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phan3145 · 10 months ago

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Title: Slippery Slope. Fandom: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Rating: T. ( Intensity, Implications ) Pairing: Eventual Noa x Human!Reader.

***Notes- There will be no chapter update next week. My father in law passed away from stage four bone cancer this week, and I will be in Indiana helping with funeral preparations and family support. Please be patient with me, as I’m not sure I will post that next week either.

Chapter 12: Asking for Help

You

You weren’t sure if you were running from anger, fear, or embarrassment. How did such a nice day turn into this? You felt like the ground had been pulled out from underneath you, and you were falling into an endless black void. Noa tried to bring you to his village, not because he wanted you to be there, but because other apes knew about you and did not trust you. The elders wanted you to present yourself, to show them that you would bow to them at the end of the day. The thought alone turned your stomach. They had given Noa an ultimatum, and your trust in him had become the casualty of his choice. They saw you as a distraction, a threat, a pest! And Noa…he lied. He never wanted to honor you, and he tricked you.

Your lungs burned, your arms felt heavy as they pumped back and forth, and your legs were so tight that the second you stopped you knew they would give out. You tried to slow down, to conserve your energy so you could make it back before the collapse happened. You knew you were not being chased, you weren’t even being followed, but you still were trying to outrun something. It was the truth. Which truth though? The truth that you understood why Noa did what he did, but could not let go of your hurt and anger over the situation? Or, the one where you purposely hurt him back? You said things that would not only bother him, but were also not true.

Then there was the real truth- you had been living in a fantasy the past few months. You had come to care about the three apes. You had never denied yourself that fact, it felt like they were your new family at the end of the day. Or, so you thought. None of it was real. More and more memories flooded your mind, instances where Noa attempted to bring you to his village. Small, plausible reasons. Like a few days ago, wanting to bring you to a healer. He didn’t even know what was wrong with you! That wasn’t the point though, at the end of the day, the goal had only been to get you there.

Why didn’t he just tell you?

There was no promise you would have gone immediately, but you could have mentally prepared…maybe even found a compromise. The rapid change of mindset left your head spinning. You didn’t want it to be this way. You didn’t want things to change. You wanted to keep looking forward to seeing the apes in the mornings. You wanted to continue learning sign, and teaching them how to read. You wanted to go on more Caesar Journey’s. Anaya and Soona were like the brother and sister you always wanted, and Noa...you believed in Noa. You believed you could trust him. You felt safe with him. His gaze calmed you, his touch always gentle, like a balm on a sunburn.

Every day you woke up in isolation, fear constricting the muscles and veins in your body once you left the safety of your burrow. You could never relax, always on guard. Until of course, that familiar frame and those evergreen eyes would appear at the edge of the forest. You would feel your shoulders dip down and hands unclench, breathing suddenly easier and steps more sure. Noa did that to you. The over analytical ape had endeared himself to you so much in such a short amount of time. You cared about him. More than that, where Noa was concerned you…

You hit Noa.

You stumbled over a dip in the ground, and that had been enough to send you flying forward onto your stomach. The landing was soft, cushioned by dirt and leaves, but you felt the tears flow regardless. You pushed yourself up onto your hands and knees, bent forward as you panted for breath and sobbed with what little air you could gather into your lungs. You were consumed by a sense of hopelessness then, your stomach churning as you realized that there was no going back.

How could you? You hadn’t meant to hit Noa. You just wanted to leave before showing more weakness, but the anger had overpowered the hurt and burst out of you. All you could focus on was leaving. Then he followed you. How dare he cut you to pieces with his words, and then try to stop you from leaving. Like he cared! He said it himself, he did not need you there. You had tried to leave before too. The revelation that Noa had never wanted to give you the mark had stopped you. Surely there was a reasonable explanation. You had practically begged him for answers, to tell you that reasonable explanation you yourself could not think of. Deep down though, you knew.

He only gave you the mark out of guilt- peer pressure really. He tried to use it then to his advantage, since he couldn’t take it back; parade you around the Clan to show off the mark so the elders would be okay with your existence. Make his life easier, while you would be made into a spectacle. Noa’s Echo. The Echo he honored and brought home like a stray.

No. Not again. Never again. You would never be someone else’s possession. Never someone else’s trophy, accessory, or pet. The deep chasm of hurt threatened to cause more tears to flow down your cheeks. You forced a deep breath, sitting up and looking skywards. No more tears. No more being upset, it would do you no good. What’s done is done, there was no going back. Why would you want to go back to someone who hurt you anyway, who didn’t want you?

Your own sense of guilt reared it’s ugly head then, reminding you how you must have hurt Noa. You had been so scared, hearing his heavy steps come after you. You just reacted. You hadn’t truly meant it, and you wanted to take it back the moment you realized. He had looked so shocked, and he had been so angry before…the fact he didn’t tear you apart not only surprised you, but made you feel worse. Noa had been the restrained one, the patient one. You had been the animal, screaming and throwing things.

You felt so stupid.

Rationality began to return to you. A few days ago you had panicked, fearful of the day you would have to say goodbye to your friends, and today you were the one to strike the match and burn the bridge. It might have been fine. You might have been able to salvage the relationship if you hadn’t reacted so viciously…if you hadn’t run away. Noa was right in that regard. You were a coward. You would always run away from the things you were afraid of.

You let your eyes slip shut, head falling forward as you continued to kneel on the ground. You were so close to the burrow. Staying out in the open, vulnerable like this, was not a smart decision, but you couldn’t bring yourself to move. You focused on breathing, trying to make sense of your new situation. You did not believe Noa or the Eagle Clan were violent, recalling him saying they only killed for food or in defense of themselves, so you did not fear for your life. There was no guarantee in the future if you ran into any other apes though, so maybe leaving would be a good idea.

You were smacked with the realization that you had nowhere else to go. Shelters like the one you had could not be built over night. Then, there was Micheal to consider…but if you left he would be fine on his own, right? The small game would eventually return, and since apes did not eat squirrel or rabbit, he would return to his natural place in the ecosystem. You would prefer to take him with you though. Maybe you could.

Micheal could be your pet.

You shook your head, noticing the dimming sun nearly kissing the horizon. What you were doing to Micheal, it was the very thing you fought against. He could be a companion, but you would never force him to go anywhere or do something just because you wanted it. You pushed yourself from the ground, ready to go to the burrow now that determination had returned to you. A twinge of pain in your abdomen, and a wet sensation between your legs froze you in place. For a moment, you didn’t move. You knew what it was. It was overdue, and arrived precisely at one of the lowest points you’ve had in a long time.

Typical.

Rolling your eyes, you began a, now very stiff, walk towards your burrow. You were prepared at least, rags of cloth for this rare time placed next to your bed. Unlike last time, when painful cramps had been absent, and you were sure you had ruined your favorite pair of pants. Even if you hadn’t gotten the stain out, you would never have gotten rid of them. You no longer had the ability to make a new pair like you had in the vault, and there was no one to mock you for it anyway. That was a great thing about living alone- you never had to worry about your vanity. Never had to worry about looking appealing as a potential wife.

You steered your mind away from that subject, picking up your pace. That uneasy feeling returned, growing in intensity the longer you were out in the open. As if on cue, you heard what sounded like a scream echo in the forest. You stopped, heart suddenly racing as you realized it was coming from the direction of your burrow. You heard the scream again, terror seizing you. Another scream, continuing this rhythm of shrieks one right after the other. After the seventh or eighth scream, you had a strange idea of what it might be. You closed your eyes, listening closely. Then, with another piercing scream, you realized exactly what it was.

You were running again. Faster, harder than you had before. The trees and bushes next to you were a blur. You felt like you weren’t breathing, gasping in air as quickly as you were exhaling it. You slid to a stop in the dirt by the large mass of rocks that made up your burrow. Micheal was sitting by the front entrance, looking anxious as he loosed another scream.

Finally noticing your return, Micheal scurried over to you, whining and pawing at your torso. You had never seen him up on his back legs, let alone sniffing and nuzzling you of his own free will the way he was. You were taken aback, hands parallel to your shoulders, hovering in the air as you tried to figure out how to respond. Would he let you pet him, or would he bite you? Were you just meant to receive the attention and not reciprocate?

Against your better judgement, you brought your right hand down carefully to Micheal’s head. You thought his fur would be soft and thin, but it was actually coarse and bushy under your fingers. He did not nip or snarl at you, instead he pushed his head further up into your hand. Surprise was not a fitting enough word, downright flabbergasted felt more like it. You tried to take a step back, which he allowed you to do, only to pounce on you again.

He kept trying to climb up your body, to the point he actually jumped. You decided to assist him, hands going under his legs as he squirmed up your body. He has whining, head nuzzling into your neck and hair, wanting to get even higher. You kept one hand under his feet while your other braced along the back of his spine. You leaned back, tilting Micheal in the opposite direction. He tried to squirm but realized if he moved too much he would fall out of you grasp. Instead, he just stared at you, tongue lolling to one side of his mouth as he continued to pant and stare at you.

You cocked your head, “What is going on with you? Now you want to cuddle and be pet? What changed?”

Instead of answering, Micheal attempted to sit up, one of his paws reaching out towards the excess material of your shirt. You turned, remembering that you left using your secret hatch this morning. Hopefully, Micheal would follow you. You needed to grab the rags you used for your time of the month before you bled through your pants…again. You lowered Micheal to the ground, who immediately tried to climb back up your body and scurried alongside you as you walked. Well, this somehow became the weirdest part of your day.

You opened the hatch, falling forward and turning to close the hatch…but Micheal had other ideas. He leapt down into the hole with you, spinning around before falling onto his back next to you. You sighed, picking him up and hefting him out, only for him to jump back in before you could close the door again. He was unusually clingy, but you decided not to complain. Feeling the familiar wetness spread, you decided to let him do as he pleased for now.

You left the door open, crawling into your burrow with Micheal on your heels and quickly changing your clothes. You decided on your other set of pants. They were older, baggier, since they had been yours before you were taken as a pet. You could never part with them though, cutting two small holes along the left side of the waist and running a twined piece of rope through them. It cinched them tight enough to stay up, but could also be loosened on days when your stomach bloated or cramped. Micheal watched you intently, nibbling at the bits of food you had placed in his bowl.

You patted your sides and then your stomach, fidgeting as you sat, making sure that everything was situated in the right place. You had thankfully not stained your pants, but they would need to be washed soon regardless. You were thankful there was no pain this go round, assuming the pain a few days ago had been all the cramping you would experience. Again, you reminded yourself you should probably pick up a medical book the next time you went to the library, maybe even one about foxes.

That’s when reality crashed back into you, realizing you probably wouldn’t be going back to the library…not unless it was alone. You fought back another wave of tears, stomach sinking as you once more contemplated your place in this world. You curled up in your bed, covering yourself with your blanket. It was a little too early to sleep, and you hadn’t eaten yet, but all you wanted to do was sleep. Micheal, perhaps sensing your distress, left the few remaining bites of food in his bowl to check on you. He stood up once more on his hind legs, his front paws on the surface stone that made up your mattress, leaning forward and sniffing loudly around your face. You huffed, reaching a tentative hand out to pat his head. He pushed into the touch for a moment, before leaping onto the bed and curling himself up around your chest and neck. He was warm, and his nuzzling comforted you.

Of course, right as you contemplated leaving your burrow, leaving Micheal, would he start to warm up to you. Maybe he would follow you…if you could find his home later, maybe you could take him with you. How would you carry him? You had nothing to form a temporary cage, and the thought of making one, which would take time, made your stomach twist in knots. Where would you even go? Noa was right when he said you hardly left your hole in the ground. Exploring was minimal, and you did not remember a lot of the previous shelter locations you had used with your mother on the way here. You wouldn’t even know where to begin to look for them.

Glancing over to your pile of clothes, you noticed your bathing shirt, wondering if the vineyard was a decent option. You’d be rich in grapes, and surely other small game would be found in that area. The largest problem was finding a water supply. There was no creek or river for at least three miles. No problem for short visits to pick grapes and return here, but as a permanent settlement? Disastrous and dangerous. There were bottles of wine there, perhaps you could empty them? Take groups at a time and fill them at the nearest water source and return. If you stock pile enough maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?

Micheal stirred beneath you, making small humming and chittering sounds before jumping from the bed. He sniffed, circling around the room and whining slightly. You chuckled, “Are you still hungry? I bet you are. I’m not that hungry, so I’ll share my fish with you.”

You pushed yourself up, stretching slightly as you made your way towards your fire, where a smoked salmon was waiting. You heard Micheal let loose a growled hiss that caused you to freeze in place. You felt your heart start to beat faster, your breath becoming shallow as you whispered, “Micheal, what is it?”

He scurried his way towards your front door, and you walked briskly on tip toe to keep up with him. You dared not touch him, seeing him bare his teeth and crouch into a defensive stance in front of the boulder. You heard sounds from the other side, something large moving around the rock. Terror seized you suddenly, remembering that you had left your hatch door completely open. It was getting dark, and predators could be roaming around. You cursed under your breath, quietly making your way back to the tunnel. You could see it was still empty, and looking over your shoulder you noticed Micheal’s focus still on the front entrance.

You took a deep breath, holding it as your crept forward, as silently as possible. Noise was heightened in your ears, nerves on edge for the slightest whisper of danger. You made it about halfway, when you heard Micheal snarl and run towards the tunnel. You expected him to run to you. Instead, he made a hard left, body twisting and contorting as he flung himself upwards through his secret tunnel. You didn’t have time to contemplate what was happening, hearing him bark and chirp and hiss at whatever was outside your burrow.

The mystery aggressor was quickly revealed by a screech and the soft sound of thumps along the ground. An ape! Definitely a chimp, was it Noa? You launched yourself forward, having no time to be careful of the dirt and rock below you, screaming Micheal’s name as you reached the mouth of the hatch.

You hauled yourself up and out, seeing not Noa, but Anaya! Micheal was able to dodge his attacks for the most part but Anaya was quickly gaining on him, anticipating his quick turns and nips at his ankles. You ran towards the two, screaming, “No! No, Anaya! Micheal!”

Anaya seemed to be so enraged, so focused on his adversary, that he did not hear you. Micheal did, and seeing you run towards both him and the strange ape, he leapt between the apes bent knees and did not stop. He ran straight for you, pivoting a foot or so away in a defensive stance, hissing once more. You had no time to reflect on his protective nature, seeing Anaya had picked up a decently sized rock. He charged forward, eyes trained on Micheal, holding the rock in his hand with the pointed edge facing outwards.

He meant to kill Micheal!

You leapt forward, wrapping your arms around Micheal’s body and pulling him towards you. Against your better judgement, you tucked him under your chest in a lightening fast reflex. With no way to protect yourself now, every nerve in your being screaming to release Micheal and cover your own exposed head, you locked your limbs in place. You couldn’t do it, knowing if you let go you wouldn’t have another opportunity to snatch him away from danger again. Anaya was a skilled spear-man and hunter, he would strike true if Micheal was too far from your grasp.

Crouched on your knees, hunched over Micheal, and unable to protect yourself, all you could do was scream out, “Anaya, no! Stop!”

Silence, and an eerie stillness followed your wail. Even Micheal was still beneath you, small heart hammering away against his rib cage as he panted. You released the breath you had been holding, slowly raising your head to lock eyes with Anaya. There was much emotion there. His brows were still furrowed, canines bared in anger, but his eyes held shock and confusion to see you on the ground in front of him. His stance was rigid, frozen in place with his arm still raised in what you would surmise was a killing strike.

You swallowed, slowly bowing your head back down and pulling Micheal even closer to you. You waited, seconds feeling like minutes as you allowed Anaya to decide what he wanted to do. You heard a thump not far from you, raising your head again to see the rock had been dropped from Anaya’s hand. Said ape was directly in front of you now, knees bent and face a little too close to your own. You hissed in a breath through your teeth, affirming your hold on Micheal before you straightened. You rested on your knees now, Micheal sitting firmly in your lap.

Anaya’s eyes tracked your movement, snorting once at Micheal before returning his attention to you. His tone was not angry, merely curious as he pointed and asked, “Companion?”

You nodded.

“No…danger?” He asked.

You shook your head. Anaya nodded slowly, eyes trained on Micheal. You chanced a glance down at him, who still seemed to be sizing the strange ape up as an opponent. You tentatively pulled a hand away from Micheal then, reaching out for one of Anaya’s. He was good enough to acquiesce, allowing you to pull your joined hands towards Micheal. He sniffed, slightly nuzzling against them before returning to being held in your lap. You let go on Anaya’s hand, motioning for him to take a step back before pulling your other hand away from Micheal.

No one moved for a moment, frozen in time and space. Micheal though, seeing that he was no longer restrained, hopped down from your lap and circled around Anaya. He sniffed at his legs, before turning away from you both and scurrying back down into his tunnel. You sighed in relief, feeling your body start to relax, before realizing you still had a large ape in front of you. Hopefully he just wanted to talk.

Not knowing what else to say, you simply said, “Hi, Anaya.”

“Hello Echo,” he said nervously. “This is…not allowed…why…why have predator…as companion?”

You shrugged sheepishly, “It’s not like I chose him- well, actually that’s not quite true. He just showed up one day. I gave him fish and he kept coming back after that and…he was starving Anaya. It just sort of happened.”

Anaya sniffed, “Noa said…fox at…shelter before…that…same one?”

You nodded.

Anaya huffed, blowing a raspberry as he fell backwards to also sit on the ground. You smirked, chuckling slightly at his antics. His gaze was on Micheal’s secret entrance, but it turned back to you in a flash. You swallowed, feeling guilty over the day’s dramatics. You fidgeted, pushing off your knees and opting to sit similarly to Anaya, your legs bent and pushed out in front of you.

You blew out a long breath, trying to smile as you said, “I’m sorry I left the way I did. Is…is Noa okay?”

“Noa fine,” Anaya assured you, tapping his jaw. “Do not…feel bad…more than…deserved it.”

That confused you, brows furrowed as you asked, “You’re not angry?”

Anaya hesitated a moment before replying, and signing, “Not…angry…at you.”

You bit your lip, “Noa doesn’t deserve your anger either.”

“Does…a little,” Anaya argued. “Noa…spoke of…your past…with gorillas.”

You felt the hair along your body raise. It became slightly hard to breathe for a moment, before you swallowed that fear back down. “I suppose he had to. Without context, my reaction to your village probably seemed really weird.”

“Not weird.” Anaya shook his head. He opened his mouth to say more, but hesitated. His hand formed a sign you recognized before he verbally confessed, “Knew.”

A spike of icy terror shot up your spine, goosebumps pebbling your skin as you dared to ask, “How did you know?”

Anaya hooted softly, curling in on himself. He chose to sign now, instead of speak. Many seasons ago. Eagle clan taken. Anaya prisoner. Several days before Noa help us.

You felt your jaw slacken, “Your entire clan? How is that even possible? Why wasn’t Noa taken?”

Apes had human weapons, Anaya explained. We do not fight. Very dark out. Surprised. Apes bowed to survive. Noa left for dead. Fell from Eagle —.

“Wait, go back.” You asked, “What was that last one?”

Anaya slowed down the motion, saying, “Tower.”

The pieces came together as you ran the sentence through your mind. You blanched, “He fell from that height and survived?! How?”

Anaya returned to signing, Do not know. Saw fall. Should have died. Showed up days later….different.

You cocked your head to the side, “Different how? Wait, actually, it doesn’t matter. Go back. I don’t understand, how did you already know about my past?”

Anaya shrugged, Not certain. Saw you….react on first day. Understood. Anaya was hurt bad. Scared. Did not speak. React same way as you sometimes.

“I’m so sorry, Anaya.” You whispered, understanding now why he chose to sign instead of speak. Sometimes, the words were just as hard as the experiences. “I didn’t know.”

Anaya nodded slowly, That is why. Anaya tell you now. Heard much from apes. One ape not like others. Dishonorable. Left his clan. Did not care for humans.

You frowned, “Not like the others? A gorilla?”

Anaya nodded again, signing several times what you figured was the word for gorilla before he said, “Sylva…remember name.”

You nodded.

Anaya sat up straighter, signed a bit quicker, Spoke of humans. Spoke of hunting. Did not like them. Did not like the male that was kept to build weapons. Said bad words about humans. Spoke of first clan. Spoke about what clan did to humans. Spoke of escaped humans once. One died. Other gone.

“I was not Sylva’s pet. The name of the gorilla that owned me was….Gol.” You felt cold again, wrapping your arms around yourself. “Sylva must have been there though. There were many apes, gorilla and chimpanzee, that I did not know the names of. I belonged to Gol, and he did not like other apes to be around his possessions. The year I spent trapped, I probably encountered no more than four apes out of at least a hundred. There might have even been more, but I was kept in a cage for the most part, unless Gol wanted to be entertained.”

Anaya let out a long sigh through his nose, “Am…sorry.”

“What happened to Sylva?” You quickly changed the subject back to the other gorilla.

Anaya seemed proud as he signed, Noa killed him. Gorilla killed Noa father. Justice.

There was something thrilling about that fact, though you tried not to think about your response to it too much. It just reaffirms that you were right to feel safe with Noa. You hummed, smirking, “Makes sense, Noa is the leader for a reason.”

Noa is leader because gorilla killed father, Anaya quickly corrected you. Father was leader. Killed. Clan stolen. Clan prisoner. Noa free clan. New leader.

Your smirk was replaced with horror, hand coming up to cover your mouth. “I didn’t know. Poor Noa…that’s awful.”

