#I got to walk on the Cobb where The Fall happens

[aristocratic-otter]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

Thank you, @artsyunderstudy, @skee3000, and @roomwithanopenfire for the ask.

  Hmmm, Ok. I guess I’ll choose based on which of my own fics I actually reread the most. That means my favorites are: 

A Real Doll

My first explicit fic, written for the Monster Under the Bed fest, this was where I really started to feel like I could be up there writing with the fanfic gods I’d looked up to. @captain-aralias liked it, that was an achievement! This was actually very very loosely based on a CSI fanfic I read forever ago (really, the only similarity was a lifelike sex doll), but in it Baz decides to try to wank his feelings for Simon away in a much more involved fashion by basically fucking a sex doll he makes that looks like Simon. But then Simon walks in on this happening and, well...you’ll have to read it to find out. 

A Fucked-Up Cinderella Story

This was my first EGF fic, and, more importantly, my first collaboration. Working with @frjsti was eye-opening in so many ways. I found out how wonderful it can be when a writer and artist work together, and how much greater the result is than either could accomplish alone. 

Plus, I’m still amused by the titular joke. 

In this fic, Baz was kept home by Malcolm after the vampire attack, for fear both of what other mages might do to him, and out of worry that Baz himself wouldn’t be able to control his vampire urges. 

In a misguided attempt to convince Baz that he can like women, Malcolm offers to hire him a male escort, with the twisted idea that if Baz doesn’t like having sex with a male, he might swing back to females. 

Enter Simon, who’s offered a shit-ton of money by a very discreet agency to provide one night of unimaginable pleasure to a mysterious client...

Careful What You Wish For

Another collaboration with an artist, this time for my first COBB, I worked with the imitable @ivelovedhimthroughworse (Apricot). Apricot was a fun and generous partner, and this being a collaboration is one reason it’s a favorite. 

The other reasons have to do with me being a massive science nerd and getting to nerd out about multiple universe theories, and with this being my first fully original plotty work (previous ones either weren’t plotty, or were based on existing movies/stories/history).

In Careful, Simon, in a fit of rage, accidentally wishes that Baz had never been born. This catapults him into a universe that never had a Baz Pitch and Simon has to learn how much he actually cares about Baz (and don’t worry, Baz himself enters the story before too long).

Gates of Ivory and Horn

This was a gift fic for @prettylightsbigcity, and what I like so much about it is how it gave me a chance to play with mythology, with the boundary between life and death, and with the ripple effects of one choice on future timelines. Plus, some very hot scenes and plenty of angst, it’s exactly the type of fic I choose to read when others write it. 

When the Oneiroi, Greek gods of dreams in the form of ravens, attack Watford, Simon is one of the first to fall. He’s trapped in a dream where he’s offered the choice of two gates. The catch is, one gate shows only truth, one shows only falsehoods. If he chooses the wrong gate, he’ll be trapped in the dream forever. 

But how could a future where he ends up with Baz be the true one?

For the last, I’m torn between three or four other fics, but I think I’ll go with The Naked Next.  It was a gift fic for @raenestee, and one of several fics set in the same universe.  I’m choosing this because it gave me a chance to be fun and silly, but also nerd out on some of my favorite science topics. And it let me write SnowBaz into one of my favorite (silly) Star Trek episodes. And most off all, I got to work with a lovely bunch of people, including @facewithoutheart, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @cutestkilla, @mostlymaudlin, @thewholelemon, and @artsyunderstudy (and others who may yet be revealed. The expansiveness of the universe we’ve built together is endlessly thrilling for me, and I’m grateful to @facewithoutheart for inviting me to be involved. 

In this story, Simon is the Bajoran rebel turned Starfleet security chief on the Redemption. Baz is his half-Cardassian former roommate/ nemesis and constant obsession. When the Redemption answers a distress call to a vessel where people are acting like the whole world is a party, some of the away team unfortunately bring a contagion back to the Redemption with them. 

In the timeless words of Porky Pig, Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

[make-me-imagine]

Wanted

Plot: You are wanted for harboring fugitive's and escape to Tatooine. After narrowly escaping bounty hunters and struggling to make your way across the barren land to the outskirts of Mos Pelgo, the Marshall Cobb Vanth finds you barely alive. After adjusting to life in Mos Pelgo, while growing closer to the brazen marshall, what will Cobb do with you once he finds out you are a wanted fugitive?

Pairing: Cobb Vanth x Gen!Neutral Reader

Triggers: Gunfire, fighting, mention of blood and injuries. (Not graphic in detail)

Words: 3.8k

General Taglist: @criminaly-supernatural, @caswinchester2000

*Planets named Tartan and Ferador are made up. As are the characters Malton, Marix & the bounty hunters. **There is a lot of POV switching in this, I hope it's not too messy.

- - - - - -

You hissed in pain as you limped along, looking back across the barren land before stumbling, barely keeping yourself from falling. Your leg was no longer bleeding, but the wound was still aching. Your skin was hot and your head hurt from the hot sun shining down on you. You pulled your cloak further over your face to try and protect you from the blazing sun.

Seeing a small formation of rocks, you hobbled to them before harshly sitting on the dry ground, leaning against the rocks and sheltering yourself in the small amount of shade provided.

You panted, your mouth and throat dry as you closed your eyes, feeling a sense of helplessness come over you as you thought about the events of the last few days. You never thought you would be a fugitive, you never thought you'd have to run for your life, let alone fight for it.

