#like i have to just commit to not caring about how im coming across

[majimaisms]

its so tempting to do one of those "anonymously send me your opinion of me" ask games bc on one hand i am NEVER sure of my footing with even the ppl who are choosing to willingly expose themselves to my takes but at the same time if i start Officially worrying about how im coming across i will never be able to post anything. like even more than i already am unable

[sortagaysortahigh]

Lovefool | James 'Bucky' Barnes

A/N: Guys ive been writing ts for like four days and lemme tell you im so glad it's over. Ugh everyone say thank you to @anxietyandtacos for making me into a bucky girl, and thank you to @love-chx for feeding into my bucky dellusions and beta-ing this monster of a fic <3. I was gonna split it in 2 but I'm too lazy to edit that out so I prese,t idiots in love! Minor TB/CABNW SPOILERS

Summary: James Barnes is a terrible congressman, hence Sam sending you to be his assistant. You keep him on a tight leash, and you both do a horrible job at hiding your feelings for one another. Add jealousy and alcohol to the mix? what could possibly change?

Warnings: 2nd person POV, use of Y/N, being a D1 John Walker hater, mentions of bipolar parents/family trauma (minor), forced super soldier serum injections (mention, not depicted!), reader is also a super soldier lowkey but she's just a girl ok!, cursing, spelling and grammar errors probably idk fr, jealous!bucky and jealous!reader, SMUT: hair pulling, choking w that vibranium arm, spitting, hickies, kissing, oral (m receiving), fingering, unprotected P in V, creampie, swallowing, reader gets a facial (im going to hell guys), minor handjob, whimpering (MEN WHIMPERING UGH!!)

Word Count: 18k. PART 2

Congressman!Bucky Barnes x Secretary!Fem Reader (reader has vague descriptions regarding having STRAIGHTENED hair/curled hair, reader is shorter than Bucky)

UGHHHHHHHHH LET ME AT HIM! FUCK! anyways MINORS DNI!

James Buchanan Barnes is a terrible congressman.

How he managed to get elected to represent Brooklyn? You had absolutely no idea. Sure his campaign made sense, it aligned with his long-term goals of making amends for the tragedies he’d committed as the Winter Soldier, but outside of his initial campaigning,he hadn’t done much. 

He hadn’t had any major bills passed and he had a terrible media presence. Anytime anyone wanted to interview him or ask any major questions following a congressional session, he would mutter the same ‘yeah uh huh, it’s super important, oh I think we should care about this- blah blah blah’. 

It made zero sense.

That’s the entire reason you were hired. Then again, it was also because you owed Sam Wilson a major favor after he opted not to arrest you following the whole ‘Flag Smashers terrorism’ ordeal. It’s not like you were voluntarily involved with the group, but you were a major part of the brains behind the tech-based operations.Plus, you knew how to talk to people. Most importantly, you knew your ins and outs of politics and had a vast network of connections.

“Bucky, can you just listen to me for once! You’re gonna fuck up your entire career if you keep bullshitting responses to the press!” 

You let out a frustrated sigh, two fingers pinching your nose bridge as you shut your eyes. You’re doing your best to remain calm and avoid screaming at him for the fourth time this week—it’s only Tuesday. 

Working with Barnes was like your own personal hell. 

It made sense that he was over a hundred years old. He's stubborn and rude and since the beginning, it was apparent that he didn’t trust you. He even vouched for you to be arrested a few years ago following the takedown of the Flag Smashers, but that was mostly because you had kicked his ass and clearly bruised his ego.

Things were better now…well, if you didn’t count the constant arguments. He was just too nonchalant at times.

Bucky nodded his head, clearly ignoring you as he focused on buttoning up his white shirt. 

The both of you were in his Washington D.C. penthouse. It was a nice place all things considered, a luxury awarded to him by the government, and, of course, being a national ‘hero’ recognized by Captain America himself did come with perks. 

You lean against the island counter, arms crossed in front of your chest while you glare at him. Meanwhile, he was focused on his own reflection in the large circular wall-mounted mirror across the room. 

You were due for a briefing surrounding the Foreign Affairs congressional committee soon, but based on the way he couldn’t answer any of your questions, you knew he’d either be making a fool of himself or you’d have to swoop in and save the day again.

“Would you relax for five minutes? All you do is yell at me, I get you’re supposed to be my know-it-all secretary but Christ, you need to calm down.” 

Your right eye twitches at his response, then you grab the nearest item to you, a glass vase, and launch it in his direction.

Bucky caught it with ease, shaking his head at you as he eyes you from the reflection of the mirror.

Admittedly, Bucky had no issue with his wandering eyes when it came to you. His gaze trailed from your irritated expression, a smirk on his face at the sight of your ever-present pout, then he eyed the few thin gold chains you always wore tucked into your shirt. Today, you hadn’t buttoned your shirt all the way up just yet, leaving quite the eye-full of cleavage out. 

It didn’t help that you were practically pressing your tits together with your arms crossed below them. Bucky took in the rest of your outfit, one of your black pencil skirts that was deemed as work appropriate and modest--even though it hugged all of your curves perfectly and made your ass practically irresistible. Finally, he landed on your shoes, the pointed toe stiletto heels that he knew made your feet hurt, yet you always had a pair on.

They did wonders for your legs.

You ran a hand through your perfectly straightened hair. Usually every strand was laid perfectly and you’d spend too much time making sure it wasn’t frizzy in the slightest-which was like hell during D.C. summers. Now it was messy, but it was messy in a way that made Bucky’s brows raise slightly.

“Don’t tell me to fucking relax Barnes. Your political career is a direct reflection of my political career. I hate to break it to you, but us being two ex-enemies of the state already have us on thin ice constantly! Presidential pardons don’t mean shit in the eyes of the public—a public which you’re supposed to serve!”

You were raising your voice again, he shook his head at that, now finally turning around to face you while he grabbed his tie.

“Just come help me with this tie so we can go. I read the files. I get it, if I fuck up it’s a problem, blase blase blase. I’ve got speech writers, advisors, and most importantly—you.” 

You sighed again, hands now on your hips as you stared at him while clenching your jaw and shaking your head. You hated when he said things like that to you, things that were a little too sweet for a supposed strictly professional relationship.

Sure, you’d known him before he was a Congressman, but you weren’t close in the slightest. 

Then during the aftermath of the Flag Smashers, Sam had you in constant therapy sessions, and after pulling several strings, he had you working side-by-side with him. That’s what really launched your political career.

People liked to argue that Captain America wasn’t political, but he absolutely was. The mantle itself was propaganda, and honestly, you were glad it was Sam holding the shield, he was the best fit for the job regardless of what idiots thought. 

Sam brought you into the world of politics, and it was easy for you to build a network, plus you were able to spin your own narratives regarding your past, playing into people’s emotions, and sure, it was a little manipulative, but you were smart. 

Y’know what they say—work smarter, not harder.

You had started working with Bucky because Sam had cashed in on the ultimate favor after watching Bucky during his campaign trail. His speeches were all amazing, but then when anyone would ask him a candid question, he would struggle, or he’d be dismissive and it was evident he didn’t want to answer questions or be there.

That’s when you showed up, and following his election, you were at the forefront of his public appearances. Answering questions on his behalf, assisting in briefings, and even being with him during any congressional sessions, especially committee sessions. Most representatives didn’t have their assistants with them at all times, but things were different now, and as the world continued to adapt and change, so did the sphere of politics.

You rolled your eyes as you approached him, stopping less than a foot away, ignoring the ever-apparent butterflies you’d feel in your stomach anytime you had to stand in close quarters with him. It wasn’t that being next to him flustered you, it was being face-to-face with him. There was a height difference, but the heels helped with that.  

However, the heels did not help with his wide stature. Bucky Barnes is a wall of muscle, and some days it felt like his biceps alone were the size of your head.

You knew he knew how to tie his own tie. But you also knew he liked when you did it.

He looked down at you, a smirk on his face while he watched your hands work against his royal-blue tie. Your jaw was still clenched, and you were very clearly annoyed with him.

Bucky knew you had a soft spot for him. Just like he had a soft spot for you.

You know this because he’d already fired two assistants prior to Sam ushering you into the role.

You were the only person he’d ever let scream at him over anything. Admittedly, he kind of liked it when you yelled at him too, but he wouldn’t tell you that. It was attractive because, well, you were attractive. But you were also his assistant that was around eighty years younger than him.

“Can you at least pretend you want to be there today?” You glanced up at him as you finished adjusting his tie. Your faces were inches apart as you searched his icy blue eyes for an answer.

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try for you.”

You nodded at that, moving away from him and walking towards the sofa to  grab his suit jacket and your purse. Then you glanced down at your watch, muttering a few curses at the time. 

He watched you walk towards the door, snapping your fingers a few times at him. He smiled and shook his head, grabbing his briefcase and keys as he followed you. Before the both of you could leave, you handed him his jacket, raising both brows.

“Put it on, Barnes.” 

He nodded at that, shrugging it on then buttoning it. You were quick to run your hands along the front of his chest, straightening out any potential wrinkles—the motion felt natural to you. The first time you’d done it, it left you flustered and blushing, but now it didn’t bother you. The quicker it was done, the quicker you’d actually be able to make it out of the building and to the car that had been waiting on you both for ten minutes.

Bucky didn’t like being driven around, it was something he was still getting used to. It wasn’t like he couldn’t drive himself. Then again, the drivers usually had bulletproof trucks to avoid any potential Kennedys happening.

Yeah, his career as the Winter Soldier was extensive and most likely resulted in several of the current governmental security measures. 

Besides, at least he knew you would be safe by his side in the blacked out suburban.

On the drive to the capitol building you were talking non-stop, running him through every agenda that had been previously reviewed and would most likely be circled back to today. You also went on and on about him needing to actually answer questions with real information, not his typical half-assed responses brushing everything off.

When the SUV was finally parked and stopped, you grabbed his forearm before getting out of the car. 

“Don’t piss me off today, Barnes.” 

He ran his tongue along his bottom lip as he nodded his head. “No promises, Sweetheart”.

When he said no promises he meant it.

The both of you hadn’t been in the hearing for longer than twenty minutes before he’d managed to irritate you. It didn’t help that this hearing was scheduled to last three hours. 

You prayed that the three hours would go by fast, especially with Bucky already brushing off another congressman. The entire reason he was on this specific committee was because of his experience overseas working with the former Avengers, and several foreign threats, plus his ‘stellar’ work with groups such as the Flag Smashers.

All he was asked to do was give his input on the current situation regarding Celestial Island. That was it. 

It was a simple question, with an even simpler response, and he’d manage to start his bullshit fiasco again.

You were quick to cut him off, a bright smile on your face as you leaned into his space, pulling the small microphone in your own direction.

“What Congressman Barnes means is that we’re very concerned with the potential threat of any foreign militant uprisings pertaining to the discovery and appearance of Celestial island. Alongside that, it’s evident that with the newfound and limited natural resources on the island, there are several concerns regarding the legal boundaries of mining on foreign territory.”

You sat back in your seat, glancing around the room while several officials nodded and took notes. Bucky was staring right at you, his eyes slightly squinted while he tried not to make a scene. He then subtly pinched your thigh, which led to you swatting his hand away. 

When he leaned into your space, you were practically enveloped in the smell of his cologne. You’d be lying if you said it didn’t relax you slightly. 

Bucky whispered into your ear, “Can you not shove me out of the way to correct me every five minutes.” 

Your jaw clenched at his words. His breath against your ear sent a shiver along your spine, and quite frankly you wanted to slap him. Not because he was wrong to address you in a private manner, but because he was making a fool out of himself and pissing you off.

As he pulled back you offered a smile that was very clearly fake. Well, at least to him it was fake.

“Of course, Congressman.” 

The rest of the hearing was spent the same way, you taking notes while he took half-assed notes. Telling him what to say and what not to say, and correcting him a few more times when he couldn’t provide enough detail on the matter.

Once the meeting was adjourned and the both of you were out of the room, the press were everywhere, surrounding each member, asking a million questions, and when they crowded around you and Bucky, you let out a deep sigh, glancing up at him as he smiled and nodded at the reported forcing microphones into his face.

“Congressman Barnes, what is your opinion on the ongoing Celestial Island expeditions and the potential interstellar crisis right now?” He glanced over at you for a brief few seconds. Then he looked around before clenching his jaw and taking a deep breath. He then leaned closer to one of the mics.

“No comment.” 

With that, he was quick to guide you through the crowd and out of the building.

The two of you stood at the top steps of the capitol building, your gaze focused on a series of notes that you’d taken, eyes trailing each sentence, trying to compartmentalize all of the major points of the meeting. Meanwhile, he was shooting the driver a text, letting him know that things had wrapped up.

“You said you wouldn’t piss me off today, Barnes.” 

He shrugged, now looking at you, eyes taking in the way that the sun practically radiated off of your skin. God, you were so beautiful—if only you didn’t talk so damn much. “I said no promises.” 

You shook your head, now squinting as you looked around, the sun brighter than ever. Without even thinking about it, you were using your free hand to fish in Bucky’s jacket pocket, pulling out his black aviator sunglasses before slipping them on and going back to your reading.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little too comfortable?” 

You blinked a few times, shrugging the same way he always shrugged when people asked him questions. “You’ll be fine Barnes. Also, don’t forget we have a fundraiser to attend tomorrow, black tie event, I think Sam’s an honored speaker there. And if you’re bringing your team of miscreants, make sure to keep them on a tight leash.” With that, you started descending down the white stone steps, leaving him confused.

He watched as you walked off. At first he thought maybe you were messing with him, however, after you’d made it to the bottom and continued walking down the cement path, he knew you were on the way somewhere. It was a nice day outside, so maybe it made sense that you’d go for a walk on Capitol Hill? But that usually entailed you needing to get something, or speak with someone.

“Where the hell are you going?!” he called after you, leading you to pause and spin around, pushing his sunglasses to the top of your head, moving your hair out of the way.

“To get lunch, what am I supposed to photosynthesize?” 

He shook his head, following after you and ignoring the looks he was getting from tourists, locals, and other political figures.

It didn’t take long for him to catch up to you, his long strides quicker than yours as he descended the stairs. That and he wasn’t wearing a pair of four inch stilettos on. Some days when you moved too slowly he’d debate throwing you over his shoulder to get somewhere quicker.

But that was both unprofessional and embarrassing for the both of you. He knew for a fact that you’d make a scene, most likely shouting at him, switching between his military rank to his political title while hitting him.

Bucky ran a hand through his hair before glancing at you as the both of you walked in sync. He took a second to look around, observing the area to ensure there were no major threats. An old habit that always seemed to surface anytime he was with you in public. 

“So, where exactly are we going?” 

You shrugged, now holding a manilla folder above your face to further block the sun, squinting behind the black aviators before crossing the busy street. It wasn’t uncommon for secretaries to walk around the Hill, especially during lunch or recess. You knew your way around the city relatively well.

However, it was clear Bucky did not, considering you were guiding him in the direction of the Vietnamese restaurant that the two of you frequented during the first few months of working together. There wasn’t any point in trying something new, not when you had several pages of notes to sort through and reiterate to Bucky.

“To 54, y’know the cute little mom and pops place we used to go to all the time? Best summer rolls in D.C.” 

He nodded as you spoke.Truthfully, he had no idea what you were talking about. Sure, he knew that when you first started working for him you had dragged him to lunch, claiming that taking a break from the ‘seriousness’ of the job was important, but outside of that, he couldn’t remember half of the places you dragged him to.Usually the food was good, though.

After about ten more minutes of walking alongside Bucky, who was constantly grabbing you and pulling you away from incoming traffic when you’d been too focused on the hearing notes to actually look before crossing the street, you’d finally made it to the restaurant.

The second you opened the door, you spotted Ms. Minh, the older woman that owned the restaurant. Within a few seconds she’d noticed you and Bucky, a wide smile on her face as she approached the both of you with menus.

“My favorite customers! Tell me Bucky, are you two engaged yet?” 

You blinked a few times, eyes wide at the insinuation that you and Bucky were together. When you glanced over at him, his brows were knit together as his eyes met yours. 

Neither of you would acknowledge the rosy flush on his face.

“Now, Ms. Minh, you know we’re not together romantically. He’s my boss, and between me and you, the biggest grouch I know. Plus, he never listens to me! I can’t be with a man who doesn’t listen.” You spoke as you followed her to a table that was a bit more secluded in the back corner of the dining area. 

She shook her head, scoffing a bit before elbowing you, leaning closer to you.“Men never listen, but he’s a good one, can’t let him slip away.” 

You gasped at that, laughing and smiling at her as you sat down. He slid into the seat directly across from you and smiled at Ms. Minh when she handed him his menu, lightly slapping his shoulder and winking before walking off.

“I remember this place now.” 

You nodded your head, smiling as you read through the menu. You knew exactly what you were getting, but you also didn’t want to look into those baby blues right now. Not while you tried your best to ignore the butterflies—scratch that, it was like an entire team of olympic gymnasts were doing somersaults in your stomach.

You’d be a liar if you said you hadn’t ever thought of Bucky romantically. Outside of being an absolute moron in the realm of politics, he’s a genuinely good guy. He’s done the work to make amends, he understands empathy, he’s kind and giving, and in the words of the other assistants you had the displeasure of working with, he really was a tall glass of water.

“Are you gonna take the sunglasses off, Sweetheart?” 

You blinked a few times, finally registering that everything still had a dark blue-ish hue. You were too lost in thought to actually take off the aviators. He already had his hand out, waiting for you to place them in his palm.

Once you returned the glasses, one of the servers came around to take your order, and without any hesitation you were ordering for yourself and for him. When he opened his mouth to say something you quickly shushed him before finishing the order. “I know what you like, Barnes.” 

He nodded slowly, looking from you to the glass of ice water on the table. Sure, you did know what he liked to a certain extent. 

He also liked you, a lot more than he should’ve. But he was positive you didn’t know that, even if you were the biggest know-it-all on the goddamn planet.

You finally looked up at him, now stirring the thin plastic straw in your glass of water, taking a second to push the lemon wedge to the bottom of the glass, lightly squishing it with the straw.

“So, after the term is over, what’s next for you Congressman Barnes?” 

He shrugged, one hand reaching for his phone, the other on the tabletop, fingers tapping against the worn wood. The white, green, and red hues from one of the bright neon signs on the wall reflecting against his skin ever so slightly as he looked at you.

James Barnes needed to be painted. He was too handsome to not be preserved forever in art. Then again, anytime you’d ever mentioned anything about him being preserved, he’d make a joke about being in cryostasis that would leave your jaw dropped.

“I dunno, probably go back to being a hero or something, who knows. Got the whole ‘New Avengers’ thing to address. Maybe, keep working on the whole making amends thing. Not sure if politics are for me.” 

You tried to hold in your laugh but it easily slipped past the cracks in your stoic expression. “I’m gonna say this as your friend, not your assistant so don’t fire me. But you’re really shitty at your job.” 

He laughed at that, shaking his head lightly, his hair had a slight bounce that made you want to run your fingers through the chocolate locks.

“You’re probably right Sweetheart, but the Winter Soldier turned politician looks good on paper. Sam’s always talking about history remembering names, guess it was the best way to redeem myself. Y’know serving the people.” 

As the both of you spoke, your food was brought out. The two bowls of pho were placed on the table, alongside your side of summer rolls. You absentmindedly grabbed the few bottles of sauce on the table. Immediately adding some hoisin sauce and a dash of sriracha to his, the way he always liked it.

Then you moved onto your own, throwing bean sprouts, mint, and jalapenos into the bowl.

“Y’know I can do things on my own.” 

You shrugged, now raising a single brow. “Then I wouldn’t have a job.” 

He rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face was evident, a large toothy grin that was typically reserved for the people closest to him. Bucky let out a boisterous laugh as he picked up his chopsticks, mixing his pho. “Fine, you got me there I guess.” 

You nodded at that, then added, “Besides, I like doing stuff for you. Actually, I think I just enjoy doing things for people in general, I guess it’s my love language or whatever Joaquin says.” 

The mention of the new Falcon bothered Bucky, not because he didn’t like the kid, but because it had an angry green emotion swirling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t envy, no it was blatant jealousy.

“Ah, how is Joaquin anyways?”

You raised a brow at him, swallowing the food in your mouth before answering. “Well, after crash landing into the Indian Ocean, his recovery is actually going really well. Been in physical therapy and rehab for a while, still doesn’t shut the hell up, and is constantly yapping Sam’s ear off—and mine—when he calls. I think he’s back in the air now too, last I heard from Sam at least.” 

He nodded as he ate. Then, he couldn’t help himself  “So…are you two still close?” 

Your brows knit together as your head craned back a bit. 

“It’s pretty unprofessional to ask about your assistant's love life, hmm?” you were teasing him, pointing the chopsticks in hand at him, both brows raised now. Then your smile cracked. “Good  thing we’re friends-ish. But no, me and Joaquin are a negative, sure we’re around the same age, but I dunno, he’s a great friend, but not my type y’know. I usually go for the whole tall, brooding, kinda mean, type.”

Bucky bit his bottom lip slightly as you spoke. Externally, he was focused on you and his meal. Internally he was jumping for joy at the fact that you weren’t remotely interested in Joaquin Torres. Plus, hearing your usual type, he was right up your alley. But once again, it was incredibly unprofessional to fraternize with your secretary.

“So, what about you, Barnes? Seeing any ladies when I’m not around?” You wiggled your brows at him. He shook his head, laughing while you practically stuffed your face with a summer roll. He was glad you were comfortable around him, but that comfort also fed into his delusions he liked to keep to himself.

Plus, you were annoying. But he kind of liked annoying these days.

“Yeah, no. All I do is work, don’t have much time for a social life, sure as hell don’t have time for a romantic one at this point. Besides, I’m a bit old to be going back into the dating scene.” 

You scoffed at that. “Not true at all! Sure on paper you’re like a century old, but I mean c’mon you’re like what thirty-six? Thirty-seven? And I mean this in the most professional sense, you’re not exactly ugly or unattractive. Sure you’re mean, a politician, and have a history of being a war criminal! But we all have flaws!” 

He blinked several times, head tilting slightly while shutting his eyes and pinching his nose bridge while taking a deep sigh. “You’re a terrible relationship coach.”

You shrugged at that, biting into the second summer roll before pausing, food clearly stuffed into your right cheek like a hamster. “That’s why I’m in politics, duh.”

Then your phone was ringing, and Party in the U.S.A. was on full blast, earning several looks from people around you both. You sighed, putting your spoon down before grabbing the phone off of the table and answering while looking directly at Bucky who had a single brow raised.

“Sam, please tell me this isn’t a work related call.” You sighed, as you listened to Sam speak, running a hand through your now frizzy hair. Then, you placed the phone between your cheek and shoulder, digging through your bag in the empty chair beside you until you were able to pull out your planner. The same planner which several people made fun of you for using, stating that you needed to just use google calendar or some other app.

The apps never worked for you, so you stuck to pen and paper.

Then you were flipping it open to this week, eyes scanning the different hearings, meetings, press releases, and scattered notes. Brows knit together as you dug out a pen.

“So, it’s mandatory? Like this isn’t one of those ‘oh we wish we could’ve made an appearance, so sorry for missing the fundraiser’?” You let out another sigh at Sam’s response, now looking up at Bucky who was focused on drinking his water and attempting to read all of your scribbled notes upside down.

“This is way beyond short notice Sam, y’know one day can you just call to invite us to one of Sarah’s cookouts again? Or maybe a fishing trip? Hell, even saving the world would be better.” 

Bucky groaned as he finally registered that you were making note of a charity fundraiser event happening in two days.

“Okay Sam, yes I’m fine! Yes I’m safe! Wha-what?! Don’t ask me that oh my god! Goodbye Sam!” You quickly hung up, a bit flustered over Sam’s last question, and as much as Bucky wanted to ask what it was, you were already focused on the schedule. Sometimes you were like a robot, immediately switching into work mode, hyper fixated on a task until it was fully complete.

This was one of those instances, or at least, from his end, that’s how it seemed.

Meanwhile, you were just avoiding his gaze after Sam had asked if you and Bucky and finally ‘dealt with that sexual tension’. It wasn’t like you had sexual tension! He was just your very attractive boss that fit right into your typical archetype of men that you’d go after, plus he was older, which was an added bonus. 

But he was also stubborn as ever, mean, unprepared, unprofessional at times, and obnoxious when he wanted to be. 

Everyone has flaws, you just had to fixate on his to remind yourself that Bucky’s your boss not your potential husb—boyfriend. The first option would be too far fetched, even if Ms. Minh was your biggest supporter in the matter.

“Okay Barnes, turns out we have a mandatory charity fundraiser to attend this weekend, and since today’s Thursday, I’ve gotta book us some flights for tomorrow to be back in New York. Turns out it’s in Manhattan, and apparently it’s at the old Avengers tower, also known as your future home.” 

He sighed, shaking his head at the reminder of Valentina’s ‘New Avengers’ scheme. He would be finishing his term before being fully acclimated into the misfit group of ex-criminals. But when the two of you were in New York, or he was needed, he would show up with you in tow. By technicality, you were also a part of the rag tag group of anti-heroes.

“You mean our future home?” 

Something about the way he emphasized the word ‘our’ sent heat along your neck and cheeks. 

“Please, I’m not a damn Avenger. I’ll probably stay in the political sphere, even after your stint as a Rep is over.” 

He shook his head at that, a ‘tsk tsk tsk’ leaving his lips. “That’s what you think, you were there at the press conference a few months ago. Plus, we’re still going back and forth with Sam about the whole Avengers fiasco. Pretty sure he’s just gonna form one gigantic group eventually, sift out the nutcases and move from there.” 

You reached across the table, lightly smacking his arm. “Don’t talk about Bob like that!” 

He sighed, shrugging again. “You’re always quick to defend him y’know that? You don’t defend Walker—” 

You cut him off. “Yeah cause he’s an asshole! But Bob is really sweet! He’s just, like, super bipolar. Besides, he reminds me of my mom, y’know, before she went totally psycho after the blip.” 

You cleared your throat at the mention of your mother, it was a sore subject, one that was typically only brought up in therapy.

“But you need to stop calling him a nutcase! And that also applies to Alexei! He’s also super nice! A bit much at times? Yes, but he cares! Don’t be so mean to your team.” 

He raised a singular finger, pausing your rant. “Actually, you’re the only one on my team, literally and legally. But fine, you’re right I guess, I’ll be nicer to them. Even if they’re all in need of some serious court mandated therapy.” 

You smiled at that, now closing your planner and shoving it back into your purse.

“Good. Besides, not everyone gets to be like Sam and recruit a bunch of happy-go-lucky people who have aspired to be heroes their entire life. I mean Joaquin and Kate are always so happy, they’re like golden retrievers. Peter’s also pretty positive, granted he’s still grieving, but I’m glad he’s managed to see the good in people again. But Stephen Strange can count his days, next time I see him, I’m kicking his ass on principle—off the record.”

