#then like... somewhere in the maya empire | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mujingsi · 5 months ago

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hi hali i promised annotations and i am here to deliver. but FIRST OFF. short and sweet playlist that i curated for this fic:

fly as me - bruno mars, silk sonic wide open (foreword) - niki saturn - lyn lapid you weren’t meant to see that - the rare occasions get it - keshi tsunami - niki nocturne (interlude) - laufey take a bite - beabadoobee

this fic is genuinely my roman empire and i think of it so so so much. thank u for putting ur whole writer-ussy into this. okay here we go,, Be prepared for a lot of incoherent rambling, dumb annotations that make no sense, and screaming.

It’s a bit of an overreaction, especially for a team who just dispatched a Category Four kaiju. But it doesn’t matter. Xander isn’t Jihoon’s first co-pilot and he won’t be his last. They rarely last long, a cycle of Rangers who cannot stand to work with him for more than a few fights. Jihoon examines the scratches on his suit, thinking that he needs to get it buffed while the Marshall deliberates how to answer Xander’s demands.

⤷ this is so fucking hot of him. ok sorry

They do that a lot, so in sync that despite the fact that they’re two different people, sometimes Jihoon feels like he’s talking to one. Wylie is a little shorter than Chan, but just as furious in personality and attitude. She leans against Chan, cocking her head to the side. It’s not a conscious movement but an instinct, her body naturally attaching to her co-pilot’s. Jihoon knows that level of closeness well.

⤷ JM SO IN LOVE WITH CHAN AND WYLIE YOU WILL BE HESRING MORE ABT THEM FRKM ME!!! theyre sooo in tune w it h each other and just the JUXAPOSITION OF THEM WITH JIHOON WHO LITERALLY JUSTTTT LOST A COPILOT LITERALLY MAKES IT EVEN MORENPERFECT !!! i will take anyyy wylie and chan crumbs im so so so serious <3

He trails to the shower, tossing his clothes in the hamper as he does. Leaving the lights on so it’s only the dull orange glow over his bed, he turns on the shower as hot as it will go. It takes a second, but soon steam is filling the room, choking him as he slides under the stream of water, sighing as the heat of it burns away any lingering frustration for the day.

⤷ Oh my god idk i can literally VISUALIZE THIS SO WELL I CAN HEAR THE SPRAY OF THE SHOWER AND HIS HEAVING SIGH AND AND

“Ever heard of foreplay?” you grunt, helping Maya out of the giant mech behind you. She shoots you a thankful grin, taking off her helmet. Her face is flushed pink, hairline sweaty. “You really just dive in dry, huh?”

⤷ all i’m saying is that this is me. LMFOAODOEKSD

Storm Breaker. It’s a good name for a jaeger and it matches the profile. She’s built to withstand the brutal waves of the deep ocean and the onslaught of a high-category kaiju. Your interest is piqued, curious about Storm Breaker and her brutal pilot.

⤷ everyone stay calm. it’s happening. ITS HAPPENING

Somewhere behind him, Jihoon hears Minghao shriek. “She bit me!” Scratch that. Maybe Wylie does bite.

⤷ LMFAOOOOO I LOVE WYLIE i wanna be friends with wylie and chan so bad I LOVE THEEEMMMM

“My new drift partner,” Seokmin sighs dreamily. Soonyoung and Seungkwan smack him at the same time, offended. They’re one of the few triple pilot groups, operating a massive piece of machinery made for slaughtering and hammering down on high-grade kaiju. “What? Look at her!”

⤷ BOOSOOKSEON COPILOTS!!!! I KEEP FUCKING WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!! god i can already imagine the chaos,,, i just LOVE how youve characterized them all <3

A collective hum goes through them. All of them recall that situation, but no one says a thing. The weight of Cherry’s absence sits heavy on them - even Jihoon misses her a little.

⤷ I LOVE WHEN FICS REFERENCE ESCH OTHER LIKE THIS IS LITERALLY SOOOOOOO GOOD UGGHHHH THE TIMELINES ADDING UP <33 i need to put the cherrybomb fic on my tbr!!!! bro im being so serious when i say ive never even consumed pacific rim AND YOU MAKE ME WANT TO CONSUME THE MEDIA PLSDLDFKGF

Lee Jihoon is prettier in person. You don’t know why it’s the first thing you notice as you watch him walk across the training center. He’s dressed in fitted cargo pants and a racing jacket over a t-shirt, emphasizing his broad shoulders. His hair is bleached and pinned into a low bun, some of his bangs hanging in his dark eyes. He doesn't notice you watching him as he nears an empty mat, shedding the jacket.

⤷ everyday i thank the universal super being that hali wrote long blonde haired jihoon. like r u kidding me. just look at this paragraph. everyone say thank you hali. thank you hali

“So are you my new co-pilot?” a soft voice startles you and you turn to see that Jihoon has snuck up on you. His eyes are darker in person, entirely consuming as he looks down at you with a cocked head. His blonde hair sticks to his forehead, pale skin covered in a sheen of sweat. “You must be, right?”

⤷ i like how this can be read as jihoon either being taller than reader OR him thinking better of himself than them, therefore “looking down” on them (shakes like a chihuahua) (i know its most likely the former but STILL i like it. i like how it can be read as physically or metaphorically.)

Your intuition tells you that you’re perfectly matched, fighting style so similar that it’s hard to get a hit in - you won’t get a hit in, too in sync with him to out maneuver him. So you deviate. Instead of dodging a smack to the ribs, you let him hit you. His surprise is so apparent that he breaks his concentration and you strike, foot sweeping behind his ankle and pulling, knocking him from his feet. Jihoon goes down hard, breath leaving his lungs as you pounce, pinning him.

⤷ ooohhh.... so reader is LIKE THAT!!! I CAN ALREADY SENSE THIS IS GOING TO BE SO OOOOO GOOD. im eating my fist

Jihoon huffs underneath you, shaking his head. You’ve still got him pinned, your palm pressed to his chest and your knee planted in his stomach. He glances away from you and you become aware that everyone has stopped to watch the two of you spar. And you’re still on top of him.

⤷ AAUAEUEHEJEUEHRHEHEHWUEUE HES UNSETTLED!!! HE DOESNT LIKET HAT READER IS GOOD AT WHAT SHE DOES!!!! I’m going INSANEEEEEE!!! bro the palpable TENSION,, THE TENSION BETWEEN THEM IS SO FUCKING INSANE AND THEY JUST MET,, please let this be a she falls first but he falls harder FUCK!!!!!

Jihoon snatches his phone and locks the screen, putting it face down. He scowls down, feeling his heart flip a little. Your scent drifts over to him at your proximity, a mix of amber and jasmine. It’s already familiar to him, having caught the scent when you pinned him down earlier, hand pressed to his heart-

⤷ THE TENSION IS SO FUCKJNN HGOODOFFDDJFKROWOWA

You’re pretty. He’s had attractive co-pilots before. That’s not new, nor has it ever bothered him. Something about you draws the eye, though. He thinks it’s the aura of confidence you give off, effortlessly comfortable in your skin and your situation, despite Jihoon not making it any easier on you.

⤷ once again guys. HE WILL FALL HARDER!!!!!!!!!! AND I AM GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT JN A GOOD WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seungcheol relaxes, and though he doesn’t introduce himself, he’s not unkind to you. Jihoon feels a pang for the pilot, knowing that the last year has been difficult for him. Cherry left Seungcheol adrift without a partner, and he’s been unable to find someone to replace her.

⤷ once again hali this is literally like. so insane how easily u are able to reference and bring alt fics into this,,,, like i am SO curious about chan and wylie’s relationship as well as cheol and cherry’s like it’s just SK GOOD AHHH

“Tchaikovsky was inspired by Mozart.” “I didn’t say one was better than the other.” You smirk. “You don’t like differences of opinion, do you?” “I always value opinions. Some more than others.” “Mhmm. Where can I put my things?”

⤷ screaming crying ripping my hair out THEYRE PERFECT FOR ONE ANOTHER!!!!! ALREADY BANTERING AND ALL THAT JAZZ

Weather the storm, you think to yourself. Jihoon is angry and capricious, but it’s more to do with his situation than it is to do with you. And despite his snappy nature, there are flashes of him willing to work with you by answering questions, albeit with attitude. You can do this. You can make Lee Jihoon like you. Maybe even respect you.

⤷ really like the mindset reader has it’s just an overall really good way to view life????? and i think it really compliments jihoon nicely

“Are you a coffee person?” he asks, because he knows you’re awake. Of course he does. You don’t answer for a moment, stuck between eyeing the narrow taper of his hips and the question that implies he’s willing to make you coffee. He turns, arching a brow at you. “Now you shut up?”

⤷ I, too, would be drooling. Me too. (barking loudly. snarling. FUCK!!!;!(!;!(!;!;&:&;)

Jihoon shuffles into the bathroom. You hear the faucet turn on and you go back to tilting your head backward under the stream of water, ignoring the sound of him going about his morning routine. In a way, it’s sort of peaceful, the sounds of him softly opening and closing cabinets and the clinking of jars against the counter soft in the background.

⤷ My god it’s so domestic. My hod. mmmm i love domesticity especially in intense situations .... in life or death situations ....... ughhhh the moments of peace and calm ....

“Meditating. Turn back around so we can be back-to-back.” “What? Why?” “Just trust me.” “I don’t.”

⤷ this is me highlighting this passage and making little heart doodles next to it bc i LOVE BANTERRRRR

You roll your eyes at the barb but grin when Jihoon listens, twisting back around to face the front. He lets you settle against him, the warmth from his back melting into yours. He is rigid, his spine solid as it digs into yours for a second. You lick your lips, feeling electricity shiver down you at the contact, like there’s a spark.

⤷ i need them to jump each other’s bones already

“She did, but it doesn’t make up for what she did. I was her equal, not someone she was supposed to protect.” You look at him and he looks at you, surrounded by your memories in the drift. “I am deserving of treated like an equal.”

⤷ god this entire passage is so powerful i love love when fics give reader Background and Character and mold them!!! and the way that reader is insinuating that they want jihoon to trust her ,,,,

There is a melody to your mind that he enjoys, though he’ll never tell you so. The more you drift together, the more Jihoon realizes that you are exactly like a Tchaikovsky piece. There is an organized chaos to you, a mathematical formula that is logical and measurable, but that deviates from the norm once in a while.

⤷ HES COMPARING HER TO MUSIC

⤷ EVERYOEN FUCKING STAY CALM

Jihoon has quickly learned that the longer he lets you sleep in the morning, the less whiny you are when you wake up. Instead of playing his music out loud, he lets you sleep until he’s made two cups of coffee, adding a spoonful of brown sugar and milk to yours. He sets it on the table and walks back to the bathroom, one of the requiem pieces carrying him through his routine.

⤷ guys it’s so FOMESTIC,,, it’s so FUCKING DOMESTIC IM GENUIENLY GOIGN TO CRY THE ACTS OF SERVICE THE THOUGHTFULNESS THE QUIET FONDNESS FUCK!!!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“You want to be an extra set of eyes and ears.” He nods at the accurate assessment. “Got it. Run me through Solar Saber drop stats if you know them.”

⤷ ik i keep saying this but i just really love how reader and jihoon don’t have to. Talk. to understand each other they just,,, do? they just know. they just KNOW

“It looks like that kaiju is playing you like a bongo,” Wylie’s voice comes over comms. “Hey Woozi, do you feel like it’s composing one of those songs you like?” “Oh sure,” he shoots back. “Take your time, Wylie. It’s not like it’s trying to crack us like an egg.” “Ugh,” you sigh. “Don’t talk about food. I didn’t eat breakfast. Hey Seungkwan, can you ask Joshua to save me some hash browns? He’s always at the cafeteria first.” Jihoon rolls his eyes. “You’re all insane. Any day now, Fang Striker.”

⤷ PLEASE,,, I LOVE THEM SOOOO MUCH THEIR BONDS ARE SO SILLY!!!!! I am so attached to them <33 love their relationships with each other!!

“So,” you ask the group. “Can we get hashbrowns now?” Jihoon realizes at that moment he doesn’t dislike you at all.

⤷ HES FALLING HARDDDDDD AAAAAAAAJKFDGHJDFKHGFJKGHDFKJG

You’ve adopted a lot of things that Jihoon does. It happens naturally, especially the more you drift. You find yourself putting on Mozart instead of Tchaikovsky or taking your coffee black on accident or scolding others in the training room for not being precise and perfect. Ghost Drifting is what some call it. You don’t think you’re quite there yet, being that Jihoon still hides half of himself away. But sometimes, even outside of the drift, you feel him in your mind like a phantom presence.

love love LOVE when people are close enough that they leave pieces of themselves in each other < 3 it’s always so good no matter if it’s romantic or not

He doesn’t feel your eyes on him, going about making tea for the both of you. He hums along to the song - you don’t know when he became so familiar with it, his movements comfortable. Practiced. Relaxed. A swell of affection overtakes you, realizing you don’t know when he started making you tea. Or putting on Tchaikovsky for you. Or not biting at you every two seconds.

⤷ i’m seriously going to bite my fist it’s the way that jihoon is slowly slowly opening up like a terrified shelter cat god i’m so so so in love with how u characterized his character hali omfg

“Five minutes until surface breach.” “Oh! Hi, Vernon,” you chirp. “Sup?” “Would kill for a coffee right now. And like, a bagel. Or hashbrowns?” Vernon groans. “Mood.” Jihoon snorts but says nothing. Minghao’s voice comes over the comms, soft and cool. “Blue, everytime I drop with you you’re talking about food.” “Have you considered that Ji doesn't feed me?” “So it’s Ji now, huh?” “Don’t get her started,” Jihoon grunts at Minghao’s teasing. “One mile out from the line of defense.” Chan joins the conversation, voice chipper. “Fang Striker ready to pursue. Also, good morning everyone!” Everyone groans in misery collectively instead of greeting him back. Wylie’s voice cracks like a whip as she spits out, “Be nice to him.”

⤷ LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE i’ve always been SUCH a big fan abt romance stories being more than just the (obvious) romance of the reader and character interacting w one another. the stronger and complex the relationships are w other side characters the better!!! like i can tell sm about ALL characters just from this little snippet!! like there’s so much to be implied here. the insinuation of emperor's mandate and storm breaker dropping together in the past? the implication that hao is catching onto jihoon letting blue in? the soft bullying of chan and how protective wylie is? i love it. love love love

It’s a lie. You know it's a lie because you feel it is as sure as you feel your own glittering satisfaction that he’s thinking about it. That Jihoon is considering opening the door for you, even a fraction.

⤷ oh shut up. oh actually shut up rn. AAAUUUGUGHHHHHHHHHHFJDJSHWHWJAKALEOWOFKR LET HER IN LET HER IBNNNNNN

“There was no reading!” Vernon yells back. “The signature appeared a half second before it attacked like it had some sort of stealth mode!” “Kaiju don’t have fucking stealth mode, Vernon!” “Maybe it got an iOS update man, I don’t know!”

⤷ PLEAAAASE THIS IS SO FUCKING UNDERIOUS I LOVE VERNON SO MUCH LMFAOAOAODOEODOW

“I guess I’m not so bad a co-pilot after all, right?” He rolls his eyes but you get the feeling the tips of his ears have turned red. “Come on, Ji. Tell me I’m a good co-pilot.” “No way.” “Come onnnn.” He levels a look at you, dark eyes churning. He licks his lips, opening and closing his mouth before he finally murmurs, “Can I show you instead?”

⤷ are you. kidin g me. MY FUCKJNG STIMACH DID THE FUCKJGN FLIP THJNGY HALI FUCK YOU JESUSU HFSJDFFHGCHRIST YJEOWIWOD YEOWLS

Snatches of panic and anger and concern seize you for a split second, it feels like your own but you realize it’s not, Jihoon’s feelings bleeding into you like a fresh wound as you strike at the kaiju again. Its tail loops around the left leg again and Jihoon’s worry spikes, so raw and unfamiliar that when he lifts his foot, you don’t lift yours.

⤷ OH MY FUCKIGN GOD!!!!!! OH MY FUCKIGNG GGODODDDDDDDDD. SCREMAING PULLING AT MY FUCKING HAIR. the first time they are uncoordinated.......... GODD........... YELLINGGUYS

A little boy bullied by bigger kids. A woman being torn out of a home screaming in the hand of a kaiju. The sound of Mozart drowning out the screams of destruction. Young Jihoon crying in his room alone, nursing bruised ribs and knees. Teenage Jihoon fighting back. A man named Haneul that has seen all of Jihoon’s scars.

⤷ its the way im fuckinf screaming into my PILLOW ALL OF THE JIHOON LORE,,,,,,

Hatred when he meets you for the first time. Pride when he makes his first successful drop. Grief when Haneul retired. Resentment when he’s reassigned to a new pilot. Jihoon screams your name but you are drowning in him. Jihoon’s emotional dam has broken and years worth of who he is comes out in a torrent. Jihoon joins the pilot program because he wants to get away from the home. The smell of books and oil lanterns. Greasy fingers and fumes. A blue mat rushing up to meet him as he falls.

⤷ SO MUCH JNFORMAJTON AT ONCE,,, OH MY GOD HALI. YOU ARE SOOOO GOOD AT WRITING INTERJECTIONS. AT WRITING LIKE. FAST PACED MOVING SCENARIOS my heart is actually beating SO fast reading all of this like i feel so full of suspense and yearning and hoping that everything will be okay

“Shit,” Jihoon swears. “Blue, come on. Come back to me. I’m sorry. Don’t chase my memories!” A kite against a blue sky. Two paper boats on a lake. Your smile as you hang upside down off the bunk bed. Soonyoung giving Jihoon a birthday cake. Wylie in a hospital bed. Jeonghan and Joshua accepting pilots of the year. “I’m sorry,” Jihoon whispers, both in your mind and outloud. “Come back.”

⤷ this,,,,,,,, this,,!!,,,,,,!!!!!!!!! THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE IS BREAKING THE STORM SHE IS THE STORM BREAKER. fuc k SHE IS JIHOONS STORM BREAKER IM GOING TO SOB MY HEART

You feel your words resonate in him. His affection is startling. He hides nothing from you now, every thought he’s ever had of you, every moment his eyes lingered on you too, every second he realized he didn’t dislike you at all - it’s all there for you to see. His soul laid bare.

⤷ I’m fucjfjnggnot on the floor hali

“So she’ll be okay?” he clarifies again, looking at the doctor with a hard stare. The man tending to your arm looks nervous under the sharp gaze of a jaeger pilot. “You’re sure it’s not broken? It better not be broken.”

⤷ jihoon care agenda,,, ,, , ,,, fuck im so ruined. im such a goddamn fucking sucker for big climaxes that end with character A being so desperate about character B being okay,,,, and you NAILED IT!!!

Back in your room, Jihoon sits you on his bottom bunk to examine the arm himself, holding you carefully as though he can break you at any moment. You let him have this, watching as his eyebrows crease and mouth twists while he rotates your arm delicately.

⤷ chefs fucking kiss chefs. fucking kiss. idk just something about the way he has never been so direct about his attention on blue until now like ru kidding me. its like suddenly all there is in his life is blue and itm akes me want to cry (in a good way)

“You’re not, Jihoon.” You squeeze his arm to emphasize your words. “But even if you were, I trust that little boy too. He was empathetic and kind.” Jihoon glances at you, unsure. “Don’t run away from me now that you’ve let me in. I’ve seen you and I still want you. Unless you don’t want me.” “Of course I do.” “It’s hard to tell with you, you know?” His gaze drops down to your mouth. “I’ll show you, then.”

⤷ my live reaction to this:

Kissing Jihoon is like standing in the eye of a storm. He’s brutal and calm, sharp and soft. His heart beats against yours, his chest heaving when he pulls away from your mouth to press wet kisses to the shape of your jaw and down your throat.

⤷ allusions to storm ,,, he is the storm she broke ,,,,,

“Thank you for waiting for me.” You almost don’t hear him when he says it, his voice so soft. “When you didn’t have to.” Your arms loop around his neck, pulling him closer. His nose brushes against yours and you feel your adoration for him grow. “Of course I did. You were meant for me.”

⤷ you were meant for me. you were meant for me. do you know how much that sentence means to someone who only ever had the textbook definition of love? are you kidding me? you were meant for me. being you means being for me. the meaning of you is to be mine and the meaning of me is to be yours

“Thank you.” You’re so close to sleep that you barely register what he’s saying. “For what?” “Withstanding the storm,” he laughs. “Withstanding me and waiting me out.” “You’re worth it.” “I hope so. I want to be.”

⤷ hali. HALI. the promise of growth and character development. the sentiment of saying thank you for being there while i was difficult instead of i'm sorry you had to see me while i was difficult. once again the full circle back to withstanding the storm. she IS jihoon's storm breaker. god.

TLDR:

⤷ 10/10. this is absolutely one of my favorite fucking woozi fics out there. the world building, the character dynamics, the romance, the beautiful character development,,,, this fic really has it all!!! its genuinely genuinely genuinely one of my favorites out of the (probably five bajillion) fics i've read. and trust me when i've seen i've read a LOT of fics. i usually don't even reread them (i have a hard time enjoying when i know what happens next) but your writing is so so so goddamn good and keeps me on my toes and always has me wanting more. thank u for sticking along the ride of my crazy annotations LMFAO okay thats all goodbye!!!

Storm Breaker (l.jh)

Pairing: Jaeger Pilot!Lee Jihoon x Jaeger Pilot! f.reader

Summary: It’s a known fact Lee Jihoon is one of the best pilots the jaeger Program has. The only problem? He can’t keep a co-pilot to save his life. He thinks you’ll just be another Ranger in the rotation, but you are an unpleasant surprise.

Word Count: 23,373

Genre: Pacific Rim AU, Forced Proximity, Annoyed to Lovers

Type: Smut, Angst

Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging in and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately.

Warnings: Jihoon is a bit of an asshole, action/fighting scenes, brief descriptions of blood, mentions of offscreen deaths, brief mentions of sick parents, brief mention of having no family, sexual tension, explicit language, A Lot of Pacific Rim Techincal Terms But They’re Explained, terrible humor, a hint of angst, brief depictions of Jihoon being insecure about his childhood, sexually explicit content including nipple play, biting, a total of one (1) spank, oral (f. receiving), the slightest hint of voyeurism mentioned, unprotected sex (don’t do this), multiple orgasms, a lot of spit and cum, cum eating, vaginal fingering, a lot of biting, Jihoon is emotionally constipated and then lets it all out lmfaoooo

A/N: This is a re-upload from my old blog, since this was one of the stories that got blasted to the moon. Please enjoy PacRim Uji, who I love so dearly.

A/N 2: SPECIAL THANKS TO @daechwitatamic for not only collaborating with me on our little corner of the internet, but beta reading this giant piece and constantly motivating me while writing it. I could not be anywhere without you I love u

Also in this Universe: Cherry Bomb by @daechwitatamic

Main Masterlist | Ask | Read Next: Cherry Bomb

Jihoon doesn’t flinch when Xander throws his helmet against the wall. The crash is loud, but the reinforced material doesn’t crack under the force of the concrete. It clatters to the floor while Jihoon tucks his helmet under his right arm. Sweat drips down the side of his neck and down his back, but he can’t get to it while in his Drivesuit.

Just add it to his list of inconveniences.

Everyone in the room freezes as Xander storms toward the command center and right for the Marshall in charge, his steps thunderous against the metal floor. Instead of following him, Jihoon leans against the doorframe, watching the way his co-pilot rages, imagining steam coming out of his ears.

“I can’t fucking pilot with him,” Xander screams, stabbing an accusatory finger in Jihoon’s direction. “I refuse to do it. Reassign me.”

Eyes drift toward Jihoon. He ignores them, watching as Xander stops at the command post where both the Marshall and the LOCCENT Mission Controller who just walked them through their kaiju fight stand. Both of them stare at Xander, who is red in the face, chest heaving.

“Ranger-”

Xander cuts off the Marshall. Bold, if you ask Jihoon. “I’ll leave the fucking program if that’s what I have to do. I won’t pilot with him anymore, I don’t care that we can drift. He won’t trust me, he won’t give up the reins and he refuses to let me in. He’s arrogant and pig headed!”

“Pig headed,” Jihoon mutters to himself. “That’s new.”

The Marshall sighs heavily, eyes drifting toward Jihoon, who is still leaning against the doorframe. He lifts a single shoulder in a shrug, unsure what the Marshall expected. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the Marshall asks Xander to follow him, gesturing toward the door at the back of the command center that leads into offices.

Silence blankets the room at their departure. At least, as silent as it can get in the jaeger hub. The beeping of machinery and radar is a constant sound under the hum of machinery and the awkward cough of one of the workers in the room. Jihoon raises his brows as if to ask someone to say something. No one does and he nods, dismissing himself.

Laughter trails up the stairs followed by loud steps. He looks down to see Chan and Wylie coming up the stairwell, cheeks flushed and hairlines sweaty from their battle with Dreadfury only minutes earlier. Their team had the assist on the kill, and though they hadn’t landed the final blow, their constant offense had given Jihoon and his partner the time they needed to figure out how to move in.

Chan sees Jihoon and raises a questioning brow, pausing in the stairs. “Lose your co-pilot?” he asks, looking Jihoon up and down.

“How’d you guess?”

“Standard,” Chan and Wylie say at the same time.

“Think they’ll just finally get rid of you?”

“Nope.”

“Standard,” they both say in unison again. It’s Chan who says, “Must be nice to get away with murder, Woozi.” He continues up the stairs, clapping Jihoon on the shoulder as he goes. Wylie trails behind him, shooting Jihoon a grin. “One day you’re gonna end up on your ass.”

“That’s fine. You’ll both take me in, right?”

Both of their voices meld as they howl in laughter, passing him and going into the command center, yelling “Nope!”

Despite their teasing, Jihoon smiles. He’s known the pair for years and despite their ability to get under his skin, he’s fond of them. They’re good jaeger pilots, scrappy as they come and vicious in the field. Unlike Jihoon, they’ve piloted their jaeger together from the start, syncing like twin flames and sticking to one another.

It helps that they grew up together, of course. And that they’re in a relationship, one heart, one soul.

Sighing, Jihoon jogs down the rest of the stairs, tired and sore. He needs a shower, food and a fucking nap. He and Xander had been pulling extra shifts, the kaiju activity having increased with the bad weather. He suspects it was also in an attempt to get Jihoon to bond with Xander more and get him to open up, but that hadn’t happened.

That’s the problem with piloting with Jihoon. The more time people spend with him, the less they can stomach the way he resists them in the mental bridge that connects co-pilots. It isn’t that he’s afraid for them to see what’s in his head - they haven’t earned a right to his privacy.

Privacy is important to him.

Murmurs ripple through the cafeteria as he enters, rolling his head to the side to try and workout the kink that is formed there. He glances around and fights the urge to roll his eyes. Word spreads fast when you’re secluded in the Shatterdome with nothing but fucking ocean and giant monsters around you.

As usual, he ignores the stares and whispering. He catches Soonyoung’s eye from afar and shrugs when his friend gives him a questioning glance, earning an eye roll. Not for the first time, Jihoon finds himself wondering why someone like Soonyoung or Wonwoo can’t be his partner.

Drift compatibility.

He knows that’s the answer, but he’ll never stop wishing that pairing jaeger pilots together was a little easier. So many factors go into making people drift compatible and yet he’s yet to find a partner he can tolerate - or tolerate him in return. If it were as easy as picking his friends, he’d have settled with someone long ago.

Brushing away the thought, he heads to his room. It doesn’t matter what he wants. If wishes were horses, everyone would be a rider. He’s pretty sure that one of his former co-pilots had said that - in regard to Jihoon being impossible to work with, of course.

The dark and quiet of his room brings the peace Jihoon craves. He feels the tension melt from his shoulders. He suddenly realizes how tired he is, feeling like parchment stretched too thin over a rough surface. He peels himself out of his clothes methodically, welcoming the chill of the room against his sweaty skin.

Tomorrow, he’ll have a new partner. It’s a simple fact and a routine he is familiar with. That’s fine with him - they can keep assigning people to him until they find someone competent. Jihoon isn’t going anywhere.

He has nowhere else to go anyway.

“I need you to do me a favor,” Kira says before you can finish stepping out of the jaeger. The Marshall of the Sydney Shatterdome looks deadly serious. You scoff under the helmet, reaching up to unclasp it and shuck it off. Fresh air fills your lungs. It’s hot and tastes like metal in the jaeger bay, but it’s familiar. “And I need an answer quickly.”

“You know my cousin is a Marshall of a Shatterdome overseas?”

You pause. “Yeah.”

“They’re asking for a skilled pilot to pair with one of their Rangers. They sent over the drift profile and you’re the only pilot we have that’s a match.” You frown and she holds out a hand to stop your protest, a crease in her mouth. “Just look over the report and the profile I sent you, alright?”

“I mean, my answer is no. I’m fine here.”

