance in the mirror before heading to the door, taking the leather jacket Crosshair had gifted her. She halted at the threshold and turned back around, biting her lip, “You– You could come back tonight… And stay. If you want.”

He hesitated only briefly, crushing the sharp tinge of fear in his chest, “Would you like me to, Bells?”

Her stomach bottomed out and she swore he could hear her heart thumping across the room. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, unable or too afraid to say the words out loud.

“Hmm?” He smirked playfully, but his eyes darkened slightly.

“I'd like you to stay, Cross.”

A simple nod, “I'll be here.”

The Cafe was only a ten minute walk from her home. It was set on a lovely overlook of the West side of the island with a striking view of the ocean against the horizon. The owner, an elderly Twi'lek couple who’d lived on Pabu for three generations, had cultivated a lovely hanging garden for customers to sit beneath as they enjoyed their drinks. Izzy had chosen their favorite table beneath an aromatic array of florals and with a direct view of the waters below. 

“Have a nice long night, Izzy?” Desi teased as Izzy took a seat across from her.

“You’re terrible.” She chuckled but leaned in and winked, “But yes.”

“Crosshair’s really brought out so much more of your personality, Izzy. I've missed that. And he seems as determined as I am to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“Yes–yes, I get it. I’m bad at taking my own advice…” She sighed, leaning back and staring up at the flowers hanging above. It was a beautiful arrangement of colors against the bright blue of Pabu’s sky. The view always gave her a strange sense of nostalgic longing. She sighed, “Aren’t we a pair… First, he refuses to take care of himself and now he’s throwing my own words back at me.”

Desi mumbled under her breath, “Hm. Wonder what that could be like…”

“Listen–” Izzy sat up straighter, grabbing her cup with both hands, a soothing action.

“I guess the grump’s not too bad…” Desi  chuckled.

Izzy’s eyes squinted, “Wait– that sounded almost like– approval. Desi, who are you?” 

“I never said I didn’t approve! You have every right to be interested in whoever you want. I just wanted to be clear that if he hurt you I’d break his face.” Desi shrugged and her face softened as she spoke, “It did take some time, but I think he’s growing on me. It’s obvious that he truly cares for you, Izzy. And that’s all that I ask.”

She sipped her caf slowly, “Didn’t take you two long to gang up on me though…”

Desi huffed, “Well if you’d stop pretending every other person is more important than you, then we wouldn’t have to.”

The force of her words shook Izzy, guilt and shame souring the contents of her stomach.

Desi reached across the table, placing her hand softly over her friend’s. “I don’t think you understand how important you are to people– to me. And now to Crosshair.” She gave a gentle squeeze, “Izzy, you have people who love you and when you refuse to take care of yourself and prioritize every other person but yourself– It scares me. We’ve both lost enough family. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

Barely managing to hold back her tears, Izzy met her eyes, “You’re right, Desi,  I’m sorry. I–I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask.”

After a heavy moment of silence, Desi smirked, “Now, tell me about this date with Crosshair…”

Crosshair didn’t wait long after Isabella left before getting himself ready to go, aside from taking the time to brew a cup of caf, which he drank while he tidied the room. He located all clothing articles, his boots, and the bag he’d borrowed from Wrecker and made one last sweep of the room for anything missing or out of place. He still had a few hours before he was set to meet with Hunter and Omega, but he couldn’t stay. It was too uncomfortable being in her space without her there, even if she had invited him to stick around. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t belong here without her.

Finally ready to go, he sat for a moment on the end of the bed sighing to himself. Perhaps he had been avoiding Hunter… maybe. He didn’t particularly want to see that smug look on his face when he asked about Isabella. Kriff, I hate it when he’s right.

[A few weeks ago-]

“So– When are you going to stop brooding about her–”

“Hunter.”

“She’s shut herself up behind endless work. You're worried and you're taking it out on everyone else.”

“It's fine, Hunter. Keep your nose out of it.”

“Look, you need to talk to her. She listens to you. And then apologize to Omega… after your last lesson she came back in a rage mumbling about you calling her shots lazy and sloppy. She hasn't stopped practicing but to eat and sleep for days.”

“She's dedicated. That's good.”

“Crosshair… you shouted at her and she still hit every target. She's just a kid.”

“Fine. But not because you told me to… Because Bells is gonna kill herself if she keeps going like this.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, Cross.”

He had later “apologized” to Omega by gifting her a stabilizing attachment for her bow. It seemed to be enough.

Crosshair sighed, mentally waving away those thoughts, running a hand over his short curls, the feeling bringing a sudden warmth to his chest. Maybe I’ll keep it for a little longer, the thought. He took time to water the little struggling plant Bells kept in the kitchen and secure the area before leaving. He made mental notes of unsecured entry and exit points and resolved to talk to Bells later about fixing them.

It was a rare quiet walk to Hunter’s, a soft, warm breeze adding a strange sort of melancholy that Crosshair couldn’t put his finger on. So he elected to ignore it.