Anaya hooted, Saved us. Saved mother. Not like gorilla. Never. Not gorilla ever.

Your brows rose then, “I feel like there is a reason you are telling me this, besides bonding over our shared trauma.”

“Bonding? Not bonding!” Anaya quickly shook his head, “Echo belong…to no one…Anaya only bond…with Eagle Brother.”

You were confused, until you realized what bonding must mean to them. You laughed, hands waving back and forth, “Oh! No. No, no, no. Not bonding like that. For humans, bonding means…becoming closer. Understanding each other better. Deepening a relationship through time, words, and actions.”

Anaya hummed, “Humans…strange…but makes…sense…want Echo to trust Anaya…listen to Anaya.”

“Okay,” you chuckled. “I’m listening.”

“After Noa spoke…of Echo past,” Anaya began. “Elders came into Eagle tower…Anaya father is…elder…hates Anaya.”

You scoffed, “There’s no way. I’m sure your father doesn’t-”

“Hates Anaya,” he interjected, not allowing any room for arguments. “Not spoken to father…in long time…never disagreed…or disrespected…he is…honored elder…today different…he spoke…of Echo…more bad words…Anaya challenged him…Anaya won.”

You were stunned, absorbing the information quickly before hesitantly saying, “That’s good Anaya, but…you shouldn’t have done that for me.”

“Yes,” Anaya insisted. “Do not want to be…like them…will do…anything for Echo…Echo is worthy…of loyalty…Noa also…was loyal…to Echo…made elders listen…has made…new laws.”

“Laws?” You parroted.

“Master of Birds…created new council,” Anaya beamed. “There was…elder council…now also…Caesar Council…council is…Anaya and Soona…and Echo.”

You leapt to your feet, “Whoa, whoa. And Echo…I’m not part of the clan, he can’t just make me part of some new council.”

“Noa…has not.” Anaya was quick to amend, standing as well, “Anaya asking…Echo be part…of Caesar Council.”

You rubbed a hand across your face, “Anaya, you can’t just…Noa probably wants nothing to do with me right now, and he’s the leader. It’s his decision. And my decision, should he ask me.”

“Is leader,” Anaya argued, “only because of Echo.”

You suddenly regretted skipping dinner, your head reeling as you tried to process what Anaya could mean. “I don’t understand, please explain that a little.”

Anaya huffed, “Noa think too much…doubts himself…did not doubt…today…broke the laws…changed the laws…for Echo.”

Your brows furrowed, “What do you mean?”

“Was different,” Anaya explained. “Strong ape…stronger than elders…wrote on wall of Eagle Tower…Soona read…in front of elders…never happened before Echo…important.”

“What did Noa write? What did Soona read?” You wondered.

Anaya smiled, fist pounding across his chest, “Strong Together.”

You shrugged, “Caesar’s Law, I thought you said it was something new.”

Anaya huffed, “Ape together strong…that is…Caesar’s Law…but Noa…did not write…ape…Noa wrote…together strong…wrote letters…because of Echo...Eagle Clan will…learn to read…Caesar Council made…for new…together Eagle Clan.”

Suddenly it made sense, and you could see now why it had made such an impact. You hoped it wasn’t a detriment to Noa though. You swallowed your nerves, daring to ask, “This new Law, ape and humans together, did the elders approve?”

Anaya hesitated a moment before nodding, “All agreed…father did not like…but agreed…Noa made sure…of that.”

“How?” You asked. “If your father is as stubborn as I imagine he is, why would he bend when he doesn’t want to?”

“He knows,” Anaya hooted. “Noa has…never bent his head…and father…has…Noa would not…let him…disagree.”

You chuckled, “Ape politics. That’s a new one.”

Anaya huffed, a low rumble in his throat surprising you, before you felt familiar paws on your legs. You waved Anaya off, picking up Micheal as you had before. He chirped at Anaya and Anaya hissed slightly at him. You rolled your eyes, taking a step back, “You two need to get along and learn to share me.”

“Like Noa,” Anaya snarked. “Protects…when Echo…is alright…dumb.”

You laughed, “He has good intentions.”

“Does he?” Anaya asked, and you were almost certain he wasn’t talking about Micheal. Anaya hesitated a moment before asking, a few words being signed simultaneously, “Noa acts…different…when you are near…you have noticed too.”

“You keep using that word,” you said. “Different how?”

Anaya wobbled, taking a few steps to his left, picking something up that you hadn’t seen before due to the fading light. It was your basket of strawberries, the one you never went back to get. “Less like…ape…more like…human.”

You shrugged as he opened the basket and handed you a handful of strawberries, “Maybe? I don’t really see it, but I don’t see him act like apes that I have met before. He’s certainly no gorilla.”

“You care for Noa,” Anaya said, though it came out more like a question.

“Of course,” you said. “I care about Noa, and Soona, and you.”

Anaya slowed his chewing of the strawberry in his mouth, swallowing thickly before asking, “Care for Noa..same as Anaya…or more?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but there was something in his eyes that made you hesitant to speak. Something in them told you he was not simply trying to compete with Noa for attention, this was a genuine question regarding how you felt about the apes. You felt your mouth suddenly go dry. Anaya, sensing your hesitation, offered you another strawberry, explaining, “Anaya cares for Echo…like sister…Anaya cares for Soona…more…Noa…cares for Echo…like Anaya cares for Soona.”

You raised an eyebrow, wondering if Anaya was implying what you thought he was. It was ridiculous, Noa would never see you that way. And you…

You shook your head, “You’re wrong. Noa sees me, how you see me. And I see all three of you the same way.”

“What way?” Anaya asked, unnervingly refusing to blink or break eye contact.

“Like…family.” You mumbled, feeling as if you no longer deserved to think of them that way.

Anaya nodded, looking to the now squirming Micheal in your arms. You bent at the waist, placing him down on the ground, before Anaya tapped your arm. You turned back to him as he said, “Have favor…to ask.”

You straightened, “Sure, what is it?”

“Forgive Noa,” was Anaya’s simple request. “He is…better ape…with you…than without you…Anaya does not want…to choose…between two friends.”

You pursed your lips, hand running through your hair, “If Noa and I can talk, can get past the words and the…rock, then I think I can do that. But, he has to want to talk to me, and I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon.”

Anaya tilted his head, “Noa speaks…you forgive?”

You nodded, “Yes.”

Anaya hooted, looking pleased as he pointed upwards. You were confused by his actions, until you saw Eagle Sun land on a nearby tree branch. You gawked, panicking as you realized Noa couldn’t be far behind. You saw Micheal crouch low in a hunting position, scooping him up quickly as you gasped, “Noa’s coming…I have to hide Micheal.”

“Micheal?” Anaya repeated.

“The Fox, Anaya!” You snapped. “His name is Micheal.”

As if just now realizing how things could go if Noa found the fox right now, Anaya shut your hatch quickly. Then, he was grabbing your arm and hauling you over to the other tunnel. You pushed Micheal in, who seemed confused but went through without much issue. You immediately dropped to the ground, using your body to block the exit. You glanced to the trees, noting that Eagle Sun was gone.

Noa was close.

Anaya scented the air loudly, huffing “Smell like fox and…mainly fox.”

“What?” You blanched. “How do I cover it up?”

You started grabbing at the dirt, rubbing it all over your body, but Anaya was shaking his head, “Too strong…need water…or…”

“Or?” You parroted, “Or what? Please, Anaya help me, I need your help!”

You were surprised to see excitement and happiness on Anaya’s face, “Echo…asking for…Anaya’s help?”

“Yes! Please!” You begged.

Anaya hopped back a step, crouching before grabbing you by your feet. You yelped, a little too loudly, in surprise. You tried to pull your feet away, but Anaya had a death grip on them. You started to get scared, feeling trapped as Anaya rubbed his hands and arms all over your feet, then your legs.

Finally finding your voice you demanded, “What are you doing?”

“Scenting…Echo.” Anaya answered. “Only way…replace fox scent…with ape scent…apes do for family…or mates…Noa will not like…better than fox smell though.”

Your body began to shake the more his hands carelessly moved over your limbs, something terrifying about Anaya touching you everywhere all at once. Sensing your discomfort, Anaya paused, hands hovering over your stomach. “Scent is on…chest and face too…can stop…do not want to…make Echo…uncomfortable.”

“Kind of late for that,” you practically gasped through the tremors, wondering if you were slipping into some type of shock. “Why are you even doing this? Why are you helping me and hiding this from Noa?”

Anaya snorted, “Echo is not Anaya’s….but Anaya is Echo’s…promise to always help…when Echo asks for it…family…do not want…family to fight…want to be the one…to help fix…this time…trust Anaya?”

You swallowed, nodding your head. Anaya brought a hand carefully to your face, covering your eyes, “Do not…look…breathe deep…imagine…not Anaya…not ape.”

You did as he said, feeling his hand leave your eyes, though you kept them closed diligently. You were surprised when you felt his face nuzzle into your stomach, and his hands run up and down your sides. He moved onto your arms then, first your right, which he placed above your head when he was finished, and then your left.

You heard him sigh, “Echo…will not like…but no choice…Anaya is sorry.”

You felt his fingers thread through your hair on either side of your head. You were confused, not finding much wrong with that. You were still shaking a little, but imagined it wasn’t Anaya who was helping. You imagined instead it was Noa. He had touched you on your arms and your chest before, and you recalled those pleasant moments to replace this not-so-pleasant one.

Then, you felt Anaya’s tongue lick up your neck and on the right side of your face. The urge to scream was monumental, but knowing Noa was close by, you were able to strangle the sound into nothing but a wheeze. Anaya moved to your left side and repeated the action, causing you to spasm and jerk under him in an unconscious attempt to get him off you. You curled your legs and turned them sideways so you wouldn’t accidentally kick him.

“Sorry Echo…sorry…Anaya sorry.” He repeated, sounding just as disgusted by the action as you. There was a pause, Anaya sniffing up and down the length of your body, before he admitted, “Think…is enough…Echo alright?”

You opened your eyes, your vision blurry from the tears that had formed in your eyes. Anaya looked like he regretted being born, hands returning to your hair to stroke it, “Anaya sorry…please Echo forgive…only way…very sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you croaked, voice dry and scratchy.

Anaya seemed surprised by this, asking, “Echo…alright?”

You shook your head, trying to swallow your tears and clear your throat at the same time. Anaya hummed, attempting to soothe you, “Echo rest…Anaya promise…will be okay.”

“I…I -I don’t think I can face him,” you stuttered. “Anaya I don’t want to lie to him a-and I can’t explain this.”

“Will tell Noa…about Micheal…in the future?” Anaya demanded.

You nodded vehemently, tears pooling at the corners of your eyes.

“Anaya will…speak…when you cannot.” He sighed, “Noa will not like…but Anaya will…help Echo now…keep fox…between us.”

“Thank you,” you gasped. You heard something to your right and turned your head to see Noa.

There was a torch behind him, staked into the ground. Had that always been there? It was illuminating his figure like some avenging spirit in a horror movie. It was fitting for the moment. It had been a long time since you were this scared, and you were on edge, no idea what would happen next.

“Anaya,” was Noa’s growled response.

Said ape jumped away from you like his life depended on it. It very well might, with the way Noa was stalking towards the two of you. Anaya looked decidedly ashamed, hunching slightly as he avoided Noa’s gaze, hooting, “Hello…Noa.”

You took the opportunity to sit up from the ground, feeling cold now and wrapping your arms around your knees. Too late, you realized you would have to stay on the ground, or risk Micheal coming through the tunnel. Noa only spared Anaya a single glance before he was suddenly in front of you.

He huffed, crouching down to stare directly into your eyes. He didn’t seem angry anymore, and that surprised you more than anything. He should be angry. Why was he not angry? Seeing your hesitation, Noa smiled, or attempted to anyway. It was strained. He was clearly frustrated after walking into whatever he thought this was. He reached a hand out to you then, speaking more softly than you deserved, “You are…alright?”

You panicked. You wanted to take his hand, but you couldn’t move. You felt mute, words being these fantastical things in your head that you suddenly felt unable to vocalize. You looked to Anaya, hoping he could pull Noa’s attention from you, if only for a moment. You just needed a moment to calm down.

Do not move. Sign if not speak, Anaya quickly signed over Noa’s shoulder.

He had just finished when Noa turned to look at him. You nodded your understanding to Anaya before Noa returned his gaze to you. His hand was still outstretched, and you shook your head, unable to take it. Noa stood then, looking displeased. You swallowed, terrified what might happen next, when Anaya offered, “Echo…does not want…to speak right now…will meet Noa tomorrow…by water rock…Anaya will…show him the way.”

Water rock? Why there? That’s so far away- right! Water to mask Micheal’s smell, and no chance of the fox and ape running into each other. Perfect!

Noa grunted, a low rumble emanating from his chest that caused a weird heat to flare in your cheeks. You didn’t have time to dwell on that reaction before Noa asked again, “Echo is…alright…not hurt?”

You fought the muscles that threatened to shake as you signed, Echo fine. Speak tomorrow.

Noa seemed confused, turning from you to Anaya several times, as if new information would be offered the longer he stood there. When nothing more was said, he puffed out a frustrated breath, “Fine…Anaya and I…leave now…return home…understand?”

Anaya nodded, and so did you, still firmly on the ground. Noa noticed your reluctance to move, eyes softening all the more before he asked, “On ground but…not hurt…can stand?”

Another brief glance to Anaya, who signed, Feet cover hole. Must stand. Noa worried.

You swallowed, stiffly raising yourself up but keeping your feet planted within the pocket of the tunnel. You hoped it was too dark for Noa to notice that you were currently an inch shorter than you usually were when standing next to him. He himself seemed to bend his knees, unconsciously correcting the height difference as the two of you stood chest to chest, almost face to face. Noa was so close, and he wasn’t angry. You wanted to apologize, wanted to tell him how sorry you were and how much you…you stopped yourself. Your emotions were all over the place. You decided to sign, keeping things clean and brief, Echo fine. Speak tomorrow. Goodnight.

He seemed disappointed, but nodded, grunting, “We go…now.”

He backed away from you, Anaya crossing the distance between them in a few quick strides to follow behind Noa. With their backs to you, you moved from the hole, enough light within to show you that Micheal was curled up and asleep at the bottom of the tunnel.

You took that moment to look up, seeing the apes about to round the corner into darkness, quickly calling out, “Anaya!”

Both apes turned strangely enough, Anaya looking confused and Noa seeming surprised by your yell. You made your way towards Anaya, practically running before your body collided with his. You weren’t sure if apes hugged, but there was no other way you could think of to thank him for risking his relationship with Noa for you. After a moment, you felt Anaya return your embrace, resting his chin on the top of your head. Your hands slid from around Anaya’s back, to his shoulders, keeping him at arms length. You stared into his eyes, relieved to see that he was happy. Not guilty, or sad, or scared. You wanted to say how grateful you were to him, how you owed him for this. You wanted to promise him anything in this moment, feeling as if nothing would be good enough. You saw the understanding in his own gaze, a small nod your own confirmation from him that he understood.

You whispered, quietly, in hopes Noa would not hear you, “Thank you.”

Anaya raised his hand to pat the top of your head, making a giggle threaten to ruin the moment. Classic Anaya. He hummed then, reminding you, “Anything…for Echo.”

#kingdom of the planet of the apes #kotpota #planet of the apes #pota #noa #noa x reader #noa pota #fanfiction #noa x human reader #kotpota noa #kotpota anaya #anaya pota #anaya #kotpota soona #soona pota #soona #Slippery Slope series

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aspentreewrites · 10 months ago

Text

and when all the flowers are rotten and all the cannons shot

Chapter 1

Pairings: Codywan

Tags/Warnings: slow burn(ish), fake dating, only one bed, general angst and pining, AO3 rating is E for future chapters

Link to read on AO3 here!

Description:

The truth of the matter burrows deep into Cody’s skin, settling into the home it’s long-since made for itself there, nestled tightly amongst the other secrets he harbours that are too shameful to ever speak aloud.

He digs his fingers into his temples, breathing in heavy lungfuls of the steam-drenched air as if it might reverse the realisation that now weighs upon his heart like lead.

This is no longer just some passing infatuation.

He’s in love with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

(or: an account of the relationship between one Marshal Commander and his General from in the midst of a war.)

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A/N: In my unending quest to name all of my fics after The Amazing Devil songs, this one is taken from Elsa's Song. If you're reading this on Tumblr, you're getting a unique version of this author's note - hello there! I usually just link to my fics on Tumblr, but this time I've decided to post each chapter in full here!

Any and all comments are massively appreciated, and if I can format anything better for posting here please let me know. I'm aiming to have the next chapter up in 2-3 weeks :)

Huge thanks to my wonderful friend @whenyourfavouritedies (link to their AO3 here!) for beta reading.

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He’d had a good run, Cody thinks to himself as he faces down the adversary in front of him. Perhaps he could avoid the mortal embarrassment of defeat by defenestrating himself from the nearest window - at least then his death could be ruled as a bizarre, impulsive moment of pure lunacy rather than the alternative of being done in entirely by the man in front of him.

… The man in front of him who evidently seems to be expecting a response to his words.

Cody, the Marshal Commander of the 212th who has spoken in front of the Council multiple times, who’s renowned throughout the GAR for his prowess at quick-thinking and strategy, desperately tries to muster something. Gingerly, he collects the shattered pieces of his brain from the floor, and attempts to produce something coherent with them.

“... Oh,” he manages, trying to not let his words come out as strangled as it feels like they could in this moment. “Right.”

As it turns out, those two words alone are insufficient, at least judging by Obi-Wan’s look of pure bewilderment. The Jedi tilts his head a little, studying the clone before him.

“Is everything alright, Cody?” he asks tentatively, before glancing back to the mission briefing on his datapad. Cody’s eyes remain glued to one word in particular, practically glaring at him from the harshly backlit screen of the tablet.

He can feel a headache coming on.

“If it’s too much, Anakin has offered to spare Rex, but to be perfectly honest–��

Absolutely not. The only thing Cody can think of that would be worse than going on this mission at all would be someone else going in his place.

“-- I’d rather avoid a repeat of what happened on Corellia, if at all possible,” Obi-Wan murmurs, stroking a hand over his beard. He frowns slightly at the memory, and Cody files the subject away to ask about later, though for the moment he has far more pressing matters to address.

“Right,” Cody repeats, before finally remembering that he does, in fact, know how to string words into a sentence. His eyes snap up from the datapad, meeting his General’s gaze. Discomfort claws its way through his body, constricting his throat a little when he tries to gather himself. “Yes, sir. I’m just wondering, about the aliases-”

Obi-Wan huffs, clearly having his own strong opinion on whatever he thinks Cody is about to say. “Yes, well, I appreciate that the backstories aren’t as detailed as they could be. I did mention it, but the Council did what they could on such short notice.”

“Of course. I’m just wondering if we have to be–”

“Really, it’s a miracle that they even had anything planned, knowing them.”

“-- Married?”

Obi-Wan blinks, and a long silence stretches between the two men. He studies Cody’s face again for a moment, before he looks back down at the datapad, his brow furrowed slightly as if he’s only just considering the implications of the mission for the first time.

Cody stands, steady as ever, though behind his back his fingers twitch anxiously. From the Jedi's telling, it’s going to be a fairly quick undercover stint - a handful of days at most. They’ll be staying at a hotel-slash-resort out in a neutral system, where they’ve been tipped off that a handful of Separatists are meeting for a business deal that could debilitate the Republic if it goes off smoothly.

A tad dramatic, perhaps, but when intel like that is received, the Jedi have to ensure that the call to action is answered. And who better to answer it with than one of their best?

Unfortunately for Cody, the Jedi’s best has a penchant for dragging him along, too.

This type of mission might be incredibly rote for the General, but for Cody, it’s… An intimidating prospect. He’s a soldier, a strategist - a damned good one at that, there’s a reason he’s been given the position of Commander - if there’s one thing he is decidedly not, however, it's an actor.

It’s likely that the more experienced man hadn’t even given Cody’s involvement a second thought - they’re by each other’s side on most battlefields, after all… This arena, though, is an untrodden one. After some consideration, Obi-Wan quirks a brow and looks back up at his Commander.

“You’re aware that we wouldn’t actually be signing any legal documents for the sake of the mission?” he queries, as if that were at all the issue Cody is having here. Stars, but does this man like to play dense sometimes.

“... That’s not the point, sir.”

“Then what is? Do you not think I would make a fine husband? My dear Commander, you wound me.”

Cody has the quiet suspicion that if anyone had the fortune to wed his General (not that the Jedi were even allowed such things), they would find themselves spending a considerable portion of the rest of their lives having to put up with his unfortunate sense of humour.

As it happens, Cody is the one who’s taking the burden for that responsibility at current. It’s been slowly driving him up the wall for the better part of the war effort.

“I’m sure you would make a good–” no, that’s not appropriate, “a fine–” he stops short, glowering at the amused smirk that has plastered itself on his General’s face. Obi-Wan seems to be garnering a little too much delight in causing him to stammer like a schoolchild, the victorious glint in his eye evident. Cody shakes his head, persisting despite the flush that he’s sure has appeared on his cheeks. “... You know what I mean.”

Much to Cody’s relief, Obi-Wan takes mercy on him and drops the subject. He glances back down to the datapad with a thoughtful hum, his expression returning to something a little more dignified.