“You are. You’re one of our best teams,” Kira says earnestly, her dark eyes flicking between you and Maya. “But respectfully, your value is needed elsewhere. There isn’t enough activity here to keep a veteran of your status on shift, Blue.”

You feel a flicker of uncertainty. Rarely does Kira use your nickname. It’s too familiar for a military commander of her status, and though you’ve considered her a friend for years, she never uses your nickname on shift. Unless she really needs something from you.

Licking your lips, you hesitate to answer. You don’t want to say she’s right about your skillset and risk insulting your coworkers and other pilots in the jaeger Program, but it’s an accurate statement. The Shatterdome you report to is old - one of the first built in the beginning. But kaiju activity is mostly unpredictable, shifting with the tides. You barely get them once a month anymore, and there are too many pilots who need the practice.

You don’t.

You glance at Maya and she offers a soft smile. “Hey, I didn’t think you’d be my co-pilot forever. Hoped, maybe. But I didn't expect it.”

“Oh come on, I’m with you for life, Maya.”

“Romantic.” Maya’s gaze softens. “Marshall has a point, though. We’re a little… slow here.”

It makes a pang go through your heart. Maya has been your co-pilot since your mother passed away, and though you didn’t go through the Ranger training program with her, she’s the perfect balance to you. You like having her around, and the thought of changing pilots just because someone wants your experience is… unideal.

Sensing your unease, Maya reaches out and touches your forearm, squeezing over the metal of your Drivesuit. Her smile is soft. Knowing. Like she knew that being in the drift with you wasn’t forever, and she’s already saying bye.

“Look,” Kira sighs, bringing your attention back to her. “My cousin really needs a skilled pilot and someone who is a leader and isn’t afraid of working with veteran pilots. They get more activity, and they need someone sharp. Skilled. Strong.”

“I mean, I’ll look over the papers.”

“Thank you.” She steps away. “I need to know by the end of the day, though.”

“Jesus Christ, Marshall. End of the day is in like two hours.”

Her smile is firm. “I know.”

Waving her off, you leave your jaeger behind, Maya trailing after you. She peppers you with encouragement as you walk, steps heavy on the metal catwalk. You don’t respond right away, thoughts trying to catch up with being thrown an offer immediately after slamming a monster back into the depth of the ocean just minutes ago.

You don’t have to ask why you. Drift compatibility alone is important enough to move jaeger pilots around the world from Shatterdome to Shatterdome in order to make the best pairs possible. There aren’t a ton of pilots - especially among the younger ones - at your base that are compatible with you.

Stubborn, Kira had always said. Finding an equally dominant co-pilot that meshes with you is difficult. You suspect that if you were not extremely talented at what you do and a veteran at your base, they might have moved you to an advisory position a long time ago.

Advising is not for you, though. The grind of metal and the heat of the fight is where you thrive, letting your mind go empty, entirely driven by instinct. Instinct was the reason you were so good at fighting kaiju. Your mom had always said you had the instinct of a warrior, and after putting down as many monsters to protect humanity’s coasts, you had to agree.

Maya immediately goes to the shower once you reach your shared room. You dive onto the bottom bunk, snatching the tablet sitting on your night stand. Your eyes squint from the brightness, sensitive in the dim room. Clicking through your emails, you find the reporting and profile from Kira and open it, information unfurling before you.

“Huh,” You muse, raising your brows as Lee Jihoon appears on your screen. “I know your name.”

His profile is impeccable - and so is his skill. Chewing on your lip, you throw yourself onto your cot and flip through all of the materials provided on your potential co-pilot. Veteran Ranger. Highly skilled in combat. Top of his class in the academy.

Clicking on the attachments, you watch the attached videos. There’s clips from his fights in and out of the suit. You find yourself hypnotized by his fighting style. There is a beauty to it, but it’s absolutely lethal. Efficient. There are no extra flourishes, no showmanship. Lee Jihoon fights to kill.

“So why do you need me?” you mutter to yourself, pulling up his past partners. The list is extensive, stretching back to multiple co-pilots over weeks at a time. “Jesus christ. You do not play nice.”

He must not, at least. Half of the pilots assigned to him are only barely compatible. You know it takes more than just matching fight styles, but based on the history glowing at you from the screen, Jihoon’s Marshall was doing anything they could to keep him, even if it meant pairing him with someone who was scoring as low as 54% compatible.

Pulling up your side-by-side analysis, you whistle. 98% was a good fucking number. You’d only ever had 90% with your mom, and she was genetically linked to you. Still, with as many partners as Jihoon has had in the past year alone, you don’t know that it’s worth it, even if his base has more kaiju activity and looks to be in need of veteran fighters.

Sighing, you close the tablet and throw it on the pillow. Resting your head against the metal wall, you close your eyes, thinking. You’re happy where you’re at. You’re a leader here, and you like Maya as your partner. She’s young and eager to learn - and you like your jaeger. Shadow Stalker is a good suit, though a little older.

Biting your lip, you grab the tablet again, opening the jaeger details on Jihoon’s profile. Newer model. Built for endurance. Equipped with multiple blades, suited for pilots who prefer sword-style fighting. She’s painted gray-blue like the deepest part of a storm - blue like your mother’s first jaeger, which makes you grin.

Closing the tablet again, you stare into the distance, thinking. “What’s your deal, Lee Jihoon?”

Jihoon hates sparring with Chan almost as much as he hates sparring with Wylie. Chan doesn’t scratch at Jihoon like a feral cat like Wylie might, but he does bite, which is exactly what he does when he can’t get out of Jihoon’s hold.

“You fucker,” Jihoon hisses, letting him go. Chan slips out of Jihoon’s grasp and rolls to his feet a few feet away, crouched low and ready to go again. Despite years of being a jaeger pilot, Chan nor his co-pilot have fallen out of their scrapy upbringings, fighting like two street orphans. “What, are you going to bite a kaiju if you can?”

“Of course not. I just don’t like losing to you.”

“Too bad.” Jihoon straightens and lifts his fists, planting his feet firmly. Sweat slicks the back of his neck, wispy pieces of hair escaping his hair tie and sticking to damp skin. “No more biting.”

“No promises.”

Somewhere behind him, Jihoon hears Minghao shriek. “She bit me!”

Scratch that. Maybe Wylie does bite.

Chan comes at Jihoon again. He’s a good fighter and he’s ruthless. It’s one of Jihoon’s favorite things about him. But there’s always an opening, always a moment between fluid movements that reveals itself that Jihoon can take advantage of.

He does exactly that, going on the defense, watching and waiting for the moment. When it reveals itself, Jihoon strikes lightning fast, catching Chan in the chest hard and taking him down to the ground. Jihoon feels the wind leave Chan’s lungs as he coughs hard, head smacking the mat.

Behind them, Jihoon hears the collective wince. Chan is dazed for a second, groaning underneath Jihoon’s hand pressed to his chest. He can feel the hammering of Chan’s heart, a little faster than his own. When it’s clear Chan isn’t going to claw at him, Jihoon stands and offers him a hand.

With a heaving sigh, Chan takes it. Jihoon claps him on the back, grinning as Chan tries to catch his breath, rubbing the back of his head. “That hurt.”

“Oops.” Chan looks over Jihoon’s shoulder and grins, causing him to turn around and follow the younger’s gaze. Wylie sweeps her feet under Mingho’s, knocking him to the mat. She pounces like a creature from hell before he can react, pinning him down. “Well, at least one of us didn’t get our ass beat today.”

“Stop biting, Dino,” Jihoon says as they trail off the mat, a warning. Chan has the decency to look chagrined, bowing slightly to his superior. Jihoon adores the kid, but he will not serve as a chew toy.

Grabbing a water, Jihoon sits down on the floor with Seungkwan, Soonyoung and Seokmin as Junhui and Minghao trade places. Minghao is nursing a scratch on his neck from Wylie’s nails, muttering about her being a demon straight from hell as he sits. Wylie gives her new opponent a wicked grin, taking her place on the mat and beckoning Junhui toward her. Jihoon shakes his head, gulping down water and leaning back on his hands.

“Fresh blood,” Soonyoung notes, gesturing toward the training room entrance as the Marshall leads a group of people in. “They’re holding trials for the two new mark fives tomorrow. Wanna go?”

“No.”

Soonyoung laughs. “Come on, they might be looking for another partner for you too.”

“Don’t care.”

“You can’t keep going through partners, man.”

Jihoon doesn’t react, eyes scanning the group of cadets. They all look fresh-faced and in awe as they’re led around the mats, wide eyes glued to the sparring pilots as they go. His eyes settle on you, though, pausing.

You don’t have the same awestruck wonder as the other cadets, trailing behind them as your eyes scan the structure, the fighters and the equipment around you. Calculating. Critical. You’re a little older than the other cadets too - not in looks but in aura, chin lifted, gaze sharp. Experienced.

Soonyoung follows Jihoon’s line of sight and straightens. “Woah. Who is that?”

“You shouldn’t fuck your co-pilot,” Seungkwan mutters. “Look what happened to Seungcheol and Cherry. She’s still at that training facility in Alaska. Didn’t come back after their drift glitched.”

A collective hum goes through them. All of them recall that situation, but no one says a thing. The weight of Cherry’s absence sits heavy on them - even Jihoon misses her a little.

“I don’t know,” Soonyoung notes cryptically, eyeing Wylie. She’s managed to get Junhui off his feet, slamming him down with a rattle of mat and springs, pinning him with a savage growl. Wylie Coyote indeed, Jihoon thinks, smirking. “Seems to work for Wylie just fine. God, look at Chan, he literally has heart eyes. Disgusting.”

It’s true. The pilot in question sits at the edge of the mat, elbows resting on top of his knees as he watches his girlfriend with his mouth open, lips upturned a little. His eyes are dazed, focused on Wylie as she holds onto a thrashing Junhui. There’s so much love in his gaze that Jihoon averts his eyes, worried he’s observing something sacred and private.

“Not everyone is like them,” Seungkwan shoots back. “They share a brain cell.”

“We’re literally drift partners. We basically do the same thing.”

“And yet I don’t want to fuck you, Hoshi.”

Soonyoung cocks his head to the side. “You know, that brings up a valid question-”

“No,” the other three say at the same time, cutting him off before he can get going.

Still, Seungkwan’s point is valid. The drift is something that is so intimate that it isn’t uncommon for copilots to have a romance or some sort of tension. The neural handshake makes you become one, unable to hide anything. It is inviting someone else into your head to see everything you see, everything you have seen. Memories, feelings, thoughts - nothing is yours anymore.

Jihoon hides it all from his co-pilots. He knows he’s not supposed to - openness and being honest and true with your partner makes for a better drift. But the intimacy of the connection makes him uncomfortable, and he’s not ready for anyone to see him - really see him.

So he hides in the drift. Knows how to bring nothing to it, to give only the parts of himself he has to in order for his partner to fight alongside him. Jihoon gives nothing more. And they don’t need it, frankly.

The Marshall leads the new recruits back out of the room. He watches you go, wondering what your deal is. As though you sense his eyes on you, your eyes flicker over to his, catching his gaze. He’s unsure why, but he pauses, the room stilling for a split second. Then you’re grinning wickedly, vanishing from the room.

He brushes it off and turns his eyes back to his friends.

He’s compact. Small, but toned, muscles rippling as he begins to go through a series of stretches. You know he’s a good fighter from your observations the day before. Everything about him screams efficiency. You can’t put your thumb on it, but the way he carries himself is methodical.

Lee Jihoon is the perfect jaeger pilot on paper.

It’s the partners that he has a problem with. He’s had eight co-pilots in the last year alone, which is more than anyone has the right to. Before that, he managed to keep someone for six months before they requested a transfer to a different location.

You sense Jihoon’s gaze, realizing he’s picked up on your staring. His expression is as neutral as it was yesterday, as though he has zero interest in whoever you are. He must not - he turns away and gets back to what he was doing, the moment passing without fanfare.

Everyone in the room is paired with their pilots, going through fight sequences. You watch the different pairs, noting those who exhibit high-drift compatibility and others who are still learning. You note how many talented pilots this base has, likely due to the high activity.

As though the thought summons the very creatures from the depths of the ocean, an alarm goes off. You don’t flinch, used to the kaiju alert system. It had gone off the day before, though. You look up at the screen as it flashes the names of the pilots on duty, calling them to report to the drop bridge.

A few shouts of good luck draw your attention to the center of the room where two of the younger pilots head out. You’d seen them sparring earlier, so in time with one another that you weren’t sure where one began and one ended. The man looks at the girl and gives her a smile so full of love that you look away, startled at its intensity.

While romantic connections between pilots aren’t totally uncommon, you’re not used to it. Most of the Rangers at your old base were family members and childhood friends, connection deep and intimate but not like that. You wonder what it must be like, if it makes love any easier to be that deeply connected.

“What makes you think that?”

“You’re not a cadet. And you’ve been watching me for the better part of two hours.”

You shrug. “You can learn a lot from watching veterans.”

“You could at least offer to spar to see if we’re any good together.”

“You mean to see if I’m good enough for you.” He lifts a shoulder, not disagreeing with you. Wiping your palms on your knees, you stand up. Even though he’s small, you’re still a little shorter than him, nearly eye level. You stick your hand out, giving him your name. “But you can call me Blue.”

Instead of taking your hand, he nods and turns on his heel, striding back to the mat he occupied earlier. You stand and stare at the newly vacated spot, hand held out in the air. “Alright,” you mutter to yourself, dropping your hand and going after him.

Eyes follow you. You can feel them as you trail after him, watching his smooth, even gait. Everything about Jihoon is refined and controlled, even down to the minute expressions as he steps onto the mat and turns to face you. Sliding your shoes off, you join him, feeling the spring beneath your step and the softness of the floor.

Jihoon heads to a rack of bo staffs, picking one up and tossing it to you. You snatch it, spinning it lightly to test the weight. The balance is near perfect, a slight weight to the left side. You adjust accordingly, grip firm. Jihoon does the same, spinning his staff and rolling his shoulders.

“Who were those pilots called to make the drop?” you ask, conversational.

“Dino and Wylie.”

“Good pilots?”

He takes his stance. “Excellent. They’re terrors. It won’t be a problem for them. Are you right handed or left handed?”

“Ambidextrous.”

“Good.”

You don’t know why, but his assessing gaze bothers you suddenly. Like you know that even though you know you’re an excellent fighter, it still won’t be enough for him. The thought that you’ve lost before you even begun pricks a nerve and you strike first.

It’s immediately obvious why you’re compatible. Jihoon knows your next move before you know what it is. You feel him move like an instinct, imagining his attack and defense before it happens. It isn’t a fight, but a dialogue, two skilled fighters communicating in a pattern only familiar to them.

Sweat slicks the back of your neck and back. You barely register it, losing yourself in the rhythm of Jihoon’s movements. The sound of the training gym fades to the background and you barely hear the crack of your staffs as they meet over and over again. You hardly see him, vision fading to a narrow point of instinct.

This is how you fight. Muscle memory, driven by intuition.

Your intuition tells you that you’re perfectly matched, fighting style so similar that it’s hard to get a hit in - you won’t get a hit in, too in sync with him to out maneuver him.

So you deviate.

Instead of dodging a smack to the ribs, you let him hit you. His surprise is so apparent that he breaks his concentration and you strike, foot sweeping behind his ankle and pulling, knocking him from his feet. Jihoon goes down hard, breath leaving his lungs as you pounce, pinning him.

For a second, it’s just the two of you. His heart pounds, chest heaving in time with yours. Even your breaths are evenly matched, a tempo that is deeper than most human understanding. Drift compatible. You feel it the same way you feel the spark of his skin even through the fabric of his shirt. You’re so aware of it that you don’t hear what he says at first, his mouth moving but no sounds coming out.

“What?”

“That doesn’t count,” he asserts. “I hit you first. The fight is over after that.”

You frown. “The fight doesn’t end until there’s a killing blow. A swipe to the ribs wouldn’t do it.”

“That isn’t how that works.”

“There are no rules of engagement in the ocean.”

He scowls. “There are basic principles to fighting. You lose when you get hit first.”

“Do you lose when a kaiju hits you first? Or do you keep fighting?”

And you’re still on top of him.

Clearing your throat, you climb off of him smoothly. You offer a hand to help him up but he doesn’t take it, getting up on his own. He’s flushed, cheeks tinged peak and mouth twisted in frustration. You watch him as he gives the room around you a cutting glance, making everyone immediately turn back to what they were doing.

Jihoon puts his staff back and you watch him. He looks minorly irritated on the surface, but you can see it rippling deeper than that. He’s unsettled and it makes you grin.

“This won’t work,” Jihoon says as he turns back to you, crossing his arms over his chest. You ignore the way his biceps flex and blink at him in confusion. “You can’t be my partner.”

“What? We’re compatible. That was one of the best fighting flows I’ve ever had.”

“We’re too different in principle.”

That gets a frown from you. “I don’t think so at all. You let your instinct guide you. So do I.”

“You deviate.”

“I let the natural dialogue of the fight lead me.”

You let silence fall between you. You can see why so many other pilots had issues with him. Jihoon approaches every statement as though it is the absolute truth, a fact that cannot be disproven. He speaks with the authority of someone who knows he’s right often, and frequently goes unchallenged.

Instead of letting him get a rise out of you, you switch topics. “Are you hungry?”

He pauses. “What?”

“What part of the question didn’t you understand? Are you hungry?”

Jihoon is perplexed. You’re sure that by now, mostly people have visibly grown upset with the combative dialogue. You don’t mind much, watching as he thinks on your question. You take the opportunity to appreciate the gentle slope of his nose up close, the delicate curve of his mouth, the contrast of feminine and masculine features that make an exquisite face.

Then Jihoon unfolds his arms and walks past you. You turn to follow him but he says over his shoulder, “I don’t want to have lunch with you. We’re not friends.”

There’s no room for argument in the way that he says it. You watch him as he leaves, never once turning back.

You are vexing.

There isn’t another word to describe you. Jihoon hasn’t the slightest idea how you’ve managed to so thoroughly irritate him at your first encounter, but he can’t stop thinking about how frustrated he is when he slams his tray down on the table.

It’s a little early for lunch, mostly engineers and staff going on shift soon filling the room to eat quickly. The giant clock above the entryway to the cafeteria resets and Jihoon relaxes a little, confirming that Chan and Wylie are fine. He knew they would be - a Category Two kaiju is nothing for a pair like them.

Jihoon finds himself thinking of you. Of what you must be able to do in a jaeger.

Curious, Jihoon looks up your name. It rings a bell - you were pretty renowned at your homebase. Clicking through videos, he sets his phone on the table as he eats, eyes glued to the screen. Your drops are easily accessible to him, clicking through them as he eats.

There is something hypnotizing the way you and your old co-pilot Maya Veliz fight. You’re efficient and without flashy moves, which he can appreciate. But there’s a speed at which you make decisions and take risks that has him shaking his head.

Yet, there is something vaguely familiar. He pauses his meal to watch closer, realizing what it is. There is a brutality to your fighting that he recognizes in himself, a need to kill. You fight to win, willing to take a little damage if it means you can deal the final blow.

The thought unsettles him. Your fighting style is so similar to his that he would be lying if he tried to say otherwise. There is logic and calculation to your moves, but then there’s always that deviation. That random blip in your pattern that is unexpected and dangerous.

“Will watching my drop footage make you like me more?”

Your voice startles him. He drops his fork and it clatters against the table, loud in the soft din of the cafeteria. You’re leaning over him, a smirk on your face and a devilish glint dancing in your eyes as you look at his phone screen where you successfully put down a kaiju.

“Deathclaw wasn’t very impressive. It was pretty small. My mom and I took out Umbraxis my first year, though.”

You sit across from him and he looks up at you. His mind goes blank, staring as you unwrap your silverware picking up a fork to stab a piece of chicken and pop it into your mouth. You hum happily, totally unaware - or maybe unbothered - at his increasing irritation.

“Tell me about your jaeger,” you demand - not ask. Your eyes find his, two pools of curiosity that have his tongue heavy, words sticky. “I want to know all about her.”

“You’re not going to make the drop with me.”

The curve of your mouth is wicked. “Tell me anyway.”

For a few minutes, Jihoon doesn’t answer. He waits to see if the silence will push you away or make you anxious. It doesn’t seem to. You keep eating without saying anything else, occasionally glancing at him with a cocked brow as if to suggest you have all the time in the world.

“She was re-outfitted two years ago,” Jihoon says slowly. He doesn’t know why he’s answering you at all, but he continues, “Mark-5 now with the new outfitted tech - she’s still nuclear-driven to avoid any EMP attacks. Outfitted with GD6 steel-obsidian chain swords on each arm, but there are also smaller, detachable blades for hand-to-hand fighting, along with some projectiles. She’s also got a lightning strike powered by the nuclear-core but it can only be used once, and only as a last resort. It obliterates local wildlife in the water.”

“What’s the suspension look like?”

“Gyro-stabilizers to stay fluid when fighting and L-10 locks on all of the joints to strap in and withstand damage. She’s built to take a lot of blunt-force and melee attacks, but she’s top heavy if she loses footing.”

“Have you only been in Storm Breaker?”

He nods. “Since my first drop.”

“She’s beautifully built.”

Jihoon doesn’t respond. It does bring him a small sense of pride to know that you admire the jaeger he fights in, but he doesn’t thank you. He suspects you notice but doesn't say anything, which surprises him. You seem like the stubborn type who doesn't like to back down from a fight, and yet multiple times this morning you’ve conceded to him, refusing to get upset.

It bothers him. He can’t tell if it’s because you’re a people pleaser or if you think you're gentle-parenting him, and he doesn’t like it either way.

So he doesn’t talk to you. He lets the conversation die there, despite sensing your amusement from across the table. He feels the grip on his fork increase, metal biting into his palms as he tries to ignore you. He can smell the jasmine and amber of your perfume, which makes him feel more insane, and he can’t help but steal glances at you and dart his eyes away.

“Hi,” The raspy voice interrupts Jihoon’s thoughts and he looks up as Wylie slams her tray down on the table. She’s sweaty, freshly peeled from her Drivesuite and offering a hand to you as she gives her full name. “You can call me Wylie, though. Everyone does. Are you Woozi’s new co-pilot?”

“Yes,” you answer at the same time Jihoon says no. “Though I didn’t know that was the name he preferred.”

Wylie shoots him a sly grin and sits down next to him. He curses and scoots over, the younger girl nearly on top of him as she leans her elbows on the table. “He doesn’t prefer it, which is why it stuck. He's a very cranky cat, but he’s nice once you get to know him.”

Jihoon scowls, turning to her. “Did I invite you to sit down with us?”

“No.”

That’s it. That’s the end of her statement. Jihoon watches as she settles happily, opening chocolate milk and chugging it back like it’s water. Jihoon cringes and readies to lob an insult her way when he’s interrupted again, another tray slamming down next to hers.

Closing his eyes, Jihoon summons all the gods he doesn’t believe in to give him the god damn patience. Chan is wearing a shit-eating grin as he leans across the table, offering his hand in the same, chipper manner his partner had moments before.

“I’m Chan. But you can call me Dino.”

“Why Dino?”

“I step on everyone.”

You raise your brows, amused, eyes flickering to Wylie. Sensing your question, Wylie says around a mouthful of mac and cheese, “Like Wylie Coyote because I’m a menace who doesn’t stop attacking.”

“How was your drop?”

“Easy,” they say in unison.

Jihoon focuses on his plate, feeling grouchy. They start to talk like he’s not even there, and though that is typically how conversations go around him, he’s suddenly bothered by it. Especially when you seem so smug that at least someone likes you.

He wants to tell you they don’t count. Chan is one of the nicest people in the Shatterdome and will talk to anyone, if they give him the time of day. Wylie isn’t exactly nice but she’s in love with Chan and is happy to be nice to anyone who is being nice to him. The pair are relatively easy to win over.

It only gets worse for him when Soonyoung and the others start sitting down. Everyone seems eager to ask you questions, a new shiny toy for his friends to play with. He chews on the corner of his lip, feeling stormy in the corner of the table as Seokmin peppers you with questions and exclamations at your answers.

A shift in tension makes Jihoon look up. Seungcheol sits down at the table slowly, as though trying not to be a distraction or catch any attention. He’s three seats away from Wylie and out of her eyeshot, but Wylie is a born predator, sensing him like a hunter. Her eyes cut over to Seungcheol and she bristles, shooting up to her feet to grab her tray and storm off.

Chan sighs, muttering a brief apology before grabbing his things and going after her. Jihoon glances at Seungcheol, watching the way his jaw ticks at the interaction. Surprisingly, you don’t ask any questions. You lean over to Soonyoung and ask him about some of their earlier fights, shifting the energy at the table from tense to light in a second.

He thinks about offering you to Seungcheol as an alternative.

Jihoon does learn a little bit about you while listening to everyone talk, though. You've only had two co-pilots in your life where Jihoon has lost count. He wonders what growing up piloting with a parent feels like, and though you smile as you talk about growing up working with your mom, there’s a tightness to your mouth, a look in your eye that he can’t place.

Feeling his gaze, your eyes shift to him. Jihoon realizes he’s been staring at you. He stands and leaves the table abruptly, Seokmin’s voice apologizing on his behalf drifting after him.

Thankfully, you don’t follow him. He dumps his tray and leaves it in the discarded pile for the cafeteria staff and immediately begins the climb to the command bridge where the Marshall’s office is. His thoughts race but go nowhere at the same time, an echochamber that he can’t untangle.

Before Jihoon can knock on the entrance to the Marshall’s office, the military commander looks up and waves Jihoon in. “I was about to call for you. Shut the door, please.”

Jihoon does so without comment and sits down. He glances around the office, distracting himself as the Marshall finishes what he was working on. The office is orderly and tidy, every ounce the professional and uptight officer that sits in front of Jihoon, leaning back in the seat to sigh heavily and level Jihoon with a stare.

Before Jihoon can open his mouth to list all of the reasons you shouldn’t be his pilot, the Marshall speaks. “You’re on probation.”

“I - what?”

“For the next three months, if you lose your co-pilot, you will be reassigned to administrative work or to a new Shatterdome.”

Jihoon opens his mouth. Closes it. The weight of the Marshall’s words don’t quite sink in, though Jihoon can tell they’re heavy. Real. “We’ve given you plenty of chances to effectively remain a pilot for Storm Breaker, but the board feels as though the trade off has become an issue.”

“The trade off?”

“You’re costing us money. And cadets. People want to train where they can potentially see themselves become a pilot. When we have open spots and jaegers coming up on retirement, it bolsters recruitment.” The Marshall levels him with a tired stare. “But when we have a pilot who no one can partner with, it puts us in a bind to send cadets where they will fit elsewhere.”

“Look - “

“No you look, Lee. You’ve been a pilot here for six years. That’s considered a veteran in this field. But the higher ups grow tired of even veterans when they’ve been unmanageable for the last two of those six years.”

Heat flashes up the side of Jihoon’s neck, equal parts embarrassed and angry. He’d been the first in his class to suit up, selected as Haneul’s co-pilot to fill in for their partner that had retired. Jihoon remembers how proud - and nervous - he was and how easy it had been to partner with Haneul.

He didn’t have that anymore, the safety net of the only parental figure he’d ever known gone.

“The pilots you’ve paired me with have no business being in a jaeger,” Jihoon says matter of factly. “I don’t respect them.”

“Well good thing we’ve given you someone to respect.”

Jihoon shakes his head. “I can’t fight with her.”

“You can and you will. Your drift compatibility is 98% and you have similar fighting style and come from similar machines. You’ll start Conn-pod training tomorrow.”

“Don’t make me partner with her. I don’t like her.”

The Marshall stands. “One day you might learn that if you give people a chance, you’d like what you find.”

“Marshall-”

“That’s all, Ranger.”

The air feels heavy as Jihoon leaves the Marshall’s office. He stops on the command deck, his eyes flickering over to the windows. The glass is floor to ceiling all the way around, giving the tower a 360-degree view of the pacific ocean. Blue stretches out as far as the eye can see, backdropped by the shining silver of the city.

Boats bob on the water, shifting back and forth on the dark surface. Air teams go back and forth, working in the aftermath of Chan and Wylie’s successful kaiju destruction. Jihoon can see the toxicity on the surface of the water, an oil slick that he knows the exact pungent smell of.

Trailing to an observation window, he stares with unseeing eyes. How many times had he stood up here and provided commentary to his friends during a fight? He didn’t frequent the command deck, but sometimes it gave him perspective. Or he was a little worried about his friends, especially when they were taking on higher category kaiju.

Jihoon chews on the side of his lip. He’s talked Wylie and Chan through plenty of bouts before. He remembers sharply the terror of the fight that had changed all of their lives over a year ago, watching as the hull of Fang Striker was breached, the screams of terror as Wylie took a talon to the stomach, nearly killing her. The aftermath of Chan’s grief.

A chill breaks out over his arms. Jihoon knows he isn’t cut out to sit through something like that again, to try and get a panicking pilot to focus and get to safety. He’s not made for an advisory role. Not built to watch pilots come and go, completely operating out of his control.

