#//Sorry about the length of this post including with the fight

[strykingback]

EVENT: Rescue Mission Phase Two Part 3. The Cybernetic Demon

Warning this drabble will contain vomitting, Reader Discretion is advised.

________________________________________

OST: Realization

The strike team stood outside of the base watching over every individual as they were being checked out by the medical team with reinforcements arriving as well. Made even worse by the fact that some of the brains that were found needed to be cartwheeled out carefully onto cargo ships. Some of them containing Zek's friends that he made when he was younger.

"I cant believe this. Why would someone go as far as to literally harvest the brains of innocent people who had done nothing wrong?" Eros said holding his helmet looking at the waves of civilians being treated for their injuries, any side-effects of the experimentation, and furthermore.

"Made worse by the fact that we we're planning to set charges and get rid of any evidence related with Project Immortalis... but the good news is that the successful serum was replicated when those scientists came to....all that now matters is if the mark we're chasing has it injected into himself..." Leonidas said, with Eros nodding. "Add salt to the injury mate, because most of those people were either Zek's own allies from before he joined up with us." He continued.

"Still.. it gladdens me to see that command had also sent Merlinda and Twilight here to help. Add that with Krieg and we should create an alternate version of Immortalis that should easily take out our foe.... the only problem is that we have a long way to go." Guangxian said, which the trio noticed Hermes, Krieg, Twilight, and Zek would walk towards them.

"Hows everything with your mum, Zek? All-clear? No side effects?" Eros asked.

"Ms. Atya is doing incredibly well, so far as per the disturbing videos that Guangxian had to send me which resulted in five days loss of beauty sleep. She has no signs of the aforementioned side-effects as I theorized which would happen. Albeit something else was wrong but its quite major.." Merlinda said, with Zek moving back to the trio to listen to what the professionals had else to say.

"What I noticed through my semblance was that her genetic cells were breaking down much slower than originally expected through a lifetime of faunus' or humans. After I took a blood sample and observed the sample... her blood was showing signs of symbiosis with Project Immortalis.. meaning one thing. Her body is aging slowly and any damage she may take might heal up rapidly... but I assume it is with a certain amount of dosages of it..... that Ms. Atya would have became psuedo immortal....." Twilight said.

"An Immortal Army . . . ." Eros said with awe, thinking for a minute. "And Ace how about him? Will he be able to pilot the Liberation still?" He asked while Krieg and Hermes looked at Eros.

"Ace is sadly suffering from some effects from Fusion Poisoning which thankfully the medical teams got to him in time to administer the antidote. As for the Liberation... it is currently being repaired... if Ace does come to he'll be using the Atelius' Railgun cannon in order to fire at any large targets should the time come.....

"As for me and Krieg we may have to remain here in order to help with ensuring that none of the civilians are suffering from the side-effects of Project Immortalis... sorry. at this point you may be the final four or five if Ace gets back up." Hermes said putting his hands behind his back.

"It' aint gonna be easy. But I do like a challenge...." Eros would say. "Alright. We'll leave things to you. Everyone else lets get back to work." He said putting on his helmet and thus him, Zek, Guangxian, and Leonidas would re-enter the base... of the Solitas Liberation LLC.

Back inside the base..

The small strike team led by Eros would move through the enemy base carefully keeping their wits about and their minds focused on the endgame at hand. As they all entered an elevator with just nothing more but calming music playing....

Finally... a voice would come through.

"Well Well! Gentlemen! I do must say so myself.. I congratulate you for catching us offguard like that...! Really, it takes a lot to do that ever since the last time... Mr. Sunna-Simo....." A voice would say with a southern accent added to it.

"Blyat.... I thought they would forget about that... guess they didnt." Zek said softly.

"After all, that time we were just about to complete our plans and even not harm those civvies. But after that.... we had to improvise on some things especially after losing our funding because of that Blizzard Sniper incident. I knew you had a killer instinct Zekkie-boy. However, turns out that killer instinct was focused on us instead of the enemies when we hired you..." The voice continued.

"When I get my hands on you, I'm going to make sure those bones of yours will be broken!!!!" Leonidas growled.

"Broken? Hahaha... After all, I think I can't call myself human anymore.Why not enter the main room and lets all talk face to face! Mano A Mano! Enemy of My Enemy is my friend!" The voice continued with the elevator ringing with the doors opening up as everyone walked through noticing the large cylinder towers.... with little blue rings of light.

"Those things can't be holding brains right?" Eros said with a light glare...

"I thought the room upstairs had all the brains there...."

"WRONG! All those towers are holdin' nice, juicy, flesh-meat brains!!!!" The southern voice spoke once more with everyone pointing their weapons at the railing in front of them as heavy footsteps were leading straight to them...with a large man wearing an equally large trenchcoat as he opened up one of tower lights with him picking up a brain as it trilled and twitched in terror.

"I definitely must say..... the alternative program to Project Immortalis... is effective!!!"

COMMANDER OF CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS ________________________________________ BARBATOS

"Alternative program? I know for a fact you just committed a huge human and faunus rights violation crime. I'm certain the Grand Council of Remnant would love to slam dunk you into the death penalty!" Eros said keeping Pequod and Ishmael on the burly man.

"You just aint gettin' it arent ya? Yeah, the brains are being put underneath active combat situations, but at the same time.... they are also being brainwashed as well into becoming perfect soldiers that will listen to the people in command aka. The successorts who managed to survive and thrive with Immortalis!!!" Barbatos continued with an evil grin on his face.

"You're telling me if my mother did not survive she would have been turned into a soldier!!!" Zek growled.

"After all.... I was the one who killed your first mama! And then beat the other one down! Trust me... her screams were sublime!!!!" He continued placing the brain back in its pod with an evil grin on his face making Zek point Hayha directly at Barbatos head and fired. With the man simply stepping to the side in a flash. "Not here... can't damage the goods now. I'll lead you boys to my office.... we can talk there!!!" He said turning around and walking away which everyone else didnt wait... they followed... into a room of stairs leading to another part of the building where Barbatos stood in a large room without his trenchcoat on turning around revealing his mechanical body

"Welcome gentlemen!! To your deaths! Cause after I'm done with you.... Imma slaughter all those civilians...and make sure they all get turned into perfect soldiers!!!!" He shouted pulling out his heavy machine gun. "Cause guess what." He said with his visor activating on his mouth and face.

OST: Cybernetic Destruction

"I'm going to tear off the flesh from all of your bodies and turn into perfect cyborgs like me..." He said with a menacing voice as he aimed for Zek first as he started firing with everyone scrambling around for cover. While Eros would shoot at him to get his attention.

"Then. I'm sending you back to the scrap heap then!" Eros shouted shooting at him to which Barbatos turned his attention toEros and began to shoot at him which the commander would throw a grenade at him while Leonidas used his 300, Interchangable plasma rifle in its grenade launcher state to further faze the cyborg with both making contact and exploding...

"Damn.... that was somethin.... my turn." He said with a glow being emitted from his back while Leonidas and Eros prepared themselves but in a blink, Barbatos was already in front of them both and swung both his fists at their guts hitting them and making them both cough in pain as they both keeled over.

"Bloody... hell....what...was that..." Eros said taking off his helmet to vomit, while Leonidas kept his on to and looked up at Barbatos who was chuckling at his work. "Why dont you live long enough to find out and-" Barbatos spoke noticing his HUD was showing up with an attempted hacking symbol on it as he turned around to look at Guangxian who was busy hacking into his systems. "Nice try..." He said initiating the counter measures and locking him out.

"What!?!" Guangxian said before his signaler popped making the hacker stumble a bit with the same thing happening to him..getting flash stepped and knocked out by the cyborg.

With the Cyborg ready to revel in his possible victory he looked around for Zek who in fact was just a slight distraction... which the sniper threw his knife... as Barbatos knocked it away. And right before he was going to do a fusion rush. Bang.....

His the light was emitted from his back was destroyed by a well placed grenade launched shot from Leonidas. Who stood up and roared charging at the Cyborg swinging a kinetic punch making him stumble with a groan from the charged semblance, then came Eros who stood up in time throwing his plasma knife at the rocket launcher, the Guangxian quickly came to and started hacking again... this time managing to counterhack Barbatos counter hacking measures...

And finally Zek would slide in to snipe the head of Barbatos off ... as the Cyborg fell down.... dead...

"Thats... for making me vomit... arsehole..."

"Actually... wasnt this fight meant to be a bit longer...? "

"The writer of this has things to do tomorrow, plus it was a holiday today." Guangxian said. while Leonidas facepalmed.

"Lets get back on track people. We aren't out of the woods just yet. " Leonidas would say with the speakers coming to life.

"I didnt think Brumel of all things would send a strike force to interrupt my plans!"

[lieskuu]

" Anything you can do, I can do better. "

{ 希望 } Ranpoe x M!Reader

Genre : Smut !!

Includes : Dom!Top!Ranpo, Dom!Top!Poe, Sub!Bottom!Reader, Threesome, Gagging, Crying ( Dacryphilia ),

A/n : GUESS WHOS BACK !! this has been requested by @tucshieen !! sorry I haven't been posting lately, kinda got busy after the Sigma one :P BUT HOPE THIS'LL MAKE UP FOR IT !!

!! FEMALE ALIGNED DNI !!

Your boyfriends would always compete with each other, it was quite normal but sometimes it would get out of hand, but would you do anything about it? nah.. you have better things to do.

Like.. watching them make up the dumbest competitions.

But I guess these competitions started to include you.. like, who's the better kisser, who's better at making you blush, who's better at picking dates.

You were flattered honestly, but I guess today this competition was.. something else perhaps.

What do you do when your boyfriends, one is deep throating you and one is slamming into your hole, is fighting about who could please you more? you could barely think.

Your mouth filled with a certain novelist's dick, holding onto his hips for support while your hole was filled by a certain detective's dick, your eyes were just tearing up, you could barely handle it.

" Mhm.. just like that, fuck you're mouth is so warmm.. " Poe smiled at you as he pulled on your hair a little, making you take every single inch, " You can handle it, right? " The novelist smiled at you as he used his other hand to wipe your tears.

While the detective scoffed and gripped your hips, " Don't pay attention to him, " He mumbled under his breath as he started pounding into you harder, causing you to choke out a cry, your breath hitching, you weren't sure on who to focus on.

" Ed doesn't seem to know how to use his dick properly. " Ranpo joked as he moved his hand down and started to wrap his hand around your cock, stroking it as he pounded into you restlessly.

Poe raised an eyebrow as he looked at Ranpo, " Seems that my dear Ranpo, is selling out the wrong info, seems quite irresponsible for ' the world's greatest detective. ' " He responded back as he pulled onto your hair harder.

You started to choke a little, getting the brunette's attention as he looked down, locking eye contact with you once more, " Choking, eh..? Ranpo-kun's being too hard on you, hm? " He said as he stroked your hair.

It's quite an obvious difference on who's gentle and who's rough.

" Me? being hard on him? I'm just giving him a better time! unlike you. " The black-haired spat back, glaring at the other.

" Better time? you're being so rough on him, isn't that right, hm? " Poe questioned you, as if he expected you to back him up, but you were too busy crying out of pleasure.

Your tears running down and dropping like rain, your face flushed, you were about to move your head to respond but Ranpo spanked your ass, causing you to choke out another moan.

" Aw.. look at him crying! isn't he adorable. " Ranpo giggled as he spanked you once more, hearing your muffled noises just make him want to pound you faster, " Seems to be enjoying it, ya know. " He grinned mischeviously.

" Or maybe he's crying because of you. " Poe responded.

" Yeah, crying because I know how to have a fun time. " Ranpo giggled once more.

The novelist scoffed and pulled your hair, feeling your mouth's warmth, " You're doing so well for me, aren't you? " He moaned as he felt your tongue move around his cock, thrusting his length into your mouth.

You practically melted at his praises, you didn't even know who to choose at this point, them arguing over you is honestly making you feel so .. how do you explain it.

Their arguing kept going, but you were so.. close, so fucking close, that Ranpo noticed your legs shaking, he smiled as he took it well, he jerked you off faster, determined to give you a better time and cum well.

Poe noticed and started gripping onto your hair harder one last time and started forcing you to take his entire length, determined to make you feel more warmth.

The overwhelming feeling started taking over you, it didn't take long before your cock started leaking out the gooey liquid, letting your eyes roll back and moan.

Poe came into your mouth, that bitterness filling your mouth, forcing you to swallow and take every last drop, while Ranpo thrusted a few times before cumming inside you, making sure you become full from his seed.

They pulled out, your first move was to collapse onto the bed and let out a small whine, " ff..uckk.. ", your voice was hoarse from whatever just happened, dizzy and pleasured.

" .. See I obviously gave him a better time. "

" I'm technically the reason why his voice was like that, Ranpo-kun "

" Can you both shut up for a momentt.. I feel stickyy.. "

IM SORRY FOR NOT POSTING OFTEN I WILL TRY MY BEST TO DO REQUESTS IF I GET ANY, SCHOOL IS REALLY TIREDSOME 🔥🔥🔥

[liyawritesss]

ɪɴꜱᴏᴍɴɪᴀᴄ! ᴍɪʟᴇꜱ + ʜɪꜱ ᴏᴡɴ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴄᴀᴛ

Characters: Insomniac!Miles Morales x Black!Fem!Reader

Type: headcanons

Synopsis: What would Miles’ life be like if he had his own Black Cat? With Felicia Hardy gone, someones gotta be the elusive, sweet-worded kitty cat to the all too pent up Spider-hero.

Warnings: A little bit of flirting mentions, but that’s about it!

A/N: Wow, I had this idea for the longest time, and somebody actually read my mind! I def wanna make this into a bigger thing, but for right now I’m just easing myself back into writing since I had a real bad writer’s block. Maybe with some time, I’ll be able to develop this into something more!

Edit: for some reason I had trouble posting this with the ask attached that requested this originally. And it was anonymous so I can't at the requester, but if you're still around, I hope this satisfies you!

Tags: @6-noir @babyboiboyega @badass-dora-milaje @jacuzziwaters @mbakuetshurisprincess @shuriszn @verachii @writingintheshadowsforever @cafehyunji @lulu-network @niyahwrites @marsfunzon22 @briology @honeybleed @romiantic @queenofthespiderverse @onlyperc @starsoir @yasminisbroke @asensitivecookie @kdyance @sussybaka10 @famedrs-blog @movie-enhusiast22 @l0stari @milesismyhubby @foreclosure--of--a--dream @bayb @ykimobessed @soilmayo

Tag Notes: If your name is not greyed, I couldn't tag you for some reason! Sorry about that. Also, I will now be including Insomniac!Miles in these Spiderverse! tags I have!

Sign Up For My Taglist Here

First and foremost I think that Miles would want to think you’re cool as hell, but given what he knows about Felicia Hardy and subsequently Peter and her’s relationship, homeboy is trying NOT to have history repeat itself with you. Because no matter how cool your outfit is or the fact that you pack a mean punch, you’re bad news and he needs to keep you at arms length. But when he gets to know you, that obviously becomes harder and harder the more the two of you cross paths.

I like to think that you guys meet in school first. You’re a new student this semester, placed right in Miles’ homeroom. You weren’t hard to notice with your striking white hair, always had earbuds in your ears, and could be caught humming tunes throughout the day. You become friends due to your shared love for music and art, and when you start using the same excuses he’d use for his friends and family about why you couldn’t hang out as often anymore, he’s too blindsided by your friendship (and the teeny tiny crush he’s developed) to question it

Though when the two of you meet mask to mask, however, it’s a different story. You play this elusive and secretive role so good as much as he considers you a rival, Miles also finds himself admiring the way that you’re so graceful with your getaways, and the fact that you are always teasing him doesn’t help either.

You laid it on thick, but after a while of swinging around the city trying to catch you, he’d gotten used to your flirting and the jabs you’d take at him, even throwing back a few of his own. He’s a smooth kid, learned the game from his uncle of course, and just as hot as you’d get him under the mask, you found yourself trying to keep down the heat rising to your ears whenever he came back with something clever and sweet. It was a sweet cat and mouse game the two of you played - even though technically one of you wasn’t a mouse.

The jig is up, however, when a bigger threat the city is posed and you’re caught in the middle of it and are badly injured when trying to fight it off. Miles is quick to rescue you, but the pride he feels from saving the elusive Black Cat is short-lived when he realizes that the face of the vigilante behind the half torn mask is none other than someone he considers one of  his best friends.

It gets awkward after that, and you’re quick to catch on as to why, because you, having deduced who the black and red-clad secondary Spiderman of New York truly was, knew how this would go if a conversation wasn’t had. And you tell him straight up that this life isn’t a game to you; you’ve been brought up in it and know the dangers and the risks, so he can’t talk you out of it. And if it was a deal breaker to your friendship, then, even though it would hurt like hell, you would have no problem in cutting Miles off.

And just like that, what Miles feared had come true - it was the same story with Peter and Felicia all over again - and yet, he still made an effort to try and see things from your perspective, to make it to where history didn’t HAVE to repeat itself, knowing that any feelings he’d have for you were no good in his line of work.

You know it too, though. Whatever budding feelings that were happening between the two of you couldn’t come to fruition, because Miles was a superhero for the people, and you were just a street cat looking out for yourself. There was a stark difference in the way each of you looked over your shoulders for constant threats to your existences, yours debatably being worse than Miles’ and you couldn’t drag him down with you.

But there still was this string that kept the two of you together. Perhaps it was the fact that you still had classes together in school. Perhaps it was the fact that you lived right next to each other and it was impossible to avoid one another throughout the day. Or perhaps it was the fact that, despite being two completely different people in two completely different lives, with and without the mask, you both still wanted to make it work; whatever would be between the two of you.

Even though you butt heads like water to a flame, Miles protected you with all his might, and you helped him in the hardest of cases with any intel you could gather. No, you couldn’t be together, but you’d still look out for each other; there was no avoiding that. You were his Black Cat, after all. And he was your Little Spider

[kindlespark]

this is gonna be SO long and rambly sorry anyway i saw a post abt how babel does queer characters and it got me thinking abt why the tropes it uses would usually turn me off other stories but didn’t here

MAJOR BABEL SPOILERS //

i feel like i’d be more mad abt how robinramy ended up in babel if it marketed itself as queer lit at all or if its fans were going “WOW AMAZING QUEER REP” abt it. but no one told me any of that, so finding out they were gay was just a fun little bonus surprise to me. i get why ppl are eh abt robinramy not getting together/technically still being subtext (which i dont think is really true btw like the book literally says “robin was falling in love” but idk i guess if you were stupid you might’ve assumed that it was falling in love with oxford given how romantic some of the other language is (WHICH IS ALSO THE POINT bc i think robin’s friendship with ramy blurring into romance is why he romanticised like all his friendships/experiences in oxford BUT IM GETTING OFF-TOPIC)). i just think robin’s repression abt being gay was intrinsically tied to his attitudes on imperialism (wrt refusing to acknowledge anything that complicated his life until it was too late) and i don’t consider it a cop out or queerbait. like i genuinely don’t think robinramy could ever have gotten together without drastic alterations being made in terms of plot and character. plus i think it’s clear that kuang didn’t want to write a story with any kind of focus on romance at all, because it’s not that kind of book. there’s no successful het romance either, so it grates a lot less. the only reason romance is included at all is to show the ways in which white entitlement manifests. so the tragic way robinramy played out just made sense to me.

and i speak as someone who accidentally spoiled myself on You Know What in the middle of reading and i was like ugghh boooo dreading it the whole time expecting to roll my eyes when it happened but then when it did i was like. wow im actually not that mad LMFAO 😭😭😭 actually thematically the book sets it up so well that i believed that this was unfortunately the only way it could’ve gone. babel is about the loss and tragedy and grief that colonised people experience. it’s about the lengths people will go to to uphold empire and the lengths ppl will go to to tear it down like idk 😭 i guess it is bury your gays but it didnt bother me this time because i thought it fit thematically ❤️ i enjoy tragedy as a genre a lot and i would’ve made it gay anyway you know. thanks rf kuang for doing it for me so i didnt have to.