Bucky let you rant, it wasn’t necessarily an ‘in one ear, out the other’ situation, but you looked so pretty as you spoke, the sunlight beaming from outside highlighted the soft angles of your face, then the LED signs on the wall had small hues of color dancing along your features, and your smile was always so vibrant and full of life.

He was whipped.

Sam was completely right.

“I’m charging this to your card by the way, and I’m tipping the same as the bill. You can afford it.” With that you winked, now walking towards Ms. Minh who sat behind a small counter that blocked the entrance to the kitchen. 

The next day was a whirlwind for Bucky, he knew he had to travel today. He was used to the constant back and forth. It was his last year as a Representative, and because he represented Brooklyn, the both of you were always going back and forth between New York and D.C.

However, you were the one who always organized the travel plans, and usually you both avoided early morning flights because you didn’t live together, meaning you were likely to make it, and he wasn’t. At this rate he should’ve been used to the travel, but he wasn’t and you constantly reminded him that he was on thin ice.

Today he’d finally fallen into the frozen lake.

Yesterday at about seven thirty you’d sent him the flight details. You were set to take off at eight in the morning, meaning you had to be up around five and at the airport by six forty-five. That would’ve given the both of you enough time to actually make your flight, then head over to the tower early to help with preparations for the fundraiser, and to go over a few important details with Yelena about the impending galactic crisis, the same crisis that you’d gotten a plethora of information on from sitting through the Foreign Affairs committee meetings over the past two months.

Bucky woke up at eight forty-five with twenty-three missed calls, fifteen very angry text messages, and three even angrier emails. He tried to call you back, and you purposefully ignored the first two calls, finally answering on the third, thankful that you’d purchased the in-plane wifi as it gave you the opportunity to yell at him.

Then, you were texting him flight information for eleven in the morning, which led to him rushing to pack a bag, almost missing the pile of documents that you’d left on his kitchen island for him with a neon-pink sticky note on top that said ‘Take Me’, and rushing out of his townhouse.

He didn’t have time for a driver, so he opted for his motorcycle which he knew would piss you off once you found out. Especially because he also wasn’t in his typical suit and tie, no he was in his black jeans, a t-shirt, and his leather jacket. 

That would inevitably get him yelled at. He’d seen the schedule you emailed to him, specifically stating that the moment he got off of his flight, he needed to haul ass—your words not his—to the tower to be remotely present at a meeting regarding a potential impeachment hearing. It wasn’t his impeachment—thankfully.

Bucky would also probably have to deal with more press on the issue circulating who the ‘real Avengers’ were, which was also a previous major point of contention between him and Sam, to the point that Sam had threatened a full-on lawsuit, followed by a copyright of the ‘Avengers’ title itself.

But under your guidance, also known as you forcing him and Sam to sit down and talk things over like ‘real adults’, they were able to come to a temporary agreement solely based on the fact that the galactic threats, celestial island, and global terrorist movements were a bigger issue than who got to ‘play hero for the day’. Once again, your words not his.

To be fair, Bucky wouldn’t have missed his flight if you lived with him. But you were hellbent on not living in the same house as him, even if you were his assistant, you called it ‘highly inappropriate and fully unprofessional’. Which, in theory it was, but he didn’t really care about theory.

It made perfect sense to him, you were already always with him, what was moving in going to change? Or rather, what would moving in change, negatively.

Now, he had to figure out how to grovel for your forgiveness. He had a few ideas, but they were far from professionally appropriate. There’s that very obvious line that Bucky is well aware of, the line that he can’t cross, even if he’s constantly contemplating it.

He’d barely made it to the airport on time, and he’d paid extra to park his motorcycle, which pissed him off. Then he was practically sprinting through the airport to make his flight, which he somehow managed to board at the last possible minute.

By the time he landed in New York, you were already ready to curse him out. Now standing in the airport outside of his gate, arms crossed in front of your chest, foot tapping against the tiled floors while you stared directly at the crowd leaving the flight.

He spotted you before you spotted him. He knew he was in deep shit based on the way your jaw was clenched and your usually pristine hair was thrown into a hairclip, loose strands framing your face, frizzy bits and pieces sticking out of the clip, and you weren’t in your heels.Instead you had on a pair of flats. 

Flats were never a good sign. 

Plus you ditched the pencil skirt for pants, and a black blouse. 

“Listen, Sweetheart, I’m sorry—” 

You easily cut him off, immediately shushing him and taking a deep breath. “Let’s go before I cuss you out and lose my goddamn job.” 

He slowly nodded at your cold demeanor.

This was different.

You walked ahead of him, he wasn’t used to that. Usually you kept the same pace, but not today, not when you were in your angry flats and exhausted outfit. 

It wasn’t until the both of you were in a cab that you finally broke.

“Are you freaking kidding me, Barnes?! Can you not piss me off for one day? One day! It’s not like I asked something major, I sent you the flight last night at seven! You had more than enough time to set a damn alarm! And why the hell aren’t you in a suit?! Did you miss the fact that the millisecond we get back, you need to be present as a Congressman?! Not as yourself—” you took a deep breath, looking up at the roof of the car as you shook your head.

You looked over at him, and he finally noticed how stressed you really looked, his eyes trailing your fatigued features. This job was difficult, he knew that, but something else was clearly bothering you.

“I get it. You’re tired, your job is hard, okay fine. But Jesus Christ. You just act like shit doesn’t matter, and fuck—it fucking matters. Everything fucking matters, Buck—” 

His right hand was on the side of your face, pulling you closer to him as he leaned forward to kiss you. 

It took you a few seconds to process the fact that James Buchanan Barnes was kissing you. The same James Barnes that was your boss who you were incredibly irritated with. But you didn’t pull away, no, you kissed him back.

Your lips moved in sync, and for a second you let yourself slip into a land of delusion where this would work. But this was real life, and you were not about to risk everything you’d worked hard for to screw your boss. So you shoved him off of you.

“What the fuck!?” 

He stared at you, lips slightly parted as his gaze was focused on your lips for a few more seconds. You tasted like strawberry chapstick and mint. Then his eyes met yours.

“Uh, something came over me, I guess?” his nonchalance made your eye twitch. Then you were shoving a folder full of paperwork into his chest.

“Focus on that or something, Jesus. Once again, I’m your assistant and that just crossed so many boundaries it’s not even funny. It was a mistake, plain and simple, we’re not circling back to this ever again, got it?” 

He slowly nodded at you, taking the leather-bound folder from you while rolling his lips inward.

The rest of the ride was silent. It wasn’t your typical comfortable silence, it was tense and awkward and you did your best to not look at him. Your gaze focused on the moving traffic in the streets and anything that wasn’t James Barnes. 

“So, are you gonna tell me what’s wrong? Outside of your never-ending rage about my morning fuck ups—” 

You gasped slightly at the sound of him cursing. You knew he swore, but neither of you ever moved past words like ‘hell’ or ‘damn’ with one another, now you were both diving off of the deep end of cursing and kissing. This couldn’t possibly end well.

“Nothings wrong. I’m just tired.” 

He shrugged, flipping a few pages in hand, focused on the briefing notes that you’d reorganized. “No, something is definitely wrong, you have on one of your ‘having a bad day’ outfits. Down to the shoes.” 

You sighed, slumping into the seat with your arms crossed again. Eyes now on the street ahead. “My mom called.” 

He looked at you, noticing the way you were picking at the skin and cuticles around your thumb. It made sense, sure he knew you had a lot of pent up rage that was specifically reserved for him, but he was used to that, this was different. “Wanna talk about it?”

You shrugged. “Not much to talk about. She’s having one of her ‘high on life’ phases again. Told me she’s off the pills. Won’t take them.” 

He nodded, he knew you had issues with your mom, but he also knew you really cared about her, even if you had an odd way of showing that. Not everyone was raised with ‘I love yous’. “Y’know you can always take time off to go see her, the worlds not gonna end.” 

You shook your head at that, gaze now on your hands. “I’m not putting myself through that again. You can’t save everyone, I’ve learned to accept that. Guess it makes me as depressed as the rest of the Thunderbolts, hmm?” You tried to crack a joke, but your usual laugh and silly expression was missing. He placed a hand on your knee, giving it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Once the two of you had arrived at the Avengers tower you were back in ‘work mode’ rushing Bucky into the building, rolling your eyes at some of the half-assed security measures on the first floor. More specifically the DNA based retina scan you were required to do in order to gain access to the higher levels where everyone lived.

You rushed him into a conference room, muttering a series of curse words that would for sure get you blackballed from politics if they were ever heard aloud. Especially in the context of cursing out other politicians.

Then, you were forcing Bucky into a seat, rolling your eyes at the sight of his appearance, sure he looked good in the leather jacket and fitted t-shirt, but that was the least professional thing he could’ve put on. You wanted to smack him with a book.

You didn’t need to be present for the impeachment proposal, so you gave yourself the hour to breathe. An hour of alone time, spent on the rooftop with your legs hanging over the edge, shoes already off and sitting to your side. At first you opted to put your earbuds in, listening to music as you glanced along the skyline, gaze moving across Manhattan, then you took them out.

Finding comfort in chaos was normal for you. It was easy. It’s the entire reason that you worked so well with the Flag Smashers in the first place—you were the brains they needed, and they were constantly on the move, constantly doing something. They never stood still.

Then, of course, they’d injected you with a super soldier serum against your will, but that was neither here nor there. Some days you missed working with organizations like that,they were fundamentally righteous and overzealous, but the people had passion, they cared. They had a problem and wanted to create their own solution, even if it was extreme.

You’d always wanted to do that, find solutions to the problems in the world. It made slipping into politics easier, especially at Sam’s side, and now at Bucky’s. 

But Bucky Barnes knew how to tick you off. 

Yet even on your shittiest days, he still managed to make you smile. Your fingers gently grazed your lips, as if they could feel the ghost of his against them. 

It was morally wrong for you to want to kiss your boss. Just like it was wrong to want to run your fingers through his hair, to trace his jawline, to feel his back muscles, and to imagine what it would be like to sleep with him beyond the realm of cuddling. Bucky kissing you was like opening Pandora’s box. 

You knew you were attracted to him, and he gave you butterflies from time to time, but now as you thought about him, you were thinking about more than just a simple kiss. 

The sound of your phone’s timer going off caught your attention, knocking you out of your sex-filled thoughts as you got up and slid your shoes back on. 

Once you made it back to the briefing room, he was no longer there, so you opted to look for him without screaming like a maniac. You’d run into Bob, Yelena, and Ava before finally finding him in one of the larger common spaces, now looking at his newest Winter Soldier tactical suit as it was laid out across a table.

“What, you wanna play dress up now?” 

He turned to look at you, shaking his head at the question. “Meeting went well, they asked me one question. I said yes to the trial.” 

You shook your head, cracking a small smile. One of the Texas representatives was going on trial for misconduct and for going against the constitution, he deserved to be impeached in your eyes, and after reading your very irritated notes on the matter, Bucky agreed with you.

“So, care to explain why you’ve got your gear?” 

He shrugged, now looking back at the black suit. “Well, turns out, I’m hanging up the mantle until my term is officially over. Talked it over with Yelena while you were decompressing. Besides, they seem to be doing alright without me all the time.” 

You slowly nodded, brows knit together as you moved to stand beside him, now looking at his suit as well. “That's it then? What if you end up severely out of shape and can’t run a mile?” 

He blinked a few times, shaking his head at the joke, then he lightly elbowed you. “Then I’ll have you to yell at me. Besides, I've already put on some weight.” 

You scoffed at that, responding without even thinking about it. “Barnes, you’ve got the dad bod that makes ovulating women foam out of their mouths. You’ve got that muscular frame that would keep someone warm at night.”

Your eyes widened when you looked up at him, he looked taken aback, lips slightly parted while he processed what you said. Then you had to process what you’d said as well.

“For the record, I mean that in a totally platonic, hype-woman kind of way. Oh and here—I found these, figured you might want them back.” 

He watched as you dug in your pocket, pulling out a thin silver chain, then he noticed the silver tags on them.

You held the necklace up, his military dog tags hanging from it. “Sergeant Barnes, you really should keep an eye on your things. They were in one of my purses. Honestly, not gonna lie, I had them on walking through TSA so I didn’t lose them.” 

He nodded at that, biting his bottom lip at the thought of you in his dog tags with nothing else on.

Then you snapped with your free hand. “Hello? Earth to Barnes? Take your tags. I don’t even know why I had them in the first place. Considering you almost never take them off.” 

He blinked a few times, shaking his head before running his hand through his hair. That brought your eyes to his hair, sure you’d made fun of the mid-length long hair a few times, but with the way his hair was parted down the middle, a bit voluminous, and managed to frame his face perfectly, he looked like prince charming.

If Prince Charming was a half-decent Congressman and former war criminal that managed to irritate you every twenty-seven minutes. 

“Keep them for me.” 

You raised a single brow at that, glancing between the dangling chain in hand and him.“Am I your closet or something?” 

He scoffed at that, shaking his head while placing his hands on his hips, the motion drawing your attention directly to his waist. It was a terrible thing to focus on, not because he was unattractive, but because it reminded you of every inappropriate thought and fantasy that had surfaced on the rooftop earlier.

“No, but consider them a good luck charm, besides, if I had taken them off and left them with you, clearly I trusted you with them. I’d be a liar if I said I remember the exact day that I left them, but I had to have a reason. Now c’mere—” he paused, gently taking the chain from you before facing you fully. 

He took a second to look down at you as you turned to face him. Then, he was slipping the necklace onto you, taking a moment to properly adjust the tags once they were dangling against your chest, the motion making you blush as his hand brushed against your clothed chest.

God, you felt like a bumbling virgin. 

This was his fault, all of it was his fault. If he hadn’t kissed you in the car none of this would be happening, you would’ve been able to keep any and all sexual thoughts about him locked in the deepest pits of your mind. Nothing would’ve changed, or shifted.

Hell, you weren’t even sure if something had shifted or if you were overthinking everything.

You made eye contact with him, getting lost in the ocean blue of his irises.The moment was intimate, too intimate. His tongue grazed his bottom lip as he held eye contact with you, a storm of emotions flowing through his eyes and wrecking his entire being.

Part of him wanted to kiss you again, the other part was afraid that if he did kiss you, you’d up and quit your job.

Bucky knew he needed you in his life. Not just because you helped elevate his political career in every sense, but because you kept him in check. You weren’t just his assistant, you were his friend, and even if he hated to admit it sometimes, he really did appreciate everything that you’d done for him.

The moment was interrupted by a door slamming, both of you jumping apart as you looked towards the far end of the room, Alexei walking in with Yelena in tow, the both arguing over her childhood soccer team’s sponsor once again. When they spotted how close you and Bucky were, they both paused, sharing a look before turning around and leaving the room.

You cleared your throat, glancing down at your watch. 

“I have to uh—shit sorry. I’m a little all over the place today, but I have to make a personal call. You don’t have much else to do today, there’s a few emails I need you to respond to though, and I forwarded you a request for a congressional scholarship. The kid lives in your old neighborhood in Brooklyn, and honestly, it’s a pretty convincing piece. I need your approval before moving forward in that process, lots of paperwork involved.”

You paused, pulling your phone out of your right pocket, glancing down at the screen while reading several text messages and a few subject lines from several emails forwarded to you.

“Turns out I have more than a few emails I need you to read. Oh, and I need to type up an outline for a briefing about the whole space war thing. I’ll forward everything over to you, and can you please,for the love of Christ himself, make sure to actually docusign the pdfs I send? Without your signature there’s no legality.” 

He shook his head, a small smile on his face as he watched you slip right back into ‘work mode’. It was all so natural for you, and your seriousness was adorable. 

“Are you even listening? I need to go call Sam and find out when he’s flying in. He should be here tonight, hopefully sooner than later. Also, Valentina’s been pissing Yelena off with her lawyers. I’ll be dealing with that fiasco today, honestly I’m probably just gonna threaten to blackmail them, works every time.”

“You talk a mile a minute.” 

You raised a brow at him, now looking back at him, slipping your phone back into your pocket. 

“You’re already on thin ice today, Barnes. Don’t start irritating me again. Oh and Mel wants to talk to you.” 

He noticed the shift in your tone at the mention of Valentina’s assistant. If he wasn’t so unsure of his feelings towards you, he would’ve been able to easily identify the jealousy in your voice. But, he was too busy internally debating whether or not kissing you again was a bad idea and simultaneously debating on resigning from his position as a Congressman.

Things would surely be a lot less stressful. 

Then again, you’d probably incinerate him.

“What’s she want to talk about exactly?” 

You simply shrugged, arms crossed in front of your chest as you tried to remain neutral. “I dunno, maybe call her back and find out, since she won’t tell me directly. She’ll only send me passive aggressive emails and texts about needing to reach you. I don’t even know who the hell gave her my number.”

Your irritation was seeping through, so instead of staying on the subject of Melissa Gold you chose to turn around, heading towards the doors, ready to head to your temporary bedroom (which Yelena said would be your permanent room once you settled into the tower) and work. 

He watched you walk away, eyes trialing your figure, stopping on your ass. Even in the wrinkled slacks it still looked good. Bucky’s head even tilted to the side a bit as your hips moved back and forth, 

“Call me if you need me, Barnes.”You hadn’t even turned back to look at him, then you were gone and he was still staring. 

Sam Wilson arrived at the Avenger’s tower at almost two in the morning. 

Naturally, you were still awake, sitting in an empty living room area.The only light in the room streaming in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing Manhattan’s night-life. The room had a deep blue-ish purple hue to it, a few small golden lights shimmering around, emphasizing items that were plugged in or left out. 

Then there was your laptop screen that illuminated your features as you angrily typed up all of your unorganized committee notes into streamlined documents,not only your boss, but for the rest of his and Sam’s team. 

You recognized the footsteps in the room, three distinct sets, one lighter than the others—Kate’s, one with a bit of a wider stance and a slight sway as if their feet weren’t firmly planted on the floor—Joaquin’s, and finally, one that was louder, steps heavier—Sam’s. 

They hadn’t noticed you at first, not until the lights were turned on. Thankfully they were dim, not the typical bright fluorescents that would have driven you into a state of rage. Then the three of them saw you, seated on the large black sectional, a green knit blanket wrapped around your figure as your computer rested in your lap and one of the side tables had been pulled to your side, covered in files, paperwork, and pens. 

“Jesus kid, late night?” 

You sighed, nodding your head, not even bothering to turn and face Sam.“Working for the U.S. government is exhausting in an inexplicable way. But I’m glad you guys got in safe.”

Sam nodded at that “I’m gonna hit the hay, we’ll debrief in the morning? Actually, maybe in the afternoon. Gives you some time to sleep, I know you’ll be up for a while. Don’t worry about Buck either.”

You finally turned to look at him, a small smile on your face while you nodded at that. “I’d get up to hug you but I’m finally comfortable.” 

Kate laughed at that, moving to the couch, leaning over the back of it, wrapping her arms around your shoulders in a warm embrace. “I missed you! We’ll catch up tomorrow or the day after! But I gotta go find Yel. Pretty sure she waited up for me.” 

You used your right arm to hug her back.“Yeah, she’s on the eighth floor, go down the corridor, last door to the left. She’s most definitely waiting on you, earlier today she was talking Bob’s ear off about you, Bishop.” You both laughed at that, then she kissed the top of your head, a dramatic ‘mwah’ leaving her lips as she gathered her things and left the room.

Sam followed suit, saying his ‘goodnight’s’. It made you contemplate packing things up and trying to head back to sleep.

Truthfully, you’d fallen asleep at around seven, a distinct lack of sleep the night before causing you to crash. But of course, you weren’t able to sleep peacefully through the night, rather you jolted awake in a cold sweat at 11:23pm, eyes wide as you processed the very explicit dream about Bucky. Not only was it explicit, but it left a noticeable damp spot in your panties.

That pissed you off.

The cold shower that followed also ticked you off.

You wanted to stay in your room, however it was too hot in there, and you couldn’t figure out how to work the air conditioner, which led to you migrating to one of the living room-esque common spaces on the floor that held several guestrooms.

It was always cold.

“Well hello to you too!” Joaquin smiled as he rounded the couch, opting to sit right beside you, leaning into your space while he looked at the laptop screen, brows raised at the side-by-side page display showcasing a numerical outline with different bolded headings, subheadings, and specific details regarding each categorized issue. 

“Damn, sometimes I forget how smart you are.” 

You yawned while nodding. “This is literally my own personal hell. I hate organizing my notes, but I can’t just force everyone to read my scribbles. I only force Buck to do that.”

He elbowed you, earning your attention as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down, signature smirk on his face. “So…you call him Buck now I see?” 

You groaned, lightly shoving Joaquin. “Don’t even start! He’s my boss! That’s it.” You felt the heat in your cheeks as you attempted to lie to Joaquin. It didn’t help that the man was one of your closest friends, and could see right through you. He was quick to scoff, lightly elbowing you again, over and over.

“Yeah right, just your boss my ass! That’s like when I said my physical therapist was just my therapist. You’re full of shit and you know it!” 

You sighed, saving the document you were working on before shutting the laptop, placing it on the table in front of you, s.hoving him away to get comfortable again, you now face Joaquin with your legs criss-crossed on the large sofa cushion. “That is not the same thing!”

He nodded his head, scooting back some to face you, the positioning very familiar to you both. When you first started working with Sam, Joaquin had welcomed you with open arms. He hadn’t judged you, not after hearing your story, and after witnessing your peaceful surrender. Well, it was somewhat peaceful, you’d fought Bucky first, eventually managing to take him down—but that wasn’t important.

It was easy to bond with Joaquin, mainly because he never stopped talking. He’d easily gone from being just your co-worker to your friend, and now one of your best friends.

“Uh yes it is, we literally went back and forth for like years. Pretty sure I fell in love with her the moment I laid my eyes on her, then had to do the whole ‘this is strictly professional’ thing forever. Bullshited reasons to be around her, fought with her constantly, but in the end she was right—still is right most of the time, and we’re completely and utterly in love. Plus the sex is great? Wait—have you and him hooked up yet?” 

Your jaw dropped, eyes wide as shock painted your features. Then you were leaning towards him, smacking him on the bicep a few times.“Hell no! Once again he’s my literal boss. What the hell is wrong with you?!” 

Joaquin raised a single brow at that. “So something did happen. Your left eye twitched a little! What aren’t you telling me? Wait, are you still jealous of that other assistant that he talks to sometimes?”

You smacked him again.“Joaquin Torres, keep your freaking voice down! Jesus! And no I’m not jealous of Mel. What’s there to be jealous of?!” You were being too defensive, and your voice had gone up an octave.

“Stop bullshitting me! You’re so into him and you hate how caring he sounds when he talks to her, or do I need to pull the series of spam texts you sent me telling me how much you hated her and hated him. Or the drunken voicemail?” He held his phone up, staring at you while your mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.“Now, tell me what happened between the both of you!”

You sighed, nodding your head, running a hand over your face before giving in and divulging him on everything that had gone on in the past forty-eight hours. Even letting him know about the car kiss, followed by the sexual tension that you knew was obvious, and finally, the most embarrassing detail being your wet dream about him.

Of course you didn’t go into detail about the dream.

“Damn, you’re more whipped than I am, and I’m in an actual relationship.” That earned another smack. “Hey! Okay, shit! Stop hitting me woman! Wait—what’s that—” he pointed to his neck, then to yours.

Your eyes widened as you reached a hand up, the blanket had fallen off of one of your shoulders, exposing the loose U Miami crewneck that you had on, except you’d cut the neckline so it sat off of your shoulder. It hadn’t occurred to you that you still had Bucky’s dog tags on. Then you felt around your neck and upper chest, hands finally grasping the tags.

“No way in hell he gave you those and you’re ‘strictly professional’.” He spoke with air quotations while watching you grasp the tags in one hand. “Yeah, that’s definitely your man, are you kidding me? The only person I’d ever trust with my tags is my girl. Here's some advice though, when you two finally go at it, and you’re on top of him make sure they’re in his fac-” 

He was hit in the face by a throw pillow. 

The two of you spent the next hour and a half talking. Joaquin kept trying to convince you that you were clearly in love with Bucky and vice versa. Meanwhile, you argued the entire time, and tried to turn the subject towards anything else.Eventually, the both of you settled on his current relationship, and it was nice to see him gush over his physical therapist turned girlfriend. 

You even told him that you were proud he’d managed to find someone who loved that he never shut up, the two of you in a fit of laughter after that.

The next afternoon had passed by fairly quickly, mostly because you were extremely busy.

You’d barely seen Bucky, only speaking with him during your debrief on the current galactic issues, but that hour and a half was mostly focused on answering Yelena and Sam’s questions based on the information provided by the U.S. government.

Sure, some of it was technically top secret, but you all technically were employed by the government, and did also hold the security clearance to know about the ongoing monitoring. 

He wasn’t in a suit again and you weren’t in your heels. Actually, you’d foregone any professional attire. It was a rare sight for everyone to see you in a t-shirt and sweats, not to mention the white fuzzy slippers. Your hair was pulled into two braids and you lacked any makeup, even wearing your prescription glasses that you usually left at home.

Bucky didn’t focus on a single thing you said during the briefing. His gaze was fixated on you and all he could think about was how comfortable and casual you looked, and that flooded his mind with domestic fantasies about you. Said fantasies almost spiraled into the thought of you with a ring on your left hand, a round belly, and a baby on your hip with eyes as blue as the clear sky.

He had to snap himself out of it several times. The fantasy was just that, a fantasy. You were still his assistant, and you’d already made it plenty clear that you were not interested in any semblance of a romantic relationship with him. Things were strictly professional, and once his term was over, you’d go your separate ways.

You’d practically sprinted out of the conference room once the hour and a half had passed, and he knew you were supposed to be helping in preparations for the fundraiser with Sam and Joaquin. He didn’t care that you and Joaquin were ‘just friends’, the thought of you spending your time with him irritated Bucky in ways he couldn’t comprehend.

By the time the fundraiser itself was starting, you were nowhere to be found and he was stuck making small talk with local politicians. Most of what they discussed surrounded Bucky’s future plans once the term had settled, he’d made a few comments about running for re-election and being an Avenger, stating that it might clash, doing his best to warm people up to the idea of him having to choose one over the other.

It was an obvious choice for him.

Well obvious outside of the fact that if he chose to be an Avenger, he might lose you, but then again, you were also technically an Avenger, whether you liked it or not. You’d been there that day in Manhattan, you were in the void, and you were at the conference, standing right beside him.

Then Mel had finally tracked him down, pulling him into a more secluded area, showing him a series of top-secret footage that Valentina had been trying to fully erase regarding the Sentry project. She was giving him useful information that would not only help Bob better understand who and what he was, but information that could be leveraged over Valentina if needed.