“It was ultimately a logistical choice. We would be sharing a room in the hotel, regardless, and the cover makes it considerably less likely that people would raise questions.” A pause, and then the Jedi’s voice turns a little more gentle. “If it would truly make you uncomfortable, Cody, then we can come up with an alternative.”

Cody finds himself shaking his head before he even has time to think it through properly. It’s… Fine. He’s fine. The thought of pretending to be Obi-Wan’s… husband, makes something strange curl in his gut, a sense of tightness and discomfort that he can’t quite identify.

He pushes the feeling away, telling himself that all it is is feeling unsure about going undercover in general - it will be, after all, his first time doing so for more than a few minutes at a time. He’s bluffed to get past guards and to stall enemies, they all have, but he’s practically a shiny in this territory. It makes sense that he’d have some nerves.

“No, I… I’ll take the mission, General. I was just…” he hesitates. He was just what exactly? Cody isn’t entirely certain. “I’ll just need some time to look over the aliases, to prepare. Being undercover is… Not my usual wheelhouse.”

That’s putting it lightly.

“If you’re certain?”

Cody holds the Jedi’s earnest gaze for as long as he can muster with this odd sensation sloshing around in his stomach. He manages a nod, moving to take the datapad from the other man as they prepare to move onto other matters for the morning.

“Yes, sir.”

______________________________

The night before the mission rolls around, Cody finds himself still awake far too late into the night. He’s at his desk, poring over multiple tabs of research, and Stars, there’s still so much to cover before they’re set to leave.

He’s… what is it that an actor would call it? ‘Studying’ the fictional man that is Vidarr Emerin, a wealthy investor who’s gained a frankly ridiculous amount of credits from backing a series of Spice mining projects on Kessel. Vidarr isn’t actually involved in the day to day operations of the creation of the drug directly (and thank the Force for that, because Cody couldn’t realistically describe the process if there was a blaster to his head), though he has his fingers in many metaphorical pies of Kessel’s ‘industry’, if one can call it that.

Vidarr is ruthlessly efficient, cutthroat, and has more money invested in the black market than Cody has ever seen in his entire life.

His favourite colour, the document notes, is brown.

They’re hoping that, due to the planet they’re travelling to not having seen hide nor hair of the war as of yet, Cody can blend in as a regular human without issue. If he were to be clocked as a clone however, he and Obi-Wan have come up with a story that fits. A benefit of their cover is that if any clone were to defect from the GAR, Kessel would likely be a decent option for them to run to, due to its relative distance from the war and the objective difficulty in getting to the planet. It would be easier if he didn’t have to out himself, but it never hurts to be prepared.

The Commander is about three cafs into his nighttime research, and is showing no sign of slowing, currently skimming through a holonet article about Kessel’s southern equator. He’s trying to take notes on as many details as possible about the habitable section of the planet: the names of local wildlife, parks, various points of interest… It’s unlikely that anyone would want to talk to him about the geography of the local rivers, admittedly, but what if he’s caught out unexpectedly?

No, Cody reasons to himself, taking another gulp of caf. Not worth the risk. He’ll just have to memorise the relative locations of every tributary and estuary in the local area that Vidarr is from. It’s the only way he can walk into this prepared.

It’s even later when his chrono beeps at him for attention. His eyes have been struggling to focus on the various screens for too long to ignore, and Cody’s attention turns to the empty notepad page to his right. The one that’s been staring him down all evening.

He narrows his eyes at it, sizing the offending object up. One moment passes, then another. The man groans, running a tired hand over his face and silencing his alarm. He may as well get this over with.

He returns his datapad to the page about their aliases, scrolling until he hits the ‘marriage and relationship’ section. Cody pulls the notepad over, reluctantly beginning to scribble down some bullet points.

Renne Emerin, née Cardall, met Vidarr at a soiree attended by a handful of various small-time investors for the Pyke Syndicate, and the two began courting not long after. Three years into their relationship, they got engaged. A further year, and the two were married. This little trip together is a celebration for their second wedding anniversary.

They have a bonded pair of tookas. They’re considering adopting a child. They’re a regular, normal couple in love.

Cody turns off the datapad, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

For the life of him, he doesn’t know why he feels such a mental block in regards to… all of this. Obi-Wan had been incredibly accommodating - between them, they’d laid out expectations, negotiated how they were going to approach this, and the Jedi had promised to not push too hard in the name of making a good cover (though Cody had insisted he not hold back on his account - he’d be damned if his own incompetence compromised a mission).

And yet… The anxious feeling persists. It’s subtler now at least, having spent the last week preparing and researching, but it remains under his skin, simmering away.

It worsens when he thinks of the marriage they’ll have to upkeep.

His chrono beeps a second time, a harsh, needy trill that tells him he really ought to be getting to bed now. Cody grumbles to himself, turning the blasted alarm off again, before finally flopping down in his bed and flicking off the light to his room.

It’ll be fine, he thinks wearily, forcing himself to take a deep breath and settle his mind.

If there’s one thing he trusts implicitly in this Galaxy, it’s that Obi-Wan will have his back. Discomfort be damned, they’ll get through this in one piece. Soon enough, this’ll just be a funny story to tell when sufficiently drunk.

Clinging onto that thought like it holds the last vestiges of his sanity, Cody drifts into a fitful but desperately needed sleep.

______________________________

The Commander wakes early, exactly as he was trained. A fast shower, an efficient shave, and his bed made neatly behind him as he dresses.

At 0600 hours exactly, he leaves his quarters, fully clad in his newly issued armour - shiny, pristine, bright white plastoid that catches in the harsh, fluorescent lighting lining the hallways of the Venator. He is precisely as he should be: the perfect example of what the Kaminoans created.

When he reaches the briefing room, he raps his gloved knuckles against the door once, twice. Cody feels confident as he waits - every single choice he makes matters today, and a good first impression is vital. Yes, he thinks, mulling it over in his mind: a single knock would have been insufficient, and three would be bordering on informal. Two was the right answer, Commander. Good work.

It takes precisely six seconds for the door to slide open, revealing the Jedi he had met briefly before in holocalls, though never face to face. The Jedi he’s going to dedicate his life to.

Auburn hair catches the light, and clean, cream coloured robes settle tidily about his form. Curious eyes settle on him, inspecting the clone likely as much as the clone is analysing the Jedi. Cody is quietly grateful for his helmet giving him the tactical upper hand in this endeavour.

The blue of the Jedi’s eyes reminds him of the Kaminoan ocean, though he’s unsure whether or not that association is a good or a bad one. The man in front of him looks methodically put together, neat and organised, as a member of the famed Jetii should be… Perhaps a little tired, though, as the faint bags under his eyes might indicate.

Cody decides it doesn’t matter. It’s surely just a sign of his new General’s commitment to his work ethic that he would stay up late to prepare for today. Something they’ll have in common, then.

The Commander’s back is, naturally, ramrod-straight as he salutes sharply, his voice strong and even as he speaks.

“CC-2224, sir. Ready for our briefing.” He knows the Jedi should have remembered his designation number from their fleeting introductions over holocall, but it never hurts to be cautious. The man has a lot to familiarise himself with over the coming days, after all. It wouldn’t be a slight if it took him a while to remember something so small.

General Kenobi pauses at that, before offering a small, if hesitant smile. It doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Of course.” He steps aside, allowing the clone entry into the meeting room. It’s a tidy, organised space, yet something about it is almost eerie in its quietude. Cody’s eyes sweep over neat stacks of datapads and consoles with no fingerprints yet on their keyboards, no dust yet accumulated on the cables filling the room. A tactical space, ready to handle and catalogue so much violence and death - years of it, more.

And yet it is, at present, still and empty. Lying in eager wait for the blood to start spilling, to see the use it has been designed for. Today, the Commander supposes, is the day.

The General sweeps through the room, posture so exact that it almost makes him look as if he’s gliding rather than walking. He sets up the holotable at the centre of the room, watching as the agenda for the day flickers into being, a list nearly a mile long. General Kenobi scans over the file with a quiet sigh, before he glances over to meet the other man’s gaze.

“Would you care for a cup of caf? I quite find I struggle to focus so early on in the day.”

The Jedi’s voice is gentle, softened at the edges with tiredness - not at all the tone the soldier is used to from authority. Cody frowns to himself. And he’s… Offering him caf. Not an order or command. An unexpected start to their working relationship.

Part of him can’t help but think it could be a trap. A test of how much he’d be willing to take from him, perhaps. A measure of his discipline?

Kenobi looks progressively more awkward as time presses on. He speaks up again, evidently trying to search for any hint of emotion in the clone’s expressionless helmet and drawing a blank.

“Or… Tea?” he tries, tilting his head a little. “I can make tea instead, if that’s more to your liking.”

The Commander hesitates, trying to figure out the right answer to this puzzle in front of him. Would it offend the General if he said no? Could he say no, if he wanted to? How much of a choice does he get here?

Regardless, he can tell his prolonged silence is unnerving his new General, and the last thing he wants is to make a bad impression.

“Caf… Caf is fine, sir. Thank you.”

That, at least, seems to placate the Jedi. He smiles, a little more sincerely this time, before disappearing off to the corner of the room and busying himself with making some drinks.

Cody takes the opportunity to get a headstart on the agenda for their first day, looking over the list at the holotable with a critical eye. There’s much to do, and he’s anxious to get to it and prove himself.

“Right,” Kenobi begins as he returns, passing a steaming mug to Cody before sipping at his own. “Let us get started, hm?”

The briefing is quick, and efficient. They move through all the matters of the day - introductory training with the men, preparations to oversee supply requisitioning, and early drafts of strategy for the 212th’s first upcoming mission in the field together.

The caf is nicer than he expected.

“Before we go, Commander,” Kenobi says as the two turn to leave for the first training, his tone thoughtful. He looks to the clone in front of him, folding his hands into the sleeves of his robes. “I was wondering if I could have your name.”

… What?

“My… Designation number, sir?” He asks, with a little uncertainty. The Jedi’s mouth twitches - not quite a frown, but something close to it. He attempts to disguise it by passing a hand over his beard. Cody tenses instinctively.

“No, you greeted me with that when you first came in,” he reminds him, voice gentle. “I meant your name. Your actual one.”

CC-2224 glitches.

He’s not sure how long he just stares at the General, but it’s long enough to prompt Kenobi to speak again.

“... If that would be alright?”

No, no it would be decidedly not alright. This is against everything the Commander was expecting, everything he’s spent his whole life preparing for. He’s almost indignant at the impropriety. As he continues to hesitate, a flash of something like worry flashes across Obi-Wan’s face, followed by a sheepishness unbefitting of someone of his station.

He raises his hand, cutting off Cody as he finally opens his mouth to answer.

“No, no, I apologise, Commander,” he says quickly, sounding a little ashamed. “Names are… important to your brothers, aren’t they?”

At Cody’s stupefied nod, he continues on.

“I should not have asked something so personal of you,” the Jedi murmurs, bowing his head briefly in apology. “Forgive me.”

The Commander doesn’t quite know what to do with that. A brief mumble of ‘it’s alright, sir’, and an evening spent puzzling out who, exactly, his new General is, will have to do.

That night, Cody finds himself staring up at the ceiling as he tries to find sleep.

Perhaps the Kaminoans were wrong about the Jetii. About what would be expected of them. But then, if that’s true, then what else were they wrong about?

It’s an unnerving thought, and it’s one that plagues him for the coming weeks.

______________________________

In the half-light of the ship’s artificial morning, Cody stares down his reflection in the mirror, wrinkling his nose slightly as he tugs a battle-worn comb through his hair, gently teasing the curls apart. He glances back down to the holonet vid he found, the projector balancing precariously on the edge of the sink. Making a swiping gesture in the air with his free hand, he winds back the video yet another time. The helpful, yet slightly too-fast-speaking Kiffar woman in the vid enthusiastically explains how to loosen one’s curl pattern, and Cody repeats the actions she demonstrates, his brow knitting together unconsciously as he focuses.

The 212th doesn’t exactly have access to the myriad of supplies the vid-blogger eagerly shows the camera, but Cody’s scoured the supply shipments to source some decent enough conditioner - combined with the comb with a handful of missing teeth that he’d uncovered earlier in his room, they’ll have to do. The steam from the shower he’d taken minutes earlier permeates the room, and Cody has to pause in his delicate work every few minutes to wipe down the mirror.

He continues working methodically from the ends of the strands up to his scalp, becoming progressively less clumsy with the action as he goes. It’s strangely meditative, though it helps that his attention on this is effectively holding off the nervousness that the mission ahead of him today brings.

By the time he finishes up, the Commander just… stares at himself for a long moment, noting the unfamiliar sensation of his still-damp hair falling a short way across his face. It’ll need to be slicked back, certainly, but it looks… Fine. Not like him, though. Not at all.

It’s a funny thing, that sensation that other sentients would refer to as not recognising yourself in the mirror. When your face is the same as millions of others, it’s more like seeing another one of the vode. One with that same scar across the temple and with considerably less sternness about adhering to the GAR’s hair-length regs, clearly.

Cody sighs, gesturing to power down the holoprojector, finishing towelling himself off and finally heading out of the ‘fresher to get ready for the day. Regardless of his feelings on the subject, it’ll help him blend in better as a deserter, so longer hair it is.

Longer hair and an almost merc-like uniform, according to the tailored cloak and boots that wait for him in his room. Cody grimaces.

He just hopes that if Waxer or Boil see him, they’ll keep their mouths shut.

By some mercy of the fates, he’s able to steal through the Venator and make it up to the docking bays without catching the eye of any of his men (mostly, at least; he’d brushed past Helix outside the medbay but the medic hadn’t even looked up from his work).

He jogs up the ramp to the ship to join his Jedi - already waiting for him and re-reading today’s mission details with a mug in hand, of course.

Cody spots the second mug of caf that Obi-Wan had prepared sitting over on one of the consoles and beelines for it, already knowing he’ll be needing all the stimulants he can get his hands on to feel at all ready for today.

“Ah, Commander, I was wondering when you were going to–” Obi-Wan starts, but the comment dies on his tongue. Cody glances over to see his normally so eloquent General taking a moment before finishing his sentence, his friend’s gaze flicking briefly over his appearance. The Commander raises a questioning brow, and Obi-Wan clears his throat quietly, before offering Cody a slightly short nod.

“... When you were going to arrive.” His eyes linger for a moment, uncharacteristically unsure of himself, before he turns away, busying himself by inputting the coordinates into the console. “The hair suits you, by the way.”

Cody feels strangely warm at the compliment, self-consciously reaching up to push back some of the strands.

“I’ve written up some of the boys for shorter,” he comments dryly, stepping up alongside the Jedi and taking a sip of his caf. Obi-Wan snorts in quiet amusement, giving him a sidelong glance.

“I’m sure.”

A calm silence briefly blankets them as the ship’s autopilot gets them away from the Venator and into the familiar black ocean of space, and Cody feels some of his tension ease. Of course it feels normal. He was a fool to think that this would feel any different to their usual missions.

His eyes idly track the various indicators that display the wellbeing of the ship as he exhales slowly, lips curling up into something more reminiscent of a grimace than a smile - but nonetheless, he tries.

“You feeling ready for this?” he asks, feeling selfishly a little comforted by the thoughtful hum he gets in response. That’s a ‘not quite’ from the Jedi, and it at least means they’ll be walking into this together with some uncertainty. Cody hates feeling like he’s on the back foot.

“You can never be too ready for an undercover mission,” Obi-Wan says evenly, staring out ahead of them as the ship prepares to enter hyperspace. His fingers tap idly against his mug. “It always comes down to improvisation. A slip of the tongue here, an unexpected question there,” he murmurs. Catching Cody’s eye, the ghost of a smirk flits across his features. “... Not to worry you, of course.”

“Mm, right. You’d never do anything to cause me worry,” Cody quips, settling down into the pilot chair and buckling himself in. Obi-Wan follows suit, nodding serenely.

“It definitely hasn’t happened before, no.”

The trip through hyperspace is largely uneventful, the two falling into a companionable silence. As his thoughts stray to the mission ahead a little way into the flight, Cody realises his mind must feel a little frayed through the Force, because Obi-Wan turns to give him the look.

‘The Look’ is something scrutinising that happens whenever the Commander hasn’t quite managed to maintain his mental shields enough to conceal his emotions in a time of stress - the Jedi Order had, en masse, taught the vode how to do it in the early days of their partnership, in the interest of maintaining privacy for the troops, and as a gesture of goodwill. Cody does it well, for the most part, though it’s harder for him with Obi-Wan than with others, he finds. The man always seems to be able to see right through him.

“You’re still anxious.” It’s more of a statement than a question, and Cody wishes, not for the first time, that the General wouldn’t draw attention to his vulnerability like this. He levels Obi-Wan with a frustrated look of his own, brows knitting into a frown.

“It’s fine,” he insists. Obi-Wan looks at him flatly. Cody relents immediately, knowing that it’s useless trying to lie to any Jedi, but especially this one in particular.

He course corrects.

“It’ll be fine once we’re actually in the thick of it. It’s…” he grimaces, shaking his head slightly. “It’s the unknown of it all. At least if it’s a firefight, you can face down the enemy with a rifle.”

Obi-Wan reaches out to gently squeeze his Commander’s shoulder. The action soothes, the familiar warmth of his hand providing an anchor point of calm. “You’ll be wonderful. If I didn’t have full faith in you, I wouldn’t have asked you to join me,” he says, sincerely.

“Besides,” Obi-Wan adds, a playful glint in his eye, “if it all goes sideways, then you can happily be in your comfort zone while we blast our way out.”

A huff of amusement escapes Cody as he rolls his eyes, reaching up to cover the hand that remains on his shoulder.

“My comfort zone of keeping you from getting yourself impaled or shot? Yes, I’m unfortunately very familiar,” he mutters, exasperated yet fond.

Obi-Wan tips his head back and laughs.

______________________________

The first time he hears Obi-Wan laugh - properly laugh, not that wry chuckle he occasionally hears during briefings - it’s also the first time they’ve stayed up late together to finish up on paperwork in his quarters. Cody has been regaling him with a tale from his youth on Kamino, relating to a particularly memorable incident involving Wooley, Boil, and a few mouse droids, and Obi-Wan laughs, eyes creasing at the corners and shoulders shaking with mirth.

At this time, it’s been about six weeks since the battalion’s first deployment in the war. The group is beginning to feel less like a random selection of soldiers and more like many parts of a functioning whole. Most notably, a handful of the men have recently started on their armour decoration. After much debate back and forth about the colour they should choose to accurately represent the battalion, Crys organised a (debatably) official vote in the mess hall with swatches of the strongest contenders.

The General had politely abstained over lunch, telling the vode that it wasn’t his place to influence their choices on such matters. Waxer indignantly declared such a position as ‘fence-sitting’, and Cody had sharply warned the young trooper that if he were to accuse High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi of centrist tendencies again, it would be KP duty for a month.

The vote had come out strongly in favour of a colour they’d henceforth started referring to as ‘212th gold’ - a handsome shade that glowed like the sun when caught by natural light. As his duty dictates him to show the way for his men, the Commander was among the first to adopt it, beginning with the sunburst on his chestplate. It felt right, even with those first brushstrokes, to be able to claim something as truly theirs. Cody hopes that one day, 212th gold will represent a spark of hope across the Galaxy. A mark made entirely in their name.

A little romantic of a thought, perhaps, but it brings him a spark of pride whenever he sees the newest shinies brought in, eager to earn the paint stripes they see displayed by those in command.

In these last six weeks, a considerable amount has changed for the men, and it’s been a lot of adjustment. Both Obi-Wan and the vode serving under him have had to figure out how to adapt, to work alongside each other effectively. The General is kinder, more human than the Kaminoans had warned he’d be - he watches out for them on battlefields, mourns alongside them when their brothers are lost… in turn, the vode are beginning to slowly open up, too, starting to share parts of their culture with the Jedi.

He’s even been learning to speak Mando’a, though Cody is privately grateful that he’s been able to warn the boys ahead of time to watch their tongues when the General is floating around. They mean well, but he knows what they can be like if they think no one can understand them… The last thing he wants is to have to deal with writing up half of his troops for discussing too liberally what happened during their most recent trip to 79’s.

Once Obi-Wan gathers himself again, he looks over at Cody with a thoughtful glance, his expression softened with a grin.

“It doesn’t sound altogether too dissimilar to the way we were raised in the temple, you know,” he says, “... mischief and all.”

Cody watches him from his position sat on the edge of his bed. He thinks the relaxed, genuine smile suits the other man greatly. He privately hopes he’ll get to see it again after tonight.

The Jedi hums to himself, before adopting a fond, faraway look. “All younglings can be particularly trying in large numbers, regardless of origin,” he continues, “I do not envy the crechèmasters for the duty they have to perform.”

Cody’s interest is piqued at that. The datapad in his hand is ignored for a moment, attention turned fully to the man sitting at his desk.

“You were raised communally?”

Obi-Wan nods, pausing briefly to make an amendment to the report in front of him, slender fingers moving quickly across the screen. Stars, Cody thinks to himself with a little annoyance, the man can even make paperwork look elegant.

“Yes. Well, from a certain age at least. I was brought to the Temple around age 4,” he explains. His eyes are still a little distant, lost in the memory of a happier time. “I still have a deep fondness for my crèchemates, despite… Differing opinions with a handful of them.”

Cody nods slowly, studying the Jedi for a beat.

“I get that, General,” he says, returning his attention to his datapad. “I’m the same with my batchmates. I just… Might have had more of them than you.”