WHICH IS ALL TO SAY that i guess if you’re going into babel for the queer rep without appreciating that the story is fundamentally a tragedy it would feel like it’s just reusing tired tropes….. but i think the choices kuang made were rly deliberate and not in a way that feels like trauma porn or shock value. the book is fundamentally about the struggles of poc so the layer of queerness that was introduced felt like a subtle extension of the experiences of characters of colour in the book, and i enjoyed and related to it as a queer chinese person who kind of realised they had to prioritise their fight for the liberation of poc over queerness mainly because the idea of western queer liberation cannot be dissociated from imperialism and many aspects of homophobia as we know it was an export of christian european empire into our colonised countries in the first place and FUCK THIS IS A WHOLE OTHER TANGENT ABOUT HOW I THINK RAMY AS A CHARACTER IS EMBLEMATIC OF THE TENSION AND STRUGGLE THAT QUEER POC DIASPORA HAVE BETWEEN OUR IDENTITIES GODDAMNIT OK FORGET IT POST CANCELLED i just rly think babel’s handling of queer characters is fine and makes sense and i like it personally and maybe i will make a coherent analysis about it one day but that day is not today byeeeeeee

[turtletaubwrites]

For The Sake Of Justice ~ Part 22

Pairings: Zoro x Fem!Reader, Sanji x Fem!Reader, Robin x Fem!Reader, Sanji X Robin

This is part 22 of the Series 'We've All Got Needs,' linked below:

Word Count: 5882

We've All Got Needs Masterlist

Ao3 Link (Ch. 12 of We've All Got Needs cont.)

!!SPOILER WARNING!! Spoilers for the anime for the Water 7/Enies Lobby arc (through episode 263).

Summary: You and Sanji fight your way through the sea train, finding friends and foes. As you hunt for Robin, you learn more about her past, and her enemies.

Rating/Warnings: AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, 18+ Only, MDNI, Reader-Insert, Polyamory, Pet Names, Swearing, Cigarettes, They're Gross, Don't Smoke, Kissing, ANGST, Relationship Drama, Emotional Hurt/No Comfort, Blood, Enemy Being Drugged, Death of an unnamed enemy character, Violence

A/N: Alright y'all! this is all angst and plot, no smut here. But I'll post another smut scene next, so I hope you can make it through. Also, I'm sorry, but I had to include one of the dumbest battles in the anime, but only because we get to see Sanji being oh so sexy. I tried to make it less ridiculous, lol. I hope you enjoy this part!

Extra A/N: Also, I apologize for the length, I wanted to get us through the train in one go before we head to Enies Lobby 🌊🚂

A moment of acceptance. The crashing waves might take you. Everything could be over.

The moment passed in a frantic scrambling, clinging to the railing of the last train car. Wrapping your elbows around the thin metal, sea water splashed up wildly, trying to drag you into its hungry depths. 

Sanji slipped over the railing onto the small deck, and pulled you over, kissing you hard as soon as you were steady on your feet. 

The near death and impending violence made your bodies desperate. You drank the salt water from each other’s skin as your heart rates lowered, only slightly. 

Sanji pulled back first, cradling your head in his cold hands.

“Stay behind me, Angel.”

You didn’t argue as he laid a gentle kiss on your forehead.

The door opened outward, a uniformed man stepping out to check on the weather. 

Sanji reacted, landing a kick that sent the man flying.

Into the well lit car filled with government officers.

You kept behind your cook as he lit his cigarette, stepping inside so the rain wouldn’t keep it from lighting. 

The cool weight of your tonfa in your hands felt useless at the sight of so many guns trained on Sanji. The officers didn’t seem to care about you as they started addressing him. 

“Hey, hold it. Where do you think you’re going?”

“Did you see that kick? He’s not some run of the mill civilian.”

Sanji took a drag off his cigarette, and you wanted to throttle him for his calm taunt. 

“Oh, come on. If you keep saying things like that, I’ll blush.”

The officers started to call for someone to alert CP9, but pride got in their way. The strongest declared his prowess, and you pressed against the wall as they faced off. 

Sanji easily kept his distance, avoiding every attack while you and the group of officers watched. 

“This is a waste of time.”

Sanji leapt toward the ceiling before bringing his foot straight down on the would-be best fighter, instantly knocking him out. 

Chaos followed, each of the officers jumping in to fight, a couple racing toward the door. 

You readied your weapons, looking for a way to help, but it was pointless.

He didn’t need your help. 

Sanji took care of every attacker, until you jumped in while his back was turned. 

I can do this.

A single officer was overpowering you, you couldn’t land a hit on him. 

Fuck, I need to be stronger than this!

As he backed you into a corner, you saw Sanji making his way through the few enemies in his path, his eyes trained on your embarrassing fight. 

I can’t be a distraction for him. 

The tall officer landed a punch to your side, but as he pulled back for another, you held your tonfa out to block, calling out your attack. 

“Daydream Thorns!”

He slammed against your tonfa, swearing as he scraped bloody lines against the metal thorns. 

“You’ll pay for-”

His eyes went wide as he staggered toward you, and you ducked out of the way as he fell against the wall. 

Sanji was leaning over you, brows tensed.

“Sanji!”

Turning with a spinning kick, Sanji took care of one of the officers he’d ignored to come to your side. You leaned around him, and a thrill of pride coursed through you as you hit another. 

“Blackout Dart!”

The officer went down as the Sanji mopped up the rest.

His hands were on you, running down your face, your arms, your sides. You held in a wince at the soreness on your ribs. 

“Mon coeur, please stay down, let me protect you.”

The urge to be angry was stifled by the fear in his eyes, and the knowledge that you weren't ready to take on so many foes at once. But hiding was not an option. You had to fight. 

I have to fight for her. 

“Sanji, you’ll protect me better by fighting the stronger guards. Please trust me. I promise I’ll call for you if I need help.”

Sanji’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he looked almost sick as he held your hands. 

With another kiss to your forehead, he hugged you to him. 

“Your love is so beautiful. You two have a deep special, love, don’t you?”

Sanji twisted around to shield you from those slurred words, but you laughed, pulling yourself away from him to look at your victim. 

The officer’s eyes were heavy lidded, a slow smile pulling at his lips as he swayed on the floor against the wall. 

“Hold on-”

“It’s okay,” you said as you knelt before the man, holding your arm out to stop Sanji’s movement. 

“I hit him with the Daydream Tonfa. He should be feeling pretty friendly right now, isn’t that right?”

The man laughed, nodding at your sweet tone.

“You’re veeery pretty.”

Sanji pulled you back as the man reached slowly toward your face.

“Thank you, so are you.”

Giggles filled the car from your drugged victim, and you couldn’t keep a proud laugh from escaping your lips. 

“Come on, Angel, we need to keep moving.”

“Hold on, he might be able to help us.”

You donned a saccharine smile as you leaned back toward the officer.

“You’ve been very nice, do you think you can help me?”

“Oh yeah, I’m soo good at helping.” 

He was running his fingers up and down his thighs, humming as he stared open mouthed at your face. 

“We’re looking for our friends.”

~

“That was very impressive, darling. Let’s hope he was exaggerating the strength of the foes in between us and Robin. And he said we'll find the prisoners in the next car.”

“I wonder how Usopp ended up here.”

Sanji didn’t reply as he prepared to open the next car, locking eyes with you before opening the door. 

Sanji took care of the officers, while you searched the car. You found cases full of masks and costumes like they’d been wearing on the island, an array of transponder snails, and two wiggling forms wrapped and tied with rope. 

“Usopp!”

You ran to him, avoiding the fight as you knelt beside him, already pulling at his binds. Sanji finished the fight, and you felt his presence as he walked up beside you. 

“Y/N, Sanji! You didn’t hijack the train just to rescue me, did you?”

“We were-”

Sanji cut you off as he started to light a cigarette. 

“I don’t even know what you’re doing here. What’s your name again?”

“Are you kidding me? You jerk," Usopp huffed.

You knew Sanji wanted to save Usopp as much as you did, and you shook your head at his lie, still pulling at the ropes. Sanji promised you that you would save Usopp and Robin, and you didn’t have the energy to call him on his bullshit.

The other prisoner cleared his throat, and you took in his blue pompadour, sunglasses, and what looked to be a metal nose. 

 “Let me guess. These are some of your pirate friends, aren’t they?”

The three of you answered at once.

“Yes.”

“Kind of.”

“Ex friends. The question is, who are you,” Sanji asked as he looked over the transponder snails.

“I’m the ship dismantler, and leader of the Franky family, Franky.”

Both you and Usopp gasped as Sanji’s foot collided with Franky’s face.

“So you’re the bastard who beat up Usopp, huh? He may be dead to me now, but he was part of our crew back then. How many pieces do you want me to cut you into?”

Usopp crawled free from the ropes you had pulled away, and put himself between Sanji and the target of his ire. You stood, resting your palm on Sanji’s shoulder as you watched his face snarl with barely contained rage. 

“Wait, Sanji, it’s not like that now. A lot has changed since then!”

Usopp’s pleas didn’t hold as strong while Franky grumbled threats behind him. 

“Seriously, Sanji. Franky’s a good guy. He saved the Merry, at least for a while.”

Heat crept up your throat as Usopp’s face fell, the thought of the Merry making his lip quiver. 

“Come on, kid, this isn’t the time to mope. Now untie me, blondie!”

“I don’t mind leaving you tied up like that for the rest of your life,” Sanji threatened, leaning over the man. 

Usopp started yelling until the three boys were impossible to understand.

“We need to find Robin!”

Your command silenced the three men, and you got to work on releasing Franky. 

“Did they take your pants,” you asked as you moved your hands away, letting him remove the ropes from his lower body. 

“Nah, girlie, this is just my style.”

You shook your head at his big smile, not fighting as Sanji pulled you away from the large man in the tiny speedo. 

~

The rain was endless as you huddled with Sanji on the roof. Franky and Usopp were close by as Sanji called Nami on the stolen transponder snail. 

Her voice was a miracle, especially when she said the rest of the crew were on their way, following on a separate train, along with some new allies. 

Hope warmed your soaked skin, then her next words made your breath hitch.

“I need to tell you guys why Robin’s doing all this, why she’s with CP9.”

Sanji laced his fingers through yours as Nami shared all they’d learned. 

All that you had already believed.

She would never betray us. She sacrificed herself to protect us, to keep her enemies from hurting us. 

CP9 had threatened to send in a Buster Call, a massive military attack that would annihilate everyone within range. And Robin agreed to go with them on the promise that you would go free. That her crew wouldn’t be touched.

Your tears were lost in the storm as you stared into Sanji’s eyes, seeing your determination reflected there. 

Luffy got on the line, and you were silent, frozen with the need to save her. Sanji spoke for you. 

“Nami just told us everything.”

“I see, well, you know what’s next.”

The confidence in your captain’s voice was a balm, a small hopeful smile touched your lips. 

Then his next words sent ice through your veins.

“Go ahead. Give ‘em hell, Sanji.”

Your cook’s jaw clenched as he nodded. You were filled with equal parts gratitude and fear. You didn’t want to wait to help Robin, but from what Nami had said of CP9, even Sanji wouldn’t be a match for them alone, or with someone as weak as you. 

Zoro’s voice joined, getting clearer as he must have stepped toward the transponder snail, but somehow still feeling distant. So far from you now that an empty ache of fear hit your gut.

“Hold on, he’ll die if he fights them now. If he wants to stand a chance, he’s gotta wait for us. Hey cook, can you hear me? Some of the guys on that train are really tough. You shouldn’t-”

“Zoro,” Luffy’s voice interrupted. “It’s fine. If it was you, would you wait? If you were on that train instead of him, and I told you Robin sacrificed herself to protect us, would you sit there and do nothing? It’s no use trying to stop him.”

You wished that you could have seen Zoro’s face, but his silence was enough. Sanji’s face lit up in a manic smile.

“Read me like a book. But thanks, moss head. I never knew you cared about me so much.”

Zoro’s voice came loud, as if he was yelling directly into the poor snail.

“I don’t fucking care about you, dumbass cook! If you let Needy get hurt I will slice every piece of skin off your body, I’ll-”

“Zoro, I-”

Desperation filled his voice when he heard yours.

“Needy, fuck. Needy, please.”

Sanji handed you the transponder snail, giving you a little space while you clung to your swordsman’s voice. 

“I’m here, Zoro.”

“Please, Needy, I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. I should have-”

“It’s okay, babe. I…”

You choked on the almost words. You wanted to say them now, you needed to tell him. You needed him to know. 

But those words felt too much like goodbye.

I might never see him again.

You were rocking slightly now, heavy tears still mixing with the rain and the angry spray of the ocean. 

“Please don’t fight, Needy. Please stay safe. I’m coming for you, okay? I need you to stay safe for me, please.”

“I’ll be careful.” 

You knew the words were quiet, but you couldn't speak up, couldn’t speak past the painful lump in your throat. 

“Needy, I…”

Clenching your eyes shut against the weight of it all, you gasped softly as Sanji touched your arm. He mouthed to you that it was time to go, and you nodded as Zoro reacted to your gasp.

“Are you okay, Needy? What’s happening?”

“We’re okay, Zoro. I’m okay.”

“Fuck… Please don’t go. Please wait for me to find you.”

Covering your mouth as you let out a tiny sob, you steeled yourself. 

“I have to go, Zoro. I promise I’ll be careful.”

“I’ll find you, Needy. No matter what.”

“See you…”

You cut the line, and let Sanji pull you into a hug. He rocked you back and forth a few times, kissing your temple before helping you to your feet. 

Usopp’s soft voice brought you into the moment. 

“It’s crazy how much stuff has happened since I left. It doesn’t feel real.”

“Robin’s in a similar boat,” Sanji replied, bringing all eyes to him. “She doesn’t know about anything that happened with you or the Merry. But while we were busy fighting amongst ourselves, Robin was giving herself up to the world government to protect us. And that includes you, Usopp.”

Franky brought out a useless tissue that got soaked in the rain while he gave a few loud sobs. 

“Oh man, that is such a sad story!”

“Why are you crying,” Sanji asked, frowning at the man. 

You cut in now, shaking off your own tears as you watched Franky. 

“We need to go.”

“No. I’m not coming,” Usopp muttered, catching your breath. “This doesn’t have anything to do with me anymore. You’re about to make yourselves enemies of the World Government. I don’t want any part of it. I can’t pretend nothing happened when the others get here. I still feel bad for Robin. But I’m sorry, it’s not my job to save her anymore. I am not a part of Luffy’s crew.”

Nausea poured through you as you watched your friend walk away again, the rain covering the sounds of his steps on the roof of the train. Franky leaned toward him, yelling over the storm. 

“There’s no place to go. Come on, you guys can talk this over, bro!”

“Forget it,” Sanji’s cold voice commanded. “Just leave him.”

“You guys are stubborn as hell,” Franky complained, as you followed Sanji forward. Leaving your old crewmate behind. 

You’d made it over another car before you heard someone behind you. 

“Hello there! Your friend told me everything. I hear you’re here to rescue a certain mademoiselle. I’ve come to lend my aid. I am Sniper King!”

Usopp had a cloak wrapped around his shoulders, and one of the masks from inside, the yellow painted wood covering most of his face. 

You could still see his bandages, his overalls, his shoes. You wanted to hug him, but kept your feet planted.

“What the hell is he doing,” Franky wondered aloud, before Sanji leaned in with a hoarse whisper.

“Come on, just humor the poor guy. He has too much pride to show his face to the crew, but he still wants to rescue his friend.”

With a smile, you waved a hand to him.

“Thank you, Sniper King, let’s go!”

~

The group discussed plans as you tried not to slip off the train. Usopp didn't let up on his story that he was a stranger, and if the situation hadn’t been so intense, you would have laughed at how cute he was. 

Sanji’s plan led you back to the last of the seven cars, and you waited on the roof while the rest of the group opened the door to taunt the soldiers and officers. 

Even over the storm, you started to hear the shouts of the officers calling for backup, moving down toward the back of the train. Leaning over the side, you saw them pressing against the door, keeping the soldiers from joining them on the small deck. 

Scrambling after them, you leapt across from roof to roof until Franky and Usopp detached the two back cars, laughing as you left the large group of enemies stranded in the ocean. 

“Only five cars left,” Sanji declared as you walked through the fifth, it’s group of soldiers and officers beaten and bleeding on the floor. 

“The guy I poisoned said the next car just has the kitchen and the chef in it, hopefully he’s not a chef like you.”

“There are no chefs like me, mon amour,” Sanji teased with a wink.

“As a mighty warrior of Sniper Island, I have to wonder if this is a good time for flirting.”

Snorting at Usopp’s scolding, you stayed back as the three of them lined up, kicking in the door to the kitchen. 

“Hello, hello, my name is Mad Wanze! Can I prepare some ramen for you?”

The yells and frantic movements of the white haired cook made you pause. Coupled with his bare chest revealed under his jacket, and the filthy kitchen, the picture was jarring. 

A quick glance at Sanji’s narrowed eyes confirmed his disapproval. 

Wanze didn’t wait, filling a bowl with plain looking ramen. Before shoving it toward you, he leaned over the bowl, and you cringed as a clear line of snot dripped from his nose into the bowl. 

“Sorry, we’ve got places to be. You’ll have to enjoy that nose ramen on your own.”

The cook dropped the bowl on the counter before standing in Sanji’s way.

“Hold it! If you want to go to the next car, you’ll have to go through me first.”

“You think you can stop us,” Sanji questioned, clear disgust in his voice. 

“That’s right! You can’t get past me unless you defeat my ramen kenpo!”

“What the fuck,” you muttered as the manic cook skipped back and forth across the room, taunting everyone. 

You gaped as Franky detached his fucking hand, and used his arm like a gun. None of his shots hit the wild man, and Sanji stepped forward. 

“I’ll take care of this fool. Just stand back.”

Sanji flew forward, and your jaw fell open as his kick didn’t land. 

How did this fucking creep avoid his kick?

Sanji turned back, looking over the short man’s mop of hair. 

“Angel, you stay here and stay back. You two, go on ahead. We’ll meet up with you later. Our first priority is to rescue Robin.”

Wanze yelled as Usopp and Franky bypassed him, Sanji blocking his attacks. 

His attacks with fucking noodles.

In your travels on the Grand Line you had seen so many unbelievable and crazy things. Things that didn’t seem possible, people with powers that made your brain hurt when you thought about them for too long. 

But this gross man flinging noodles around like weapons was the stupidest fucking thing you’d ever seen. 

Especially since he actually seemed to be a good fighter.

The man had wrapped himself in noodles now, and you pinched yourself to make sure you hadn’t been knocked out into a ridiculous dream. 

Sanji had landed some good kicks, but the noodles were making it hard for him to get a decent hit in, and he was losing his footing now as he got stuck in that web of sticky strands. 

You let out a gasp as the man threw Sanji onto the counter, shattering plates and sending silverware and pots clattering to the floor. 

You wanted to help, but knew you’d never be able to get close enough for your Thorns, and didn’t want to risk hitting Sanji with a Dart. 

“How dare you waste all this food! I’m going to make you eat every last bite.”

Sanji got slammed into the floor again, then tossed across the room to land beside you, muttering to himself. 

Wanze cackled, bouncing back and forth as he continued to rant. 

“You can’t get through, and I’ve already figured out your attacks. Since all you do is kick, I just have to take out your legs, and you’ll be finished. Then I’ll have time for dessert with your little friend.”

The man leered at you, splotchy face dripping with snot and drool, and you felt bile move up your throat. 

He wasted no more time then as he attacked Sanji full force, but this time his assault of noodles slowed down, going thin as you saw them flying into the air to land on a large platter. 

You couldn't help but laugh as Sanji stood, leaving a platter of noodles on the counter as he twirled large kitchen knives in his hands. 

Sanji stood calmly, effortlessly spinning the knives in his hands and in the air as he taunted. Your breath caught in your throat as you watched him wield those blades with such skill. 

In all the chaos and fear of the moment, you had to shake yourself from your gut reaction. 

He looks so fucking hot.

“A chef must fight without using his hands or knives, those are sacred. It’s always been my policy not to use them in battle. But since we’re in a kitchen, and you’re using food as a weapon, that changes things a bit, doesn't it?”

“Trying to look cool, you insolent little punk? An amateur like you shouldn’t even touch my kitchen knives, you hear me?”

“I apologize for my insolence,” Sanji rasped, his voice dark as you clutched your hands together. “But I’m going to show you how a real chef handles his kitchen knives.”

Shivers crawled up your skin as you let yourself enjoy the show. Your lover danced around his enemy, humiliating him as he kicked and sliced. He was mesmerizing, and made quick work of the ridiculous cook. 

Sanji walked to you when he’d left the man bleeding on the floor, admiring the blades before setting them on the counter. 

“For a pathetic excuse for a chef, he takes great care of his kitchen knives.”

You grinned, fighting the urge to jump on him as he led you to the next car. 

I wonder what Zoro would think if he saw how Sanji fought with blades. 

That thought was lovely for a moment, before you remembered Zoro’s pleading voice begging you not to fight. 

You were back in the moment now, fear and determination pulsing through you. 

“You won’t get past me!”

You barely ducked out of the way in time as Wanze charged forward to block the path. 