It was classic blackmail, something that you often shrugged off. It wasn’t that you were blackmailing people all the time, but you said it was part of politics, and he fully allowed you to do whatever you wanted. He trusted you to make the right decisions for both of your careers, and time and time again, you did.

“Oh, hey Y/n, you look beautiful tonight!” Mel’s chipper voice irritated you. 

You’d stumbled across them accidentally. You’d been looking for Sam, and instead you managed to find Mel and Bucky, leaning close together, in a quiet dimly lit area. You could clearly see the phone in her hand that she was showing to him, but she was too close to Bucky.

He turned away from Mel, gaze now on you, his brows raised a bit while his lips parted, eyes practically burning a hole into you while he took in every inch of your appearance from head to toe.

Your hair was voluminous and clearly curled, the now loose-waves framing your face perfectly and cascading along your shoulders and back. Your makeup was minimal, almost identical to your typical look, except your lips were a deep crimson and your waterline was emphasized with a black smoked-out eyeshadow look (courtesy of Yelena).

He bit his bottom lip while taking in your dress, the black silk practically hugging all of your curves perfectly. The swoop neckline leaving little to the imagination, and you had on his dog tags, the lengthy chain disappearing into your obvious cleavage, tags clearly in the valley between your tits.

You had on your heels again, black pointed toe stilettos with some golden designer logo for the heel. He didn’t care about the designers, all Bucky cared about in this exact moment was controlling himself. If Mel hadn’t been there he would’ve had you pinned against the wall with his lips on yours already. 

“Thanks Mel. Barnes, I’ve been looking for you” 

He slowly nodded, unsure of what to say, too focused on what not to say.

You were quick to grab Bucky’s forearm, pulling him in your direction before offering Mel a forced smile. “Mind if I borrow him? Got a few things to go over.” She nodded, giving you a tight lipped smile as you made eye contact. Then, you were dragging Bucky away from her, rolling your eyes the second you knew she couldn’t see you anymore.

“So what exactly do we need to talk about?” 

You shrugged at the question, finally letting go of his arm, then facing him.“Some district court judge told me that you’re debating on running for re-election and fully committing to the Avengers? The hell is that about?” 

You honestly didn’t care, but it was the easiest thing to come up with.

He wondered if you were jealous, but maybe he was reading too much into the situation. Usually you’d know that he was bullshitting, most of your job involved calling him on his bullshit, there was no way in hell Bucky was running for re-election.

“Gotta warm them up to the idea, you’re always saying it’s important to ease people into dramatic changes aren’t you?” he put his hands in his pants pockets, raising his brows while he waited on a response. 

“Okay…that’s actually a good point. I dunno, I just had to double check that with you. Sorry for pulling you away from Mel, feel free to go talk with her.” Then you spun around, heading in the opposite direction. 

Bucky knew you were jealous. That confirmed it. He wasn’t losing it, you were one hundred percent jealous of Mel and he had no idea why, anyone with a pair of eyes would know that he wasn’t remotely interested in the woman romantically. 

Sure Mel was pretty, but she wasn’t you. 

The open bar was a bad idea.

Two hours had passed since then, and you’d managed to do all of your networking within the first half hour. Kate and Yelena had peer pressured you into getting a drink, and one drink quickly turned into two, then three, then Joaquin was bringing you a drink, and it spiraled from there.

It took a lot to get you drunk. The whole ‘super soldier serum’ issue made your metabolism much, much faster. At the rate that you were drinking, any normal person would’ve needed their stomach pumped at the emergency room. But you weren’t a normal person, not anymore at least.

You were one hundred percent drunk. There wasn’t any debate on the matter.

Which led you to being a lot friendlier than usual, laughing and flirting with other guests, a playful aura to you while you mixed and mingled with everyone.

It wasn’t until you were laughing with Joaquin, head leaning against his shoulder while you sat near the bar, talking about his girlfriend, that Bucky had finally found you.

He knew that you were networking, what he didn’t know was that you’d been drinking. 

Then again, he’d also been drinking, and the typical spark of jealousy he felt when you mentioned Joaquin was now a raging forest fire as he took in the sight of you leaning into Joaquin, his arm wrapped around your shoulders, both of you smiling and laughing at something that Kate had said. 

Joaquin nudged you a bit, earning your full attention, a hazy smile on your face while you moved to look at him. His brows were knit together as he tried to look serious.“Your boyfriend is staring us down.” 

You blinked a few times, now glancing across the room, eyes scanning the crowd of people, only to land on Bucky who held a champagne glass in-hand while he stood in a group of four men, all of them clearly in a conversation. Except now his attention was fully on you, holding eye contact.

“Please, if he was my boyfriend we’d be having freaky sex all the time.” You both bursted into another fit of laughter, your gaze now on Joaquin, then on Kate who looked absolutely shocked.

“Wait?! What! You and Bucky?!” 

You shrugged, then shook your head at her. “There is no me and Bucky! He’s my boss who’s bones I can’t jump!” 

She laughed at that, shaking her head while sipping her long island.“Why can’t you do that again? I know he’s like technically your boss, but that man wants you girl, like, he’s always eye-fucking you. I think he’s eye-fucking you now not gonna lie.” She looked over at him, and you mirrored her.

His eyes met yours again. He didn’t care what you were talking about, nor did he care what the men around him were speaking about. The topic having gone in one ear and out of the other. 

Bucky Barnes’ sole focus was now on you.

You and that black satin dress that would look so much better on the floor.

You who sat smiling and laughing with Joaquin Torres. 

Bucky was beyond jealous, the liquor flowing through his veins easily letting his composure slip. He swore that if he watched you lean any closer to Joaquin that he’d storm over there and throw you over his shoulder.

Then you did just that, laughing again and rolling your head forward a bit, forehead resting in the crook of Joaquin’s neck while your body shook with laughter.

Bucky easily excused himself, mumbling something about having to speak with his assistant, which earned a few wolf whistles when the men noticed you across the room. Specifically, they noticed the way you sat up now, two hands on the front of your dress, grasping the fabric and adjusting it slightly-your very present cleavage now a bit more tamed.

It had taken him exactly forty-five seconds to get to you.

Joaquin noticed him first, slipping his arm away from you, offering Bucky a tight-lipped smile.

Then you made eye contact with Bucky again, his typical icey-blue eyes were a few shades darker, pupils a bit dilated while he looked directly at you.

“So, you’ve been drinking on the job I see?” His tone was laced in venom, your brows knit together at the harshness of it, sitting up a bit straighter, glancing at Kate, then Joaquin, just to make sure you weren’t losing your mind. They both gave a subtle nod, then you were standing up and grabbing Bucky’s right arm, pulling him with you.

He let you guide him, then you two were in a crowded hallway, taking a left turn, then a right, then finding the elevator that would lead you directly to your designated floor.

“What’s your problem, Barnes?” 

He scoffed at that.“Let’s see, my assistants drunk, not working. I’d say that’s enough of a reason to be irritated.” 

You blinked a few times, looking around as if you were on the Truman show, or maybe this was an episode of Punk’d and Ashton Kutcher would jump out at you.“Everyone’s drunk, what's the issue? It’s a charity fundraiser, we raised like ten million tonight. Can I not celebrate?! I’ve done my job for the night, I just want to spend the rest of it as me—not your fucking assistant.” 

You were getting loud now, angrily pressing the elevator button, a surprised gasp when the doors immediately opened. Then without any hesitation you walked right in, leaving him in the hallway. 

Bucky wasn’t having it, not tonight.

He followed right behind you. “You’ve never had an issue with being my fucking assistant before. It’s always about professionalism with you! Boundaries and shit like that!” 

You rolled your eyes again, hitting the button for your floor while shaking your head.“Because professionalism is important! We all can’t be you, Bucky! Not all of us can be America’s fucking sweetheart!” You didn’t even look at him as you shouted, gaze focused on the small digital screen above the elevator doors, the red numbers switching as the elevator ascended into the higher levels of the tower.

Then it stopped on your floor, and you were shoving past him, shoulder checking him while storming towards your room.

“Seriously?! That’s it, just gonna run away? What, suddenly all that bullshit about communication doesn’t matter?!” He ran a hand through his hair as he yelled after you, hot on your heels.

You turned on your heel, brows knit together as you stared at him, only a few feet from your room.“What the hell is the real reason you’re being a massive asshole tonight?! I know it’s not because I’ve been drinking. I’m a grown ass woman, Bucky! I’m not some little kid you get to yell at and fucking criticize and treat like shit! Or like a personal punching ba-” 

His lips were on yours. You hadn’t registered how close he actually was to you. He had a hand on your forearm, pulling you flush against his chest as he collided his lips against yours. 

Your hands were immediately on him, one hand grasping his suit, the other in his hair.

Then he was backing you up into the wall, his left hand on your jaw—holding you in place. You whimpered at the feeling, not because it bothered you, but because his vibranium hand was cold, a shock against your warm flushed skin. Bucky’s lips led yours, his head slightly tilting, giving himself the opportunity to get even closer to you, his hair brushing against your face.

His lips were soft, he tasted like champagne and mint with a hint of tobacco. 

It was almost soothing, but it also made you feel hazy.

Instead of asking for entrance, he pressed his thumb against your chin below your bottom lip, applying minimal pressure as he tugged in a downward motion. 

You easily parted your lips, letting him slip his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss while he swallowed your soft whimpers. 

It didn’t help that one of his thighs was directly between yours, pinning you against the wall. He felt your thighs clench around his, pulling back slightly, heavy breaths hitting your parted lips.

“Tell me to stop and I will—I swear.” He brushed his thumb along your bottom lip, thankful that the Wakandan technology in his arm and shoulder actually allowed him to have a sense of feeling. It hadn’t mattered to him before this moment, watching as you looked up at him, feeling your soft, swollen, and spit-slick lip. 

“What if I don’t want you to stop,” your words were quiet while you looked at him, hand grasping against his suit even tighter. The hand that had been in his hair now slowly grazing against his cheek, fingers moving to his jawline, tracing the sharp ridges before sliding down his throat.

“Y’can’t say shit like that to me Sweetheart—makes me think you care.” He let out a deep sigh, eyes moving from yours down to your lips again.

“James, I do care.” You’d said his name so tenderly, so lovingly. Then you leaned into him, now kissing him first, and that was all the confirmation he needed.

Both of his hands now on your waist, your bodies flush against one another while your lips move in sync. The kiss should’ve been angrier, should’ve had more teeth, but it was surprisingly soft, sweet, and even slow. He kissed you with passion and hunger, as if he wanted to leave the imprint of his lips against yours. 

You grinding yourself against his thigh had the both of you breaking apart, gasping for air, then he took a singular step back, doing a short half-squat, hands on the backs of your thighs before he scooped you up, holding you against his waist, lips back on yours as you locked your legs around his waist, hands in his hair.

The next few minutes involved more kissing and fumbling through your bedroom door. He kicked it shut before pressing you against it, lips moving from your own, to your jaw, planting open-mouthed wet kisses along your soft skin. 

Your entire body was on fire, and truthfully, you’d never been hornier. 

“Buck—as much as I want to go slow with you—I need you to fuck me.”

He laughed against your skin, teeth nipping a mark in the crook of your neck, earning a whimper. Then he licked a flat stripe along your pulse point, making you shiver.

“You’re always so mean and demanding, now you’re needy? C’mon, Sweetheart, you’ve gotta throw an old dog a bone.” His tone was so flirty, voice gruff and deep as he spoke between kisses. His hands sliding from your upper thighs to your ass, using his lower body to help stabilize you.

Then he was moving one hand, slipping it between your legs, below your bunched up gown. His rough fingertips moved against your inner thighs as he sucked on your pulsepoint. Then his fingers paused, lightly brushing against your clothed core, the motion making you whine, your hands tugging on his hair while he remained still.

“Ask nicely, baby.” He smirked against your skin.

You groaned, now looking at him, tugging harshly on his hair, practically ripping him away from your throat so you could look at him. Holding eye contact as you spoke. “Please fuck me, with your fingers, your tongue, your cock—I don’t give a shit—just please fucking fuck me.” 

He bit his bottom lip, still smirking at your request, then his fingers were gliding along the damp fabric of your panties, up and down—over and over again. Bucky was clearly teasing you, and it was driving you insane. But he caved when you moaned his name—not Bucky—no you moaned a low pitched ‘James-please’.

Bucky didn’t let anyone call him James, you were the only one that had ever really used his first name and usually it was on rare occasions, but clearly the liquid confidence and horniness brought out a different side of you. 

His hand slipped below your panties, finding your slick folds, two thick fingers teasing you, sliding along your cunt, spreading your wetness from your sopping hole to your sensitive clit, then back down again. The sounds of your moans were music to his ears, that in combination with your hands tugging at his hair and your hips grinding against his hand was sending him into overdrive.

Eventually he stopped teasing you, lips back on your own, swallowing your moans while his fingers rapidly fucked into you, two thick digits stretching you perfectly, the feeling had your toes curling, one of your heels already on the floor behind him. It wasn’t long until you were kicking the other one off as well.

You were rolling your hips into his hand, whimpering his name like a prayer while his fingers curled inside of you, reaching the spot that usually made you see stars. A spot that you could never quite hit on your own, meanwhile it took Bucky little to no effort to get to it. 

“Just like that Sweetheart, c’mon give it to me, I deserve it.” His voice was deeper than usual as he spoke.

You nodded desperately, back arching while your head leaned against the wall, loudly whining as your orgasm crashed through your body, all of your nerve endings practically on fire.

“That’s it baby, gonna have you creaming on my cock next.” He went back to kissing along your throat and any exposed skin he had access to, fingers still fucking into you, prolonging your orgasm and ushering in a wave of oversensitivity.

“Fuck me, please,” your breathy words were quieter than usual as you looked at him, one hand toying with the hair closest to the base of his neck, the other gripping his suit again. 

Bucky didn’t need to be told twice, in seconds you were laying flat on your bed as he unbuttoned his jacket, tossing it aside, then undid the buttons of his shirt. Your stare was driving him mad.

Then you were sitting up, now standing right in front of him, taking a moment to appreciate your height difference before shoving him onto the bed. He looked shocked at the motion, blinking a few times as he watched you slip out of the dress, the black fabric now nothing more than a pile at your feet. 

His eyes trailed your figure, practically memorizing every single detail of your bare body. 

The moment was much more intimate than either of you had expected.

Well, until you were practically climbing on top of him, straddling his waist and pulling him into a sloppy drunk kiss. This time it was all teeth and tongue, your mind already hazy enough from the first orgasm and all hesitation had been thrown away. Your hands were all over him, sliding along his bare chest, feeling the faint definitions of muscle along his abdomen.

He let out a strangled moan the second your hand moved into his pants, now palming his thick cock for a few seconds before sliding it out of his pants. His hips instinctively bucked into your hand, and for a second you debated on taking his girthy length down your throat.

“Fuck-don’t even try it-need to be inside you.” His words were strained, pulling away from the kiss slightly as you pumped your hand on his shaft, thumb spreading the beads of precum around his tip, smiling against his lips while he moaned.

Then you were pulling away, biting his bottom lip and tugging at it. “But I wanna taste you.” You trailed your tongue along his jaw before lightly biting against it, then trailing kisses down his throat. 

He watched as you kissed along his exposed chest and abdomen, eventually slotting yourself between his thighs. You were going to be the death of him, his eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of you arching your back, ass in the air, face inches from his throbbing cock. 

You spit on it, biting your bottom lip as you used both of your hands to jerk him off, moving in a twisting motion, spreading the mixture of your saliva and his precum along his veiny cock. 

“You’re so big Buck—or would you prefer Congressman? Since you want me to be your little secretary forever.” 

He moaned, running a hand through his hair, trying to catch his breath and control himself. It’d been a while since he’d had sex, and at this rate, he was about to cum all over your face if you kept your mean facade up.

“Can’t wait to feel you inside of me Congressman Barnes.” 

He squeezed his eyes shut, how you managed to sound so demeaning while fisting his cock was beyond his comprehension. He let out a choked moan the second your mouth wrapped around the flushed red head of his cock.

Then you were moaning around him, taking more and more of him into your warm, wet mouth. His metal hand was now in your hair, grasping the frizzy strands, pulling them away from your face as you hollowed your cheeks in and started to bob your head—only really taking half of him at once.

Your tongue swirled around his cock as you sucked him off, moaning at the saltiness of his precum coating your tongue. This was downright sinful, and it was everything you’d wanted over the past few months. When you finally decided to take him out of your mouth, you laughed, smiling as you caught your breath, a string of spit connecting his cock to your lips.

The sight had him moaning your name like a prayer.

“Shit baby—fuck you gotta stop ‘m gonna cum.” 

You bite your swollen bottom lip, looking up at him through your lashes for a few seconds. Then you were pressing a kiss to the tip of his cock, using the head to spread his precum along your lips before wrapping your lips back around it. One hand slowly moving along his thick shaft while you focused on the most sensitive part of his cock.

The way he was pulling your hair burned in the best way, the sting from your scalp plus the taste of his cock had you moaning and whimpering against him.

“Shit—fuck—oh shit, Sweetheart.” He was practically whimpering as he came, cum coating your tongue and mouth, and you swallowed, then moved back, now sticking your tongue out, jacking him off with one hand as thick ropes of cum shot from his cock onto your tongue. A few missing slightly, painting parts of your face.

This was downright sinful. Sure Bucky knew that if Heaven truly did exist then he’d most certainly be going to Hell, but this? This earned him a spot in the deepest layer of Hell.

He moaned your name as he came, watching as you drunkenly giggled and let him give you a partial facial. This was straight out of a porno, if you were a pornstar he wouldn’t be surprised.

You smiled at him, taking your thumbs and index fingers, dragging them along your cum-stained face, gathering his spend before licking it off, one by one. 

He’d sat up so fast he hadn’t registered it, not until he was pulling you further into his lap, his metal hand squishing the bottom of your face slightly as he grasped your chin, pulling you into a rough, sloppy kiss. 

“You’re fuckin filthy,” he spoke against your lips, hand now on your throat, the cold vibranium a stark contrast to your warm skin. It made your head fuzzy. 

One thing Bucky was thankful for was his stamina, he’d always had pretty good stamina, but post-serum some days he felt like he could fuck for hours on end.

He hadn’t registered your movement until your hand was grasping the base of his cock and you were easing yourself onto him, gasping against his lips. He bit down on your bottom lip, and he knew he’d broken a bit of the skin based on the taste of iron in his mouth. But you were so tight around him, if he hadn’t been drunk before, he sure as hell was now.

“F-fuck ‘ts so big,” your words had a slight slur to them as you sat flush against him, forehead now leaning against his shoulder while you let yourself adjust to his sheer size. After a few seconds you started grinding your hips on him, back and forth, whimpering against his skin.

“C’mon, Sweetheart, I know you can do better than that.” His hands were on your waist now, loosely holding you, slowly guiding your movements, helping you build a rhythm.

You nodded, now sitting up a bit straighter, slowly pulling your hips off of him, then sliding back, taking each inch of his cock until you were filled to the brim. 

He bit his bottom lip as he looked at you, then he was nipping and sucking marks into your chest, focusing on each of your tits as they started to move more and more the faster you bounced on his cock.

“Just like that, keep going baby, know you can take it.” 

You nodded, your head leaning back slightly as you placed your hands on his thighs, back arching even more, using his body for leverage to help ground yourself and build your pace. 

The mixture of your moans practically echoed off of the walls, alongside the sloshing wetness of your cunt and the sound of skin slapping as you continued to take his cock. All you could focus on was the feeling of his thick shaft deep inside of you, stretching you deliciously, and the head of his cock pressing against your cervix, not exactly bruising, but the pressure added another level to your pleasure that you hadn’t experienced in the past.

His lips were parted as he held onto your waist, hands moving down to your hips, fingers bruisingly tight as he kept your movements up, not letting you falter for even a second. Bucky’s eyes focused on your cunt taking him, a ring of your wetness evident on his girthy length each time you moved up, then slammed your hips back down.

It had him salivating. 

Bucky’s eyes were stuck on you, fixated on your every movement, but what really got to him was the sight of you in his tags, the thin metal moving with you, and in this exact moment he knew you were it for him.

“You’re so fuckin beautiful,” his voice was gruff and strained while, he felt himself teetering closer and closer to the edge, meanwhile you were lost in your own world of pleasure, taking everything you could from him—using him.

It made him delirious in a way he couldn’t describe.

“‘M gonna cum-fuck Bucky—oh my god-” you moaned and whimpered, words coming out as a high pitched whine. Your rhythm was faltering, but he kept you moving, your hands now leaving his thighs, instead they were overtop his own that were holding your hips. Your fingers gripped his hands, nails practically digging into his skin as you moaned his name.

“Bucky…Bucky…oh shit…Bucky!”

It was music to his ears. Then he felt you fluttering against him, clenching down on his cock, tight walls practically milking him as you gushed against him. Your body trembling slightly, still moaning a mixture between his name and curse words.

Then you said it, “Oh fuck—right there—James!” 

That’s all it took for him to let out a deep, guttural moan, your name slipping past his lips as he came. Warmth spilling inside of you, as he bucked his hips into you a few times, losing himself in the moment.

You both sat in a breathy silence for several minutes after. You didn’t even bother getting off of him, instead you shoved his upper body down onto the bed and laid right on top of him. You weren’t ready to leave and let the fantasy shatter. Not yet at least.

He traced small shapes into your back as you laid against him, your head resting against the right side of his chest, your fingers slowly gliding along the ridges of his arm, then you paused before hesitantly moving to the scars along his left shoulder leading into his arm. You always knew they were there, but you hadn’t ever seen them up close. 

“Did you do this to yourself?” your voice was quiet and soft, much softer than usual.

“I think so, it was so long ago, it’s all kind of fuzzy. I think I tried ripping the metal out, or digging it out of my skin. I wanted to read the records on it—on me. But I never could bring myself to do it” He let out a deep sigh at the vague memories, but before he started mentally spiraling, you moved again, this time leaving a soft kiss to his jaw.

“I’m sorry that you were put through hell and back Bucky.” 

“Don’t be sorry, I wouldn't have met you if that hadn’t happened to me.”

You didn’t respond, the intimacy of the moment finally getting to you, especially considering his cock was still inside of you. So you moved off of him, wincing at the soreness of it all. Then you were practically sprinting to your ensuite. 

He thought you’d be kicking him out, so he opted to start getting up, but when you walked out of the bathroom, hands now on your hips with an oversized grey t-shirt that read ‘ARMY’, he blinked a few times.

“Where the hell did you get my shirt?”

You shrugged, glancing down at the shirt. It had to be one of the few shirts he owned that wasn’t fitted. Honestly, you don’t remember when or where you’d gotten it, but it was most likely something that Sam had given you after a long night of sparring.

“Why are you getting dressed?” The question sounded almost meek, you internally cringed at how clingy it made you feel. If he wanted to leave, he could leave. It would hurt your feelings, but this wasn’t your boyfriend. Bucky was your boss, and you’d be internally scolding yourself for the next week about tonight.

“Uh, I assumed you wanted me to go,” he motioned towards the door.

“Don’t be an asshole and just ditch me after you fucked me.” 

His jaw dropped at your words, brows now knit together, head tilted slightly. “Don’t make it sound like this was more than just sex, Sweetheart.” Bucky knew he was being a bit harsh, but he had to keep his heart guarded, the risk of you completely rejecting him was still there, and he knew he couldn’t handle that tonight. 

You scoffed at that, arms now crossed in front of your chest as you glared at him. “Excuse me? Are you serious right now?! It’s not like I blatantly admitted to caring about you before you damn near fucked me in the hallway!” You were louder than expected, practically screaming at him. Anger coursing through your veins as you stared at him.

“You’re the one who always wants to be professional! Then you get drunk and things are different! What happens when you’re—when we’re sober! Then what?” He ran a hand through his hair, holding eye contact with you as his breathing picked up. Bucky braced himself for rejection. At least if you rejected him, he’d finally be able to move on—or that’s what he told himself.

Bucky knew for a fact he’d never be over you. Not while you worked for him, and even after his term as a Congressman ended, he knew he’d never be rid of his feelings for you.

You were a once in a lifetime kind of love, that much he knew. Anytime someone spoke about the love of their life with him, they’d ask if he knew what it felt like. If he knew what it was like to care so deeply for someone that none of their flaws mattered. It didn’t matter how angry you made him, or how annoying you could be, James Buchanan Barnes would forever be in love with you.

You’re the first woman that he’d met that had pissed him off within seconds of speaking to one another. Bucky would never forget the day that the two of you met for four distinct reasons:

The first being the long-winded chase that he and Sam had been on in attempts to takedown the Flag Smashers. They’d bickered the entire time, but it ultimately brought them much closer, to the point that Sam was family now. It also helped that they shared an equal dislike for John Walker, but that wasn’t relevant.

The second major reason was because the second he’d spotted you, he was taken aback, you stood beside Karli, attempting to calm her down, but it wasn’t working. Then you were arguing with her, and all he’d managed to catch on to was the fact that you knew Sam was right. He also realized how smart you were in that exact moment.

The third reason that he’d never forget that day—outside of you being incredibly beautiful—was the feeling of your fists colliding directly with his ribcage, followed by a swift kick to the gut that had him on his back. He tried to keep up with you, but he’d been a bit out of practice and with his ongoing struggle of making amends, the last thing he wanted to do was fight a woman he was eighty years older than.

The fourth and final reason though, was the blurry sight of you squatting next to him, asking if he was alright and apologizing profusely for knocking him to the ground. You’d grasped his face, taking in the damage, grimacing at the sight of his bruised and bloody features. You then proceeded to clean him up, calling him an ‘idiot’ for not properly fighting back.

Bucky stared directly at you, his brooding silence made your eyes water. Maybe this was it, maybe he really didn’t care as much as he let on.

That pushed you over the edge.

“I had to be fucking professional Buck! I’m so sorry that I have a job, and ambitions for a career that I don’t even think I want anymore! I’m sorry that I didn’t want to be known as the girl that fucked her way up!” Your voice was loud as you shouted at him, your voice started cracking and the tears started falling. You were quick to wipe them away, chest rapidly rising and falling as you shook your head.

“You don’t get it, Sweetheart. I know you have ambitions, I know you have goals, but I’ve spent the past year and a half swallowing my own goddamn feelings for you! I know you don’t want to be the girl that sleeps with her boss! God damnit for once—for once I just thought that tonight we could be us. Not a congressman, not a secretary, just two fucking idiots in love!” 

He was yelling back now, running both hands through his hair as he looked at you. The sight of you in tears had his heart breaking, he wanted to kick his own ass for making you cry. 