Death is easier to process in the heat of battle. It gives him an excuse to be distracted, to hide from the immediate pain of losing a pilot during a fight because he’s too busy protecting himself, protecting the city. He’s not made to watch it from afar and take the full weight of it.

Turning away from the window, Jihoon descends back down to the ground floor.

Probation period. Three months of having to stomach you or he’s out. Flexing his fingers, he heads to his room, needing the silence. If Jihoon is going to do this, he knows he needs to keep himself in line. Can’t push you away like he has the others.

And he hates you for it.

Music bleeds through the metal door out into the hall. You wonder how any of the neighboring rooms let him get away with it. Then again, Lee Jihoon seems like someone most jaeger pilots don’t go toe-to-toe with often, if they can help it. At least it’s classical music, the swelling sound of Mozart sweeping into the hallway as you open the door, propping it with your hip to haul the box in your arms through.

Jihoon’s eyes snap open immediately. He’s lounging on the bottom bunk of the bed in the far corner of the room, face lit by the glow of the muted screen in the corner showing the rain and ocean spray beating against the Shatterdome. Nothing disturbs the seas at the moment, though you wonder in a hotspot like this how long that will last.

A scowl twists his mouth. You let the door shut behind you, setting the box down on the media table by the doorway. “Mozart?” you ask, arching a brow. He glares at you, sitting up from where he had been lounging with his hands tucked behind his head. “A bit cliche, don’t you think?”

“What do you know about music?”

“Enough to know that someone with balanced compositions that orchestrate total control and logic in its make is… not surprising for you.” He blinks in surprise. “I like Tchaikovsky. There’s something more mercurial to his compositions.”

“Tchaikovsky was inspired by Mozart.”

“I didn’t say one was better than the other.” You smirk. “You don’t like differences of opinion, do you?”

“I always value opinions. Some more than others.”

“Mhmm. Where can I put my things?”

Jihoon closes his eyes and lays back on the bed. His blonde hair is undone, fanning around him in a silvery-white halo. “The trash chute, preferably.”

“Wherever I want, got it.”

He ignores you. You suppress a laugh and move into the room proper. It’s small, filled with only the essentials to house two people to eat, sleep, and shower. A small kitchenette sits to your left, hidden in darkness with all of the lights off. You spot a shelf filled with dry goods - mostly protein bars - and coffee. There is a sad excuse for a sitting area with a tiny table and two chairs next to the TV screen, a bunk bed with a wardrobe next to it, and a tiny bathroom.

Cozy.

Pulling open the wardrobe, you see that there’s room for your things. You shoot Jihoon a sidelong glance. He certainly hadn’t moved his things over to take over the full wardrobe after his last pilot left. You wonder if he’s just used to being unable to use the full space or if he had made room for you.

You doubt it’s the latter.

Ave Verum Corpus plays in the background as you unpack the tiny box that is your life. You hum along, shutting the wardrobe and padding over to the bathroom. Jihoon could be asleep for all you know, but you suspect he’s not. When you glance over at him after shutting the medicine cabinet, you see his foot tapping to the beat of the music.

“What other kind of music do you like?” His foot stops tapping at your question.

Turning off the bathroom light, you move to the door to break down the cardboard box you brought your things in. Jihoon doesn’t answer at first, his frame rigid with tension, as though he had forgotten you were there until you spoke. You suppose that’s entirely possible, if not a little unlikely.

Just when you think he’s not going to answer, he mutters, “I like ballads.”

“Romantic.” He frowns but doesn’t say anything further. “What’s your favorite one? Or artist?”

“Go play twenty questions with someone else. I’m not interested.”

“I’m going to find out anyway.” He opens his eyes then. They’re dark, pupils blown as his face twitches in an almost snarl. “It is an inevitable fact that we will have to drift. I recommend making peace with that now.”

“I’m going to bed,” he announces, flopping over on his side and crossing his arms.

You let Jihoon be mean. It does you no good to fight with him when you eventually need him on your side, and you can sympathize with him to a degree. He didn’t choose you as his pilot and he’s backed into a corner, a do or die situation that he can’t back out of. The only way is forward and it’s against his will.

As he pretends to sleep, you occupy yourself on the top bunk with your tablet, sliding headphones over your ears so he doesn’t bitch you out. Flicking through online channels, you familiarize yourself with your fellow jaeger pilots at the Shatterdome, watching fight footage and interviews.

You come across a set of popular pilots, only one of them familiar to you. You recognize the man from dinner earlier - he had sat down and the tension around the table had increased tenfold. Wylie had immediately clocked his presence and stormed off, Chan trailing behind her with an apologetic look.

Tapping on their information, you hum in interest to yourself. Seungcheol. You recognize the name, vaguely. He piloted Duellona Fury with his copilot, a woman you don’t recognize but that has a bright smile. They make a good team, totally in sync and feeding off each other’s energy. You wonder where she is now, assuming she’s the source of the tension between Wylie and Seungcheol.

You wonder what you and Jihoon will be like as drift partners. So far he seems to hate you, but he does tolerate you. It’s a start, if not ideal. You won’t start drifting right away - not for real anyway. Practicing combat drills and learning more about one another is the first step to any partnership, followed by practice drifts.

In the drift, there’s no room for hatred or enmity. Trust is paramount, but almost as important is respect. Respect for what you see in the thoughts and feelings of your partner, respect that they’re good at what they do and that they’re the best person for the job, respect that they are your equal. Too many partners get lost in trying to save the other, losing sight of being equally capable or feeling like they know better.

Jihoon doesn’t seem capable of that. Not right now, anyway. It doesn’t matter, though. You’re his only option to stay in the jaeger program, and though he hasn’t said anything about it, you’re pretty sure he knows.

“Can you shut the tablet off?” Jihoon grunts from below. You sigh heavily, tucking it to your chest. “The glow is fucking bright.”

“The TV is also glowing, Jihoon.”

“Yeah, so your tablet adds to the general light in the room.”

“Close your eyes.”

“It isn’t helping. Go under your covers.”

Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath in, you lock the tablet and shove it under your pillow. “Better?”

“Yes.”

You can do this. You can make Lee Jihoon like you. Maybe even respect you.

You are not a morning person. Lee Jihoon, however, is a morning person. Which is why it takes everything inside of you not to launch your pillow at him when you hear the classical music wake you from sleep in the morning, making you lift your heavy head to look around the room, vision blurry.

Heat from a fresh shower drifts from the bathroom only a short distance away. You stare in confusion, blinking rapidly as Jihoon walks out of the bathroom. He’s brushing his teeth furiously with one hand, looking at his phone with the other, blue light making him look like a phantom in the dim light.

And he’s dressed in nothing but a towel slung low on his waist, making you nearly go catatonic.

It’s not like you haven’t seen a body before - it’s just a body, and soon enough, you’ll be in his head. It’s important to get any weirdness out of the way because in the drift, you’ll bare everything. But for some reason the image of his small, compact body scrambles your brain this early in the morning.

Jihoon is built like a weapon, all sleek lines and hard muscles. He stands in the kitchen, setting down his phone as he opens cabinets and starts to make coffee, toothbrush still in his mouth. The muscles in his back flex as he moves, skin pale and smooth as the moon.

That brings a scowl to your face. “Yes, I drink coffee.”

“Great.”

He goes back to what he was doing, ignoring you entirely. Dragging your eyes away from him, feeling flushed and overwarm, you throw the covers back, scrambling from the top bunk. You land with a soft huff, feeling the chill of the concrete floor as you dart to the wardrobe to pull out clothes.

“What time is it?”

“You have eyes, look at the TV.”

Got it, you think. He’ll make coffee for you but not do something as simple as answer what time it is. You do look at the TV, seeing the darkened feed of the churning ocean breaking against the walls of the Shatterdome. There are multiple camera angles, weather radar and Dome messages that break up the screen into sections. The time is in the top corner, flashing 5:13 am.

“Ji, it is five in the morning.”

“Five-thirteen. And don’t call me Ji. I’m not your buddy.”

Taking a deep breath, you mutter curses under your breath. “I’m going to shower.”

As expected, you get no response.

The great thing about living in a billion dollar buildinding with hundreds of people is that there’s no shortage of hot water. You’re grateful as the steam fills the room, hot water making your coiled muscles melt the second you step under the shower. You let the frustration from the morning fade away, the rush of the water and the feel of it sluicing down your back-

A loud knock on the door breaks your reverie. You hear it open. Jihoon grunts, “I wasn’t done brushing my teeth. I need the sink.”

“Then use the sink.”

He��s back in the kitchen by the time you’re out of the shower and wrapped in a towel. You venture out into the main room in kind, deciding that if he is going to walk around in nothing but a towel, so will you. He barely gives you a glance from his bottom bunk, lounging around in low-slung sweats with no shirt, blonde hair splayed on his pillow. You ignore him in favor of the lone mug of coffee sitting in the kitchen steaming.

Gripping it and bringing it up, you let the ceramic warm you from your palms upward, inhaling before taking a tentative sip. It’s bitter but it helps you wake up. You glance at Jihoon from over the lip of the cup. He scrolls on a tablet mindlessly, as though he’s forgotten you’re there.

Neither one of you speaks as you finish your coffee. Turning to the sink, you start washing the cup out. You notice his used mug sitting in the bottom of the sink and pick it up, wash it and put it in the drying rack next to yours without thinking about it before returning to the bathroom to dress fully.

Once dressed and out of the bathroom, it’s almost six. Jihoon is bent over by the door, his boot on the coffee table as he laces it. Now fully dressed, his long hair is pulled back in a bun, a few silver whisps escaping and falling across his face. Again, you’re struck by how beautiful he is for a moment.

He straightens and looks at you, raising his brows. Instead of answering him, you hurry to the wardrobe, pulling out your boots to slide them on and head to breakfast. You half expect him to leave you behind, but to your surprise, he lingers with the door open, dark eyes clocking your every movement. As soon as you’re done tying laces, he’s out the door and charging again, leaving you to scramble behind him.

Silence follows you into the cafeteria, which has the quiet atmosphere of an early morning. Workers and pilots ending their shifts sit at the table, scarfing down breakfast for dinner. Early shift workers hurry to grab a bite before heading off to the different parts of the Shatterdome. It’s not nearly as loud as lunch or dinner, but the soft din is inviting as you go through the line, following your new co-pilot wordlessly.

None of the friendly faces from yesterday are in the cafeteria, so the two of you sit alone. Jihoon is methodical as he sets up his breakfast, each move calculated and precise. He eats the same way, finishing something entirely before moving on to the next time.

His obsession with organization and control is almost fascinating, if not a little worrying. Instead of asking about it, you eat in silence, humming delightedly at the cheesy hashbrowns made available that morning. He casts you a single annoyed glance when he notices you enjoying your meal.

Breakfast goes without a fight, though. Glancing at the large clock above the entrance to the cafeteria, you realize you only have a few minutes left before your day of training starts. Jihoon seems to be on the same wavelength, pulling out his phone to scroll through your schedule.

“Meditation first,” he murmurs. He shoves his phone in his pocket and stands without preamble. “Do you think you can manage meditation?”

“Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but we haven’t spoken for over an hour.”

Confusion crosses his face, quickly followed by astonishment. He hadn’t realized that most of your morning has been spent in silence. His brows pull together, mouth turning slightly as he works over your words. It seems to make him unhappy. He narrows his eyes and his mouth twists before he turns and marches away from the table, leaving you behind.

Mouth quirking, you follow quickly, not wanting to lose your way to wherever it is you’re supposed to report to. He walks faster this time, determined to keep you moving and on your toes. Wherever the studio designated to you for the morning feels like it’s halfway around the world. Jihoon leads you down a series of halls and stairs, never slowing his pace once.

By the time you get to a small, soundproof room, your calves are burning.

“You need conditioning,” he mutters, noticing the way you’re a little out of breath.

“You basically just took me on a light jog,” you protest. “I think it’s fair to be a little winded this early in the morning.”

“It doesn’t matter what time it is. What will you do if we make the drop at four in the morning?”

Jihoon doesn’t wait for you to answer. Instead, he goes to the middle of the room and sits down on the floor, and crosses his legs. Instead of taking his bait and picking a fight with him, you sigh and stride into the room. He positions himself, ready for you to sit in front of him. Instead, you circle around him, sitting down behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asks, twisting toward you.

“Meditating. Turn back around so we can be back-to-back.”

“What? Why?”

“Just trust me.”

“I don’t.”

“Well, try. It’s easier to feel your breaths and your heartbeat this way. Plus, there's less pressure if you don’t have to look directly at me.”

“Thank god for that,” he mutters.

The hum of the air condition is the only sound in the room. You close your eyes, leaning into Jihoon so that you fit flush together. You match your breaths with his, feeling your breathing slow down. Your heart slows to, like it’s trying to let him catch up, both of you melting into the same rhythm.

Behind you, Jihoon relaxes. The back of his head rests against yours, both of you leaning into the touch, becoming the equal opposing force holding the other up.

Balance is imperative in co-pilots. Jihoon needed to bring to the fight what you lacked and vice versa, the two of you making something whole, something complete. It’s a balance that’s not easily achieved, and though you’d always been a good pair with your mother and then maya, you know instinctively that it’s nothing compared to Jihoon’s counterbalance.

A timer goes off in the room, startling you with how quickly time has passed. You blink your eyes rapidly, letting the room swim back into focus. For a second, neither one of you moves, content to lean against the other until Jihoon seems to realize he’s still pressed against you. He scrambles to his feet unexpectedly and you fall backward, losing his counterweight immediately.

Thunking against the floor, you glare up at him. He smirks, looking down at you as he wipes dust from the back of his pants. “You should never let a co-pilot fall,” you huff, hauling yourself to your feet.

“Good thing we’re not really co-pilots.”

“Yet,” you supply. You get up, stretching and feeling your joints pop. “Even you can’t deny that it was a great first meditation session.”

“Let’s go. We have sparring.”

Jihoon doesn’t like you.

He doesn’t like you, but he has to admit you are a perfect fit for him. You are loud where he is quiet, you make light when he remains serious, and you deviate when he’s planned. Yet somehow, you manage to mesh with him in your training, the perfect opposite force to him.

For the most part, you leave him alone. He can tell you’ve figured out when to bite back and when to eat your words. It’s become a game to him, throwing insults your way to watch whether you’ll riposte back or swallow your pride.

The amount of times you swallow your pride impresses him, unfortunately. His original assessment that you are unpredictable and uncontrolled was wrong. He can see the way you actively meet his cold winter with warm summer, trying to melt him.

He doesn't like giving you credit for your control, but he does so begrudgingly.

Worst of all, he realizes that it’s not you he dislikes. It’s his situation, it’s knowing that you’re his lifeline and he has to accept you, and it’s knowing that despite his initial dislike, you’re a mirror that he can’t look away from. It doesn’t help that you live two feet away from him at all times, occupying every moment of his life just a reach-of-a-hand away.

Training is tiring. It feels like he’s a rookie all over again, going through the exercises as the two of you learn to fight together, moving through meditation sessions, sparring, talking sessions - which don't really involve a lot of talking on his part as much as yours - and drop simulations.

Drop simulations are the most exhausting for him. You bring everything to the drift. It’s nearly overwhelming at first how much you’re willing to show him. From the moment the mental bridge connects the two of you through the simulation software, Jihoon is shocked at the way you lay yourself bare. You hide nothing from him, letting him roam around your thoughts at his leisure.

He feels everything you’ve ever felt. Elation when you make your first real drop with your first co-pilot, your mom. Sore ribs after a particularly difficult sparring match when you were a teeager in the training program. Pride when you finish the top of your training program. Terror when a fight goes awry and your mother overwhelms you in the drift, taking the full neural load of the jaeger to protect you. Rage at her doing so.

“What happened here?” he finds himself asking, sticking near the memory.

He thinks you won’t answer him, but of course you do. Unlike him, you’re open for the taking. “The hull was breached in my first year of fighting. My mother panicked because it was on my side of the jaeger and she tried to take on the neural load.”

Jihoon says nothing. Piloting a jaeger alone overwhelms the nervous system and the brain, which is why each jaeger has two pilots in the first place. It can be done, but the risk for damage is always present. He senses where your conversation is going.

“We only piloted together for three more years after that. She was starting to struggle to make the drift, so we paused to get her examined. They discovered lesions on her brain and linked it to the damage from that day she tried to pilot alone.”

“She wanted to protect you.”

He understands what you’re really saying, that he should treat you like an equal too. Instead of responding, he busies himself with studying other parts of you that you let him have.

Every drift, you remain open to him, your thoughts for the taking. You don’t even hide the moments you’ve thought of him - both in occasional attraction and irritation. Irritation at him bringing nothing to drift, opening no part of himself to you. Irritation when he’s mean to you. Hesitant fondness when he does something nice. Confused attraction when he walks around in just a towel.

Water sluices down his back. Jihoon’s thoughts are still foggy from three weeks of nothing but practice and drills. He also finds it harder to sleep sometimes in the room, his dreams filled with the scent of your amber and jasmine and the lively sound of Tchaikovsky acting as the soundtrack to his dreams.

You’re still asleep when he exits the bathroom. He’s made sure to turn the light off before opening the door, steam billowing out after him. He scoops headphones from the nightstand as he heads to the kitchen, towel snug around his waist. He pops the earbuds in, the sound of Mozart starting his morning as he begins to make coffee.

On the way to the bathroom, he stops by your bunk. He hesitates for a second, drinking you in as you sleep. Nestled in that top bunk is the only place you’re as peaceful as you are in the drift. Your features are smoothed out as you slumber, mouth open a little, drool sticky on the corner of your mouth. Jihoon’s lips twitch a little and he shakes his head before reaching out to tap the ankle hanging off your bed. You mumble in response.

“Get up,” he says gruffly. “You’ve slept long enough.”

He returns to the bathroom and shuts the door to get fully dressed. He knows you’ll be standing in the kitchen looking dazed and confused sipping coffee until he comes out and frees the bathroom for you to shower.

The alarm for a kaiju alert goes off. He hears it blaring over his music and he pulls the earbuds out, opening the door half dressed in just pants as he looks at the screen flashing red. A Category Four kaiju has been sighted in the bay. His heart skips, knowing that Cat-4 kaiju are dangerous even for the most skilled pilots at the Dome.

Assignments flash across the screen. Solar Saber and Fang Striker have been summoned to drop. Nervousness flutters in Jihoon’s stomach. He snatches a shirt and yanks it over his head, moving quickly around the room to grab boots.

“What are you doing?” you ask, leaning off the counter.

“Heading to the command deck. Come or don’t.”

“I’ll come.”

You dump your coffee in the sink, jumping to action as you peel off your pajama pants, searching for cargos. Jihoon hardly realizes you’re changing in front of him - he’s seen it all in your head anyway - as he laces his boots. He doesn’t know why, but he starts to explain himself, “Dino and Wylie have a… history with Cat-4 kaiju.”

“You want to be an extra set of eyes and ears.” He nods at the accurate assessment. “Got it. Run me through Solar Saber drop stats if you know them.”

Jihoon does. He fires off what he knows about the team. Their stats are fine, but a Category Four kaiju is new for them. They have a good jaeger. It’s on the newer side, nuclear powered with plasma cannons and a massive plasma sword that burns brighter than the sun, earning the machine its name. It’s piloted by a set of twins, which produce some of the best drifts in the jaeger program.

But there’s a nervousness in Jihoon’s stomach that he can’t place. Everytime his friends drop, he knows they’ll be okay - but he also knows the level of danger. Perhaps it’s because of Chan and Wylie’s accident last year or because they’re dropping with a team Jihoon doesn’t trust, but he suddenly wants to tell the Marshall to let Storm Breaker do the drop.

A hand brings him out of his thoughts. Your gaze is as calm as the surface of a lake, piercing. “We’re ready, if we need to be.”

Of course you know what he’s thinking. Despite his best efforts, you seem particularly good at stitching the tiny threads that escape through Jihoon’s wall of ice.

You drop your hand and grab the room keys, heading toward the door with top speed. His arm is warm where your fingers were a moment ago, burning like a brand. He shakes it off as he follows you out, both of you jogging up to the top level of the Shatterdome to observe.

Crew races around the dome. Jihoon sees Seungkwan and Vernon rushing up the stairs to the command deck. He follows suit, you quick on his heels. People fill the room, talking over one another as they shout into headsets and screens flash different camera angles.

The Marshall stands in the center of it all behind the LOCCENT Mission Controller who will walk the pilots through the fight. Jihoon doesn’t recognize the man giving them instructions, but he joins the wall of people standing behind him to observe the screens, taking a place next to Vernon and Seungkwan.

You glance at Vernon and back to Jihoon, a question in your gaze. “This is Vernon,” Jihoon says in response. “He’s currently a jumphawk pilot. Could be a jaeger pilot if he could figure out the drift but he’s too screwy up top.”

“Thanks, man.”

“You can call me Blue,” you offer. Your eyes drift to the screens. “Friends of the pilots out there?”

“Wylie is one of my best friends.”

Instead of telling him something like they’ll be alright or offering words of comfort, all you do is nod. Jihoon respects that. Anything comforting would be a potential lie and useless in a world of blood and metal, salt and fire.

The entire room falls into a steady cadence. Jihoon crosses his arms as he focuses on the screen. He’s mutely aware that you’re standing so close to him he can feel the heat of your arm, hands shoved in your pockets as you watch the screens, brows furrowed in concentration.

On screen, Solar Saber churns the water toward a towering kaiju in the bay. The creature is straight out of a nightmare, a barbed tail whipping across the surface of the ocean, misting water as it does. From what Jihoon can tell, it’s got four legs, each equipped with long talons. Rows and rows of teeth reveal itself as the kaiju opens its mouth and roars, the vibration from the sound so deep that it vibrates underneath his feet.

“I don’t like that tail,” Vernon mutters next to Jihoon.

“It’s like a manticore.” Jihoon glances at you. You’re not looking at them, but your head is tilted in curiosity as you point to the screen. “Four legs, a curved tail with a barb. The webbing around its neck suggests it might have a frill.”

“Strike teams, confirm positions,” the LOCCENT controller says into the mic.

“Fang Striker in position two miles north of kaiju and Solar Saber.” It’s Wylie’s raspy voice that crackles over the shared radiowave with the jaeger teams. “Perimeter is set.”

“Solar Saber ready to engage,” a female voice comes over the speaker. Jihoon recognizes it as one of the twin co-pilots, Jezzi.

“Permission to engage.”

As Solar Saber engages with the kaiju, the command deck goes quiet. People guiding the helicopters and ground teams speak softly into their mics, a level of tense calm washing over as everyone watches the fight ensue.

Solar Saber is beautiful to watch fight. The armor is painted radiant gold and the glow of the sword is magnificent against the stormy waters as it slashes at the kaiju. Jezzi and her sister Yaz are calm throughout their bout, their voices clear and communicative as the kaiju batters them.

“Cut off the tail,” you mutter under your breath. “It’s going to-”

Jihoon sees what you do as soon as you say it. While trying to kill the kaiju with a direct blow, Solar Saber has forgotten about the tail. The tip of the tail shivers, reminding Jihoon of a cat ready to strike, and it does. One moment, Solar Saber and the kaiju are locked in a wrestling match. Next, the tail is hammering the hull of the jaeger, striking over and over again like a scorpion.

Chaos explodes on the screens. Jihoon holds his breath as red flashes across the screens as the tail breaches the hull of Solar Saber. A tingle settles over him, the buzz of nerves as he watches Solar Saber take a knee, ocean water surging around the jaeger as the kaiju’s tail continues to hammer the jaeger’s head open.

Jihoon grabs the LOCCENT Controller’s chair and yanks him backward out of the way, jamming his finger against the button to speak. “Don’t let it force you under the waterline,” he barks. “Cut off that tail, Solar Saber. If it forces you down, you’re going to take on water and drown.”

“The right panel is damaged from acid from the tail,” Jezzi yells over the comes. “Sword arm cannot engage.”

“Then disengage, Solar Saber. Do not let it force you down another knee.”

Yaz screams back something incomprehensible over the comms. The left arm of Solar Saber lurches, reaching for the kaiju’s tail. It catches, yanking at the appendage hard. The kaiju screams as the tail breaks where Solar Saber has it gripped. The kaiju frenzies, screaming wildly as frills - just like you’d predicted - shake to life by its head, vibrating back and forth in a threat display as its dismembered tail whips back and forth, spraying ichor.

“Fang Striker engaging,” Chan’s voice comes over the comms.

It’s the Marshall who answers. “Fang Striker, hold the perimeter.”

“Fuck the peremiter,” Wylie seethes.

The Marshall turns to you and Jihoon. “We’re ready,” Jihoon says at the same time as you.

A string of curses leaves Marshall’s mouth. “Fang Striker, assist Solar Saber with the intent to disengage. Storm Breaker dropping in ten.”

Heart hammering, Jihoon turns to follow you out of the command center, footsteps like thunder as you sprint to the jaeger bay. He doesn’t even think twice about dropping with you, any reservations about you vanishing as the fighting instinct takes over.

You’re an entirely different person when you step onto the catwalk, your team already scrambling with pieces of your Drivesuit. There is an eerie calm about you. You meet his gaze head on as your team fits armored pieces of Drivesuit onto your arms. Jihoon sees himself reflected so clearly that he’s startled.

“What?” you ask, sensing the bewilderment.

“Show me what you’re made of,” he says simply.

Your mouth curves in a wicked grin and you nod once, understanding.

Storm Breaker is beautiful. The fondness for her sweeps over him as he steps into the cockpit. The screens come to life, casting blue and red glow all over as he steps into the Conn-pod. He sheds any reservations he has as the team helps him connect. You’re only a few feet away, stepping into the left side of the Conn-pod.

Jihoon’s world shifts to screens and canned voices in his headset as the shield of his helmet closes. It’s Seungkwan he hears over comms saying, “Engaging pilot to pilot connection protocol sequence.”

“Do the pilots always take over the LOCCENT Controller’s here?” you muse, just to Jihoon.

His lips twitch. “What can I say? Seungkwan knows I’m a control freak.”

“Engaging neural handshake in three… two… one…”

The world around him goes mute for a moment. Jihoon’s vision flashes white for a second. He feels you then, your thoughts and feelings becoming his. They’re not overwhelming though. He feels focus and determination from you with an undercurrent of ferocity. All of your memories and other feelings are there too, but they exist in the background. You’re a seasoned pilot, Jihoon doesn’t have to worry about you chasing the rabbit and falling down a hole of memories.

“Neural handshake holding and strong,” Seungkwan calls. “Initiating drop in three… two… one…”

Jihoon’s stomach flies into his throat as he falls away from the world. The world is nothing but freefall for a few seconds. He feels the thrill that shoots through you and smiles - he can’t help it. Bending at the knee, he braces for impact. You do the same, and the cockpit lands on the jaeger’s mainframe with a metallic clang.

“Calibrating right hemisphere,” Jihoon announces, feeling the machine start to power to life. “Calibrated.”

You repeat on the left side, the full machine powered on and ready with both hemispheres locked in.

“Storm Breaker ready to pursue,” Jihoon says. He looks up at the screen where Fang Striker is engaging the kaiju. Outside of Storm Breaker, he might feel his heart race with panic. Solar Saber is overturned and he has no idea if the pilots are inside of it as it takes on water. “Two miles out from contact.”

“Pursue.”

Your first step as a team is perfect. Fluid. Jihoon knew it would be. He hates to admit that he was wrong, but he knows it is. There is a thread of satisfaction bleeding over from you as Storm Breaker charges into the ocean, water rising rapidly around the waist.

Ocean water slams against Storm Breaker’s chest as you charge toward the fighting. Fang Striker’s comms are patched in, but Wylie and Chan are silent as they rip at the kaiju, pulling at one of its wings that it unfolded from its back. Fang Striker looks tiny against the hulking mass of the monster, but its team is doing what it does best, savaging the creature a little at a time.

“Storm Breaker half a mile out,” you announce, voice like steel. “Ready to engage.”

“Engage at your discretion.”

“Storm Breaker,” Chan says over comms. “Try and restrain this motherfucker. We’ve got a loose plate in its armor to exploit but it keeps shaking us off.”

“Heard.”

As if hearing Chan, the kaiju flings Fang Striker off. Fang Striker’s red body crashes into the ocean, Wylie cursing the kaiju straight to hell and about fifty other foul places.

Storm Breaker engages, both you and Jihoon plunging into the fight. The kaiju swipes at you but you both duck together, dodging the swing as you punch hard from the left in tandem. You knock it hard, it’s head snapping to the side. As a team, you use the opening to wrap the right arm around the kaiju’s neck, squeezing it toward Storm Breaker’s chest in a headlock.

Stabilizers and locks click into place. He grits his teeth, as though feeling the actual strength it takes as the kaiju roars and claws at Storm Breaker, trying to free itself from the headlock. Together, you put the left arm around it, adding to the force to keep the kaiju from slipping from your grip.

Clawed blows hammer down on Storm Breaker. Neither of you gives way, tightening your grip on the creature and ignoring the way the talons scratch against the hull. Storm Breaker is built to withstand, and neither one of you flinches as furious blows rain down on you, fists hammering.