Sanji spun, kicking the screaming man through the door. He flew across, slamming into the opposite door that opened, revealing the four members of CP9 you’d seen boarding the train. 

“Stay back here, Angel,” Sanji whispered as he lit a cigarette. 

Sanji walked toward your enemies, and panic coursed through you. 

We should have waited! I can’t help him. Where are Franky and Usopp?

The ceiling cracked open in front of Sanji, and when the dust cleared you saw Franky crouched on top of a bleeding man who was groaning under the weight, but there was no Usopp in sight. 

The four CP9 agents stood slowly, their gaze alone making your mouth dry. 

Sanji and Franky fucking ignored them.

“Wow, some entrance. Where the hell have you been?”

“Kicking ass, as usual,” Franky laughed at Sanji. “What about you?”

“Kicking ass,” Sanji breathed out with smoke, while Franky kicked the bleeding man toward the group of agents. 

“So it’s you, huh,” Sanji questioned, tilting his head toward the agents. “You’re the ones who kidnapped Robin?”

“Be careful,” Franky warned. “They use some pretty weird moves.”

The man in the top hat walked forward as the bleeding man sat up. He was muttering to himself about killing Franky, before he turned to look up. 

“You must be Rob Lucci. I'm the new recruit. Just give me a moment, and I’ll kill that man.”

“Your orders were to bring him in alive, it seems you’ve let your emotions get the better of you.”

You stared at the man, noticing a pigeon on his shoulder that appeared to be giving the new recruit the same cold stare. You shivered at his voice, deep and empty. 

“I’ll give you three seconds to run for your life.”

The recruit was panicked, confused, but he took too long. At the last second he bolted away, so fast you could hardly see him. Rob Lucci caught him, insulting him as he collapsed to the ground, dying, then dead. 

“Kalifa,” he called to the blonde woman. “In our official reports, state that the new recruit was too weak, and therefore deemed worthless.”

“Understood,” she affirmed coldly, and you couldn’t tell when you’d last taken a breath.

“So these are the Agents of Justice,” Sanji wondered, weight shifting on his feet as the agents moved closer.

“Can’t tell which side is evil, huh,” Franky said, shaking his head as he stretched. 

Rob Lucci stood in front of them now, and you wanted to scream for Sanji to run. But all you could do was watch through the doorway, feeling the gaze of the agents pass over you occasionally before returning to Sanji and Franky. 

“You’ve come to rescue Nico Robin? That’s a mistake. Her problem is beyond your comprehension. There are some people in this world that were born under an unlucky star. Some people are, for the sake of everyone else, just better off dead.”

Your nails were digging bloody imprints into your palm as you fought not to run forward. 

“What are you talking about?”

You could see Sanji’s fists clenched as he stared the man down. 

“What if there was a sleeping devil that could burn the entire world to the ground? And what if there was someone capable of waking that devil? Even if that someone was an eight year old girl? Don’t you think for the lives of every other living being, that girl should be put to death?”

“Get to the point,” Sanji growled, while sick heat filled your stomach, climbing up your throat. 

“This is the true story of Nico Robin’s childhood. And now she’s accumulated an entire life of crime. Her very existence is a sin, and the only good she can do for this world would be to forfeit her life-”

“Shut your fucking mouth!”

“Angel!”

Sanji grabbed you, holding you back as you snarled. Franky put his massive arm in front of you to keep you from rushing toward that man, his cold eyes assessing you calmly, as if you were nothing but an annoyance. 

Your Robin having to live like this. Feeling like her life was worthless. It made you want to scream, to tear that man’s fucking face off. 

“Angel, please, we’ll get her,” Sanji whispered in your ear as he fought to keep you still. 

“Don’t worry,” Rob Lucci continued in his almost monotone voice. “The World Goverment will kill her as they should have ages ago, but first they will torture her until they find out every thing she knows. She will probably be alive for years enduring endless agony-”

Sanji’s arms left you as he lunged forward. Franky held you back as you watched in terror while Sanji seethed. 

“That’s enough, bastard! I don’t want to hear another word out of you.”

Sanji’s foot flew toward the man’s face, but he blocked it with his arm effortlessly.

“Her death won’t come nearly as quickly as I would like,” he said, sending Sanji sliding away from him, having to catch himself from falling to the ground.

“I said wait-”

The door to the last car opened, and Robin was there, Usopp pulling at her arm and begging her to wait, to stop. 

Robin was right there.

You and Sanji both called for her, and you felt hot tears painting your face in relief.

She’s okay.

“Robin, let’s knock these guys out, then we’ll get out of here!”

Sanji moved toward her, but Robin lifted Usopp with her many arms, then tossed him across the car at Sanji’s feet.

“Robin, what are you doing? Let’s leave,” you begged, ducking around Franky’s arm and moving up beside Sanji.

“It seems that my words mean nothing to you people.”

Robin’s eyes hurt like ice, and you all stood in silence. You opened your mouth but couldn’t speak, couldn’t think under her gaze.

Rob Lucci broke out in laughter while you tried to find a crack in Robin’s walls, tried to see your lover behind all that ice. 

“Franky, quick! Detach the third car!” 

Usopp had jumped up, gesturing with his command as Franky and Sanji questioned him.

“We’re gonna run,” Usopp declared, voice hoarse with determination. 

“Wait,” you tried to argue, refusing to leave Robin, no matter what. 

Usopp spun through the air, shouting his attack as he set off a smoke bomb. 

You were still frozen until you saw him charging toward you, with Robin thrown over his shoulder demanding to be put down. 

Dangerous hope filled you as Franky and Sanji detached the car, and CP9 was sent away in their smoked filled car while you were stranded on the ocean. 

But the hope was short lived as massive thorny whips caught your car, and the agents readied to fight. The jostling of the car had sent you flying toward the back, wincing as you crashed onto your right hip and shoulder.

“Now remember, don’t kill the Straw Hats, it’s part of the agreement.”

Rob Lucci’s words were cold comfort as Sanji squared off with the larger man, who’s skills you hadn’t yet seen. 

Most of Sanji’s kicks seemed to do nothing, and you heard the other agents discussing their specialized martial arts training. 

You crawled your way back, still feeling unsteady in the car as it was battered by the waves. 

The long nosed man with the baseball cap spoke to the large man, giving you another name.

“Careful, Blueno. Don’t take him lightly. He may not have a bounty, but he’s one of their top fighters.”

“I will be as careful as necessary, Kaku.”

Kaku nodded in response, and you found yourself panicking, waiting to see why these agents were so feared.

Before you made it beside her, Robin held her arms in front of her chest, calling her many limbs. 

You watched in horror as she trapped Usopp, his poor, bandaged body being twisted in pain at her command. 

“Robin, What are you doing,” you screamed, racing for Usopp until she sent you a searing glare.

“Didn’t you hear me? Stay out of my business, leave me alone!”

Robin’s anger-filled command stopped everyone, until you screamed Sanji’s name, but you screamed too late.

Kaku flew toward him with a taunting laugh, his kick sending Sanji flying through the air, and shattering one of the wooden benches. 

“You Straw Hats are too damn stubborn when it comes to your friends. I’m gonna help you out!”

Franky leapt forward, pushing against the wall of the car. You couldn’t believe his strength as the wall started ripping away, until he sent himself and all the agents into their car, leaving you with Robin, Sanji, and Usopp, disconnected from the train.

Robin screamed that she wasn’t running away, and you felt another moment of hope even through her fear-shot words.

Blueno appeared, a strange, glowing doorway popping out of the wall. Robin moved to leave, but paused as you called for her. She paused this time. 

“Please, Robin! I know you’re still hiding something. But we’ll get through it together.”

“Yeah, Robin,” Usopp cut in. “A pirate’s not allowed to leave their crew without their captain’s permission. You need to believe in Luffy!”

Robin walked through the doorway as Sanji coughed, sputtering as he sat up.

“Robin, don’t go!”

“You can say what you like, she will never break her agreement.”

“How do you know that,” Sanji growled at Blueno, still struggling to his hands and knees. The agent towered over the three of you, face calm as he continued.

“Long ago, an island was erased. The navy issued a Buster Call, and burned it to the ground, without leaving a single trace behind. Nico Robin was the only survivor of that incident, just a child at the time.”

Nausea ripped through you, your heart breaking at the thought of such a small child witnessing that much horror.

“She never told us…”

Sanji’s breathless words had you moving toward him, needing to touch him as you heard your pain for Robin echoed in his voice.

Blueno went on, his dark words plain, as if it meant nothing to him. 

“Now that her childhood nightmare has been directed toward her companions, she no longer has the will to resist us.”

You and Sanji yelled now, rage bubbling in the air between you.

“You knew that, and you used it against her?”

“You people are sick, you hear me?”

Blueno walked toward his glowing door, looking over his shoulder for the last word.

“All of this is for the sake of justice.”

“Don’t give me that shit,” Sanji cursed, launching himself up to kick at his form as the door fizzled away to nothing. 

Silent sobs left you as you watched Sanji yell into the raging sea, pounding his fists on the floor. 

You rushed to Usopp, looking over his seemingly endless wounds, trying not to be drowned by the anguish in your heart.

Robin. Robin. Robin!

“Angel, we need to get ready.”

Swallowing another sob, you met Sanji’s red tinged eyes as he leaned over to push your hair out of your face.

“Our captain is on the way, this isn’t over.”

Nodding, you fought the quivering of your lip as you coaxed Usopp up, helping him to sit against the wall. 

“Come on, Sniper King. We’ve got more battles ahead.”

“Sniper King is always ready for battle,” he coughed, still managing to sound cheesy through his pain. 

You held Usopp’s hand, and Sanji wrapped his arm around you as you waited for the rest of your crew. 

Heading to Enies Lobby. The Judicial Island run by the World Government. 

The people that had destroyed Robin’s life, and terrorized her since she was a child. The people that were keeping her from you now. 

After knowing about her secret pain, about what the government wanted to do to her, you knew more than ever that you’d fight for her. No matter how weak you were. You’d do anything to save her.

Your breaths calmed, and your tears stopped. Sanji rubbed a few circles on your back before standing lookout, waiting for the other train.

Closing your eyes, you saw her face, and made yourself a promise.

I don’t care if I die in there. I won’t let them have her.

Thank You for Reading! 💜

TurtleTaub Fanfic Masterlist

We've All Got Needs Masterlist

Part 23

Tag List: @astheni-a | @ferns-fics | @heilee | @iamn1ya | @ghostfacefricker6969 | @onlybassoon01 | @apothicgloom | @slyhersophia | @cyberaestheticals | @nothing-but-brass

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I love this arc so much, it gets me everytime.

Buy me a coffee ☕🙏🏼

[shochansstuff]

✰ 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲, 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲 ✰

Inazuma Version part1. •Mondstadt Version •Liyue Version

->Summary: Inazuma boys being jealous<3

->Characters: Gorou jealous of Kazuha / Kazuha jealous of Heizou/ Heizou Jealous of Thoma / Thoma is jealous of Ayato.

->Warnings: One mention of blood, a little suggestive, no nswf, and slightly possessive behavior<3

->Reader: Gender Neutral 😐

->Author's notes: SORRY I DISAPPEARED I'VE BEEN REALLY BUSY LATELY, so here it is the first part of the Inazuma version, I'll post soon enough the second part of this <3 Enjoy🫶

1. Gorou is jealous of Kazuha.

The great general of Watatsumi Island's forces. He has gained respect and prestige, but always shows himself to be a humble leader.

He is deeply trusted by his subordinates and is someone with whom you can share your feelings without shame.

Gorou, like all of Watatsumi Island's inhabitants, is a loyal supporter of Sangonomiya Kokomi. Kokomi trusts him to lead the Watatsumi Army as its primary general, being sincere, determined and courageous. He has a strong sense of camaraderie and gets along well with all of the soldiers under his command, who in turn share the same sentiment and speak to him if any issues arise, including new recruits.

This is what you like about Gorou. His determination and loyalty. From the moment you joined the army, you quickly established a bond with the young general. But soon this understanding of yours became bigger and bigger. Even Her Excellency, Sangonomia Kokomi, realized that between the two of you there was not the usual and classic relationship between superior and subordinate.

No. He shared with you his choices, and asked you for advice on how to move troops by treating you as an equal. Also on the front line during the fights. Always have your backs and make sure to protect one another. You trained together, and you gave him tips on how to use the sword, while he helps you get used to the bow. You were meant for each other, but there was nothing official between you despite your behavior behind the scenes being the same of a married couple.

The battle for a showdown with the Shogun's army was near, so Kokomi asked whoever had the possibility to join the army momentarily to help the rebellion, and the task of welcoming those who would make such a decision was entrusted to you and Gorou.

When you arrive at the meeting place, you started to feel a little anxious. After all, you were about to welcome your new allies. Gorou is a very knowledgeable guy in this kind of thing, but you were... still inexpert. You breathed deeply. You could have done it. Soon, some soldiers arrived, escorting two individuals.

A woman. She has long, waist-length dark brown hair. The top of her hair is tied up with an intricate gold hairpin with a pale blue tassel hanging from one end. Her fringe parts around her right eye, slightly covering her left. Her right eye is a deep ruby-colored hue melting into gold. Her left eye is covered by an eyepatch.

And, by her side there was a young man with choppy, medium length hair, some of it tied in an off centered ponytail to his right. It is a platinum blonde color, apart from a single red streak on his right. He has red eyes with a yellow hue at the bottom. He has a gentle facial expression, rather calming.

"We thank you for offering to help us. The entire army and Her Excellency herself are grateful to you." Gorou said. "It's nice to see you again, Beidou and Kazuha." He... he already knew them?

Your eyes moved from Gorou's face to the young man's He was already looking at you. Your gazes chained, as if they didn't want to leave. You lost yourself for a moment in the crimson color of the irises of the boy named Kazuha.

He smiled softly at you, as you break the eye contact with him, nervously looking away. He whisper a soft chuckle, as Gorou invites them to follow him.

You reached quickly Gorou's side, as you walked with him. While walking to towards the camp, you kept giving small gazes at the samurai, who indeed was doing the same. But the General Gorou isn't blind. He noticed.

And he was...bothered...?!

Once reached the camp, you stopped in front of the gate. "Here we are. You will both stay here until Her Excellency will sort you into the various groups." Gorou said. You looked straight into Kazuha's eyes, as you offered to accompany him to his tent, and showing him the rest of the camp. But Gorou wasn't willing to let you spend time ALONE with kazuha, so he made an excuse, telling you that was the work of the soldiers of that camp.

You slowly nodded, as you walked away with Gorou.

He doesn't know why that was bothering him so much, you and kazuha were just looking at each other...

Somehow he was feeling strange about it...

The next day, early in the morning, you headed back to the camp, where Kazuha and that hot pirate-captain woman were staying. You wanted to train a little, and the train-camp there was your favorite, perfect for the sword users.

You prepared yourself, and soon started training, as you usually do in the morning alone. Using your vision, you managed to simulate an elemental attack you were working on. You smiled satisfied, but out of nowhere a gentle applause came from behind you. You turned your head, and to your surprise, you found the young samurai standing there, looking softly at you.

"That attack was rather amazing, a really good job to say the least." He said, smiling gently. You smiled back at him, telling him that you have been working on that attack for a long time. He told you that he is a sword user too, and offered you to train together.

You accept his offer as you both started sparring with each other.

You were strong, but he was stronger. His sword skills were far beyond yours. He was incredibly good with the sword. In fact, he defeated you.

"You are incredible, kazuha..." You say as you stand up from the ground.

"Thank you for your compliment, you flatter me. You are really good too, but you can improve. Let me give you some advices" He said gently.

You nodded, as you look at him getting closer to you.

"before, when you tried to disarm me, you acted very quickly, and you would have even succeeded if it wasn't for your position. It was slightly wrong. Do you mind trying to do that again? So I can correct you.."

You nodded, as you set yourself in the same position as before.

"There. You are really fast and agile, but you moviments are limited by the position of your hips." He leaned closer.

"Is it ok for me to touch your waist?" He asked. Those words made you cheeks heat up, as you nod slowly.

He just smiled, getting behind you, placing his hands gently on your hips, correcting you position.

"There, and your back, it has to be straight..." He said, pressings your back against his chest.

It happens that the General Gorou was looking for you, and he knew that he would find you at the train-camp. Wagging his tail while walking, smiling at himself at the thought of seeing you, he reached the train-camp, but his happy expression vanished as he saw you that close to the samurai.

Kazuha with his hands on your hip, having you pressed against his chest... Gorou felt, strange.

It bothered him that you were so close to someone else who wasn't him... Only he could have you so close, only he could touch you like that... Only him.

Was he...jealous?

He was a step closer to go there and separate you, and take you away from Kazuha, but that was pointless, the two of you weren't in an official relationship, but it was time for Gorou to show everyone that you belong to him.

He walked away, waiting to get you all alone.

He waited patiently in his tent, taking care of some paperwork, knowing that you will come to him, sooner or later.

He is a general after all, he predict the moves of the enemy army every day. Predicting yours were a piece of cake.

And so you did.

In the afternoon, you started to look out for Gorou. So you headed to his tent, finding him sit at his desk filling some documents.

"Gorou i haven't seen you the whole day! You have been here the whole time?" You said. But Gorou was silent. So you got closer to him. "This morning I trained with Kazuha! He is incredibly skilled with his sword! He gave me some advices... I think I'm going to improve a lot thanks to him! He is truly amazing--- mmh?!"

Gorou grabbed you by your hips, pulling you on his lap, shutting you up placing his lips on yours. He was tired. Tired to wait. Tired to not have you all to himself.

Forcing his tounge inside you mouth, he explored every inch of your mouth, swirling his tounge around yours, making you squirm.

You pulled away from him, looking in his eyes, your heart started racing. "G-Gorou? W-what was that for?!" You asked, as your cheeks were getting redder and redder.

He stayed silent, leaning closer to your neck, as he whispered in your ear. "You belong to me. And only me." He said as he started kissing your neck, keeping you in place with his hands on your waist. You let out a small moan, as he start sucking the soft skin of your neck, leaving hickeys all over your collarbone.

You are his, he wants everyone to understand it. Especially Kazuha.

---------------------------♡︎--------------------------

2. Kazuha is jealous of Heizou.

Kazuha is a wanderer. And you are well aware of the fact that he isn't home often. You can't stop him to continue his journey and you won't.

You love him a lot, so you support him in every way possible, but sometimes, when he is away, you can't help but feel a little lonely. He was your everything, and when everything is away from you, you have nothing.

Sure you had a lot of friends in Inazuma, but even tho you hang out with them you can't help but think about Kazuha. And not all of them manage to notice how much missing Kazuha upsets you. But one of them, maybe the smartest one, was able to get how lonely you were feeling, keeping you distracted every way possible.

That friend of yours, is Shikanoin Heizou. He is one of your closest friends, you know each other like the back of your hand, plus Heizou is an incredible observer, in fact it didn't take him long to realize you were down in the dumps.

He always had a little crush on you, taking the chance that kazuha was away, he decided that he would make you realize that he is much better than your boyfriend. And this was the right time.

He had to play his cards right, after all you were in love with kazuha, he knew it would be difficult, but he was convinced that he would succeed somehow, so one day, he invited you to train with him. He knows that you used to do that a lot with Kazuha, but he thought that this would be the easiest way to get closer to you.

"Hey there y/n! I'm glad to see that you came!" Heizou said, as you approached him. "Hey Heizou! Of course I came! It's always better training with someone than doing it alone.." You answer him, placing your stuff next to Heizou's.

"So what are we going to do today for our train?" You say curiously, looking at Heizou gathering his hair into a low ponytail. "Today we will be practicing the hand-to-hand combat." He says cracking his fingers.

"It's not fair! It's your style of combat! You will surely beat me up!" You say, crossing your arms. Glaring at him. "Don't give me that look, I'll be gentle~" He says winking at you.

"Enough chit-chats, let's get started, I want to see what you are capable of!" He say, positioning himself with open arms and a smug smirk on his face.

You rolled your eyes, as you both started fighting against each other, but soon it got kind of intense.

"not bad Y/n~" Heizou said with a mischievous grin. You just shake your head smiling while dodging his attempts at surprising you.

You didn't notice, but the persone that have been on your mind until today was watching you from afar behind some bushes. He arrived a few minutes ago, and as soon as se landed in Inazuma he searched for you, his lovely partner. He missed you so much and he wanted to hold you in his arms as soon as possible.

But instead he found you fighting with Heizou. He was glad that you were enjoying yourself, and having fun with Heizou but for some reason he felt some kind of... jealous.

It's not like he wanted to find you in tears because you were missing him too much, but he wanted it. He wanted to be the only one in your mind.