“Then why are you trying to leave?” You sounded so small, so weak. Then you looked down at the ground, avoiding his stare. You’d always struggled with vulnerability, and right now you felt as if you were about to explode.

You were so focused on the ground and tuning everything out that you hadn’t noticed him getting off of the bed and walking towards you. Not until he nudged your foot with his, even then you didn’t look at him, shaking your head a bit. “This is embarrassing, just go Bucky.”

“I need you to look at me, Sweetheart.” He was looking directly at you, ready to pour his heart out.

You slowly lifted your head, cringing at the closeness and intimacy.

He took a second to use his right hand to brush some of your tears away, now caressing the side of your face. “I don’t want to leave. I thought you’d want me out, thought this was a one night stand, never speak about it again, or as you would say ‘never circle back to this’ again.” 

Bucky tried not to laugh at you clenching your jaw, clearly cringing at your own words being used against you.

“Tonight we’re just us. You’re y/n and I’m Bucky. You’re not my secretary, I’m not your boss. We’re friends, hell we’re way more than friends. Tomorrow we can figure out the logistics of it all, but tonight—tonight I’m telling you that I’m so desperately in love with you that I go to sleep dreaming of you and wake up missing you.” 

He paused, thumb caressing your bottom lip slightly, running along the evident split he’d caused. 

“Everytime I see you with another guy I feel like I’m about to implode. That includes Joaquin and I know you feel the same way, I saw how you got with Mel. You make me crazy in the best way. I’ve never felt like this about anyone in my life—and don’t even think about interrupting me to call me an old man. I love you. I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you since the moment you called me an idiot after kicking my ass in Germany. I loved you when Sam sent your reluctant ass to be my secretary. I love you every second of every day and I don’t care about being professional or being anything other than yours. I’m yours.”

You blinked a few times, astonished at the confession, lips slightly parted as you looked up at him. Your heart was practically beating out of your chest. 

“You don’t have to feel the same way either, it won’t change anything. You’ll still be my mean, bossy, and obnoxious secretary tomorrow, and I’ll be your idiot boss that hates answering questions.”

That made you laugh, shaking your head and rolling your teary eyes. “If I’m being honest, I don’t want to be your secretary anymore—it’s not professional to be in love with your boss.”

He smiled at that, leaning into your space, connecting his lips with yours. The kiss was soft, sweet, and full of love. 

The next morning the sunlight streaming through your windows woke the both of you up, you rolled into his space, trying to bury your head on his chest, using an arm to block the sunlight. Your entire body was sore and your head was pounding.

“Morning, sunshine.” 

You blinked a few times, eyes widening at the realization that you were in bed with Bucky, the moment of shock easily wearing away at the memories of the night prior flooding in. Then you were picking your head up slightly, glancing at Bucky as he squinted, eyes adjusting to the bright light in the room before landing on you.

“I had a dream last night that would solve your professionalism debacle.” His voice was raspy and deep, it made you blush.

You nodded at him, “Okay, let’s hear it Buck.”

“You don’t need to be a Congressman’s secretary if you’re his wife.”

-

Thanks for reading sexies <3 as always feedback is appreciated!

[sweeterthancandy]

sam!! my love

thinking about stanford!sam… studying with him, but its more hes studying and your staring at him just wanting to get dicked down

moral of the story sam cant say no to you and finally lets you have him

same vibe as like teasing under the desk in a meeting

oh youre a fucking genius thank you so much for this image

sugar

warnings: afab!reader, nerdyyyy flustered sammy, almost sucking him off?, spit stuff kinda, size kink if you squint, riding, lots of petnames, reader is a big tease

wc: 1k - nsfw content below the cut 🍭

sam was never the most popular guy at school, he was just another lanky, sarcastic, and awkward nerd. always studying and prepping for you dont even know what, always just kinda sitting in the back of the class listening intently.

and that just made you want him more.

so thats how you ended up in his dorm, watching your boyfriends expressions change with each problem on the page. god the way his huge hands twitch along the paper, the veins in his forearm popping as he grips the pencil tighter, his neck-

“you paying attention?” he spoke sounding almost disappointed as he catches you drifting off. “uhhhhhhhh…. ok sammy im sorry” you fold instantly not being able to lie to him. “seriously.” he shakes his head and looks back at the paper.

“its just you look so good right now.. i need you baby” your voice got quieter as your sentence went on. hes choosing to ignore your cries, not out of malice but out if pure commitment to his studies, “pleaseee” you whine out shuffling in your chair, pressing your thighs together just trying to get any friction you could.

“this is really important” he mutters to you, not even raising his chin. the look of determination in his eyes, hes soooo fucking smart and you love it, you love being able to just turn your brain off around him.

ok its all just becoming too much you need to do something.

thats how you found yourself lowering yourself to the ground to rest on your knees, your sharp nails run across his thighs as you lick you lips in preparation. “uhh..what-what are you doing” hes flustered.

“just keep working baby just wanna-“ all you can do is look at him with big begging eyes for only a few seconds before they move down to the bulge in his baggy jeans, fingers going to play at his belt, “wanna take your big, big c-“

“ohhhh-haha-no ok no jokes over get up now..” he pants out, wheeling his chair away for a moment. you could tell this was getting him riled up, his eyes filled with sheer lust at seeing you like this all for him.

“you dont wanna be in my mouth, sammy?” you look down with a pout, slowly standing up, peeling off your tight tshirt in the process. his jaw is agape as he leans back in his chair just watching you.

“you dont wanna feel all of me- see all of me?” your fumble with the button of your shorts before letting them slip down off your ankles.

you walk towards him like a panther to its prey, “you dont want that?” you whisper as you hover above him. as you look down you see his bulge has grown to a stiffer, tighter point. “please” is all it took for him to say before you ripped him up from his seat and throw him onto the bed.

straddling almost instantly leaving sloppy kisses all over his face, “of course i want that sweetheart- i just- get busy - you know that” he rushes out between kisses. “mhm” you buzz uninterested as your hands find their way to his belt again, “take you shirt off.” you say with urgency.

pulling it off his head with no problem he throws it to the corner of his room, where hed eventually lose this shirt due to the lack of care. you finally get to his zipper just begging to feel him, your fingers dip into his boxers and pull him out entirely.

“shit-there it is” you moan softly with dark eyes, “ohh god ok-“ sam whimpers as you hold him in gently in your hand, beginning to stroke him up and down as you move off of him to let your mouth hover above it.

his hands come to your hair, bringing it together to hold it all in a tight fist, “mmmgod shit” the curses leave his lips just as yours leave sweet kisses to his tip.

you moan as you lick all the way up his dick, letting all your saliva drip out the corner of your mouth wanting, needing to make a mess all over him. you lower your mouth onto him slowly sucking a few inches, just enough to tease before pulling your mouth off with a pop.

“god i cant fucking take this-get up here” he throws his head back with a moan as he yanks your head up before releasing you completely just to grab your hips to straddle him.

“what’re you do-mm“ before you could even think your panties are pushed to the side and hes sliding you down onto him with loud noises coming from the both of you. he bottoms himself out making you feel complete and so so good.

with urgency now he starts pumping himself up into you with ease as he hold your hips steady above him, “fuck me s’good-“ your eyes roll back as the sensation takes over, you cant believe this is how sam winchester is in bed, quiet, awkward, smart sammy.

after awhile of him helping you out as his chest gets mauled, meaning you scratched the living shit out of it, you start to bounce on him at what seems the fastest you ever have.

“s’close-s’close-dont ever stop-so fuckin’ tight” sam likes to ramble when hes close, he gets all nervous and blushed, his hands grip onto your tits just a little tighter. “yeah? want me to fuck you harder?” an audible whine leaves his lips, so that means yes.

your ass slaps against his hips with a loud slap over and over and over and “ohgod-agh fuck fuck” you squeal at the white hot sensation you gave into. “cum baby im cumming i am i am-“ the sound of your noises and the raw flesh slapping against each other were obscene.

pants were all you heard as you came down never getting off of him just grounding yourself until you saw him smirk and rub gentle circles on your hip. “you wanna get food?”

i hope this wasnt toooo self indulgent this was the best ask everrrr thank so so much!!!

[slamminslamminmcgill]

all im saying is ✨Logan with a knot✨ and Wade overstimulating you bc you cant get away -🦐

shrimp anon more like shrimp COLORS bro your vision is INSANE!!!!!!

soooo idk conventional a/b/o rules and i kinda don't care so im picturing a heat cycle as once a month endeavour. and bc you're on T you're a HORNY motherfucker and you're angry and violent so it's basically whoever can get their hands on you or knot in you first will take care of you. then as long as you get bred at least once you're fine. then you calm down and it's big aftercare hours bc your post-heat clarity endorphins are going CRAZY

now since your heat only comes once a month, wade treats it as a special occasion. and it wouldn't be fair of him to do the honors EVERY month, now would it?

so even though he's home with you, and logan's not, and won't be for a while, wade wilson will refuse to fuck you. it's not his turn. he did it last month.

and your heat is MISERABLE. imagine the worst period cramp you ever had, combined with hot flashes, searing rage, and it gives your cunt the sensitivity of a fucking bear trap. you'll clamp down on anything that touches you.

so no matter how much you suffer. no matter if you scream, cry, beg, grovel, bite, or commit acts of gratuitous violence against him.

he will hold out.

he will hold out until logan gets home and finds you naked, cuffed to the bed by your hands and ankles, a chewy ball-gag in your mouth getting crushed by your gritting teeth, and wade's holding a wand vibrator to your cunt.

he waves gayly at logan, "hey pinkie pie, merry christmas! wanna come open your gift?"

"jesus christ, are you fucking torturing him?! the hell is wrong with you?!"

"with ME?! where's your holiday spirit?"

logan just stares at him blankly, puzzled by what this psychotic dipshit could possibly be talking about. in response, and in the spirit of the season, wade sings him a song.

"🎼it's the mooost wonderful tiiiiime, of the mooonth~!🎵"

now he gets it.

"oh... okay. so then why did you tie him down like that?"

"well, we had a little INCIDENT earlier..."

--

you had managed to grab one of wade's guns and shot him in the chest

"OW!!! you RESOURCEFUL little shit!!! GRRR, oh~ mysweetboybabydarling i'msoproudofyou, butnoi'mnot, BAD BOY!!!"

--

"no, i mean why didn't you take care of him your-fucking-self, wilson? you really gotta make this my problem as soon as i walk in the fuckin' door?"

"your PROBLEM?! i hand you some prime-time, limited-edition, hot and bothered, ripe for the breeding, tranny boy BUSSY on a silver platter, and that's somehow NOT where your dick wants to spend its evening? am i hearing that right? please tell me i'm not. please tell me you're not this stupid, pookie bear."

instead of arguing back, logan goes quiet. he's thinking. and then, he laughs. that low, husky laugh that you have when you're marveling at the nerve of whatever dumb motherfucker is talking to you. or maybe, when that dumb motherfucker is making a point.

"heh... y'know what? fine." logan angrily strips his clothes off, one by one. his tanktop, "you want me to be the one to knot him? huh?" his belt, his jeans "can't do anything yourself, can ya?" and lastly, his boxers. then he grabs his cock and shakes it at wade.

"so then get me hard, you faggot." he clicks his tongue twice. "c'mon."

wade throws himself at logan's knees and gives him that gawkgawk4000turbotyphoon treatment to get him up. logan sighs in relaxation, grateful that wade was putting his mouth to such better use. once his eyes flutter open, he nods at you, finally giving you even a modicum of attention while you're under intense distress, and he merely waves at you nonchalantly, like how a pedestrian does to a car that lets him cross.

"hang tight, bub. be with ya in a second."

wade works him over until his knot is just barely starting to swell. he then takes his fattened cock and slaps wade across the face with it.

"take his chains off."

"hm... are you sure you want me to do that, princess? he's feisty, y'know. might get yourself bit, if you're not careful."

logan slaps wade again, but this time it's a bitchslap, using the back of his hand. and his claws.

"take. his fucking. chains off."

"mmm, right AWAY, your majesty~!"

[haveihitanerve]

We’re going down, down the sea lads. Hold onto your sheep!

The Lighthouse Commentary- (bc one of you lovelies suggested it :))

Sam’s face immediately starting strong because what XD

“... you cant close up a lighthouse.” Sam’s initial confusion. Oh brother this is gonna be fun…

Luke’s cackling off to the side as Tom grins

“I meant for me.” Quick save AJ, nicely done, very good

“Its quite late.” “it is really late!” Aj sounds ready to genuinely cry, i feel like this was performed at a really late time in real life and AJ wants to go to bed lol 

“Maybe this job isn't for yoUUU!” idk but i like the way he said it- also still feel like they’re referencing the comedy show/real life and not the characters in the play- idk why i feel like this but something about their speaking patterns lmao

“This job is for me!” >:( 

“Lighthouse-man.” “li-lighthouse-man?” “yeah. yeah.” Thats right Aj- stand your ground!

“Im doing this on internship-” “you're doing an internship-” glad you both got to say it boys, really solidified the internship bit, nice

“I've never seen a woman. I don't- what's that?” AJ making everything more drastic and chaotic, perfect, that's what i like to see XD

And breaking Sam along with it, beautiful

“The LIGHT!” reaches for it- ok aj, commit, nice :D

The eyes rolling allllll the way into the back of his head is totally not terrifying-

“The light is great. The light keeps sheeps- ships-sheets-” AJ breaking fully as he explodes a laugh but trying to maintain character at the same time is hilarious he looks like he's shitting XD

“There's nothing like the light of a woman's laughter.” damn sam. That's poetic. If my future partner don't say that i don't want ‘em

Tom’s little sheep mehhrrr is beautiful

“A rumspringa.” Sam purposefully using words he knows AJ doesn't know what they mean- asshole XD

“You know the amish.” “...yeees?” “.Go on.” Sam you menace XD

AJ throwing a glance at Tom for help

“Why are you telling ME to go on? You brought it up!” Fair point, very fair point, Sam’s just being mean lmaoo

Ok AJ does not, in fact, know who Amish are, but its fine, after a quick little giggle break Sam is incorporating a family called Amish into the story, so its fine XD

“Going down… down the sea.” I appreciate his commitment i gotta be honest

“Do- do you mean South?” They just cant let AJ have anything can they? Lol

“Do you know what happened?” Sam: “...i think i can guess” LMAOOO

“Through the smoke..” “the smoke?!?!?” Sam is genuinely concerned lol. “Through the smoke, cause there was fire on the ship.” “oh shit!” Sam did not see that coming XD

“Through the- it was really bad!” Now aj feels the need to explain his story, wonderful 

Luke giving flashback noises, and AJ just repeating them??? Brilliant teamwork boys, 10/10 lol

Tom, of course, cant be excluded: keep going DOWN lads!!! Keep going DOWN the sea!!!

Luke and Tom have casually taken over the scene now XD

“By the way- by “down the sea” do you mean south???” They just really cant let Aj live!!!! Lmaooo

“My brother passed away.” oh my gods Aj what kind of lore are you giving yourself????

‘“MY SON! MY ONLY SON!” Luke, no no, Aj is still alive- “APART FROM MY OTHER SON!” There you go, now Aj keeps going- “WHO I DON'T RESPECT AT ALL!!!” now that just seems unnecessary - XD

“THE CONSTANT DISAPPOINTMENT!” Oh luke is still going, oka- “I BET HE’D RATHER BE ON FUCKING LAND!!” Luke!!! Let him finish his traumatic backstory about why he wants to be a lighthouse keeper!!!! Come on!!! XD

“So I don't care- bout how fucking great women are!” the smile as he says it because ohhh noo thats not how he meant that to come across at all lmaooo XD

“Im just saying… give it a go.” And that was too much for AJ and we get another quick laugh, beautiful 

Sam casually stealing the chair luke was going to sit on to force him to grab another one lol

“Oh the sheep aren't shitting like they used to.” I love how unwilling they are to let a single mistake go, its absolutely fantastic lol! Also Sam’s sheep impression is spot on

“Daughter.” “oh!” Tom was not expecting that to be his role, but ok then :) 

“Like someones- shutting the curtains randomly!” Side eyes AJ hard 

[sheep panic]

[sheep straining] love how sams automatic reaction is to just do the opposite of what luke said lol

“The sheep are just too inbred.” Sam:... *wait a fucking minute*..? He took that personally lmaooo

“That ones got a mostly bald face.” Luke: *looks at Aj* Sam: *also looks around* Tom: no you you fucking idiots-

[sheep baas] fuck you -sam really did take it personally, but then again, Tom also made it personal XD

“The easen- eastern portion.” “the easen-eastern portion yeah.” Tom XD

“Look at this sheep holding another sheep!” Tom, i just don't think thats what his stagecraft is lol

Sam: *contemplating how to do this*... wasn't what i was going for, but…

Luke's explosion of laughter and the way Tom made direct eye contact with Sam when he said it lol

“Oh no my eyes betray me!” *waits expectantly for a clue as to wtf sam is holding*

“The quality of the wooool is poor.” He really needed to emphasize that word lol.

“Fuck you.” are those the only words this sheep can say???XD

“Going under? You mean its going- “down the sea”??” Tom really missed not being a part of the first scene i think…

“South you might say.” But only might! ;)

“Maybe we could send the sheep?” Tom sounds genuinely surprised that he himself suggested it

“I would be up for, sending the sheep *starts giggling* to be the main character!” *sam preparing himself, fastening up a tie and grabbing his briefcase* “of this story!” i love how both Tom and Sam are fashioning it in a way as though they are asking Luke for permission to do it XD

“Are you sure? Cause i was throwing it out there but..” of course now you backpedal Tom- make it his fault if the plot fails XD- smarttttt

“Why don't we go together?” “ahh fuck.” Sam really hates this storyline lmaooo

“You know i've never seen a man!” Sam’s absolutely done with all of them lmaoooooo

SAM! For legal reasons i will not be transcribing the action he did, but i shall give you the captions- [;)]

“They want one☝️thing!” “And whats that?” “se-ee-ex.” Luke’s disappointed turn around to look at Sam while he barely holds it together XD

“Well where are they gonna get that???” Tom, you beautiful beautiful child, his only purpose right now is to piss off the other three and i adore that for him

HES LITERALLY GIGGLING- this man is too cute omg-

Sam: *in sheep gesticulation* please just send me, i don't care that i have to play two characters in one scene, and that one of them is a sheep, tom is out of his fucking mind, please luke you know its smart- 

Or at least thats what i got from it

Luke’s little giggle and pat of Sam’s arm when Aj cuts their scene 🤧 so cute-

“Whats it like up there?” “Sorry?” *gets terrifyingly close* “whats. It. like. Up. there.” Aj looks disgusted and mildly put off but not totally concerned and i love that for their friendship :) 

“Its fucking dark though.” Luke is bamboozled. “Oh its fuck- you think its fucking dark up there??? With a great big fucking light?!?!” he slipped accents there for a sec and went into distraught Luke lol (i don't think aj knows how a lighthouse works, or what it even is, and if the boys knew that then they are evil and brilliant, and if they didn't then its still amusing as hell XD)

“Shining *starts laughing as AJ also breaks* in your eyes???” AJ is struggling to get the story right lol. “Do you have any idea what you do for a job???” I think Luke is genuinely curious lmaoo

Sam now having to step in because AJ has confused him too much so he has to clarify it too XD they're such idiots and i adore it

Tom joining the scene because he feels left out- classic

“Ill settle this honey-” oh sam 🫣

“NO IT WAS-” “AAAEEHHUUHUHAA!” Mocking each other like proper siblings XD this is the best thing ever

“I just wanted some fresh air :(“ leave him alone sam! “In the basement.” ofc the last jabbed parting words XD

AJ’s annoyed grin. “Alright- fucking- im outside now!” LMAOOOO

“Will you stop standing with your hooves on your hips?” Sam: *casually strikes a pose and baas annoyingly with a grin because he knows itll piss Tom off more* XD

Again, for legal reasons, not going to transcribe that 😑

“Excuse me-?” “oh!” Tom’s little gasp that makes Luke have to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop laughing. Gorgeous boys 

“Its a man..” The quiet awe- tom you're brilliant omg never change

“What the fuck are you?” YESS!!!! Both sides XD this is the best thing in my life 

“You're- you're a woman.” even tom cant stop his grin- they are such cuties omfg-

“Supposed to be a man are you?” Sam, never one to let an insult aimed at AJ go unnoticed: [baaa] nice ✋

“Thats right im a lighthouse keeper.” “[baa] what?” Sam cocking his head because wow Aj you just casually stole his job and lied to the first woman you've ever met. Tsk tsk

“Whats your name?” “poppy.” ok aj you're off the hook because now Sam is looking at Tom judgmentally lmaooo

“Oh its cause your sisters called poppy oh alright.” ….. Excuse me for one second. *leaves to go scream into the void* im back….. They just FUCKING- KNOW?>?????? THE NAME OF HIS SIST- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *im gonna go die of cuteness for one sec gimme a moment* idk why but the subtle reminders they are friends and actually know each other kill me. Anyway carry on-

Luke loosing it as Tom connects the dots and Tom motioning the “gears turning” to AJ to try and get him to get it too XD

(Atp they've just abandoned the “yes, and?” joke and started a “aj said one thing wrong once and now we’re gonna make this entire play all about it” and honestly, im here for it)

Also atp they're just competing to see who can make Sam stay in the scene and stand the longest and who can annoy the others the most and i am even more here for that lol

“My dad named me after the sheep.” the way Sam’s tongue is in his cheek as he watches Tom incorporate it into the story and his slow turn away

“Shes an old sheep now.” Sams eyebrows shoot into his hairline

“My names Clint.” “Clint?” Tom’s eyebrows are also in his hairline. “Are you sure?” (psst, Master Ybobb! Its bobby)

Tom treating Sam’s [baaing] as the translator game and just going off the rails lmaoo

“But the lights inside the curtain.” and thats too much for Sam- the way he leans against Tom for emotional support is so cute- 😭💗

Sam is soooo close to ripping his hair out, Tom is thoroughly enjoying whatever the hell i going on, and Luke is just laughing at them all

“Are all men this stupid?” Sam’s head bob as he points to Aj- help😭 hes trying his best guys! (seriously tho, what does Aj think a lighthouse is?)

“Are all women like you?” AJ had to come up with something didn't he lol

“Im just trying to be a good lighthouse keeper and im new at it!” poor baby. “Well you're clearly not.” ooooooohhhhhh. Damn tom. Ruthless

“My sheep will deal with you.” Smart Tom, very smart

AJ just casually stemming his hand against Sam’s forehead XD

“One.. two… three.” Sam, baby i just don't think hes gonna pick up on that 😭

“Im not sure whats happening.” yeah…

“Oh please know what this is.” Sam sounds genuinely distressed, poor guy😭😂

More cocaine, poor sam 

Sam and Tom are done with him 😭

“I've just got this bitch here-” AJ thoroughly enjoyed caling Tom that lol XD

“You cheeky fuck.” Aj though he could sit down lol

“Its nice to have a female presence in the lighthouse.” “thank you.” Turns judgmentally to Aj

“Your intern? Your INTERN, is it?” wow Tom, not holding back at all, very nice XD

[one more!] audience member i love you- especially because its funny but also because it made luke laugh lol

“Someones right on the rule of three :D” *seems genuinely overjoyed at this fact* “don't give it to em” “I wont!” oh come on guys!! “Make them wait for it!” thank you sam “Ill make them wait- THE INTERN!” diva turn and he gave us what we wanted, perfection

Ajs grin when it happens too, Sam might be suffering, but the other three are thoroughly enjoying this lol

“By the way whats his name?” “clint.” oh no sam not you too!

“Clint.” Tom sounds so judgy 😭

Sam: they say his father was a sea-men Tom: *eyebrows shoot up, then back down* thats how all little boys are made, aye

TOM!!! XD

“Sorry who- who offered you any part of it? I DIDN'T OFFER YOU ANY PART OF IT!” gorgeous work tom, flawless

“But he never talks about his mum.” guys, its almost the end of the play, why are we adding more plot???

“It seems like you want to give me some sort of backstory.” some people might call this meta, but if i were having a convo with a dude and they said this line, i would also think they want to give me backstory lol

“The light!” “the curtains!” at least they picked up on both stagecrafts. “Why would that make any difference?” “why both-?” “why both?” “why not just one of those things- *starts laughing*” they really cant let aj rest at all can they?? Lol

“Now the light isn't getting in from the outside!” Tom’s spin, now hes starting to get a little done with AJ just like Sam lol! “Oh! If only the curtains were open, this lightbulb would be giving light!” poor AJ 😭😂

“-head like a fucking egg-” fully breaks character and shatters the fourth wall XD

“Hey you! You bald fucker!” Sam: *gasps as though he hasn't just said the literal exact thing only slightly less bluntly* :0

“Yes? Can i help you?” Luke annoyed now too, glorious XD

“Grant i don't need you, fuck off grant.” “i feel like we've bullied him a lot today.” you don't say XD Lukes helpless shrug. “I know but hes pissed me off!” I love the way Aj just stays out of frame lol- hes not getting involved until he has to 

“You called me a bald fucker.” AJ’s strut onto the stage is iconic “i've got a whole head of hair in this scene you little twat.” Luke and Aj both laughing at each other- cuties. 

“Hey!” now Tom joins, because the scene wasn't chaotic enough. “What are you calling this 6’5 muscular powerhouse a little twat for?!?!” XD i cant anymore-

“Im gonna leave again!” you do that King

[sheep running off a cliff]

[sheep landing SPECTACULARLY]

“The one who gets made fun of. *brilliant mocking of Sam follows, beautiful*” theyre such siblings your honor its wonderful

“Stupid egg!” Sam’s cackle off stage is amazing

“What do you mean they make fun of you?” AJ’s grin as he circles luke- luke you literally started the scene with “you bald fucker!” like come on, XD

“James, the lighthouse keeper. And this new *starts laughing* bitch woman that i just met!” 

“I hope you're not talking about my daughter!?!?” “Was she tall?” “Aye.” “like freakishly tall-” trying desperately to level the playing field XD help aj- 

“Aye, like me! 6’5!” Luke really enjoyed Tom’s addition didn't he lol

“Weirdly tall.” “yeah yeah yeah, weirdly tall yeah. HUGE adams apple.” oh so now theyre teaming up on tom, i see, i see- theyre such fucking siblings dude XD

*laughing at their skilled insults together*

“My mother was wonderful.” “...okay.” yeah Luke, just smile and nod, good plan, who knows what to answer to that in these situations because i sure don't

“It seems like you wanna give us some sort of backstory…” sneaky sam, sneaky sneaky…

*exits while baaaing* AJ: *no no, we cant let this go* no you come here *the finger flick he does- help* Luke: *because he is a gremlin agent of chaos* no no you come here,

Poor sam doesn't get a break from a single scene 😭 thats what he gets for trying to be a cheeky sneaky little shit tho lmaooo

“She said “go.” *makes direct eye contact* “go down the sea.” yes AJ!!! SPEAK YOUR TRUTH!!!