“An understatement I’m sure, Commander,” Obi-Wan chuckles, before his tone turns softer, more sincere. He glances over at Cody, choosing his next words carefully.

“It seems like… A wonderful thing, the family you and the rest of the vode share.” He gives Cody a small smile, though there’s something else to it, a heaviness that settles behind his expression. “... It’s a shame that such a thing was created for the unworthy purpose of war. I can only hope that once the fighting is done, you’ll be able to thrive as all other sentients do.”

The two lapse into silence for a little while, the only sound filling the room the soft tapping of keys. Obi-Wan has spoken a little about his feelings on the war over the last handful of weeks, and to be truthful, it’s not a subject that Cody trusts himself to speak about. Neither the 212th, nor Cody himself for that matter, have been deployed for very long, and the clone doesn’t quite understand all of the weight behind his General’s words. Perhaps he will come to, in time… for better or worse.

Cody has reckoned with his own adjustments in the past few weeks. He’s found himself relaxing considerably around Obi-Wan, no longer feeling the burning need to watch himself as if his General is considering decommissioning him if he puts a foot wrong. He didn’t particularly know her, but from what the other vode say, Shaak Ti was similar back on Kamino.

It took a week and one mission in the field before Cody decided that the Jetii were not the dictators they’d expected. A further week and he was convinced they had no choice in this whole matter either, and were evidently suffering for it. Like a good Commander, he'd kept those observations to himself.

As soon as he’d allowed himself to be… Well, human, around the Jedi, he and Obi-Wan had started to become closer. Cody isn’t particularly adept at it yet, but if he finds himself arriving early to their morning briefings, he’s started making the General his tea in the way he likes it. It’s something small, but judging by the way Obi-Wan’s eyes had widened the first time he’d done it, a pleased smile crossing his face, it’s something that seemed to mean a lot to him.

They’ve become… Friends, or something approaching that, at least. It’s a thought that has him steeling himself to speak now, clearing his throat in the quiet space.

“... Cody,” he says, forcing the word to come out casually. Obi-Wan glances up again with a raised brow, a questioning look in his eyes. Cody finds it in himself to meet his General’s gaze, offering an affirmative nod. “You, uh… asked me for my chosen name, when we first met,” he explains quietly, ignoring the way his stomach wants to twist as he holds out this olive branch of trust, “it’s Cody.”

Obi-Wan’s expression goes from confusion, to surprise, to something incredibly warm.

“Cody,” he repeats softly, as if testing out the sound of it on his tongue, before giving an approving nod. A smile remains on his face even as he returns to his work. “Thank you, Cody,” he murmurs, keeping his eyes carefully trained on the datapad at his desk. The Commander is grateful for it - he feels as if the vulnerability of further eye contact might make him combust right now. “It’s a fine name. I’m honoured to know it.”

If Cody feels his heart react to the softness of his Jedi’s tone in that moment, he doesn’t mention it.

______________________________

“Mister and Mister Emerin?”

Obi-Wan and Cody share a glance at the call across the docking bays. They’ve barely been parked for a minute, and they’re already out of time.

“I suppose that’s us,” Cody says with a heavy sigh, rolling his shoulders slightly. He looks at Obi-Wan, tilting his head with a silent question of ‘ready?’ and the Jedi nods, bringing the last of the bags with him down the gangway of the ship.

A tall, pale Nautolan woman with a checklist in hand approaches, teeth flashing a perfect, artificially white smile as Obi-Wan steps forwards to shake her hand.

“Charmed,” he drawls in a smooth, Outer Rim accent, his voice low with lazily drawn out syllables - a stark contrast to the sharp, crisp Coruscanti voice that Cody’s used to hearing. Beside the Jedi, he forces on a smile.

“You’re here to check us in?” he says, hoping that his voice comes across not nearly as unsure and out of place as he feels. The Nautolan nods, making a scribble on the flimsi paper she’s carrying, pocketing it and taking the bags from the two of them without asking.

“Here, I’ll get these for you and show you to the main building. Is this your first time staying with us?”

The woman chatters away to them as they make the walk from the docking bays to the resort itself. Obi-Wan is as content to make conversation as Cody is to let him. The clone hangs back a little, taking in the planet around him. Brilliant light beams down on the building ahead, even as it nears the start of sundown, making him squint a little. It’s…

Excessive is the primary word that comes to mind.

The docking bays themselves are massive, on an elevated platform above a calm looking ocean of tropical blue. The bridge they’re now on connects to a few perfectly sculpted beaches that are teeming with people even at this hour, and more pressingly, a building the size of the damn Senate. Cody’s far from an expert on architecture, but it’s clearly a recent build - large windows and extravagant relief work carved into the stone of the imposing structure, of various people or mythological beings that Cody imagines he probably should recognise but doesn’t.

It all seems to be purpose-built with the intention of making the space feel welcoming to those in a certain tax bracket.

Cody is undeniably not part of that tax bracket.

This area of the planet itself has almost definitely gone through some extensive terraforming by the looks of things, and he feels a little dizzy as he imagines the cost - coming from a corporation, no less. Part of the background provided for this mission detailed that Miphena, the planet they’re standing on, is essentially owned by the resort managers with no government to speak of. To call it ‘bleak’ would be underselling it.

They’re ushered inside by the woman with the increasingly grating customer service voice, brought through a pristine foyer tiled with marble underfoot. Cody is sure to make a mental note of that - that’s very slippery when covered in blood, so if they’re having to fight their way out, they should find another point of exit than this one.

He continues to sweep the rest of the room with an analytical eye. The main desk could be used as cover in a pinch, though it’s not in a particularly tactical location - the presence of stairs, an elevator, and double-doors through to the main events hall makes this an undesirable position to have to defend with too many points of ambush.

… Granted, it’s exceedingly unlikely they’ll be forced to stage a firefight here, but it can’t hurt to be prepared.

The receptionist leads them up to the seventh floor (with a lot of small-talk in the elevator that feels entirely unnecessary), hands them their keys for the room, drops their bags off and thanks the two profusely for their custom before leaving them alone once more. Obi-Wan and Cody share a glance, and the former smirks.

“After you, darling husband,” Obi-Wan says easily with a flourishing bow, still holding onto the accent despite the fact it’s just the two of them. The amused gleam in the Jedi’s eye only gets stronger as Cody rolls his eyes, pushing past him to enter into the room.

Much like the exterior of the hotel, it’s certainly extravagant. A large bed takes up most of the space, crisp white sheets with elaborate gold embroidery detailing the edges, and a plush red carpet beneath it. Every surface has some form of decoration, a vase of fake flowers here, a small metal sculpture there. A fairly incomprehensible piece of abstract art hangs above the bed, though what it’s intended to represent is entirely lost on Cody.

The two share another glance, silently communicating with one another, and get to work searching the room for any listening devices.

Cody heads directly for the mirror, carefully unhooking it from the wall to see if the garish item is the result of the need to obscure a bug of some kind, or if it’s just the result of terrible taste.

Hm. Terrible taste it is.

Once they both signal the all-clear, Obi-Wan relaxes a little, setting both of their bags down on the bed.

“Well,” he says mildly, glancing around with a disapproving gaze. “It’s certainly expensive.”

Cody snorts, following his eyeline. “Just how much did the Republic spend to send us here?”

Obi-Wan peers closely at the strange painting, letting out a soft hum. “I shudder to think.” He pauses as Cody wanders over to check out the balcony. “This surely can’t be an original work,” he mutters to himself, passing a hand over his beard and frowning in thought.

Cody can’t help but glance back with a raised brow.

“... Sir,” he says, and the Jedi interrupts him with a wave of his hand, still narrowing his eyes at the artwork.

“It’s Obi-Wan when we’re alone, Cody, you know that.”

“Obi-Wan,” he starts again, amused. “Please tell me you’re not critiquing the art–”

“If it’s there, it should be there with purpose. This is soulless. It’s nothing-”

“In a resort, Obi-Wan.”

The Jedi lets out a rather contemptuous scoff, before drawing back to meet Cody’s gaze. He folds his arms, shaking his head in faux disappointment. “If you’re not the type to appreciate a critique of art, my dear, then whyever did I marry you in the first place?”

Cody lets out a long suffering sigh, not missing a beat. “I ask myself the same thing every day, darling, believe me.”

That draws a laugh from his Jedi. Cody steps out to the balcony proper as Obi-Wan begins to unpack his bag.

The sun is drawing lower on the horizon now, painting the sky in picturesque golds and oranges as people slowly move in from the beach - a steady stream of holiday-goers and families making their way back to the hotel for the evening. Cody idly watches them, leaning out over the railing as he takes in the myriad of species, genders, and ages of the people who’ve come here for an escape. One thing seems to bind them all together despite the differences - that distinct aura of wealth that seems to permeate the very air here.

He can’t really put his finger on what it is. The way they carry themselves, maybe? The sea of perfect skin and hair, the precision in which they choose to dress… It’s all fairly alien to the Commander. None of it really feels real in the way that people tend to be. Give him the flawed mess of the Lower Levels any day.

“I’m going to go for a little wander,” Obi-Wan calls through from the bedroom. “Get the lay of the land, so to speak.”

Cody turns, stepping back into the lavish room and stretching slightly. He sighs as he feels a pleasant ache in his muscles.

“I’ll probably stay in,” he yawns, “get an early night. Didn’t sleep well last rotation, and I’d prefer to feel rested for tomorrow.”

Even though he technically hasn’t been awake for all that long, Cody figures it’d be best to get started on adjusting to local time as quickly as possible. They’ll need to be up at dawn, regardless of if they’re ready for it. The Jedi hums in response, slipping on his cloak and heading to the door.

“That sounds wise. I’ll try not to return too late - if you’re already asleep, I shall endeavour to join you as quietly as possible.” His gaze falls to where Cody stands, offering a small smile. “Feel free to claim either side of the bed. Comms are on, I’ll see you in a little while.”

With that, he’s disappeared off into the night, leaving Cody with the question of whether or not he should take the floor tonight dying on his tongue.

He blinks, a little stupidly, after the now closed door. It’s as if there wasn’t even a question of whether they would be sharing the bed in the Jedi’s mind. Which… Cody supposes there shouldn’t be, really.

He and Obi-Wan have shared tents before in the field countless times, slept closely on the ground when there hasn’t been space in various quarters they’ve been given. Hells, during a mission on Mygeeto two months ago, he’d had no qualms with combining their bedrolls together for warmth.

A real bed just… feels different. Cody isn’t quite sure why.

He gives a wary sidelong glance to the offending furniture, as if expecting it to bite him. The bed, for its part, stares back at him unblinkingly, its exorbitant number of pillows providing more fuel for Cody’s growing resentment of the damn thing.

The Commander shakes his head. He’s being ridiculous. With a sigh and a mental slap upside the head, he unpacks his own bag, glancing out every now and again to the progressing sunset as he changes into his sleepclothes.

He’s almost loath to admit it, but the view is gorgeous. The twin moons slowly rise into the sky, basking the ocean in an ethereal glow. If it weren’t for the fact that he can still hear tourists partying outside, he could be tricked into actually enjoying this.

Cody sets aside the outfits he’ll need for tomorrow - something casual for the day, and something more formal for a party that’ll be occurring in the evening - before putting his suitcase down on top of Obi-Wan’s, near the door.

Sinking down into bed, he’s further frustrated to find out how comfortable it feels, reluctantly admitting to himself that perhaps the richest of the rich in the galaxy do get some things right every now and again. Rarely.

He lets out a deep exhale, pleased to find that his mind feels considerably more settled now that they’re actually here at the mission location, a little more peaceful.

It’s a relief, to be certain - Cody doesn’t really know who he is if not for the calm, collected strategist that always has an answer. His lack of certainty as of late has been… Disquieting, to say the least.

He grasps the feeling of quietude with both hands, allowing it to pull him into the alluring drift of near-sleep.

He stirs a little when he hears Obi-Wan return, the door clicking closed ever so gently. The Jedi seems to be true to his word in keeping his movements as soundless as possible-

Well, that is at least until he takes a step further into the dark room and walks directly into the suitcases in front of him, letting out a hiss of pain.

Cody can’t quite conceal his ensuing huff of amusement. Obi-Wan seems decidedly less pleased, grumbling something under his breath.

The other man pads over to the other side of the bed, and Cody hears the distinctive rustle of clothes being removed. He lets out a slow breath, ensuring to stay stock still, facing the other way. Not that he could really see what was going on even if he did roll over, but…

“Sorry. I tried.” Obi-Wan’s whisper cuts through the darkness, genuine regret in his tone.

“You’re fine. Is your foot alright?”

The Jedi huffs. “Mortally wounded, I’m afraid. Amputation likely.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

The bed dips gently behind him as Obi-Wan gets in. Cody is suddenly very grateful that everything in this hotel is oversized - it at least means they can do this without threat of the two being close enough to touch. For one long moment, he’s hyper-aware of every shift, every slight movement from his Jedi, before he forces his eyes to close.

It all falls quiet after that, apart from the gentle sound of even breaths behind him. Cody unconsciously finds himself matching them, slow inhales and exhales that serve to soothe his suddenly racing heart. He tries not to think too hard about why his heart might be racing.

Cody swallows. Thank the stars he knows how to shield, because he has no idea what Obi-Wan would say if he could sense this… Whatever it is that’s gotten into him.

With a long exhale, he uses what his General had once taught him of meditation technique to forcibly quieten his mind. He’s not allowing himself to do this. Not again.

To his immense gratitude, with a little effort (and time spent visualising the movement of the ocean outside), the calm of earlier finds its way to him once again, soothing his mind and slowing his breaths to match that of the lapping water.

As he finds himself on the precipice of sleep once more, he hears a quiet murmur from the other side of the bed.

“Goodnight, Cody.”

Cody pulls the covers up a little tighter to himself, yawning as he does so. It takes him a moment to find his voice, and when he does, it’s uncharacteristically quiet.

“Sleep well, Obi-Wan.”

(chapter 2)

#codywan #aspentreewrites #my fics #star wars fanfiction #tcw #cody x obi wan #commander cody #commander cody x obi wan #flowers & cannons

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chasedeys · 7 months ago

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I instantly thought of you when I heard him say “we locked our eyes”, would you like to share your thoughts on that? Please?

hi hello 😭 WHY i mean SURE but WHY 😭 is it because i yap too much on these two oh god you guys I'm so sorry

i fear i don't actually have much to say other than it just being pure joemarr usual bullshit of being so in tune with each other's bullshit that they just 'don't need words' and understand each other so perfectly well that joe can just do the griddy instantly and ja'marr follows suit without pausing and do the celly with him and and laugh at his stupid ass doing that shit so badly in front of so many people when i'm pretty sure joe has refused to do the griddy so many times before 😭😭 though then again this is just the usual scoring-then-team-celly thing lmaooo even if nobody else (but tee in the back from afar!) followed suit but it is special because joe burrow is doing ja'marr chase's trademark celly!! (the idea that people point at ja'marr to do the griddy to his face in various degrees of proficiency is still so funny to me I'm sorry mike gesickis point and griddy is still ingrained in my fucking head 😭 then grants griddy after sacking joe too oughughguh stop)

IT'S LIKE SO CUTE TO ME THOUGH maybe it's just because ja'marr was the closest one running to him and reaching him first so joe looked to him first and joe was all a bit awkward with the ball lmao he was holding it and looking and circling around like what the fuck do i do now with my celly and!! he said he locked eyes!! with ja'marr!!!! for help!!!!!!! ja'marr shrugging at him like 'what do you wanna do now' giving him the spotlight it's your moment what kind of celly do you wanna do i'm right here with you hyping you up no doubt about it and there's ja'marr right there in front of him of course he's going to embarrass the ever living shit out of himself doing the fucking griddy so soooo badly (i remember him doing it in the nfl is post saints game in that tunnel looking towards ja'marr too!!!!! insane. only doing the griddy looking at ja'marr. crazy. and also post afc north wins cigar smoking i think idk but still.) and ja'marr automatically mirrors him falling over himself laughing because oh? joe fucking burrow??? doing the griddy??????

but focusing on the 'locking eyes' aspect it does bring up that they do 'lock eyes' pretty often no? like they find each other across the field to stare at each other and communicate via brain waves or some shit read each others mind through eye contact and face twitches and literally anything else other than verbal words so that's super cute to note! also its soooooooooooo important to me how they BOTH keep mentioning how they keep giving each other looks lmao like at first you'd think only ja'marr being the one to mention him giving joe looks and joe clocking it but no!! joe saying ja'marr gives him looks for him to get him the ball and when ja'marr gets asked about it he gets so?? excited?? like oh! yeah! joe mentioned the looks to you? "i do give him looks i didn't even-" cute cute ANYWAY super into how joe mentioned them locking eyes sorry got ahead of myself 😭

BUT IN ALL HONESTY in this context 'we locked eyes and i just started hitting it' (lmao insane word choice) it's more of a the minute joe looks at ja'marr he knows what he's going to do the griddy because it's ja'marr in his sights. it's not that joe 'reads ja'marr's mind that ja'marr wants him to do the griddy and he's doing it because ja'marr wants him to' it's because oh! that's my guy! my guy who has this cool fucking celly that's his trademark and i've never done it for him and i have literally no fucking idea what to do so you know i should do it now that'll make him laugh lol and boom they're laughing at each other super cutely in this game that took like 10 years off my fucking life

#ask #ja'marr chase #joe burrow #joemarr #its so funny to me how he did the griddy out of fucking nowhereeeee #he has consistently refused to do it no?#only does it for afc north cigar wins and like that saints game in the tunnel lmao

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ilys00ga · 2 years ago

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Exes to lovers hurt/comfort with Yoongi? Oc is going through a really hard time and one minor inconvenience sets her up to break down and yoongi finds her and they seek solace to each other because no one listens like Yoongi does. Just a moment of oc burrowing her head on his shoulder in silence and boom. Happy ending.

I GO BACK TO YOU, EVERYTIME !

pairing: yoongi x female reader.

genre: hurt/comfort, exes to lovers, post breakup, some bitter sweetness and fluff as well, yoongi is very sweet, they still love each other hahaha.

warnings: none, I think. oh some mentions of cheating. lots of crying lolol.

A/N: hello, I am SORRY for the late upload of this. I keep losing track of writing and posting 😫 but thank u sm for this <3 I hope you like it, I wasn't sure how and what to write tbh but that's what I could come up with...

I tried using "she/her" pronouns instead of "you" for some change, I hope that's fine with u!

I have one more request to make, and it'll probably be posted after a week or something:') but yeah, thanks to everyone who sent me reqs. this was so fun. remember, u can send more they are currently open! (my exams are in like one week or so lmfao)

PS. English is not my first language, so u know the drill.

the tip of yoongi's ears began to ache, and his eyes felt so heavy after several hours of sitting in front of his computer screen, wearing the same set of headphones on his head.

he rubbed his tired face with his palms and threw his head back with a loud groan. he was exhausted. this specific project he was working on consumed him the most this month.

just as he was about to resume his work, the door to his studio rang, and he huffed. the grumpy man up with slumped shoulders and a scowl ready to stare daggers at whoever decided it was just the perfect timing to interrupt his misery.

"....yoongi..." a whimper of his name made his head snap up and face the woman standing right in front of him. his eyes widened as he saw her flushed face twisted with tears running down her cheeks. visibly fresh stains of coffee covered her attire, and her hands were shaking.

swallowing, he didn't utter a word, standing there as he felt his heart pumping cold blood through his wide chest and into his entire body. it's been nearly two years since he'd last spoken to her after the messed up break-up they had.

"yoongi.." a sob shook the woman's shoulders this time as she crouched down, crying and shrinking into her own self right in front of him.

if you'd travel back two years and more ago in time, you'd see yoongi wasting no time in wrapping his arms around her body, but that sweet privilege he once had is long since gone. the she and he that once made this very beautiful thing is long since gone. she were no longer "her" and he was no longer "him". it was hard to decide whether to say "thankfully" or "unfortunately" each time yoongi recalled that gut-wrenching fact.

instead, he quickly kneeled in front of her, hesitating and contemplating before finally settling on just gently putting one of his trembling hands on her shoulder as he wasted no time in asking: "___ what's wrong? are you hurt?"

as if it was embarrassed of her commitment to silence, her head moved on its own will in a light shake of "no."

"what happened?" he repeated in a much calmer voice.

"he- he ch-cheated on m-... again- he-" her body rocked, dancing along with each sob as she struggled to speak. and when he realised that he won'tve getting a proper answer, yoongi silently–and very delicately, as though she would break if he tugged any harder on her skin–grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the studio.

after closing the door and making her sit on the couch, he asked one more time, "what happened?"

his voice never lost that soft tone, she noted, and gulped down the lump that was stuck in her throat, and after some time stuttered with a shaky voice, "I'm so sorry to bother you. i just had such a bad day, and I kind of panicked so hard and ran up here."

"what about this," he pointed at her stained clothes and frowned, "and what did you say about cheating again?"

sniffling, she sighed and rested her hair against the back of the sofa, "found out that Jaehun cheated on me multiple times, and I had a coffee accident. I didn't know where to go, so..."

yoongi stared at her silently, part of him was relieved nothing that bad had occurred to her, the other, the slightly selfish one, had the corners of its lips twitching upwards when he heard that the man he's been dreading for the past few months turned put to be a complete asshole. it was embarrassing, yes, that's why he can never admit that he's still stuck on her, that he felt as though he'd lost a chunk of himself when he knew that she was with somebody new. but he also can't complain, not after everything that happened, not after breaking it apart.