Seeing Heizou getting so close to you at times, sometimes even grabbing your waist to confuse you, and teasing you so shamelessly made Kazuha feeling all types of anger and jealousy.

He knew he was irrational, he trusted you a lot. But you weren't the problem, but Heizou and his shamelessly attitude.

Every pickup lines Heizou throw at you with sly smirks on his face, every time Heizou was getting closer to you the he should... those things were making your boyfriend feeling and odd feeling in his chest.

"Hey what are you-" You said as Heizou made you fall onto the ground using a little his vision and before you can get up he pins you down with his arm.

"I won!" He said, looking down at you. Ow you were looking so cute with you hands pinned above your head under him. What a lovely sight. Less lovely for your boyfriend, who was struggling to keep calm.

"You cheated Heizou! It's not fair!" You said struggling to free your self from his grip. "No pain no gain, sweetheart~" Heizou said grinning at you.

Enough.

A sudden strong wind current pushed Heizou away from you and another one pulled you towards the bushes where kazuha was hiding. You nearly fell but Kazuha quickly caught you and held you up bridal-newly wed style.

Your eyes opened wide at the sight of him "Kazu!! You are back!? finally you are ba--" You shutted yourself up, as you looked at his facial expression, how he was holding you now, and the fact that he pushed you toward him using a strong wind current.

He's only gotten like this once before, it was when you bumped into your ex in Liyue. He was so scary, as he is right now.

Kazuha stayed silent and walked away. He kept walking despite your complaints and questions until you reached your shared house.

"Kazu? What about Heizou?!" You said, looking at deep in his crismon eyes. He set you down and sighed, looking away from you. “kazuha. what’s wrong?” you asked, hoping for an answer this time.

“i…i hated seeing Heizou acting like that...So shamelessy flirting with you... ” he replied. "I missed you so much dove, and once I came back and I search for you, i find you fighting with Heizou..." He stopped talking and looked straight into your beautiful eyes "...the way you were fighting…reminded me of how I fell for you.”

You wanted to say something but then he knelt down and held your hands. “I know I'm not the perfect boyfriend, I know I'm often far from home, but I don’t want…anyone to fall for you the same way I did. I want you to be only mine.”

Your face was way too red right now, and you were in too much shock to say anything. You couldn’t even look at him in the eye with how flustered you were.

Kazuha slowly lifted you your chin, and made you face him. He smiled at you and placed his hand on your cheek, probably attempting to calm you down. It just made you more flustered, but he loved it either way.

He moved closer and moved his hands down to your waist. “come on, love. look at me.” he whispered. You looked up at him and he was maybe an inch away from your lips.

“k…kazuha, you know that i love you, right?” you muttered. He chuckles, “i know. but i want to be the only one, alright?” he said.

You suddenly kissed him, he was a little shocked but quickly kissed back. Pulling you closer as his grip gets tighter. As your lips interwine with each other, his tounge slides into your mouth swirling around yours. Your hands run through his hair, as a soft noise escape his lips.

“I love you.” he said, pulling away. “You are the most perfect being that walks Teyvat in my eyes, And even tho I know I'm not the only one thinking it, You aren't an object love... but I want to make everyone know that you belong to me." You smiled, a red shade filling your cheeks once again.

You always knew he was a charmer, but this was a whole new level. Maybe you should get him jealous more often.

---------------------------♡︎--------------------------

3. Heizou is jealous of Thoma

Secret relationships are tough. It's not as romantic as books may make it looks like. The so loved 'Strangers in public, lovers in private' it's not that exiting. Is tiring.

But you had no choice, and we all know how love can make people crazy. You never wished to end up like this, but your situation required it.

I'm talking about your secret relationships with the sharp detective of the Tenryou Communsion. The popular Shikanoin Heizou.

You fell in love with him at the first sight and it was the same for him. You were so perfect in his eyes. Archons, only they know how much this man loves you. And you him a lot too.

But there were... some issues.

Which ones?

Oh well. One of them is The visions hunt decree. And the fact that you are a Kamisato, Ayaka's and Ayato's cousin and he a detective from the Tenryou Comminsion. Everybody knows that between the Kamisato clan and then Tenryou Comminsion there is no good blood.

The problems here are as clear as day.

A Kamisato can't be seen around with someone from the Tenryou Comminsion, so you and heizou are obliged to meet up in hidden spots, where the eyes of the crowds couldn't see you.

You were happy to be able to meet up with your lover at least once a week, but lately things have become difficult. Someone began to become suspicious of your distant behaviors. That person was your dear friend Thoma.

He noticed how you disappeared and how, out of nowhere, you show up again. So he started to stay more in your company. You didn't mind of course,Thoma was a really nice person to have around, but at first you though he was standing by your side so often just to keep an eye on you, but soon he started acting strange.

You didn't want to tell Heizou yet, it wasn't anything bad, 'he's just being friendly', you thought. Heizou didn't need to know about this, after all, he wasn't the jealous type, right? Or at least, that's what you thought.

It was a normal day in tye middle of autumn, and you needed to go to Inazuma city, the purpose was to take care of some commission, and gathering informations about the vision Hunt Decree. And of course Thoma offered to accompany you. You agreed, besides what could possibly go wrong?

Actually... a lot

You were walking through the main streets of Inazuma city, side to side with Thoma; He was a very friendly person, so you were quite enjoying you time with him. Everything was going well, but Thoma's behavior changed.

He started standing closer to you, searching for your touch, sliding his arm around your shoulder, praising you more, calling you with sweet nicknames here and there and stuff like that.

Sure you were trying your best to keep your distance from him, but your heart skipped a bit when, in the street, you passed by Heizou.

His piercing eyes were focused on you, you made eye contact with him, and you felt your body on fire. This was the hard part of having a secret relationships, lovers in private was certainly amazing, but strangers in public.. that wasn't a problem, until now. Heizou's eyes were burning with jealousy as he followed your figure with his gaze.

Seeing Thoma getting to act like that with you in public, and not being able to go there and telling him to back the fucking off and show everyone that you are his.. Oh Archons, that was driving him crazy.

Soon a great idea came to his mind and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. You shivered, noticing that expression of his, you knew that one. Maybe to well. He had something in mind, and judging by the grin on his face...

You looked up at the sky, praying the Mighty Electro Archon for him to not do anything stupid, but what Heizou had in mind was far beyond stupid, perhaps even worse.

You spent the rest of the day with Thoma, that was obviously flirting with you, untile came the time to go back to the Kamisato Estate.

Once home, you politely thanked Thoma for keeping you company during the day and the immediately went to your room. You opened the door.

"Welcome back, sweetheart ~" You shouted the door behind you, with eyes wide open. "H-heizou..?!" There he was, laying comfortably on your bed with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Mm? What's that expression? Aren't you happy to see your lovely boyfriend~?" He said, sitting up on the edge of you bed, with a smug smirk on his face.

"What are you doing here?! Are you insane?!" You say, crossing your arms on your chest, glaring at him. "Insanely in love with you, sweetie~" He answered, as he stood up stretching his arms. "Your bed is really comfortable, I should come over more often.." He says.

You felt you cheeks going red. "Heizou don't avoid my question. Why are you here." You said. Heizou just laughed at you "Aw you are so red right now. So cute.." He started approaching you. "Answer me." You say, but he just grinned again, stopping a few inches away from you. "Why I don't show you instead?"

He grabbed you by your waist, pulling your body against his. Your faces are now a few inches away. You already closed your eyes hoping for a kiss, but it wasn't coming. Instead you heard Heizou's sweet laugh. "You want me to kiss you don't ya? Adorable... But I don't know. Lately you spend a lot of time with your new friend instead of me. What's his name now? Thoma?" You glared at him. "If you want me to kiss those delicious lips of yours, you'll have to tell me how much you want me to do so."

Your jaw dropped hearing those words. Was he really going to act like that with you? But your desire was much more bigger than your pride. "I want you to kiss me so badly, please..." He smirked at you, satisfied. "Badly you say? Mm let me ndulge you then~" He kissed you, sliding him tounge in your mouth, exploring every inch of it as if he never did so already. You moaned in his mouth, closing your eyes, surrending to the pleasant feeling.

Soon you felt Heizou pulling away just for roughly pinning you against the wall. The impact made a loud noise. "H-heizou! W-what if someone caught us?" He grinned. "If that means to let your new friend, and all the Kamisato Estate know that you are mine, then let it be." You looked at him, smirking. "Mm? Are you jealous Heizou?" Heizou stared deep into your eyes, before kissing you again, interwining his lips with yours, tasting them like the sweetest snack on Teyvat.

Suddenly the door opened. "Y/n..! Are you ok?! I heard a loud noise and I was worried about you-- H-huh?!" Thoma's face became red at the sight of Heizou, pinning you against the wall with his knee between your legs and your hands above your head, kissing you so hungrily and roughly.

You both stopped. Heizou just turned his head to properly look at Thoma. They just looked at each other, you didn't even talk, you were too busy at trying to catch your breath anyway--

Thoma just walked out of your room, closing the door and locking it. Heizou turned his head at you again, kissing the tip of your nose. "Now let's continue what we were doing, shall we~?" He grinned again. "I'll show everyone who you belong to."

That night, your screams in pleasure were filling the walls of the Kamisato Estate, and your room happens to be next to Thoma's.

And from that day, Thoma never dared to get too close to you again

---------------------------♡︎--------------------------

4. Thoma is jealous of Ayato.

Thoma was an amazing boyfriend. He trusts you a lot, rarely gets jealous over you, treats you like you were a royal.. He truly is great and you love him so much.

The keyword in this paragraph is: rarely

You two planned to meet up in front of the Kamisato Estate, and go together to the Komore Teahouse and have lunch together, but you were stuck in your office, dealing with an amount of paperwork.

You also work for the Kamisato Clan, but it wasn't easy for you to get free time like Thoma. You weren't a maid, or an home cleaner, like your boyfriend. Oh no, you were the personal secretary of the head of the Kamisato Clan, Your lord Kamisato Ayato.

Even if you were constantly busy with meetings and paperwork you didn't mind your work, actually Ayato has always been so kind and thoughtful to you. He makes sure to not give you too much work to handle by yourself, and prepares you tea when he sees that you are overworking yourself just to make you take a break.

But today, you avoided every chance of slowing down with your work, you needed to finish to fill all your documents before lunch time.

You actually managed to end your paperwork, so you quickly headed out of the Kamisato Estate, to meet Thoma and walk together to the Komore Teahouse... but there wasn't anyone.

'Maybe he is late because he isn't already done with his daily tasks' you though.

So you decided to stand there and wait for him.

"[Name]? What are you doing here all alone?" You turned towards the voice, and to your surprise, it wasn't Thoma, but Ayato. "Oh? Greetings, my Lord. I'm just waiting for Thoma, we were supposed to meet up here and head to the Komore Teahouse together.. Buy he seem to be late.." You say, with a tone of sadness in your voice.

Ayato smiled at you, "He was training with Ayaka, I'm sure they will be done soon enough for him to join you in time. Why don't you let me accompany you? I'm sure he will reach us soon. I can't certainly leave you here waiting alone, can't I?"

You simply smiled awkwardly. "No no, I don't want you to waste your time, you sure have a lot of things to do right now.."

"I insist, you are not wasting my time, I'd rather spend my time with you that in my office, please allow me to." Your smile grew wider, thanking him gratefully and soon you started walk together.

Ayato was such a polite and nice guy, you always thought that. The time spent walking with him flew without you nothing, in fact you were already in front of the Komore Teahouse.. You kept talking with Ayato, smiling and laughing softly at his nice jokes.

"Y/n! Here you are! Sorry if I made you wait so much-- M-My lord?!" You turned towards the owner of that sweet-like-honey voice.

"Thoma! you are finally here!" You said, as your eyes started sparkling at the sight of your lover. Thoma was also very happy to see you, but not alone, in the company of Ayato.

"Goodmorning Thoma." Ayato said, with his soft light voice.

"Ayato was just keeping me company-- Oh! My Lord, why don't you join us? eating together will be great! So I can repay you for your kindness!" You say smiling.

Thoma's expression drops a little, this was supposed to be his date with you. He felt some weird heavy feeling inside his chest, he felt the need of telling Ayato to go away and not get in the way of you two. But he is a caring boyfriend after all, he is fine with whatever makes you happy.

Ayato noticed his sadder expression, and the storm in his eyes. "I'm sorry y/n, but as much as i would like to have lunch with you i must decline your gentle offer. I have some important matters to take care off. I'll take my leave, i wish you both a nice day."

Ayato left, and you both entered the Komore Teahouse, sitting at your table next to each other.

"What a shame... I really was hoping that he would accept my offer.." You said, in a warm tone. Thoma just nodded, looking away. You turned to look at your lover, but he avoided you eyes. He never did something like this.

Something was clearly off.

Wait was he...

You cupped Thoma's face in your hands, forcing him to look at you. He looked at you with confusion on his face, you just smiled at him as you started showering him with kisses all over his beautiful face.

"You just figured it out huh? I can't hide anything to you my love.. Yet I don't deserve all these kisses. Jealousy is an ugly emotion. I trust you a lot and I'm not supposed to be jealousy but.."

He stopped. You kisses him on his forehead, telling him with your eyes, that it was okay to talk about that. He took a deep breath and smiled at you.

"Fine... Well... I got jealous when I saw you smiling so genuinely with Ayato. I want to be the only one able to make you smile like that. I'm just scared that one day you will realize that I can't give you what Ayato can.. I don't come from a prestigious family, I'm not rich neither popular. I don't want to lose you! You are just... Perfect! I want to be worthy of your lo--- mmh!"

Now you kisses him on his lips, capturing his breath to shut him up.

"Don't say something like that ever again. I don't care if Ayato is rich and everything. I love you, Thoma. You are all I want and need. With you I'm the happiest person in Teyvat" You said, looking deep in his beautiful eyes. And in that moment Thoma knew that you were the right one for him.

[yourwildsimp]

dreams and daiquiris

includes: Ghost, Soap, Price

warnings: nightmares, PTSD, graphic gore, mention and brief depiction of suicide

length: 6,008

summary: Ghost can't stop dreaming, always. They're getting bad. He's loosing pieces of himself and he can't take it anymore. Luckily, Soap is there, ready and waiting with two fancy glasses.

A/N: Make sure to look over the warnings! Anyways, this may or may jot be a vent post... Of you squint... A lot. Also, don't "take care" of yourself like Simon jfc

"Hell's bells, it's bloody boilin' oot there," Johnny whines, stretching himself out on the scratched up wooden floor with a groan. He's long since forgone his shirt, the top tossed carelessly somewhere over the couch. "Th' floor ain't even braw nae more."

"English, MacTavish."

Soap gives him a rather crude look. 

"It's really fuckin' hot. Floor isn't cold," he spits, the anger more directed at the sun rather than Ghost. "Ah just ken yer aboot to burn, L.T," Soap stresses, ruling onto his stomach.

"Can it, Johnny."

Although in all fairness, Soap is right. Ghost's mask is a sopping puddle at the base of his neck, under his jaw, and around his hairline. The desert isn't exactly accepting of black cloth wrapped around his face.

He doesn't know why they're here, doesn't know their mission and the details and whatnot, but he does know Johnny is with him. 

That's all he cares about.

He busies himself with cleaning his rifle, back to Soap as he keeps his eyes on the void-like horizon out of the window.

"Ghost…" Johnny whines, and Ghost rolls his eyes, ignoring him.

The heat is unbearable as is, he doesn't need bitching along with it.

"L.t." Johnny says again, voice high and tight. "'t's hot…"

Ghost huffs obnoxiously to get his point across for Johnny to shut the hell up.

"It hurts, Simon."

And, fuck, that pinched and ragged tone, the way Johnny's fighting for every word, makes Ghost whip around so fast he might have whiplash.

"Johnny-"

The words get caught in his throat, and he can't breathe anymore. 

Soap's burning. 

Johnny is on fire.

"Johnny!" The name tears from him before he can help it, and he's scrambling from the window to save him and-

Christ, Soap is screaming. Screaming bloody murder as the smell of charred flesh and thick smoke fill up the safe house. He's screaming and screaming and burning and Simon can't stop him, can't put him out-

Johnny is going to die.

He rushes to the sink, stumbling over himself on the way there, but the faucet is busted and dry as the desert they're in.

The screaming isn't stopping, not even letting up, and he's going to go deaf with the sound of Johnny fucking burning alive.

All of a sudden, Ghost is screaming too. He is in agony, his shoulder flaring up with the heat of the sun. He forces himself to turn around, to find why it hurts so much.

Soap is grabbing at him, at his shoulders, scrambling for a hold but… He isn't Soap anymore. He's not Johnny. 

But Ghost knows him.

It's a civilian, one from years ago. A young boy, barely twelve. And he's still fucking on fire.

"Why didn't you save me?!" the boy screams, reaching for Ghost, reaching to set him ablaze, reaching for help.

"I-" and Ghost is gagging on the smell of burned flesh. His throat burns with it, eyes water, and he blinks through it to look around.

I tried.

"Why didn't you save us?!" 

And Ghost screws his eyes shut, trying not to breathe.

I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry.

He hears the boy choke on his last breath, hears him crumble into the dust. He makes the mistake of forcing his eyes open, to see where they are, to find Johnny again. 

There are people all around him, each one of them lit up like a bonfire.

He's with Roba again. 

Simon can feel the way his heart drops.

Please, not again. I can't go through this again.

Simon starts to run- run as fast as his legs will let him.

He doesn't get far.

He screams when a metal hook tears through his back and out in front of his ribs. Caught, like a fish on a line.

His fingers claw at the dirt, the screams now choking in his throat as he dragged backwards, back towards the burning, towards him.

Roba pulls him closer, like he were nothing more than a tug-of-war rope. And no matter how hard Simon claws into the dirt, how hard he forces himself to breath through the agony, how hard he begs-

He can't escape.

Simom wakes up screaming so loudly that he can feel it tearing the inside of his throat raw. With the tail end of a plea on his lips, he crashes to the floor, his legs tangled up all kinds of ways in his thin sheets.

Christ alive, he can't breathe. He can't even move and fuck-

One of his hands clutch at his pounding heart while the other claws against the floor in hopes of escaping him.

He needs to get away, needs to get out of here as fast as possible- but his legs won't move right and he can only crawl so far with one lousy hand and he just can't get any traction-

The door slams open, rattling on its hinges, and the room floods with blinding light. Someone's yelling, and he barely makes out, "Get down!"

Simon can't see. He can't see. Can't move or breathe and some is yelling, and he's fucking terrified, so he buries his head in his hands and curls up into a ball the best he can.

He feels like he needs to vomit out whatever is caught in his throat so he can catch a breath, to rip his heart out of his chest just so it'll slow down, to carve out his brain so the screaming will stop.

"Ghost?! Creepin' Jesus, what's-" 

"Ghost? Ghost where-" the yelling pauses, catches itself in the air before settling into a low, hurried, murmur. "Ah, hell- Simon…" The door cracks almost shut, and the voice orders, "Go on back to your barracks! False alarm, everything's fine." 

But it's not. It's not fucking fine because he knows he knows that voice, but he can't place it, can't stop hyperventilating to put a face to it-

The voice doesn't speak up again, and there's footsteps, a few, that shuffle away and down the hall. 

And, eventually, somewhere in the midst of the calming chaos, his ears stop ringing. The high pitched whining fades away, and after a moment, his vision slowly clears. The black fuzz in his peripherals let up and nothing is blurry. He blinks, and notices the lights in the room aren't as assaulting. 

"You with me, soldier?" Price murmurs from where he's crouched down across the room. 

Simon opens his mouth to say he's fine, but all he can do is choke on his breath.

"Hey there, easy, Simon. You're alright," Price soothes, a sad look in his eyes. "Just breathe, kid. No rush."

¤¤¤¤¤

When he does calm down and he's no longer in his head, he speaks. His voice is gravelly and raw and it hurts just a bit, but Ghost speaks.

"What was with the bloody search party? Everyone wakes up yellin' now and then. Comes with the fuckin' territory."

Price presses his lips into a thin line as he hands Ghost his mask.

"Yeah, but not everyone begs for their life. Certainly not you, Simon." The name earns him a harsh, tired glare.

"I wasn't…" he feels his lips curl down more without his permission, the nightmare still whispering its giggles in the back of his mind. "I wasn't begging for anything. I don't beg."

Price gives him an odd look, one he's seen before but can't quite place. 

He's fucking sick of that, not being able to place what he's experienced before.

"What were you dreaming about?"

Ghost clenches his jaw instantly, trapping his confession far behind his teeth. He beats the words down until they are nothing but a speck deep inside. Buries them together into the ground, in an unmarked grave, in the middle of nowhere.