Sam singing quietly in the background, not sure what hes singing but its great, adds ambiance

“Anyway what’d you want?” *forgets what scene hes in* “Im having a stroke over here.” luke please help him out XD

“It was my wife.” *dramatic gasp* Sam: *obliterates the fourth wall as a sheep* what a twist

“Good thing he didn't fuck your daughter.” Sam go back to being a sheep and baaing please-

AJ’s small smile as he appreciates Sam’s joke

“I wish this sheep would run off a fucking cliff.” getting his anger out for all the jokes XD

LUke laughing- with the tongue in his cheek- ahh hes so cute

Sam just flipping Aj off and making him laugh before finally getting to leave a scene XD

“Mario come back!” Tom having drag Sam from the chair because fucks sake he just got to sit down- but nope! Hes gotta be in every scene lmaoooo

“You're gonna be here til the bitter end.” Sam’s head hang of sadness as Tom breaks the fourth wall lol

“Father, have i missed some plot details?” I fear you might've poppy. Also sam rubbing his nose as an aside to pretend seeking cocaine again, brilliant

“I saw you die that day.” “no- no” “no-” “oh gods.” they're all so disappointed its wonderful XD

“Ill use all my human bits okay?” So the inbred joke did grant some uses didn't it Sam?

“Whats wrong with your sheep?” AJ taking joy in pointing out their mistakes now lol

“We gotta finish this show in five minutes-” Sam is done lmaoooo

“Im getting madness from the lighthouse-” The way sam pauses his struggle to actually laugh at that and grabs AJ’s waist, idk why i guess he just needed to hold onto someone to keep from falling apart at the seams-

“I am a sheep. *deep inhale* I’m gonna do some cocaine.” i think that was just sam and not sheep sam… XD

Sam: *finally gets to sit down* “You are my half son-” Sam: *fuck* no- no- no -NO

“You- nothing- NOTHING!” real sam coming out again… lmaooo

“So you, you're my cousin!” Tom fully understood what was happening, he was the only one who remembered bobby’s name- he was just being a litte shit and i fully believe that- AJ’s grin reveals he knows it too- fuckng hell- and Luke’s little jump as he screams “NO!” is adorable

AJ and Tom grinning at each other like dorks while Sam loses it and Luke tries to separate them

“WILL YOU-” AJ and Tom making eye contact and nodding, because hell yeah this bit’ll get ‘em goooood “MARRY ME?!?!” 

Sam explodes, Luke finally decides to end the chaos, and Tom and AJ are thoroughly enjoying themselves

Tom’s little backrub for Sam at the end… awwww

And luke’s consoling pat as AJ just grins and Sam tries not to murder them all XD

@flamingbluepanda @snek-of-eden @dawn-speckled

Sooooo an alternate title for the video could just be “Four Best Friends Competing to Piss Each Other Off The Most” but, y'know, i like The Lighthouse too. 

Anyway this was one of the most chaotic, belly aching, cheeks hurting play of theirs i have seen up to date and i loved every minute of it. AJ was just adding more plot and plotholes, Tom’s only goal was to antagonize everyone who stepped into his line of vision, (specifically Sam), Luke was somewhat trying to follow the plot but mainly just going for insults and gremlin activities, and Sam was losing his mind. :) beautiful. 10/10. 

(also, the way that this is one of the only plays where they forget to say “and hopefully an end” is kinda ironic lmaoo)

anyway hope you enjoyed it as much as i did :)

[crguang]

at a wedding and it got me thinking about kafka because im mentally ill but imagine getting invited to a family member’s wedding and she happens to be free that day so she comes with you as your plus one, dressed in a slick backless dress with a jacket over her shoulders and an elegant choker around her neck, her nails are done and her hair is up. she’s not one for ceremonies and would likely be bored during the actual wedding because it’s in a church. she sits next to you on a pew, behaving herself like you told her to and you get a bit misty eyed during the ceremony so you lay your head on her shoulder and lace your fingers with hers, your palm under hers. around you there’s a choir singing and the couple of the hour are pronouncing their vows. kafka looks at your joined hands, your bare fingers loosely gripping hers. she can smell the scent of your shampoo and the perfume you applied to your skin a few hours earlier. she doesn’t care much for what’s happening around her, just the anticipation in the air as a lifelong commitment is made out of selfless love. she leans her head on top of yours.

during the reception, your family flock around her due to her charms and composure, bombarding her with questions she navigates gracefully. at some point you leave her among the wolves and slip away to spend some time with the rest of your family, congratulating the newlyweds and keeping up with your closed ones’ lives. kafka’s surrounded, a champagne glass in hand, and gazes at you from across the room. she takes advantage of pauses in the conversation to look at you laughing and hugging family members, mind empty. she tells herself she just likes how you look in that outfit. when the married couple have their first dance, she takes in the softness in your eyes while you watch them.

she’s the one who finds you some time later while you’re seated at one of the round tables with your cousin’s six month old in arms, kissing the baby’s face to get him to smile. it works, and a warm expression takes over your features as you coo at him, pinching his chubby cheeks. kafka lays a wine glass on the table that she fetched for you just now.

“having fun?” she asks, taking a seat next to you. her eyes keep darting back to the baby in your hands and the smile on your face.

“yeah. my aunties finally left you alone?”

“i had to slip away while they were talking amongst themselves. they’d make great bait on a mission.”

“please dont call my family bait.”

the baby babbles unintelligibly and your attention diverts back to him. he stares at kafka, a new addition to his environment, and she stares back.

“wanna hold him?” you lift him towards her and kafka lifts her hands in refusal.

“no, thanks.”

“but he wants you!”

she’s forced to take hold of him by his little waist when you put him on her lap. she sits straighter, holding him away from her chest like he’ll pounce on her any second. you hide a smile behind your hand.

“he’s not a grenade. you can hug him.”

“i’d handle a grenade better.”

kafka and the baby stare at each other for a while. he brings a fist to his mouth, then loses interest a minute later. she looks more uncomfortable than you’ve ever seen her, if only by her posture, and you bite back another amused smile before relieving her. you gently take the six month-old back in your arms. he likes you better anyway, pawing at your cheeks with his tiny hands. kafka takes a sip of her glass. her eyes are on you the entire night, and she relaxes somewhat when the baby’s mother comes to whisk him away.

you dance together for some time, her hands at your waist and yours around her neck, talking lowly amongst yourselves and staring into each other’s eyes. by the time you get home, you’re exhausted by the social event. you take off your shoes and jewelry and kafka watches you for a few minutes before finally speaking the words that have been rotating in her mind for five hours.

“do you want to get married?”

you pause, a confused smile on your lips. you start to undress and she stands near the large dresser on one side of the room, a strangely uncertain look on her face. She doesn’t fidget or fiddle with her hands, just leans on the furniture and awaits your reply.

“where’s that coming from?”

“you seemed really happy today.”

“yeah. someone i love just took a huge leap in her life and is very happy for it. the ceremony was beautiful, too, and i had a great time.”

kafka looks away for a moment to take off her earrings. she shrugs nonchalantly but your eyes narrow in suspicion a bit.

“you’re great with kids.”

you stand in your underwear for a moment, observing her body language, then the reason for her sudden attitude hits you and you chuckle.

“did you get freaked out seeing me with that baby?”

“no. i guess you just…belonged.”

“is that what you think i want? marriage and a baby?”

kafka looks at you. “well, is it?”

you walk to her with a barely concealed smile, loosely wrapping your arms around her waist. “would you give it to me?”

she doesn’t respond to that and that is an answer in itself.

“pfft,” you shake your head good naturally, “you’re an idiot. you let today get to your head, baby.”

kafka pouts and returns your embrace. you kiss it off her lips.

“that’s not what i need from you. you’re enough… for now <3”

[wzrd-wheezes]

Cat and Mouse - Rockstar!Sirius x Reader Smut

AN - hello! this is the first fic im posting in a little while and what better way to come back than with some sirius smut. I'm a little rusty so please forgive me <3

Includes: cocky, arrogant, somewhat toxic sirius. swearing. unprotected sex. choking. slight degradation and just other general filth.

1.2k words.

smut starts under the cut.

“I knew you’d come tonight.” Sirius drawled, shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He handed his guitar to one of the roadies, his skin glistening with sweat from the bright stage lights and made his way over to her. 

“Didn’t have anything better to do.” Y/N said drily, her arms folded over her chest. She purposely tried not to look at him, letting her gaze drift to his bandmates who were packing away the rest of their equipment.  

“Seems like you never have anything better to do,” Sirius taunted, leaning over and smirking at her, “you know, with the number of times that you tell me you’re not coming to see me again, yet every time I play you conveniently have ‘nothing better to do’.”  

“Yet you always put my name on the guestlist.” 

“Because I enjoy this little game we play. The one where you pretend that you’re not bothered about me even though we both know that you are.” 

“I’m the one that’s bothered?” Y/N scoffed, “You’re the one that I get fifteen missed calls off when I don’t show up to your gigs. You’re the one that writes songs about me when I’m not even your girlfriend. But I’m the one that’s bothered?” 

 "You're the one who always shows up at these gigs only to see me and then make out like you don’t care about me." he shot back. "You love the attention I give you. You love the fact that I write about you.” Sirius laughed. 

“You’re a narcissist. You like the fact that I have feelings for you, that I care enough to show up to your concerts.” she spat. 

“Ah, but you love it.” He said, his town teasing as he leaned closer towards her, “I know you do.” 

As if to prove his point, he leaned forward and place one hand gently under her chin, forcing her eyes up towards him. Then, ever so gently, brushed her lips with his, letting the barest hint of a kiss touch her before letting his hand drop.  

Sirius was clearly enjoying himself and it was clear to Y/N that he was just trying to get under her skin. She glared back at him, angry at him for mocking her but at the same time wanting him badly. It was a feeling that both of them had struggled with for a while now, through months of hooking up yet never actually committing to each other.  

He was relentless, always trying his hardest to catch her off guard. All the times when she had resolved to ignore him, he would find a way to worm his way inside her thoughts. If not by words then by gestures; the way his arm would snake round her waist, the way he would rest his hand on her thigh when they were sitting together, the way he would have her pressed against the wall in the quickest flash if he wanted to.  

“We both know why I’m here so why don’t we just cut the bullshit.” Y/N said, deadpan. 

“Because you’re in love with me?”  

“Because you’re a good fuck, Black.” 

Sirius groaned, the air was thick with the tension that had been building between them. A smug smirk plastered itself across his face.  

“And there it is.” he said, looking her up and down, his eyes roaming over her body and then back up to her lips, “I thought we were going to dance around the inevitable for the rest of the night.” 

Sirius grabbed her by the wrist, yanking him towards his dressing room. A boot-clad foot kicked the door open before swiftly pulling her inside and knocking it shut behind him. 

“There’s no fun in being coy with you, sweetheart,” his eyes still locked on her lips, “I’m aware of how this goes. You come to see me, and you pretend you hate me while I try my hardest to get under your skin. Then inevitably, we both get tired of playing this game and you finally let me fuck you like you’ve been longing for all night.” 

He had her pinned against the door now, one of his hands resting just above her head, bracing himself as he towered over her. He smirked, running his fingers down her neck. He loved it when they were like this, how they would both pretend to not be absolutely crazy with desire for each other. It was exciting. A game of cat and mouse that had been going on for far too long.  

His long, slender fingers wrapped around her throat, the cool metal of his rings pressing against her skin. He tightened his grip ever so slightly, enjoying the soft gasp that escaped her lips.  

“You look so pretty like this.” he said, his voice low, “So pretty with my hand around your neck.” 

He dipped his head down, catching her lips in his, teeth clashing together as he roughly kissed her. He groaned into her mouth, his tongue slipping inside, their kisses becoming messy. His hands found the back of her thighs, lifting her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist.  

Hastily, he carried her over to the dressing table, putting her down on top of it, her back resting against the mirror. Y/N quickly removed her shirt, Sirius unbuttoning and sliding off her trousers as she did. He dragged her to the edge of the table, roughly spreading her legs.  

“You know you love this, don't you?” he teased, his breath hot and heavy as it fanned over her face, “You love that you’re mine.” 

Sirius’s hands were rough and unrelenting, he was unable to hold himself back, the pair of them far too eager to take it any slower.  

“Stop teasing and just fuck me already.” Y/N said, already breathless.  

Wordlessly, he shoved his jeans down, letting them hang low on his hips. He wasted no time, quickly lining himself up with her, plunging in without given her a second to adjust. A ragged moan escaped her lips, earning a smile from Sirius.  

“I’m the only one that gets to make you make those pretty noises,” he grunted, his hips snapping against hers, “No one can fuck you better than I can, can they?” 

Unable to form a coherent response, she just shook her head, her eyes screwed shut in pleasure. 

“Answer me properly.” 

“N-no.” she gasped, “No one fucks me better than you.” 

That was all the fuel he needed to keep going. He grabbed her forcefully, repositioning her so that she was bent over on the dressing table with him behind her. 

“Want you to look at yourself in the mirror,” he ordered, “Want you to see how desperate and needy you are for me, how good I make you feel.”  

His fingers wove into her hair, adjusting her head so that she had no choice but to stare at their reflection. It was like a high for him, watching her stare at herself in the mirror, taking in her bruised lips and smudged makeup. 

Sirius slammed into her, his grunts mixing with her moans as he chased his own release. He felt her clench around him and he stared thrusting harder, deeper.  

“That’s it. Look at yourself as you cum for me.” he encouraged, “such a little slut for me.” 

Y/N came with a loud moan, her body going slack. Sirius held her up against him as his thrusts got sloppy, his own orgasm quickly approaching. He groaned as he came inside her, panting as he pulled out.  

“So, when’s your next gig?”  

[beeliiii]

Name Upon Thy Flesh

Luke Skywalker x Reader

Summary: Rescuing Han turns out a little different.

Warnings: Slavery, descriptions of surgery

A/N: I wrote this yesterday, didn’t check for mistakes because quite frankly I don’t have time to write and check for things. There’s some inconsistences, I’m aware of that. But also I’m just a tad too lazy to try and rework those things into where they need to be, I don’t think it matters too much. I highly doubt this is going to get a lot of attention anyways so who really cares??? Also!! I wrote this with Amavikka culture, Im not fully aware of all the nuances but I took inspo from Jackdaw_Kraai and their take on it. However, I’m expanding on the pantheon of deities so just bear with me whilst I figure it out. Pls and thank you. I also never claim the writing to be good, not your style? Don’t read it. I do not need to be told you didn’t like the story.

WC: 12,135. Incomplete

The planning room is a rather droll space, in Luke’s humble opinion. He isn’t a master of interior design by any means, but between the durasteel colored everything and the uncomfortable, deceptively padded swivel chairs, he thinks he might have a chance. Leia is at the front of the room, she’s got a board full of ideas and key points, Chewie sits across the table from Luke, his eyes trained on the board. They’re going to get Han. It was inevitable, and it’s been a long time coming.

There’s two resolute factors in the plan; They’re going to Tatooine, and they’re going to infiltrate Jabba’s palace. Luke hates thinking about that damned palace. Rounded and tall, it blends well with the desert, belonging, he would say. The desert is cruel, and so is Jabba’s palace. Everyone knows that slaves go there and never return. For Jabba never traded slaves when he wished to acquire a new one, he simply just killed the previous one when the replacement arrived.

Slave life at Jabba’s palace, from what Luke had seen and heard, was truly horrendous. Before the rebellion, before the lightsabers and the family drama that tore the galaxy apart, Luke had been a runner. A dangerous job, but one he was well suited for. Every other week there’d be a job, a bag of credits and a list of names. Then the following week it’d be quick terror, decisive victories, emergency surgeries and bated breath to see if it would be a success. Luke, as a runner, as the first freeborn of his family, knew intimately what slavery on Tatooine was like. Even though he had never experienced slavery, and hopefully never would, what he saw during his work was enough to understand the true atrocities committed against innocent people.

Sneaking into Jabba’s palace was the easy part, it was the getting out that would be difficult. They were lucky that Luke had knowledge of the palace, of Tatooine, and how everything would work. It was lucky, indeed, that Luke was there to help run this particular flight.

“There’s someone I know who will help us.”

That brought a flurry of emotions to the surface for him. You. You were on Tatooine, left behind in his haste for revenge. Luke had bid his time, waiting until it was right to come find you again. Whisk you off the godforsaken planet and to the rebellion. You’d be better off with them, or simply away from Tatooine. There were many occasions where you had run a flight together. Often working as a team to help the slaves escape. You were good with the surgeries and healing, a gift from your patrons.

The time was right, Luke could feel it, he could finally have you with him. Could slip a ring around your finger and mark your face with his blood, pledge his love and loyalty to you in the names of the desert and the storm. Luke had waited, and now it was time.

Leia raised a brow at him, “Who?”

Luke let himself grin a little wider, “A girl who also knows Jabba’s palace well. She’s an excellent medic.”

“A medic?”

“Yeah, she’s the best out of us all. I’d trust her to slice me open with a kitchen knife if that’s what was available.”

Leia looked skeptical, but she didn’t say no either.

“She’ll be able to help us get Han?”

“Absolutely. She’s always willing to help.”

“Would she help the rebellion?”

“In a heartbeat.”

Leia seemed satisfied about that, nodding as she turned to write in another factor on the board: Luke’s mystery medic. Luke could see it now, the door opening, your face, pissy because he had left. He’d get on his knees, beg forgiveness and he really hoped you would forgive him because he wanted everything to do with you. He knew it, deep within himself, that he could not leave without you again.

“Where do we locate her?”

“She and her family live up in Mos Eisley, it’s not terribly out of the way, maybe an hour detour at most.”

“That’s doable then, besides, a good medic will certainly be a valuable asset.”

“Agreed.”

Luke didn’t tell them about his true connection with you, he feared that if he did it’d be dismissed because of his feelings. He wasn’t lying about your medical skills though, only the best of the medical droids could do it like you did, and even then it seemed like your hands were guided by divine energy to heal. Your patron's gift, that’s what you told him long, long ago.

He knew about patrons' gifts as well, for he had them too. Desert and storm, they went hand in hand, and Luke was their chosen champion. At least that’s what everyone seemed to say, you included. You were a champion yourself, champion of the three moons, you covered three different sectors. The spirit, the healing, the oasis. Your three domains. There were other champions out there, but who Luke didn’t know. Someday he would, for someday they’d all be called together.

Part of him feared that you had moved on without him though. That you had decided to continue on without him, maybe you’d fallen in love with somebody else. It would break his heart if that happened, but he’d also understand. You had been left behind and there was no guarantee that Luke would come back, the only thing you did have was your faith in him. He hoped he still had that faith.

By the end of the day they had their plan sorted out. It was risky, but it never wasn’t going to be risky. It relied a lot on luck, assumptions, and counting on the low intelligence level Jabba’s palace seemed to gather. Luke hoped that this would be a successful run, hoped that the plan would work because if it were up to him he’d go alone or with you. He wouldn’t take Leia, or Chewie, just him and his tool kit. Of course he couldn’t exactly say that to Leia and Chewie though.

They’d insisted on coming, and they’d insisted on making the plan too. Luke knew that no matter how much experience he had with freeing people from Jabba directly that the pair wouldn’t listen. That in itself was frustrating, knowing that they didn’t think he was good enough to make a plan like theirs, and knowing that his opinion would be discarded.

He had tried multiple times throughout the entire planning session to try and give input, but they always had something to say about it. No matter that Luke had nearly routinely snuck into the palace, they wanted to do things their way. The outsider way. Luke wished that they’d listen to him, the actual Tatooinian native, rather than apply the familiarities they had to something they were wholly unfamiliar with. Leia and Chewie, in their stubbornness to rescue Han, would not listen to reason beyond themselves.

Luke could only see that they survived, even if the plan was so stupid a slave child would see right through it and circle the problems in blood so bright it couldn’t be avoided. It would be good to have you by his side, knowing you could (probably) fix them up whenever things (undoubtedly would) go wrong. He just wanted your presence mingling in his again.

They would leave in two days.

*****

Two days passed swiftly, and before Luke knew it they were boarding the falcon to head over to Tatooine. He had packed his desert clothes, and anything else they needed would be found on the planet itself. It had been four years since he last stepped foot on the planet, four years since he lost his family, his home. Four years since he joined the rebellion and blew up the death star. It was a little crazy to Luke how much could change in just a handful of years.

He had missed it in a way. He supposed that after nineteen years of living on the planet, raised there his whole life, intimately connected with the desert and the storms, that he had a right to miss it. He didn’t miss the lack of diversity, or the slavery, nor did he miss the violence and general disgust for a good portion of the population. But he missed the warmth of the desert and her sands, he missed the dry breeze and the canyon racing, hunting anoobas and hearing the recently freed ring the Bells of Kashyyyk before they went off planet to better lives.

He sat in the back with Leia, who was running the plan over and over to herself in her mind. Luke really wished she would have taken his suggestions. She didn’t know what the palace was like, the horrors she would face and the way things worked. She’d be waltzing in with a confidence she did not have the right to possess, and that made Luke worried. If they had done things his way, the Tatooinian way, it’d be different, and he wouldn’t be nearly as anxious as he was now.

“Luke, do you think this will work?”

He looked at her, cracking his eyes open to find her seated on the other side of the booth. She was a bit paler than usual, her knuckles white as she balled them into fists, her eyes trained on the sabacc table in front of her. Reassurance, she was looking for reassurance. Asking if the plan Luke had tried to tell wasn’t the best would work.

“I think if we try we have a shot.”

He wouldn’t say yes because it’s Jabba’s Palace and nothing ever really went according to plan when it came to that place. They had a plan made by outsiders and it showed, but then at the same time they refused to listen to him and his knowledge. They wanted him because he knew the layout of the palace, but nothing else beside brute strength.

She frowned, lips thinning as she clearly tried to work through something in her mind. Luke didn’t care what, he didn’t ask either.

“I really want, no, need this to work.”

Luke softened, just a little bit. He knew she loved Han, that Han loved her back. Love made people crazy, and he was no exception to that either. Luke knew that if something happened to you he’d also go a little haywire, and for the past year Leia had been incomprehensibly patient about rescuing Han. Luke could give her that much at least.

“I know.”

They didn’t say anything else, instead opting to shut their eyes and tip their heads back as Chewie piloted up front. Lando was waiting for them on Tatooine, having infiltrated it a month or so back so he could glean information and pass it on to them about Jabba and his inner workings. Luke really hoped all of this would pay off in the end.

It was only when they came close to landing did Luke start to get antsy. He wanted to find you desperately, to kiss you and hug you, breathe in the scent of you and feel your being beside his own. There was always something soothing when it came to you, like water, he supposed. Refreshing and necessary for survival. Leia seemed to pick up on his anticipation, her hand coming to rest on his arm in an effort to help ground him. He shot her a quick smile, grateful. Soon, he told himself, soon.

They landed in Mos Eisley, although it was just temporary for Luke to go get you. He left quickly, hood up so he wouldn’t be recognized. The bounties, last time Luke had checked, had not ceased, and only increased in their worth. Darth Vader’s especially. Luke tried not too hard to think of his father, not here, not now. There was a mission at hand, and although he had made peace with Vader being his father, he still wholeheartedly believed Anakin Skywalker had not ceased from him fully. If Anakin were truly dead, then the bounty wouldn’t read alive and unharmed.

He wove through familiar streets, walked down shortcuts and felt his heart racing the closer and closer he got to your door. Your home, a white apartment in a structure that made little sense, came into view twenty minutes after he landed. It was located on the third floor, accessible through a staircase outside of the building; he truly didn’t know how to describe it. Only that the windows weren’t uniform, there were no true levels to the building, and it was more like a bunch of apartments that didn’t belong together had been mushed together to create a building.

Soon enough he was in front of your door, but when it swung open it was to a face he was unfamiliar with. A young human woman, her hair covered in a shawl that covered her neck and shoulders, a plain white dress that covered the rest of her body. Luke could hear a baby crying in the back and something cooking on the stove.

“Can I help you?”

Huttese, she was trying to gauge whether he was from Tatooine or not.

“I’m looking for a girl, she’s a healer and she lived here at least four years ago, with her family?”

The woman's eyes widened before pity overtook her face, “You didn’t know?”

Dread began to squirm into wakefulness, deep in his stomach, slowly creeping up, “I’ve been offworld for four years, the-the empire took me, I’ve just managed to return to Tatooine.”

He watched her brows furrow, grief starting to cloud her face as she looked at him longer the more that he spoke, “Her father worked for the empire, her mother, she uhm, she made pottery. The girl I’m looking for, she was-she-”

“She was taken by the Hutts.”

It was like an anvil had dropped on his head and crushed his heart in the process. You. Taken by the Hutts. Enslaved. Slave. You. No. He couldn’t bear it, but the force rang with truth, terrible, terrible truth. Just like when Vader revealed his truth to Luke, this one left him with an urge to throw himself down the tallest ledge he could find. You had been enslaved. After twelve generations of your family’s freedom, you were enslaved.

“When?”

“I was told around two years ago now. Her father, he was killed, he was on the death star or whatever it is they’ve called it and you know how it goes here. They see someone of value, they hit the family with extra taxes and since they lost the empirical paycheck they couldn’t afford to pay. So they took the girl first. The next month the second sister, the third month the oldest brother. The fourth month the little brother. The fifth month the final child. The sixth month they took the mother. I heard she didn’t last long. From what I know the eldest was sold to Jabba himself.”

Oh force, oh kriffing force. Your whole family, enslaved, your parents dead, all because he blew up the goddamn death star. The death star that he blew up. Your father had been an engineer, and he worked for the empire to bring in the income your family so desperately needed. Luke had blown him up. He had blown his future father-in-law up. Was there anything he could do to recover from that? He wondered if you hated him now.

If you resented his every fiber of being because he had left you, then he had gone and killed your father, which then led up to you getting enslaved. Would you pin that on Luke? He wouldn’t blame you if you did.

“You knew her?”

“We were going to be married. We were going to be married three months after I was taken. I came back to get her, to marry her.”

“I’m so, so sorry.”

He turned, he didn’t know what else to do but turn as the woman watched him go. She knew, he could tell. She knew what it was to lose someone to the Hutts, she knew how it felt to be ripped away from family for the sake of someone else's greed. Luke returned to the ship in a daze, stumbling in as Leia and Chewie perked up, only to be confused when he returned alone.

“Luke? Where’s the medic?”

Oh he couldn’t breathe. You had been taken by the Hutts, enslaved and had who knows what done to you. His girl, enslaved after twelve generations of freedom.

“Luke?”