"I'm sorry you always end up with assholes." was all he said.

and a simple "by the way, it's fine, you've always been welcome here" from him was all it took to break her shell. all the self restraint she'd been pulling, all the walls she'd been shielding herself with, it all went flat to the ground, and this time her vision blurred up with hot tears, easily spilling and racing down her cheeks in a matter of seconds. finally giving up the strings she'd been clutching on for dear life.

yoongi was caught off guard, but not surprised. he pursed his lips as he extended his arm to wrap it around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him and burying her face right where it belongs, his neck.

that terribly reminded him of all the sleepless nights after heavy, long days at work they spent cuddled up so close to each other. her crying as she spilled her heart's content to him, and him listening as he rubbed on her back and kissed her head.

seeing her again, one hair away from him after long months of distance and silent, guilty glances whenever they ran into each other in the building they both worked at, was the cherry on top that poisoned cake.

he tightly hugged her, whispering sweet nothings into her hair as he buried his nose into it. he used to like doing that, feeling the tickling of her strands on his nose and the scent he sipped on like a mad man.

after a long moment, her sobs thinned into hiccups, then soft sniffles, and she dried her face up with the long sleeves of her cardigan.

"feeling better?" why is his voice always so damn soft?

she nodded with a tiny hum, slowly raising her body to pull out of the hug.

when she glanced at him, oh boy, when she did glance at him, she was met with those pair of cat eyes, all wide with pure concern. so intense that she quickly averted hers as heat spread through her face and neck.

"I'm fine.." she whispered with a voice hoarse from all the crying.

"you reek of coffee." yoongi joked in an attempt to brighten the mood, smiling as he offered her a package of wet wipes.

"thanks." the woman's lips slowly pushed into a small pout, and she muttered, "I'm sorry for bothering you with my crying."

"don't worry about that, i kind of missed this anyway."

"you miss seeing me cry?" she mused.

"no, I just... it's been so long..."

neither of them said anything for a while, falling into some kind of silence. strangely, there was no awkwardness in it, just hundreds of heavily unspoken confessions and things hanging in the air, all mixed with burning yearning for one another.

"I missed you.." she whispered in a hushed tone, "I thought I would never get to talk to you again."

"i hope you're joking." he replied, "because I don't think you being serious would make it hurt any less."

"I'm sorry that we fought." she apologized.

"I'm sorry, I was an asshole too." yoongi licked his lips, a pinch of fear ached his heart all of a sudden, but he added anyway with a small voice, "do you... do you wanna meet up tomorrow? we could grab some dinner and just... talk."

"alright" she smiled.

"good. I'll call you in the morning, then. good?" yoongi felt as though his heart would jump out of his rib cage and run out of the studio from how overwhelming the whole situation was, if it weren't for her reassuring smile that made it all so much easier to handle.

"good." she replied.

"that was so easy...why didn't we do this earlier?" he covered his burning face with his hands and chuckled.

"we were just too dumb to think back then."

"yeah, we were." he nodded.

and for the first time ever since the pair cut all sorts of communication between each other, yoongi looked directly into her eyes with pure gratitude and smiled.

they ended up meeting up more often than they intended to, slowly patching up the abandoned wounds they once scarred into the body of their broken relationship.

one dinner birthed two and three more, surface-level chitchat of updates about each other's lives turned into deeper dives into the ups and downs, the wrongs and rights of everything they have shared between each other before. where everything shattered into pieces before their own eyes.

it all went slow and steady, like the first time they met a few years ago, like the very beginning of what they once had. it was scary, uncertain, and a sensitive area overall for the two, yet they were still willing to take that road again.

like a wicked witch, miscommunication casted a spell of pain, sourness, and yearning on the pair.

and now that their priorities have changed, maybe there's still a chance for them to break that spell and work it out again.

- fin..

#yoongi #bts #yoongi scenarios #yoongi drabble #yoongi fluff #yoongi x reader #bts scenarios #agustd #yoongi angst #hurt/comfort #bts imagines #bts fic #bts army #bts yoongi #yoongi imagine #suga fluff #suga angst #bts x reader

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butchreg · 7 months ago

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t - tell me about the genlissa headcannons . . . i am in fact melissa’s biggest fan

JUMPS AND SPINS `ᗜ` i would love to, i am in fact that one autism who don't play about the jv yellowjackets. first ones including moodboard are here btw Xp.

here's part two of genlissa headcanons , !!,!

melissa having a hard day not realizing he's regressed just staring off into space largely unresponsive. gen who sees this and immediately goes into mama mode , running off to grab her warmest sweater before kneeling beside her baby. "tough day , baby?" she speaks in a low voice , jostling his shoulder to get his attention. mel who jolts back to reality with teary eyes and shivering , nodding wordlessly. "here , let mama help," gen will say gently , helping him to put on her sweater and sitting next to him with an arm around his shoulder. as mentioned before mel is shy about his regression or she'd pull him directly onto her lap. she lets him bury his face in her neck , rubbing his back soothingly.

little ! melissa who always wants to wear something of gen's , tugging at her sleeve trying to get her to take off her coat or sweater so he can wear it. wearing something of gen's signifies him being hers and it's like always having her protection. mel who breathes her scent in deeply , blushing at it , giggling to himself.

genlissa vs nightmares.. if gen is to have a nightmare she's very vocal , often yelling and crying in her sleep. "daddyyy," she'll whimper , usually waking someone else up in spite of her still being dead asleep. she tends to writhe about while still asleep. she'll wake up confused as melissa shakes her awake gently looking concerned. "oh princess, whatsa matter ?" he'll ask softly. usually there are glares from some other sleepy yellowjackets but gen cocks her head confused. "you were yellin' out for me , genny." he'll pull her in kissing her head. she'll whine , embarrassed. "another bad dream?" he'll prod her. gen is rarely shy but she's embarrassed because yes it was a bad dream but she hadn't meant to wake everyone up , she was yelling in her dream she didn't mean to yell for real. he's very understanding , tucking her back in and holding her until she falls back asleep , scratching her back gently.

melissa doesn't really have nightmares often but if he does he's shy about waking anybody up. sometimes gen will wake up to him coming over and burrowing himself in her arms but she drifts quickly back to sleep , discreetly pulling him aside to talk it out in the morning and comfort him.

they share calico critters like i mentioned before ! gen has all the super girly ones that are dressed up in fancy dresses while melissa has the more subtly dressed boyish ones. the butchfemme of it all... they always play together with them , sharing accessories and some different sets. their favorites to play with are the babies.

sometimes like i mentioned on my last post tiny ! gen wants to wear mel's hat. she'll give him her headband and they'll swap accessories ! melissa doesn't like not wearing his hat and would typically never wear a headband but it gets his baby all giggly when he wears hers and she looks so adorable in his hat.

gen sometimes will puppy regress while melissa will sometimes kitty regress. puppy gen is very excitable , wagging her tail and barking a lot. she's always carrying toys in her mouth and dropping them at melissa's feet giving him puppy eyes until he drops what he's doing to play with her. he's often scruffing her head lovingly and petting her hair to calm her down when she's fussy.

kitten ! melissa who will pull at any loose thread he sees , sometimes accidentally unraveling an old blanket or someone's sweater knitted by a grandma by accident... oopsies.. he often sits by the window , mewing at whatever he sees outside , sometimes batting his paws at a bird outside the window. kitten ! melissa is always curling up in a little ball by the fire and taking little cat naps. mari will always sigh when this happens , she has to use the fire to cook...

kitty ! melissa loves kneading at his blanket. if anyone makes fun of him gen will threaten them or tell the group about something embarrassing that the offender told her about in confidence... she's a menace when it comes to protecting mel. he’ll purr contentedly as he kneads away , gen cooing at him and petting her silly kitty whose tail swishes back and forth in response.

puppy ! gen who is really good at finding things but will only do it at a price for anyone other than melissa. “whadda you’ll give me ?” she’ll ask squinting at lottie or shauna , sat on all fours. she’s quick to say no if she’s not satisfied with their offer. they’ll have to beg or bribe her further. “c’mon , genny,” melissa will urge and only that will get her to budge. “fiiine,” she’ll grumble , trotting off to find the missing item.

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jahayla-writes · 1 year ago

Text

Reparations : Freddy Carter x Reader

Description: Part 3/ Fluffy make-up conclusion to Catastrophic Blues. Angst, breakup, heartbreak, post-breakup, longing, sadness, etc.

Warnings: I advise you re-read (or read) parts 1 and 2/Catastrophic Blues and Hits Different first! Other warnings: reference to warnings of other parts including drinking, Angst, breakup, heartbreak, post-breakup, longing, sadness, vomiting, crying, etc.

Catastrophic Blues Hit(s) Different : Freddy Carter x Reader Mini-Series Masterlist

Freddy’s breath caught in his chest as his tired eyes landed on her. He’d been walking around to clear his mind and was just returning to the apartment complex when the sight of y/h/c y/h/t caught his attention. He willed his now shaky legs to take him to her. His steps were nearly robotic, but he was still getting closer. Perhaps if he showed y/n he was willing to talk, they could work it out. Or at least he’d be able to know if she had moved on by now. That way he’d know if his longing was as one sided and futile as it seemed.

Freddy hesitated in his approach. Maybe it was best not to be the one to initiate the conversation. After all, y/n had asked for space. Approaching her now would not be a way of giving her space.

Freddy was about to turn around and walk away when he caught sight of something peculiar. He squinted and unconsciously took a few more steps towards y/n. She had emptied her garbage into the dumpster, but only tissues seemed to come out of it. Had she been crying? Thanks to his unconscious approach, he was able to see the trail of dried tear streaks on her cheeks from here. She had been crying. In fact, now that Freddy’s focus shifted off of if he should approach her and onto whether or not she was okay, he noticed several other details he hadn’t before. Her hair was pinned up in a messy bun but was clearly tangled. Her lips were present in a frown. Her eyes were bloodshot. And the shirt she had on… He recognized that shirt. It was his shirt.

Freddy wasn’t even aware he’d made his way over to y/n until he heard himself speaking. “Is that my shirt?” He asked quietly, his eyes scanning her. What was she doing in his shirt? And why did it seem like she’d been crying? Were the two related?

Y/n gasped and spun quickly, her hip smacking the side of the dumpster as she unexpectedly came face-to-face with Freddy. “Oh,” She mumbled. She frantically fumbled around as she tried to clean her face and fix herself somewhat. She hadn’t expected to run into anyone while emptying her trash, much less him. Realizing her attempts were unsuccessful, she bit her bottom lip and stared at her slipper-cladded feet. “Let me go ch-… umm, sorry. Yes, sorry, it is. I’ll go change and set it by the door,” she offered, voice shaking in embarrassment. “Or, uhh, I can wash it for you first if you-“.

Freddy shook his head, brows burrowed. “That’s not why I was asking,” he admitted. He sucked in a painful breath when her eyes looked up and met his. Normally her eyes brought him such comfort and warmth. But the shimmer of unshed tears that were currently present in them broke his heart even further; which he didn’t think was possible.

“W-what?” Y/n squeaked in confusion.

“I don’t want it back,” Freddy explained, shaking his head lightly.

Y/n pursed her lips to keep them from trembling. “Oh, you don’t?” She nodded slowly. “Then… why-?”

“I…,” Freddy mumbled. He nervously licked his bottom lip. “I… I’ve dreamt of this,” he admitted breathily.

Y/n’s eyes widened and she took a tiny step back in surprise. “Y-you’ve dreamt of this?” She asked.

Freddy nodded. “Of seeing you again, yes,” he explained slowly. “Of talking to you, seeing some semblance of us,” he added, waving at his shirt she had on, “yes, I’ve dreamt of this”.

Y/n tried to steady her breathing. She couldn’t believe Freddy was here, talking to her. Much less that he had wanted this. Dreamt of it. Her mind was racing so much she couldn’t respond.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Freddy sighed. “Can I ask you just one question?”

When y/n nodded in acceptance, Freddy took a deep breath. “Why are.. Why did you choose to wear it?” He asked.

Y/n glanced down at Freddy’s shirt. “I.. actually, because I miss you,” she admitted quietly. His silence made her heart beat rapidly in her chest and made her queasy. She quickly spun on her heels to leave.

“Don’t you dare walk away,” Freddy rushed out. He shook his head, eyes pleading. “Not after saying what I have wanted to hear ever since that night,” he murmured.

“You… what?” Y/n paused as she faced him.

Freddy frowned. “Did you think I’d forget about us and just move on?”

Y/n broke eye contact and stared at the dingy dumpster. “I mean… you never came back,” she pointed out.

“I thought you wanted space,” Freddy defended.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” y/n pouted.

Freddy sighed. She had meant it, he knew that much. She didn’t need to lie to him about how she was feeling. “Y/n,” he frowned.

“Okay,” y/n mumbled shyly. “Okay, well I did… but I was wrong,” she argued.

“Y/n, I’m not going to force something upon -,” Freddy began.

“You’re not,” y/n rushed out, shaking her head rapidly.

Freddy looked away, unable to calm himself down while looking into y/n’s far too familiar eyes. “I can’t do this. No more beating around the bush…” He prompted, closing his eyes. “Do you not love me anymore?”

Y/n choked on a deep breath. “Of course I do,” she replied.

“Then we can talk this out, we-“ Freddy began to beg.

“F-Freddy, do you?” Y/n asked, cutting him off frantically.

“What?” Freddy questioned.

Y/n timidly met Freddy’s gaze. “Do… do you think you can love me again?” She wondered.

A small smile formed on Freddy’s lips. “Again would imply that I stopped.” Seeing y/n’s silent uncertainty, he hummed. “I never did. I just wanted us to work through this,” he stated.

“Not going to say anything?” Freddy inquired as y/n stood there silently.

“No,” y/n creaked.

Freddy’s brows furrowed. “Why not?”

“Last time I was this scared, I pushed you away and it ended,” y/n rushed out, looking away from Freddy.

“W-what?” Freddy mumbled, tilting his head to try and see y/n’s eyes.

“But, I also can’t risk agreeing only to have you leave again,” y/n rambled anxiously.

“Y/n,” Freddy cooed, “stop, go back”. He sighed softly. “What do you mean you pushed me away because you were scared …?”

“I …,” y/n cried. “Freddy,” she whispered, voice breaking.

“Can I…?” Freddy asked vaguely as he held his arms out in the shape of a hug.

“Yes,” y/n nodded. “P-please,” she whimpered, stepping closer to Freddy.

Freddy immediately closed the distance between then and took y/n into his embrace. Bloody hell, how long had he been waiting for this moment? He smiled lightly to himself when he heard her drop her garbage can to the ground as she gently rested her head on his chest.

“You were scared?” Freddy whispered in y/n’s ear. He frowned in concern when she nodded against his sternum. “About what? About living with me?” He inquired. When she simply nodded again in response, he carefully leaned back so he could look into her eyes. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, we don’t have to-,” Freddy began to offer.

“No, I-,” y/n gushed. She shook her head and bit into her bottom lip. “Freddy,” she sighed, “it wasn’t that I didn’t want to… it’s just.. I was… s-s…”

“Scared?” Freddy finished for y/n. As she nodded and continued to stare at her feet, he used his thumb to tenderly tilt her chin up so he could see her eyes. “Of me?” He investigated worriedly.

“No…,” y/n trailed off, her head lightly shaking side to side.

“Then…?” Freddy pressed.

“Of me..,” y/n confessed quietly. She fiddled anxiously with her fingers.

Freddy stood silently for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “W-what?”

“I was sc-scared that if we lived together, I’d become too much,” y/n admitted with a sigh. “That you’d see something that would scare you away. That things would become too real and you’d leave, or-,” she began to ramble.

“Y/n,” Freddy hummed, tenderly taking hold of her hands to stop her fidgeting. “Nothing you could do, say, or show me, could’ve ever made me leave,” he attested.

Y/n nodded hesitantly. “That…That night..,” she mumbled.

Freddy sighed in regret. “I only left because I thought you wanted me to go. That’s the only circumstance in which I’d leave, is if that’s what you wanted,” he defended softly.

Y/n nodded. “I didn’t handle it well,” she acknowledged. “I did need… I needed a moment, but not… not this long,” she told Freddy.

Freddy nodded sympathetically. He hummed and delicately pulled y/n back to his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“No, I’m s-,” y/n protested.

“Mmm, we could go back and forth for hours,” Freddy hummed. “How about instead, I grab us some y/f/d from the cafe down the street, and we can talk this over more on where we want to go from here?” He suggested nervously.

“I’d love that,” y/n admitted as she smiled softly.

“So would I,” Freddy grinned. He pressed a featherlight kiss to the top of her head. “It’s a date,” he beamed.

Freddy Carter Taglist: @ell0ra-br3kk3r @missdreamofendless @nikfigueiredo @b3kk3r-by-br3kk3r @alex-kazbrekkersimp @opheliaofficial07 @historynerd77 @el-de-phi @booklover2389 @whistle1whistle

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Catastrophic Blues Hit(s) Different : Freddy Carter x Reader Mini-Series Masterlist

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lorkai · 2 years ago

Text

Chapter I; Family

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: After literally a year I've finally finished writing the first chapter and the second is half-way done. But rereading this I realize I was being too demanding on myself, this chapter is fine. And despite the immense delay, I hope y'all like it as I do. I'll post it later on AO3 as well, the link to my profile is in my pinned post if you want to read it there btw. → Necromancer Au masterlist here.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Warnings: Mc was written gender neutral but in the original idea Mc was a man. So uh if there's any typo about their pronoun pls let me know and I'II fix it, I proofread two times but sometimes something can escape me. Also Lilith's alive.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Word account: 3K

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Tagging: @dicetheroll @sunshinebea (It's been quite a while so I understand if you no longer want to get tagged in this.)

Traditions can be boring sometimes. But you absolutely adored the holiday tradition with your beloved demons, sitting in the living room before Christmas dinner and telling horror stories. Well, it wasn't just horror stories that were told on that day, there were jokes, challenges and various pranks going on, it was certainly your favorite day and you wouldn't trade it for anything.

Discreetly you watched the faces of each of them react to the tale of terror Lucifer was telling so intensely, clutching your cup of hot chocolate as you listened.

The fire in the fireplace lit his dark hair and his dark voice carried the same touch of drama even though he had already told several stories throughout the night, you watch as the older demon adjusts his glasses over his nose and takes a deep breath before continuing his unhappy tale. His grave words escape your ears as you can only thank whatever deity your path and theirs have crossed, because they were your family and they became very important people to you. You loved them and you knew they loved you too.

They were people you could no longer imagine living without. Each of them was special in their own way and they all brightened up your mornings, even if they were yelling or fighting as early as six o'clock sharp. You still managed to find joy even in the midst of your irritation through the chaos they created and dragged you into.

Beside him, Mammon lets out a loud scream and throws himself on top of the person closest to him for comfort. Everything happens in slow motion in your vision, he and Levi roll off the couch onto the floor and both struggle like fish out of water, completely in the middle of a senseless panic. The avatar of greed hugs his brother's torso with all the strength he has while the avatar of envy tries to flee. And a round of laughter spreads across the room like the hot fire that runs through their bodies and you try not to laugh so hard to spare them some dignity, but it's impossible once your gaze and Lilith's meet. And you burst into loud laughter as Satan helps them back to their feet.

"Grow up, Mammon." Asmo sneered in a cynical chuckle. His muffled voice was almost a whisper between the fabrics of the scarf he was wearing, and he burrowed deeper into the covers for a source of lingering warmth.

He resembled a kitten wrapped like that and Solomon seemed to have thought the same, pulling him closer and whispering something in his ear that made him laugh softly. They finally embraced again, Asmo resting his head lazily on the sorcerer's chest as the other man played with the demon's peach hair.

There's a certain simplicity to the gesture that almost makes you envious. Almost. You know you could throw yourself on top of both of them and snuggle into Solomon's chest too. It wouldn't be the first time after all

Belphie laughs at his older brother, hiding his laughter in his hands. The youngest of the brothers squirms in his seat and with the same malice as ever, places his cold foot on Mammon's bare ankles, which makes him jump once more and glare at him.

"Why did you do that?" Mammon, embarrassed and mumbling something under his breath, came to sit beside him again, so close that their knees were touching as Belphie laughed along with Satan. The avatar of greed sneaked a path to where your hand rested and wrapped it in his, warm, comfortable and your fingers fit together as if your hands were made for each other. You didn't say anything, sparing him embarrassment as you watched his reactions to the story Lucifer kept telling.

If anything, Mammon would rather work full time to make honest money than sit there and listen to one more tale of ghosts, goblins and fairies that makes him shudder all the time. But he didn't dare to oppose that tradition, not when it marked a really special period for each of them. The day you definitely went to live in Devildom with him and his brothers.

What was utterly ironic, however, was that at the end of the night he would most likely seek comfort in your room even though he knew that was precisely where the spirits he feared sought refuge.

You were a necromancer after all and everyone knew it.

"What, um... what happened next?" Luke asked, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. His heart clenched at the pessimistic thought that something might have happened to the fictional people in Lucifer's history.

Avalanche shadows and enraged mystical beasts were reflected between his blue eyes - few details you were paying close enough attention to remember, the youngest of the angels almost didn't want to think about the end of the story, but Simeon's hand on his shoulder gave him courage enough to keep still and wait.