Before the house even came into view, Crosshair could hear Omega, she yelled something unintelligible at Hunter, followed by that unmistakable laugh. As he rounded the corner, Omega came running with a wild grin on her face, nearly crashing into him in her haste. Little menace.

“Crosshair!” She grabbed his hand and tugged, wasting no time with any further greetings.

He sighed but followed the tug of her hand. She led him into their yard, it was strewn about with tools, paints, and various sizes of brushes. Once there she let go of his hand and rushed off inside, leaving him standing awkwardly in the yard. Wonderful.

“You done avoiding me yet?”

Crosshair rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic, Hunter.”

Hunter ignored the dry comment, cocking an eyebrow with an infuriating smirk, “...How was your date?”

“Off limits.” “

He clicked his tongue, “What's not off limits?”

Omega burst out from the house with a startlingly familiar helmet, catching Crosshair's attention, “Where’d you find this thing, Kid?” He lifted it from her hands, rotating it slowly to get a good look. It was a standard issue clone cadet helmet. 

She beamed up at him and pulled it back from his grasp, “Echo brought it back with him, said he thought I’d need it looking after you two.” She plopped it over her head with a dull ‘shunk’, “‘Sa little big, though.” Her voice was muffled within the helm.

He rapped his knuckles twice against the top, “You’ll grow into it.”

Hunter grumbled quietly, “-Rather she didn’t…”

Crosshair rolled his eyes and tapped the top of Omega’s helmet once more for good measure. “Didn’t you need help with something?”

Omega was spurred to action, grabbing Crosshair’s hand and pulling him to follow her, “Come here! I want to customize my armor– like you did, like our squad!” He was led around the side of the yard where splayed out on the ground were various small pieces of armor, not a full kit, but enough. Omega sized. Shoulder pauldrons, vambraces, leg and shin guard attachments, a chest plate, and the newest addition– the helmet. They’d all been stripped of any identifying marks or colors and it was obvious she’d spent time cleaning and caring for each piece.

She removed the helmet, holding it against her side, like a soldier. Hunter’s voice was clipped, “I tried to tell her she doesn’t need armor…” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Omega rolled her eyes and fixed him with a pointed glare, “Hunter, I’ve been captured by the Empire twice…”

He cleared his throat and huffed a heavy sigh, “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared...”

Her face lit up- victory! She bounced and ran back to gather the brushes and paint.

Crosshair leaned in close to Hunter, “Gave you the Tooka Eyes?”

“...”

“You’ve gone soft, Hunter.” Crosshair teased.

“She wanted you here, too. For this. Wanted us to work on it together.”

“...I'll check my schedule.”

Back she came, a chaotic whirlwind, with arms precariously full of small cans of paint and various sizes of paint brushes, “Tech and I made the rest of the pieces! What do you think?” She dropped the items in a messy pile, yanking a small item from the bottom and holding it out on display, “Oh! And Wrecker gave me this–” in her hand was a miniature Lula attachment, likely for a belt or bag, “He said it’s for disarming explosives!”

Omega was vibrating with excitement, jumping up and down, “We should update your armor, too, Crosshair.”

“My armor is fine…”

She leaned up, eyes sparkling and big as saucers, “Oh! Maybe Izzy can help!”

He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, “O-kay- Slow down, kid.”

Hunter didn’t bother hiding his laugh, earning a glare from Crosshair, then walked away towards the mess of paint supplies.

Omega became suddenly quiet, watching her brothers preparing the area for their joint project.

“What’s all this about, Omega?” Hunter had that concerned dad look on his face, “The armor, the painting, you’ve been training with Wrecker and Tech more. I know you want to be prepared–”

Omega squared her shoulders, “I don’t want my family to be forgotten… The Empire’s not going to stop, they’re not slowing down, and I’m gonna be ready. And when it happens I’ll have you all with me.” She kneels down next to the armor and touches the helmet softly. 

Crosshair and Hunter remain silent for a long moment before locking eyes and nodding at each other. Hunter placed a hand over hers, “They won’t stand a chance.”

Ye Olde Taglist:

@jediknightjana @dangraccoon @wizardofrozz @freesia-writes @mythical-illustrator

@echoxbuggs @trixie2023 @ezras-left-thumb @sweetcream-coldfoam

@returnofthepineapple @wings-and-beskar @starrylothcat @secondaryrealm @arctrooper69

@littlemissmanga @wolffegirlsunite @sev-on-kamino @dystopicjumpsuit @idontgetanysleep

@followthepurrgil @clonethirstingisreal

[friedricebunny]

i'm really so curious how deeply tbhx is gonna go with its whole premise of "heroes are made and gain powers based on trust" because i really wasn't anticipating that

1) moon/xiao yueqing has teleportation-based powers but because everyone wants her and nice to stick together, her teleportation leads back to nice which was INSANE to me

and

2) lin ling is becoming increasingly more worried about being clean and perfect which is a side effect of nice's image of perfection which is indicating that this whole trust system can have mental effects??? and that's horrifying to me???

we are 2 episodes in, how deep is this gonna go

[nebuladreamz]

Comes back home with milk for my kids (followers): hey guyssssss

[spilycoris]

hop on tf2

[suntails]

do you deserve to be loved?