He was going to be sick, something he absentmindedly thought as nausea rapidly shot its way through his system. Slavery. You were in it, forced, taken. Taken to Jabba, and really, how long could you survive in the palace with a creature like that? If you were even alive, would your freedom mean anything to you at that point? Luke didn’t know, he didn’t-

Luke threw up. Barely managing to grab hold of a bin as Leia scrambled over to him, Chewie hot on her heels. She cried out softly, reaching for him as he vomited whatever he had in his stomach. He had caused this, he had put you in chains, bound you, practically ended your life the moment he blew up the death star. Your father had been on that cursed thing. He’d been on it so he could give you a chance at life.

“Luke what happened?”

He wiped his mouth, trying to keep himself contained even when it felt like his body might shake apart, “I-she, oh force Leia, they took her.”

Her eyes narrowed down at him, “Who took her?”

“Jabba, he took her, enslaved her. Oh gods and it’s my fault, it’s my kriffing fault she’s enslaved now.”

He hurled again, thinking of you with a detonator in your body, somewhere you couldn’t see, couldn’t reach. He thought of you on that podium, stripped down to nothing but shackles as people bid on you. He didn’t even want to think about all the things that they could’ve done to you in the last two years. A slave girl at Jabba’s palace. Everyone knew what kind of fate that was. And it had befallen to you.

“How is that your fault?”

“Her father, he was an engineer working for the empire, he was on the death star when it blew up. He died and they lost significant income, the Hutts when they see someone they want usually have means of getting them. They raised her family's taxes with no warning, and with the significant lack of income they couldn’t afford to pay, so they sold her family, one member per month, until her mother was sold, and her mothers dead now too. I did this, I am responsible.”

Maybe it hadn’t hit Luke up until then that it wasn’t just blowing up the empire's super weapon. There had been people aboard that thing. Millions of people, and Luke blew them up without hesitation. Luke had murdered mercilessly to do what he needed to do, for what he believed was right. Vader murdered mercilessly to do what he needed to do, for what he believed was right. All this time Luke had been denying his similarities to his father, but when it was all laid out at his feet he couldn’t look away or run from the truth. There was, without a doubt, that Luke Skywalker was Vaders’ son, and the death star was the evidence to convict him.

There was water being pressed to his hands, and then he was looking at Leia. Her eyes were soft but she was also wearing her face of no-nonsense. Luke knew he needed to get it together, do what he could. They needed to rescue Han, get off the planet, and get to where they needed to go. He knew it, he understood it, but to know what had happened during his absence, it was too much.

“You didn’t know her father was on board, right?”

He shook his head. He didn’t, he really didn’t. He would’ve warned the man somehow, someway, of what was to transpire if he had known. He could’ve saved him if he had been aware. Why had he not considered that possibility either? Why had Luke not thought that maybe, just maybe, they had assigned him to the death star for engineering purposes?

“You knew what the death star was capable of doing, you knew what it did to my planet. You knew it needed to go, and that there was no other option. There was no time for a decision like that.”

Leia was right and Luke knew it but it still hurt and the guilt still racked him like he was being skinned.

“The only thing you can do for her now is to try and find her, free her, save what remains of her family if you can.”

He inhaled sharply, shutting his eyes as he did before opening them and nodding at her, “Alright, yes. We need to go then, Han and Lando are waiting for us.”

She smiled, a little one, but it was enough, “Maybe your medic is in there too.”

It was a very slim chance, but Luke couldn’t afford to think you were dead either. If there was a chance, even a small one, he would take it. He’d submit to your wrath, go through every punishment you could think of, he’d grovel and cry for forgiveness just to atone even a fraction for the grief he dealt you. He’d do it all for you, he wouldn’t complain, he’d bear it. If you wanted him gone after you’d collected your family and gone off planet then he’d do just that. He’d delete your commlink and try to forget your face, erase the sound of your laughter from his head. If you wanted that, he’d make it happen.

The rest seemed to blur together for him. Journeying to Anchorhead, securing their parking location for at least two weeks with coverage, and then renting a ship to go to Jabba’s palace. It was still daylight, and even though it was part of the plan it made Luke jittery. He had never, not once, snuck into Jabba’s during the day. Except they weren’t sneaking, they were practically smuggling themselves in. Leia disguised as a bounty hunter, Boushh, with Chewie as her captive. It all seemed so bizarre to Luke, to have them infiltrate Jabba’s in such a way.

When nightfall came Luke knew then that he had to move. He needed to get Han, Chewie, Leia, and Lando out of there before the sun rose or else they would be caught, sentenced to slavery, and either made to work under Jabba or killed. Neither was a desirable choice in Lukes’ opinion. But nobody seemed to ask for that either. He looked at the droids behind him, C3-PO and R2-D2, loyal until the end, they’d simply have to wait outside until Luke could give them a signal, or an alert that things had gone terribly wrong and to go get the ship asap.

Then he went in on his own. Over the four years that Luke was a runner he had become far more familiar with Jabba’s palace than most ever were. He knew secret entrances and pathways, disguised by the runners who built the palace to help their enslaved Siblings escape. Those people, Luke thought graciously, were some of the most important to ever grace the planet. Flight paths in Jabba’s palace that Jabba was completely unaware of. It was almost comical.

It was easy to slip into Jabba’s palace in the dead of night, his feet silent as he walked through the cooled halls, reaching out to sense for guards or stragglers who were passing by. None to be found though, thankfully, as he walked towards the throne room where the massive slug resided. On first glimpse inside of the room he saw bodies lazily strewn about, snores filling the air with the scent of smoked spice in the air and alcohol spilled.

He stopped short in the doorway. You were here. Here in this very room, alive, breathing, on the cusp of sleep but not quite there. Alive. You had somehow survived two years of enslavement under Jabba, and even though he could tell you were weakened you were still you. He felt it, he knew it, and his heart raced as he stepped into the room. Leia was on the other end of the room, silently going around to press buttons and for a minute Luke was dumbfounded by her stupidity.

Jabba was literally right kriffing there behind the curtain, if the thing holding up Hans’ slab of carbonite fell the whole room would wake. There was no time to tell her that though, so Luke reached out with the force as the clasps released, stopping it from clanging to the ground. Leia whipped around, eyes wide while Luke hovered Han down gently so it wouldn’t startle anybody. He pressed a finger to his lips, shushing her questions that practically burned her tongue.

With a wave of his hand the thing started to dethaw Han, louder than Luke would’ve liked but nonetheless doing what it needed to do. The only thing left would be to free you. Luke reached out, not with the force but rather the storm, letting it nudge you into wakefulness. As Han’s chest came into view he heard the faintest rustle of a chain, and then the curtain wiggled to the side, and out you stepped.

You stood in all your glory as Jabba’s long term pet. A golden collar around your neck with a matching chain vanishing into the curtain, undoubtedly to where Jabba was. He had you dressed in a black number, it was sheer and left little to the imagination, but you looked healthy. As healthy as a slave could be, he supposed. It seemed that you had secured a spot as one of Jabba’s favorites, and held onto that title too. You stood, staring at him slack jawed.

He raised a finger to his lips, and you shut your mouth, eyes darting to the scene behind you. Han was almost free, which meant they didn’t have a whole lot of time left to go get Lando and Chewie before making a run for it. Then, right as things seemed to be going well, the curtains slid open, and there sat Jabba, wide awake, just as Han stumbled free from the carbonite.

“So you’ve come to steal my possessions, hmm?”

A chill ran down Luke’s back as blood drained from your face. Jabba was awake, how Luke didn’t know, but he was awake and staring at Luke, dead in the eye. Anger, roiling and bright began to churn through him. He felt the force stirring, rising to his emotions, heeding his call. This thing in front of him had taken you, shackled you and made you nothing more than a tool for entertainment, he had made you one of his dancing girls. Luke would not forgive that, he wouldn’t for anybody, but this was personal now. Too personal.

“She was never yours to begin with.”

“The chain in my hand thinks otherwise.”

Leia was staring at him, in her arms Han who was slowly coming to consciousness, still blind and sick from the carbonite freezing. She knew they were in trouble, she knew things were about to hit the wall and that there was very little she could do to stop it, not with Han in his current state.

“This slight against me will not go unpunished. To steal from Jabba, great Jabba, to covet his possessions. This warrants nothing but death, death by the Sarlacc Pit, but before that the little thief must watch that he is not her master. But Jabba is.”

He tugged on your chain and growled at the musicians to start playing. It was too late in the night or too early in the morning, making everyone more than confused when they woke to music and Jabba’s booming voice. Another tug on your chain had you springing into action. Luke watched, because there was nothing he could do, as you twirled and used the chain for a prop. You moved sensually, in a way that Jabba certainly took entertainment to, and in a way you knew would please him for it punished Luke to see you so degraded.

In the quiet of his pockets he instructed the droids to get ready for a flight in the morning, but to be discreet about it. The Sarlacc Pit. The closest one was about 20 clicks from Anchorhead, and located in perhaps one of the hardest areas of desert to traverse through. The dunes, tall and ever shifting, the danger moving deep within them rather than above. No water, no life, no nothing. Luke had traveled through it once and swore never again unless absolutely necessary.

He thought of the worms in the Northern Dune Sea. Multiple clicks long, the maw wide enough to swallow a settlement, it was a horrendous beast to encounter. The enemy of the Kryat dragon, he too didn’t feel like running into one of those either, not with the little outsider group he had with him. That was if they escaped in the desert with no ship or speeder to help cart them out. Hopefully, and he really did hope, they weren’t going to be without transportation when they escaped.

He was detained shortly, so were Han and Leia, but thankfully by a familiar face who threw him and Han in with Chewie, Leia on the other hand went elsewhere. Luke fervently hoped that upstairs you were simply made to lay down again and nothing more. He hoped that he didn’t cost you your life with his words from earlier.

“Kid? Is that you?”

Han. He was alive, the blindness slowly starting to fade as he became more aware of his surroundings.

“Han, good to see on your feet again.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t exactly say that, but I’m here, that’s for sure.”

Chewie had already hugged Han within an inch of his life, roaring pitifully as he recounted how terrible the last year without Han had been. Luke reached over, patting Han on the shoulder before taking a seat beside him, “Saw you and Leia had a good reunion until Jabba woke up.”

Han snorted, “Her Highness can occasionally not be a stick in my ass.”

Luke rolled his eyes, leave it to Han and Leia to be the most stable emotionally incompetent couple ever.

“So how are we getting out of here?”

Luke sighed, leaning back against the rather damp wall, “We’re not getting out of Jabba’s palace until he takes us out of here. Lucky for us we’ve got a date with the Sarlacc Pit tomorrow afternoon, so we can escape then.”

“What the hell is a Sarlacc Pit? It better be something nice, like a lagoon so I can swim.”

“Oh yeah, totally. Jabba the slave king of Tatooine, the desert planet, is going to take us for a dip in the lagoon we call the Sarlacc Pit. Which totally isn’t just a massive and carnivorous thing that dwells in the ground and takes a thousand years to digest whatever it eats.”

“Kriff I do not remember you being like this, what happened since I got stuck in carbonite?”

By daddy dearest too, Luke thought, although he didn’t voice it aloud. Instead he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “A lot and seemingly nothing at all.”

Han looked at him, eyes a little clearer, but Luke didn’t dare look back at Han. What would Han see when he looked at him? Luke Skywalker? Or would he see a little Vader Jr on the rise? Luke didn’t know, he didn’t want to know.

“Clearly, Bespin wasn’t the best move.”

They lapsed into silence, mulling over their situation, and what they were going to do. Luke wasn’t about to get swallowed by the kriffing Sarlacc, not today, not ever. He certainly wasn’t going to let any of his friends get swallowed by it either. They waited for some amount of hours, trying to sleep so they could catch up on energy before Lando came in the morning. By then Han had mostly cleared up, although he would certainly need to rest a little bit after this, and they were ready to go.

“Aright, so uh, Leia and the dancer are still alive, although they’ve been dressed in ah, matching outfits, for Jabba’s entertainment. We’re about to board Jabba’s personal ship, since we’re having a little party today, and then we’ll head over to the Sarlacc Pit, sound good?”

Luke nodded, then frowned a little bit, “Lando, there’s one other thing I need you to get. Think you can manage?”

“I think so, we aren’t due to leave for another hour, what do you need?”

“I need a sharp knife, needle, and thread strong enough to sew skin together.”

“Got it, I know just where to find it. You want me to deliver it to you?”

“Deliver it to the dancer girl, discreetly. If you can’t, then I’ll do.”

“Understood, see you soon.”

“Thank you.”

Han shot him a look, “Why do you need those? You planning a surgery?”

“Yes.”

Han did a double take, all smugness gone as he peered at Luke, “Seriously? On who? And what for?”

“For my girl, she’s a slave which means there’s a detonator somewhere in her body. I’m going to remove it as soon as I can.”

He went silent for a minute as Han digested his words, “She’s usually the one to get the detonators out, I never thought I’d have to see the day I took hers out.”

“Wait, wait, wait, your girl? As in, you two are dating?”

Luke laughed, a humourless thing because how did everything get to this point? He was supposed to marry you after he turned twenty on the tallest dune at sunset when the moons rose and the twin suns began to dip beneath the horizon. He was supposed to go offworld with you, explore the galaxy, make a living by fixing up ships and freeing slaves.

“We met when we were six, at school. We were seated beside each other, and I didn’t know what to do with myself because she was so pretty. Skin like a soft sunset and the kindest eyes. She soothed any ache and pain, no sunburns, heatstroke, she could always find water too. A gift amongst the people, that’s who she was. At fourteen her father let me take her on a date. At eighteen I got to give her a plant, at twenty, well, at twenty we were supposed to be wed.”

Han stares at him, and so does Chewie. There’s a lump in his throat, but crying is a waste of water, so he holds it in. He can cry when he’s not on the desert planet. He hadn’t told anybody about you and the way he loved you, fiercer than fire and steadier than the desert. He loved you, loved you like the galaxy loved her stars.

“You love each other.”

“I don’t know if she loves me anymore. Her father was on the death star, and I’m the reason she got sold into slavery.”

“Because of the death star?”

“No shiny paycheck from the empire combined with the Hutts wanting her in the first place had them raise taxes abruptly for their household. Not enough money to afford the taxes, the Hutts took her and sold her to Jabba.”

“It’s not your fault that her father was in the wrong place at the wrong time, you know that right?”

Luke shrugged, “I don’t know. The least I can do for her is set her free.”

“Well I take it you haven’t had the chance to discuss with her about what happened, so I’d say don’t immediately assume she hates you for the consequences of the empire's actions.”

“They didn’t blow up the death star with everybody on board.”

“No but they did build the damned thing.”

That was true. If they hadn’t built it then it needn’t have been blown up. But they had built it, they had killed Alderran in front of Leia’s face and had been planning on giving so many other planets the same treatment. It was just the consequences of actions. Unfortunate on both ends too.

Lando returned twenty minutes later, passing a simple white clothed package to Luke. In it was the blade, needle, and thread. Luke nodded at him, thankful as he slipped the package into his shirt folds. Then Lando was opening the gates, handcuffing them, and leading them to their impending doom. When they arrived at the ship they found themselves in the belly down below, and with them C3-PO and R2-D2 as well. Perhaps most jarring were the outfits you and Leia had been forced into.

Skimpy things, bras that didn’t fit quite right so both of your breasts had spillage from seemingly every angle, and then the lowest rise of a skirt, if it could even be called that. The waist band matching the top, and then a long strip of cloth on the back, and a narrower strip in the front, covering the bare necessities. At the very least they had given you both boots to wear with the outfits. Even Jabba knew that dancers couldn’t dance if their feet had been burnt.

It was an awful feeling to see the two of you dressed like that. Degraded and sexualized, appealing strictly to the gaze of clients. Luke only hoped that Jabba didn’t rent either of you out on this particular trip. Han seemed to be thinking similarly as he swallowed when he saw the pair of you, his concern leaking steady into the force, Chewies’ as well.

You looked at him when they entered, but Luke couldn’t bring himself to look at you. His shame was too great whenever he saw you. He should have taken you with him when he and Ben left the planet. He should have spared you from such a fate. You wouldn’t be a slave after this day though, Luke would see that through. The ride there was still uncomfortable. Drunkards and drugs running rampant, the music too loud and the space crowded. He spotted the droids running around every now and then, but for the most part they were left alone.

Until, of course, they got to the Sarlacc Pit. After that they, he, Han, and Chewie, were escorted up to the plank where that wretched mouth was waiting. It shrieked, gritty and strained, but loud nonetheless. Han flinched, looking over at Luke with widened eyes, “I was really hoping it would be a lagoon.”

Luke sighed, “You ready?”

“For what?”

“Our escape.”

Luke didn’t offer any more elaboration as he willed the binders to unlock, freeing his hands as his lightsaber flew to his hand. He ignited it, watching the green blade hum to life with satisfaction before moving to cut Han and Chewies’ hands free.

“Secure that ship that’s been riding our side, we’ll use it to escape. I’ll get our girls, and blow a hole in this thing, alright?”

Han nodded, taking the blaster Chewie handed to him before running off as Luke headed down below. The chaos had migrated downstairs by the time Luke got down there. Leia was strangling Jabba, which, excellent, and you were with the droids doing something. Nobody, in the confusion of what was happening, seemed to know what was going on, and that was when Han blew a hole into the side of the ship. Shrieks and screams rang out as the ship tilted, sending multiple occupants sliding down, out of the hole, and into the waiting mouth of the Sarlacc Pit.

Luke was working on very borrowed time it seemed. He shouted, gaining your and the droids attention as he waved wildly, pointing to the side of the ship as Han blew another hole in it. Good going Han, Luke thought wildly when the ship began to pivot. His first priority was severing the chains you and Leia were bound in. The lightsaber made quick work of it, and then his lightsaber made quick work of Jabba, cutting his head off as best as he could, letting the thing gurgle through his wounds.

The droids came then with you in tow, stumbling as dust and debris filled your vision and blocked your path. Luke got hold of you though, his arm gripping your wrist tightly as he cut his way through the ship. R2-D2, for one, seemed intent on causing as much chaos as he possibly could with C3-PO complaining the whole way through. Leia wasn’t far ahead of him, her eyes searching for him amongst the crowd. She found him soon enough, you and the droids right behind him. She looked at the stairs, then she looked back at Luke and his little group.

“Luke! There is NO way those droids are making it up here!”

He paused, looked at the stairs, then looked at the droids. Leia wasn’t wrong about that. R2-D2 could definitely go down stairs but up was a different story, and this was not the time to try and figure out if the little droid had some special feature that allowed him to grip stairs and roll his way up. He looked at the stairs, he looked at the droids, then the holes in the wall. Kriff.

Leia was still on the stairs, her mind whirring to try and figure out how they were going to do this. Then she looked at Luke, and he grinned a little sheepishly at her. Her eyes narrowed down at him.

“Luke…”

“Go to Han, tell him to catch us in approximately, uhm, a minute and a half?”

“Are you insane?! Luke!”

“Leia please! Just make sure he catches us.”

“Oh he’s catching you, you and your idiot ass with this idiot plan, because who uses falling out the side of a ship as an escape plan?”

“Leia!”

“I should’ve figured this would come from the guy who threw himself off Cloud City!”

“Leiaaa, please.”

“Ugh, fine.”

She bound upwards as the ship creaked ominously, reminding Luke that he really needed to go. He looked at you, the way you pursed your lips, but there was a familiar determination to your gaze when you looked at the droids then the blown out side of the ship. Luke had sent you a video of the droids when he first got them, detailing what they were and what attributes they had. You had replied later, stating you couldn’t wait to meet them, even though you never did get the chance.

Luke did not ever think your first meeting with the droids would be with you enslaved on the day of his execution that Jabba personally oversaw. In fact, this was probably one of the worst scenarios that could possibly happen, and yet it was happening anyway. Using the force and blind instinct, he made his way to the side of the ship, praying that Han was ready.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much choice in where they got dumped as the ship turned completely on its side, forcefully ejecting you, Luke, C3-PO and R2-D2. You both shrieked as you two went airborne, R2-D2 squealing in turn. The Sarlacc Pit loomed closer, but before you all could get swallowed up Han and the ship swept under you all, catching you before certain doom. Not that it didn’t hurt though, you and Luke both groaned loudly as your bodies hit the ship.

But before any of you could really think of much, there was an ominous cracking sound from above, and then a groan. Large and taking up all the space of your attention, everyone looked up at what remained of Jabba’s party ship, dipping down, bending at the center. Luke stared at it, feeling the pulses of danger in the force get exponentially louder as he watched the ship start to break in half, with him directly under it.

“Haaannn…”

“I’m on it, I’m on it, the kriffing engine isn’t working- Luke! Luke get over here you’re good with the uh-the mechanics shit.”

“Ugh.”

You sat up at the same time as Luke, who hopped up and hurried over to look at whatever Han was looking at, “Oh Han, this is, oh kriff we are not making it to Anchorhead with this. Did someone shoot the damn engine?”

“Uh, yes, actually.”

There was another crack, making you stand and look between it and the Sarlacc Pit below. You’d much rather be crushed to death instantly. The ship jolted, but it wasn’t far enough, perhaps enough to where if you leaped out you’d be able to claw your way to safety through the sand. Another creak had things starting to fall around you and into the sand below.

“Luke, that ship has maybe, max, thirty seconds.”

“‘M tryin’, give me, uhhh, ten seconds.”

The ships’ front was dipping down dangerously low and you knew, you knew that when that thing went the ship you were on now was toast. So either, in the next thirty seconds, you guys moved of your own accord, or the ship above would move you to your graves.

“We’re gonna have to jump.”

Lukes’ head craned upward at the towering ship above you all, ready to crush him and the group. He looked at the droids, the ship, and the engine that in its final moments of heroism, had moved two feet forward.

“Oh force, we're gonna have to jump.”

Leia balked, “Jump? Luke, are you serious? Do you see what I-we are wearing? Also, if we jump this thing is going down too.”

You shook your head, “It’s either jump or crush. Take your pick, if the carbon guy and wookie are respectable they’ll keep your dignity.”

Leia gaped at you, “What about the ship?”

You raised a brow at her, “If you think we have time to argue about this ship, much less save it, then be my guest but personally I’m not doing that.”

At that moment the loudest crack sounded, the ship above jerked, and you knew there was no time.

“Who wants to throw droids?”

They shot you incredulous looks, except for Luke, all stared at you like you had suggested blasphemy. Then the droids began to levitate, and you just knew that had to do with Luke. He had changed, you knew it as soon as you saw him, but he was still Luke, your Luke. The droids went over, and then Han, Leia, Chewie, Lando, and just as the ship above broke completely, you and Luke leaped. The sand shifted underneath the two of you immediately, forcing you two to claw and haul your bodies up until you two were no longer in danger of the pit, or the ship, which had fallen on it.

For a moment you all simply laid there in the burning hot sand on the burning hot heat in the burning hot desert on the burning hot planet with the burning hot twin suns bearing down on you all. You had escaped Jabba, you had actually escaped freaking Jabba the Hutt. Luke was back. Luke. You shot up, a small shriek leaving your lips while Luke shot up at the noise. You shoved him, pushing him back down to the sand as he yelped.

You heard him yelp, an unrestrained giggle leaving him as the others stood and stared, confused as you took a fistful of sand to throw at him.

“You-You-Luke Skywalker, I wake up the morning after you tell me you’ve got two new droids to learn your house burned down, that your family has been burned alive, that you’ve run off with OLD BEN of all people?! Then like two weeks later, still no message of if you were alive or not, then you blow up the kriffing DEATH STAR?! Then, as if it couldn’t get worse, you don’t even send me a message? A measly little ‘Hey I know we were supposed to get married in three months but my life just imploded, I just want to let you know I’m still in love with you’, that would’ve been nice. But no! No! Instead I have to spend the next two years checking the bounty hunter wanted list to make sure your dumb ass wasn’t caught or anything. Not like I could do anything if you were! Because guess where I’ve been? Tatooine! Tatooine! And you’ve been gods knows where, but I wouldn’t know, because YOU NEVER TOLD ME! UGH!”

You threw another fistful of sand at him as he reached for you. Four years of nothing. No word, no knowledge. Any of what you had ended the moment you’d been sold to Jabba, so the only thing you had left was word of mouth, gossip. You knew he had a run in with Vader, that he lost his hand, you knew what he was doing, where he was working. You knew he hadn’t come back for you, so you waited, and waited, and waited. Four years of waiting, and now here he was.

“Well, can I start with saying I’m still in love with you? And that I’m so, so, sorry. I didn’t want to leave you behind, I tried, force, I tried to come get you. I wanted to come back so badly, to hop on my little fighter and drop everything, come back to this forsaken dust ball and take you, marry you. I had my vows written, I’d practically carved them in my skin by the time everything happened. I didn’t-I didn’t know your father was on the death star, if I had known I would have gotten him out, I would’ve saved him. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-

You cut him off, you had to. He had said everything you needed him to say, which meant you could kiss him again. Four years of not kissing him, four years of being torn across the galaxy from each other. You had him back after four years. Of course you were going to kiss him. Plus, he had just freed you from slavery.

His hands came up to rest on your hip and cheek, he didn’t resist, didn’t hesitate. You kissed him and he kissed back like it was second nature. Perhaps it was, and even though four years had passed the memory, the want of each other still remained, thrumming in your bones with tandem. You had loved him since you were a child, and he had been too. A wedding that never came to be, grief, terror, and two totally different paths.

You pulled away first, breathing hard because it had been so long since you had kissed Luke. Since he had truly stolen your breath away again. He looked at you, wide blue eyes like the water so heavily coveted on such a planet. His nose wasn’t quite the same, and there were scars running down the side of his face too. But he was Luke, your greatest love, the one you waited four years for even if two of those years were spent in slavery. He had come back for you.

“You didn’t know, none of us knew until after it had been done. It wasn’t your fault.”

He was silent for a minute, his eyes roving over your face, the way it had changed over the years, the new scars, the curve of your jaw, all of it.

“Let’s get married when this is over, I’ll get you a plant again, I still remember my vows.”

You laughed because if you didn’t you’d cry, after all of it, everything that had happened, Luke still wanted to marry you.

“Of course we can get married when this is over.”

He smiled, wide and endearing, the one you dreamed about to help keep you sane. Then something flashed across his face, fleeting but there, you wouldn’t miss it. You frowned a little bit, reaching up to cup his cheek.

“I know nothings’ really fine right now, but will you tell me what bothers you later?”

“I will. I promise, but also, I got something for our run, for you.”

He pulled the white package from his chest, making your eyes light up. You knew what this package was, what it contained. You knew the pain that would come with it, but you didn’t care either.

“We need to remove it here then, I’m still in range of the detonator switch, and if that rubble shifts on it…”

Luke knew what you were saying, and considering how the ship, now laying in a pile of nothing on the Sarlacc Pit, that possibility wasn’t exactly unlikely. It needed to come out, and it needed to come out now. The group had turned away the moment they heard you yelling at Luke, respectively turning their backs and making small conversation to tune out the murmurs between the two of you. Leia and Han had their moment earlier, now it was time for you and Luke. It was only when they heard you two moving again did they turn around.