There was an expectant pause in which a smile graced the morning star's lips and he continued promptly after Barbatos poured him some more melancholy coffee. "To this day, they say that if there's a storm and you're walking around the mountain, you can see her spirit wandering aimlessly, looking for her children." Lucifer finished with a sigh, running his fingers through his messy hair, and then ran his eyes over the faces of each of his brothers and their guests.

He seemed satisfied with the collective shock that spread and then looked at you, searching for some surprised expression on your face or something, only his pride kept him from pouting when he realized he wouldn't have any of your expressions.

Stories like that didn't scare you for a long time, precisely because you've been dealing with situations like that since you were just a child. Still, the impact hit you hard when you processed all the information, not because it was scary, but because it was sad to imagine a woman who died during an avalanche and left her children helpless behind, on the verge of certain death that would befall them in the absence of her protection. It was just sad and yet, real. Just like so many ghosts who came to you begging to help their children, to tell you they were dead, or to offer solace.

If someone asked you how you see death, you knew exactly how you would answer. Melancholic and real. Things you loved during your life, things you were proud of, and all your deeds would be forgotten, buried in an endless round of study and work, of pain and hardship, of arrogance and greed, regardless of whether they were a good person or not. But it was also scary and cold, and bad for those who couldn't move on.

Whispers of approval at the story ran between the brothers. Lucifer was, much to Satan's displeasure, a very good storyteller. He confided in you once about how he tucked his brothers and sister into bed and told seven different stories every night when he was just a young archangel. In your mind a cute image popped up whenever you remembered that; just a young looking Lucifer putting little kids in their beds, tucking them in, kissing their foreheads and reading silly stories. It was hard to imagine him doing such trivial things when he was always so serious and austere all the time.

At least, you thought, after all the years that had passed he started acting more carefree like he used to be, according to what Mammon told you.

Five long years have passed quickly since you first came to Devildom as a mere exchange student, and in just a few days it would be six years. You still marveled at that fact on Christmas nights, mainly because everything was so different and surreal. You never imagined that talking to Lilith that day would take you so far away from human things and show you something unique, but here you are, happy, complete and feeling accepted among them. Thing humans would never do because they don't accept different people and you know it.

You remember all too well what happened when your so-called best friend found your grimoire and all the rumors she spread about you. Just because she was afraid of the unknown instead of trying to understand it. And mostly, you remember what your parents and doctors did to your older brother, thinking about him even after so long still makes your heart ache. How do you get over something like that?

"You forgot one detail, Luci." Lilith said suddenly. She was leaning over a small table, selectively choosing the sweets she would like to eat and then cramming as many as she could manage into her mouth at once. The lack of manners made her brothers all laugh at the way she resembled a squirrel with her cheeks puffed out, but even the embarrassment on her face didn't stop her from eating.

"The woman tends to follow the person she sees. So to get rid of her, you must guide her to the light, it's, um, pretty similar to what my kid here is used to doing since they were just a little sprout. Oh, how proud I am of them, you all should see them in action!"

The comment in a maternal tone warmed your heart and you almost wanted the former angel to wrap you in one of those warm hugs that took all the anxiety away, just like she did when you were just a child. But you restrained yourself and made a toast in her honor, raising your cup and drinking away with a goofy smile on your face.

"Come to think of it, how come we've never heard a story from you, Mc?" Satan asked. A cat pad was draped over his arms as he clutched it to his chest, the fabric mimicking the warm fur of a kitten. The blonde sipped his hot chocolate while waiting for you to respond with great interest in the topic.

But you knew he was just waiting for a chance to ask you to tell the story you briefly mentioned a few months ago.

On the one hand, it was true that they didn't know much about your histories or past in general. The brothers knew only brief details that Lilith told them when asked what kind of things you had been through together, some sad ghosts wandering and asking for help, the sound of footsteps on the floor of your room during the night and figures that you always saw out of the corner of your eye. But it was always fanciful, almost a sugar-coated lie.

And on the other hand, you didn't know if you'd like the idea of recounting all the thousands of sad and brutal cases on a night like the one when you celebrate family and unity. And there was so much blood and pain and torture in them that it could turn the stomach of anyone listening.

You could almost feel the presence of the people you've helped coming back to you, their hands rubbing your back or their warm breath on your neck, urging you to tell their stories, coaxing you to talk about what bothered you about each one of them. But that sensation only lasted a second and then your gaze hardened and you focused your attention on the flames devouring the charcoal and the crackling sound they made.

"I'll let you decide if you really want to hear such stories, but I must warn you that they are violent." You said it wisely. Then you leaned over and poured yourself some more hot chocolate, taking small sips to savor every drop of that precious liquid you hadn't had in a while. "I already have one in mind, in case the answer is positive. Not too violent and not too quiet, good enough for the Christmas mood."

"It's a must to have you tell the next story Mc, I can't stand listening to Lucifer talk all night anymore." Satan growled. The emerald eyes were focused in your direction, then quickly his focus returned to what he was drinking and to something Solomon had commented on some kitten post on Devilgram.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and began dramatically massaging his temples across the room, his melancholy coffee still curling upward in steam. And seeing that, Belphie quickly joined Satan just to make Lucifer's headache worse.

"I fully agree!" He suppressed a yawn before continuing to speak in a soft tone. "We've heard many stories told by Lucifer, Simeon and Barbatos. It would be nice to hear one that actually happened."

Leviathan and Mammon, however, seemed oblivious to everything going on around them. The two were playing a new game together that had just been released. The name was The Nephellim's Deal or something like that, you weren't sure, but you knew that several important figures for the history of Devildom were present in the game. Various wars, deals, and betrayals were elements you remember Levi talking about for several minutes.

Perhaps if you have time, you'd play it later and then you could compare your opinions on the game.

"Yummy sweets, they remind me of the ones we ate on our trip to India." Beel muttered suddenly, swallowing all the sweets on the tray and licking his lips so that not a single grain escaped him. You looked at Barbatos at the exact moment he trapped a sigh in his throat and smiled imperceptibly, tired and still wearing his white apron.

The poor demon has been baking cakes and pastries since early morning. You didn't have as much aptitude as him when it came to cooking, but your hands were aching after helping him for so long, the knowledge of his techniques, however, was too interesting for you to let a chance like that pass. Besides, you couldn't trust Solomon with cooking and you couldn't ask Luke to stay in the kitchen all day when you knew he wanted to play in the snow with the others.

Simeon smiled kindly. "I know you liked them so I brought these sweets directly from India, Beel."

At that moment Beel seemed to be hit by a cupid's arrow and he smiled widely. "Thanks Simeon. They were delicious."

"Boys, make up your mind please, Mc is impatient." Noticed Lilith. The angel was arranging the stockings over the fireplace in a specific way as she hummed her signature slow song, she almost seemed to float in the large coat that Lucifer always wore over her shoulders, smiling smugly as she managed to get her brother to hand over his favorite coat to her. "Don't torture my poor child too much or they'll get cranky."

You suppressed a giggle and waved your hand. But there was as always a ring of truth in her words, the brothers took ages to agree among themselves and the heady heat of the flames was enough to make sleepy sighs leave your throat and have you second-guessing whether you want to stay in the classroom or return to your quarters and sink into the comfortable, fluffy bed for a nap before Christmas dinner.

You let your head fall on your own shoulder as you waited for a statement from your other friends, humming the same song that Lilith was humming minutes ago, but more brighter and faster.

"I'll be happy to hear any stories, but I'm going to put Luke to bed first." Simeon signaled to the young angel who was sleeping in his lap. He got up and walked away towards the guest room that was given to him slowly, looking as tired as the others. And you swore you heard a yawn coming from him, but the sound was buried by Levi who let out a scream at that moment.

"Watch where you're going, Mammon!" He scolded his brother. "Why I'm playing a precious game like this with you?"

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that ghosts and spirits are a darker topic than the horror stories we hear." Solomon stared at a fixed point, lost, he too had had his experiences with the supernatural. Instinctively he took his hand to Asmo's curls and twisted strands of his hair with his fingers, calmly patting Asmo's head, making the demon of lust purr violently. "But if you guys want to, I'm all for it. The only time I heard you tell any stories was during our practices together and they were all so short."

Lucifer turned to Diavolo and Barbatos with his eyebrows raised in mute question. But before they could even say anything the sound of the main doors opening made everyone fall silent and look at each other, noting that five people were still missing from their little celebration. Their voices and footsteps echoed down the hall quietly as if they owned the place and the shrill sound of Thirteen's laughter reached the room long before them.

And like a good host, the Morningstar calmly got up and went to meet his late guests. The sound of their happiness echoed in his deep voice as he greeted them warmly, you could hear the smile on his face.

And you took the opportunity to get up and stretch. Your feet were numb, but your mind seemed more awake and obviously the memories were resurfacing as well as Lilith, who was already smiling. She rubbed her hands together in an exaggerated manner and like a mother, she began to fix your hair and the collar of your shirt. "I kind of miss those times really, I always enjoyed running around and having fun with the ghosts."

"Are we going to tell the story about the drunken ghost? Or should we tell about the dancer and the mimic? So many stories to tell, I'm excited!" Lilith excitedly quoted the stories she remembered, counting on her fingers, her eyes shining in a special way as the faces and names of those people passed like a blur in her head, it's been a few years since most of them will happen. Those memories were as precious to her as they were to you and not for a second did you doubt that this wasn't the case, after all it was because of you that she had come back to life.

For the third and she hoped it would also be the last she was revived - but without dying this time, she was back in the world of the living, now as a half angel, half demon. One white wing and one black wing. Until now you didn't understand what went wrong with your reanimation spell to have caused this. But as long as she was alive and healthy, you assume it doesn't matter what she is. Plus she was now like Morgana, a nephellim.

She was finally back to life and that was all that mattered, you, her and the brothers could live happily ever after now, with nothing to worry about, with the exceptions of the usual chaos and silly fights that made everyone laugh.

You wouldn't trade it for anything.

"So… what do you intend to tell us?" Asmo eyed the two of you with interest, another purr leaving his lips as Solomon continued to rub his scalp and leave warm little kisses on his forehead. He looked sleepy, but curious enough to keep listening to you. "Oh, I already know! You could tell me how you met Lilith, for example."

"Or the story involving the S." Belphie smiled like he knew something his brothers didn't. And he sent you a particular look, a look that already communicated what he was thinking at that moment. He wanted to hear that story. For the third time…

Spoiled brat! You throught, smilling.

Lilith let out a laugh and gave her brother a shove with her shoulder. It was her way of telling him to be quiet, but you could already tell by the way everyone was looking at the two of you that their curiosity had been piqued by the comment made by the demon of sloth. They wanted an epic tale with spirits.

"What kind of story is this?" Beel asked his twin brother, stifling a small yawn against his hand. "Is it a scary one?"

It depends. You assume that human nature was more frightening than the facts that occurred, but yes. That was one of the scary stories you didn't like to remember, it reminded you that ordinary people at first sight could nurture bad thoughts and commit even worse crimes.

"Okay, let's tell the story of S." You took a deep breath and smiled, watching how the fire lit up the face of everyone present in that room. You were all about the dramatic effect.

And you sat in Lucifer's armchair, turning his coffee cup in your hand before you decided to taste it to see if it was good - big mistake, the taste was horrible for humans and Solomon laughed in your face almost like a little boy who won his favorite candy.

You were sure that he already tried the drink. "Awful, an outrage, I don't know how he drinks it! Uh-huh, completely insane, bitter, there's a distinct bitter that's really good, but this one? Bad…"

Barbatos laughed too. "I think you forgot, but the coffee of melancholy turns bitter when a person who likes you prepares it."

Oh yes. It makes sense.

Despite being strict, Lucifer was very soft with you. So sweet you didn't even have to eat candy to taste sugar on your tongue. You continued drinking his coffee with a chuckle.

But a clearing of his throat caught your eye and an unimpressed Lucifer glanced in your direction, a smug evil smile growing on his lips as he returned to his conversation with Hesperus, his counterpart and Nightstar, and his daughter, Morgana.

You didn't know what they were saying, but it seemed important as Diavolo glanced in their direction for a brief second.

The other guests began to sit in the vacant seats, Mephisto and his brother, Iblis, whispering softly and laughing, leaving several gift boxes under the Christmas tree and looking in the direction of the other people. You knew why since Mephisto had asked you what kind of things the brothers would like as gifts. But Thirteen was already heading to the coffee table for something to eat while she struck up a conversation with Beel, an elegant scarf draped over her shoulders perfectly enhancing the outfit she wore.

"So, uh, I suppose I can start?" You whispered to Lilith uncertainly, but the girl shrugged.

"Just a sec. Here!" Morgana handed you a small package. An unexpected gift and you smiled in her direction, thanking her softly.

"Uh…Okay." You muttered uncertainly. You left the box in your pocket and rubbed one hand over the other, waiting for everyone to settle down to hear that story. Mammon and Levi were still playing high enough to interrupt the immersion of the story, so Lucifer took their D.D.D and stuffed it in his pocket, sending them a severe look as they opened their mouths to complain.

At that moment Simeon returned, still drowsy, and sat down in his place. With everyone paying attention to you, you let out a long sigh and closed your eyes letting all the memories of that first event come flooding back. Everything you felt, everything you saw and lived, and with a smile you began to narrate the events.

"At that time I was six and my family was moving to the countryside..."

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raewritez · 2 years ago

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for the want of the sun | chapter 18: The Heist

When night comes, I’m ready. I’m ready to sneak around, I’m even hoping I’ll get to chi-block one of these guards. I’m practically tugging on Zuko’s arm to get him to our designated meeting place.

“Come on, they’re probably ready!” I whisper. He’s dragging his feet to annoy me, I’m sure. When we round the corner, Jet is there, leaning against the wooden post of the deck. His eyes lift lazily to greet us, and his mouth curls up in a smirk.

“There you are. We ready?”

Zuko and I nod. I feel the excitement thrumming through me, pushing me up onto my toes and keeping me bouncing. It’s been too long since I’ve done a good heist.

We discuss quietly under the heavy cover of the night, murmuring between ourselves as the adrenaline grows. Jet finally nods and gestures for the group to start forward.

“Smellerbee, you take the lead. Scout out the area.”

I watch as she scales the wooden post, hopping above deck and disappearing. It’s a minute, two, before she pops back over the edge. “All clear,” she whispers.

Jet looks at Longshot, who raises his bow and situates an arrow with a rope attached to it. He fires at the tallest beam, just above Smellerbee’s head, who hisses in annoyance. The arrow burrows into the wood, and Longshot tugs on the rope, the material holding strong.

“Okay,” Jet breathes. He looks at me. He lifts his arm toward the rope. “Ladies first.”

Feeling a bit nervous with everyone’s eyes on me, I walk forward. I try to meet Zuko’s eyes as I pass, but he’s looking upwards. I wrap my hands around the rope and pull, lifting my feet, the strain on my arms becoming evident as I wobble. Hey, it’s been a while.

I feel a warm hand placed on my shoulder, and Jet’s looking at me with a grin. I flush, a bit embarrassed, and a bit annoyed by his look that suggests he didn’t expect anything from me. He tilts his head to the side. “Need a boost?”

“Yeah, please,” I say begrudgingly. He kneels down beside me, cupping his hands and reaching for my foot.

“There you go,” he whispers, his voice gravelly. “One, two, three.” I’m pushed upward, and I scramble to grab the rope as I pull myself the rest of the way. I reach for the floor of the upper-deck, grabbing onto the planks and shimmying onto my stomach. Smellerbee offers her hand and I grab it, using her to lift myself up.

“Thanks,” I say, watching as Jet pulls himself up effortlessly behind me. Then Longshot, then Zuko, who of course makes it look easy.

When we’re all standing, Jet points forward in a “let’s go” gesture. The captain’s quarters are lit with lanterns, and there is the soft muttering of dinnertime chatter. We hurry single file, Jet in front, followed by Zuko and Longshot, and me in front of Smellerbee. We sneak around the corner, waiting for Jet to give the “OK” signal. When he looks back at us, we reach inside the windows, sweeping the food that rests on the windowsills, just taunting us. I pull out a box, smelling the familiar aroma of spicy chicken that has my mouth watering. I hand it to Longshot, who hands it to Zuko, who hands it to Jet. When we have all the dishes out of the room, we sneak below the windows, back to Longshot’s rope.

“Hey!” A voice booms, and a heavy man rounds the corner where Jet is crouching. Quickly, I head the other way, going as fast as I can around the square structure. “What are you-” the man says, but he’s on the ground before he can finish his sentence. I jam my fingers into his pressure points, sending him crashing to the ground, silent.

I look up, standing over him. “They probably heard that.”

Everyone’s looking at me with surprise, except for Zuko, who looks unphased. When no one moves, I hurry forward, picking up a box and running for the rope. “Let’s go!”

I bring the box close to my body and grip the rope with one hand, pushing myself off the ledge and hissing at the burn on my skin. When my feet touch the ground I set the food down, and gesture for Longshot, who’s at the top, to hand me his box. I reach and grab it, and he slides down the rope, offering a hand to help Smellerbee with her’s. Soon, we’re all down, and we conceal the boxes of food with our bodies, walking quickly to where Iroh waits for us.

“Not bad, sweetheart,” Jet whispers in my ear. I jump from the proximity, and he grins. For some reason, I find myself grinning back.

—

“Oh my spirits,” I groan, shoveling another dumpling into my mouth. My words are hardly audible, but I can’t bring myself to care. “This is so good. I could cry.”

“I think I am,” Iroh says, gazing fondly at his serving of green curry. He’s right, I think I see the sheen of tears in his eyes.

“From what I’ve heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se,” Jet says. “I can’t wait to set my eyes on that giant wall.”

“It’s a magnificent sight,” Iroh sighs.

Jet looks at him. “So you’ve been there before?”

“Once,” Iroh glances down. “When I was a different man.”

Eager to stop this conversation from progressing, I lean forward. “So, what brings you all to Ba Sing Se?”

Jet meets my eyes, surprisingly serious. “I’ve done some things in my past that I’m not proud of. That’s why I’m going to the city: for a new beginning. A second chance.”

“That’s very noble,” Iroh speaks sagely. “I believe people can change their lives if they want to. I believe in second chances.”

My eyes find Zuko, not even purposefully. He’s staring out at the ocean, looking tense. “Yeah,” I say softly. He glances over, finds me staring, and looks away.

“What about you?” Jet asks. “You’re all traveling together?”

I nod, giving him a smile. “Yeah. I guess you could say we’re going for the same reasons. Just a chance at a safer life.”

“Hmm,” he muses. “Come to think of it, I didn’t catch your name.”

He’s speaking to me, not Iroh or Zuko, and luckily I’m not important enough to have my name reveal anything incriminating about myself. “I’m Y/n.”

“Y/n,” he repeats. He smiles, not the cocky, teasing one I’ve grown used to in the past few hours, but a real one. “It’s nice to meet you. You’re not a bad fighter.”

“Well, yeah, she could’ve told you that,” Zuko scoffs, his voice startling both Jet and I out of our focus. Jet sends him a look, and his mouth curls up knowingly. I glare at Zuko in annoyance. If he has a chance to be hostile, he’ll take it, even to the person that just gave us the best meal we’d had in months.

Jet stands. “Come with me,” he gestures to Zuko. He walks along the ship’s railing, and Zuko stares after him for a moment before following.

We all watch as they leave, curious.

I turn to Smellerbee and Longshot. “So, where are you guys from?”

They share a look, and Smellerbee turns back to me. “The forest.”

I nod. “Oh. That’s cool. You guys have known each other a long time?”

“Yeah. Basically forever.”

I smile. “That’s nice. Same with me and…him.” I stop myself before I say the name of the Firelord’s son, instead pointing in the direction where he and Jet went. Nice save. “What do you want to do once you’re there?”

She rolls her eyes, but I can tell it’s not directed at me. “I just want to, you know, live my life. Without the fighting. Without the Fire Nation.”

I look down at my lap. I play with the string of fabric from my shirt. “Yeah. That would be nice.”

—-

taglist: @aquaamethyst96 @kaygilles

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whiskeynwriting · 3 years ago

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MBFD Chapter Nine Update

Okay y'all,

I have been fighting back the urge but I can take it no longer.

I got an amazon package today that I have been DYING to open lmfao, so MBFD will have to wait. I planned on posting it tonight and it's almost done, but you have my word that it will be posted tomorrow (late in the evening though because your girl has her first day at her new job and is then going to a hockey game).

For the time being, here's a sneak peak (;

1.3k words | 18+ (minors DNI)

Frantically, he searches for your pants, the leggings you discarded onto the car’s floor. Reaching forward, Dave grabs them, using the fabric to shield your body from his coworker’s eyes. Immediately, your face is shoved into the slope of his neck, your entire body burning from embarrassment. Your arms wrap tightly around him, your body stiffening over his lap. And he feels this; he knows how comfortable you are.

“Shit.”

When Resnik doesn’t see anyone in the front seats, he takes another step, peering into the backseat. And then, his eyes widen, Dave’s staring right back at him. But Dave’s aren’t wide, they’re narrowed; he’s pissed.

You’re still burrowed into him, body trying desperately to hide. And Dave’s arms tighten around you, too. A possessive act.

Resnik’s mouth drops into an open grin, lifting his hands up in defense. Spinning on his heels, he turns, walking away. And when Dave’s sure he’s out of sight, he releases an aggravated breath.