“It looks like that kaiju is playing you like a bongo,” Wylie’s voice comes over comms. “Hey Woozi, do you feel like it’s composing one of those songs you like?”

“Oh sure,” he shoots back. “Take your time, Wylie. It’s not like it’s trying to crack us like an egg.”

“Ugh,” you sigh. “Don��t talk about food. I didn’t eat breakfast. Hey Seungkwan, can you ask Joshua to save me some hash browns? He’s always at the cafeteria first.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “You’re all insane. Any day now, Fang Striker.”

Fang Striker appears from the sky like a creature from hell, a red streak of death as it falls. They land on the kaiju’s back, the force of the landing vibrating through Storm Breaker’s frame. The kaiju tries to twist in Storm Breaker’s arms, but you and Jihoon tighten even further. Fang Striker’s sword glints in the sunlight as it unsheathes.

“Don’t stab us,” you say at the same exact time that Jihoon has the thought.

They almost do. Fang Striker buries the sword through the back of the kaiju, the tip of the blade peaking through its chest, almost scraping against Storm Breaker’s stomach. The monster thrashes wildly for a few minutes, clawing at Storm Breaker’s hull. Fang Striker hits the release on their sword, leaving it embedded in the kaiju’s back to stand and fire into the kaiju with plasma cannons.

Jihoon feels the tremor of the shots land. There’s a final kick from the kaiju before it slumps, putting all of its deadweight on Storm Breaker. In unison, you and Jihoon throw the creature off of you. It lands with a crash, water surging around the creature as its weight drags it down before buoyancy pulls it back up.

Storm Breaker straightens, standing in the open water with a battered Fang Striker a couple of yards away. Panting, Jihoon looks across the Conn-pod where you’re already looking at him, shield on your helmet up as you grin at him. There is unguarded happiness there, nearly as bright as the sun that glints off Storm Breaker’s helm.

“So,” you ask the group. “Can we get hashbrowns now?”

Jihoon realizes at that moment he doesn’t dislike you at all.

“Would you slow down?” Jihoon asks, setting his tray down next to you roughly. He plops in the seat next to you, giving you a severe side eye. “You’re going to throw up the second you hit the treadmill eating that fast.”

“I want to get more bacon before they run out,” you whine. “They won’t make more once it’s gone.”

Uncovering the top of his tray, Jihoon reveals a heap of bacon slices. You oggle as he sets it between the two of you, shaking his head and scoffing. “Yeah,” he huffs. “I know. I brought more, so slow down.”

Affection for your co-pilot warms you. The affection is certainly one-sided, but you don’t mind. In the four months you’ve been co-piloting with Jihoon, he still hasn’t opened up to you.

Despite having made the drop five times together, Jihoon still brings almost nothing to the drift. You catch pieces of him, tiny snippets of memories or emotions or thoughts as you become one. You slowly use them to fit together the pieces of the Jihoon puzzle you’ve been working on every day.

It helps that you live in such close proximity, too. Jihoon’s habits speak far more for them than his words ever could. Like the way he wakes up at the same exact time every day and tries to be asleep at the same time every night, or the way he meticulously cleans your shared living space every Sunday, or the way he starts every sparring session with the same eight-stretch sequence.

He still doesn’t talk about him in your time slotted for getting to know one another. It’s not therapy exactly, but every pilot team has designated time daily to talk things out. To work through things that are bothering them, or to talk about themselves. The more pilots know one another, the better they fight.

You know virtually nothing about Jihoon. He doesn’t talk about himself during sessions, so you talk for him. You tell him about your childhood, about piloting with your mom, about how much you miss Maya. He eventually starts asking questions. Provides responses.

“We’re on the drop schedule tomorrow,” Jihoon notes, flicking through his tablet on the table next to him. “It’s graveyard shift. Do you want me to ask Mingyu and Wonwoo to switch to the day shift?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.”

He gives you a critical look. “You’re awful in the mornings.”

“Not when I’m fighting.” You snatch more bacon. “Would you rather me or Mingyu in a jaeger at two in the morning?”

“Point taken.” Both of you know the only person more miserable than you in the morning is Kim Mingyu. Jihoon nudges you with your elbow and gestures to the bacon. “Finish up. We have to workout soon.”

“Ugh.”

He smirks. “Cardio day.”

“Ji, no.”

He ignores the nickname. “So much running.”

Now you know he’s doing it on purpose. There are few things in your training schedule that bring Jihoon joy like torturing you during scheduled workouts. He had started slating them each day, determined to harden your conditioning despite the fact that you’re already in decent shape.

Decent is a word in his vocabulary. He only expects perfection and even then, you’re pretty sure it’s unattainable. Still, you finish your breakfast and let him lead you to the gym, peppering him with whining and protests the entire way. He ignores them with a placid smile, hands linked behind his back as he walks.

When you get to the gym, there are other pilots and workers using their free time to exercise. There’s only a single treadmill open, which Jihoon gets on easily. You start to edge your way toward yoga mats with the intention of not working out at all when he leans over to look at the time on the treadmill next to him.

“You’ve been on it for an hour,” he grunts at some boy who looks like a cadet. “Off you go.”

The cadet scrambles off, almost forgetting to turn the treadmill off before he does. He bows in respect before shooting off like a frightened school of fish. Jihoon turns to you, grinning as he pats the machine. “For you.”

“Thanks,” you deadpan. “Just what I’ve always wanted.”

Jihoon’s grin only grows when you step onto the treadmill as he leans over the rail and turns it on, pressing the incline and speed buttons until you’re walking at a warm up pace. Which, for Jihoon, is a solid jog.

As you jog, you fish out headphones from your pocket. You pop them in your ears, careful not to trip as the sound of classical fills your ears. You’ve taken to using Jihoon’s playlists, despite originally making fun of him for it. You find that it distracts you more than you thought it would, and it helps that you feel like a character in a fantasy movie running to an epic soundtrack.

Ghost Drifting is what some call it. You don’t think you’re quite there yet, being that Jihoon still hides half of himself away. But sometimes, even outside of the drift, you feel him in your mind like a phantom presence.

After your workout, you go through the same day you have everyday: meditate back to back, sparring, and your talking session, which mostly consists of you both sitting next to one another looking over your drop footage and noting areas for improvement.

Jihoon’s shoulder is pressed against yours, his eyes focused on the tablet in your hands, tracking the slowed down movement of the video. He taps the screen, pointing to the right side of the jaeger that he pilots. “I was a bit slow here.”

“It’s not your reaction time, you’d never punch that slow. That’s the arm that took damage two fights ago against Razorbill. Let’s talk to the J-Tech team and see if there’s a delay in the receptor. It might be a split second off.” He snorts and you glance sidelong at him. “What?”

“You don’t think I’d punch slow?”

“No.”

Jihoon raises his brows. You can feel his surprise at your seriousness to his question. He obviously expected you to turn it into a harmless jab, but you mean it when you say, “Your reaction time has been perfect for the last sixteen drops you’ve made. If there’s a delay, it’s the machinery. Not you.”

He looks away from you, nodding once. The tips of his ears are red and he mutters, “Thanks.”

Instead of pressing the matter like you want to, you smile and hit play again, both of you focusing on the screen once more to talk through the remainder of your allotted bonding time.

In your room, Jihoon turns on the speakers, the sound of Pas de Deux from the Nutcracker floods the room. You pause by the wardrobe where you’re shucking your boots off, gazing at Jihoon as he moves into the kitchen silently, taking out two mugs, a box of peppermint tea and a kettle.

Sensing your gaze, he turns to look at you over his shoulder. You turn away from him, busying yourself with your boots to spare him from making an excuse as to why he’s making you tea. Because you’ll know he’ll give one, provide you with some sort of excuse that it isn’t a favor or because you’re friends, but rather something like the tea bags are too large for one or I have to boil the water anyway.

When you’re done changing for bed, he’s standing next to you, mug extended. He doesn’t look at you, instead finding interest in the cameras outside the Shatterdome. You take the mug from him and say nothing, knowing he’d rather you not thank him.

Mug in hand, you climb carefully into the top bunk, crossing your legs as you nestle the mug next to you, pulling out your tablet to read. He gets into bed without a word, both of you existing in comfortable silence, just like Jihoon prefers.

Alarms wrench you from sleep. You’re thrown forward in your bed, red flashing on the TV as the kaiju alert system wails. You wipe sleep from your face as you haul yourself over the edge of the bunk, landing next to Jihoon who is pulling off his sweats in favor of cargo pants as quickly as he can. You feel dizzy and off balance as you do the same, shoving one foot in your pants and hopping on one leg as your foot catches while trying to shove in the other.

Jihoon grabs you by the elbow, holding you steady as you shove your foot through the leg of your pants and shoot him a grateful look. He nods, letting you go to finish zipping his pants and digging around for a shirt. He can’t seem to find one, cursing under his breath as he roots around. You toss him one of yours instead, grabbing a pair of socks and throwing yourself onto his bunk to yank them on, quickly followed by shoes.

“Fuck,” Jihoon mutters as he looks up at the screen, the red painting him in hellish light. “We’ve got a Cat-4. They’re dropping Emperor’s Mandate and Fang Striker with us.”

“Dino and Wylie weren’t even on rotation.”

“They’re not making the same mistake they did with Solar Saber.” He pulls out a tablet, squinting against the glow. “We're the last line of defense. Hao and Jun will take point with Fang Striker.”

“Got it. Let’s go.”

You take off at a jog, easily keeping pace with one another as you go. There are jaeger teams moving about the building getting ready, the alarms still sounding as you navigate to the jaeger bay. Your team is already there and ready to fit you into Drivesuits, sliding each piece of armor on with practiced care.

Jihoon catches your eyes from where he stands across from you, letting a team member slide his hand into a metal glove. His eyes are dark as the stormy sea outside, a bottomless well that you can’t seem to dive down into, but want to. His lips twitch a little and he gives you a nod, which you’ve come to understand is Jihoon for I trust you.

Screens blink to life as you enter the Conn-Pod. Closing the front shield of your helmet, you immediately turn on open comms, listening as the Marshall and LOCCENT Controller on duty - you think it’s Nainsi - talking Minghao and Junhui through their neural handshake.

The spine of your Drivesuit connects to the Conn-pod, your heads up display coming to life. You feel the metal whirring and clicking into place, rotating your shoulders and flexing your fingers as your jaeger team finishes connecting Jihoon to the Conn-pod before exciting and shutting the door firmly.

“Storm Breaker ready to drop,” Jihoon announces.

“Engaging pilot to pilot connection protocol sequence,” Nainsi answers. “Engaging neural handshake in three… two… one…”

It’s like jumping off a cliff into freezing cold water. You feel the flash of cold, vision going white for a split second before you feel Jihoon’s calm flow through you. He’s steady like an icy river, his thoughts, feelings and emotions hidden down in their dark depth where they can’t bother either of you.

You’re like rapids, rushing thoughts and feelings, pouring everything through the drift at him. He takes it in stride, used to the white-capped rush of information he gets from you each time you connect. Jihoon adjusts easily, already hitting buttons on his screen as images from your day flash through your mind - including you watching him make you tea in the kitchen.

Jihoon says nothing about that. He says nothing about the gentle wave of your embarrassment either as Nainsi says, “Neural handshake strong and holding.”

Chan’s voice crackles through comms. “Fang Striker on standby for neural handshake.”

“Copy. Storm Breaker prepare for drop in three… two… one.”

Dropping feels like falling through the core of the earth. For a few moments, it’s a flightless feeling as you fall through the Shatterdome. Then you land, knees absorbing impact as the head of the jaeger falls into the neck socket, locking in.

“Calibrating right side,” Jihoon announces. “Calibrated.”

“Calibrating left side. Calibrated. Ready to engage.”

Nainsi confirms calibration and directs, “Storm Breaker, take north point defense two miles from the shoreline. Hold that line. Fang Striker, engaging in pilot to pilot connection protocol sequence in three… two… one.”

You tune out the rest of Fang Striker’s drop as you and Jihoon behind to charge into the bay. The windshield in front of you immediately froths with sea salt and wind, battering down on the jaeger as the night sea surges against Storm Breaker’s legs. You cut through the water like a knife, carving your way toward the defense line as the jumphawk team flies into place.

“Five minutes until surface breach.”

“Oh! Hi, Vernon,” you chirp.

“Sup?”

“Would kill for a coffee right now. And like, a bagel. Or hashbrowns?”

Vernon groans. “Mood.”

Jihoon snorts but says nothing. Minghao’s voice comes over the comms, soft and cool. “Blue, everytime I drop with you you’re talking about food.”

“Have you considered that Ji doesn't feed me?”

“So it’s Ji now, huh?”

“Don’t get her started,” Jihoon grunts at Minghao’s teasing. “One mile out from the line of defense.”

Chan joins the conversation, voice chipper. “Fang Striker ready to pursue. Also, good morning everyone!”

Everyone groans in misery collectively instead of greeting him back. Wylie’s voice cracks like a whip as she spits out, “Be nice to him.”

Everyone greets Chan after that. Jihoon shakes his head, amused. “Fang Striker, escort Emperor’s Mandate to engage. Four minutes until surface breach.”

Black ocean ripples outward in front of Storm Breaker as you move. You near the defense line, the city lights like a sea of stars at Storm Breaker’s back. Air support circles overhead, monitoring kaiju activity and helping with positioning. You see the spotlights glinting on the surface, waiting for a kaiju to surface.

To the east of your position, Fang Striker and Emperor’s Mandate cut through the water. Fang Striker’s red paint is violent against the night, but her build is small next to the towering white fury of Minghao and Junhui’s jaeger.

“Storm Breaker in position,” Jihoon calls. You both stop moving, your jaeger coming to a standstill as the water sloshes around your waist.

“Standby, Storm Breaker. Kaiju breach in one minute.”

“Emperor’s Mandate and Fang Striker in position. Ready to engage.”

“Engage at your discretion.”

Comms go silent as the strike team waits for the kaiju to appear. It’s the calm before the storm, the silence pregnant with tension. You feel a tentative brush of Jihoon’s thoughts against you. You turn and glance at him, surprised.

Jihoon is watching you with a stormy expression, thoughtful. “You thinking about letting me in that big ass head of yours?” You tease, just in your personal comms.

He smirks and shakes his head, breaking eye contact to look out the front of Storm Breakers cockpit. “Not a chance.”

Your satisfaction only lasts a second as the kaiju breaches the surface in front of Emperor’s Mandate and Fang Striker. You watch in strained silence as the jumphawk team begins reporting what they can about the makeup of the kaiju.

Emperor’s Mandate engages immediately, their metal saber chain shooting from the right arm and punching through the shoulder of the kaiju. An electromagnetic pulse goes down the chain and it goes taught like a sword as Junhui slices upward, attempting to sever the kaiju’s arm.

The kaiju lands a hard punch to Emperor’s Mandate in the middle, sending them backward into the ocean as the chain-turned-sword pulls out as they fall. Fang Striker is there before the kaiju can attack again, charging and tackling the kaiju at the waist. She’s not built for heavy fighting, but Chan and Wylie are vicious, clawing at the kaiju with their metal claws.

“Fang Striker, roll!” Minghao orders. Fang Stricker does, using the kaiju as weight to rock themselves over and under the creature, vanishing beneath the water’s surface as Emperor’s Mandate lands a punch to the kaiju’s back with a plasmacaster, turning the night blue as the sparks flare. “Push and we’ll pull.”

Salt spray mists the windshield as you and Jihoon watch in silence. The kaiju is a massive, hulking beast with spikes down its spine and a nasty club tail that catches Fang Striker in the knees, taking her down. The two jaeger teams work in flawless tandem, punching when the other ducks, tackling with the other falls.

In a way, it’s beautiful to watch the fury of what a jaeger can do. Your lips twitch upward as the fight starts to go their way, Emperor’s Mandate severing the leg of the monster as Fang Striker pounces on it, sinking both clawed hands into its shoulder blades and tearing through its hide.

“Storm Breaker-” Vernon’s panicked voice gets cut off as your world turns upside down.

You feel yourself slam against the restraints of the Conn-pod connecting you to the jaeger. A surprised shriek escapes you as you flip head-over-feet in Storm Breaker, crashing into the ocean with a violent slam. A kaiju raises itself from the water, rearing its head like a cobra as it shrieks, the sound shaking the entire hull.

“What the fuck?” Jihoon screams over comms. Storm Breaker rolls as the kaiju strikes like a snake, barely missing you as it hits empty water. “Where the fuck did that come from?”

“There was no reading!” Vernon yells back. “The signature appeared a half second before it attacked like it had some sort of stealth mode!”

“Kaiju don’t have fucking stealth mode, Vernon!”

“Maybe it got an iOS update man, I don’t know!”

There’s no time to care about why or how a kaiju isn’t appearing on the reporting team’s screen. Whatever level it is, it’s fast. You and Jihoon get to your feet just as it strikes again, fangs striking at the windshield. It doesn’t crack, but the sound of kaiju bone against the glass isn’t promising.

Storm Breaker stumbles back a few steps before regaining footing. You both strike with your right fist, slamming into the neck area of the beast as it winds up to strike again. It looks like a massive cobra, coils and coils of kaiju body gathering each time it tries.

A shudder vibrates through the jaeger as the punch lands, sending the kaiju back several hundred yards. You don’t give it a moment to recover, both of you charging as you equip short swords perfect for close-combat fighting and slicing.

“I think it’s too fast to pick up a reading,” you shout over comms. “It moves so quickly!”

Fighting is a careful rhythm. You and Jihoon find it immediately, tuning out the sound of the other fight as you zero in on your target. It doesn’t matter that the kaiju took you by surprise, it doesn’t matter that Jihoon still hasn’t let you in, it doesn’t matter that somewhere, you have other friends in just as much danger.

What matters is this. The feeling of rage that flows from Jihoon - or maybe it’s you - as you both savagely plunge a sword in the serpent body of your enemy. What matters is the way you and Jihoon flow, two rivers with the same curves and dips, sliding around the kaiju as you strike again, spraying ichor into the sea.

Storm Breaker’s sword extends from the right arm, reflecting the city lights briefly before you cut sideways. The blade slides clean through like a knife through paper. You and Jihoon both scream savagely in unison as the head flies separate from the body, sailing in the air for a moment before crashing into the surface as blood spurts from the main body.

It flails for a moment longer before crashing under ocean froth and water. Victory surges through you and you look across the Conn-pod where Jihoon is grinning at you, stars in his eyes. You feel a moment of elation, laughter bubbling to your lips as Nainsi recalls you to the Dome, Emperor’s Mandate and Fang Striker standing victorious.

“That’s kill number six?” Jihoon asks, voice delighted. “We’re on a fucking roll.”

“I guess I’m not so bad a co-pilot after all, right?” He rolls his eyes but you get the feeling the tips of his ears have turned red. “Come on, Ji. Tell me I’m a good co-pilot.”

“No way.”

“Come onnnn.”

He levels a look at you, dark eyes churning. He licks his lips, opening and closing his mouth before he finally murmurs, “Can I show you instead?”

The left foot of Storm Breaker is yanked from under you. You go down screaming, feeling the impact of the seafloor as you go down in the shallows hard. Pain shoots up your left arm as you slam against the restraints keeping you attached to the Conn-pod. Lights flash in your heads up display and a sensor starts going off, the left arm of the jaeger going dead as it loses connection.

Jihoon is screaming your name over comms as you grit your teeth, and gather your bearings. You suck in a sharp breath as you both scramble to get Storm Breaker on her feet. “Left arms gone cold,” Jihoon yells over comms. You manage to get Storm Breaker to her feet as you both throw out your right arm, bracing for impact as the kaiju’s head strikes again. “It grew back two fucking heads!”

“Fang Striker pursuing!” It’s Chan voice over the comms. “Three miles out from contact.”

One of the heads strikes at the helm again, knocking into Storm Breaker hard. Your world rocks as you shove with the full force of the right side of the jaeger, thrusters turning on as you launch the kaiju and its twin heads backward.

“How the fuck do we kill this thing?” you screech, charging toward the creature as it slides through the water, coiling to strike again. “If we cut off its head again, it’s just going to grow another.”

“Stab it through the head? I don’t fucking know!”

Storm Breaker stalls, filled with mechanic screeching as the two of you clash in the drift in a moment of indecision. A storm of emotions batters down on you. Your lungs squeeze as you feel yourself torn away from the fight and into Jihoon’s memories, each one flitting by so fast you can barely resonate with them.

“... out of alignment!”

Words crash through you as you feel a tremor go through Storm Breaker. Jihoon’s thoughts are like a hurricane tearing at your foundation.

Hatred when he meets you for the first time. Pride when he makes his first successful drop. Grief when Haneul retired. Resentment when he’s reassigned to a new pilot.

Jihoon screams your name but you are drowning in him. Jihoon’s emotional dam has broken and years worth of who he is comes out in a torrent.

Jihoon joins the pilot program because he wants to get away from the home. The smell of books and oil lanterns. Greasy fingers and fumes. A blue mat rushing up to meet him as he falls.

“Emperor’s Mandate two miles out. Preparing to engage!”

Bitter coffee. Celebrating Haneul’s birthday. The sting of Chan biting him mid spar. Pretending he didn’t hate his childhood. Hiding the scared little boy behind a controlled exterior.

“She’s chasing the rabbit!”

Chasing the rabbit. You hear the word and vaguely realize you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of Jihoon’s memories and emotions, completely unused to them in a space where you’re connected intimately. You try to gather your bearings, shutting down the images flashing across your mind that don’t belong to you as Storm Breaker gets rocked again.

“Shit,” Jihoon swears. “Blue, come on. Come back to me. I’m sorry. Don’t chase my memories!”

A kite against a blue sky. Two paper boats on a lake. Your smile as you hang upside down off the bunk bed. Soonyoung giving Jihoon a birthday cake. Wylie in a hospital bed. Jeonghan and Joshua accepting pilots of the year.

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon whispers, both in your mind and outloud. “Come back.”

You can do this. You can withstand the storm of Jihoon’s consciousness. You shake him out of your head, sorting out your thoughts and his. It’s nearly impossible to understand where you end and he begins, but you manage to hold back the wake of his uncontrolled consciousness.

Blinking, you come back to the present. There are lights and warnings going off as Storm Breaker takes another strike from the kaiju. Fang Striker is taking on its other head, the kaiju splitting focus between two jaeger teams as it tries to split open the top of your jaeger. Wylie and Chan are yelling in comms and Emperor’s Mandate is in pursuit to help you disengage.

The left arm of your jaeger is still cold, totally disconnected from the rest of the machinery. You run through a list of fighting options with one arm down. The right side of the jaeger is fitted with a sword, explosive and a plasma caster in the first of the hand. But the jaeger overall-

“Light it up,” you tell Jihoon. His relief crashing into you like a tidal wave. He understands what you want to do immediately. You feel his agreement rather than see it as you both start to tap controls on your control panels. “Fang Striker, prepare for lighting strike!”

“Fry this motherfucker!” Wylie screams. “I fucking hate snakes!”

The nuclear reactor at the core of your jaeger starts to charge. From the top down, your jaeger begins to power down, lights flickering out and screens going dead. Your heart hammers as the kaiju slams into the head of the jaeger over and over again, trying to crack the helm wide open. Storm Breaker takes the savage blows as all but the nuclear core shuts off.

A low hum begins to sound at the heart of the machine. You feel the vibration tingle in your spine as all of the energy flow focuses in the center of the jaeger, slowly charging and pulling electricity from everywhere else. It’s a slow process, the kaiju beating down on you as the core winds up.

“Fuck,” Jihoon swears at a particularly harsh strike. “This fucking bitch!”

“We’ve got it,” you tell him. You look across the Conn-pod at him, his face pale behind the shield of his helmet. “She’s not going to break, Ji.”

“She’s ready!” Your smile is like the sun. “Light her up!”

Jihoon hits a button on his panel and the air turns to static. A ripple of energy passes through you, only lasting a split second before a bolt of white lightning explodes from the center of the jaeger. The world turns white, forcing you to shield your eyes as you hear the crack of deafening thunder.

Ears ringing, you lower your hand as the light fades, blue sparks of electricity zapping across the ocean in a mile-wide radius. Smoking, the kaiju falls backwards, ocean spraying up on either side as it hits the surface of the sea. You can barely hear Fang Striker over the sound of the high-pitched whine in your ears.

You wait, but the kaiju doesn’t rise again. The jumphawk team circles above, waiting for another kaiju signature, but none comes.

Sagging in your Conn-pod, you glance over at Jihoon. “Does that count as one or two kills? I’m so fucking over monster fighting today. I want a goddamn grilled cheese.”

Jihoon is a wreck. Not only does he visibly hover near your medical bed as the attending medic tends to your arm, ensuring it’s not broken, but you can still feel him like he’s attached to you in the drift. His concern is touching, but there’s also anger there. Not at you but at himself, boiling under the surface of his newfound worry.

“Jihoon,” you say gently. He crosses his arms over his chest, not taking his eyes off the doctor as he stares him down. “I’m fine. It’s just some bruising.”

“Just some bruising. Your arm practically fell off.”

“It did not. Let the doctor finish, Ji.”

He softens, turning to sit on an empty cot as he sulks. You watch him with muted amusement. His bottom lip juts out slightly, put out by you not letting him baby you. Cute, you think.

Thankfully, the arm isn’t damaged. You’d bruised it pretty severely when Storm Breaker went down and you slammed against your restraints, but otherwise you’re unharmed. Some pain meds, ice and rest should do the trick, so you and Jihoon leave the medical bay with the doctor’s advice in hand and Jihoon muttering under his breath.

He has pretty hands. You’ve always thought so, but now you watch his slender fingers brush over your sore arm with care, feeling a shiver threaten the base of your spine.

“You should ask for a reassignment.” Jihoon’s words land like a brick. You look up at him, eyes flashing with confusion. “I nearly killed you today. It was unprofessional and shameful as your co-pilot to knock you out of alignment like that. You don’t deserve that.”

“It happens, Jihoon. Fighting in a jaeger isn’t always perfect.”

“Well I am. And today I wasn’t. Request a new pilot, the Marshall will understand. People don’t last with me, it’ll be no risk to you.”

“I’m not requesting a new pilot. You’re who I want to drift with.”

He starts to pace. “Why? I’m obviously still that scared little boy who used to hide in his room alone.”

Even without having felt his emotions in the drift, Jihoon makes so much more sense to you now. You reach out to him, taking him by the arms to stop his pacing. He won’t look at you, averting his eyes elsewhere. Your heart squeezes knowing that the reason Jihoon kept you out is because he didn’t want you to see who he was before he was the controlled, perfect jaeger pilot.

“Of course I do.”

“It’s hard to tell with you, you know?”

His gaze drops down to your mouth. “I’ll show you, then.”

Without another word, Jihoon grabs you by the waist and pulls you to him fully. Your arms slip around his neck, holding onto him for balance as he crashes his mouth to yours. His lips are warm and soft in contrast to the ferocity he kisses you with, fingers digging into your hips, mouth hungry.

You meet him with equal fervor, fingers tangling in the long hair at the nape of his neck. He grunts when your nails scratch against his scalp, biting into your lower lip. He presses his tongue to the seam of your mouth and you let him in, sighing as his tongue brushes against yours, eager to taste you.

One of Jihoon’s hands slides up your back, fingers dancing along your spine until he reaches the base of your neck. He grabs you firmly, pulling your head back to give him better access to the softness of your throat. You let out a breathy sound and he groans low in his throat.

“Don’t make that sound,” he whispers, biting your neck gently and chasing the sting with his tongue. “I’ll fucking crumble.”

“So crumble.”

“Fuck.”

Jihoon starts pushing you backward, your steps a tangle of feet. It might be the most uncoordinated the two of you have ever been, caught up in the heat of each other’s mouths as he kisses you feverishly again. It’s messy and spit-slicked, making you light headed. Your knees hit his bottom bunk and you crash backward, Jihoon on top of you.

Your hands seek the warmth of his skin, sliding under the hem of his shirt over his flexing stomach to his firm chest. He lets you rake your nails across him as he settles on top of you, his hands planted on either side of your head and a knee slotted between your legs.

Having him this close is everything. Months of not being able to have him entirely or the way you want has made you ravenous for him. You pull at his shirt, nipping at his lip and whining. He laughs darkly, leaning up from you to grab the back of his shirt and pull it up over his head.

He lets you do what you want, content to let you run your fingers over the ridges of his stomach, the narrow shape of his waist, the firmness of his chest. He dives back down to attach his mouth to your collarbone, pulling the neckline of your shirt out of the way for access.

“Just take it off,” you complain, shivering as he continues his assault.

“Mmmf - difficult.”

This is not the composed Jihoon you’re used to. This is the raw, unedited version of him you’ve been begging to see. This is the storm letting loose because he knows you can take it - want to take it.

Jihoon does get tired of your shirt, growling as he grabs it firmly and tears it up and over your head. You laugh as he does, loving the way he scowls and presses you back down, biting your jaw as he does. He palms your tits over your bra, pinching your nipples through the fabric. You squeal and arch into him, head pressing into the mattress.