Price runs a slightly shaking hand through his tousled hair and sighs, "Don't do this to yourself anymore. Just one word, that's all I need." 

Ghost closes his eyes, and the image of Johnny and the boy and flames and the hook flash in the darkness. He shoots them open and feels his breath stutter in his throat. 

Ghost can't. He won't. He's not that god damn pathetic.

"It's alright, son."

Fuck it all. 

What else is he supposed to do but talk? How can he say nothing when Price talks to him like that? Like he's worth waking up for?

"Roba," he whispers like a curse.

And Price understands, because of course he does. 

¤¤¤¤¤

He has another terrible one within the next week.

It's his fault this time. He should know better- he does know better.

It's all because tries to sleep with a weighted blanket. 

Ghost figures he needs a tiny, controllable change. Besides, he read somewhere that the weight would help him sleep soundly.

God knows he needs a good night's rest.

So he wills himself to go out into the world off base and brave his local 24 hour convenience store for the stupid thing. He buys the first one he sees that isn't psychedelic and bleeding with color. It weighs a good 20 pounds through the whole blanket, but Ghost figures he's a lot to cover.

After an odd look from the short man at the register, Ghost goes back to the base to call it a day, a bit bitter from the silent interaction.

So what if he buys blankets an hour after midnight? Piss off.

He just… Wants to sleep everything away.

And so he tucks in for the night, hopeful, swapping the military grade sheet for his new weighted blanket that, actually, is quite nice. Eventually, after forcing every muscle to relax one by one, he falls blissfully asleep.

Soap's stupid mohawk was a mess of blood as he was dragged, kicking and begging, through the mud. Ghost was murdering men left and right to get to him, killing without a thought to save him, the blood soaking into his hands, leaving nothing but thin scars behind. 

And then he sees it; the all too familiar grave. Unmarked and hardly four feet, just like he remembers.

And the Sergeant- Soap, MacTavish, John, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny- is carelessly tossed like a rag doll right into that grave.

And Ghost dives after him.

He has to save him because he couldn't save everyone else.

He has to.

But he can't.

Now that they're here, he can't get them out.

The dirt is piling on top of them too quickly, and he can't dig them free fast enough and Johnny is screaming and crying and fighting and-

And then he's silent. Quiet as the earth.

Ghost searches for him, wide-eyed despite the dirt all around him. And he sees. He sees his Johnny.

Sees that he's a corpse. 

Rotted, at that. Old- days old, at least. There's no grin on his melted face anymore, no glint of mischief in his rolling eyes.

Ghost is too late. None of his sacrifices matter. 

Still, he tries. 

He tries to get out, scrapes and digs and hopes to get free, get on top, look down at the grass.

But he's only getting deeper- so, so much deeper- into the ground and he doesn't know why, he doesn't understand how-

It's Soap. It's Johnny. He's digging the wrong way, rotted flesh and tiny bones scraping in the wrong direction.

"Other way!" Simon shouts past the dirt in his mouth. 

And John stops, skin sliding off of his face as he rattles his bones at Simon, unable to talk with his lips a puddle in the hole they're in. But he sees it, Johnny's wicked smile of teeth and a touch of gums. 

Hears it, when he speaks into his brain: Oh? But, Simon, hell is this way.

¤¤¤¤¤

He's going to personally hunt down the author of the book that told him weighted blankets were a good idea.

Hell, maybe they are a good idea. At least, for anyone who doesn't dream of being buried alive.

The clock tells him it's been hardly two hours, but his body says it's been a lifetime. 

Everything aches, more than normal, but he can't manage to sit still with these nerves eating at his skin. It feels like he's clutching a live wire instead of his pillow that's planted in front of his stomach and held up by his arms and knees.

It's going to be a long fucking day.

¤¤¤¤¤

He was right.

The day drags on forever.

By the end of it, Ghost considers killing everyone in the building, and then himself.

He feels too big for his skin, like he has to shed it like a snake, grow another one that's a better fit. Every breath he takes, he forces it to be slow and deliberate, focusing on filling his lungs completely. 

Ghost spends most of the day in the gym. He tried working on what little paper work he's yet to do, but the words kept blending together and dancing from the page. And even if he wrangled them back, they weren't sticking. He had to read the same line four or five times in a row because his brain decided that English wasn't going to work today.

So he stays his ass in the gym.

Can't think if everything hurts, can you?

He starts with the treadmill and sprints for a mile, until his knees threaten to give way and he nearly slips. He moves, shaking, to the bench press, and makes the choice to work on lighter weights so he doesn't need a spotter. When that isn't clearing his mind, he makes his final destination the punching bag.

Maybe he gets lost in his head regardless. Maybe he loses himself. Maybe he bends a finger.

He only stops when Price practically drags him into the kitchen, still sweaty and gross and dead on his feet.

It wouldn't have been all too bad, if Price had kept the silence going.

"Therapy is a normal thing, Ghost, especially in this line of work. Everyone on the task force goes, even Kate."

And Ghost knows this. He knows how much it has helped Soap through the aftermath of Las Almas and Hassan and everything before, in between, and after. 

Ghost knows therapy worked for them. 

And he knows he's too damaged for therapy to fix. 

Ghost moves his jaw just enough to pass as a nod, just to appease Price.

He can't find the honey for his tea and he's just a breath away from giving up on it and heading to the sniper range with a raw throat and trembling hands.

He doesn't understand where the honey went. It was right here. He left it right here yesterday morning. It's always right here. Always. 

So where the fuck is it?

Price makes a noise, something between clearing his throat and huffing.

Ghost faces him at it, and snags the small container of honey before Price can question him. 

Fucks sake, he almost spiralled because of honey.

He's pathetic.

"Where was it?" he murmurs, because it'll drive him up the wall for the rest of the day if he doesn't know.

"On the counter, Ghost. Near the fridge. No need to get ansty over it," Price answers easily before adding just as quick, "you know, I could enforce that therapy be mandatory."

"You wouldn't." 

Price wouldn't.

Right?

"But I could."

"You could do anything, sir."

"Except help you, apparently."

"I don't need any help."

"You did with Roba."

The tea scalds his hand when he spills it all over the counter. Seeps into his glove and threatens to burn him alive, and he grits his teeth hard enough to feel his jaw creak. He pulls the glove off with his other shaking hand, and gives a once over to his pale hand that's now quickly turning an irritated shade of pink.

"Simon, at least think about it," Price sighs with the weight of the world. He's already carefully cleaning the hot tea from the counter.

"I have," Ghost bites, moving to the sink.

Price goes quiet as the cool water from the tap runs lightly over Ghost's hand, over his oddly bent finger. Ghost hopes that the conversation is over. He knows it's not.

"New orders, soldier."

Ghost takes a breath, stiffening and resisting the muscle memory of moving at attention, or at least parade rest.

"Sir?"

"You're drinking with the 141 at the end of this month."

Ghost lets himself whip his head around, and he can feel the fire in his eyes, the protest on his tongue.

"Don't cut me off."

And Ghost clenches his jaw to shut himself up. 

Price hardly ever pulls rank on his team; he doesn't need to, with the respect the 141 has for him regardless. This? This right here is the closest he ever gets.

Price quietly huffs, looking over Ghost's hand that's still under running cool water. 

Price holds the tone he always has when he's discussing the workings of a mission. "You'll drink with us, here on base in Soap's office. You'll try to enjoy yourself. Then, after two hours, you can peel off. Fuck about for all I care, but stay involved for two hours, at lease. Understood?" 

Ghost thinks the old man has gone fucking senile.

"Understood."

"Involved, Ghost. Offer your two cents here. Say a shitty joke there. Have a drink or two."

"Sir."

Price huffs again, his mustache twitching with the force of it. He carefully cradles Ghost's burned hand. He's got a rag, wets it with the cool water, and lays it gingerly over Ghost's hand. 

"Just… Consider it, Simon. Really, this time." Price murmurs, patting Ghost's shoulder with his dry hand. "And get your ass to medical before you terrorize the gym again."

Ghost doesn't know if he wants to strangle the man or hug him. 

¤¤¤¤¤

They're standing on Ghost's favorite watch tower, Soap and Ghost, overlooking the quiet woods behind the base. 

Johnny had wanted to see his knife collection, and for some godforsaken reason, Ghost shows him.

And as Ghost hands Johnny his favorite one, perfectly balanced and sharper than the devil's tongue, Johnny speaks something dangerous.

"I love you, Simon."

And Simon startles, gasps quietly as his heart beats faster and faster.

Is that just how it is? Effortlessly said, as if those words haven't been plaguing him for months? As if it's really just that easy? 

Simon hopes so. Hopes that it comes naturally to him like it does to Johnny.

But he knows better than to hope.

There's not love in the world for people like him.

"Let me show you how much I love you," Johnny beams, switching his grip on Ghost's knife.

"Johnny…?"

Johnny stabs himself just above his navel with Ghost's knife, the slick shhk of the blade echoing in the abyss as Simon can do nothing but watch. 

Blood pools over John's hips, down his strong legs, puddles at his feet, but the man is standing there, smiling and looking at Simon like he just hung the moon. 

"John- Johnny," Simon forces, rising from his spot on the ground, trembling hands refusing to move from his sides.

"I have a gift for you," John smiles, like he isn't forcing the blade up his torso, carving himself open like a fish. He flexes what's left of his abs, and his small intestines tumble out of him like a massive snake. They fall on the floor at first, but a section somewhere in the middle tips over the side, and gravity sends the organ free falling from the edge of the watchtower, and his large intestines peek out from behind John's flesh. "Ready for it?"

Simon doesn't speak. He can't, mesmerized by how Johnny's free hand pulls the rest of his intestines free like they were as normal as rope.

Johnny then holds the bloodied blade between his teeth, taints those perfectly pearly whites, and uses both hands to dig inside himself.

His left kidney, maybe his pancreas, and his liver are carelessly tossed onto the floor. And Johnny is still smiling at him from beyond that knife. Standing there playing Operation on himself with hearts in his fucking eyes. 

With a handful of yanks, his lungs are pulled free, dropped to the floor like the others. They're still functioning, too; expanding and relaxing, providing oxygen for a body a yard away. 

And then finally, finally, he tugs his heart out of place with a fond chuckle from behind the blade.

He passes Ghost his heart tenderly, both of John's hands cradling it like it was the most precious thing in the world. And, fuck, it is. Of course it is. Simon tenderly takes the still-beating heart into one of his hands. The rhythmic beating of it sings to Simon, lulls him into a trace.

It's not bloody, Simon notices numbly. It almost seems to be glowing, even. Perfect and radiant and lively, all beautifully John Mactavish. 

And Ghost crushes it. 

Closes his hand in a fist so suddenly, so violently, that Soap's heart practically explodes. 

He doesn't feel a thing when he does so. Blanky watches as Soap's face pales impossibly further, and his lungs, that are still on the floor, stop filling up. 

Soap's dying.

He's murdered Johnny without a second thought.

Funny, how that works.

He really is a monster.

Simon wakes up with wet cheeks and blurry eyes. He gasps, shaking and silent. Tears slip down his face again when he blinks away the teasing remnants of the dream.

He gets his bearings together relatively quickly, but not even honeyed tea could stop the shaking in his hands.

He avoids Mactavish for the entire day.

It comes with a little bit of trouble, as the man sticks to him like glue, but Ghost manages. It's his job to disappear, to be a ghost, to be dead.

But fucking hell, maybe Mactavish is a medium.

Ghost will catch glimpses of him, in the mess, in the bath, in the gym, the range, the track, the gym again, the barracks hallway, near Price's office- everywhere.

He eventually gets cornered when he has to take a fucking piss.

Ghost hears Soap coming from miles away, but it doesn't matter. The determination in the man's steps alone make him huff as he tucks himself away. 

Hell, Ghost is already running from his past. Adding MacTavish to that list isn't helping him.

He starts washing his hands the best he can with the small splint medical gave him when he feel eyes on his back.

"Sergeant," he murmurs.

There's a scoff, full of bravado and vinegar. "Lieutenant."

Ghost feels his jaw shift as he cuts the water to dry his hands. The bitterness in his chest at the title, foreign coming from Johnny, processes. 

He's being hypocritical. This is how Johnny must feel.

"Can I help you?" Ghost says anyway.

"Can I help ye, he says," Soap grin to himself but it doesn't reach his eyes, doesn't sit right with his snarky tone. "Aye, ye can bother t' explain why ye've been dodgin' me like th' bloody plague."

Because I don't want to hurt you.

Because you're important. 

Because I'm scared.

Ghost sniffs once, tossing the paper towels into the trash.

"Need some time to myself. Ain't nothin' personal, Johnny."

At that, Soap loses some of that tension in his shoulders, stops looking like a caged dog. He lets out the smallest of breaths.

"Aye…" he murmurs, hesitating. He licks over his bottom lip- Johnny often does that when he isn't sure what to say, tries to taste the words before deciding to serving them out or not- and takes a glance at the suddenly interesting floor. "Just… ah'm here, ye know? If… Ah don't know… If ye don't want time to yerself for too long."

"Yeah…" Simon lets out, accidentally. He recovers quickly, or tries to, anyway. "We'll see."

And Johnny licks his lips again, after a quiet nod. But he doesn't say anything. Maybe he didn't like the taste of his words this time.

¤¤¤¤¤

He dreams again and again. Always, he dreams. 

Most recently, he dreams of Johnny.

Simon can't stand it. 

It's affecting his waking moments now. It's making him affect Soap's waking moments.

After dreaming of that night in Chicago, of missing that shot on Hassan, of watching, hearing Johnny fall just about 50 stories to his death, Ghost spent a week straight making sure Soap stayed away from the high watch towers. He went as far as swapping patrols or having something 'suddenly come up' that 'needs the Sergeant right fucking now'.

After dreaming of missing Hassan, and shooting Johnny, he trained for hours and hours straight at the sniper range, foregoing meals and drinks and piss breaks just to make sure that his aim was perfect every time. Soap was forced to waste his evening by slowly convincing Simon that enough was enough, that he needed to eat, drink water, and get some fucking rest. 

After dreaming that Johnny blew up into dozens of pieces of meat chunks protecting him, Simon had a panic attack when Soap was at the demo-range and an explosion went off. Despite not even a cut on him, Ghost forced Soap to medical (once his own breathing was stable enough). He banned an outraged Soap from the range for two days.

Once, he dreamed that Johnny killed himself. Put a barrel in his mouth and looked at Simon. Pulled the trigger without hesitating. Simon knew, just knew, it was his fault.

After every dream of Johnny dying in front of him, or worse, by his hands, Simon crumbles. Loses another piece of himself.

He doesn't know how many pieces of himself he has left to lose.

¤¤¤¤¤

When the night comes to drink, Ghost considers going AWOL. 

Thinks about staying true to his call sign and vanishing into thin air, never seen again. He plans it out, even, knows what little to bring, what time to leave, where to walk to.

He stares at the mask he wears on base, just the balaclava with the infamous skull print. His gloved thumb runs over where a piece of the jaw design is cracking. He shifts his own jaw in time with his thumb.

Maybe there's no Simon left, he thinks, delusional. 

Maybe it's just Ghost, after everything.

Now would be the time to slip away, Ghost reminds himself, and his grip on the mask tightens, threateningly pulling at the jaw bone design.

Now.

He slips the mask over his head, and slowly breathes. He considers.

The faint smell of cigar smoke worms its way under his door and into his room. He hears Gaz laugh somewhere down the hallway, hears Soap's soft footsteps padding towards his room.

No. 

He stands wearily, takes another deliberate breath, and stalks to the door.

There's a knock, just as his hand reaches for the knob. A familiar pattern, one that makes him force a feeling that could possibly be described as giddiness down into the abyss behind his ribcage. 

Knock, knock, knock-knock, knock.

He could still run. Now's the very last chance he'll get. Johnny won't let him out of his sights when this night starts. Ghost should vanish- it's now or never.

He swallows past the sting of bile in his throat and returns with a quiet knock of his own.

Knock, knock.

He hears Soap laugh quietly on the other side.

Never, he choses. Never.

Ghost opens his door, and there is Soap, leaning against the wall with a grin so wide that it could crack his face. His eyes brighten when he sees Ghost. His grin drops a little when he sees what look Simon has in his eyes.

Johnny furrows his brows slightly, darts his eyes up and down in a quick one-two. 

Ye alreit?

Ghost shifts his jaw before steps into Johnny's space, just a little.

I'll be fine.

Johnny squints at him before dropping the silent conversation. He pushes himself off the wall and starts talking about a new project he's working on at the demolitions range. 

Ghost follows him to his office, and hangs on every word.

¤¤¤¤¤

Soap's 'office' is more of a play room than anything, all regulation thrown to the wind.

Spotless, but filled with personal trinkets and such. Soap reminds Ghost of a crow, collecting little shiny things to bring home to show others. It would be almost cute if Ghost would allow himself to think that way. 

Gaz isn't here, though. Neither is Price or Laswell, or anyone else.

Just him and Johnny. 

He doesn't think about it too much, because if he does, he knows it's the old man's fault.

Johnny doesn't pay any mind to the lack of the other three, and instead buries his head around his thousand-and-some shelves to find 'the right glasses'. 

"What are we drinkin'?" Ghost asks when the sound of rummaging starts to grate on his nerves.

"Oh, he does speak. Bless th' Saints, ah thought ye went mute,'' Johnny grins at him. Ghost narrows his eyes. Maybe he should have ran. The hum Johnny gives while pretending to think on it, possibly, changes his mind again. "Daiquiris," he settles on.

"What?"

"Ye know, those fruity, fancy cocktails."

Ghost could walk out the door right now. He should. 

"Fuckin' hell, Johnny," Ghost drawls, casting his gaze to the draw that seemed to be the one Johnny was looking for, if his air fist bump was anything to go by. He pulls out two daiquiris glasses, one of them clear around the middle up and with the base a cool blue. The other- "What the fuck."

Johnny laughs at that and holds the other glass up proudly. It's hot pink with a little touch of purple at the rim and with a mini pink boa scarf at the base.

"Don't like it?" Johnny grins so bright it feels like Ghost is getting flashbanged.

"You would have that," he murmured instead.

"Yeah, yeah. Yer lucky 'm givin' ye the blue one. Gotta keep up yer masculine image, eh?" 

"Whatever you say, Johnny," Ghost huffs, settling into the plush spare seat across from the desk. "Make it strong, yeah?"

Johnny hums quietly, his eyes lingering on Ghost's face.

Two hours. That's all he needs before he's calling it a night and fucking off. 

¤¤¤¤¤

He doesn't know exactly when he got drunk, but he does know that he ended up with the pink glass two drinks ago. Maybe four. 

Johnny isn't wasted like him; the fucker's been nursing his second drink for about an hour. 

Right, fuck, he was supposed to leave…

He forces his eyes to drag up to the oddly silent clock on the wall. Ghost remembers Johnny telling him all about how he managed to rig the clock in a way the ticking sound doesn't happen. He said it drove him bat shit crazy, having to hear it over and over again. It was adorable.

Fuck, no, he needs to focus. The clock, the time. 

Ghost tries again, squinting at it for extra measure. 

Jesus, he was supposed to be out of here three hours ago. 

"Ye alreit?" Johnny asks from his spot next to Ghost on the floor. Ghost hums at him in question. "I asked if ye're alreit, Ghost."

Ghost blinks at him, considering the question for an awfully long time, long enough for Johnny to sit up and gain that adorable furrow between his eyebrows.

"L.t? Seriously, are ye okay?"

He takes a small breath.

"Nah," he offers simply, running his hand through his tousled hair. 

Simon dropped the mask all of thirty minutes ago. He finally got pissed off about having it bunched up on his nose and abandoned the thing.

Johnny blinked at him a time or two, the gears turning in his head at Ghost actually being honest.

"No?"

"Yeah, no."

Johnny blinks again and that furrow grows.

"Yes?"

"Nah."

"No?"

"Yeah," Simon grins at the stupidness of the conversation. 

Johnny shakes his head with an exasperated sigh. 

"Alreit, what th' fuck," Johnny tosses his hands up.

And Simon laughs.

He doesn't know that he is laughing until his sides ache with it. Johnny's laughing too, at first in disbelief and then with Simon at the situation. And when Simon comes down from a high he hasn't felt in decades, Johnny is staring at him- through him, deep into what's left of his soul. 

"Wha'," Simon slurs, lips morphing into an odd, lazy grin.

"Nothin'."

"Nothin'?"

"Aye." Johnny's eyes linger lightly at his mouth before they harden and he sits up a bit. "Hell, Si, ye've got me all side tracked. This is important."

"Wha's important?"