[gayest-classiclit]

not to post about politics on poll blog but yeahhhhhh things are FUCKED UP in bangladesh it is not great here

i've noticed it doesn't have nearly enough coverage as it should (fair because internet lines are down) so here is yours truly raising awareness!

students are DYING. it's horrible, politically it's horrible, it's stressful for me even though i'm here for just a month because i'm not sure if i'll make it back to london for sixth form ???

i won't say much else but uh. do try to spread awareness if you can is all i'm saying

[naffeclipse]

What if y/n was a siren as well and just ended up in Orca!Eclipses area somehow/accidentally

Oh ho!

A siren reader would be a pretty thing with the tail of a beluga whale and a natural affinity for the Arctic sea. You don't expect to encounter anything in particular but you soon become aware of another in the dark blue waters. Then, he's upon you.

Sirens aren't necessarily dangerous to each other, but there is a certain wariness they each hold. You aren't sure what to make of this strong and large orca siren. He's got hungry eyes. You're very careful, respectful, and mean to move along, but he insists you stay in these waters a while long. He'll hunt a meal for you. You aren't used to such an offer, especially one implying the desire to court, but you're curious, and tempted.

But courtship is a dangerous game to play.

You tell him you'd like to see what he has to offer. He's all sharp teeth and promises to return very quickly, so stay right there. Don't move. He'll come back with his offering.

The moment he disappears to hunt, you jet off in the opposite direction. It's for the best. You're not sure how this courtship would have played out, and it's better to keep to yourself so that you can stay free—

But he finds you, a squid in his jaws and hands pulling on your waist, his tail pressing against yours. He spits out the half-dead squirming creature to ask why you didn't heed his words. You stumble through excuses and explanations, but he doesn't give you a chance to defend yourself before he shoves the food in your hands. He says you can enjoy it with him somewhere less open, somewhere you're less likely to get lost again.

And you realize that the courtship has already begun.

[rozzywell]

Referencing a famous love poem to the man (/car/computer) who just saved your life for the umpteenth time but bracketing it on either side by "buddy" and "pal" is kinda killing me I gotta be real. Anyway what did he mean by this.

[an-assortment-of-forks]

now should I message my best friend that I haven't talked to in like 5 years? who I ghosted and moved across the country from? asking for a friend.

[blorbseuki]

8. 🦄: Is your OC the only one of their kind, or are there others like them? for lady helia!

[Ask Meme]

Oho, excellent question! 👀 Before I get into this answer, I wanted to take a second and refer back to some older lore dumps to help lay down context 👉 The Stardust Cycle | Helia's Legend

As far as she (and everyone else) knew at that time, Lady Helia was the only puffball in existence in this corner of the galaxy.

For systems consumed by the Singularity's hunger, the situation was dark, both figuratively and literally. There were no stars, which meant there was little to no stardust. The number of Puffballs and other stardust-reliant species dwindled to the point that they were practically considered myth.

In a world where the stardust was spread so thin--and consequently, in a world that was poor in magic--the fact that Lady Helia manifested such powerful abilities, let alone existed at all, was considered nothing short of an absolute miracle, one that was dictated by Fate itself.

The denizens of Fortel believed heavily in such mechanisms. From the moment her shooting star blazed across their skies, they were more than prepared to take the young puffball under their loving care and raise her to her fullest potential. Her arrival was a gift from the stars, a sign that their days of darkness were sure to end, and denizens of surrounding systems were inclined to agree once the good word spread.

So while Lady Helia may have been the only one of her kind at the time, she was never truly alone, in the loving hands of all the communities within her orbit.

But that in itself can be even lonelier.

[rox-of-iu]

i miss my wife* (*drawing) i miss her a lot. i'll be back (in like a month)

[brick-van-dyke]

So, I've been doing some thinking. This could either be a meaningless little ramble that no one will care about, or something seen as really dangerous and putting a target on my back.

So, what if we, those most weary of the far right created an international group of activists in light of the US election? See, the thing is that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are very dangerous, but they are also very incompetent and could lead the government down a path that weakens it. It could create a very unique opportunity to address the far right problem and the US Imperialist system itself in one go. Or maybe I'm being overly ambitious.

This group I have in mind would have several purposes, such as keeping communities safe and protecting people from the harm the far right would do in the name of winning the election. Or, most importantly of all, connecting activists from all over the world and allowing us to dismantle the system as a concrete and united movement. Maybe it's just me being naive and hopeful, but maybe it's also something we've all wanted deep down but been too afraid to initialise? If so, maybe this is a sign to really stand up and start trying to make those connections.

[butch-chastity]

brief primer on their many, many problems

[bunnyboy-juice]

awawawawawawa

[speedy-beans]

trying to pick a Big Fave in fruits basket is like. youre cool but youre weird about teenage girls, youre funny but youre weird about teenage girls, youre 26 get away from the 17 year old rn,

[bambisnc]

hi chat how we doing (w rizz)