There you two stood, side by side, Luke now missing a layer to his shirt so you could wear it, covering yourself at least a little bit. Leia shot Han a pointed look, but he merely gave her a look back. She rolled her eyes, sighing before looking at Luke, “So, this is the medic?”

Luke grinned at her, “Actually, she’s my fiance, she has been since we were eighteen. She was supposed to be my wife about three years ago, but that clearly didn’t happen.”

You waved a little, introducing yourself to the two you didn’t get a chance to interact with earlier. Han, on his part, looked rather smug at the fiance reveal. Everyone else was simply staring, likely because they didn’t even know of your existence. You knew with all of Luke’s bounties that anything tied to him would get found and extorted as well. It was part of the reason Jabba took you specifically. They knew what you meant to Luke, knew when he eventually found out it’d hurt him terribly. There was no way it wouldn’t, but it went beyond his sweetheart turned into a slave. It was the history there too. Luke was the first freeborn from twelve generations, a direct mirror to your lineage of twelve free generations.

Lando, ever the charmer, sprung into action. He crossed the sand quickly, sweeping your hand into his and pressing a kiss there, “It is good to properly meet you Lady Skywalker.”

Luke laughed as you grinned at him. Lando had, during his short time at Jabba’s Palace, been one of the nicer guards who slipped extra slices of bread or offered salves to put on your feet after hours of performing. He had been a little bit of heaven in such a horrid place. You were grateful to him, even his endless charm. Lady Skywalker. You supposed that was you, or who you were meant to be. Three years ago you would’ve been recognized as Lady Skywalker in the eyes of those most important to you and Luke.

“Lady Skywalker.”

You tested the name on your tongue, finding the weight of it comforting. Luke, it seemed, very much liked the sound of that. Cheeks flushing as you spoke it aloud. That made Han and Chewie laugh, even though it furthered his embarrassment. Lady Skywalker, that was who you were.

“Lando Clarissian.”

The rest had approached finally, letting you study them now that the threat of a dreadfully long and painful death no longer loomed over your heads. Handsome and tall, minus Leia, these were the people who Luke trusted to have his back for the past four years. People who you had no idea about, who they were, what they did. They were part of Luke’s new life, and you were his sole tether to the past.

Han, Chewie, Leia, Lando, Luke, and you. All of you were now in the desert, stuck and clad in possibly the worst wardrobe ever for a walk through Tatooine. You also still had an active bomb implanted in your skin somewhere. Something you were reminded of when the rubble shifted again behind you. You glanced at Luke and looked at the suns hanging in the sky, sunset wouldn’t be too far off, and you needed this thing out.

He looked at you, “We need to hurry.”

You nodded, steeling yourself. You had gone through worse, so much worse. Getting the detonator out would be a blessing, a real one. No more threats of getting blown up and dying painfully slow.

“Do you know where it is?”

“Third rib on the left.”

Leia furrowed her brow, “What is it?”

You looked at her, letting your fingers come to press where it was, “My detonator. You’re lucky you weren’t there long enough to receive one, but here on Tatooine they implant little bombs into us slaves so that way, no matter what, we’re always at the mercy of the masters. We get out of a certain range? They blow up. We displease them too badly? They blow us up. They want some entertainment? They line us up and then blow us up one by one. So, naturally, the only thing we can do is remove them.”

“You’re going to perform surgery here? Right now then?”

Luke looked at you, shrugging a bit, “We’ve removed detonators in worse places.”

That had them exchanging a few looks. Luke hadn’t told them about being a runner, which you expected out of him, and now was the time to tell. You nudged him, “Talk while you cut.”

“Alright. Well uh, gather around I guess.”

You laid down, settling yourself in the sand as Luke settled to your side, lifting the shirt enough to show the area. He pressed, feeling the faint lump where you directed him to. That detonator, when it was first inserted, felt like your life had well and truly ended. Now Luke was removing it in the desert he loved so much. Freeing his love from the last bits of her slavery.

“We were runners.”

He laid out the items, holding the blade up to inspection as the four others sat around them. It was hot, yes, but it was what they had, and you needed the detonator out before you went anywhere. He sighed, looking at you as you laid on the ground, body turned towards him. You were shaking, just a little tremor, but enough for him to notice. He let his free hand, the fake one, settle on your arm, running his thumb across your skin.

“I’m about to start.”

“Alright.”

He let his hand drift down, knife pressing above your skin. Luke hesitated, he hated himself for it. But he hesitated. He didn’t want to cut you open, see your opened flesh and that little thing that could cause so much damage. You were going to be in pain, lots of it, and there was nothing you could do.

“Luke. You’re a runner, and this is my flight. Now get the damn explosive, out of my ribs.”

“Try not to flinch.”

“Try not to cry, we can’t waste water right now.”

He took a deep breath, nodding as he pressed in. Your skin opened easy, parting like tough butter under the knife as he cut over the detonator. You didn’t flinch, forcing yourself not to tense up, but he did hear your muffled shriek as he opened you up.

“Runners are people who free slaves illegally. We have routes, and everytime we take a job to free the slaves, we call it a flight. It’s been going on for thousands of years, the knowledge passed down from each generation. The masters don’t know about it, well, they do. But they don’t know our language, our cultures, our ways. They might know an inkling of the flight paths, but they don’t know about the passageways we’ve built into their buildings, the tunnels right under their feet.”

There, he could see the bone, see that stupid red light and hear your shuddery breathing. You were both lucky it wasn’t someplace like the base of your skull or lodged into your spine.

“I see it. You’re almost there.”

You groaned, remaining still but too focused on the pain to properly answer him.

“We learned how to cut detonators from people when we were younger. I learned from my Aunt Beru, she was always good at getting them out. She never ran any flights, neither did my Uncle Owen, but he wasn’t unwilling to hide a flight in our home if we really needed it. There were no teachers out there with us in the field, mostly because we had been taught all the skills we would need by the time we turned ten. We were more than ready when we turned fourteen, and yet we weren’t ready or prepared at all. It’s different, being in the thick of it.”

He didn’t have tweezers, but he did have the force, so he gave it a tug as you gasped sharply. He could feel your pain through the force, clouding your head and letting you fall to primal instinct. There was also another issue. Your skin was starting to close up in front of his very eyes, restitching itself, knitting together. He had forgotten, for a moment, what it was to be a champion like you.

“Shit, shit.”

They looked and clearly they had seen what your body was doing. Han peered up at Luke, “Is this a force thing?”

Luke shook his head, ignoring Han’s question momentarily as he turned to you, letting his free hand stroke your cheek, “My love, you are blessed by the three moons, they heal you, heal us. They are closing the incision too fast, I must open your flesh again.”

It had been too long since he had last spoken the language he found the most comfort in. The language he had written his vows in, the language his father would’ve grown up speaking. A language Vader purposely forgot. He let it come back to him like how he fell into kissing you again. The language was with him always, but it was not a language for those outside of the Amavikka culture. You had grown up with the culture, just like him. Learning Huttese, Amatakka, then Basic.

“How is she-?”

“Moons blessed, that’s how. My love, this is going to be quick, this is going to be painful. This isn’t going to be pretty, hold her leg down, she’s in too much pain to think rationally, someone else keep her shoulder down.”

Han moved to your shoulder as Leia to your legs, they both placed their hands on you, keeping you steady as Luke grit his teeth before pushing the knife down. He called on the force, helping him take hold of the detonator, and then yanking. You practically howled, the meat of your body clinging desperately to the intrusion, not slipping out like many of them were supposed to, but clinging, like your body was in the process of absorbing the damn thing. Knowing what your body was capable of, it could very well be true.

There was blood on him, your blood, it splattered as you shook, body curling in an attempt to shy away from the source of the pain. He wanted so desperately to soothe you, to take this pain from you and rid you of it. But he was the one performing surgery on you. For years he had watched you on the opposite end of the knife, murmuring soothing words that seemed to relax and numb them as you parted their flesh. You had made it not so bad, but when it came to yourself it seemed the pain was worse than anybody else's.

He tugged harder, ignoring the little splatter of blood that came from it as the detonator started to give way. It was coming closer, closer, you were so close to being free. A little more, a harsher tug, he saw the meat pull off more, the blood running down, smearing across his hand as he desperately cut you off the detonator. You were trying very, very hard not to cry. Screwing your eyes shut tight as you bore your way through the surgery. He wondered why your patrons didn’t numb you, why they let you suffer through something as terrible as this.

“Almost, almost.”

“Lukkesh..”

The last bit fell away and he could finally breathe. The damned thing was out, you were free, your time as a slave finally physically complete. Luke wondered if Vader still had his detonator or if he had it removed. He really, really hoped the man had it removed. Your breathing was shuddery, your head still swimming as you lay there in the sand, body too warm, the wound gaping open.

“You did well, so well. It’s over now, I promise, you’re free.”

You nodded, letting your eyes flutter shut for a moment until he started speaking again, “The first flight has been flown. Body returned to soul, the chains are severed, the slave set Free. I return you to yourself, let you bear no weight of shackles ever again, let the generations that come from you never fear the depur. Your choices shall be your own from this moment forward, your actions ones you take willingly. You are no longer bound, and if you so chose, may ring the Bells of Kashyyyk.”

That had you grinning a little, somehow registering his words as your body began to repair itself. Free. You were freed. Luke had come, he had freed you, saved you, returned you to yourself.

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you.”

You sat up slowly, head starting to clear as the wound began to grow up, filling the hole completely as you did. In Luke’s hand was the detonator, a small thing packed with a whole lot of damage. He held it out to you, letting you inspect the tiny thing that had ruled over your life for so long.

“Thank the moon Ghomrassen for the divinity of healing. My torn flesh and broken bones belong to him and him alone. I thank him for lending me the strength of withstanding the process it takes to heal, for not everyone is blessed to survive.”

“Thank Ghomrassen.”

The wound sealed shut, the skin pink and raw for only a few seconds until that faded into a white line which then faded into nothing as well. You reached up to his face, tracing your finger over his nose, “Fix this nose so he can be whole.”

Luke winced as the bone realigned itself, straightening and reforming until it was the nose he had before it broke. You didn’t heal the scars though, you knew he’d like to keep them. It was part of being a runner, keeping the scars. But the nose, well, that was a little bit of an exception.

“Thank you.”

You sighed and then stretched a little bit, leveling a look at the man in front of you, “Thanks for getting that out, it was rather annoying living with a bomb in my ribs all the time.”

He chuckled, standing up and offering his hand, “We should start making our way out soon. I don’t want any stragglers coming by to find the wreckage of this. At least with us in proximity to it. The bounty hunters won’t take kindly to this, nor will the Hutts.”

You took his hand easily, standing up as Han did too, “I agree, we need to head to Anchorhead, from there we’ll be able to steal a ship or scam the kriff out of some guy and get out of here.”

“You always put things out so eloquently.”

“Ooh, has all the time off Tatooine made you posh now? You start talking like a Corrie lately?”

“Oh shut up, I do not.”

“I dunno, you’re using words bigger than Tatooine’s, admittedly limited, vocabulary, but it’s eloquent so don’t worry too hard about it.”

The rest stood up as well, letting you two fall back into silence again as the true extent of the journey lay out before you all. A walk through the desert from here. It wasn’t going to be a short journey, or an easy one, because it’d probably be easier if they were on probably any other planet besides Tatooine, but they weren’t. Four of the people in your group weren’t used to the desert or what it would entail, they didn’t understand how atrocious the next handful of days were going to be.

Luke cleared his throat, capturing their attention, “Okay, so we’re stranded in the Northern Dune Sea, no supplies except a bloody knife, a needle, and some thread. We’ve got no water, no clothes good for traveling through this place, exactly two weapons not counting the knife, and no contact with the outside world because all our comms were either destroyed or on that ship. Beyond the obvious, there’s a few other things.”

“Most importantly. You four are not desert people. Meaning that this trip back is probably going to be a unique form of torture to you four that will make a meeting with Vader look like vacation. So, here’s a few tips and tricks. Don’t wet your lips, it’ll make them drier and more painful. Don’t cry, it’s a waste of water and it’ll only serve as a headache inducer. You’re going to sweat, and there’s going to be a lot of it. I’m not sure if my body will handle it the way it used to, but desert people generally don’t sweat, we’ve evolved not to, in a way. And then, sand walking.”

You took over then, grin matching his, “Alright. Sand walking is important because there are a lot of predators over here, and a good portion of them live in the sand. An excellent way to survive and avoid them is to walk in rhythm with the desert. Luke and I will show you how, but it’s important not to repeat your moves. You’ll be slow at first, but you’ll pick up on it, and trust me when I say you’ll need to pick it up quickly because if you don’t then we will be eaten alive and I did not just get freed from slavery to be eaten by a worm or lizard.”

Lando blinked, glancing between Leia, Han, and Chewie before looking at you, blinking rapidly as he leaned forward, “Worms and lizards will kill us?”

Luke snorted, “Technically, yes. We’ve got Kryat dragons, lesser and greater, but they have a natural enemy called the Dune Sea Worms, which are basically, oh, say, twenty clicks long? No eyes, no ears, no nose, just a mouth big enough to swallow buildings, and consequently, anybody that is in that building. I wouldn’t say we have a great relationship with them, but if there’s a champion of Kydush then their traditional steed of choice is a worm.”

You nodded, “He’s not lying. The champion of Kydush will harness the worm and ride it to freedom, he’ll swallow the depurs in his path and make them regret ever enslaving people from the get go.”

“Kydush?”

Luke grinned wider, “Yes, Kydush. God of the warriors, he’s a great strategist, military man. He looks over the soldiers and offers aid to runners during confrontation. His champion is always strong enough to bear the reins of a worm.”

Leia was looking at where a detonator had just been cut out of you. The skin already perfectly healed, as if she hadn’t seen your ribs and the way your body clung to that detonator. Moons blessed, Luke had called you.

“Are you two champions of any deities?”

“Totally separate. These are deities, our pantheon to worship and follow wherever they may guide us. The force is everything, the energy in metal, a blade of grass, me, you, the sky. That is the force.”

You and Luke fell silent before he nodded, “Yes. I’m champion of the desert and the storms, she’s champion of the moons. Which means she has three domains. The soul, the healing, the oasis. It’s why she heals so fast, why she can heal anything. It’s literally etched into her very soul. Just like the desert is meshed with mine.”

“This isn’t..the force, or anything like that?”

Silence again.

“So sand walking?”

[nonbinaryeggrolls]

When Someone Tries to Touch Your Hair

JJK men x gn black!reader

I had this idea for a little while and I absolutely love it. As someone who has to literally fight off ppl with a stick to keep them from basically "petting" me, I thought it would be so cute to write about the JJK men sticking up for you

Warnings: Fluff!, no nsfw but MINORS ARE STILL NOT ALLOWED GO AWAY, angst in Gojo's, specified braids/locs/twists in Toji's, unwanted physical touch, I think that's it!

Starring: Nanami Kento, Toji Fushiguro, Gojo Satoru

MINORS DNI. AGELESS AND MINOR BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED

Nanami Kento

Of course he remains calm, he's always calm. but trust, inside he is BOILING with anger

Kento adores your hair, it sounds weird but he loves watching you on wash day care and tend to your hair with such detail and precision. Apart of it is so he can learn to do it himself one day so you won't have to spend so much time doing it yourself

He's always buying the best products for you no matter how expensive he knows black hair care products can be.

Design Essentials, Creme of Nature, Mielle, jojoba oil, tea tree oil, hair masks, curling cream-- you name it (or even glance at it in the store) he's already bought it for you

So seeing someone disrespect you by even attempting to touch you makes him absolutely livid

Kento: "I don't know I didn't think it was all that great, the plot didn't really make a lot of sense." Kento said as you two walked out the doors of the movie theater.

Y/N: "What?! I thought it was good, you're always hating on superhero movies you're like an old person. Oh! the boba place closes at 9:30 did you still wanna--

"Oh my gosh I just have to ask who does your hair? It's so pretty!" A young woman around your age popped up from behind you guys, her intensity kind of startling you a little bit

Y/N: "Oh, thank you that's so sweet! I actually do it myself" you smiled and she looked at you in astonishment

"Really? Wow it looks like it was done by a professional, I bet it takes you so long!"

Kento's eyebrow raise and body stiffen in an almost defensive way, he was already anticipating what was coming next

Y/N: "Yeah, sometimes it can. It kind of just depends on how tired I am that d--

Your body leaned back as she reached out to grab the top of your head. Kento wrapped his arm around you and pulled you back by your shoulders, shooting daggers at the woman as if she had just committed an unforgivable act

Kento: "Please step back. You don't need to touch them to compliment them." he reprimanded and held a firmer grip on your shoulder. He wasn't going to yell at a woman he didn't know but he sure as hell was going to get his point across

"O-oh Im sorry I didn't mean anything by it. I just think it looks really ni--

Kento: "Then you can think it's nice from a distance, they're not a dog. Have a good night." Kento intwined your hand in his and led you away to the car. You looked up at him and a small grin grew across your face

Kento: "Don't look at me like that."

Y/N: "You're like a guard dog. Like a snappy little golden retriever." you giggled before planting a kiss on his jaw which he returned with one on the top of your head

Kento: "Cmon lets go get boba."

Toji Fushiguro

Rage, Rage, and more RAGE

The anger that fills this mans body when someone tries to touch you is immeasurable, ESPECIALLY if its a man

Sometimes you have to calm Toji down when someone tries but its no use, he's already out of his seat and practically ready to kill

Toji is definitely someone who values his personal space, so he completely understood your frustration when you talked about how crazy it is that some people think its okay to try and touch you without permission

He's only seen it happen a few times, thankfully most people had common sense. But there was always that one asshole that crosses the line

You and Toji were out on a late night supply run getting items for Megumis science fair project. You roamed through the aisles of the arts and craft store filling your basket with acrylic paint, styrofoam blocks, construction paper and glue sticks

Toji: "What kind of fifth grader does a science project on soil erosion? Can't we just do something normal like a volcano or something?"

Y/N: "Are you gonna keep complaining all night or are you gonna actually help find everything on the list?" You turned around mad dogging him, both of you were tired and a little bit cranky and snappy at one another. Most of it was playful but some of it intended

Toji: "You look like a pig when you scrunch your knows like that." He chuckled attempting to pull you in for a kiss

Y/N: "You bitch-- Go get someone to open the spraypaints for us!" You said shoving your hand in his face and pushing his head back. Toji sauntered away to find the nearest employee to assist you guys

You stood alone in the aisle for a few minutes scrolling through instagram to pass the time until Toji came back, until a tap on your shoulder caught your attention. A random man, had approached you attempting to spark a conversation. Your eyes jotted back and forth around the area wondering where tf could Toji be and why was he taking so long to get back

"You got a really pretty smile you know that? Pretty hair too, you do this all by yourself?" He asked and took one of your (protective style)'s in his hands

Toji: "Now you..." Toji came up behind the man and planted a firm grip on his shoulder, "...are way too ugly and way too short to think they'd ever want someone like you to touch them. Don't you think?"

The man trembled in place at the vast size difference between the two

"I--"

He couldn't get a whole sentence in before Toji pulled him back by his hair then slammed him head first into the shelves next to him, making the man scream in pain. The star captured the attention of multiple employees and needless to say it wasn't long until you were being led out of the building by security.

Toji: "Did I do too much again?" He asked from the passenger seat, knowing full well he didn't regret his actions

Y/N: "We just got banned from the store, what do you think Toji?"

Toji: "Are you mad at me?"

Y/N: "Yes I'm mad!"

Toji: "Mm. The blush on your face doesn't look like someone who'd be mad at me." He grinned and you tried to hide the smile that started to form

Y/N: "Shut the fuck up."

Gojo Satoru

Gojo unfortunately was very ignorant to the topic at first

Maybe it was a cultural difference but when you told him people would ask to touch your hair he thought it wasn’t that big of a deal

“If someone admired your hair so much that they want to get close to it shouldn’t that be a compliment to you? It’s like they’re complimenting an artist for their artwork right? I don’t really see the harm in that, I touch Getos hair all the time and he's fine with it.” He said once before

Nonetheless it led to a very heated argument

He didn’t understand all the fuss around it, that was until he saw it actually happen

Seeing how physically uncomfortable you get when someone you don’t know tries to “pet” you put it all in perspective for him

Y/N: “Gojo, hurry we’re gonna miss the train!” You shouted as you ran through the subway station

Gojo: “I’m coming slow down! I don’t wanna drop anything.” He followed closely behind carrying the other bags of groceries you guys got from the farmers market

You both managed to slip through the train doors in time before it departed. You two managed to find two seats by the window, it was a preferred spot that way you both could gaze upon the countryside greenery as you passed on your way back to the city. Gojo leaned against the window and you leaned against his shoulder, the both of you trying to get some rest after a full day of walking.

The train stopped at its next spot to let on a few more passengers and a tap on your shoulder shook you out of your rest.

“Can i touch your hair?” a young woman behind you asked, but she had already reached out her hand before you could even answer. You pulled back before her hand could touch you

“Oh, um no please don’t do that…” you awkwardly said and turned back around. You looked over at Gojo who you know heard everything but was undermining the situation yet again

Gojo: “Calm down she didn’t mean anything by it, go back to sleep.” He dismissed you, not even bothering to open his eyes as he still laid against the window. You let out a low scoff and laid back against your seat instead of Gojos shoulder like you were before

The next few minutes we’re quiet as you dozed back off until you heard a loud camera click and could hear the girl frantically trying to turn the volume down

Y/N: “Did you just take a picture of me?”

“Oh it wasn't a bad one I was just sending your hairstyle to my friend I think it’s cute.”

Y/N: “I don’t care. Don’t take a fucking picture of me if—

“I didn’t even touch you so calm the fuck down…this is why no body likes to compliment you people anyways. You take everything too goddamn seriously.” she muttered the last bit under her breath but still loud enough to pick up. This sentence being the one that finally caught Gojos attention

Gojo: “What was that?” He stood up towering over the young woman

“I-I didn’t say anyth— I’m s-sor—

Gojo: “Shut up. Delete it. Now.” His eyes pierced through her and she scrambled to reopen her camera and delete the photos. She flipped the phone towards his face to show that they were no longer in her folder

Gojo: “Now go to a different seat. And if you touch them against i’ll smash that stupid fucking phone into the fucking concrete.” The young woman ran from her seat to the other side of the train as quickly as possible and Gojo sat back down. He attempted to put his arm around you but you wanted no part in it, for the next 30 minutes you ignored every attempt he made to get a word out of you. Even on the walk home you were cold

Gojo: “Y/N if you don’t tell me what’s wrong I can’t fix it!” he said as you entered your apartment

Y/N: “IVE TOLD YOU WHATS WRONG BEFORE. YOU DONT LISTEN!” you yelled, something he rarely heard you do, “I told you countless times before that people trying to touch me is a reoccurring problem for me and what did you do? You belittled me and made it seem like no big deal. Why did it take someone being blatantly racist towards me for you to actually start caring? Why did I have to prove the problem to you?” He looked back at you with no words just a stunned expression as he struggled to find the right thing to say

Gojo: “I…I don’t know. I’m sorry.” you rolled your eyes at his lackluster reply and turned away to the bedroom

Y/N: “Whatever. I’m going to bed.”

Gojo: “Y/N, wait I—

you slammed the door in his face before he could finish his sentence

story belongs to @nonbinaryeggrolls

do not steal

[mrstellmeafuckingsecret]

hey, it's 🦆 anon -

i agree with most of what you said, actually. i probably could have phrased that ask a lot better but oh well. looking back on what i typed you're right, that opening sentence was definitely something.

the point i was actually trying to make was that i really don't care about the atrocities that the characters committed because it's fiction.

personally i also hate when people try to justify the death eaters; that's a really weird line of thinking and it only serves to make the character less interesting.

i like the death eaters because they exist in a narrative where they are portrayed as cartoonishly evil and beyond redemption. i enjoy exploring these characters and humanizing them rather than redeeming them.

its the same reason why i hate it when lily is portrayed as the mom friend paragon of goodness or james is the quintessential sunshiney gryffindor. that's why i like your takes so much - characters on the good side should still have flaws and depth. likewise, i think that characters on the bad side should still have good qualities and depth.

that doesn't excuse anything that they did, it just makes them more interesting. and yeah, im not a fan of people victimizing them either. barty crouch jr was such a fucked up person that he gave his dad son issues. at worst, bart sr was an absent father. regulus was not forced to join the death eaters, he did so willingly. bellatrix..? if anyone is victimizing HER i genuinely cannot fathom how. read any page with her in it.

the point is, im sorry if my original ask came across wrong. i just like exploring all kinds of characters in fiction regardless of their morality.

(and i hope i made it clear that i am strongly anti everything the death eaters stand for in real life)

hiii duck anon okay yeah no i'm all here for 3d-ifying chars and wondering why they would do what they did but justifying it is weird and making excuses for it is also weird.

"the point i was actually trying to make was that i really don't care about the atrocities that the characters committed because it's fiction." - valid point !! /gen but the way these people justify them is very eerily similar to how real life people justify real life people, like the "promising young man" excuse for rapists. "it wasn't his fault he got drunk! she was right there dressed like a slut, too, so it's not totally his fault" is very similar to "it wasn't his fault he joined the death eaters! the muggles forced the wizards into hiding, too, so it's not like it was totally unjustified". while it's easier to talk about things when they're fictional, i think more people should be aware of the real world parallels.

"i like the death eaters because they exist in a narrative where they are portrayed as cartoonishly evil and beyond redemption." - this is where i disagree. there's barely anything these people do that's "cartoonishly evil", every aspect i can think of off the top of my head has some sort of real life equivalent.

"its the same reason why i hate it when lily is portrayed as the mom friend paragon of goodness or james is the quintessential sunshiney gryffindor." - exactly !! it's putting them in the same kind of boxes and tropes which is not only harmful but also boring

"that's why i like your takes so much - characters on the good side should still have flaws and depth." - ily

"likewise, i think that characters on the bad side should still have good qualities and depth." - valid !! i have a lot of thoughts on why snape joined the death eaters and why his views on muggles were the way they were but i'm also so scared of snape fans because they come in gangs and then send mean, weird anons constantly. i also have thoughts on regulus & barty but someone would reblog it with "they were innocent 🥺" and i'd get too pissed off... but yes i think bad, evil people also deserve that kind of 3d-ification because, again, it's harmful when that doesn't happen.