"Ye are. Ye not bein' alreit," Johnny insists.

"Ah, sure," he murmurs, laying his head back on the side of Soap's desk.

"Ah'm serious," Johnny shifts closer, and Simon's eyes open lazily. "Why aren't ye alreit, Simon?"

Simon.

The abomination almost sounds pretty coming out of Johnny's mouth. 

Ghost gets his shit together.

"You wanna know?" Ghost rasps, drinking the rest of his too-sweet daiquiri in his too-frilly glass. 

"Aye. If ye'd tell me."

And Ghost gathers his drifting thoughts, pieces them together as he breathes slowly.

"I have killed you… Countless times." Ghost waves his hand simply, almost like he were shooing a fly. "Shot you, stabbed you, lit you on fuckin' fire, made you-" he forces a sharp breath. "Made you off yourself, just like that." His throat is getting tight, and he lifts the glass to his scarred lips again, knowing damn well it was empty. 

"Simon," Johnny breathes, slow and steady hands taking the glass from him to set it aside. His hands return quickly, and it's placed on top of Simon's.

"I don't- I won't take it anymore." A sob desperately tries punches through Simon, and he covers his face like the coward he is. "I want to hold you, want to have you, Johnny."

And the fucking gleam in Johnny's eyes could fly Simon to the moon and makes him bring back arm fulls of stars for him. 

"But- but everything I touch dies. And I can't… can't lose you to myself." The sob tries Simon again, and this time, it wins. He's crying, and he doesn't know how to stop, and it scares him. Scares him so badly that he can't do anything but press the heels of his palms into his eyes. He doesn't care that Johnny's hand falls away.

Really. He doesn't. Not… Not at all.

Christ, he is absolutely shameless.

Seriously, has he no pride? Breaking down over a couple of dreams? Crying in front of his Sergeant?

He feels his teeth grind together, feels his skull build up with the pressure of a thousand words, and by God and the devil, he has to let at least some out before they kill him.

"They felt so fuckin' real," he seethes past his locked jaw. "Woke up sometimes, 'n' I didn't bloody know if you were really dead or not. Felt like seein' a ghost everytime we passed."

Johnny's hand comes back, steady and tender, and guides Simon to lessen the pressure on his eyes. 

Past the blur left over from the tears and the force, he catches Johnny licking his bottom lip.

"Ah'm not dead. Ye've touched me and ah'm still breathin' jus' fine, Simon. Promise- Swear I am," Johnny carefully caresses Ghost's forearm. "Ah'm not goin' anywhere." He grins a little. "Yer not that lucky to get rid'a me."

Simon takes a deep breath, one that shakes his rib cage and stretches his lungs. With Johnny's encouragement, he breathes slowly. 

"Yeah," he murmurs, leaning his shoulder on Johnny's.

"Aye," Johnny agrees, leaning in time with him.

They sit there for some time, taking each other in, feeling each other's warmth. Simon nearly doses off to the feeling of Johnny's chest rising and falling. 

"Yer gonna have a hell of a hangover tomorrow," Johnny chuckles, combing through Simon's hair.

And, honestly, Simon is powerless against the chuckle that breaks through. 

[anotherfuckingmarvelfanaccount]

Clint’s Birthday (Clint Barton x Reader)

Y’all, this literally took so long for me to figure out, and then with me being back to school and everything, I didn’t even have time to try. But, today, after I had two different math tests, I mustered enough brain cells not to ask for another fic by wonderful writers, but to finish the one I started immediately after posting Tony’s Birthday.

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, reader is Clint’s wife, canon until after AoU bc there was no need for CA:CW, reader has long enough hair that she puts it up while fighting (could just be a clip or a short pony tail depending on the length of your hair), mentions of a miscarriage being a potential outcome to the pregnancy, Clint asks if they’re going to keep the baby, Vision not having a filter, and probably more but I don’t think anything should need a trigger warning or something to that effect. 

I’m gonna say it again though, reader is Clint’s wife, and she is pregnant, there are mentions of possibly losing the baby with as early as they are in the pregnancy, and Clint does ask if they’re going to keep the baby. If any of these topics are triggering to you, do not read this.

Word Count: 3266

Summary: While dealing with the major threat that Thanos has become, what will you do when you find out that you’re pregnant? What will happen when the Avengers find out?

Married to Clint Barton, archer extraordinaire for the last 7 years brought a lot of dumb shit your way. As an agent of SHIELD yourself, you met Clint when Fury paired you up for your first mission together. Take down an assassin in Budapest. Obviously, you took a different route and brought Natasha to Fury, having her join SHIELD with the both of you. That mission you met your best friend, and your soon to be boyfriend. 

You had met Thor when he came to Earth, as well as Tony Stark when Natasha was working for him, but you had your own mission, helping Captain America adjust to the world. This had made Clint extremely, yet understandably, jealous since you were teaching the Captain America about everything he had missed while being frozen for 70 years. And while you could admit that Steve was an attractive man, you loved Clint so much that you didn’t know how to breathe without him some days. Steve was more like an older brother to you anyways, and he was always willing to protect you, including the first time he had met Clint. That was one hell of a shitshow, but at least it had a happy ending.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint came up behind you, covering your eyes with his hands while you were signing off on something for one of the lower level agents. “Guess who?” He asked lowly.

“Get your hands off Y/N, Agent.” Steve boomed, walking over to the both of you. 

“Off my girlfriend, I think not, Captain Rogers.” Clint retorted, sliding his hands down to your shoulders.

Steve looked at you, “Is he lying to me, Y/N?”

“No, Stevie. This is my boyfriend, Agent Clint Barton. I would’ve introduced you earlier but he’s been on a mission in New Mexico. He’s only back now because Loki’s.. Loki.” You said, pulling Clint’s hands down to your waist as he rested his head on your shoulder. 

“Sorry, Agent Barton.” Steve apologized sheepishly. “I shouldn’t have assumed so quickly. Y/N’s just had a lot of male attention recently.”

“You’ve what?” Clint asked, tightening his grip on you slightly.

You wiggled, turning in his arms. “It’s really not that big of a deal, some of the newer agents have been hitting on me as either I walk by or they do. I’m handling it, and everything is under control, honey.”

“Marry me.” He said, kissing your nose.

“What?”

“Marry me, and we’ll put a ring on your finger and you’ll never have to worry about it again. Nat has the ring, and I was gonna take you on a date and ask you, but please N/N?”

You smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “Of course I’ll marry you, Robin Hood.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two of you were married just hours after Thor took Loki back to Asgard. You were also an Avenger, as Fury knew you and Clint worked quite well together in the field, especially after that first mission. Additionally, your banter through the comms was quite amusing and everyone on duty always got quite the kick out of it. Including the fact that you almost always had a dry comment to respond to Tony with.

After Ultron, you and Clint had essentially adopted Wanda and helped her properly grieve the loss of Pietro. That included getting her a therapist and working on her powers with her. While her emotions did still affect her powers, she wasn’t controlled by them anymore. And since Tony turned JARVIS into that Vision.. dude.. FRIDAY was the new AI around the compound and Wanda had fallen madly in love with Vision. An AI. Yeah, it’s weird, but you and Clint did the best you could with her.

Since you had managed to talk Tony out of the Sokovia Accords, the Avengers splitting never happened and Steve had even gotten Bucky back, on the basis that he also went to therapy due to the amount of trauma he had gotten working for HYDRA for 70 some odd years while being brainwashed. You were catching Bucky up with the times and pop culture the same way you had done Steve. Honestly, you held movie nights with the both of them and sent them songs you thought they would like, starting back with the 30’s and 40’s music they were used to and slowly working them up to the music of today. 

And while you knew Thor and Loki were still going through some things, as was Bruce, since none of you had seen him since the battle with Ultron, you knew something big was happening, you could feel it coming. You had always had a sort of sixth sense about these things, even knowing when one of your coworkers was pregnant before they had said anything, and unfortunately knowing when someone close to you was gonna die. Fortunately, the last time you had seen Thor, you introduced him to phones, and now could call and text both him and Loki whenever you wished. Ah, technology. 

“Loki?” You asked, having picked up your phone. “What’s going on?”

“Thanos is coming.” He said. “We’re bringing our people to Earth to keep them safe. Surtur has destroyed Asgard, but we had to do it to keep it out of Hela’s hands. And get as many of the Infinity Stones as you can and destroy them.”

“Woah, Loki. You gotta slow down.” You told him, downing your coffee like a shot. “What’s going on? Who’s Thanos? Who’s Surtur? How has Asgard been destroyed? Where the fuck are we housing all these Asgardian people? Who the fuck is Hela? Also, what the fuck is an Infinity Stone? And how would we destroy them?”

He took a deep breath. “I’ll explain everything when we get here, but Y/N, please know that Earth is in grave danger.” And then Loki hung up on you.

“Oh great. More people. I gotta make some calls.” You said, sighing and dialing the number for Maria Rambeau. “Maria, where the fuck is Carol at? I need the Guardians of the Galaxy. I have questions.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the middle of all of this, since the Guardians were on their way to where they knew one was hiding, hoping to get there before Thanos, you realized that the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach hadn’t gone away. But now you felt nauseous on top of it. So, you decided maybe you’d go see Doctor Cho, maybe she’d have an answer for you.

“Oh there’s an answer, all right.” Doctor Cho said, chuckling at the results.

“What? Am I dying? I can’t leave Clint! He’d kill Tony!”

“You’re not dying, Mrs. Barton. You’re 5 weeks pregnant.”

You were completely shocked. “I’m pregnant?” You asked, not believing the words coming out of your mouth.

“Yup.” Helen told you, handing you the results. “Which explains the nausea and your sixth sense, although not the impending sense of doom. But you are an Avenger, so that’s understandable.”

“How am I gonna tell Clint? How do I save the world? Should I even tell him? What if I lose the baby?” You were thoroughly freaking out.

“Y/N, you’re going to be fine. Everything will work out.” Helen told you, resting a hand on your knee to help ground you through your spiraling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, you had believed her, because the next thing you knew, there were 3 infinity stones in the Compound, 2 on the way, with one having been destroyed in the explosion of Asgard. The space stone was in the Tesseract, and Loki had the foresight not to grab it when he was putting Surtur’s crown into the Eternal Flame. Dr. Strange had the time stone in the eye necklace thingy that he kept around his neck, the mind stone was in Vision’s head after Tony had removed it from Loki’s scepter and Ultron had started to make Vision. On the way to Earth, the Asgardians had stopped to grab the reality stone from Knowhere, and the Guardians were on their way with the power stone they had kept from destroying Ronan the Accuser, and the soul stone they were picking up from the place that not even Thanos knows about. Surely, he knows the planet exists, but he doesn’t know what’s hiding there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, we’re here!” Peter Quill said, running in with the others. “Sorry we’re late. ‘You must give up a soul to receive a soul’ and nobody could decide.”

You looked around at all the Guardians, “But nobody’s missing?”

“I am Groot.” Groot said sadly.

Rocket patted him on the head softly. “I know, buddy. Groot threw his video game system over the edge of the cliff to sacrifice for the stone, and now he can’t ever play one again.”

“It may work a little differently this time, being that these were the first 6 pieces of the universe, but I believe there may be a way to overcome this, once we beat Thanos, of course.” Wanda said, making a small red orb appear in the palm of her hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t until hitting it with Bucky’s left arm made a crack in one of the stones that you all realized you needed vibranium to break them. “Strongest metal on Earth.” Tony said, calling King T’Challa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, you were all flying into Wakanda for Shuri’s help, knowing that if she could fix Bucky’s HYDRA-scrambled brain, she could fix anything. “Where is the mind stone?” She asked, scurrying around her lab, trying to figure out how to properly destroy the building blocks of the universe.

Vision stepped forward. “In my head.”

“Oh good God.” Shuri said, lining the stones up. “I’ll need to extract it to destroy it. But I will find a way to keep him alive. Anyone with eyes can see how in love the two of you are.” She told Wanda, already muttering something you didn’t understand about microchips and him being part Ultron as well as Tony and Bruce.

As Shuri began extracting the mind stone from Vision’s head, just a few minutes later, aliens beamed down from the sky, presumably Thanos’ minions. They all started clawing at the barrier, humanoid or not, which the vast majority were not.

“Um, Your Majesty? Steve?” You asked, staring out the window in shock. “We might have a problem.”

Clint came up behind you and wrapped you in a hug. “We’ve got this, hun. Let’s go kick some alien ass. Again. For the millionth time in the last 10 years.”

“Second time in 6 years, my love. But I see your point.” You said, slipping into a side room to change into your suit and pull your hair out of your face. “Okay, Y/N,” you muttered to yourself softly, looking in the mirror, “No injuries this time. And once this is all said and done, we’ll tell Clint.”

Walking out of the room, Steve pulled you aside. “What aren’t you telling Clint until after the fight?”

“That’s not for you to know yet, Steve. You’ll find out when the time is right.”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “I can hear the second heartbeat.” You went to open your mouth to make a smart-ass retort, but you bolted into the nearest bathroom and emptied the contents of your stomach into the toilet.

“Don’t tell anyone. And don’t let Bucky say anything either. And I mean nobody, Steven.” Were the three sentences you said before wiping your mouth, flushing, chewing a mint, and getting ready to join the fight.

“Are you sure-”