“Don’t laugh at me,” he huffs, mouth trailing butterfly-soft kisses toward your chest.

“Sensitive?” you jest, dropping a hand between your bodies to press against the front of his pants. He hisses, hips twitching as you press against his cock. You grin wickedly as he pants raggedly against your skin, letting you squeeze him. “Yeah, you are.”

Jihoon drags his knee up the bed, pressing between your legs. A bolt of pleasure surges through you and you whimper, making him smirk against your chest. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

He drops a hand down to your waist, squeezing. “Didn’t sound like nothing. Come on,” he urges. “You know you want to.”

So you do. You roll your hips forward, pressing your clothed cunt against his thigh. The layers of clothes block too much of the sensation and you press harder, desperate for stimulation. A whine drips from your mouth as you grow frustrated. You feel the curve of Jihoon’s smile against the curve of your left breast as he places a wet kiss there.

“Having a hard time?”

“Jihoon.”

One hand stays fixed on your hips, urging you to continue to grind into him despite it not being enough. The other slides up your front, his fingers light as feathers. He hooks a finger in the cup of your bra and pulls downward. He drags his mouth downward, giving your nipple a playful flick with his tongue.

“Jihoon.”

He hums thoughtfully, circling your pert bud with his tongue. A tremor goes through you and you squeeze your eyes shut. He closes his mouth on you and sucks gently, making you gasp. You continue to roll your hips into him as he scrapes his teeth against you gently.

Cool air hits your spit-slicked chest as he kisses sloppily over to your other breast, repeating his ministrations. It feels so good you feel like you’re going to lose your mind. His skin is hot against yours and you’re desperate to feel more of him, hands pulling at his shoulders as he sucks wet marks into your chest.

“More,” you whisper. “God, please more.”

He knows what you mean when you say more because of course he does. He rids you of your bra entirely, throwing it somewhere else in the room. He works the buttons on your pants next, deft fingers moving quickly before tugging them down your thighs. He lets you pull his cargos down and throw them, but it’s as far as you get before he’s lavishing attention to your tits again.

“Try now,” he pants.

His knee is pressed right against the apex of your thighs. You don’t care that he can feel the damp cloth against his skin. You slow grind on his knee, feeling the pressure infinitely better with just a thin layer of underwear between you. A sigh of relief escapes you and he grunts, pleased as you keep going, thighs shaking.

You could drown in him and not care. He smells like spearmint and soap, his hair soft as silk as it slides between your fingers. He gives a sound of approval everytime you card your hands through his hair, especially when he gives you a sharp bite and you tug.

A tingle settles in the depth of your stomach. You feel like you could almost come this way, getting off with just his leg between your thighs and his mouth sucking greedily at your tits. You feel yourself tighten, hips pressing further but it’s not quite enough.

He reads you like a book. Jihoon slides his knee back and replaces it with his hand, fingers delicately pressing against your clit. It makes you see stars, going rigid in his grasp as he gently circles it a few times before dragging his fingers back down to press at your core through your underwear.

“So god damn wet,” he lets go of your nipple with a pop. He hooks a finger through your underwear and pulls them to the side, his knuckles brushing your sticky folds. “So pretty for me.”

His compliment makes you shy. You hide your face behind your hands and he laughs darkly, letting you. He’s already seen all of you in the drift, but this is different. More personal. Real.

The press of a finger into your cunt is slow and maddening. You immediately want more, desperate for it. He doesn’t give it to you right away, taking his time as he busies his mouth with your chest and neck, content to finger fuck you at a leisurely pace.

When he hooks his finger and presses right into that soft spot, you seize up. He grins, finding exactly what he was looking for. His mouth catches yours again, a tangle of tongue and teeth as he presses another finger in. You squirm against the mattresses, pinned under his weight. The heel of his hand presses into your clit, adding pressure as he strokes your front walls rhythmically.

You’re greedy for him. You suck his tongue into your mouth and he moans, letting you do what you want. The wet squelch of his hand between your legs only spurs you on, his name dripping from your lips in a whine as you cling to him, feeling the start of your orgasm.

Jihoon knows it’s coming. His pace is more intent and he shuffles up the bed to get a better angle. Your toes curl and you writhe against the sheets, feeling the way they stick to your balmy skin as he works you closer and closer to an orgasm.

He presses a soft kiss under your ear, chaste compared to the mess he makes of your cunt. “Come on,” his voice is husky and gentle. “Let go for me.”

It’s his for me that sends you over the edge. Your legs squeeze around his hand but he keeps at it, pressing tender kisses to your collarbones as you twitch under his touch. Your orgasm starts to wane and turn into overstimulation, your panting turning into whimpering, nails digging into the back of his neck, unsure if you’re trying to push him away or keep him there.

Jihoon retracts his hand slowly. You feel the way you drip down the curve of your ass as you pant, staring up at the bottom of your bunk trying to gulp down air. He nudges his nose against your jaw, bringing your attention back to the present as his dark eyes look up at you.

Your voice comes out rough from use. “Want you.”

The corner of his mouth lifts and he nods, lifting himself off you to let you peel your underwear the rest of the way down as he works his briefs down his thighs. You let out a squeak when you look up to see him using the cum on his fingers to stroke himself, head tilted back a little, eyes heavy.

“What?” he murmurs, dropping his gaze down to you. His eyes are fucked out just from getting you off and it drives you insane, this visual of him blotchy with warmth, hair sticking to his forehead.

“You’re so hot,” you blurt and he pauses, raising a brow at you. “Don’t stop.”

“You like when I touch myself in front of you?” You nod, chewing on your lip as you stare. He grins and starts stroking himself slowly again, squeezing his flushed tip as he does, beads of precum dripping over the edge. “I’ll give you a show later. If I don’t fuck you in the next five minutes I will nut in my hand.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t hate it.”

“Oh? You want me to cum in my hand instead of that pretty pussy?” You purse your lips, staring back at him with a pout. “Didn’t think so.” He laughs and shuffles on his knees toward you, shaking his head and groaning when your legs fall open automatically for him, revealing the mess he’s made. “Can’t believe I made myself wait for this.”

“How stupid of you.”

Your stomach flutters when Jihoon lowers himself, cockhead pressing at your entrance. You ache for him - in more ways than one. Jihoon feels it too, hanging his head and letting his hair cascade around his face like a silvery halo as he slowly presses in.

His name falls from your mouth as you gasp, feeling the pressure of him as he sinks into your cunt slowly. You feel full and overwhelmed and perfect all at once, a myriad of feelings peppering your senses until he’s fully sheathed to the hilt.

Jihoon’s breathing is ragged for a moment as you clench around him, throbbing. He sucks in air sharply between his teeth, one hand going to your hip to press you into the mattress while the other lands next to your head, bearing his weight.

“Thank you for waiting for me.” You almost don’t hear him when he says it, his voice so soft. “When you didn’t have to.”

Your arms loop around his neck, pulling him closer. His nose brushes against yours and you feel your adoration for him grow. “Of course I did. You were meant for me.”

Prompted by your words, he nods and pulls his hips back slowly. The glide is easy with how wet you are. He thrusts back in with a hard snap, stealing your breath. The ability to string together coherent words vanishes as Jihoon sets a punctuated space.

“Fuck,” you whisper.

Fuck is right. Jihoon angles his hips perfectly, kissing your spot with each thrust with a deadly precision you’ve only seen in battle. Of course he fucks like he fights with absolute accuracy, driving you right toward an orgasm within a few minutes. Your fingers tangle in your hair, mouth pressed against his forehead where it rests against you.

His hand slides from your hips to your thigh, slipping under it and hiking it upward. It deepens the angle and you let out a loud sound, unable to catch your breath as sparks fly behind your eyelids.

“Holy shit, like that.” You’re a mess under him and he knows it, driving his hips faster as you continue to fall apart. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

“Yeah?” he asks, almost taunting. “Gonna come like this?”

“Yes, please don’t stop.”

And he doesn’t. He keeps going, driving you to the edge until you’re coming around him with enough force to knock heads with him. He mumbles something that sound like ouch but you’re too far gone, squeezing the fucking life out of him as you come before going boneless.

Jihoon pulls out and flips you, your world spinning as you land face first in his pillows. They smell like him and you love it, sliding your hands up to grip at the pillows as he drags your knees up, ass toward him. Sweat slicks your back and you try to take in a few ragged breaths, turning your head to the side to watch him sidelong.

His dark eyes dip to your ass and he curses, shifting backward so that he can lean down, hands prying your thighs apart to make way for his tongue as it slides up your pussy.

“Oh shit,” you wheeze.

He practically purrs against you, tongue licking slowly back and forth. The grip on his pillows tightens, one of your hands shooting back to grab his hair, holding him to you. He laughs, the vibration going straight through you as he sucks your clit into his mouth, tongue flicking over it.

“I love when you pull my hair,” he admits, panting as he takes a breath.

His tongue dives back in, pressing against your clenching hole. It is maddening the way he works you with his mouth. You feel like you’re coasting to another high. He knows exactly what to do, knows when to slow down, knows when to speed up. Jihoon has had access to you for months and it shows, navigating your body like it’s second nature to him.

“I’m gonna come again.” It comes out as a whine, fingers twisting in his locks. “Shit.”

“So come again.”

You do. It’s not as hard as the first one but it’s just as good, your orgasm shivering through you. Warmth floods you and you bite into his pillow, muting the loud sound that spills from your lips.

Jihoon doesn’t give you a second to recover before he’s up on his knees and pushing back into you. His hand cracks across your ass and you let out a startled yelp, earning laughter from both of you. Spent and delirious, your hand finds purchase on his wrist, holding on to him as he fucks you fast and hard.

He lets go of where he holds your hip to lace your fingers instead, pressing your linked fingers against the curve of your ass as he drills his hips forward. Somehow the hand holding is more intimate, your throat screwing shut as Jihoon chases after his own high.

With a muted murmur of your name, he comes. His thrusts turn messy, each press of his hips against your ass met with a wet sound. You don’t even care about the slick running down your legs, absolutely spent and sweaty and tired and a little in love with the man behind you.

Slowly, he lets go of your hand. You drop your arm to the mattress, suddenly aware of the ache in your shoulder at the angle. Instead of pulling out, Jihoon leans forward, pressing his sweaty chest to your back, mouth brushing softly against your shoulders.

“Thank you.”

You’re so close to sleep that you barely register what he’s saying. “For what?”

“Withstanding the storm,” he laughs. “Withstanding me and waiting me out.”

“You’re worth it.”

“I hope so. I want to be.”

With care, he detangles himself from you. You make a pitiful sound and he tuts at you, rolling you over on your back so that he can see your face. His eyes swim with more affection than you’ve ever seen, kick starting your heart. You lift a hand and tuck his bangs behind his ear, fingers lingering to brush across his cheek.

“So I’m kind of like your Storm Breaker, right?”

He groans. “Don’t start.”

“What? You literally just said I withstood the storm or whatever.”

“Come on, we’re showering.”

“No way, I am not moving right now.”

“You are not sleeping covered in cum.”

“Ji,” you whine.

He grins and kisses your head, getting out of bed. “Come on then, storm breaker. Withstand me a little more.”

TAG LIST:

@ddaddunugu @ourkivee @tie-nn @cookiearmy @thesunsfullmoon @stray-bi-kids @ldysmfrst @thepoopdokyeomtouched @kwonshiho @eoieopda @onlywon4u @hopeless-foolery @iamawkwardandshy @gyuguys @codeinebelle @Burnt-horizons @Ateez-atiny380 @bultaereume @yoongznme @kaitieskidmore97 @coffee-addict-kitten @gyubakeries @archivistworld @asyre @fxckinbreathe @kaepjjangiya @fancypeacepersona @beckyloveshannie @imujings @do-you-remember-summer-127 @jbluen

#artist pick 💚#18+ listeners only 🎧#woozi x reader #lee jihoon x reader #i think i said (mostly) everything i wanted to say in the annotations #but idk you really scratched my brain with this one

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xoxo-gossipgirlrp · 2 months ago

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Congratulations Maya! You’ve been accepted as your first choice of Dominic Harrion (Cassian Holloway)! Please send in the account within the next 24 hours!

✖ ABOUT YOU ↳ Name: maya

↳ Pronouns: she/her

↳ Age: 25

↳ Activity: 2-3 times a week

↳ Timezone: est

✖ ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER ↳ Celebrity Desired: Dominic Harrison (Yungblud)

↳ Second Celebrity: N/A

↳ Character’s Name: cassian holloway

↳ Pronouns: He/Him

↳ Birthday & Age: August 5th, 1997

↳ Education: St. Jude’s

↳ Background: Cassian Holloway was born on a rainy August morning in 1997, the fifth to be exact, in a penthouse high above SoHo. But despite the silver-spoon setting, his real childhood happened miles east in the cracked sidewalks and converted lofts of Williamsburg, Brooklyn—where alleyways told stories, punk shows bled into sunrise, and trust was a currency more rare than cash.

His father, Declan Holloway, was a man of shadows cloaked in suits. Officially, he was a tech investor. In reality, he ran a black-market empire dealing in things most people weren’t supposed to know existed—stolen prototypes, banned firmware, hardware designed to disappear. His mother, Eleanor, came from old money and played the role of Manhattan socialite with cold precision. Together, they raised Cassian under the weight of legacy.

From a young age, Cassian lived between contradictions: mornings of silence and expectation in SoHo, afternoons chasing sparks in Brooklyn’s chaotic sprawl. By the time he turned six, he was already moving through two worlds with practiced ease—dining under chandeliers with polished elbows, then slipping through warehouse doors to catch snippets of coded conversation and the scent of soldered metal.

The name “Cassian” was meant to sound classic. The nickname “Rye” was his own creation—something sharp, simple, untraceable. He became Rye on stage, with dyed hair, bleeding knuckles, and a guitar slung low. His songs told stories no one knew were real: coded warnings, buried grief, quiet rage.

As the years passed, the contrast between the life he wanted and the life expected of him grew starker. By seventeen, he was a regular in Brooklyn’s underground music scene. But even then, Declan was grooming him—slowly folding him into the operations. The deals started small: a meeting here, a favor there. Then came the introductions, the veiled threats disguised as business lessons, the unspoken truth that he was being shaped into an heir.

Cassian wanted none of it.

He wanted distortion pedals, nights that bled into mornings, lyrics that meant something. But he also knew what his father’s disappointment looked like. And more importantly, he knew what Declan’s enemies did to weakness.

Now, at twenty-seven, Cassian Holloway stands at the edge of two versions of himself. One foot in the world of underground shows and midnight songwriting sessions, the other caught in a spiderweb of inherited power he never asked for. The clock is ticking. His band is gaining momentum, and people are starting to pay attention—not just fans, but the wrong kind of people.

He dreams of escape, but dreams don’t come easy for Holloways. Every step toward freedom threatens to unravel the careful balance that keeps his world from imploding. And somewhere deep down, Cassian knows: if he doesn’t choose soon, the world will choose for him

#application #oc character #ggaccepted #accepted application #dominic harrison #yungblud #cassian holloway

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oswednesday · 6 months ago

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MEGA ULTRA DELUX SPOILERS

like im being on guy'd from a tvtropes person but like ATGUAHA! like she is not only older because of the resets but also in the stretch of actual time straight on and i dont think people realize how old jadis is for example like heres potentially the timeline

worms are created by the beast-headed god could we consider this to be gog-agog as the concept of worms? somewhere between the death of the god's and the era of royalty entering heaven by their own power and having families is when gog-agog acquires sentience->jadis is born at the end of the aforementioned era of philosopher kings->society destabilizes into a feudal like situation at the start of the second conquest->nadia is born at the height of this era she kills her husband and takes his key and no one bats an eye at it cause thats whats happening rn all over->solomon david's family and world is destroyed->mammon kills his siblings and acquires a key and unifies currency under the guilder which empowers the guilds to have like an empire control under the kingdom nadia resides in(zoss vanishes sometime after this, tho the others speak as tho they know him personally its more like they knew of him through mythological accounts whereas nadia, mammon and gog-agog speak in more like oh fyck that guy who i worked with what a tryhard)->jagganoth is made into a dead man->maya and incubus are born in the yellow city during the universal war breaking down into like just god brawling->jagganoth, maya and incubus tear the storm lord apart like monkey bread but only maya and jagganoth take power here for some reason?->the middle army under murder the gods and topple their thrones inheritor of the word FLAME (which the person cultivating the tvtropes has put her in a section for like secondary minor characters and not with allies??????????? i have some issues with maya that im holding until the comic resolves but thats not only sexist its also stupid shes a main characters gdfgdf) is going to take the throne of god, she flees from her position causing the conquest to halt and the war to destabilize into just a bloodbath for power ->solomon david masters ki rata and seeks the demiurge who did this to his home->incubus finds maya and takes the key to the word FLAME->the universal war is brought to an end through crushing the remaining other demiurges with not just metal ass violence but political power establishing control over throne and forming the 7 part pact and dividing up all the open worlds among them->zoss's heir rocks up to start the third conquest->the rising king/conquering king falls to gog-agog->jagganoth and the host of angels fall to gog-agog->gog-agog takes the throne long enough to realize oh hey we've done this before and also to develop a complex about being god for a bit->?????????->another cycle begins

THATS HOW OLD GOG AGOG IS AAAAAAAAA each segment is old enough to be its own pre-history gog agog takes throne by her OWN power not power accumulated from the resetting of the wheel! she was already god before any of this really picked up mass [bites into this tvtropes editor and shakes them until they die]

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grandsonoflightike · 10 months ago

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Grey Three Houses/Hopes P6: The Blitz of Light Riegan

Background Music Announcement: The Ashen Demon Cover With Lyrics by The Muses’ Mire

*Somewhere in Light Riegan Territory*

Light Claude: So we've lost Light Gloucester. Unavoidable, perhaps, but it still stings all the same. Fortunately, I haven't been sitting on my hands this whole time. If we smash the imperial reinforcements and stop them from breaking the siege, Count Light Bergliez will have no choice but to give up. We're going to face that challenge, and we're going to face it with the Light Alliance's latest and greatest—which is why I've asked all of you here.

Light Lysithea: Did you really just say "latest and greatest" with a straight face?

Light Hilda: Oh, he said it, all right. And while I can't swear we'll have that, we do at least have numbers on our side.

*The camera pans over to Lysithea, Hilda, Raphael, and Marianne.*

Light Raphael: Yup! More than half of the old Golden Deer house is here!

Light Marianne: Some of us may not be quite as "great" as you say, but... Well, you know best.

Lighr Claude: I'm grateful to each of you for answering the call. It's more than I can say for some of our classmates.

Light Raphael: Yeah, Light Ignatz and Light Lorenz both sided with the enemy...

Light Lysithea: … About that. It pains me to say this, but House Light Ordelia has made its allegiance to the Shadow Empire clear. It was against my light parents' protests that I came here in the first place. If this battle doesn't unfold the way you're hoping, I may be forced to leave as quickly as I arrived.

Light Hilda: That's OK, Light Lysithea. You're not the only one who's here with strings attached.

Light Marianne: Yes, my adoptive father has also insisted I return home at once should the tides turn against us.

Light Claude: Sounds about right. (sad) Three cheers for that good old Light Alliance solidarity!

Light Raphael: I'll fight with you to the end, Light Claude! Uh, unless it puts Light Maya in danger. Then I'm out.

Light Claude: Look, what matters is that you're all here—and that we settle this war with the next battle. Also, for full disclosure, I may have sort of brought along some extra professional muscle. Come on in!

*Light Claude looks to his left as Grey Bileth enters the room.*

Grey Bileth: It's good to meet you. I'm the acting Representation of the Kingdom.

Light Claude: Our guest here is fresh off another battle with the Shadow Empire on L8ght Kingdom soil. From what I gather, remaining in the Light Kingdom was no longer an option with us being their allies. And that's when our paths crossed here in Light Alliance territory.

Light Hilda: Oh, hello. I know "reliable" when I see it, and you are definitely that!

Grey Bileth: I'll do whatever you ask as long as we're allied. I won't fail you.

*At The Shadow Imperial Camp, Shadow Edelgard meets with her commanders in the conference room.*

Shadow Edelgard: All right, let's begin our council. As you've no doubt heard from our scouts, the path from here to Light Derdriu will be fraught with difficulties.

Shadow Hubert: The Light Alliance has constructed fortalices and palisades, and laid other traps to slow our progress. In addition, they are plotting ambushes at key positions along the way. Needless to say, we will not be able to avail ourselves of the direct route.

Shadow Dorothea: But if we try to dance around all their traps, we'll never make it in time.

Shadow Linhardt: Yes, but this is Count Shadow Bergliez we're talking about. He could probably stretch his soldiers a few extra days through sheer force of will.

Shadow Hubert: I would normally write off such an idea as lunacy, but sadly, it will likely come to that. We have made attempts to smuggle provisions to Count Shadow Bergliez through holes in the enemy lines, but this has met with little success.

Shadow Bernadetta: They must be so hungry... I know just how that feels. The struggle to get food when all you want to do is hide under the covers? Hello, old friend.

Shadow Ferdinand: I mean no offense, but if time is truly so short, why do we waste it dithering in council? We should embark on our rescue mission straightaway!

Shadow Shez: Yeah, what're we waiting for? We're their only hope!

Shadow Caspar: I agree! Less talking, more saving!

Shadow Edelgard: Calm down, all of you. Such rash action is exactly what Light Claude is counting on.

Shadow Monica: So we must take the safe route, but do so as quickly as possible. A "best of both worlds" situation, I suppose. Understood.

Shadow Edelgard: Good. With that decided, let's move on and discuss our preferred formation...

*After The Council Meeting, Shadow Shez talks to Shadow Edelgard.*

Shadow Edelgard: Light Claude has been causing me no end of trouble. He truly is a cunning adversary. Come to think of it, that particular quality stretches back to his student days. He appears suddenly and with an easy smile that reveals nothing, yet the entire time he is scheming to outwit you. Tell me, what's your impression of the man.

Shadow Shez: He seems like a nice, easy-going sort of fellow—especially for a noble.

Shadow Edelgard: A positive evaluation indeed. But perhaps not all that surprising.

*Shadow Shez then talks to Shadow Hubert.*

Shadow Hubert: Honestly, my greatest concern right now is the situation on the Kingdom side of matters. Especially as my reports claim Count Light Rowe gives no indication of further betrayal. Also, General Shadow Randolph appears to be doing well. The man has ambition to spare, and is beloved by his subordinates. He rather reminds me of yourself.

*Shadow Shez Then Talks To Shadow Ferdinand and Light Lorenz.*

Shadow Ferdinand: Light Lorenz, I am simply overjoyed that you have decided to fight on the side of the Empire.

Light Lorenz: Still your joy, Shadow Ferdinand. A defeated man makes no decisions—he simply does as he is told.

Shadow Ferdinand: Even so, you were clever enough to read the winds of war and stop fighting before it was too late.

Light Lorenz: To fight in vain is to bring suffering upon one's people. That is a thought neither I nor my father could ever stomach.

Shadow Shez: No need for the false humility. Not many people could make the call you did.

Shadow Ferdinand: Exactly! And now, we two will henceforth show the world the true spirit of the nobility!

Light Lorenz: Delightful words. I will return the favor of my life by fighting alongside you all.

*Shadow Shez talks To Shadow Linhardt.*

Shadow Linhardt: I recently received an unusual letter from my father regarding the Minister of Military Affairs. He says this is an opportunity to have the man in my debt, and entreats me to do my utmost to rescue him. I find the whole thing quite odd. They dislike each other as much as ever, yet still maintain a deep concern for one another.

Shadow Shez: They seem like a rather cunning pair—maybe their whole "not getting along" thing was just for show.

Shadow Linhardt: I can't fathom what purpose deceiving so many people would have. Why go to the trouble? Well, it's nothing to me. If they wish to play politics, they can have their fun.

*Shadow Shez then talks to Shadow Caspar.*

Shadow Caspar: I've gotta get stronger—but I also need to start using my head more! War isn't just about two sides smashing into each other—much as I'd like it to be. You've also got sieges, rescues, logistics, defense, and so much more.

Shadow Shez: Good point. I better sharpen my thinking as well.

Shadow Caspar: Say, why don't we do it together? We'll work our bodies with hours of training and our minds by reviewing battle tactics. Whaddya say?

*Shadow Shez Then Talks to Shadow Bernadetta.*

Shadow Bernadetta: You know what? I kinda like sieges. I mean, think about it! You get to stay nice and cozy in some castle of whatever? It sounds great! Oh, but then there's the part where the enemy cuts off your supply lines and tries to starve you out, huh... Nope! Never mind! Go away, sieges!

Shadow Shez: Uh...OK then.

*Shadow Shez Then Talks to Shadow Dorothea.*

Shadow Dorothea: Sometimes I wonder if this war is merely some grand opera that takes place on the stage of Grey Fódlan. It's a dramatic portrayal of life and death where everyone's hopes and dreams come crashing into one another. It's almost like we're part of someone else's script.

Shadow Shez: Yeah, I dunno. I don't think we'd fight as hard if we thought the outcome had already been decided. Sure, there's a lot of drama and action going on, but we're the only ones who can determine how this whole thing is going to end.

Shadow Dorothea: Well said. In truth, I think I wanted you to disagree.

*Shadow Shez then talks to Shadow Petra.*

Shadow Petra: I am sensing little unity in the Light Alliance. What could be the reason? They are having many lords, but each of them are doing whatever they please. I am wondering if a region requires a leader such as an emperor or other monarch in order to function.

*Shadow Shez Then talks to Shadow Monica.*

Shadow Monica: As one would expect from the territory of the house that leads the Light Alliance, Lighr Riegan is well-prepared for any and all possibilities. They've even shown signs of preparing for an invasion of the Empire. You think Light Claude is plotting something else? Because if so...

Shadow Shez: Didn't Edelgard tell you to stop overthinking things? Let's just deal with the problems we know are in front of us and save the "maybe" stuff for another day.

Shadow Monica: That's...not really what I expected you to say, actually. But good advice regardless!

*Shadow Shez Then talks To Light Ignatz.*

Light Ignatz: ...

Shadow Shez: Gotta say, having you House Gloucester types back on our side again is reassuring.

Light Ignatz: It's an honor to hear that. I look forward to fighting at your side.

*Shadow Shez Then talks to Grey Balthus.*

Grey Balthus: Well, look who it is! The big bad sellsword folks just can't stop talking about. Heard the shadow emperor went and made you a shadow general, yeah? Bet that put some coin in your pocket!

Shadow Shez: Funny thing about money—the more you have, the more you seem to find yourself spending.

Grey Balthus: Haha! You sound like me! I love it! Now let's make sure we both get outta this mess in one piece so we can spend that coin, eh?

*Shadow Shez then talks to Grey Constance.*

Grey Constance: This has nothing whatsoever to do with me... But I was incredibly relieved that House Gloucester did not meet with ruin.

Shadow Shez: This have something to do with your house?

Grey Constance: please don't shout it aloud for the world to hear! Though yes, you have seen to the core of me... Still, I feel certain that my house will see its own revival one day.

*Shadow Shez Then Talks To Grey Hapi.*

Grey Hapi: I think this might be my first time going into Light Alliance territory. It's fun to discover new things. Like, did you know there might be some trees that only grow here?

Shadow Shez: You like trees?

Hapi: Sure do. Or to be more specific, I like the berries that fall off of them—or anything else that tastes good.

*Shadow Shez Then Talks to Shadow Manuela.*

Shadow Manuela: *Practicing singing* Oh, dear. So terribly sorry. Just checking the condition of my throat, is all!

*Shadow Shez Stares at her unblinking.*

Shadow Manuela: Er, you're not saying anything. Are you all right? Do you need medical aid, perhaps? Or perhaps you were transfixed by my beauty and lovely voice! It happens a lot, I'm afraid.

Shadow Monica: *sees this and her heart jumps in her chest, Making her Think…* Why did my heart jump?

*Shadow Shez then talks to Shadow Jeritza.*

Shadow Jeritza: Some say Count Shadow Bergliez is the strongest man in the Empire. Perhaps he can slay me if we cross blades.

Shadow Shez: Uh, our job is to help Count Shadow Bergliez, so maybe slow down on all this duel talk.

Shadow Jeritza: Only a jest, I assure you.

*Shadow Shez then talks to Shadow Ladislava.*

Shadow Ladislava: I thank you for your assistance on the Great Bridge of Myrddin. I volunteered to take up the vanguard, yet ended up deceived by the enemy's actions and was cut off. I do hope that troublesome Count Gloucester remains in quiet retirement going forward.

*Shadow Shez Then Talks to Grey Anna.*

Gret Anna: Hello there, friend! What are you looking for today? Not sure I've got anything stocked in the way of "tools for breaking a brutal siege," sadly. Still, I'd be in a real mess if I lost a valued customer like you, so take your time and look around!

*Shadow Shez Then Talks to Shadow Arval.*

Shadow Arval: She wants to change the world, does she? How amusing. And what do you think of this idea of hers?