"that doesn't excuse anything that they did, it just makes them more interesting. and yeah, im not a fan of people victimizing them either. barty crouch jr was such a fucked up person that he gave his dad son issues. at worst, bart sr was an absent father. regulus was not forced to join the death eaters, he did so willingly. bellatrix..? if anyone is victimizing HER i genuinely cannot fathom how. read any page with her in it." - all fire points, but the bellatrix one !! i have seen quite a few people victimize her which is insane !! like saying the death eaters is where she found her "true" self and that she deserved someone like voldemort or some shit it's sooo... ew. maybe i'm just not into bella that much but it's weird.

"the point is, im sorry if my original ask came across wrong." - dw abt it !! ily duck anon x

[neopuppy]

ik u probably don't care about riize but i wonder what are your thoughts on kfans bullying him out of the group over a relationship he had during his trainee days

well, you are correct, I do not care BUT

I want to say sorry to all Riize fans, especially if this was your first SM group. I’m sorry, I know.

I called this awhile back when someone else asked, I knew he wouldn’t come back.

I’ll give you an example of how I learned once and for all that SM does not give one singular fuck about Western fans.

years back when I got into kpop I reallyyyyyyy was deep into exo, like I was EXO-L!! *thumps chest* LOYAL, even fighting armys ncnenxndn(EVEN THO IM A FUCKING ARMY), and I’d watch their concerts on youtube allllllllll of the damn time. I’d sigh and cry to my friends like wow love these guys so much, never gonna see them live😂

one day my friend tells me about this thing called ‘global package’ which she explained is SM’s travel package for INTERNATIONAL NON-KOREAN FANS to attend concerts for their artists.

ofc once I saw the prices I was like yeah right😂🤣 I am by no means rich, not even middle class, but after much convincing, working a lot of extra hours, budgeting, and poor financial decisions, my friend and I committed to doing a twin package together to see exo.

all of this to say that shit was still over $900 for each of us to share a hotel room/be seated together for the concert/etc like is it worth it?!? yeah absolutely BUT once I had to deal with SM’s staff people I really saw with my own eyes who they prioritize as fans.

for exo all of the packages were mostly purchase by Chinese/Japanese fans, a few European and Western sprinkled around. we have a tour guide the day of the concert to take us to SM Town/to eat/get us to the stadium etc, and she spoke PERFECT Korean/Chinese/Japanese and squished her fingers together at me and my friend after explaining the day’s schedule and important information to the other package holders and said “little English, sorry.” and proceeded to struggle to explain anything to us, and we basically had to fend for ourselves

Did we not all pay the same for this alleged GLOBAL fan experience??😅😅

$950 and some tax and I’m trying to read this schedule in Hangul without my guides help😂🤣

I have done Global Package like uhhh 7? times in total from 2017-19 and it was the same shit every time. the staff would even yell at me in Korean for being confused about things they couldn’t explain to me. $1000s of dollars just to watch all of the K fans be worshipped and treated like princesses along with the C/J fans while I sat there like😅😅😅😅 FUCKKKKKKKKKKK

it’s hard bc if I complain abt this a foreigner will ofc call me a selfish stupid American, but if I am paying the same and traveling 5 times as much as Asian fans, why am I not granted to same experience/respect as a fan?

Fuck SM entertainment, fuck kpop generally, but especially fuck SM and their stupid sinking cash cow racist ass company. just look at the SM building in LA, thats what they think of us non-Asian fans😂

idk guys theres no win here, after NCT I wont go near SM groups again. I could go on but this company is NOT catered toward Western fans, all they want is our fucking money😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 SUCH A JOKE

I hope they lose everything for all the pain they have caused across numerous fandoms. the end.

[basil-does-arttt]

hold on wait a second i had a thought

in the DLC prolouge cutscene for DMC 5, when Vergil is in that stone passageway area, he says "its nearly time" (in reference to him splitting himself in half).

We know what day it happens, april 30th. The date is shown in Nero's flashback scene. This is of course assuming Vergil did all that on the same day, which i think is what happened. (He could open a portal to his house to travel, and why would he wait any longer and risk dying first?)

Anyway. Thats not my point, my point is: did he choose to do it on this day on purpose? Is this date special?

Im overanalyzing here so this may be a stretch, but: Could that be the day Eva died? Think about it. Him splitting himself was a "rebirth" of sorts: discarding his humanity to become a full demon in search of ultimate power.

Vergil being stabbed by those demons the day Eva died could also be counted as a kind of rebirthing for him: In the span of a few hours, he lost everything. His family, his life. And maybe even, his full humanity, as he gained his DT form in that moment too (shown by him having the same triggered-style eyes Dante uses when threatening V toward the start, also (half)triggered.) No longer was he a mere human boy, but now half a devil - the things that killed his family - too.

Knowing Vergil, it could make sense. In DMC 3 he's quite proper and a bit sentimental, much more so than Dante and i can see him caring more for these kinds of niche details in his life a lot more than Dante too. I also think he may have still been in that mindset when coming out of the Nelo Angelo body (however that happened), in a way that he hasnt really grown or matured while he was Nelo Angelo due to all the mind-fuckery performed thanks to Mundus.

(Could also be clarification for the reason Vergil still looks so young, quote "because of how much time he's spent in the underworld compared to Dante". He didnt live there, certainly not by choice. But he was captured and tortured by Mundus for 10 years. My thoughts is that he's technically still in his teenage body, as becoming Nelo Angelo and being in the underworld for so long thanks to Mundus halted (or at least very significantly slowed) the aging process. Time could move slower in hell but thats a rant for another time, ive gone off track.)

As such, him choosing such a special (traumatic) date to essential commit suicide on doesnt seem like much of a reach to me. Vergil has always been methodic. He doesn't do things hap-hazardly and never has, even as Nelo Angelo when he invites Dante outside to set up a proper fight rather than just taking the opportunity and attacking in the bedroom.

Of course you can argue it was coincidence, and he just stumbled across Nero by chance and decided to do it right then and there. He had to have found Nero first of all, figured out his plan of attack (probably so he wouldnt draw unwanted attention and possibly be stopped), then actually put it into motion. He couldnt exactly control the date Nero happened to be in the right place at the right time and gave him an opening. Im not trying to convince or anything, just sharing ideas, But wouldn't it just be so in character for april 30th to be a special date for him??

Overall i at least think the reason he chose to do it at the house was intentional for reasons stated above. If it wasnt, then why didn't he just... idk, find an alleyway or something and split himself there?

Those are my thoughts. Id love to hear other people's theories and such on this too.

(EDIT: I REALIZED THE MOMENT HE SPLITS HIMSELF ALSO PROBABLY HAPPENS AT A SPECIFIC TIME AS WELL, NAMELY 6:00 PM.

It mustve taken him some time to get back to the house. Not hours, but not seconds. 15 minutes seems like a good amount of travel time for someone who can teleport using portals alongside a bit of walking. If he got there early he could've just waited too.

A specific date, april 30th, and at (likely) exactly 6:00pm. In VOV while it is black and white, i assume the attack happened late into the evening, since the sky is dark when he gets back to the house a bit later. Idk how he would've known that it was exactly 6:00 but... anyway, Mundus also seems like the type of guy to plan shit, especially an attack like he did to Eva and the twins, if that whole "eva died on april 30th" thing was true.)

[hanasnx]

I carnally crave a description of Logan/Reader’s (in the I Was Made For Lovin You universe) wedding. who was there? did they kiss? (i know the answer, but what happened instead?) was it entirely just a legal thing or did he put on a suit for her? did they make a day of it? also, what point in Logan’s life is this written during? before he was an x-man? is the reader essentially in Kayla’s place??

dude i have so many questions; i would love to pick your brain, if you’re up for it.

i loved this ask so so much!! ive been thinking about it since i read it when i woke up

the way i imagine it is yes, essentially reader is in "kayla's place" in the x-men origins era. even tho its a trash movie i love it sm and he looks so good in it. now you'll need to suspend some belief here for me because this is after logan's got the adamantium procedure, he's still got his memories, his house in the mountains, his construction job, and before he was an x-men. so. not very canon compliant im jumping thru a lot of hoops because its a self indulgent piece written thru the lens of fantasy to explore my own experiences and psychology

neither of them have any family or any friends to speak of. logan has a bad habit of picking up and caring for strays and youre a stray, so to speak. he takes on the responsibility of "caring for you" and youve got no one else. the marriage is official and legal, but there was no kiss, just signatures on the marriage contract. you live with logan in alberta, canada, but you got married in the states to avoid needing a witness and any extra hoops. basically a court house marriage

knowing logan it was a rather dry affair, there was nothing really celebratory about it. as soon as you two were officially married there was no hug or grins or anything, it was just another day. for logan, this is a commitment he takes very seriously, and marriage is just a way to show his intent, he doesnt need anything extra about it. no suits and ties, no dresses, just casual clothes and paperwork.

once you show a little disappointment for how things turned out, even though you told him before that it was all okay, i think hed sigh and turn the wheel of his truck (heading back across the border to canada) and go in to a store. tells you to wait there he'll be back, and you ignore your slight shivering. comes out with two dinky plastic cups and a bottle. turns the heat on for you and pops the bottle, pours you two glasses of champagne. "here you go, kid," he tells you, pushing the cup against your palm. he bumps his cup against yours, "mazel" he says and downs the contents. even though its small, its something. and its done in logan's way, and you love logan. your cheeks are a little warmer now from the drink and you feel better about it the day. he even holds your hand while he drives to keep it warm with his body heat, and to help you feel like he did this because he loves you

by all means pick my brain! i loved this ask

[team--charlotte]

im so sorry if this is rude, (or alr asked&answered), but may i ask why you are so team charlotte? dont get me wrong, i felt for her for most of the season, but i cant get over how she treated lewis and the girls after she became a mermaid. how can you support her after that? /gen

Not rude at all, anon! This was a really kind ask, I appreciate it 🥰

This is kind of a complicated answer, and this ended up being an essay, so for the sake of everyone’s dashes, I’ll put this under a cut.

I’d like to preface this with that these are just my opinions and how I view the show and how it comes across to me. I never hold it against anyone if they don’t like Charlotte for any reason. This is just my perception of the show and the characters.

Back in 2012, I did a rewatch of the show because I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid. I don’t remember how I felt about much of the show or even Charlotte in particular, I was more focused on how pretty the scenery was and the mermaidness of it all. But I hadn’t seen it in a while, I was about to graduate high school, and I was feeling nostalgic, so I decided to give it a another watch. I’d say it was around there that I started to notice some things that… didn’t quite sit right with me.

Now, I’m not ashamed to admit that a lot of my sympathy for Charlotte comes from the fact that I’ve been in her situation a lot: the one where you like someone and they don’t quite like you back the same way, but you’re too head over heels to care, and you’re willing to hurt yourself for the illusion. That’s where it started, but then I started looking at the season as a whole, with more of a storytelling eye.

I would like to preface this next part with a slight correction: I’m a Charlotte supporter, but I try not to make excuses for the more unforgivable things she does. She shouldn’t have bullied Cleo to the point she ran away, she shouldn’t have locked Emma and Cleo in the closet during the party, or stolen Lewis’s phone, to name a few things. Those are bad things she did, I’m not denying that or trying to handwave it away. However, I don’t consider her a villain or an abusive monster that most tend to. I approach the character of Charlotte Watsford by seeing the situation from her point of view, and realizing that what she does? It’s not dissimilar to what the other characters do, the only difference is that we give them the benefit of the doubt, or see things from their point of view, or realize that they’re teenagers, of course they’re not going to be making the best decisions.

And Charlotte Watsford does not get the same courtesy. No one seems to remember that this was a normal sixteen-year-old girl who didn’t have a clue about magic or mermaids, who fell a little too hard for a boy she didn’t pursue until she had the permission of his ex, who wanted to be the girls’ friend when she found out about the secret and was met with scorn and derision until she finally decided not to take it anymore. Did she make the wrong decisions? Yes. Did she do bad things? Yes. But her character goes deeper than that.

Anyone’s who’s followed me for a while knows that I will rant and rave about the Narrative of the show and that it seems to actively hate Charlotte while supporting the main characters. Why shouldn’t it? After all, Charlotte’s the designated antagonist of the season, of course we’re not going to like her. But what is it about her that incurs more rage than Dr. Denman, who just last season held four teenagers hostage for the sole reason of using one as leverage to make the other three let her experiment on them, or Sophie, who committed eco-terrorism and blew up a volcano after spending a season of scamming and lying to people? I really, really want to go with the answer that Charlotte is more rounded than any of the other “villains,” that Brittany Byrnes’ performance is just that memorable, that maybe it’s her connection to the other characters that makes her stick out more than anyone else. But while I think those are absolutely valid answers, I think there’s a little more to it. There’s something so malicious about the way the narrative treats her that’s hard to put a finger on, and it’s why I think she’s deserving of support and is more than the one-dimensional, man-stealing character that she gets stripped to, the kind of character that leads the actress to get hate mail to this day.

Charlotte does many bad things, I’m not denying it. She gets petty, she gets vindictive, she bullies the other girls from time to time. She lies and steals things. But one of the reasons I support her? It’s because so do the other characters, they just have the support of the narrative.

For example, in the first season, Zane stalks an old woman because he wants to know about some treasure that she says has and causes her to have a heart attack when he chases after her, and then, when Emma and Lewis show up and try to get her to help, he elects to stay behind and rob her houseboat while it sinks. He’s a bully to the girls whose prank on Cleo is the catalyst for the show. We explore his bad home life and his relationship with his abusive dad, and he gets to have a redemption arc and becomes a love interest for Rikki. Nate, his best friend, is constantly being gross and boundary-crossing to any girl on screen, physically attacks Lewis on more than one occasion, and is just a general creep, and no one barely says anything about it. Miriam is a semi-generic mean girl who barely does anything but get in the way occasionally. And these are just the side characters!

(I’m also tempted to explore how the male characters are sympathetic and get redemption arcs or rewards and the female characters are irredeemable, but that’s another topic for another time.)

Emma, Cleo, and Rikki aren’t much better than Charlotte when you really think about it. Cleo steals Charlotte’s diary and reads it, then confronts her in front of everyone. She barely apologizes and it’s more because she was wrong about what she was reading. There’s the infamous episode six where they all attack Annette and Charlotte, two women whose only crimes are, as far as they believe at the time, having romantic interests in people in their lives. They apologize to Annette, but only because they were wrong about her being on a date with Don. There’s the time that Emma and Rikki, in full mermaid form in public, play pranks on Lewis at the detriment of other people because, and let me check my notes here, Cleo was fired because of something she did and he was hired to fill that job. He is almost arrested because them doing all this caused a dolphin to escape and they barely apologize, in fact Rikki laughs off the idea of buying a replacement laptop (the reason he got the job).

Then there’s everything they did to Charlotte herself. Again, attacking her during their dinner because she dared to have a romantic interest in a boy she dumped and verbally said they were just friends when Charlotte asked if this was going to be a problem. They make snide comments to her all the time. I’m fairly certain Rikki tried hitting her with lightning during the camping episode, and while I’m on the subject of that episode, Lewis spits a drink all over her, and then laughs with the others about it! And they claim that the reason they do this is because they think Charlotte might be a mermaid now, but come on, if they really believed that, why would they risk an exposure like that? The answer is that they didn’t really think that, they just wanted an excuse to humiliate her.

Then! The second she is on an even keel with them, power-wise, that all stops, because now it’s a few episodes to the finale and we need a climactic ending, so now Charlotte becomes the most evil character you can imagine. It doesn’t matter that we’ve seen some twenty-odd episodes of three girls with superpowers use them against a normal girl whose sole weapon in her arsenal is being kinda mean to girls she does not care about unless her boyfriend is ignoring and ditching them for her. It’s okay when the main characters do it to the girl who is designated as the villain, but the villain can’t do it to them. Emma and Rikki can be in full mermaid form in public using their powers against someone for an imagined slight, but Charlotte can’t do the same thing to a person who just attacked their friend. Cleo can use her powers against people for no real reason except she’s mad at them, but Charlotte can’t make a mistake and use her powers to fend off an animal she’s afraid of.

There’s a subtle thing the show does that makes it easy to side with the main characters: no one holds them accountable, whereas with Charlotte, that’s all anyone does. Lewis half-heartedly says maybe they shouldn’t do things because it’s dangerous or wrong, but he’s just told to leave it alone or to shut up. Then when Charlotte becomes a mermaid, she tries her hardest to be nice and do everything to be their friend, but they just talk down to her and jump down her throat at every opportunity. Finally, in the last couple episodes, she just says enough and starts acting toward them like they’ve been acting to her. Which is bad. Because she’s… the bad guy.

And yet, I don’t hate Cleo, Emma, and Rikki for what they do, even as a Charlotte supporter. Cleo especially is going through a rough time that makes even the incredibly out of character things she does make sense. But why doesn’t Charlotte get the same curtesy? I don’t even mean in the fandom, but in the show itself. Why does everyone treat her like she’s out to get them, specifically? Charlotte doesn’t even care about them, or Mako, really, just in the sense of how it relates to Lewis and the grandmother she lost when she was a kid. It’s kinda funny, because even though Dr. Denman is never mentioned once after season one, you could write off their paranoia as part of being held hostage and almost used as a science experiment, which would be really interesting, if a little heavy for a kid’s show, if they explored that.

But it’s not, and, somehow, it’s Charlotte’s fault. It doesn’t matter if the show goes out its way to show how being ignored and ditched and lied to is obviously hurting her, because it’s not doing it out of being fair to her. It feels like a punishment, more than anything. Lewis can lie about spending time with his ex and straight up tell Charlotte to her face that he doesn’t have to tell her things if he doesn’t want to. The girls can attack her, and humiliate her, and laugh at her for having a silly fear. That’s fine, we can explain why they act like that. But we can also see things from Charlotte’s point of view too, even if the narrative doesn’t want us to.

I always say that if you don’t like Charlotte, that’s fine. I hope, and I am happy to see more often, people’s opinions of her change though, I’m not gonna lie, especially when I see her described as a needy, man-stealing abuser. That has never sat right with me, and I’m happy to go into that if anyone wants me to.

At the end of day, I find Charlotte a very tragic and fascinating character, one that I’ve dedicated a blog, multiple fanfics, and an essay I spent a week working on to exploring. I think there’s more to her than what I’m supposed to see her as, and more than one side to the whole situation, as I hope I’ve demonstrated above.

Thank you again for the kind ask, I really enjoyed responding 💚

[theredponcho]

New prologue for little brother au came out! Im hyped so I’m gonna talk about it!

It’s been a hot minute since I made a post related to little brother au. Ive never done a “heres cool things Ive noticed in this chapter” Ive done similar stuff but not a full on break down of a chapter kind of post. For me personally I saw a lot of cool details that also led me to asking a lot of questions soooo here I am. This is your warning to go read little brother au comic I’ll link it here so go read it and come back 👍 -> link creator of comic -> @sharkfiinn Bellow read more is spoilers.

Ok so where to start? The first cool thing I noticed when I was reading the newest chapter was this cool effect with the panels.

It looks like the rat kings tail and I just thought that was sick. Ive been wanting to make my own comic for a while and one of the things I struggle with is panel layouts so seeing cool panel stuff like this is just chefs kiss. 😘

Enouther thing that I thought was interesting was how the boys interact and treat yoshi. Went I was reading the post about the “Yoshi not really seeing them as his kids” my first thought was that they weren’t very close. But with the way leo reacted to yoshi going down and then later in the comic we get spot hugging yoshi like this makes me think that yes Yoshi may not have been as involved or as close to the turtles as Draxum was, but they still did care a lot about each other. It was a lot closer of a relationship then I initially thought at least.

It’s making me wonder what their dynamic was before he got sliced.

Ok this next one was really funny to me. When I was looking back at the chapter I got to this image and was like “wait where the hell did rat king get a chair in the flippin swears???”

“Does…does he like have it prepared on him for when he’s ready to talk down to and beat kids? Did he just manifest it into existence??? Dame I wonder what other things rat king is carrying under that rob? Maybe he can hook me up with a dinning room set or a mini fridge?”

…but then I took a closer look… and I just-

Their. Fucking. Rats!

I just I can’t. Rat chair? RAT CHAIR???? How are they even doing that?!? Ok I GUESS, I’m going to add animal abuse to his charges cause you can’t look at me and tell me this isn’t animal cruelty!

wait the guys are tenically animals to so I guess he was already committing animal abuse... Ok thats it! I’M OUT!!!!

This panel reminded me of that scene from stranger things went Will was frantically scribble on papers to make that guint map of the upside down, it was taped together and screwn across the intire floor and walls of Wills house. It just gave me that vibe idk.

The way Shark draws scared faces is really cool as well. It’s giving slight loony toons vibes to me for some reason as well as tales from the tmnt. It’s just really cool.

Again wtf rat king. How… how is your tail that long??? As somebody who has a fear of rats spisifically when it comes to their tails, I can speak for all of us when I say ewww. Raph’s right you are disgusting.

I thought it was a cool effect with all the eye in the fur. My guess is that it was just a cool look for show or it’s his rat possy helping him reach that menacing vibe check. Ether way its really cool and also made me relise that the purple is very vibrant compared to the more mute colors in the comic which helps it stand out a ton. Adding on to that stand out menacing tone. Really cool 👍

I also thought it was interesting how the creator draws leo’s markings. I’ve seen people give him extra yellow and red markerings before but I’ve never seen anyone draw Leo with a big yellow marking at the top like that. It looks cool. Donnie’s and Mikey’s markings are cool to and its interesting to see how their designs have avoled throughout the making of this comic. Like Raph’s some what resont new spikes at the top of the head or Donnies cheek markings.

Speaking of how things have evolved and changed in the comic, I think it’s interesting to see how the past has changed and differed over time. Some of the differences between the prologue and the memories could just be the creator slightly changing how they wanted to go about doing the prologue. It happens.

But my personal take on it is that since it was a traumatic event for spot and because of the fact that up till this point we have been only relying on present spots memories and thoughts of the events he was remembering certain things differently. This is the first time we are getting the full sober truth of what happened because at this point it’s still fresh in spots little mind. Or it could be that instead of seeing spots pov were gettIng more of a outsiders pov of the situation or smth.

Okay I think I’m going to leave the ramble here for now. I don’t know if anyone is going to read this far but if you have thank you for reading and I hope you have a good day. ☺️

[inkpot909]

hi hi hi hi may i pls request a matchup? i’m bisexual and use she/her pronouns :)

personality wise, im very dramatic, i get excited easily, and am a bit overly sensitive i’m an intj & cancer, & i try my best to be optimistic no matter what. im a big fan of my own personal space bubble though!! i love anything soft or cute, especially animals!! im kinda scared of bugs though, but i still always try to take them outside. i tend to be a bit bossy and unreasonable when it comes to something i’m interested in. plus i get really moody and irrational sometimes when it comes to something i want (im very stubborn lol). i also really like going for walks, shopping, yoga, gardening, baking (even though i’m dreadfully awful at it), and reading. i try to see the best in everything & everyone, though i can’t really tolerate it if somebody is overly cruel or rude to the people i care about. i have a very “do no harm, take no shit” mentality :)

for my appearance, im 5’2 & have fairly long light brown hair. my eyes are hazel, im fairly pale with a few freckles sitting across my face, & my cheeks are perpetually rosy andjfjjek. my style ranges from pretty soft and girly to a wannabe skater boy (i love the style but alas, it does not love me </3). i really like dressing up even if i’m not going anywhere. i also really like to do makeup, both on myself and others. also since i’m on the shorter side, i like to wear platform shoes since being tall makes me feel cool!

please & thank you!!! <3 have a nice day

I am Matching You With…

Giorno Giovanna

“Do no harm, take no shit” is exactly the kind of sentiment he really values in a partner. After a single interaction, he could see a genuine spark in your eyes; someone trustworthy.

It’s a trait he doesn’t always deduce in strangers.

Your softness, coupled with how protective you can be towards those you care about, is exactly the kind of thing that gets his heart melting. Such mentalities are ones he has a strong respect for, and Giorno will unquestionably support you in that way of thinking, being quite similar in that regard (although he takes it to a logical extreme).

The duality is so deeply valued by him that the moment recognizes this side of you, he’s completely smitten. It’s not often he meets a kindred spirit.

And to be completely honest, he figures he needs someone easily excited like you in his life.

Due to his past and upbringing, he is generally subdued in his emotions and reactions. Genuine, sure, but not exactly boisterous. To have an individual in his life that’s so earnest in her behavior is a breath of fresh air to him.

That trying nature, committing to positivity when you can, it’s so adorable in his eyes.

How could he possibly think differently when your gentle nature extends to animals- both big and small? Not everyone is so thoughtful to think of the tiniest lives.

Even to the bugs and insects that cause you discomfort. He won’t want you to stress for a single second either. Giorno won’t hesitate to drop everything, and travel across Naples to help if you’re getting too nervous to deal with a bug in the home.

Needing space every now and then is no problem for him either, and not just because Giorno’s kept busy because of work. He won’t even explicitly talk to you about it unless you bring it up yourself. He’s far too observant to miss it, and knows you too well to misinterpret your moods.

And once again, no one is more patient and equipped to handle you’re bossy streak than Giorno.

Considering how important to him you are, he’ll happily try meeting you halfway. Attempting to balance the charged air with a cool disposition, and warm eyes. He’s nonjudgmental towards you, being fairly stubborn himself.

Genuinely, he admires your passion. Doesn’t matter the subject, either. In regards to your hobbies; he loves to get involved.

He’s got a ton of routes around Naples, he’ll be happy to take you on a walk sometime if you’re up for it. Shopping? He’s got a thick wallet that’s just lying in wait to spoil you. Giorno can be rather cheeky about buying you gifts, all depending on whether or not you know about his involvement in the mafia.

‘Involvement’ is an understatement considering his position in Passione, but he likely won’t tell you everything.

Plus, your sense of style too? He’s in heaven.

Giorno typically prefers a feminine look on his partner, at least, that’s what he figured for a long time. No doubt it’s what originally turned his head.

Hell, he will gladly talk to you about makeup often. He’ll take pride in you doing his for him and enjoys killing time in a cosmetics store at your side.

Then, one particular day you show up with one of your more skater looks and- What does she mean she’s insecure about how it looks on her?

The fact that you like, what can be traditionally considered both feminine and masculine styles, really opens his eyes to his own tastes. Or rather, seeing you in any state… he’d be hard pressed to ever take his eyes off you regardless.

Lastly, Giorno himself is an Aries.

Aries and Cancer signs are known for tension. Being fire and water signs respectively, strengthening bonds despite the differences is generally considered to take a lot of work.

Yet you and Giorno are an anomaly. Just about anyone who looks at your birth charts is astonished by the devotion you harbor. It’s relatively rare for an Aries and Cancer signs to get along so seamlessly in romantic relationship.

But Giorno doesn’t mind whatever others think your dynamic ‘should be’ (it’s funny to him, if anything).

He knows what you two have, and cherishes it deeply.