“Sweetheart,” He turns his head, nose nudging our cheek. His hand rises, too, caressing the back of your head. “Are you alright?”

And when he hears you sniffle, his heart nearly stops.

“Baby,” Dave whispers to you softly. “Look at me.”

Lifting your head, you sniffle again, quieter this time. You’re refusing to meet his eyes, and this worries him beyond belief. Did this damage your connection?

“Baby, please.” His voice is soft but concerned, both palms finding either side of your beautiful face. “Talk to me.”

“I’m, I’m so fucking embarassed.” Releasing a small whine with your words, you let a few tears fall down your cheeks.

Your words make his heart break, the tears falling down your face filling him with grief. “I know, baby. I know, I’m so sorry.”

Lifting a hand to the back of your head, he brings you in again, ushering you to his neck. And you move easily with his gentle push, curling your body into him.

“I know I… from what I do…” You don’t know how to say it. But David is patient with you, waiting until you’re ready to talk. He can’t believe Resnik just caught the two of you. “I… I can control what people see… you know, on my page.”

All he does is nod, listening.

“I couldn’t control what he saw.” You’re whispering, voice muted not just by his neck but by the emotions running through you. “Thank you for covering me.”

“Of course, baby.” His grip on your head tightens slightly, his other arm wrapping around your lower back. “You’re mine, princess. You’re mine, okay?”

“I know, daddy.” Nodding against him, the nickname you use takes the breath from his lungs. It makes it so much more… intimate. Like it’s not just something that turns you on. Calling him daddy, in your eyes, makes him the person you can rely on. And that responsibility is something he’ll happily take on.

Dave’s lips find your collar bone, and then your neck. It’s not necessarily passionate, his movements. They’re tender, kind and sweet. And it makes you melt into his arms, finally relaxing. He feels your calming breaths, the fact making him rest easy inside. When his kisses trail up to your cheeks, you grin, his lips comforting you greatly.

“Baby,” You giggle briefly, eyes closing as you grin.

“What?” He teases, lips mirroring your own.

And then he feels your limbs tight around him, hears the sharp inhale of your breath. “I love you.”

You’ve never before been so comforted by another’s presence. Being around Dave puts you at ease; it’s almost like he brings out a part of you that you never even knew was there. Easily, he helps you return to him, your usual, happy self. And honestly, lately, you didn’t find yourself all that happy. Not when you were without him.

“Let me drive you home, baby.”

Legs tilted in his direction, you’re leaning on the center console, reveling in the way his big hand holds your thigh. After getting redressed, he helped you out of the backseat, opening the passenger door for you. He turned on the seat warmers, making sure you were comfortable for the drive home. It’s a quiet drive, one filled with the air of relaxation and contentment. You’re astonished he was able to calm you so quickly.

“I’m gonna miss you,” He admits, tilting his head down when he parks in the lot of your building. He’s too attached to you.

“I know, baby.” You’re offering a loving stare, alongside a small pout. And when Dave looks over at you, it makes him smile. “What will you miss most about me?”

At this, Dave sighs, the hand on your thigh tightening. His voice lowers, along with his eyes, those dark orbs trailing slowly up and down your form.

“You know I like how you smell…”

“Yeah?” The words and his tone make you tingle. “Like my perfume, or… between my legs?”

The way you’re talking to him is making him hard all over again. “Both.”

“Hm,” You grin, nibbling on the corner of your lip. “Tell you what,” Reaching down into your bag, you retrieve a miniature bottle of your everyday perfume. You keep it with you in case you need to refresh yourself at any time throughout the day, such as after a walk to class or practice. “Why don’t you take this, baby?”

Thick fingers lift the small bottle from your hands, Dave now assessing it. He appears a bit confused, so you clarify for him. “It’s the perfume I wear.” And then he looks over at you with an appreciative smile. “Maybe you can spray it on your pillow or somethin’.”

Now that is a marvelous idea.

“Really? You want me to have this?”

“Mhm.” Shrugging, you then say, “I have more at home, honey.”

“Honey,” He repeats, grin brightening. “I like that.”

“Well, maybe I’ll say it more then,” Leaning in, he meets you halfway with a kiss. “Honey.”

Just thinking about cuddling up to his pillow at night, stuffing his nose into the plushness of it just to smell you, it makes him sigh. You’re his safe haven, you’re everything he needs to feel comfortable and happy in life.

“Do you have to go?”

Another sigh, a deflated one. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Okay, well…” Glancing down, you rub your thumb over that smooth bottom lip. “I’ll text you, okay?” You have no idea that he and Carol have been arguing, and the fact that you still go out of your way to reassure him of your contact makes him melt for you. You care so much.

“Okay,” Nodding, sad eyes look into your own. “I love you.”

“I know.” You tease, smirking. “I love you too, David. So much.”

“I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.” And it’s true. Nothing, no one, has even come close.

“Do you really mean that?” Your voice is soft, shocked.

“Of course I do.”

The thought that next pops into your head is only natural, you feel. And you can’t keep yourself from asking it out loud. “Not even… Carol?”

Immediately, your heart pounds. Should you have asked that? Did you cross a line with him?

“No.” He says firmly, instantly. “I’ve never felt this way about her.” A text from the woman herself brings him back to his unfortunate reality. He has to go. But not before saying I love you at least a handful of more times, pulling you in for kiss after kiss until you’re pushing him away, laughing. He feels lucky to be close enough to hear that contagious laugh. The last thing he wants to do is go home, he’d much rather stay with you. But he lets you go, knowing he’ll see you again soon.

#MBFD #MBFD Series #Dave York #Dave York x you #Dave York x reader #Dave York x female reader

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marlena-immortale · 4 years ago

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New Experiences: Part 1

Summary: Damiano wants to explore a new kink and is nervous to bring it up with you, but you ease his nerves.

CW: SMUT, masturbation, anal play, choking, d/s dynamic (dom reader), dirty talk, discussion of pegging

Word Count: 2.3k

Damiano David is a confident man. Anyone that’s met him can see it. He knows he’s hot and he doesn’t care what other people think of him, except for you. He holds your opinion very highly and definitely cares what you think about him. So when he discovers something new about himself that he wants to try out, he is very hesitant to bring it up to you. He knows that you’d never judge him and you’d probably even be into it, but his nervousness seems to still be weighing on him.

A few weeks ago, Damiano was scrolling through Instagram when he found a post of a man dressed in panties, arching his back and bent over, with a woman’s hand on his back pushing him down. He could feel his cheeks heat up and couldn’t help but screenshot the picture (for research purposes only of course). He didn’t know why it had such an effect on him but he decided to file that away to deal with at another time.

-------

Days later, you were out with your friends and Damiano had the whole house to himself. He lays down on your shared bed, cuddled up in the freshly-washed sheets. He opens his phone and finds the picture his mind just won’t let go of. Without realizing it, his other hand drifts down his own body, pretending it’s the girl’s in the picture, or better yet, your hand. He imagines your breath in his ear as you push him down into the mattress. His hand tucks inside his underwear and starts playing with his half-hard dick.

He lets out a frustrated moan as he imagines your hips pressing into his ass. He puts his phone down, his imagination more than enough now, and brings his other hand down the back of his underwear, reaching in as he shifts to lean more on his side. His finger makes its way down further and he presses it lightly to his hole. He gasps at the new sensation but it turns into a moan once he decides that he really likes the feeling. He lets himself experiment a bit and starts rubbing little circles against his rim. His mind clouds with thoughts of you telling him what a good boy he’s being, moaning so loud and making such pretty noises while he explores himself. He can feel this new sensation all over his body and instantly knows that this will be a staple in his self-pleasure routine from now on.

His other hand quickens its pace on his cock as he reaches his climax much quicker than expected. He can feel his hole contract on the very tip of his finger as he cums all over himself, his body shaking with pleasure. He sits there for a moment, processing what he just did and how good it felt, realizing that he definitely has to work up the courage to bring it up with you now.

-------

The next day, he wakes up to an empty bed and the smell of coffee and carries himself to the kitchen to find you making espresso. You turn around to see your lovely boyfriend clad only in his snug underwear and open oversized flannel falling off his toned shoulders. A smile spreads across your face at the sight, pouring two cups of coffee. You can tell that he seems a little nervous for some reason by his hesitancy to walk closer to you like he normally would. He stays rooted by the doorway, shifting his weight from one foot, to the other, to the doorframe, and back.

“Everything ok baby?” you ask while setting cups down on the table in front of him and pulling out the two chairs and sitting down. Damiano follows your lead and sits across from you, taking a sip from his coffee.

“Yeah, everything’s fine…. I just have something I wanna talk to you about,” he confesses, his eyes casting down at his cup held tightly in his hands.

You try not to get nervous yourself at his hesitancy to tell you. “Okay, what is it? You can tell me anything,” you respond, reaching to take one of his hands in your own, stroking his thumb. The gesture calms him down a bit and he takes a deep breath before replying.

“There’s something new I want to try…. like, in the bedroom,” he says, attempting to maintain eye contact the whole time. You instantly relax, a small smile now on your face, knowing it’s not anything serious and that you’d be happy to try anything he’s interested in.

“I’ve been thinking that maybe we could try…. pegging?” he says, surprised at his own hesitancy to admit his secret to you. You’re not sure why he was so nervous, it’s not like you haven’t casually brought it up before or joked around about it. In fact, you’re more than willing to try it out with him and already have some fun ideas swirling around in your head about how this could go.

“Is that all? I’d love to fuck you darling,” you offer with a smile, threading your fingers through his own now sweaty ones. His face fills with relief and he lets go of some of the tension in his shoulders. “How about we go to my favorite sex shop and pick something out together?” you offer.

“That sounds good. You’re really into this right? You’re not just doing this for me?”

“Oh trust me, I am most definitely into this,” you say as you stand up and stalk over to his side of the table, climbing onto his lap, running your hands over his chest. “I can’t wait to have you trembling beneath me, my cock deep inside of you,” you whisper into his ear. You hear a soft whimper come from his mouth.

Your words ease his worries, and also makes his heart beat a little faster and breath get a little heavier. You take his jaw into your hand and guide him to look up at you as you continue, “I’ll take it slow though baby, don’t worry. I’ll have you all stretched out and ready for me. You’ll be making such pretty noises for me, I promise it’ll feel so good”. You can see his eyes dilate and feel him getting a little excited when you shift your hips in his lap. Your hand travels lower to wrap lightly around his neck and his head tilts up, allowing you more access to feel his blood pumping under his skin. “How’s that sound baby boy? Do you like the sound of that?”

He nods dumbly and you let him try again. “Words sweetheart,” you urge.

“Yes, yes that sounds… really nice”.

“Yeah? Good. Why don’t you use that pretty voice to tell me exactly what you want” you whisper. It’s so easy for you to have him blushing and whimpering like putty in your hands. You just barely tighten your fingers around his throat and listen to his breath hitch and a pathetic noise leave his mouth, surprising even him.

“I want you…” he trails off.

“Aww, did my baby get all shy?” you coo at him.

“I um, I want you to… I want you to shove your fingers inside me and thrust so deep I can feel you everywhere. I bet you’d just love to see me all helpless and fucked out,” he says, his bratty energy coming out in full force. His eyes are dark and lidded as he looks at you with a smirk. You raise an eyebrow, a smirk appears on your own face, seeing how he wants to play this game now.

“You’re right baby, I would love that, to have you writhing and desperate, grinding your hips down onto me,” you say with a tight grip on his throat and the other hand slipping down to his inner thigh for emphasis. A broken whine escapes his pretty lips and you feel his erection growing against your ass.

“But I guess you’ll just have to wait for now,” you say with a cocky smile, and swiftly lift yourself off of him with a quick kiss to his cheek, leaving him turned on and missing the feeling of you on his lap.

-------

The next day, you’re on your way to the sex shop, Damiano practically hanging off of you as you walk to the entrance, a lazy smile plastered across both of your faces. When you get to the shop, you immediately guide him to the section in the front where you know the strap-on harnesses are. His cheeks heat up, imagining you wearing it, and his head instantly goes to burrow into the space between your neck and shoulder. You run your fingers through his hair, stroking his scalp soothingly and when you see that it’s just an embarrassed smile on his face and not anything bad, you pick out a nice leather harness and lead him to the dildo section.

You can tell that he’s getting all shy and a little subby so you decide to play with him a bit. “Why don’t you pick out one you like, sweetheart?” you ask him, your fingers tilting his chin up and to the wall of dildos in front of you. He looks around, flustered and slightly overwhelmed by all the decisions. He’s still attached to your side, acting less bratty than usual, being too out of his element to attempt to annoy you. This sweeter side of him is just about the cutest thing you’ve ever seen and you plan to see just how sweet you can make him.

“I want you to pick it out for me,” he whispers, still a little ashamed even though there’s no one nearby.

“Are you sure baby?” you ask, honored that he trusts you to make the best decision for him.

“Yes,” he says, nodding while pawing at your waist like a little puppy wanting all of your attention. You melt seeing him be so cute and submissive for you.

You look to the wall of dildos and find the perfect one; a pretty pastel pink one that’s as close as you can find to Damiano’s actual size, “so you can get a taste of your own medicine,” you say with a wink, placing it in your basket.

His blush deepens pinker than the dildo realizing that he’s intimidated by his own length. You guide him further into the store, the both of you still with stupid smiles across your face, so enamored and in love with each other. You find the lingerie section and pick out a pretty white lacy set for him, knowing he loves the feeling of lace against his skin and knowing just how sexy he’ll look in it.

You pick up a few more supplies you’ll need for the big night and check out at the counter before walking back to the car. As soon as you put the bag in the backseat and get situated in your seat, you look over at your beautiful boyfriend and sub to find him looking more embarrassed than he has been all day which was strange considering you’re alone now and not staring at a wall of dildos.

You look down to see the cause of Damiano’s embarrassment; the growing bulge in his pants. You smile, knowing how shy he gets about getting hard so easily.

“Aw, my poor sensitive puppy, always so easily turned on,” you say, leaning in close, your breath on his neck and your fingers brushing gently across his clothed erection, teasing him. As soon as he whimpers and starts to buck up into your hand, you sit back up and start the car.

“Nooo, please touch me,” he whines when you start pulling out of the parking lot.

You laugh and respond, “Well if you behave like a good boy, I’ll give you a nice reward when we get home”. He pouts but doesn’t say anything else. “Are you gonna be a good boy for me?”

“Yes, I promise,” Damiano desperately responds, needing some sort of release.

“Okay then, I want you to unzip your pants, pull your cock out, and make yourself cum,” you instruct him, keeping your eyes on the road ahead of you. His hands immediately fumble at his zipper, trying to get it down as quickly as possible. He pulls his pants and underwear down just far enough to pull himself out of them and immediately begins softly stroking. You can feel yourself getting turned on hearing his noises beside you as you navigate your car along the highway. He gasps as his thumb rubs across his tip, his head thrown back and hips moving of their own accord.

“C’mon baby, I know you can do better than that,” you encourage him condescendingly.

“Please, I need your hand,” Damiano begs you as he desperately strokes himself, staring at your hands clutching the steering wheel.

“Aw honey, I know you can do it yourself. You’re being such a good boy for me,” you say. Your words bring him closer to his climax as his hand speeds up on his cock. The car fills with the beautiful sounds of Damiano’s moans and gasps and quiet whimpers of your name that barely are able to make it past his lips. He only needs a few more strokes until he’s loudly moaning and spilling all over his own hand and shirt.

“This is gonna be fun,” you say, a big smile on your face as Damiano catches his breath, recovering from his orgasm.

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horsesandhockeyplayers · 4 years ago

Text

A Not So Southern Christmas-- Part 5

This is obviously a rewrite of my old fic. I have been feeling romantic and Christmasy, so I figured it was time to bring back my favorite holiday couple. Title banner by the wonderful @whatishockey. The center photo is from a gifset by the amazing@powerblais

Synopsis: When Adelaide Thibodeaux finds her husband to be diddling the wedding planner in the Church before their nuptials, she walks out and is determined to take her dream honeymoon by herself. Until she gets a seat upgrade to first class and ends up next to Hurricanes Defenceman, Joel Edmundson. Holiday shenanigans ensue.

Author's Notes: Rushed to get this done for Christmas, so ignore any typos please. THAR BE SMUT AHEAD. This was written in early 2019 before Eddy went to Montreal as a free agent. I will be tagging both teams. It's been a while since I've posted a dual POV so reminder that *~*~*~*~*~* delineates a change in POV.

Tag List: @leafs-foreverr, @pagirl6866, @colecockfield If you would like to be part of the tag list, please let me know.

Part 5

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When I woke up in the morning, I could tell the snow was falling heavy. Daylight was trying hard to penetrate the wall of blizzard outside and failing.

Sometime during the night, I had flipped Adelaide over my body and she was curled into my chest as I faced the wall of windows on “my” side of the bed. She was snoring softly and had gotten rid of the sweatshirt sometime during the night. Probably because I was a human furnace when I slept.

That was fine by me as I lifted the covers to take a peek at her pajamas that drove me insane. She burrowed into me more as the cold air hit her skin and I let the coverlet fall and wrapped my arms around her. I was awake, I had to pee, and I was horny. I was definitely looking forward to the day where I could wake her up in the morning with my cock sliding into her hot wet cunt. The thought made me swallow, hard.

She snuggled into the hollow of my throat which didn’t make me want her less, but I was doing this “in the moment” bullshit now so I wrapped my arms around her even tighter as I hugged her to my body and watched the blizzard swirl outside the hotel windows.

I lifted my wrist to check the time and it was just after seven in the morning. I had no idea what the streets below looked like but based on what I could see falling in the muted morning light, pending a Christmas miracle, we weren’t getting out of Chicago today.

There was a grumble somewhere around the vicinity of my throat and phone started to vibrate on the side table. Reaching over the dark haired badger making unhappy noises into my throat, I picked up the phone.

If the majority of my blood wasn’t in my dick, if I didn’t have a beautiful woman snuggled into my body, and if I had been awake more than two minutes, I probably wouldn’t have answered a facetime call from a number I didn’t recognize, but I did.

When I hit accept, I had less than a second to 1) realize the caller was Adele and 2) Notice Adelaide’s dark head was clearly visible under my chin before her sister let out a shriek that could have awoken long dead Egyptian Pharaohs.

The noise made Adelaide bolt upright, her head snapping me in the chin so hard my teeth smashed together, and when her sister was able to clearly see what she was wearing, that got another shriek of joy of which any toddler in the world would have been jealous.

My phone was snatched out of my hand and Adelaide threw it across the room where it landed harmlessly on the carpet, her voice a harsh whisper, “What the fuck, Joel?”

All of my blood was still not where it was supposed to be and I was having a difficult time processing everything that just happened in the span of three seconds.

Stretching my jaw, I moved it side to side with my fingers, tongue running over my teeth to make sure they were still there. That would have been an embarrassing story to tell the boys. Adele’s voice was tinny from across the suite and I pulled Adelaide back down in the bad and pulled the duvet over our heads as I feverishly whispered, “What the fuck just happened?”

Her hands started running over my body, like she was checking me for injuries and it was NOT helping the situation in my boxer briefs. “Why did I just wake up to my sister shrieking like she just opened new Louboutins?”

I snatched one of her roving hands and placed it not so subtly on my dick, “Because I woke up three minutes ago wrapped around a beautiful woman wearing the lingerie you’re wearing, making badger noises into my chest and all my blood is here.”

Her fingers trailed idly over the hard length and I couldn’t help the noise I made in my throat. She didn’t seem to notice, “Badger noises?”

I swallowed and struggled for control, grabbing her wrist, “Adelaide, your sister is still talking into that phone across the room and unless you want my dick so deep inside you it’s coming out your throat, I need you to stop. Please.”

The little minx didn’t stop, she actually smirked. I wouldn’t have thought Adelaide could smirk, but she did and she slipped her fingers into the waistband of my Calvins and she wrapped her entire hand around the shaft and stroked.

I swallowed and sank into the pillows, “Fuuuuuuccckk.”

Suddenly her face was in front of mine, “You have to stay quiet until Adele hands up, which, she knows we are in the same bed, and she wants deets OR to see you naked, so don’t bet on that.”

Holding her wrist still, I hissed, “I do not know what you did with the sweet southern woman I picked up at the airport, but this is not appropriate!”

She smirked again uncharacteristically, “She woke up curled around a very very hot half naked man and she decided to stop being stupid. So do you want my mouth on you or not?”

Propriety was NOT my strong suit and I had made an unsuccessful attempt at being a gentleman, so I gave in. I let her wrist go and settled on my back, folding my hands behind my head, “I’m a man in bed with a gorgeous woman, who wants me in her throat? If this is some kind of test, then I fail.”

Placing her lips on mine, she gave me a gentle kiss and released Little Eddy before hopping out of bed like an adorable long legged doe.

I sighed and pushed up into a seated position, the headboard supporting my back as she picked up the phone, “Hi Dellie bye Dellie!” She hit the end button with a jaunty wave and turned the phone off before tossing it back on the bed. “Give me a minute?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Lady,” I said, gesturing to Little Eddy making a tent under the duvet.

She disappeared into the bathroom and i put the phone on the nightstand. She didn’t take long but I was staring out the windows, lost in my thoughts when she returned. Climbing on the bed, she straddled my hips and pulled the covers up around her waist, “Open your mouth.”

Her breath was minty fresh and I knew she had brushed her teeth in the bathroom and I was suddenly self-conscious about my own breath. It was a new feeling, I was never self-conscious about anything.