Shadow Shez: I definitely wanna try and make it happen, if we can.

Shadow Arval: Is that so? But even if you manage to change things, there's no guarantee such actions will bring about the bright future you desire.

*Shadow Shez then talks to The Shadow Imperial Soldier near the Common Area.*

Shadow Imperial Soldier: You the commander I've heard about? The one lifted up from the commonfolk and given authority? Some folks say you aren't even from the Shadow Empire. Regardless, your being here is good news for me—means a rought-and-tumble lady like myself might actually end up with a promotion someday!

*Shadow Shez then talks to the Grey Mercenary by the Campfire.*

Grey Mercenary: Heya! I'm from Grey Abyss, the place under Grey Garreg Mach. Basically, I crawled outta the same hole as Grey Hapi and Grey Constance. I'm here 'cause the Shadow Imperial army's recruitin' bodies. But the pay's good and the rations are plentiful, so you won't hear me complain!

*Shadow Shez then talks to Light Alliance General in the Marketplace.*

Light Alliance General: I am a knight of House Light Gloucester. Lord Light Lorenz ordered me to come here and join your ranks. The previous count, Light Erwin, has long desired to stand above the ruling House Light Riegan. Though we now serve the Shadow Empire, it seems were are fated to share a relationship with their house.

*Shadow Shez Then talks to the Grey Gatekeeper.*

Grey Gatekeeper: Greetings, Commander! Nothing to report! Count Shadow Bergliez's forces are right in front of us, but our march is going to still take a while longer. It's driving me up the wall! Sure wish there was something I could do. Well, guess I'll just hunker down and keep on keeping on. No enemies are getting in here, I swear it!

*Shadow Shez then talks to the Shadow Imperial Soldier in the Command Center.*

Shadow Imperial Soldier: I was dispatched from the capital as a messenger. And honestly, the mood here at the front is much better than I expected it to be. I was pretty worried about the Shadow Minister of Military Affairs being in such a tricky spot, you know? But now I can return to the capital with my mind at ease. May the tides of battle flow in your favor!

*Shadow Shez then talks to the Shadow Imperial Soldier near the Blacksmith.*

Shadow Imperial Soldier: I've found myself wondering if Her Majesty couldn't have us advance at greater speed. And yet we continue our careful, plodding pace, holding both banks of the Airmid as we do. Perhaps she is more cautious than expected. Or perhaps... Ah, no. Forget I said anything.

*Shadow Shez then is forced to talk to The Shadow Imperial Pegasus Knight in the Central Plaza.*

Shadow Imperial Pegasus Knight: You there! You recognize me, yes? Don't tell me you were trying to slip by without giving proper respects! It boggles the mind to think a commoner like you would ignore a highborn baron such as myself. Hmm? You wonder how I pinpointed your baseborn nature? Your aura and stench tell me all I need to know. Hmph!

Shadow Byleth: He and I don't know that. Shadow Shez doesn't know because he Wasn't born in the Shadow Empire.

Shadow Imperial Pegasus Knight: Sorry then, Commander.

*Shadow Shez then talks to the Shadow Imperial Priest in the Central Plaza.*

Shadow Imperial Priest: Light Claude makes much trouble for us. He oversaw the recapture of the bridge, and commanded the siege of the Imperial army as it attacked Leicester. Though it pains me to do so, I would be a liar if I did anything but acknowledge his ability. I imagine the man has earned a nickname of his own by this point. Perhaps the Light Master Tactician?

*Shadow Shez then talks to the Shadow Imperial General at the Training Grounds.*

Shadow Imperial General: Why aren't we advancing more quickly?! When I think about how Shadow Leopold and our allies are in danger... Ugh, it really makes me mad! We're going to help them, no matter what!

*Then Shadow Shez goes to Sleep while waiting. Shadow Shez suddenly wakes up in Shadow Arval's dimension again.*

Shadow Shez: Huh? What's... Oh, it's a dream.

Shadow Arval: Why do you always settle for such simple reasoning? You know this is more than a fabrication of your sleep-addled mind! Our first reunion in who knows how long, and you try to write me off as a figment of your imagination? Hmph!

Shadow Shez: Sorry about that—though I was definitely asleep last I checked. Anyway, what do you want?

Shadow Arval: To warn you. Something is troubling me. Eating away at me, actually. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I can sense a presence closing in on you. A dangerous one.

Shadow Shez: The Grey Ashen Demon, right? This wouldn't be your first warning about that one.

Shadow Arval: Mmm, that might be it... Perhaps the two of you will square off in battle soon.

Shadow Shez: Good. Because this time, I'm gonna win. I have to. Fortunately, I'm pretty used to these powers of yours by now.

Shadow Arval: Then I'll let myself stay just a tiny bit optimistic. Just don't forget that your opponent has had as much time to grow as you. Your future isn't the only one at stake here—the Demon could also put an end to Shadow Edelgard's vision with as little as one swing of a sword. Whatever happens, we can't let all our hard work be undone!

Shadow Shez: Since when have you been such a worrier? I've got this, trust me.

Shadow Arval: What do you mean? I'm always worried about you! After all, you're my--

Shadow Shez: Yeah, yeah, I'm your "partner in destiny."

Shadow Arval: *laughs* I finally got you to say it! How wonderful!

*Shadow Shez, Shadow Edelgard, Shadow Hubert, and Shadow Monica meet outside the battlefield.*

Shadow Hubert: I knew Count Shadow Bergliez was formidable, but I clearly did not give the man enough credit. I thought for certain he would've fallen by now, and yet here we are.

Shadow Edelgard: If we're handing out credit, Light Claude deserves some as well. Maintaining a siege for this long takes its own toll on morale. Yet his troops remain disciplined, well-positioned, and ready to engage us.

Shadow Monica: One advantage to a siege is mobility—they can deploy soldiers up and down the line as needed to keep the upper hand. In other words, they are outfitted with many highly mobile units, which means they can respond quickly to enemy reinforcements as well.

Shadow Edelgard: If we rush in blindly and are driven back, it would likely break our allies' spirits for good. Not even Count Shado2 Bergliez would be able to rally them again. Surrender would be the only option.

Shadow Shez: Ngh...

Shadow Arval: Why are they wavering now when we're so close? We're not looking to win the war today—we just have to break the siege!

Shadow Shez: We should attack their lines at multiple positions. We don't need to win the battle—we just need them to break formation long enough for the count and his troops to get out of there.

Shadow Hubert: Well, this is new. You are not often one to give voice to your opinions on tactics. Still, you have struck the proverbial nail on the head. That is exactly how we must proceed.

Shadow Edelgard: Then it's decided. I look forward to your exploits on the battlefield. Today, we free our Shadow Imperial allies and reward their continued valor in the face of impossible odds!

*At the start of battle, Shadow Shez Surprisingly for some reason deploy everyone…*

Shadow Edelgard: Count Shadow Bergliez controls the stronghold in the center of the plain, but the enemy has him completely cut off from aid. Our goal is to break the siege so he and his troops can evacuate safely.

Light Claude: So much for securing a surrender before reinforcements arrive. Well, you all know what to do. Engage the enemy!

Shadow Caspar: There's no time for the delicate approach. Let's tear into 'em from all sides!

Shadow Hubert: There can be no victory this day if we do not rescue both Bergliez and his troops.

*When Light Ignatz encounters Light Raphael)

Light Raphael: I'm itchin' to show what my muscles can do. Now, who... Huh? Oh, hey, Light Ignatz!

Light Ignatz: I don't want to kill you, Light Raphael...so I'm just going to have to knock some sense into you instead!

*When Light Raphael's HP reach <= 50%*

Light Raphael: Ugh, this is rough. My body's crying out for a break!

*When Light Raphael is defeated*

Light Ignatz: You don't have to do this, Light Raphael. Think about Maya! She needs you, remember?

Light Raphael: Hey, no fair! But...all right, Light Ignatz. I'm in, but only 'cause it's you!

Count Shadow Bergliez: *to his generals* Her Majesty comes to rescue us! I know your spirits are weary, but rekindle them now with whatever spark of hope remains in your soul!

*When Light Lorenz encounters Light Marianne*

Light Lorenz: Light Marianne! What are you doing on the front lines? Stand down!

Light Marianne: No! I can't abandon my friends while they all fight for their lives!

Shadow Edelgard: Aren't negotiations with Margrave Light Edmund still ongoing? Perhaps we can win Light Marianne over to our side.

*When Light Marianne's HP reach <= 50%*

Light Marianne: What does it matter if I die...

*When Marianne is defeated*

Light Lorenz: I cannot bear to strike you down, Light Marianne. Please surrender—your father will understand.

Light Marianne: You're right. My adoptive father would want me to lay down my arms, not my life.

Shadow Ferdinand: We have broken through! Continue pushing!

Shadow Edelgard: We must secure an exit for our allies. Taking down those strongholds will drive a wedge into their siege.

Shadow Petra: There are two strongholds. We must deploy our forces with cleverness to be taking both.

*When Shadow Shez And Shadow Monica encounters Light Hilda.*

Light Hilda: Look, I really need to hold this line, so why don't you just leave and we'll call it a day?

*When Light Ignatz encounters Light Hilda.*

Light Ignatz: I knew this was coming, but it still hurts to fight my old friends...

Light Hilda: You serve House Light Gloucester. What did you expect?

*When Grey Balthus encounters Light Hilda*

Grey Balthus: Uh oh! You're not here with... OK, whew! No Light Holst. Now scram already, will ya? Get outta here while you still can!

Light Hilda: Oh, I will, Grey Baltie—right after you explain why you're fighting for the Empire! You know Light Holst is never gonna let you live this down!

*When Light Hilda's HP reach <= 50%*

Light Hilda: I can't mess this up—not when everyone's counting on me...

*When Light Hilda is defeated*

Light Claude: Get outta there, Light Hilda! We can't lose you!

Light Hilda: Yeah, all right... Sorry!

Shadow Edelgard: Our allies are nearly within reach! Clear out the enemy soldiers in those strongholds!

Shadow Monica: A detachment of white mages stands ready to mend our wounded comrades.

Shadow Edelgard: Now! Heal Count Shadow Bergliez's forces!

Shadow Bergliez General: *after being healed* Thank you!

*When Shadow Edelgard and Shadow Byleth encounters Light Lysithea.*

Light Lysithea: All right, here they come... But I came here to fight, and I won't back down!

Shadow Hubert: House Light Ordelia has already offered us their allegiance, which means Light Lysithea is here of her own accord.

*When Grey Balthus encounters Lysithea*

Grey Balthus: Whoa! Hold on! I can't fight you! You're from House Light Ordelia!

Light Lysithea: Well, don't expect me to hold back just because you do.

*When Light Lorenz encounters Light Lysithea*

Light Lorenz: I do not understand your motives, Light Lysithea. Why do you go against your house's wishes?

Light Lysithea: My decisions are my own, Light Lorenz—and there are some sacrifices I simply won't make.

*When Light Ignatz encounters Light Lysithea.*

Light Ignatz: Please, stand down, Lysithea. There's no reason for us to fight!

Light Lysithea: I don't remember asking your opinion!

*When Light Lysithea's HP reach <= 50%*

Light Lysithea: Not bad. No, not bad at all.

*When Light Lysithea is defeated*

Shadow Edelgard: I've heard about what was done to you, Light Lysithea. And as one who understands that intimately, I ask you to join my cause.

Light Lysithea: You, too... Yes, all right. I'll hear you out.

*When a unit reaches Count Shadow Bergliez*

Count Shadow Bergliez: Ah, but it does my heart good to see you! Pray take care of my troops.

Shadow Linhardt: Now then, if they'll just be kind enough to let us escape this way...

Light Claude: The siege is coming apart at the seams... Deploy the reinforcements! Fill those gaps!

Shadow Monica: They're trying to shore up areas where we've thinned their ranks. Don't let that happen!

*When Shadow Caspar approaches Count Shadow Bergliez.*

Count Shadow Bergliez: Well met, my son. For the first time in my life, I thought my end had come for me.

Shadow Caspar: Yeah. I've never seen you in such bad shape. You look half-dead!

*When Shadow Edelgard approaches Count Shadow Bergliez*

Count Shadow Bergliez: I'm humbled you came for me personally, Your Shadow Majesty.

Shadow Edelgard: You can thank me once we're clear of this place. Now ready your troops for retreat.

*When Shadow Petra approaches Count Shadow Bergliez*

Count Shadow Bergliez: It surprises me to see you among the ranks of my rescuers.

Shadow Petra: Do not be having the wrong idea. I am helping the Shadow Empire, not you.

Shadow Ferdinand: Good, they're wide open. Push through! We must reach Count Shadow Bergliez!

*After defeating two of the generals attacking Count Shadow Bergliez*

Light Alliance Soldier near the Farming Village Hut: All right, you asked for it... Target their forts and crush their reinforcements!

Shadow Caspar: They've got catapults! We have to stop 'em!

*When The Farming Village Hut is seized*

Shadow Bernadetta: So, I don't want to panic anyone, but they're still hurling boulders at us!

*When The Devastated Farmland is seized*

Shadow Linhardt: Well, that was a delight. Maybe we can stop and rest for a few here?

*When all of the enemies surrounding Count Shadow Bergliez are defeated*

Count Shadow Bergliez: The siege is broken, men! Your courage and perseverance have been rewarded!

Shadow Edelgard: The way is open! Move as one, and defend the count and soldiers as we go!

Light Claude: You think I'm just gonna let you slink out of here? Ha! I'm already two steps ahead!

Grey Jeralt: Sorry, Light Claude. Grey Bileth and Light Timmy are fighting. We will be taking over now through.

*Grey Jeralt and his Grey mercenaries appear to the south and west and They appear to be on a purple side.*

Shadow Byleth: Father, you are your own side now?

Grey Jeralt: Right you are. It is led by Light Timmy and Light Annette.

Light Claude: They Took a coliseum from us for removing Those Who Shadow Slither In The Dark from the territory which is why Light Timmy Took That Territory it turns out. It was Light Tanner was a Those Who Shadow Slither In The Dark Member named Thanaton.

Shadow Scileth: How disgraceful.

*Meanwhile Grey Bileth And Light Timmy are battling far away.*

Grey Bileth: What is your deal, Light Timmy?

Light Timmy: There are Some Evil Doers. Light Annette, Use The Light Magic To Reveal Them.

*At The Back Of Purple Interlopers Base, Light Annette casts a spell and a third Of Claude's Forces Turn to The Green Team. Tyson The Leader Of The Green Team takes the Northeastern Stronghold And Secures it for The Green Team..*

Shadow Edelgard: They've cut off our escape and... Oh no. Look who's with them.

Shadow Shez: We won't put a dent in Jeralt's company with the numbers he has. I vote we rush Claude's main position or Those Who Shadow Slither In The Dark's Main Position instead.

Shadow Hubert: It would indeed catch All 3 other Sides by surprise—but do we flank from the left or right?

Shadow Monica: Either way, let's choose a path and clear out anyone foolish enough to stand before us!!

Shadow Hubert: The count's soldiers we saved could be of great use if we place them under his command.

Count Shadow Bergliez: With this many troops, I can finally turn the tide. Time to wipe the smug grin off that Alliance kid's face!

Shadow Hubert: So much for choosing which side to flank. It seems we must follow the count's lead.

Count Shadow Bergliez: Her Shado2 Majesty has given us a chance to escape! Rush the enemy and smash the Alliance to splinters!

Shadow Edelgard: I hope the count isn't doing what I think he's doing... Everyone, stay with him!

Light Claude: Wait, what?! They're going the wrong way!

*Count Shadow Bergliez and his troops go northeast and reach what appears to be a dead end.*

Count Shadow Bergliez: No Shadow Bergliez goes the long way round—we smash through and make our own path!

*The Shadow count smashes the wall to pieces with Shadow Járngreipr, opening a shortcut through the mountain straight to Light Claude's base.*

Light Claude: Is he nuts? That's not even a proper path... Is he just coming straight for us?!

Shadow Hubert: This strategy makes no sense at all, which is exactly why I think it may work.

*When Count Shadow Bergliez reaches any escape point*

Shadow Edelgard: We're nearly clear of the battlefield. Just one more push and... Oh no.

*Suddenly Grey Bileth warps ahead of the Shadow Imperial Army by Shadow Magic.*

Grey Bileth: How I get here?

*Tyson Chuckles. Suddenly Light Annette Warps Light Timmy To The Eastern Forts.*

Light Annette: You shouldn't Have Done that Tyson.

*Light Timmy Then Slashes his Creator Whip Across The Entire Map removing all green side units except Tyson and Taking their Forts, chuckling after.*

Tyson: Argh. This isn't over. *He Warps out of there.*

Grey Bileth: Ah, that's It eh? Anyway, It won't do to have you slip our grasp now.

Shado2 Edelgard: The Ashen Demon. Clever of Light Claude to keep this little surprise for the moment it would matter most...

Count Shadoq Bergliez: I'll handle the grey mercenary! The rest of you press on. Don't stop, no matter what!

*Light Claude opens the Enemy Base gate.*

Count Shadow Bergliez: You'll never get a better crack at the alliance's leadership, Your Shadow Majesty! Hit them with all you have! Leave nothing on the battlefield!

Shadow Edelgard: Count Shadow Bergliez is keeping the Ashen Demon busy, which means now is our chance to strike at Light Claude!

Grey Jeralt: They're avoiding us entirely and attacking the main position instead. Looks like someone over there has half a brain after all...

Light Alois: Hmm? They're attacking the main position? But that's not... Urgh! I have to go help them!

*When Shadow Shez approaches Light Claude*

Light Claude: So you're the one who's messing up all of my clever plans!

Shadow Shez: Hey, I just work here—but you're gonna make a nice trophy for the Shadow Emperor.

*When Shadow Edelgard approaches Light Claude*

Shadow Edelgard: Light Claude, can't you just play nice until I achieve what I set out to do?

Light Claude: Funny—I was gonna ask you that. But I'm guessing the answer's the same for both of us.

*When Shadow Hubert approaches Light Claude*

Shadow Hubert: While you never fail to surpass expectations, it seems the element of surprise was with Count Shadow Bergliez today.

Light Claude: Right? I hit the guy hard enough to break him a dozen times over and he still kept coming. He's more nightmare than man!

*When Light Lorenz approaches Light Claude*

Light Claude: I'm sad it's come to this, Light Lorenz.

Light Lorenz: And yet even as you speak those words, you seek an opening to strike at me. I know you well, Light Claude.

*When Light Ignatz approaches Light Claude*

Light Claude: Never too late to do the right thing, Light Ignatz. Come back to us.

Light Ignatz: Stop trying to sway me, Light Claude! It's not going to work!

*When Light Claude's HP reach <= 50%*

Light Claude: They've got me cornered! Better think fast...

*When Light Claude is defeated.*

Claude: That's all I can take. Let's see if our new Kingdom Representative is worth all that gold.

Count Bergliez: I must be getting old... Enough! I'm falling back!

Light Timmy: Time to go. (retreats)

Shadow Hubert: We have reinforcements watching the escape route. They will hold The Light Kingdom at bay.

Shadow Edelgard: Which just leaves the Ashen Demon. We're close to the finish now, so let's take whatever time we need and do this right.

Shadow Monica: Their clash with Count Shadow Bergliez has left the Demon weary—this could be our best chance to crush that pest for good.

*When Shadow Shez approaches Grey Bileth*

Grey Bileth: How many times have we fought now? Either way, this will be the last.

Shadow Shez: You're right about that. I'm not letting you leave here alive, Ashen Demon!

*When Grey Bileth's HP reach <= 50%*

Grey Bileth: The Empire has grown strong...

*Shadow Shez, in his Awakened form, attempts to attack Grey Bileth with one of their swords, but Grey Bileth activates Divine Pulse, disappearing for a second before reappearing and punching Shadow Shez in the solar plexus, flinging them backward onto the ground. Grey Bileth, also Awakened, slowly walks up to Shadow Shez and points her sword at them. Grey Sothis begins to speak to through her vessel.*

Grey Bileth: Such vexing arrogance for one so small. Perhaps you truly are one of their descendants. In any event, you labored to destroy my vessel, did you not? That is a deed most foul...

*After another Divine Pulse activation, Grey Bileth appears behind Shadow Shez and attacks.*

Grey Bileth: One you will pay for with your life!

*Shadow Shez dodges the first blow, but Grey Bileth teleports and attacks again.*

Grey Bileth: You cannot hope to win so bound in flesh. Pitiful.

Shadow Arval: *to Shadow Shez* This isn't a fight you can win. Get out of there!

*Shadow Shez stumbles and runs away as Grey Bileth continues to walk toward them.*

Grey Bileth: You can run all you like...

*Grey Bileth begins to resist Grey Sothis' control over them, causing them to double over, clutching their chest*

Grey Bileth: Why do you...fight me...

*Grey Bileth begins to speak in their own voice again.*

Grey Bileth: Why, Grey Sothis?

*In Light Riegan Territory, Light Claude and Light Hilda meet after the battle.*

Light Hilda: I'm sorry, Light Claude. They were too much for us.

Light Claude: It's all right, Light Hilda. Well, it's not, but I knew this was a possible outcome. I was hoping the terrain might let us hold, but against that many soldiers deployed that skillfully... It just wasn't enough.

Light Hilda: You sound sad. It's a little weird.

Light Claude: Can you blame me? Look at how many people have died because I decided to fight this war. Maybe I should've just let the Empire have their way...

Light Hilda: My light father and the others never would've accepted that. You had to throw everything you had at the enemy at least once, or they'd think you were a coward forever.

Light Claude: Wow, Light Hilda. I didn't think you'd picked up on all of that. But yeah, that's pretty much it. Too bad everything I had still wasn't enough.

Light Hilda: Well, the next step is to put our heads together and figure out what to do next.

Light Claude: I hope you don't mind if I lean on you and that brother of yours for support. *looks up at sky* Light Leicester's roundtable is overdue for some big changes...

*On the other side of the battlefield, Count Shadow Bergliez meets with Shadow Edelgard and Shadow Hubert.*

Count Shadow Bergliez: *bows to Shadow Edelgard* Again, Your Shadow Majesty, you've got my deepest thanks for rescuing us. And since my lack of foresight's to blame, let me apologize again for what happened.

Shadow Edelgard: I will not hear of it, Count Shadow Bergliez. Had any but you been in command, I would be collecting corpses right now instead of thanks. I failed to see what Duke Light Riegan and Count Light Gloucester were plotting—the blame is mine alone. So I will hear no more self-reproach from you. Go now and rest those weary bones.

Count Shadow Bergliez: I'm grateful for the kindness, Your Shadow Majesty. Honestly, this experience shook me more than you might realize. I never would've made it through without the brave men and women who serve me. They're the ones who deserve your praise.

Shadow Edelgard: Understood. I will see they are duly rewarded. Shadow Hubert, summon Shadow Monica and have that put in writing as an official decree.

*Shadow Hubert bows.*

Shadow Edelgard: And now, I want to know how we are faring with our efforts in the Kingdom...

*Meanwhile Shadow Shez and Shadow Arval Talk.*

Shadow Shez: And here I thought we'd won.

Shadow Arval: As did I.

Shadow Shez: Who knew the Ashen Demon had that kind of strength? Not that I'm making excuses. You gave me power of my own and it still wasn't close to enough.

Shadow Arval: That's not true.

Shadow Shez: Of course it is! What am I even up against here? It's like I looked away for one second and suddenly I was facing someone else entirely.

Shadow Arval: Hmm, that would explain what was troubling me before. That is the unique danger I sensed. Still, you can win this fight. I know you can! And I'll do whatever I can to make it so. We'll claim victory over that monster together!

Shadow Shez: You know what? You're right. I'll be strong enough one day if I just keep at it. Still, "one day" could be years from now at this rate. We should probably think of a backup plan. And hey, Light Timmy's a mercenary, right? Might be best for the Empire to toss some coin their way and put the rivalry behind us.

Shadow Arval: You want to hire that thing?! Seriously? Fighting side by side with Light Timmy? Are you mad?

Shadow Shez: You make it sound like the worst idea in the world. We have a war to win here, remember. Gotta keep an open mind.

Shadow Arval: Ah, I understand now. You've witnessed your adversary's true strength, and convinced yourself you cannot win. But trust me, you don't need to worry. You'll get stronger soon, I promise. So maybe don't go relinquishing your prey just yet. After all, I desire nothing more than to see you achieve your goals.

Shadow Shez: Nrgh… No, we just need more allies.

*At The Throne of Knowledge, Grey Sothis meets with Grey Bileth at the Throne of Knowledge, angry at Grey Bileth for resisting her control.*

Grey Sothis: A glove does not defy the hand, and yet you've done just that. Grey Sothis is my name��yet I am also called The Beginning. I am Grey progenitor and mother to all who call Grey Fódlan home.

Grey Bileth: I know who you are, Grey Sothis. The thing is the power he has Is Shadow Shamabalan In Origin but he is unaffected by the curse and Shadow Edelgard and Shadow Byleth see this.

Grey Sothis: You strike a point. You stand before my throne. If you so wish, then take a seat! But know then that your flesh is mine to wield. You lack the power to resist.

Grey Byleth: My flesh? What are you saying?

Grey Sothis: You should not have interfered! I could have cut that wretch down with a stroke. Oh, that one vexes me so. When next we meet, I must step in and deal with them myself. It is quite clear that you cannot my power safely wield. Do I speak plain?

Grey Bileth: Not in the slightest. I have so many questions...

???: Hey, lazy bones! Get up already!

*In The Light Mountains, Light Alliance Territory, Light Claude wakes Grey Bileth up.*

Light Claude: You sure you're all right? You don't seem like yourself.

Grey Bileth: I'm fine. Just a strange dream.

Light Claude: Like the ones you used to have?

Grey Bileth: Yes. But this time, we talked.

Light Claude: Huh?

Grey Sothis: You fool! That was no dream!

Grey Bileth: Ngh!

Light Claude: What's wrong!

Grey Bileth: Nothing. Wait, didn't you...

Grey Sothis: Do you lack wits? My voice is not for him! Whenever I speak, it is for you alone.

Grey Bileth: On second thought, I think there is something wrong. I mean, my hair's still a different color, right?

Light Claude: Yes, and your eyes, too. How that happened is beyond me. Anyway, we lost the battle, so probably best to wave this place good-bye and find somewhere to rest up.

Grey Sothis: Is that a fact?

Grey Bileth: Actually, I think I'd feel more comfortable staying here on the battlefield a while longer. I just need to swing my sword around, get my head on straight. Don't worry, I'll be fine.

Light Claude: If you say so. But if it gets any worse, tell me or one of your kingdom buddies.

*At The Grey Great Bridge of Myrddin, Shadow Edelgard meets with her commanders outside of the Great Bridge.*

Shadow Edelgard: Shadow Hubert, if you would.

Shadow Hubert: Of course, Your Shadow Majesty. Let me apprise you all as to what is going on. As you know, our talons have been sunk in our little Light Alliance problem for some time now. But now we must deal with the Light Kingdom, which has sent an army to claim the heads of Count Light Rowe and any others who came over to our side. However, Light Rowe is seated at Light Arianrhod, the Fortress City—a citadel as hard to crack as Fort Light Merceus.

Shadow Linhardt: Ah, Light Arianrhod. The Silver Maiden.

Shadow Caspar: Seems sorta weird to call a big, hulking place like that a "maiden."

Shadow Dorothea: That's because she's as hard to get near as the purest of maidens. If you're still confused, that's your own problem.

Shadow Caspar: Yeah, I still don't get it.

Shadow Hubert: Our reports indicate that despite the strength of the Light Kingdom's army, they are still struggling to take the Fortress City. But, given enough time, they will—unless we send reinforcements. Therefore, we must direct our attention to the Light Kingdom once more.

Shadow Ferdinand: Will this constant bouncing between the Light Kingdom and Light Alliance not take its toll on our soldiers?

Shadow Edelgard: Who said we were taking our entire force? We will depart with Grey Garreg Mach with elite troops, then collect fresh units before proceeding west. Simultaneously, I plan to have Duke Shadow Gerth summon the western lords' soldiers and march toward the Fortress City. We will join up at that point and strike at the Light Kingdom's main force together. What say you to that?

Shadow Ferdinand: I would say it is the ideal strategy—at least on paper.

Shadow Bernadetta: OK, let's keep our optimism in check here. I mean, speaking from personal experience, nothing ever turns out the way you want it to.

Shadow Petra: Should we be having concern? If the plan is good, we will find success.

Shadow Monica: And the Light Alliance? They may attempt another one of their schemes while we're distracted.

Shadow Hubert: They will not. Her Shadow Majesty is taking a measured approach to resolving matters with Light Leicester. Count Shadow Bergliez is worn as thin as they are. We will have him set up camp at the Grey Great Bridge and continue negotiations from there. To our advantage, Light Gloucester's new count, Light Lorenz, has decided to join the Empire. Additionally, the daughters of Houses Light Ordelia and Light Edmund have been given leave to fight by our side. Besides, from what I hear, the light roundtable is too busy chewing itself apart to start any more trouble.