“Yes. You’re not stopping me, Steve. I know my limits.”

~~~~~~~~~(Time skip because I cannot properly write a fight scene)~~~~~~~~

After the battle was all said and done, nobody died. Except Thanos and all of his minions. Nebula was safe and free from his abuse, Thanos never laid a hand on any of the Infinity Stones, even though he had the gauntlet, and Vision had a computer sourcing his power now instead of the mind stone. He’d have to charge up about once every other day, but Tony was already installing a charger into his side of the bed, so he could charge every time he laid down, and would magically never overcharge.

Clint had almost died, and you gave him hell for it, although he had given you hell right back for taking a knife through one arm and being slashed across the other. You were both going to be scarred pretty badly over this fight, like most of the other Avengers and fights, both mentally and physically. Plus, by the time the fight was over and you were all cleared to go back home, it was Clint’s birthday.

“Happy birthday, honey.” You said, curling further into his chest and drawing circles on it with your finger.

“Thank you, sweetheart. But you know what would make it even better?” He asked, and you didn’t even have to be looking at his face to know that he had just wiggled his eyebrows at you.

You chuckled, rolling your eyes. “We almost died today and you want sex?”

“What can I say, sweetheart? You make me insatiable.”

“Not now, I don’t think. I’m not feeling so great.”

He rolled you off him and propped himself up above you. “Is it your arm? The meds? Is something wrong?”

All you could do was stare at your husband with the biggest heart eyes in the world as you shook your head. “No, well, maybe. Don’t be mad.”

“Did you lie about your symptoms again?”

“That was you.”

“Was it?”

“Yeah. Because you don’t like how loopy you get on sedatives.”

“Oh, right.” He said, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down your thigh. “Well, honey, whatever it is you need to tell me, you know I’ll always be by your side.”

You took a deep breath, looking anywhere but Clint’s eyes. You focused on one of the freckles on his bicep, actually. “How do you feel about being a dad?”

“We’ve talked about this before, honey. Y/N, you know I’ve always wanted to start a family with you.” You looked up at him and saw the same heart eyes looking at you that you had directed at him moments before. You raised your eyebrows a little and gave Clint a little half-smile.

“Clint,” You started, bumping your nose against his softly. “I’m pregnant.”

“I’m actually gonna be a dad?” He asked, a smile growing wider on his face in realization.

You nodded, a smile starting on your face too. “Yeah. You’re gonna be a dad, sweetheart.”

“How far along are you? When did you find out? Have you been doing okay?”

“I found out 2 days ago, and Helen said I’m 5 weeks along. I’ve only puked a few times, but I’ve been nauseous a lot.”

“You found out before we went and fought aliens?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

You nodded again. “Yes. And you said you wouldn’t be mad no matter what I told you.”

He smiled down at you again before flopping back down onto the bed next to you. “Does anyone else know other than Helen?”

You curled back into his chest. “Steve and Bucky can hear the baby’s heartbeat. Steve asked me if I was sure I should fight when he confronted me. But I know my limits.”

“I know you do, baby, but it’s not just you anymore.” Clint said, wrapping his arm around you and pulling you closer into him. “We are keeping it, right?”

“I was going to, and I had assumed that you wanted to. You do? Right?” You asked, mindlessly drawing shapes on his chest with your finger again.

“Oh baby girl, of course I want it. This baby is going to be very loved, by both of us and all the Avengers.” He said, kissing the top of your head. “Are we gonna tell people?”

“You’re not really supposed to before 12 weeks, since that’s the most likely time to have a miscarriage. The pregnancy is more stable after that and the chance of losing the baby is less.” 

“Okay. We can do that. We’re assassins, we can keep a secret for 7 weeks.” 

You paused your movements. “Clint, I can’t drink coffee.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two of you kept it a secret for another 7 hours. Even after swearing FRIDAY to secrecy. To be fair though, it was Vision’s fault.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had just walked into the kitchen, tired and ready for a cup of coffee when you remembered that you couldn’t have any. So you steered yourself towards the compound fridge, internally groaning, and poured yourself a nice tall glass of cranberry juice to have with your breakfast, not noticing everybody but Steve and Bucky staring at you with their mouths agape.

“Uh, Y/N?” Tony asked. “Wouldn’t you rather coffee? Like every other morning you’ve ever lived here?”

You shrugged. “I’ve loved cranberry juice since I was a kid, nothing wrong with having it for breakfast.”

“Plus, Mrs. Barton, caffeine is highly unrecommended for when you’re pregnant since it can do significant harm to the fetus.” Vision said, sipping at his tea after doing a quick scan of you.

“I- what did you say?” You asked, gripping Clint’s hand under the counter for support.

He turned to look at you. “Did you not know? I had assumed that since you were not drinking your usual coffee, you were already aware of the unborn child growing in your uterus.”

“I- I- Clint?”

“Next thing we program him to do is keep a goddamn secret.” He said, pulling you into a hug and kissing the top of your head. “Yes, we know. Yes, Y/N’s pregnant. Close your fucking mouths before you catch flies.”

You smiled softly as the realization of what Clint said set into everyone’s head. “And Vision, you’ll also find that people aren’t supposed to know until after the 12 week mark when the pregnancy is more stable.”

“You are right, Mrs. Barton. I’m very sorry, both of you, I should’ve let you announce the news when you were ready. I will keep that in mind for the next addition to our family.”

As the news finally flipped a switch, Natasha and Wanda ran over to you squealing and asking questions; Tony, Bruce, Vision, and FRIDAY were figuring out how to add a baby’s room into yours and Clint’s apartment in the Compound; and Steve and Bucky were looking at you and Clint like proud uncles. This was when Sam walked in, not knowing what had just happened, or why there was so much squealing from two very serious, very powerful women.

“What in the goddamn universe is going on in here?!” He asked, looking around for answers.

“Clint and I are having a baby.” You said, trying to keep the smile off your face as Sam’s jaw dropped.

“You fought aliens while pregnant?!?!” He exclaimed, coming over to you to double check that he had heard this right.

You nodded, “I did, yes. And both Baby Barton and I are fine, thanks for asking.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since nothing had actually been accomplished that day except for Tony already planning the addition of the baby’s room, you and Clint had lots of time to look around at your friends family and realize that this kid was going to be the most loved, spoiled kid (thanks, Tony) on the face of the planet.

“This kid might actually turn out okay.” You told Clint softly, watching the Avengers argue over decide what order they were going to hold Baby Barton in once they arrived.

[goldenspecter]

Did the ask about the whole Leo being above and manipulative not go through? I'm not pressuring you or anything it's just that sometimes I get anxious if people don't give me some kind of responds to an ask such I'm not answering this types and what not it's completely fine if you don't of course also I'm talking about the ask that was made about the 2007 fight post about Leo and raph fighting constantly here's some of what your wrote in case you don't rember the post it's kind of old

your post: Once again, I am wishing Rise fans can praise the movie without insulting/demeaning other iterations of TMNT. It's absolutely frustrating, as a fan of all the iterations plus Rise, constantly seeing people go "Rise did the Raph/Leo fight better than other where it's not just "Who's a better Leader/Leader" fights!" when not that's not the case. Rise didn't do it 'better' than the others, they just made it much more explicit, without using leadership as the framing of the fight, but the other iterations are not actually fighting about Leadership.

again sorry if this comes off as peer pressuring I'm just trying make it clear what post I'm talking about so were both on the same wave length again I apologize if this is annoying.

Hi anon!

Yes your ask did get through, the only reason I didn't answer quite immediately was due to me not really being on Tumblr this past week. I saw your ask and was intrigued because it's a BIG /pos question, I had to ramble to my partners @dakotafinely and @namiikilo about this, and share my thoughts with them about what you asked first.

I also wanted to present my answer in a way that makes sense, hence why it took me so long. So don't worry about pressuring me, I just wanted to take time and make sure I could convey my point in a coherent manner. Sorry about causing the anxiety /gen

This is the original ask:

Since the way you worded your ask leans more towards Bayverse Leo from how you included certain actions only he does, I have to compare him to 07 Leo to make my point. Here are my thoughts, as coherent I can make them:

The Short Answer: I think Bayverse Leo, as a whole, was an attempt by the writers to expand upon 07 Leo's characterization, but fundamentally misunderstood what made 07 Leo so infuriatingly perfect.

The Long Answer(buckle up):

07 Leo is, at his core, a natural evolution of how Leo would have matured as an adult Pre-Rise. Perfectionism and having such a high standard on himself of all people combined with the knowledge of him being so good at what he does, would heightened his arrogance and beliefs in his own skills.

This is how it was/is before he took the journey, across the world that kept him separated from his brothers for over a year. Leo has been expected to be perfect for so long there would only be a matter of time before that expectation jades him, that he would become a bit of an asshole who wrongly believes he doesn't need to lower himself to anyone's standards because he is the standard.

*I discuss things that are mentioned in the prequel comics, specifically the issue that discuss and expands upon Leo's Journey. So I'll include screenshots from the wikia that explain the events in that.

** I also own these 5 prequel comics!

However, since he went on the trip by himself, and with none of his brothers, especially Raphael, to keep him in check, his ego and sense of self got warped, and especially with the things he's gone through on his journey. He learned all of these things from his journey but never actually put them in use towards his own family in several different ways:

Leo lacks compassion when it comes to his brothers and why they took on their jobs and new roles and scoffs at April when she's explains to him what they do. He lacks the compassion to inquire with his brothers and the way they were all hurting-- Mikey feeling like his family isn't whole anymore, hence his nostalgia for the good days, Donnie having to care for their arguably disabled father while also working an at home job, Raph having the trauma of witnessing an former vigilante who seemed to understand him die in front of him, and that being how he got the Nightwatcher armor we see in the movie(Promise he would take it because David, the vigilante, didn't want anyone in his family/police to figure out who he really was.) Compare this to Bayverse Leo, who audibly and explicitly hears and knows how his actions harm his family, but chooses not to engage with it and dismiss their feelings.

Leo lacks humility and refuses to understand his brothers as they've changed. Because of that, he refuses to try and understand his brothers as the people they are now.

07 Leo is extremely selfish and shortsighted because of how he constantly frames the journey he went on was for them, to better himself for them.

He lacks the courage having the courage to even consider how badly they were effected by him going on this journey.

He most importantly lacks community that he continually estranged himself from

Each one of these things that's bolded or italicized is a trait that he was supposed to have learned and fully understood on his journey.

In my eyes, the things that makes 07 Leo stand out from Bayverse is more so how all of these external components worsened his fractured development. Bayverse, in a way, engineered those components that fractured his development.

07 Leo has never actively gone out of his way to revoke or invalidate his family's autonomy, right in front of them compared to Bayverse(who as a reminder forced Donnie to lie to his brothers about the possibility to be human and got on Raph when he called him out for revoking their autonomy to make a choice at the chance of gaining privilege where they are currently systemically disadvantaged), but does it in the way that can be perceived as him doing what is best for his family. Examples being him not wanting to admit or entertain the idea that the night watcher is going good or that his own family made the choice to idolize the vigilant on their own—he believes that night watched is encroaching on his territory and also being a bad influence to his brothers, primarily Raph and Mikey and fights to stop Nightwatcher from being a bad influence on the two and the fact that Leo perceived his own methods to be effective, combined with his own hypocritical view of Nightwatcher—or him attributing fault to everywhere else but 07 Leo potentially being part of the problem as well.

However, you can possibly argue that because the world has jaded him so hard and he has forgotten the point of community, the world had literally made him hate humans on his training journey. It eroded him of certain things that by the time he gets back home, he just doesn't have that compassion he supposedly learned on his training and doesn't learn to dig within himself to practice empathy to his brothers and doesn't bother seeing them as who they are now, he literally scoffs at the idea of who they have become when April tells him and expects them to fall inline as perfect soldiers and obey orders, to erase what made them them, doing unto them as what has been done to him.

In addition, along with him being a pretty perfect development for a character like Leo, pre-rise,he has been expected to be perfect for so long there would only be a matter of time before that expectation jades him, that he would become a bit of an asshole who wrongly believes he doesn't need to lower himself to anyone's standards because he is the standard.

Leo's and his family's arc in the 2007 movie is about growing up and fixing a broken family caused by abandonment from pretty much all angles, Bayverse Leo is the one who's the agent and inevitable cause of abandonment nor is he mired by the tenets of nostalgia among him and his family either and the unwillingness to grow up and mature.

Could this be more coherent? Absolutely, maybe in the future I'll make a video essay giving a full retrospective on the 2007 movie and especially with the frustrating yet beloved nuance of 07 Leo's character.

Either way! Hope you enjoyed hearing my (still somewhat disjointed) thoughts! <3

[fictionadventurer]

I used to think of story as "A story is stuff happening and a story's PURPOSE is to emotionally connect/move people." That said, I love the way you put it here!

If I may be allowed to add:

When a story is too short, perhaps it means that the internal change must be slower, with more events slowly inching it forward. If it has too much, then perhaps you need to have more seismic events rocketing it along.

Or perhaps you were wrong about the perfect length.

Also I have an anecdote to support your point:

Once I wrote a fight scene that was literally just stuff happening as part of a writing club, and it was BORING AS HECK! Incredibly repetitive and emotionally empty. Then I rewrote it to focus more on the emotions (which also led me to write more creative fights?) and the same people told me I actually achieved the sort of adrenaline fueled action piece it was meant to be.

Another, I was writing a story for myself and focused on the internal to the detriment of the external. It was also dull because I kept trying to stretch out the internal monologues instead of making stuff happen.

So now I try to balance where the external moves the internal. (Sorry if this was rambly)

I think "story's the stuff and emotion is the purpose" is also a valid way to put it. I put the focus on the internal arc because that helps me to figure out where to begin and end a story.

Stories usually involve some kind of change--whether in circumstances or in understanding. If you know how the beginning state is different from the ending state, all you have to do is stop the story after that ending state is achieved, and begin the story at the point where events start to make that change necessary. Even in a flat arc, where the point is that the character doesn't change despite their circumstances, the story begins at the point where the characters beliefs are challenged, and end when whatever circumstances caused that challenge are overcome. (This doesn't really relate to what you said. I just saw the chance to clarify my original post now that I've done some more thinking on the subject).

Pacing is another matter, and you're right that the balance between external events and emotional change is the key to maintaining it. I'd add that a lot of problems with length can altered by narrowing or widening the focus. If the story's too long, laser-focus on your main character's arc and cut anything extra; if the story's too short, you can widen the focus to include other characters or conflicts outside the main arc.

Your anecdotes are a great example of how internal and external change are both necessary to a story. I've found similar things in my own work. I've lost count of the number of times I've found a story boring, only to step back and realize I've spent several paragraphs of a character thinking about a situation when they could be doing something. Sometimes, the change is as simple as turning the character's thoughts into a dialogue with another character. Or jumping to an active scene while littering in the character's thoughts. I've also had the opposite problem of characters just doing things until I realize we don't know how they feel about any of this, which can make the story feel empty. A good balance of both is what makes a story feel complete.

[luoqiu2023]

Text translation: "It's been a month now... don't even think about running away with anything you say this time. Water is already prepared over there "

Forest Notes:

Name: Altaïr ibn La-Ahad (Note: Eagle)

Weight: over 670 grams

His personality is quite aloof, but he is easy to get along with after getting familiar with it, and his vigilance is very high. (Message: Including every time I sneak out for a drink, he catches me. I miss my wife and daughter...)

(Message: He caught me stealing at night... Father, I miss you.)

One of the claws is missing half of its length, but it seems harmless and even particularly skilled in fighting. It's difficult to stop him from getting angry

He is a guy with amazing combat power... He once mistakenly thought that Connor was scratched by the enemy (but also injured himself, it can be said that both guys have amazing combat power)

I tied a red ribbon on his feet to distinguish him among the eagles, and he didn't object to it.

Note: I really don't like getting wet!

Message: On time alarm... always comes at 8 o'clock in the morning

Message: My father must be deceiving people. How could there be such an eagle?

I'm sorry, father... you're really right

Basically not picking any meat, you can steal Yano's buns and secretly feed them ()

Other things to be observed... (He knows that thing)

Text blurred by mud and blood stains

I may... blur to my family again... I asked Atel to blur that thing, my child will definitely come here, hoping he can protect my daughter and (blur).

Message: Father, what exactly is that 'thing'

——————————————————————

I'm thinking I should post some new works? These are all works from a year ago (although it's really fun not to have to redraw the old ones, there's an old Chinese saying that goes, 'If the old ones don't leave, the new ones won't come.'

If you have any questions about translation, you can raise them（I'm very worried about letting everyone misunderstand what I mean）(*´I`*)

[hitechlatte]

Alrightie! Thanks for waiting FINALLY GOT POLLS WORKING!

This poll will run for a week and you can pick which fic I write first! Each of these fics will take me 4-6 weeks to write depending on their length so I’ll keep you posted!

More details about each of the fics here:

Rise!Mikey X GN!Reader:

You had been Mikey's friend for years. His best friend in fact.

He had two drawers in your dresser and his own bean bag chair at your place.

Every minor update in your life, good, bad or ugly, he was the first person you'd text.

And who else did he call at 3am to rant about his family or vigilante escapades?

But now... you’d be gone for a 2 year service with the Peace Corps. 

Of course he’d miss his best friend, but you’d be back eventually and you promised to call everyday.

So then why couldn’t he shake the aching feeling in his stomach?

Why did everything suddenly feel... different?

Rated T or M, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Two Idiots Sharing A Brain Cell

Rise!Raph X Irma

(This is Irma from the TMNT universe, just recreated with my own spin for ROTTMNT)

Irma’s internship with the NYPD was more than she could have ever asked for.

A job in her field, a possible switch to the FBI already in the works, and assisting her boyfriend on the occasional mission? 

She really had it made.

However, her romantic escapade with the red turtle was no secret around the office. So of course, her squadmates kept begging to hear the story of how the two of them got together.

So one lunch she finally caved and regaled the tale of how she fell in love with one of the infamous NYC turtles.

Rated T or M, Strangers to Lovers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks/Telling Stories, Crime Fighting Adventures

Rise!Future Donnie X GN!Reader

This was really happening, Donatello Hamato had actually proposed. 

After everything the two of you had been through with the Purple Dragons, your memory loss, Baxter Stockboy and now your insane work schedules, this was a welcomed surprise.

And now with the wedding only days away, everyone had come to stay in the lair. Including, the renown Casey Jones.

However, you were surprised when this cool headed vigilante from the future stood in front of you, stammering uncontrollably.

“Y/N… I think- I- it’s um... time I showed you these… I’m sorry I didn’t before, it’s just- it's never easy to…”

You could see he was holding back tears as he placed the tiny USB in your hand.

“You have the right to read these… To know what happened.”

Rated M, Strangers to Lovers, Angst, Major Character Death, Heartbreak, Grief, Flashbacks/Telling Stories

Rise!Leo X Usagi

Raph had his police work, Donnie had his tech and Mikey was on course to be the next big chef.

But besides protecting the city, Leo had nothing.

So when Usagi suggested that Leo should try out for this year's Battle Nexus Tournament, the blue turtle swore he finally found his calling.

However, the elation quickly faded when rejection after rejection flooded his inbox, each justification for denial stupider than the last. 

A fighter with his skill should have teams begging him to join. But the only group even willing to include him on their roster was practically a pyramid scheme!

Leo was started to wonder if a mutant could ever make it in the Yokai world.

Rated M, Friends to Lovers, Angst, Mutant/Yokai Racism, Trigger Warnings: Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and Emotional Abuse

Thanks again for your love and interest! Can't wait to see what you all pick!

[minniethemoocherda]

Iridescent: Chapter 14

A/N: I am so sorry that this is a week late! Ever since I first posted this story back in July, I've been so proud to be able to stick to my fortnightly update schedule. However, the previous chapter ended up being three times longer than my usual chapter lengths which ended up putting me way behind schedule! I don't have this all pre-written, I'm writing it update to update. And I've been so busy that I just can't stick to an update every two weeks anymore. So instead I'm going to have to drop down to a new chapter every three weeks instead for a while. Sorry. Xxxxxxx

Ao3

FF.net

High command was a complete mess.

Ironhide still hadn't returned. Ratchet was busy dealing with the casualties, including Red Alert who's systems had finally crashed, and Optimus was, for a lack of a better term, an inconsolable wreck.

This left Prowl with no choice but to take charge of the chaos.

The first problem on his agenda was dealing with the Bumblebee situation.

Word had spread quickly about the young scout's abduction. A lot of the mechs on board the Ark had seen Bumblebee grow up and Prowl couldn't blame them for being upset that the bot that they had known since he was a sparkling was in the clutches of Megatron. And the fact that Bumblebee's upgrade party had obviously been cancelled in the wake of his abduction, only punctuated their pain even harder. Prowl could however blame them for their own stupidity as he had already had to talk down more than a dozen half baked plans by vengeful bots to storm the Deception base to rescue him.

And that didn't even take into account the fact that on top if all his usual dutuies, both The Ark and MacCadam's base's locations were no longer secret so the Autobots needed to find a new acceptable place for them to establish a base.

Something that would benfit from the expertise of their head of special opperations. But Prowl hadn't seen Jazz since they had gotten Ironhide's message.

When he did finally see him, Prowl wasn't even looking for Jazz. He had been standing guard inside the hanger to stop anymore foolish rescue attempts when the spy strolled straight past him to the hanger door as though he was simply going on a morning walk.

"Where have you been?" Prowl demanded.

"Preparing for the mission." Jazz said with a suave smile as he pulled the release lever for the doors.

"What mission?" Prowl asked, yanking the lever back up.

"To rescue Bumblebee."

Prowl resisted the urge to sigh. His processor had determined that now that Jazz was a commander, he would be unlikely to ignore direct orders. Clearly he had been wrong.

"You can't go." Prowl told him. "I never signed off on-"

"What if it was Bluestreak he had taken?" Jazz interrupted, his smile turning predatory. "What would you do?"

"I would do what was right."

"This is what's right!" Jazz protested.

Prowl wasn't doubting that. Of course they needed to rescue Bumblebee. Prowl hadn't had many interactions with the young bot himself, but he had heard others talk about how kind and full of joy Bumblebee was. And nobody deserved whatever fate Megatron was currently dealing to him.

But that didn't mean that they could go rushing off to fight the Nemesis without an actual plan. And that being the ward of the Prime could not mean that Bumblebee should receive any special treatment. Their recourses were already so low. The Autobots could not afford to attempt a mission where they could loose more lives than they would save.

"Listen." Jazz said, once again interrupting his train of thought. "If I don't go then Prime is going to end up marching down to the Nemisis himself and we both know that wouldn't end well for anyone."

Reluctantly Prowl had to concede that Jazz had a point. In Optimus's state it only a matter of time before their leader did something drastic and trying to fight Megatron in his condition could only result in their Prime's death.

Prowl fought back a sigh. The Autobots were left with no choice to have to send someone before that happened.

"Why not send one of your agents instead?" Prowl suggested.

"Because Mirage and Hound still hasn't been cleared by Ratchet and even if they had, I'm the only one who has a shot of infiltrating the Nemisis and coming back alive." Jazz stated and Prowl knew that he was telling the truth.

"We cannot afford to loose another commander so soon after Blackout."

"Look if I die you can just replace me with Mirage. But if Bumblebee dies, Optimus will never recover and we will loose the entire goddamm war."

Prowl's computer couldn't argue against the truth of that potential outcome, nor could it come up with any alternative solutions. Reluctantly, Prowl released his hand from the lever. He watched as that predatory smile turned genuine as Jazz pushed it down.

"Don't do anything stupid." Prowl warned.

"Bumblebee's life is on the line." Jazz said, his smile gone and voice deadly serious. "I won't."

Prowl was about to turn away when he heard Jazz say his name.

"Prowl," Jazz's voice was so quiet, Prowl wasn't entirely convinced that his audio receptors hadn't imaged it. "Thank you."

But before he could ask the spy what he was thankful for, the door was closed and Jazz was gone.

Finally releasing his sigh, Prowl commed the twins to guard to door in his absence as he marched back to his office to officially sanction the mission.