I opened my mouth, and like she had read my thoughts she placed a breath strip on my tongue. In that moment it was my heart and not my dick that twitched.

Settling my hands on his hips, I shifted so she was perfectly stradldling my hard on and I arched up into her. She sucked a breath through her teeth, hands coming to rest on my bare shoulders.

When I spoke my breath was also minty fresh, “Are you sure, Lady?”

Rolling her hips against me, she shyly bit her lip and I felt my self control shred. “Lady?”

Letting her lip pop out from between her teeth she answered, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

I lifted my hands to hold her head, thumbs under her chin and I held her for a kiss.

She was the one to deepen the kiss, her tongue slipping between my lips and an absolutely feral sound originated in my throat. Holding her to me, I flipped us and she gave a small squeak as her back hit the mattress. I had an entire buffet of Adelaide and her lips were just round one. Breaking the kiss I started to nibble down her neck.

Her hands trailed up my spine, her voice breathless, “holy shit Eddy.”

“What?” I replied between kisses. I was trying to decide if that silken pajama set was going to hit the floor now or later.

“You just threw me around like a feather.”

I chuckled against her skin, “Trust me you’re not a feather, but you’re not another 240lb hockey player in full pads either. You’re not nearly as big as you think you are.”

She didn’t answer, just gasped as I nipped her nipple through her cami, my free hand plucking at the other. I suddenly made a decision and lifted the shirt up and over her head, red silk and white lace hitting the floor before I laid her back down again.

Her fingers threaded through my hair as I sucked a nipple into my mouth and swirled my tongue around the nub. My fingers rolled her other nipple between them before I trapped it and started to squeeze with increasing pressure until Adelaide arched her hips into me with a moan.

Her voice was barely a whisper, “oh my god, Eddy.”

I hummed against her as I continued kissing down her body, “hmmm, if that’s all it takes to get an ‘oh my god, Eddy.’ I’m looking forward to the rest of this.”

She flinched when I started kissing across her stomach and I’m pretty sure I actually growled, “Whatever dumb insecure bullshit you just thought of, knock it off.”

I kissed across her belly again, tongue dipping into her navel before my fingers found the waistband of her shorts. They too hit the floor and suddenly she was laid out in front of me completely naked. She was just as spectacular as I thought she would be.

“Fuck, you are beautiful.”

Her pussy lips were glistening and I traced a finger down the seam gathering her juices before I let it slip between them. Watching her face, I slid my finger over her clit and pressed down, rolling it against the pad of my finger. She gasped and her hands fisted in the sheets.

I let my finger slide down her folds, adding pressure as it found her entrance and I pushed it inside. She was so wet and warm, I needed to taste her. I moaned as I licked her clit; she was so tight and her cunt sucked my finger inside her. She arched off the bed and buried her fingers in my hair, gripping the strands as I lapped at her cunt and fucked her with my finger.

At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to see this beautiful woman cum. I sucked on her clit and slid a second finger inside her and she gasped. Twisting them inside her I pressed the tips to her walls, searching for her g-spot and her hips lifted when I found it and she gyrated in the air trying to get more stimulation.I fucked her with my fingers then, dragging them along the spot, clit trapped between my teeth as I sucked. She was panting as I fucked her, chest heaving, breasts moving with every breath.

When she started to beg, I almost lost it. “Eddy, oh my god. Please. PLEASE.” I pushed a third finger inside her and bit down on her clit with increasing pressure until her back bowed off the bed and she was scratching at the headboard with her free hand. Her pussy convulsed around my fingers and I let her clit go, lapping at it with a flat tongue as I fucked her through the orgasm, cunt rippling around my digits.

Her juices were running down my hand and I needed to be inside her. Untangling her hand from my hair I pushed it above her head and gripped both of her wrists in my hand as I levered over her, shoving my underwear down my hips. My cock bounced free and I shifted, dragging the head through her dripping pussy until it notched at her entrance.

My voice was more forceful than I intended for it to be. “Are you on birth control?”

She nodded, hands still pinned above her head and I slid into her body with a hard thrust, feeling the crown of my cock drag against her walls. Even after an orgasm and good finger fucking she was still tight and it took few thrusts to get all the way in. I held my dripping fingers to her mouth. “Suck.” Her lips stretched around all three fingers, tongue running over them, tasting herself.

When I was buried inside her to the hilt, I felt the tip of my cock pressed against her cervix and she rotated her hips, trying to get me deeper. Taking my hand out of her mouth, I supported my weight with it. She squirmed under my body and she whined, her voice needy. “Eddy, fuck Eddy, you are so big, I need more.”

I bent down, lips latching onto her skin below her collarbone and I sucked hard as I slammed my hips into her repeatedly. I did this for a few minutes, sucking a bruise into her skin, marking her as my hips set a slow forceful pace. The only sounds were her whimpers covered by the fervent slap of our bodies together. When the mark was an angry purple, I turned my attention to her nipples; my cock was slamming into her so hard that her entire body shook, which had her boobs bouncing in my face.

I latched onto a nipple, my free hand trapping the other between my fingers and I bit down and squeezed at the same time. She arched up into me with a string of curses, legs wrapping around my waist and that was my undoing. I braced both hands on the headboard and I fucked her hard and furious, our bodies sounding like applause through hissed expletives.

Her orgasm seemed to catch her by surprise as I shifted my hips, the shaft of my cock dragging along her clit as I fucked her. Watching her face as she came was my breaking point and I felt my balls tighten as I shot stream after stream of cum into her cunt.

I braced my weight on my forearms trying not to put too much weight on her, because I didn’t want to pull out just yet. I wanted to stay inside her hot wet warmth forever.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My voice was breathless like Scarlett O’Hara had run a mile, “Holy Shit Eddy.” He refused to put any weight on me, but refused to move as well so I wrapped my arms around him and tugged.

His voice was muffled in the crook of my neck, “No Lady, I’m too heavy.”

“Let me be the judge of that will ya,” I said, pressing a kiss into his temple. I tugged him down again and this time he obliged, settling his weight carefully on top of me, his softening cock still inside me, filling me. I wanted to stay in this moment forever.

We laid there, sweat drying on my skin, pussy still fluttering anemically around his cock as he nosed my ear pressing gentle kisses along my neck. “That was perfect, you’re perfect. God, I don’t even know when I’ve cum that hard.”

I sighed and hugged him tight, “One of the drawbacks of living in the moment is wanting to stay here forever, never wanting to go back to reality.”

He propped himself up on an elbow and kissed me sloppy and deep, our tongues lazily entwining until he had his fill and he pulled back, pressing his wet lips to my face in soft kisses. “You think when Christmas is over I’m just going to go away? You are sorely mistaken. I just became addicted to you Lady.”

I sighed again, relaxing into the heat his body produced, “You say that now, before we have to go back to the real world.”

He pulled back, lifting his hips to watch his dick slide out of my body, followed by a trickle of his cum. I watched him as his fingers gathered it and bit my lip as he shoved it back inside him. It was so crude and possessive, I almost came again before he brought his finger to my lips, his voice commanding, “Suck.”

Opening my mouth, I drew them in, sucking our co-mingled juices off his skin. He uttered a hissed, “Fuck,” and pulled his fingers from my mouth as there was a knock at the door

He kissed me, tongue invading my mouth like he was trying to lick our cum off of my tongue. Sex with Dan had never been like this. We had only done it a handful of times but they had been fumbling, hurried, unfulfilling events in the dark with him grunting and thrusting erratically and I had nothing else to compare them too. If this was what sex was supposed to be like, I understood why Adele was so insistent I get out an “get some.”

There was another knock, “Room service!”

He broke the kiss and pressed our foreheads together, “I ordered coffee and breakfast last night.”

I gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Mmm, that was mighty thoughtful of you.”

His eyes were soft and almost a little wistful, “Is it weird that I’m hoping this blizzard lasts a few more days and instead of going home I can just spend the next three days fucking you in increasingly depraved ways?”

I gave him another chaste kiss. “Go get breakfast before my ass deflates.”

He pouted and kissed me again, “We can’t have that, it’s one of my favorite parts about you.”

I gave him a small shove. “Go.” He responded by tucking the covers around my naked body, his cock limp and shiny against his thighs as he pulled his underwear on and walked to the other side of the bed for his joggers.

There was no way to hide the smell of sex in the room and I wanted to pull the covers over my head and hide from the employee delivering breakfast.

How he managed to pull on his sweats and gracefully hop across the suite, I don’t know. I would have crashed into 14 pieces of furniture and probably needed stitches and a trip to the hospital.

“Can I pay for the tip, or…” I asked, after clearing my throat. He snatched his wallet off the table and rolled his eyes at me, clearly not dignifying my request with an answer.

I threw a pillow at his retreating back and huffed, “You’re such a jerk!”

A smirk covered his face as he reached the door, “Yeah, according to Don Cherry, I’m part of a bunch.”

I flopped back into the remaining pillows and pulled the covers over my head, he was impossible, “Well Don Cherry is a dinosaur in completely awful suits!”

I stayed under the duvet for the transaction and wondered if I could just hide out under the goose down forever. Soon the smell of bacon smothered the smell of sex in the room and I peeked out from the safety of the duvet only to find Joel wafting the smell toward me with a napkin.

His grin was wide, “Mmm. There’s my Lady. Come eat.”

I rolled my eyes, clutching the sheet to my chest, and trying to find the pajama set to put on.

He poured me a coffee. “Lady, just wrap the sheet around you and come eat, because getting dressed is an act of futility. I’m just going to strip you naked again as soon as we are done eating.”

Somehow I managed to gather the huge sheet around my body in some kind of toga and not trip on the ends as I made my way to the table. When I sat and started to chew on a piece of bacon, my voice was dry, “What makes you think you’re going to get me naked again?”

A smile stretched his face, but his eyes were dark. “Because I’m gonna put on the antlers and you’re gonna put on the elf hat.”

I tried to resist the whole body shiver that snaked down my spine, but based on Eddy’s gleeful smirk I wasn’t sure how successful I was.

Picking up a fork I pushed the eggs around on my plate. “Speaking of that… we didn’t um.. Use protection.”

He paused chewing and swallowed before he spoke, “You said you were on birth control.”

“I am… but like pregnancy isn’t the only STD”

He choked on his coffee at the implication that children were STDs. “I haven’t been with anyone since I was last tested.”

Frowning, I put down my fork. “Oh yeah? What about me? I could be a giant… slut!”

He gave me a dry look, “The fact that you had to search for the word slut in you vocabulary tells me all I need to know, but please stop me if at any point this becomes inaccurate. You met Dan three years ago. It took him almost six months to get into your pants. You’d have sex two to three times a week at first, you were engaged by your second year together, by the third year you were down to once a month at most, none at all leading up to the wedding. You figured the wedding would change things.”

My frown became a scowl and I pushed the eggs around on my plate some more. I didn’t want to tell him he was off the mark but not in the way he would be expecting and that my experience was actually much much less than that. He looked awfully pleased with himself as he finished his stupid egg white omlette. I hoped it tasted like sad kale.

“We actually only had sex a few times and it wasn’t like what we…” I trailed off and pushed my food around some more.

I could tell he didn’t know what to do with that information, so he changed the subject, “Stop frowning and start eating.” He finished his plate and grabbed his phone off the nightstand.

While he disappeared into his device my eyes strayed to the windows and the city of Chicago. We both spoke at the same time.

“The snow stopped.”

“Our flight wasn’t cancelled.”

Suddenly, I was faced with the reality that life existed outside of this suite and I was going to bumfuck nowhere Manitoba with a professional hockey player to crash his family’s Christmas.

He pointed at me, the rest of his fingers still curled around his phone, “Stop it.”

I frowned and pushed the eggs to the other side of my plate, just to change it up for once. “What? I didn’t do anything.”

“You’ve suddenly realized you said you’d go home with me and you’re feeling some sort of way about it and that way is not jumping for joy,” he said as he refilled my coffee up with his free hand.

It was creepy how easy could read me, he barely knew me, “Joel…”

He practically growled. “I hate when you call me Joel. When you call me Eddy you’re all cute or turned on. When you call me Joel, inevitably, something I’m not going to like is about to come out of your mouth. New rule, you’re not allowed to call me Joel.”

He started clearing his side of the table, putting things back on the cart. “Finish your breakfast. Our flight was moved up an hour. They want to try and get us out of here before the skies clear completely and the temperature drops 20 degrees and the runways are covered in ice instead of snow.”

I managed a few bites of the eggs, ate another strip of bacon and gave up on breakfast. My Momma would have been cluckin’ and feeling my forehead. Wrapping my hands around my mug of coffee, I stared out the window. The oppressive snow clouds started to lift and once again the Chicago street below me started to buzz with cars and people as the city began to dig out from the storm. My mind joined them, wondering what each one was doing with their day.

I felt pressure on my wrist, when I looked down Joel was carefully unwrapping my fingers from the mug and he tugged me out of my seat. When he spoke his voice was soft, “Hey, do you still want to come home with me?”

My shoulders lifted so high I could've sworn they brushed my earlobes before I dropped them in an exaggerated shrug. “I like you, I like the way you make me feel. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth to keep feeling this way but, everything just seems to be processing finally.”

He stepped closer, his fingers and palms grazing the line of my jaw before his hands buried in my hair. He lifted my chin with his thumbs and pressed a kiss to my lips. “No pressure, you know. We can go to Toronto or I can take you home to Alabama and crash your family’s Christmas.”

I managed to stop my eyes mid roll, because Joel in Alabama would be a disaster, “I’m just worried about what people will think, what your family will think. You already posted that photo to instagram, people probably think I’m some holiday hooker or something.”

He rested his forehead against mine, “Adelaide, no one with a soul can dislike you and why do you care what people think? No one on Instagram thinks you’re a holiday whore, they think you’re my girlfriend. So if that addressed all your concerns, in a perfect world where would you be right now?”

“On my honeymoon with a man who loved me and inbetween sightseeing and sex I’d be worried if the new towels matched the shower curtains for the house.” The thought escaped before I could stop it and he sighed.

“Well, I’m wayyyy better than Dear Old Dan, but Manitoba is a poor substitute for Toronto, so we are batting 50/50.”

I placed the hand I wasn’t using to hold up my sheet toga up, on his bare chest. I knew it wasn’t possible but I felt electricity flow between us. “But you’re going to be in Manitoba, so Manitoba wins.” He lifted my chin and kissed me again, this time his tongue sliding between my teeth.

As we kissed he backed me up against the bed and I yelped, my mouth ripped away from his as I fell ungracefully onto the mattress.

Joel didn’t flop around like a beached sperm whale, his descent to the bed was controlled and graceful as his arms landed on the bed on either side of my head.

His head tilted, brows arching as he looked at me, “A weird expression just crossed your face.”

“I was momentarily jealous of how graceful you are.”

“Is that what that expression was?” He looked amused.

“Yes, bu this expression is me remembering there’s at LEAST two videos of you on youtube sprawling on the ice because you forgot to take your skate guards off and that made me feel better about myself.”

He sat up against the headboard and hauled my sheet-toga clad body against his. “I’m glad those seriously embarrassing moments in my life give you peace.”

Unwrapping my body, I settled the sheet over both of us and rested my head on his shoulder. After a moment, he cleared his throat and when I looked up at him, he was wearing the reindeer antlers. “I believe I have a fantasy…”He plopped the elf hat on my head with a hopeful waggle of his eyebrows, “What do you say?”

I didn’t answer, just trailed my fingers down his body, the tips dipping into the valleys of his abs, feeling the muscles contract at the sensation. I wondered how much he worked out to get a body like this and I figured it was a million hours per day and I knew he sacrificed bacon and egg yolks. His body was nice, but God, at what cost?

His cock jumped, already hard, as I licked his sex lines and slipped my fingers around him giving a firm tug. Living in the moment was something new for me and apparently it took practice. But I was fully flexing that tiny little muscle now and fully prepared to chase my own pleasure while using this man’s body like an adult playground.

His cock still had that musty after sex smell clinging to the skin and I wanted to taste it, taste us. Leaning over him I ran my tongue around the mushroomed crown and he let out a breath through his nose, one of his hands sliding into my hair, “Fuck, Baby.”

I licked the length before taking him in my mouth and sucked until my lips met my hand. When I let him go to take him in my throat his hips lifted and I thought he was going to fuck my face. Instead, his hand fisted in my hair and he gently pulled me off his cock. “I’m too close. I don't want to finish in your mouth.”

He pulled me on top of his body as I licked my lips. “But what if I want to taste you?”

“Mmm you can suck it off my cock after.” His hand slipped between our bodies and I suddenly found myself full of his fingers, “But my cum belongs here.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say to that but I felt my walls ripple against his digits and I rocked on them as I got wetter.

His smile was wicked as he removed his fingers and lined up his cock, gripping my hips and rolling them slowly until he was buried inside me. “You like that idea? Being full of my cum?”

I bit my lip and nodded, rolling my hips again, feeling him deep inside me, head snug against my cervix he was so deep. The pressure was arousing and intense and I wanted more even though there wasn’t anymore of him or anywhere for it to go. Bracing my hands on his chest I let him take my whole weight, feeling so full of his entire length pressed inside me.

Letting go of my hips, he palmed my breasts, hefting them and holding the weight of them in his hands as I rode him. “I’m going to remember this forever.”

I was so turned on, my entire body felt flushed as his dick slid in and out of my sopping pussy. I mewled when his fingers plucked at my nipples and rolled my hips to shift the angle of his cock inside me, trying to get friction on my clit.

When he pinched my nipples, I gasped and increased my pace, “Fuck Eddy, I’m so close.” My voice was breathy and my hair was sticking the sweat on my neck.

Releasing one, the blood rushing to the tip was a sensation I felt right in my clit and his hand slid down my belly, his thumb seeking the bundle of nerves that so desperately wanted stimulation. One of my nipples was still pinched between his fingers and he increased the pressure rolling it between the pads of his thumb and forefinger as his thumbnail scraped my clit and I fell apart, bucking hard on his cock, as I had the hardest orgasm I had ever experienced.

His hips shot up as my walls fluttered around him, fucking me through it. “That’s it. Cum on my cock, Lady.” His fingers teasing my nipples and clit didn’t stop until I couldn’t hold myself up anymore and my elbows buckled.

Before I knew what was happening, he was out from under me and I whimpered as he pulled out, but he then he was behind me, pulling me to my knees and he slammed back in, fucking me so furiously that a second orgasm followed on the heels of the first, and this time his thrusts became erratic as he slammed into my cunt, cock twitching as he spilled inside me for the second time.

His long fingers were gripping my hips so hard I was sure there were going to be bruises and he was pressed as deep as he could be as the final ropes of cum shot out of him.

He stayed in me, pelvis flush with my ass as he ran a hand up and down my sweaty spine. “When you cum it feels like your pussy is literally trying to milk the cum from my balls. Is it weird that I like fucking you bareback? I never fuck women without a condom,” his voice was rough as he finally pulled out and I felt some of his cum dribble out. His fingers scooped it up and he held it in front of my lips. I lapped at his fingers as he flopped next to me and hauled me against his chest.

I made some sort of noise that indicated the negative to his question and ran my fingers down his chest. The asshole wasn’t sweating or winded and I felt like I needed a drink and a cigarette and 20 hours of sleep.

His phone vibrated on the side table and he reached over to grab it, “Your sister is trying to call again.”

I buried my face into his chest. “You have to change your phone number now. I have to change my number too. Does your mom want a daughter?”

Declining the call, he set the phone back on the table and wrapped his long arms around me, “I already got a DM from a cousin asking if the woman in the photo I posted was my fiance. There were apparently some wires crossed between my mom and aunt and the words ‘daughter-in law’ were used in some capacity and honestly, I don’t know the whole story but if we eloped no one would be happier than my mother.”

I didn’t know what to do with all that information and I just sighed, listening to Joel’s steady heartbeat beneath my ear tracing figure eights around his nipple with my fingernail.

He swept my hair over my shoulder. “Are you just going to ignore that?”

“YUP. No idea how to process so didn’t happen. I heard nothin’.”

His fingers continued combing through my hair, “It’s almost 9:30. We still need to get up and showered before we check out so we can get to the airport on time. And your phone has been off since last night according to the angry text I just got from Adele, so maybe turn it on and call your family before your dad kills me and no one ever finds the body.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you sure Adele isn’t your type? You’re both giant drama queens.”

“Ma’am I am a drama KING.”

I tried to use my liquid muscles to sit up. “Ok Mr. Crop Top Man.”

A yelp escaped as he suddenly flipped us, his narrow hips between my thighs, arms caged around my head, lips on mine as his tongue lashed into my mouth. I was halfway turned on again when he lifted his head, “I just made you cum like four times in the last two hours, are you seriously questioning my virile masculinity?”

“If I say yes will you make it five?” I said with a smug tone.

He groaned, burying his face into the crook of my neck. “You’re a vixen. I would love nothing more than to spend the day in bed, enjoying your body, making you scream my name, but that has to wait until All Star break. Maybe I can whisk you away to someplace with a beach and little umbrellas in the drinks, but right now, you have to get your beautiful butt outta bed and I don’t mind you smelling like my cum, I prefer it actually, but other people might not like it.”

When I spoke my voice was soft, “All Star break? Some place with a beach?”

“You heard me. Now, let’s go.” He rolled off of me and I was being hauled to my feet and directed to the bathroom still trying to process his comment about the break.

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