Shadow Edelgard: That leaves only the Knights of Grey Seiros to content with. The Minister of Religious Affairs will handle them.

Shadow Bernadetta: My father? But he's not capable of facing the knights.

Shadow Shez: I let the Ashen Demon outmaneuver me in the last battle... That won't happen again.

0 notes

chrancecriber · 2 years ago

Text

Chilltrax (June 27, 2023)

23:57 Sum Wave - Evening Mood 23:53 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 23:49 53 Thieves - Heights 23:45 Rocket Empire - Astoria 23:41 Attom & Kwesi - Rogue 23:38 Everything But The Girl - Run A Red Light 23:38 C H I L L T R A X - Organ The Chillout Channel 23:34 Approaching Black - Sensitive 23:29 Alison Goldfrapp - The Beat Divine 23:25 Hausman & Lumynesynth - Faded 23:21 Khotin & Tess Roby - Fountain, Growth 23:17 Jones Meadow - Shackles 23:12 Marsh Feat. Katherine Amy - Find Me 23:12 C H I L L T R A X - Listen To This! 23:08 Reel People & Paula - Vibe (Moods Remix) 23:05 Olan - Wake And Return (Little Dragon Remix) 23:01 Il:lo - Ink 22:57 Catz 'n Dogz Feat. Jaw - Time 22:57 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Cymbal Roll Bass 22:52 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 22:48 Dreem - Miles Away 22:44 Giants' Nest - Crema 22:41 Floa & Phonic Youth - Falling Away 22:41 C H I L L T R A X - Bugs B Gone 22:36 Heard Right & Oracle - There For You 22:31 Ferr By Ferry Corsten And Rich Walters - Limbo 22:27 Duckmaw - Distant Worlds 22:24 Lost In Pacific & Hanging Valleys - Escape 22:21 Solomon Grey - Home 22:21 C H I L L T R A X - Escape The Noise 22:17 Woven - Brushes 22:14 Elderbrook & Tourist - Howl (Chill Mix) 22:09 Eli & Fur - You And I 22:05 Sebastian Davidson - Nomads 22:05 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Moon Boots 22:01 Sons Of Maria - Always 21:58 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 21:55 Sum Wave - Milkyway 21:50 Pines Feat. Akacia - History 21:50 C H I L L T R A X - Musique Nonstop 21:45 Trilucid - Cheyenne (Extended Sunset Mix) 21:40 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - It's Enough (The Last High) 21:37 Sault - Wildfires 21:33 Melosense - Nous 21:28 Zero 7 - Destiny 21:28 C H I L L T R A X - Slurry Toh 21:24 Feiertag - Didn't Know Why (You Lost Your Soul) 21:19 Royksopp Feat. Astrid S - Let's Get It Right 21:14 Electronic Bodyguards - Stronger (Pete Herbert Remix) 21:11 Satin Jackets & Panama - Alive 21:05 Arley & Sirolf - One Day 21:05 C H I L L T R A X - Be Svendsen World Comes 21:02 Attom - Where Are We Going 20:58 Tagavaka - Oxygen 20:53 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 20:50 Rocket Empire - Lima 20:45 Boehm - Who You Are 20:45 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Bassy Dr 20:42 Darius & Amaria - Faded 20:38 Lar - Collide (Jody Wisternoff & James Grant Remix) 20:34 Sound Quelle Feat. Daniel Robinson - Tempest 20:31 Lp Giobbi Feat. Caroline Byrne - Another Life 20:27 Gramatik - Chillaxin' By The Sea 20:27 C H I L L T R A X - Well How Ya Like It? Terrific! 20:23 Jan Blomqvist - Carry On (Earthlife Remix) 20:20 Shallou & Daya - Older 20:15 Zaven - Voliere Amplitude 20:10 Mango - Skyline 20:06 Jako Diaz & Leyet - Only You 20:06 C H I L L T R A X - Street Life Worlds Cc 20:02 Bonsaye - Kismet 19:58 Sons Of Maria - Lake Tahoe 19:54 Monkey Safari - Temple 19:51 Pableno - Heights 19:48 Mansionair & Kim Tee - Next High 19:43 Evelynka - Letting Go 19:43 C H I L L T R A X - Twcc Chill Chill Chill Chilltrax 19:38 Vincenzo - You Knew 19:34 Lamorn - Olsen After Midnight 19:29 Parra For Cuva Feat. Kyson & Beau Diako - Ordel 19:26 Nils Hoffmann Feat. Malou - About You 19:22 Chill Cole - Liquid Life 19:17 Bob Moses - Tearing Me Up (Rac Mix) 19:17 C H I L L T R A X - Cleanliness Don't You Agree 19:12 Morgin Madison & Ryan Lucian - From The Start (Mm Chill Remix) 19:09 53 Thieves - Lyd 19:03 Emi Ca - Just Breathe 18:59 Kaskade - Find Love 18:59 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Freesound 18:53 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 18:49 Alex V - Cristal Shore 18:45 Pines Feat. Fractures - Rewrite The Ending 18:42 Vandelux - All I've Ever Known 18:42 C H I L L T R A X - See That The Humans Are Entertained 18:38 Satin Jackets Feat. Tailor - Somewhere In Paradise 18:33 Meeting Molly - Gerda 18:28 Volen Sentir & Makebo - Into The Stars 18:23 Kelela - Enough For Love 18:19 Washed Out - Hard To Say Goodbye (Lone Remix) 18:19 C H I L L T R A X - The Chillout Channel Redux 18:15 Tomb - Unbound 18:11 George Fitzgerald & Syml - Mother 18:07 Cri - Stranger 18:04 Holen - Healing 18:04 C H I L L T R A X - Scratch Toh (Freesound) Chilltrax 17:59 Mass Digital - Thoughts Of U 17:56 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 17:53 Giants' Nest - Heart Void 17:49 Cannons - Footsteps In The Dark 17:49 C H I L L T R A X - Come Along Children - Need To Chill Out 17:45 False Intentions - Good Liar 17:41 Morcheeba - The Moon (Kutiman Remix - Version B) 17:36 Sons Of Maria - Are You 17:31 Fakear - Crystal 17:25 Disclosure Feat. Jamie Woon - January (Finnebassen Remix) 17:25 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Rocket Empire 17:21 Monolink - Turning Away (Parra For Cuva Remix) 17:17 Running Touch - Why Do I 17:12 Flexible Fire - La Cumbre 17:08 Alex Lo Faro - Move With Me 17:03 Eli & Fur - Where I Find My Mind 17:03 C H I L L T R A X - Escape 2 Music 17:00 Finding Mero - In Loving Memories 16:57 Drama - Dark Rain 16:53 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 16:48 Billion Watchers - Rainman 16:44 Heard Right Feat. Phoebe Tsen - Pulling Me Under 16:44 C H I L L T R A X - Industrial 16:41 Leisure - Be With You 16:38 Sum Wave - It Feels Like Summer 16:35 Blonde Maze - Daydream (Otherwise Fine Remix) 16:31 Alampa - Seesaw Season 16:27 Rohne - Twelve 16:27 C H I L L T R A X - Cool Refreshed Smooth As Can Be 16:23 Kx5 & Sofi Tukker - Sacrifice (St Mix) 16:17 Ultraista - Mariella (Zero 7 Remix) 16:12 Il:lo - Cynnes 16:09 Beacon - Pay My Debts 16:05 Elderbrook - The End 16:05 C H I L L T R A X - Ct Where The World Comes To Chill Out 15:59 Royksopp - The Ladder 15:54 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 15:50 Two Lanes Feat. Kwesi - Another Time 15:45 Blank & Jones - Floatation 15:42 Liz Cass - Blue 15:37 Sons Of Maria - It Takes So Long 15:37 C H I L L T R A X - Worldschilloutchannnel Orbit 15:32 Eric Hilton - Forming Star 15:28 Phoenix & Dj Falcon - Winter Solstice (Braxe Falcon Remix) 15:25 Bronson Feat. Gallant - Know Me 15:21 Jean Vayat & Evelynka - My Soul 15:17 Jones Meadow - Shackles 15:13 Thievery Corporation Feat. Shana Halligan - Love Has No Heart 15:13 C H I L L T R A X - Magnifyingglasssogood4u 15:09 Fløa (Floa) - Pictures Of You 15:05 Deep Sound Effect Feat. Svetlana Voice - Dreaming About You (Dj Aristocrat Remix) 15:01 Sultan Shepard - Sirens 14:58 Tennyson - Iron 14:58 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Cymbal Roll Bass 14:55 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 14:51 Dye O - Simply Be Here 14:48 Tep No & Noak Hellsing - I Won’t Need You 14:43 Steven Weston Feat. Tae - Same Dream 14:39 Holen - Not Too Late 14:39 C H I L L T R A X - Something I Should Tell You 14:36 Reel People & Paula - Vibe (Moods Remix) 14:30 Washed Out - Hide (Amtrac Remix) 14:26 Arto - Now You're Gone 14:23 Satin Jackets & Panama - The Future 14:17 Bob Moses - Days Gone By 14:17 C H I L L T R A X - Chilltrax - Chill Out Piano 14:13 Heard Right & Fløa - Enough 14:09 Mozez & Tim Angrave - Head Full Of Dreams 14:06 Ben Macklin Feat. Emma Brammer - Stay With Me (Fvhm Remix) 14:03 Lar - Collide (Jody Wisternoff & James Grant Remix) 14:03 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Moon Boots 13:59 Wassu & Mimi Page - Within Me 13:54 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 13:49 Leaving Laurel - The Family We Find 13:46 Shallou - Heartaches 13:46 C H I L L T R A X - Wonderful Tan! 13:43 Elderbrook & Tourist - Howl (Chill Mix) 13:40 Emmit Fenn - What Falling In Love Is For 13:35 Rodriguez Jr. Feat. Liset Alea - What Is Real (Deep In The Playa Mix) 13:31 Flexible Fire - Amatista 13:27 Way Out West Feat. Hendrik Burkhard - We Move In The Dark (Sunday Maybe Mix) 13:27 C H I L L T R A X - Slurry Toh 13:24 Cannons - Loving You 13:20 Royksopp - Me&youphoria 13:16 Edapollo - By The River (Faodail Remix) 13:11 Alison Goldfrapp - The Beat Divine 13:07 Kidnap & Pinkpirate - Things Change 13:07 C H I L L T R A X - The Chillout Channel, Chilltrax 13:04 Dreem - Miles Away 13:00 Henry Green - Shift (Edapollo Remix) 12:56 Sons Of Maria - Lake Tahoe 12:51 Jones Meadow - Fences 12:48 Melosense - Can't Replace You 12:48 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Bassy Dr 12:43 Nicolas Godin - The Border 12:39 Sebastian Davidson - Nomads 12:35 Chris Malinchak, Kiesza, Malin - Tree 12:31 Nuage Feat. Gus - The Place We Know 12:26 Be Svendsen - State The Obvious 12:26 C H I L L T R A X - Be Svendsen World Comes 12:22 Feiertag - Didn't Know Why (You Lost Your Soul) 12:19 Forester - Symphony 12:14 Zaven - Voliere Amplitude 12:10 Phello - Timelapse 12:05 Max Cooper - A Model Of Reality (Tor Remix) 12:05 C H I L L T R A X - Escape The Noise 11:59 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 11:54 Joy Orbison Feat. Lea Sen - Better 11:51 Aftruu - Falling Asleep 11:47 Farius - A Big Life (Sound Quelle Remix) 11:42 Nicholas Gunn & Alina Renae - Angel Eyes 11:42 C H I L L T R A X - Comes To Chill Out 11:39 Lp Giobbi Feat. Caroline Byrne - Another Life 11:35 Satin Jackets Feat. Tailor - Relapse 11:30 Shingo Nakamura - Come Closer 11:25 Two Lanes - Movement 11:20 Christine And The Queens - Tilted (Paradis Remix) 11:20 C H I L L T R A X - Jimpster 1 11:15 Eli & Fur - Better In The Dark 11:12 Tep No - Say What You Wanted 11:08 Sum Wave - Moments Of Sundown 11:02 Royksopp Feat. Pixx - How The Flowers Grow 11:02 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Freesound 10:59 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 10:56 Chill Cole - Liquid Life 10:52 Alex Hook Feat. Rene - You Showed Me 10:48 Everything But The Girl - Run A Red Light 10:44 West & Zander - Silfra 10:44 C H I L L T R A X - Fresh And Fascinating 10:41 Afterlife - All I Wanted 10:36 Cubicolor - Wake Me Up 10:32 Melosense - Nous 10:29 Odesza Feat. Maro - Better Now 10:24 Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde 10:24 C H I L L T R A X - Worlds Chillout Channel (Chillout Channel) 10:20 Sons Of Maria - Outbound 10:16 George Fitzgerald & Syml - Mother 10:12 Diplo Feat. Rhye - Mmxx - Xii 10:09 Attom - Where Are We Going 10:09 C H I L L T R A X - Scratch Toh (Freesound) Chilltrax 10:04 Pilots Of Peace - Fallin 10:00 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 09:57 Holen - Breathe 09:53 Kaskade - Where Did You Go 09:53 C H I L L T R A X - Musique Nonstop 09:48 Trilucid - Cheyenne (Extended Sunset Mix) 09:44 Armin Van Buuren & Matoma Feat Teddy Swims - Easy To Love 09:40 Blonde Maze - Being Pulled (Polar Inc. Remix) 09:37 Dex 1200 - Ongea Nami 09:32 Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line 09:32 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Rocket Empire 09:28 Morgin Madison & Ryan Lucian - From The Start (Mm Chill Remix) 09:25 Vandelux - Tulum 09:20 Vincenzo - Chroma Rush 09:15 Booka Shade & Satin Jackets - Fusion Royale 09:12 Jones Meadow & Clara Mendes - Em Baixo 09:12 C H I L L T R A X - E-chilled-music 09:09 Finding Mero - In Loving Memories 09:04 Circle Sky - Your Name 08:59 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 08:55 Odsen - Retrospective 08:51 Flume Feat. Emma Louise - Hollow (Logic1000 Remix) 08:51 C H I L L T R A X - Industrial 08:48 London Grammar - Lose Your Head 08:45 Sum Wave - It Feels Like Summer 08:41 Jos & Eli & Eli & Fur - Riffs Of The Night 08:36 Alex Lo Faro - Move With Me 08:32 Il:lo - List 08:32 C H I L L T R A X - Trans Europe Vocoder 08:27 Heard Right & Oracle - There For You 08:23 Kc Lights Feat. Leo Stannard - Cold Light (6am Remix) 08:19 Rocket Empire - Astoria 08:15 Alampa - The One 08:11 Reel People & Muhsinah - Something New (Kraak & Smaak Remix) 08:11 C H I L L T R A X - The Interstellar Chillout Channel 08:06 Above & Beyond - Believer (Marsh's Guatape Remix) 08:03 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 07:58 Tsha - I Know 07:54 Duckmaw - Distant Worlds 07:50 Fabio Vee & Mike D' Jais - Consolation 07:46 Floa & Phonic Youth - Falling Away 07:46 C H I L L T R A X - Escape 2 Music 07:41 Melosense - Story To Remember 07:37 Phoenix & Dj Falcon - Winter Solstice (Braxe Falcon Remix) 07:33 Kidnap - Start Again (Kidnap Piano Mix) 07:29 Everything But The Girl - Caution To The Wind 07:26 Lar - Collide (Jody Wisternoff & James Grant Remix) 07:21 Morcheeba - Gimme Your Love 07:21 C H I L L T R A X - Retsyn 07:17 Jan Blomqvist & Malou - Alone 07:14 Blonde Maze - When You Move 07:10 Woven - Brushes 07:06 A.m.r - Sailor's Cry 07:06 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Cymbal Roll Bass 07:01 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 06:57 Jones Meadow - Shackles 06:53 Tep No - Deep Sin 06:48 Arley & Sirolf - One Day 06:44 Giants' Nest - Purple Beach 06:44 C H I L L T R A X - See That The Humans Are Entertained 06:40 Satin Jackets Feat. Tailor - Somewhere In Paradise 06:36 Marsh Feat. Leo Wood - Over And Over 06:31 Fakear - Crystal 06:27 Lp Giobbi Feat. Dj Tennis & Joseph Ashworth - All In A Dream 06:23 London Grammar - Non Believer (Groove Armada's Revival Edit) 06:23 C H I L L T R A X - Backward Rvb Where World Comes 06:20 Flexible Fire - Marea Turquesa 06:17 Fløa (Floa) - Pictures Of You 06:13 Elderbrook & Emmit Fenn - I’ll Find My Way To You 06:10 Holen - Healing 06:09 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Moon Boots 06:05 Odesza Feat. Olafur Arnalds - Light Of Day (Parra For Cuva Remix) 06:01 Sons Of Maria - Lake Tahoe 05:56 Ghenwa Nemnom - Story Of A Battle (Chris Zippel Remix) 05:51 Faodail & Plya - Strangers Gone Missing 05:51 C H I L L T R A X - Distinctively Different 05:46 Lamorn - Olsen After Midnight 05:41 Nils Hoffmann Feat. Julia Church - 9 Days 05:38 Zimmer Feat. Panama - Make It Happen 05:33 Volen Sentir & Makebo - Into The Stars 05:29 Lana Del Rey - Doin' Time (Chilltrax Yesterday/today Mix) 05:28 C H I L L T R A X - Slurry Toh 05:24 Monolink - Turning Away (Parra For Cuva Remix) 05:21 Leisure Feat. Muroki - Summer Season 05:17 Kx5 & Sofi Tukker - Sacrifice (St Mix) 05:13 Jako Diaz & Leyet - Only You 05:13 C H I L L T R A X - Street Life Worlds Cc 05:10 Dye O - Simply Be Here 05:05 Eli & Fur - Carbon 04:59 Braxe Falcon - Step By Step (Amtrac Remix) 04:56 Sum Wave - Milkyway 04:52 Steven Weston Feat. Lapsley - Like I Used To 04:51 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Bassy Dr 04:47 Aparde - Know You 04:44 Dreem - Miles Away 04:40 Kelela - Contact 04:35 Alison Goldfrapp - The Beat Divine 04:31 Toka Kakabadze - Urban 04:31 C H I L L T R A X - Parents Magazine Seal 04:27 Mozez & Tim Angrave - Head Full Of Dreams 04:23 Reel People & Paula - Vibe (Moods Remix) 04:18 Bonobo Feat. Jordan Rakei - Shadows 04:14 Arto - Now You're Gone 04:10 Embliss & Lumynesynth - Phases Of The Moon 04:06 Elderbrook - Wasted On You 04:06 C H I L L T R A X - Chill Out Chilltrax 04:02 Duckmaw - Habits 03:59 Attlas & Jodie Knight - Used To The Silence 03:55 False Intentions - Good Liar 03:51 R Plus & Faithless Feat. Amelia Fox - Let's Just Have Some Fun 03:46 Thievery Corporation - Liberation Front 03:46 C H I L L T R A X - Sweepy Swirlee Toh 03:41 Agents Of Time - My Heart Is A Microchip (Extended Mix) 03:36 Lev Feat. Lenn - Out Of The Dark 03:30 Ad Brown, Ltn And Cat Martin - Miss You 03:27 Elderbrook - Numb (Chill Mix) 03:23 Jones Meadow - Powerlines 03:20 Beacon - Feeling's Gone 03:16 Blonde Maze - Something Familiar 03:12 Equador - Break Me Gently 03:12 C H I L L T R A X - Sweepy Swirlee Toh 03:09 Approaching Black Feat. Avalon Mia - Fade Away With You ('lost In 84' Mix) 03:05 Heard Right & Fløa - Enough 03:01 The Knocks Feat. Foster The People - All About You (Equal Remix) 03:01 C H I L L T R A X - Haven't Even Rinsed! 02:58 Alampa - Seesaw Season 02:54 Royksopp Feat. Astrid S - Just Wanted To Know 02:50 Feiertag Feat. Tessa Rose Jackson, Oli Hannaford - Yearn 02:45 Blank & Jones - Floatation 02:41 Eli & Fur - Night Blooming Jasmine 02:41 C H I L L T R A X - Scratch Toh (Freesound) Chilltrax 02:38 Cannons - Loving You 02:34 Nightcap - The Two Of Us (We Only Need) 02:29 Two Lanes - Belong 02:25 George Fitzgerald & Syml - Mother 02:21 Sons Of Maria - It Takes So Long 02:20 C H I L L T R A X - Escape The Noise 02:17 Chill Cole - Liquid Life 02:12 A.m.r & Lumynesynth - Unfinished 02:07 Maya Jane Coles Feat .chelou - Never Asked For Much 02:04 Rocket Empire - Lima 02:00 Blonde Maze - Fade Into You 02:00 C H I L L T R A X - Toh Rocket Empire 01:56 Otr Feat. Au/ra - Broken (Rac Mix) 01:54 Attom - Where Are We Going 01:49 Andrew Nagy & Joel Winterflood - Little To None 01:46 Elderbrook & Tourist - Howl (Chill Mix) 01:42 Evren Furtuna - Enceladus 01:42 C H I L L T R A X - Like Lobster Straight Out Of The Sink! 01:37 Morgin Madison & Ryan Lucian - From The Start (Mm Chill Remix) 01:32 Satin Jackets - Little Airplanes 01:27 Il:lo - Cynnes 01:24 53 Thieves - Waves 01:20 Vandelux - All I've Ever Known 01:20 C H I L L T R A X - World Comes To Chilltrax.com 01:15 Jean Caillou - Signs 01:12 Xixi & Hildur Ottilia - Don't Worry 01:08 Chris Malinchak - When The World Stops Turning (Quiet Mix) 01:05 Pableno - Heights 01:01 Jimpster & Oliver Night - Ascension 00:55 Steven Weston Feat. Tae - Same Dream 00:55 C H I L L T R A X - Worldschilloutchannnel Orbit 00:51 Alan Cerra - Radiant 00:48 Lp Giobbi Feat. Caroline Byrne - Another Life 00:43 Washed Out - Too Late 00:39 Passenger 10 - Voices In Her Head 00:36 Finding Mero - In Loving Memories 00:31 Be Svendsen - October Letters (Page 2) 00:31 C H I L L T R A X - Well How Ya Like It? Terrific! 00:27 Feiertag - Didn't Know Why (You Lost Your Soul) 00:23 Sebastian Davidson Feat. Lewyn - Second Hand Love 00:20 Giants' Nest - Heart Void 00:16 Camelphat - Waiting (Eli & Fur's Found Version) 00:15 C H I L L T R A X - Industrial 00:11 Chicane & The Mannequin - Summer In E Major 00:08 Sum Wave - It Feels Like Summer 00:04 Andre Aguado - Through The Night

#Chilltrax #Chillout #Lounge #Downtempo #Ambient #Trance #Deep House #2023 #June 2023

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minscribbles · 2 years ago

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Decided to go the traditional rough sketch route when it came to getting some tulum “wake up” visuals out of my head mm wanting to get better at depictions of that exposed muscle and parts of mummified scalp with thin hair remnants regrowing >:Tc LOVED drawing out the bat girl Alex for the first time tho, very fun design to play around with

Notes of interest: Did not expect seeing such odd variety in coatimundi skull research especially when it came to length and tooth protrusion! Characters: Hyden and Alex @chocodile, Theo @kwillow Rambling prose context read below!:

Main gist: (keep in mind this is all limited to whats revealed so far about the shadow in main amaranthine verse so AU fun otherwise)

Group research expedition into some far off location with the hope of some leads into combating/eradicating The Shadow goop problem plaguing the world, courtesy of Hyden (most likely due to credible reports of it behaving uncharacteristically in one particular area and amassing consistently there over the years despite complete lack of population density that it would normally be voraciously seeking out to feed on). This eventually leads to the group winding up somewhere far underground (we’re talking Atlantis: The Lost Empire movie level montages of occasional dynamite use to unblock passages and paths that were assumed nonexistent until closer inspection). Until the expedition finally reaches a very well-sealed chamber (magically and physically) they decide to forcefully open and it appears to be much like an ancient tomb complete with decorations and murals.Obligatory cautious and eerie exploratory sequence that obviously leads into a raised focal point of the room, a stone-carved container structure complete w/ heavy stone well cap. Cue The Shadow goop absolutely bum-rushing into that chamber in overwhelming mass to the horror and subsequent confusion of the group, as its’ singular point of interest is breaching the stone-carved container.

Surprise! As everyone there already assumed, It’s a coffin! Bigger surprise!! Hey, wow, that’s weird The Shadow kind of looks like it’s reanimating whatever remains were in there!! Hello Tulum! :•) asjdlkasjda oof thanks to a thumb adjacent hotkey on my mouse I lost about 3 pages worth of writing here I did in explanation regarding Tulum, her situation, and why her circumstances probably aren’t technically a case of Necromancy among other detail oriented things I can’t be bothered to redo from scratch again right now. LMAO If you’re curious uh feel free to reach out or reply asking more about those details;;

tldr bad short read: Mega specific series of contractual magic spells by an ancient eldritch deity tied for use with a specific individual’s (Tulum) base DNA for stupidly rapid controlled cellular regeneration/tissue growth/grafting/healing etc without repercussions of rejection or body shock. Caveat is that it only works when there is immediate proximity to biologically appropriate building block material to be used to make flesh. (ie, people fodder or the shadow sure sucked up a surplus of donor folk parts that would work for that sort of thing, huh? )

But that doesn’t account for the concept of the soul necessary in the body (soul in this context = consciousness, collection of individual’s stacked memories/experiences, basically all the pivotal formation points that made that person themself)

So before all that fun biology specific magic, this ancient eldritch being involved with Tulum first and foremost has a not really repeatable by anyone but themself magic involved in the ownership and perpetuity of Tulum’s “”soul/spirit”” via power of what dominion they have.

While Tulum is a character inspired by a combination of various Mayan civilizations of differing locations, timelines, and beliefs; The paired OC with her I keep referring to as the eldritch being/deity is a reflection of that who is inspired by Maya Mythology, rituals, and deities (particularly The Descending or Diving God)

I just haven’t fleshed him out too well yet beyond some basics as I’m still mulling over how they get on with one another;; but there’s, definitely some good messed up romance build there i keep knee jerking back to.

#cw // horror-gore-ish??#amaranthine #mindoodles #tulum the coatimundi #alex the bat #theo #hyden #fanart

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0veil-ablaze0 · 3 years ago

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As someone who only watched ninjago the pilots, s1-2, s11, and the first few episodes of s8, I have like, a bunch of AUs...

Lol anyways.

1. House Elemental

Think about a movie/series where the main characters are not truly human, goes on fantastical quest for newly discovered heritage, and a sentient manor, this is it.

The EMs are 'regular people' and then they meet Lloyd, who is the sole heir to the Elemental Manor, and chaos soon ensues. Also Skylor's is hiding something, and Chad Chen (from the movie) exists, he's related to Skylor. Lar is also there as Kai and Nya's adopted sibling.

2. Kuasa Sekarat

Translates to endangered powers, where after the serpentine war and somewhere at the beginning of the elemental alliance vs the hands of time, the ninjago empire decided to go "Hey, these people with supernatural powers could kill us if they want to, let's kill them before that could happen! Surely nothing will go wrong."

Yah, we still have our current generation of EMs. And they are mad. Krux is also there and looks pretty youthful bc if Ray and Maya can, so can he fvk u, on a serious note he's there with our gang bc well, what's the point of ruling the realm that 'killed' your brother.

Kai and Nya isn't there with the other ninjas, they're somewhere.... a bit more lavish.

3. HEY!!

Based on the Indo WEBTOON "WEE!!", this is just a slice of life AU where there are no elemental powers and most conflicts are gone bc of (for example, the whole HoT fiasco and Morro running away), so Harumi isn't exactly evil, just a little shit. Also that one post where it goes "wouldn't it be fucked up if Krux raised Kai and Nya?" It's canon now except it doesn't have angst. But this AU still has angst.

This is getting long, if anyone wants more info, go ask.

4. Empire of Frost And Inferno

Infinite Eclipse type of AU where the main villain are kinda like Vex but they're more of a celestial simp rather than a vengeful bitch. Nya and the gang suffers, the descendants of the FSM are nowhere to be found. Help them.

Villain's names are Mentar and Purna.

5. Firebird

It's just a Kai centric fanseason rather than a whole AU in itself. Horsemen themed (but I almost forgot mid-way), there's a firebird as suggested by the title. Set after Seabound.

Basically the 'horsemens' (none of them even have horses) are a group of high statuses people who lives in a pocket dimension still connected to Ninjago (made by fire, water, wind, earth and time) somewhere before the birth of the Spinjitzu Brothers (and the time twins so that's why time is included). One of them has a 'crush' on Kai.

Kai meanwhile is just doing what he's been doing at the beginning of Crystallized, met the new ninjas, mentored said new ninjas, gets caught up in the whole horsemen shit, Ray and Maya are also there, and at the same time, the og is a ninjas goes and gets Nya back, Ninjago falls into chaos help them

Tox, Neuro and Shade are also targeted by the horsemen but idk.