On the way he walked past Bluestreak's new dorm. It was the first time that his ward had been given her own room having previously shared Prowl's quaters whilst growin up on their old bases.

Seeing as Bluestreak had made quick friends with Bumblebee, Prowl decided it would be best to check up on her.

He knocked on the door, and it wasn't long before she beckoned him inside.

As a new recruit Bluestreak had no option but to share. Fortunately, whoever her roommate was, at leats they were neat. Bluestreak appeared to have taken the bottom bunk situated against the right hand wall. Her collection of plush toys were piled at the end of the berth and the string of crystal shaped lights from their old quarters was hung on the ceiling of the bunk above. The few memorabilia that they had been able to save from Praxus was placed along the shelf besides her head. This included a photo of her family alongside a selfie she had taken of her and Prowl. Bluestreak herself was currently sat cross-legged on the bed, a banner strewn across her legs.

"Are you alright?" Prowl asked her.

"Oh I'm fine!" She beamed, "What do you think? Did I do the animals right? This was the only yellow Sunstreaker had!"

Bluestreak held up a banner covered in a golden yellow paint adorned in small flying organic creatures that read Happy Upgrade Day.

"It is very well painted." Prowl said in honesty, as the words were all evenly spaced and painted neatly within the lines, even though he wasn't sure what to make of Bluestreak's smile. "What is it for?:

"Well they've cancelled tonight's party so I thought I would get started decorations so that we can throw an even better one for Bumblebee when he gets home!" Bluestreak said as though it was obvious. 

Prowl didn't know what to say to that. Bluestreak's optimism had always been one of her greatest strengths and Prowl found himself unwilling to tamper it.

"Have you sent a rescue party yet? Do you need volunteers?" Bluestreak asked.

"Jazz is already enroute." Prowl told her.

"Thats good." She nodded, turning her attention back to her painting, adding stingers to the black and yellow striped creatures. "Jazz is the best spy we have."

"Yes he is." Prowl reluctantly conceded.

He had learnt to put his trust in Jazz during the battle. Now, for Bumblebee's sake, he would have to put his faith.

Prowl just hoped that it would be enough.

[faetaiity]

Hello and Congratulations! You have made me invested!

So here's a little scenario ask...If you don't mind...

Ever since the kidnapping scenario, my mind has been making up a lot of different scenarios with Fruit Bat Reader, and I was thinking...

Since you have implied that FB (Fruit Bat) Reader is bigger than Donnie and said that they ate Oozesquitos before the brothers had capture them, and also had said that after the kidnapping incident (Major Injuries) they keep them close 24/7- including missions.

What if the brothers had brought Reader with them on a mission, and they were just doing their thing, while Reader waits for them to finish, but sees an Oozesquito a small bit away from them. Due to the issue that they are not aloud to eat the Ozzesquitos anymore, they can't eat it... but they haven't eaten yet and is so hungry- which makes them revert back to their primal animal instincts -due to mutation genes- and immediately fly and dive for their meal.

Now as the brothers are finishing up their mission, one of them (your choice) notices Reader is gone- which immediately puts them all into a panic. Donnie is whipping out his tracker at lightning speed trying to find where their little-big Bat went and saw that they were just up above them. The brothers hightail it to where FB Reader is and are about ready to tear into them- but notices they are chewing on something.

Donnie is asking them what the hell is in their mouth, but Reader just squeaks at him and swallows it, making him narrow his eyes at them, before widening as Readers coat starts to glow a greenish color.

Their wings are growing larger, their legs growing taller, their ears growing longer, and their coat growing bigger and fluffier.

BOOM

READER HAS GROWN BIGGER!!!

Que the brothers freaking out~

Basically, to put this all together- what if Fruit Bat Reader has a hidden special ability where, if they eat an Oozesquito they grow bigger?

That would explain why Reader isn't a normal sized Fruit Bat, unlike how Warren is a normal sized worm (Only slightly bigger)

(Also Warren is punching the air lol)

I wanna mention something first, When I made my FB! Reader posts, They more so eat the Oozesquitoes so No-one else gets mutated but I can definitely see the reader having bat instincts and also that playing a part in the Oozesquito eating. (btw this isn't 100% what you asked, it was more easier to write what I had in mind I'm sorry. :{)

Also wtf kinda worms you seein, Warren is huge compared to worms, Maybe not in length 100% of the time but is def thicker??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can see them taking the reader out on less dangerous missions, such as patrolling or stalking the Mutants such as Warren

And on these missions, you usually wouldn't be out of their sight unless a fight happened, which would be the only chance for you to wander off

Once they drive their attackers off (or just kill them iykyk), Donnie notices that you're gone and starts raising hell

It was Mikey's turn to watch you during Missions, so he was getting bitched at about it, which made him even more agitated at what happened

Donnie pulls out his Tracking Locator and starts heading towards where you are

You were chasing an Oozesquito, you ate these things before you got captured because you didn't want anyone else to be mutated

As you were blissfully chewing on it, the turtles approach you

You whipped your head around and looked at them

Donnie immediately saw green ooze dripping out of your mouth and asked you what you were eating

Similar to a dog or a toddler who was doing something you weren't supposed to, you turned away from them and ran circles around them until you were able to swallow the oozesquito

They were scolding you until a few seconds after swallowing the bug that your fur started glowing a soft neon green

Now, you don't get a super noticeable height difference, maybe an inch at the most, but your wounds started healing slightly

such as ripped wings forming scar tissue where previously was torn

You let out something similar to a Tiger's Chuff and go over to Donnie

You get scolded, badly

They weren't happy that you ate an Oozesquito, they were almost hysterical over it, but they WERE happy that you were healing due to eating it.

Since Draxum threw a bitchfit over it, the Turtles now take their watch turns at the Lair so you can't eat anymore Oozesquitoes

Aka, you're fucking grounded, they put back the shockcollar back on you, they sent a perimeter where you can't leave the lab.

Overall, the bitchfit wasn't worth healing. 3/10. :{

[mamamittens]

Put on a Show (+18)

BuggyXReader (Gender neutral attempt)

I tried really hard to write full on smut without an assigned gender, but don't be surprised if it makes more sense as AFAB (sorry, but for safety reasons you really should not be shoving anything up your ass without prep, pro tip). There is a general assumption reader is very flexible and strong. As should be expected of someone who regularly does aerial silks.

I was lowkey making a joke with myself when the idea first popped up, but if nothing else, this is descent smut practice. Hope the Buggy simps appreciate.

Warnings: Voyeurism, grinding, dirty talk, authority kink, definitely a lowkey bondage kink, Buggy is an ass man here, unconfirmed/no prep anal/or/vaginal sex, and creampie.

Oh! By the way, a "Shill" in a circus is someone that pretends to buy tickets or participate in a show/event/game to remove anxiety for someone else being first so they can make more money! Seemed fitting for a nickname at the time ;)

@lilmissofficial hope this has you convinced lmao (let me know if you'd like me to remove this tag btw, I couldn't ask before I posted)

Word Count: 2,137

There were times you wanted to take the immaculate silk ribbons you were intimately familiar with and use them to strangle the absolute fuck out of your captain.

The prideful man likely thought you and everyone else was dumb as a rock with his piss poor excuses about your presence on his crew. You didn’t really have much in the way of fighting experience. And sure, your impressive upper body strength could be considered an asset—but it was painfully obvious that you were not a part of his crew because of your strength. No. You were definitely on board solely because Captain Buggy was massively turned on by your command of endless silk fabric.

If you could see the hard on while spinning and tumbling in and out of intricate knots, there was no way anyone else was missing that. Somehow no one was saying anything though, which told you that either there were bets going around or everyone was literally that stupid. Including your captain.

But no.

According to your illustrious captain, you were a secret ace in the hole. A veritable death from above!

And to be quite honest, you were ready for the pretense to be done with already before one of you dies from figurative blue balls. There are only so many times you can provocatively do the splits at perfect eye level for Buggy’s elevated vantage point before you gave up on life itself. It might be a little easier on both of you if he didn’t insist on watching over every practice performance you did as well.

But no. As captain, it was his duty to insure the safety of his whole crew.

In truth, he clearly just had a voyeurism kink.

And you had enough of his shit. It was time for Buggy to either man up and confess or stop watching your ass like it was made of solid gold.

Which lead you to this moment. Staring up the seemingly endless twin length of silk as you tested its anchoring high above. It would be very un-sexy of you to smash your face into the ground instead of his chest after all.

There was a flash of color in one of the higher balconies, signaling the arrival of your captain. At times, you suspected he haunted the practice area specifically to ensure he never missed a performance. But it was just as likely he was using Haki to track the general location of his crew. Seemed sneaky enough for him, even though he clearly thrived in the sheer drama of a show. And you were about to put on one hell of a show for him.

Taking a deep breath, you gripped the fabric in both hands and lifted yourself up. Legs swinging out to catch on the silk in wide loops around your legs, hooking into convenient footholds under your feet. Twelve feet in the air, you pushed out your chest, hands keeping you from tumbling forward, spine arched perfectly as you dipped your head back. Slowly, you pushed your body’s half circle form until you were standing again. Then tipping back into a spin so you dropped several feet.

Catching on a knot of silk around your leg just in time.

Slowly, sensually, you twisted and carefully ascended again. Taking care to occasionally perform a split or spin on the silk so it wasn’t obvious what you were doing. And then you were several feet above Buggy, pretending like you hadn’t seen him yet. Completely unaware that your deep split with loops of silk around your thighs and calves put you on a perfect display.

Then you dropped suddenly, sliding down until you caught the silk in your hands, arching your body back and up so you were face to face with Buggy’s shocked expression. You gave a sly grin, pushing out until your noses almost touched.

“Enjoying the show, captain?” You whispered, watching his face flush a deep red that almost matched his nose. He was unusually dressed down today. Carefully crafted ‘captain’ outfit nowhere to be seen. A simple stripped shirt and baggy pants he clearly preferred to sleep in. Blue silky hair pulled back into a ponytail instead of fixed into his hat. He still had on lipstick though, which was almost reassuring.

Even with the distinctive tattoo on Buggy’s face, he looked almost naked without the rest of his usual outfit.

Blustering and surprised, Buggy stammered for a moment.

“O-Of course! Y-You’re as skilled as ever! As expected of one of my valued crew members!” Buggy declared.

You continued giving him a sly smile, eyes narrowing as you slowly grew closer, head tilting to avoid his nose.

Stopping just shy of his lips.

“I’m glad you like the show. Captain.” You breathed out softly before pulling back suddenly. You almost laughed as his body swayed forward unconsciously. “I suppose I should get back to it though. I’m sure you have more important things to be doing right now.” You teased airily, swinging your upper body back around.

Conveniently displaying your ass at perfect eye level.

You yelped at the sudden grip on your inner thigh, yanking you back towards your captain. A single, disembodied gloved hand firmly latched over the tense muscle. Surprised, you tilted back again, arching your spine to face Buggy at an appropriately conversational angle.

He looked flustered and pissed.

“And what the hell was that? You trying to test my patience, Shill?” Buggy hissed. You laughed a little, shaking your head.

“No! Of course not, captain! Just practicing control for the next show is all!” You excused. Buggy’s eyes narrowed further. His hand squeezed harder, jerking you closer.

“I didn’t think you were making so little you’d need to work for extra tips, Shill.” Buggy growled. Buggy… he looked genuinely pissed at the idea you’d kiss audience members as part of an act.

Taking leave of your senses, you cracked a wide smile you knew would piss him off.

“Of course not, captain! But you specifically seem to enjoy a little teasing as part of a show so~?” You sighed, tilting your head and pressing your luck even further, “Not that you ever want to participate—But if it bothers you that much, I can go back to keeping my distance.” You started to return to your previous position, back complaining from holding the pose for so long. The hand on your thigh slid over to grab your ass, Buggy’s other hand catching your head to pull you in close.

Buggy’s lips slid over yours in a harsh press, face noticeably hot as he locked eyes with you. He pulled you in closer still, your legs untangling from the silk so you fell forward, sending him into his back. He grunted but refused to let go or relinquish the kiss. Finally, you pulled away, hands braced beside his head as you looked down in shock. His lipstick was smeared around his lips, undoubtedly coloring your own as well.

“I don’t recall saying you could stop.” Buggy grit his teeth, hands firmly planting on your ass to squeeze the toned muscle.

“You never really said to start either, captain.” You mumbled, still a little shell shocked that he actually made a fucking move. Maybe there was hope for the both of you yet. Buggy smirked.

“Cocky little shit.” His hips bucked under you, grinding his erection against you, “This clear enough instruction?”

“I don’t know… Mm—” You moaned softly at the growing heat in your body from the harsh friction through your leotard, “I-I’d hate to disappoint you.”

Buggy flipped you over, hands reluctantly leaving your body to hold himself over you, hips still grinding against you.

“If I’d known all it would take was a little hands on action, I would have done it while you were tangled in the air.” Buggy hissed, “You look so fucking pretty in silk, you know that? I think this is a close second though—hng! Yeah. Keep making that face, Shill~”

Buggy gripped your thigh, guiding your leg over his waist. Clothed erection grinding into you hard enough to draw a choked moan. You bit your lip as Buggy smeared his lipstick over your exposed neck, kissing the skin with hot, open bites. Your heart was pounding against your chest with every harsh pass of his cock, the friction nearly shoving you up the floor if it wasn’t for his firm grip on your body.

“C-Captain—Fuck~!” Buggy laughed at you, tongue eagerly sliding over your panting cries.

“I can feel how hot you are for me. Good.” Buggy slipped his hands under your ass again, firmly grinding his cock into you as he ruined your leotard with his precum even through his pants, “Keep being so sweet and maybe we’ll do an encore.” Buggy joked despite the raging hard on he kept forcing to slide between your thighs.

He pinned you to the floor with his whole body, fingers sliding the fabric covering your crotch to the side for a more intimate grind. His own pants falling down enough so his cock began to smear precum over your thighs and sex. Thickness trapped between your bodies as he went faster. Pressing his body into yours harder.

“Oh-oh—oh~! Fuck Buggy please! Hng—I-I ca-can’t keep—Ah~!” You shook, hot liquid smearing between your bodies as you came. The heat seeping between you both as Buggy kissed you again, tongue deep in your throat as his cock twitched, cumming hard in the wake of your cries. His hips kept grinding into you, prolonging the sparks along your skin as he tried to kiss you even deeper.

Reluctantly he pulled back.

“Hah… Have I made myself clear yet?” Buggy asked, watching with heated eyes as your mixed cum pooled underneath you, sliding between your thighs and cheeks.

Panting, you smirked, instantly earning a warning look from Buggy.

“I-I don’t know Captain… I think the message needs to sink in a little… deeper.” Buggy grinned, canting his hips back.

“If that’s what it takes~” Buggy cooed, before thrusting his cock to the base. You screamed in surprise, the sound muffled in an unexpected kiss, “I thought this is what you wanted? Can’t handle taking orders? That’s considered mutiny, don’t you know?” Buggy licked up your neck as you sucked in a sharp breath. Your body burning from the sudden thickness.

Buggy pulled out, breathing in your sigh of relief before snapping his hips back to slam into your ass.

You moaned in sharp bursts as he fucked you hard, driving his cock as deep as it would go before his hips bounced off your ass.

“Ah! A-Ah~! Ha~h! C-Ca-ah~pta-ahn~!”

“Fuck that’s more like it~! Not so cocky now, are you?” Buggy laughed, “Is it too much? What are you going to do about it? Cum? Good.” Buggy drove his hips faster, delighted as you keened.

“B-Buggy~! Ah-hnnngg—fuck oh-oh-oooh~!” Your mind was in shambles as your body steadily began to burn in a much different way. Fire growing in your stomach as he split you open, eagerly fucking you through another orgasm.

You screamed as the pleasure took a sharp turn under the ceaseless onslaught. Your hips burned as Buggy pushed your thighs apart into a split, hips forcing your waist up so his cock drove your lower spine down into the floor. Despite not appearing very strong, his grip was unmoving, pinning you in place for his cock to drive you over the edge again.

“Who’s your captain? Who’s fucking you this good? Tell me.” Buggy spat, hot breathe beating over your exposed neck.

“Y-Y-oh—fffuck it’s you B-Buggy~!” You rambled, moans breaking your sentence apart until it was almost incomprehensible.

“That’s fucking right it is! C’mon, show me how good you feel—” Buggy kissed you deeply again, griding his cock against your sweet spot, “One more time for the finale, Shill. I wanna feel you squeeze around me again.”

You slammed your head back against the floor as you shook in his hold, unable to move away from the burning of his cock in your walls.

Finally, Buggy slammed his hips against you, cock spilling deep as he groaned into your lips with gritted teeth. Hissing as you squeezed him hard with a soft moan.

“F-Fuck… I-I’m guessing this is a more… hah… private show?” You laughed, body sinking down in exhaustion.

Buggy gave a sharp laugh.

“Ain’t no one got enough berri to pay for a show like this.” Buggy kissed your cheek gently before whispering into your ear, “I expect a repeat performance though. Can’t afford for you to get rusty. Captain’s orders.”

“Yes, Captain.” You promised with a dizzy grin.

Thank fuck you knew how to put on a show.

The encore was to die for.

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

More thoughts on episode 5 Partings (part 1).

My first reaction is here (it contains more thoughts that i didn't used in this post because it's already too long, and i didn't want to repeat myself).

Because a troll has commented on my last post about The Rings of Power negatively, i feel obligated to add some warnings to avoid to attract more of them (sorry for the length):

Indeed I'm not a native english speaker. Actually, english is my third language and i'm not even living in a english-speaking country. Thus i can't deny that i'm far from being fluent, having learnt to write it mostly through very old high school lessons, films/series and articles read on line. But thankfully, my bad english doesn't seem to stop people from reading my posts, understanding them and even interacting with me politely. So i don't think, the quality of my expression is an issue, except for the trolls.

More importantly, my language skills have nothing to do with the fact that i enjoy so much The Rings of Power. I'm raving about it because it's the best tv show that i've seen in years. It's a 10/10 (for people who like to rank things), which means season 1 will be probably in my top 10 of the best shows of all the time (next to The Wire, Twin Peaks, Chernobyl, The Terror, Hannibal, Battlestar Galactica etc.)

Now that we have established that i know enough english to express myself at least clearly in this language; and that i have good taste in tv series (and literature, poetry and non fiction too by the way), and thus if i see no flaws in this series, it's probably because it's way better than the limited taste of the trolls, and their too limited capacity of criticism (that enjoying to much low quality content has lead them to form) allow them to admit - let get's back to episode 5!

This is the most epic episode since episode 1 and the narration of the war of Wrath against Morgoth by Galadriel and boy did i love it! Glorfinder (is he the elf warrior?) and the Balrog were something unexpected because the Tolkien Estate has established (last time i checked) that the First and Third Age were off limit for the show. So every time the producers managed to negociate more, it feels like a very special gift. An art gift in this case because the representation of the battle between the heroic elf and the evil creature looked like a painting by a great master.

And let's be honest, who didn't scream Gandalf too when watching it?! Who didn't think of the LOTR films? The call back to the fight between Gandalf and the Balrog in Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring was obvious, in an episode where the dwarves and the Mithril they found in their mines were essential to the resolution of Elrond's arc.

Loved too the scale of the final scene in Nùmenor where the ships left the harbour, which propelled the series on the level of epicness of the films. Everyone looked so pretty in the armors. I hate war and colonization as much as Eärien and Kemen (loved his courage, yes destroying the ship was brave), and yet i still swooned over the perfect looks of Elendil, Galadriel, Halbrand and queen regent Miriel, and totally got why the crowd wanted to applaud them.

But it's the plot (characters development and theories) that i really want to discuss. Going through this commentary character by character and their relationships (it's only the part 1 because i have too many thoughts and the episode was so dense).

Starting by Nori and The Stranger:

I'm convinced that he's Sauron since his spectacular entrance in episode 1 for many reasons (developed in a another post to come), but the most important is how much essential it would be for Nori and Poppy 's characters development to experience this level of betrayal and corruption. Corruption of every living being (including plants and animals) during the Second Age, by Sauron who helped spread evil in Middle Earth by tempting, deceiving and manipulating while his armies of Orcs are invading every region, being the main theme of the show in my view.

Nori has been firmly established as a young naive hobbit who wants to expand on her world geographically, but also on what she learnt from her community about surviving. Since she couldn't leave her family, she decided that the novelty and mystery should come from this old man who has fallen from the sky like an angel, and put all her trust in him to the point where she made him a part of her family.

In the process, she ignored Marigold and Poppy's advices ("there's common sense and nonsense"). It's because she's deeply connected to those two very wise characters and because their first strong impression was that the Stranger was dangerous and should be left where he was and they argued about it with Nori a lot, that realizing that she carried the true evil with her all along (just like Frodo did with the One Ring but without knowing it), and brought chaos in the all world by trusting a stranger rather than her close friend and relatives (unlike Sam and Frodo who knew what lies Gollum was spreading), seems in my view a necessary lesson for her.

All those elements once assembled, can make a consistent arc and are compatible with the fact that it would be the best option for Sauron to cross the Middle Earth unidentified and without unwanted attention. And who except the Hartfoots that are the species the most hard to detect can provide this level of quasi invisibility?

Meanwhile, their relationship is something as intense, ambiguous and sometimes manipulative than the one between Galadriel and Hallbrand: he saves her and then hurts her badly. Though i believe he was indeed just this time healing himself, and hurting her was an accident (she came too close) contrary to what he did to the Fireflies, which was a real killing. I'm not sure if this last incident will open her eyes to the danger he could represent or if she will ignore it like Galadriel does with Hallbrand. Will she rather follow with her initial choice because she can't stop either (she can only share doubts with Poppy), not now that they are so far in their travel and they still need him so much to push the cart?

However, despite my attachement to this theory, for the first time, this week i had doubts about the Stranger being Sauron. And it's all because of what happened in Lindon with the Tree.

On The Elves

There's one fan theory that places Sauron in Lindon, already deceiving the elves as a fake ally of Celebrimbor but existing off screen. I don't like it because it would mean that all the clues collected that designated The Stranger or Halbrand (since Adar is not Sauron as proved in this episode) would have been just a way to midslead us, until a final cheap twist that would break the continuity of the character development for shock value (which wasn't the way Tolkien used to write). But the Tree was literally dying, and i wonder if it could have been poisoning. It seems like an opportunity Sauron wouldn't miss: destroying the entire community of elves of Lindon (which is also the most powerful of Middle Earth) with one stone.

I'm on the side who isn't sure Gil Galad and Celebrimbor weren't lying about the Mithril. I don't see how it can heal the Tree or share its power with all the elves, no matter the intensity of its light. it didn't seem to have this specificity when Elrond was holding it. Howewer we know because of Bilbo (hundred years later) that it can be transformed into very solid armors and swords for a potential coming war. It would thus explain why Celebrimbor needed a massive forge so quickly. Not (only) to make some artistic artefact to gain fame but to arm an entire nation of elves warriors (my speculations are all based on the appendices of LOTR just like the show, not the Silmarillion so there's plenty of my ideas that are partially spoilers free speculations).

I'm satisfied that Elrond got the same treatment that he inflicted on Durin last week. He learnt at least the lesson: that you don't try to manipulate friends, you tell them the truth and work with them to find a solution. I don't think he deserved their reconciliation scene: as beautifully shot as it was (a autumn decor with big rocks for Durin to sit on and think, and a forest of trees to quickly and softly heal his pain and bitterness and rekindle the trust), it's hard to forget that Durin did all the hard work (forgiving and helping). Elrond is lucky that Durin has such a good heart and still cares a lot about him. No matter how much he tries, and what he said to Gil-Galad about his dedication to his friends, i think that he will never be to Durin the real friend that Legolas was to Gimli.

That doesn't mean the elves are irredeemable. Even Gil-Galad, between two "fashion shows" where he looked like a superstar in his magnificent silk dresses, managed to share some really wise view of the world on hope (actually a central belief in Tolkien's work), that proved that he knows the real power isn't in a rare ore, no matter how magical it is, but in the moral quality of the people they use it and the relationship they can build. His presence during Durin/Elrond reconciliation scene and what he watched seemed to have satisfied him, and not only because of Durin's acceptation to help. He enjoyed the friendly way in which they both have lead this "negociation".

The scenes he shared with Durin were pure gold! I would watch without question a show in which in every episode Durin would find a new thing to "stole" from him, for Disa, until he finishes to refurnish their entire home. The dinner scene was a very nice light comedy moment (Gil Galad's face was the best thing! I hope Disa will enjoy her table), a rare moment of pure humor in the show.