6. Absurd Swap

I sent like two asks to @terribleninjagoaus but basically, it's an AU where the new ninjas are the og ninjas, no, the og ninjas aren't the new ninjas (they're somewhere in the main lore), in fact, Zane is still the same, mostly. There's also a very alive Morro sort of taking Lloyd's role (no he's not the green ninja, he just wants his dad (Wu) back)

Lloyd takes Harumi's role, except he doesn't revive people, and Harumi takes Morro's role by searching for the realm crystal to bring her parents back from the departed realm.

Crystallized and Legacy of the Green Ninja switched Timeline places, the Hands of Time also swapped, but not exactly the way it is expected.

Idk of I wanted to switch PIXAL's and Skylor's debut or they should stay that way. Also Seliel is there and is an elemental master, she just uses more of her chemistry skills than her powers.

7. Danganronpa AU

hopefully not the same as @jay-reid 's dangan AU, but then again I didn't add the Spinjitzu Brothers in the roster.

8. Sort of Evillious AU (idk name)

This is me just messing around with Ninjago's history and just giving more suffering to the current generation and the seven deadly sins (+virtues but they're mostly dead). There's seven onis of chaos, the Overlord os one of them and their name's Varita and controls sand for some reason. Also Nexo Knights crossover??

9. Royal AU

Inspired by the webtoon "I Wanna Be U", just royalty AU with magic and conspiracies and uh, fluff and angst mostly fluff???

10. ElementBot

It's just no powers ninjago, the other ninjago species that aren't not-sentient animals or even humans are aliens. Also they are children with elemental robots servants that gives them their elemental powers that they can, in fact, take off anytime. (Yes, this is technically a Boboiboy AU)

And that's it, just me and some classic cringe /lh

#ninjago #ninjago au #ninjago fanseason #lego ninjago #Idk if I should tag characters #Help me why are there 10 of them #ElementBot also have Krux raise Kai and Nya somehow #Both HEY!! and ElementBot has Morro as their older brother #It's probably because of Goldsmithshipping or he just stumbled upon their doorstep idk #I have never watched s7 but I keep thinking about time twins angst #Is that normal? Probably

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slothgiirl · 3 years ago

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a rose by any other name part ix

prev. /// next.

druig x reincarnating human!reader

tw: the briefest mention of human sacrifice, bloodloss

Tenochtitlan 1506 CE

“Can’t we go somewhere with less human sacrifice?” It’s meant to be a joke. You don’t even remember the pain anymore, just that it happened. The hanging gardens of Babylon didn’t even exist anymore. Sersi had told you as much.

Druig isn’t amused. “That’ll be the least of our problems when the Spanish get here.” He rubs his nose against your cheek as you continue to look down the avenue. The Eternals had a close view of the Huēyi Teōcalli, rivaled only by Mocteczuma II’s palace. Both palaces were symmetrical from the outside, but the Eternals kept a more austere decor. They certainly didn’t have zoos. We had only been here for a handful of years. The Spanish had barely started exploring a little over a decade ago.

Tenochtitlan was lovely. The waters, the canals: it was such a stark contrast to the red dripping down the steps of the temple.

“You really think they’ll come all the way here,” you ask Druig, turning to look at him. Their focus so far had been at the edges of the east, the islands in the sea off the coast.

“I’ve never known an Empire not to expand indiscriminately.”

You snort. He wasn’t entirely wrong. “Egypt was peaceful.”

“It was.” His plush lips curve into an easy smile. “For thousands of years. They really liked keeping others out and the geography helped. It was really only the deviants making a mess of things.”

“What is it like now?” You were curious. The Ottoman Empire remained, but India was very different.

“Much drier,” Druig replies which wasn’t much of an answer at all, clearly enjoying himself as he shrugs nonchalantly.

You roll your eyes. “Thanks. That answers all my questions.”

He laughs, dragging you away from the window. “Come on, you were teaching me Maya remember.”

You laugh, “I don’t know why you’re so bad at it.”

“It’s not like any of the others,” he pouts.

“Excuses. I picked up Nahuatl alright.”

“Well,” Druig tips his head back, fidgeting with the bracelets of jade and gold around his wrists befitting of the high rank the Eternals generally took up in any time and place. “We’re living with the Mexica not the Maya.”

You grin, “excuses,” with a smug tone.

The turquoise sewn into his cloak matches the color of his eyes.

***

Thena crushes maize in her bare hands. She rubs the kernels together, making a fine powder for the tamales Gilgamesh was intent on making. “Iguana meat,” Gilgamesh marinates the chunks in spices. Chiles and tomatoes sat on the comal. “Reminds me of rabbit.”

Sprite rests her head in her hands. “I miss steak. And cheese. And-”

Thena tilts her head in a so motion, “six thousand years wasn’t enough?”

Gilgamesh snorts, “oh! Hot cacao would go nice-Sprite. . .” he smiles, already trying to talk the shortest Eternal into pouring the drink until it foamed.

“No,” Sprite sits up fast, “I’m good. I actually have somewhere to be.”

“You do?” Gilgamesh turns over the chiles and tomatoes, using a spoon to move the food around.

“Here,” you use your hands, more than used to it. You had never burned yourself, not even when you touched the comal for too long. “We can take turns,” because cacao is always a good treat and you were sure Druig would agree though he continued to argue it would be better without the chile.

Sprite makes a face.

Thena laughs, “you could help me grind the corn.”

“Do these noodle arms look like they can do anything,” Sprite asked rhetorically, “I’d actually have to work at it.. .can’t even build muscle,” she grumbles.

You frown, “Pretty sure you’re stronger than me.”

Sprite looks you over, “isn’t everyone?”

You shove her shoulder. “Hey!”

The redhead snorts.

Sure, you couldn’t crush kernels in your hands like Thena, but you could run forever: it was the best way to get around in the jungle. Only the Spanish far off in the east had horses. You could climb trees and get the ripest fruit, steal honeycomb from hives.

The tomato skin splits open with a sizzle.

Gilgamesh pops another comal onto the hearth, waiting for it to warm as he gets ready to cook enough iguana for eleven people. There was always the option of maids and workers to help out, but the Eternals kept the entire palace by themselves. You liked it better that way, not being constantly eavesdropped on, feeling like you had to thank everyone at all times. You finally understood why in the harem thanking people had been superfluous. It would take up the entire day to thank everyone who had helped you throughout the day.

The Asian man passes his hand above, checking to see if it has warmed up. “There we go,” he starts placing the marinated meat.

Sprite leans forward, “oh that smells great!”

Gilgamesh bats her away, “none for you, not after you were complaining about the iguana.”

“I didn’t even insult your food.”

“You didn’t even want to help make cacao!”

“It takes forever to froth up,” Sprite complains, “and she already offered.”

Thena’s shoulder’s shake in silent laughter.

You exchange smiles with the blonde woman.

In some ways, she was so uncomplicated. Thena accepted your stop and start appearances without missing a beat. There was no heartbreak to complicate the situation.

Sprite gave you hell about it, going, ‘you missed the renaissance’ and then not explaining what she meant. Kingo loved talking for hours, probably why he had so many friends, so it was easy to catch yourself up to speed by asking him an easy question like ‘what did you do during the renaissance’ and then all you had to do was listen while Kingo got into it, acting out scenes and scavenging up props from around the palace.

They felt like family.

They were family.

Sprite sticks her fingers on the comal and steals a small piece that had already cooked through.

Gilgamesh sighs with a fond smile.

***

Sersi wears a simple shift interwoven with threads of golds and beautiful stonework. Jade forms a hummingbird over her heart. It set her apart from the common folk.

It sets you apart. You both wore the stones and cotton that only the nobles were allowed to wear, but you wore a tunic and skirt. Tenochtitlan was colder than the place you’d grown up in on the coast where the humidity and sun ranged from hot to comfortably warm. While Sersi was fine in a shift that reached her knees, you wore a rabbit fur trimmed skirt. Even the feathers around the tunic helped.

There wasn’t really a point to today. There never really was.

You stroll along the market with Sersi. People hawk amulets and axolotls. There’s stalls with colorful books and feathers of every color imaginable. The scent of copal lingers in the air.

“Tialli,” a macaw squawks as Sersi walks by.

She jumps, startled and you openly laugh at her, offering her a slice of brilliant green avocado.

“He can speak one hundred words,” the merchant offers. He had a different macaw on his shoulder. “and-” the man snaps. The macaw shakes his wings out, putting his beautifully red feathers on full display.

“Hey,” you smile at Sersi, who reaches a hand out to the bird, “they live a long time.” You wink. “Perfect pet for you.”

She smiles sweetly, “I guess so,” she hums, entertaining the thought.

“For you beautiful ladies,” the man continues, “only 20 cacao beans.”

“Oh, um,” Sersi blinks, finally looking away from the macaw. You think she’d like having something to look after. She liked all those nurturing roles, teaching, fussing over the elderly.

“Why not?” You had the money for it.

“What if it annoys Phastos? Or-”

“She’ll take it,” you put your hands on the taller woman’s shoulders, smiling.

The man accepts the cacao beans, then goes, “if you don’t mind,” and you step aside. He taps her shoulder and the macaw hops on.

“Tialli,” Sersi nods at her new pet. “You really think the others won’t mind?”

“Kingo will definetly teach him curse words.” You get a head start, “Fuck,” you tell the bird.

She frowns, “hey, that kind of language is-,” she catches herself, “oh, yeah. I needed a pet.”

“You think?”

“I had an elephant while we lived in India, after you I think. She was a darling. Always shared her fruit with me.”

“I’ve always wanted an ocelot,” you muse. You liked cats. Maybe not so much jaguars. There was nothing more frightening than running into one of those even if they rarely attacked humans. But a nice cat that curls up in your lap.

You’d never kept one, but they were usually underfoot in many of the villages and cities you’d lived through. Kept the rats away for sure.

“It’s only fair if I get a pet that you get one.”

“Eh,” you wince, “that’s how we end up with eleven pets. And you know Kingo won’t stop at one.”

Sersi laughs, “true, he’ll have an entire zoo before long.”

“I also think a domesticated bird is different from a badly behaved ocelot.”

***

You pour hot water over the burning hot stones. Steam fills the temazcale. Already the steam had soaked your skin. Drops of water and sweat ran down your back. Your body loosened up as you bathed.

Steam had already filled the small room.

Druig trails his hand up your thigh. “I wish we could stay here forever.”

“Taking a bath,” you hum with a smile, “I don’t know, I don’t like getting all pruney.”

He chuckles. You loved how easily Druig smiles. You loved his smile, the dimples in his cheeks.m, the way his body felt against yours. “I wouldn’t know my beautiful lady,” he lifts his hand to your eyes, “I don’t prune,” he brags.

You snort. “Figures, I get a fever, fighting for my life and your-” you giggle.

Druig cups your cheek and leans into you. You mirror his motions, fitting against him with the ease that came from having spent lifetimes learning each other's bodies. His lips press against yours.

You kiss him back lightly, exhaling.

He rests his forehead against yours.

You can’t stop smiling.

Every knot in your back has come undone. You feel weightless and reborn. Really, this was the best way to take a bath. You were so sure they’d perfected it, the Mexica.

You were happy in the unconscious way you could be happy as you woke up from a good dream. Being with Druig was a good dream, even on the days when you kicked him out of the room and wanted to bash his skull in for being such a smart ass.

You both lay down on the warm ceramic floor.

You stretch out, arching your back off the ground and hear your spine pop. “I think I need a cane, or to be carried around in a palanquin.”

“Pfft,” Druig snorts, his large expressive eyes crinkling in laughter, “at least wait until you have a gray hair.”

You laugh, “any day now right?”

“You’re barely thirty.”

“Why thank you,” you giggle, “for knocking a few years off.”

He runs his hand down your side, from your shoulder slowly over the soft flesh of your side boob, his thumb grazing over your stomach before settling at your hip, pulling you close to him. “Come here my lady.”

You pout, “so bossy.”

“Well, I need you to knock me down a few pegs,” he grins.

“Just a few,” you arch a brow before laughing. “I think I can do better than that. Can’t have all those years of being called a god go to your head.” You shift closer to him, your chest against his. Your fingers trail over his chest.

Druig’s laugh echoes around the room. “You know what this reminds me of?”

“What?”

“Bursa.” He captures your lips with his own and for a moment nothing else really matters. It's just a surrounding cloud of warm steam, the feel of Druig against you, and his lips. The heat goes to your head.

There’s no overwhelming urge, just the lazy sensuality that was waking up and fucking your lover. No rush. You think it might be your favorite type of sex.

As fun as a fumble in the sand could be, the rush of trying not to get caught speaking to a man outside of your family, you prefered when it was closer to making love than anything else.

“I liked living just far enough from the city to be ‘in the country,’” you agree. “But not so far we were in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think I could live in some cut off remote village anymore.”

“Those are becoming more and more rare,” he tells you with a wistful tone.

“I liked our house,” you place kisses on his jaw, “I liked making a home with you.” You think you might understand Sersi’s own dreams of a simple human life with a husband and kids, growing old. The Eternals had gone native. Sprite stared at couples with a longing expression that mirrored Phastos.

Of the Eternals that mingled with people, Kingo seemed the most accepting of the fundamental difference between him and the people that populated the planet.

“We could have that again,” Druig whispers softly. “Go north,” away from the Spanish he doesn’t have to say, “there’s traders from far off deserts. There’s other kingdoms in the north. We could make a life together again. Just you and me.”

It was a lovely idea. You wanted it as much as he did. That had been the reason you’d tracked the foreigners, looked at them from afar. You’d yearned to find your lover again. You’d risked the cruelty that was the trademark of the explorers, cutting of hands and ears.

And you’d found him.

“Mmm,” you nod non-committedly, not really able to think when Druig palms your breasts. Between the steam and Druig, your head was mush.

You hook a leg over his waist, pulling him ever closer and pressing open mouthed kisses down his neck. His pale skin bruises easily under your touch.

It was addicting how Druig responded to you, his sharp inhale as you found a particularly sensitive patch of skin near his collarbone.

“Would you like that my love?”

You would, but you didn’t want him to be alone either. So you kiss his lips again and relax into the warmth of the steam bath.

***

“You’re supposed to!”

“Fine!”

“Let’s just-”

You take a deep breath, halting your paddling down the canals of Tenochtitlan. You just wish the brackish water would clear up so you could see further down. “Okay, on the count of three we start on the left.”

“You were the one paddling-”

“I wasn’t,” you snap. Then spot an axolotl swimming underneath your canoe. You never got tired of seeing these strange animals. The waters had cleared just enough for you to make out the ones further down below on the lake bed. A change in tides?

These weren’t the ones farmed for food, and as a noble, plucking one out of the water and eating it was forbidden. You sort of wanted to pluck it out of the water and take it home as a pet.

“They are so strange,” Druig leans over to look down with you. “Not as strange as a mole though. And I prefer these over baboons.”

“Fucking baboons.”

Druig snorts. “One of them bit Kingo when he was drunk and having too much fun.”

“Trying to show off?”

“When isn’t he?” He arches a brow and laughs.

“He’s a born peacock.”

Your lover nods, but tilts his head towards a block you know is to store taxes brought from southern city states.

You wait, looking over in the direction to see if you could spot anything. You doubted. You didn’t hear much of anything, just watched people go by in their various roughspun loincloths. There were people from nearby Texcoco and Xochimilco, as well as more distant cities like Teotitlan.

A man makes a sign to repel evil, already reaching for an amulet hung around his neck, common for people making long travels. Every place had their traditions when a trip to another city might take days, a trip to another country might take years and they might be lost.

The Spanish?

You look at Druig who frowns. His brows are scrunched in worry.

“What is it,” you utter quietly. You weren’t sure it made much of a difference when Druig was reading their thoughts not listening in.

“Some traders are ill. I think this block will be quarantined.”

Oh.

You exhale in relief.

That was all.

The season had turned cold, and you needed a shawl to put up with the chill as night set in. It made sense. It was the time of year people fell ill the most.

“Let’s paddle on then,” you nudge your lover.

Druig nods, “well, there’s nothing we can do for them,” he utters bitterly, “even teaching germ theory would do little unless we skip right to antibiotics and vaccines.”

“Anti-what?”

He frowns. “Cures.” Then really focuses on you, “come on, let’s head to the northern part. It’s better anyway.”

“You just want to steal some fruits from the farms.”

“So you don’t want guavas?”

“Fine,” you pretend to give in with a heavy sigh, “I guess I’ll help you take some guavas. But only if you share?”

“Sixty-fourty?”

“Ha,” you snort, “I’m the one who knows how to paddle. I get sixty.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Druig grins.

You raise your nose into the air, “I love guavas.”

He laughs, and splashes you with water a second after.

“Hey,” you smack his arm. “I’ll make you paddle all by yourself.”

“Worth it,” he smirks, starting to paddle.

Not that you would even do that to him.

You dip your own paddle into the water.

***

Makkari’s hands are almost too fast for you to keep up with. You’re pretty sure she’s unconsciously using her superhuman speed. But you understand enough to know the maya, your people, are dying from new plagues, or plagues you thought you’d left in the old world. Smallpox, the flu: from the islands to the coasts, people were sick. And those same illnesses were creeping into cities the spanish had overlooked so far.

But Makkari explains they are in talks with the chiefs and kings in the south, they want to make an alliance with the Tlaxcala.

“War then,” Phastos closes his eyes in resignation.

“It seems that way,” Ajak nods, her mouth pinched. She had the decency to look upset when you knew she would still do nothing, just like she could heal the people dying on the quarantine island but she didn’t.

“So,” Kingo nods, clapping his hands together, “shall we tell them to get ready? They’re not exactly caring about the rules of engagement. Let the kids and women get away at least. . .” His smile is forced.

Makkari nods, already making plans as she tells everyone how quickly she can spread the news across the land, across all the cities.

Sersi bites her bottom lip, her gaze flickering from Kingo to Ajak.

Ikaris sits quietly, staring down at the table with a frown. He doesn’t make any move to join the conversation. You can’t tell if he cares or not.

It’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t. The man has been on earth for so long but he feels the most distant from humanity, far removed from even Ajak’s all too human concern over the rest of the Eternals.

“No.” Ajak shakes her head, swallowing back a tide of emotions before her face smooths out and she takes the role of leader. “No, we cannot. For as long as we await Arishem’s order to return home-”

“And when will that be, exactly,” Druig’s voice is loud and clear.

Ajak doesn’t answer.

You look over at your husband, aware of his decision to stay.

Humorlessly, he snorts, “it’s been six thousand years? There’s no more deviants.”

Subdued, Ikaris answers with a bland, “we must trust in Arishem’s plan.”

Druig snorts, his jaw clenching, as he crosses his arms over his chest. “And how often do you have to tell yourself that?”

“Druig,” Ajak says, holding a hand up to calm him down.

You don’t miss the way Makkari shifts closer to the side of the room Druig was in, away from Ajak.

Thena looks around, unreadable. Gilgamesh rests his hands on her shoulders, visibly distressed. “We’ve all wondered when Arishem will call us back to Olympia,” Gilgamesh says diplomatically.

“So we’re leaving then,” Sprite asks. “Or are we finally sticking around for the fall of something instead of just the rise,” she snarks. “Spain is where we should be by that logic.”

Finally, Sersi musters her courage, “if we are not going to help,” she says slowly, “then maybe we should move on north. There’s more places. We’ve never lived long on this continent.” Her smile is small, a hesitant thing that reminds you of a baby deer finding its footing in the spring, testing the world around it.

“Well,” you mutter under your breath, looking at your worn sandals, “it’s not like you’ve helped before, why would you start now.”

“We. Got. Rid. Of. The. Deviants.” Ikaris states sharply. Red rises in the man's neck but he still doesn’t look up.

You don’t bother responding.

If six thousand years hadn’t changed his mind, you doubted you could.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Phastos agrees, “I’m very interested to see the cliff dwellings in some of the books. It might be like some of the monasteries…”

“New stories,” Kingo adds, “they haven’t had the Sprite treatment,” he wiggles his brows at the short Eternal. “So that’s always cool to learn about.”

Makkari nods. There’s so much. Longhouses and buffalo and she speaks words with her hands you don’t recognize. She’d already explored all corners of this continent. Of course. She was always doing her own thing.

“No,” Ajak ends the discussion.

Druig opens his mouth like he’s about to respond, but even he closes it, storming off.

You wonder what he wanted to say. No doubt you’d be hearing about it tonight. Good. Your hands are clenched in your lap. You were angry as well. They all had to know.

So much death.

Sometimes you really wondered if Druig’s extreme idea of just mind controlling everyone into peace might be better than this, especially on the festival nights when the smell of blood reached this palace.

The difference was you didn’t have the naive hope that Ajak would change her mind. And your arguments could be so easily dismissed because you were human.

Ikaris saw you as nothing more than a human pet. You knew that much.

Ajak kept her distance.

What was the point in wasting your breath?

***

“For what it’s worth,” Ajak says as she burns copal. It's just you and her, “I am sorry. I do not wish to see, let these things happen, but. . .progress is a slow march forward, with steps back.”

“You-”

She holds her hand up and you let her finish. “We are not gods as you well know. It is not our place to interfere with the development of another world.”

“You already have,” you point out. She flinches and it doesn’t feel like victory. You might as well insult your grandmother. The taste of ashes in your mouth doesn’t stop you, “you’re just picking and choosing when to help.” Self interest. The Eternals of Olympia might as well be another Empire.

Ajak nods, “All the same. I’m sorry.” Her nose twitches and you can tell she’s holding so much more back, everything a leader must deal with on their own and for a second you think she might tell you more, but then she takes a deep breath and goes to spread the copal into the next room.

***

“You’re being ridiculous,” you argue with Druig.

“If you get the flu, fuck, if you get smallpox from going to a marketplace!”

“So what?” You shout back, matching his tone, if he was going to yell at you and be a patronizing fucker, “I stay locked inside for the rest of my life?” You were only thirty four. You’d escaped a harem. You loved Druig but there was no way you would just sit and let him decide whatever just because you loved him.

“Yes! No! Just while this passes.” He inhales sharply, running a hand through his hair and messing his fringe up. “Ajak can’t mean for us to sit around while the city burns.”

“It won’t come to that,” you shake your head. The Spanish had horses, but the Mexica had a triple alliance. They’d conquered a region larger than Europe. It wouldn’t be that easy. “And if it does. . .they have an army.” Your voice breaks. It wouldn’t be that easy. “There’s not that many of them.”

Druig snorts. “They have guns. And are making alliances of their own.”

“Did you read my thoughts,” you lean back, suddenly feeling off kilter. He’d never, not like when he made people do things and you knew he couldn’t control it, that sometimes he just heard things but-

“No! My love,” Druig takes a step closer to you. “I wouldn’t.”

“No,” you shrug his hands off you, “you’ll just lock me up in this room if you had your way!”

“It’s for your own good! I won’t lose you to this! I fucking won’t,” Druig says, the fear in his eyes, but you don’t care because he had no right to just decide things for you. He had no right.

“I’m not some dog you can just order around! A sultan couldn’t keep me locked up and you think you can? Just because you’re an Eternal?” You’ve started crying, hot angry tears and it’s not like you don’t understand. You’re being careful, avoiding the southern parts of the city, sticking to the zones kept solely for the peoples of this city. There’s not much else you can do.

Phastos already explained how to avoid smallpox as best as you could. It was the boils and the liquid from them that were contagious.

“I already watched you die once!” There’s tears in his glassy eyes too. “I-I can’t watch you waste away and do nothing!”

“Newsflash,” you say before you can help it, “I’m going to die, smallpox or no smallpox!”

You might as well have slapped him. “That’s. Different.” Druig looks away from you steadying himself.

You wipe your eyes clean, your chest heaving from all the emotions running through you, the pain, the anger and indignation, but mostly the urge to take your last words back. He was well aware of it. There was a time limit to your happiness. No need to rub salt in the wound.

“Of old age,” Druig’s words are quiet, his voice wavering as he says it, “naturally, after a good life. . .I can handle that. I wish I didn’t have to,” and you don’t hesitate to wrap your arms around him then, “but I can handle it. It’s when. . .” he can’t finish the sentiment.

When you were pushed off a temple, when you died from a cold. . .

“I’m trying to be careful,” you tell him. “I don’t want to die either.”

“What if it’s not enough?”

“The plague isn’t here yet,” you reassure him. “The city officials have done a good job of handling it so far.”

“Just a few years,” Druig begs, his mouth against your temple, “just stay inside a few years. Please.”

You don’t know what to say. You think you’ll grow stir crazy. You don’t want to die. You want to be free to walk around the city. You don’t know if you can keep your word.

You hug him tighter, burying your face in his chest.

***

“Stuck inside,” Kingo sips a hot cocoa that you knew he’d spiked with tequila.

“Something like that,” you finally get around to reading Phastos’ vast collection of books. Reading nahuatl was the hardest part about learning the language. Learning any language for you really.

“So there’s a party,” he offers you his cup.

You sip at the spicy concoction. You loved the back of the throat heat after the sweet taste of chocolate. “Hard pass.”

“House arrest ongoing then?”

“Just call me a cloistered nun.” Then shrug. You technically could just up and leave, but you’d decided to give it a go, staying inside. The Spanish were on the mainland. Makkari had told you and Sersi with shaking hands how bad it was getting on the coast.

Kingo laughs.

Sprite throws her sandal at you. “Oh quit complaining. At least you have someone who cares,” she frowns bitterly.

Kingo grimaces, before adding, “love is wack. I saw Thena popping one of Gilgamesh’s back zits.”

You snort. “Don’t think I needed to know that.”

“And it was one of those big ones, with a bunch of pus,” Kingo’s face is as grossed out as you feel.

Sprite isn’t amused, her frown growing. “You’re safe and you have someone who cares! What’s the big deal!” She gets up and storms off in a huff, waving her hands and the entrance to her hall of the palace disappears. Fuck.

“Puberty,” Kingo jokes.

You frown. “I think I should go check on her.” Get her to at least talk about it. It was obvious what weighed heavily on her.

And you’d have something to do.

“That, pssh,” he waves your concern off, “she’s always been weird about it.”

You side eye the brown man, “yeah, well, clearly she needs to talk about it before she stabs someone.” Sprite had always had a temper.

“Be my guest,” Kingo extends a hand. “I will be getting hammered. . .in more ways than one.”

“Again, I did not need to know that.”

“You and Druig hog the bath!”

You smile shamelessly, “you snooze, you lose.”

***

You wake up in the middle of the night to your period. The other side of the bed is empty. Druig had gone with Gilgamesh to fetch Kingo from some city to the north. He was always making friends and taking trips easily a day or two days away. Then he’d come back and regale you all over dinner with torrid love affairs and stories that you doubted had even a kernel of truth.

You wish you had asked to go. It would’ve been fine.

Now you were glad you hadn’t gone as you found your rags by moonlight and changed the linens. Trash. Why save the fabric when Sersi loved going to the markets. Might as well give her a reason.

The only strange thing was you were pretty certain that you’d had your period. . .more than a month now? Oh, maybe it was time. You might even be late.

You yawn, and go back to sleep.

In the morning, you’ve bled through the rags.

You get up, resigning yourself to more cleaning up. But your legs don’t hold your weight.

You try and catch yourself on your hands but you fall over entirely, exhausted. Your vision swims for a second and you don’t even try to get up again. You feel cold.

“Hey, you want to help make breakfast-,” Sprite drops her dragonfruit. “Thena! Sersi! Something’s wrong!”

She sits down next to you, “here, let’s get you back on the bed.”

“Thanks,” you smile and nod, “I’m a little gross.”

“I can see that, I have eyes,” her ribbing is gentler than usual. It calms you down a bit. You still feel terrified. What was happening to you?

“Let me go get Ajak? Or Phastos,” Sprite says once she has you laying back on the bed.”

You shake your head, gripping her hand tightly. You think you might be dying. This much blood. . . “Please don’t leave me.”

“Okay,” she nods, tightening her fingers in yours, “I won’t. Sersi!” She shouts for help again. “Ajak!”

Your vision swims again.

“Hey,” Sprite pinches your arm, “stay with me! Okay. You’re going to be fine.”

notes: takes place over the course of a decade, thena straight up pulverizing corn with her hand to make dough. i actually think this might be the last time we see ajak and i tried to hint that even her commitment is wavering and she needs someone to talk to (which is why she ends up telling ikaris the truth about their mission?) i fund multiple sources about aztec’s having complex dress/sumptuary laws but couldnt find many examples. i based the food off ancient recipes with sohla on youtube. i didnt want to go in depth on aztec human sacrifice because i know thats an awful stereotype used to justify spain “civilizing” central america etc, but also it did happen so i tried to balance it out with accounts of the spanish being incredibly violent and their subhuman treatment of the natives.

avoiding breaking canon by having reader die before the fall of the city?

would love if u left a comment or reblogged w ur thoughts :)

#druig fanfiction #druig #druig imagine #druig x y/n #druig x reader #a rose by any other name

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