Opening your eyes again you looked around you surroundings, your eyes catching on a distant shimmer of light. Blinking a few times you tried to focus on it. Was it a building? A ship?

After resting for a little while longer, you pulled yourself up and began to slowly make your way towards the reflective object. Whatever it was, it was surely better then were you were now.

The closer you got, the weaker you felt. You had been wandering for nearly two days with an injury and no food or water. You even had a run in with some sort of sand monster that nearly ate you.

Stopping and letting out a breath on a small hill you felt a sense of hope fill your body as you saw the shining object was the top of a water tower in the middle of a small village.

Stumbling down the hill you tried to make your way to the village, struggling more and more the closer you got. You tried to use the last of your strength, tried calling out for help, but as you stumbled and fell to your knees, vision spinning and blurring, you fell into darkness.

(Cobb's POV)

"Hey" Cobb greeted to a friend as he walked out the bar and down into the road. It was the early evening and still hot as hell, most people were already inside for the evening.

He decided he was going to take a stroll around the town before going in for the night. He had to admit, things had gotten pretty boring around Mos Pelgo. The last exciting thing to happen was when the Mandalorian had been there a few months prior.

Just as Cobb got to the edge of town, his train of thought was interrupted when he notice something lying out in the dirt just outside of town. Is it an animal? He thought to himself for a moment before he got a deep unsure feeling in his gut. Making his way a little closer, he suddenly realized it was a person. Quickly running over to the body he grabbed them and turned them over.

As your face came into view Cobb frowned. You weren't from Mos Pelgo. He looked up and out at the barren land.

"Where the hell did you come from?" he whispered before looking back down at you. His eyes gazed over your figure, seeing your holstered gun before his eyes landing on the wound to your leg.

Thinking for a moment and taking one more look around for possibly threats, he scooped you up into his arms and began carrying you back to town and towards Malton's place. He was the closest thing to a doctor Mos Pelgo had.

- - - - - -

As you slowly opened your eyes, blinking a few times you looked around. It took a few minutes for you to realize that you were in a house. Small, dinjy, and dusty. Someone must have found you lying out in the dirt. You felt a wave of relief flow through you.

As the door nearby swung open, you sat up, suddenly feeling afraid. You had no idea who had found you.

As an older man with nearly white hair came in, he smiled politely at you as he made a sound of surprise that you were awake. He was followed by another man, a bit taller, who had greying hair and some facial hair to match.

Cobb could tell that you were cautious and afraid, so he smiled at you "Well, glad to see you finally woke up."

You hesitated for a moment "Finally?"

"Yes" the other man began "Cobb found you about three days ago, lying outside of town. You were almost dead." He handed you a small cup of water that you took grateful with a smile.

After taking a drink you looked back at the man called Cobb. "Thank you. I tried my best to get to the town, but didn't have the strength I guess."

He nodded with a smile before sitting in a chair across the room. He nodded at the other man who smiled at you and left the room.

You met his eyes and waited for him to speak "Malton is not a doctor, but, his father was, so he knows a bit about medicine. He's the best we got in Mas Pelgo."

"Mas Pelgo?" You repeated "And where is that exactly?"

Cobb cocked his head and smiled in curiosity "Tatooine" he said.

You nodded you head in realization "And you are...Cobb?"

"Cobb Vanth, marshal of Mas Pelgo."

Your heartbeat picked up in pace. A Marshall, great. "I'm Y/n."

"So, Y/n, how the hell did you end up in the middle of the desert, and injured nonetheless."

You eyed him for a moment, quickly coming up with a fake story "I was on a passenger ship making our way to Tartan. We were attacked by pirates. I got on a escape pod with a couple passengers but it was shot down. It crashed on the closest planet, here. A couple of the passengers died from the crash. The others were attacked by the pirates that followed us down. I barely survived, but managed to kill them, though I was injured." You finished while touching your injured leg lightly.

Cobb watched you closely as you spoke, he could tell something was off about your story, but he wasn't sure what. "Why were you going to Tartan?" he asked.

Meeting his eyes you hesitated "I- I recently lost my family and my home on Ferador, I was just trying to find somewhere to go." This was not really a lie.

Cobb had heard about a recent war that took place on Ferador, local governments fighting each other and killing innocent people doing so. He nodded his head lightly before standing up "Well, you got yourself a place to stay until you figure out your next move."

"I- I do?"

He nodded at you "Yeah, we got a hostel in town, though there are very few people there, so you'll probably end up getting a room to yourself. No need to pay, we treat people fairly here. And since you clearly need help, it's free."

You slowly stood up, glad that your leg did not hurt when you put pressure on it "Are you sure? I have some money."

He rose his hand, silencing you "Don't worry about it."

You smiled at him, grateful for his generosity. He returned your smile before opening the door "I'll show you the way."

As you followed him out of the small house and out into the town, you looked around, gaining the curious stares of locals.

"Mos Pelgo used to be a slave town, we were liberated a while back. Now we're a simple mining town."

"Who liberated it?" You asked curiously.

He looked back at you before a small smirk crossed his face "I did."

You stared at him for a moment before smiling "Ah, so that's why you're marshal?"

He chuckled slightly "Mainly. Though, it is also that the people trust me enough to know I'll protect them." He met your eyes, keeping eye contact for a little longer than necessary before he stopped and turned to nearby building. "Here it is."

Looking up at the structure you breathed out, relieved that you had somewhere to lay low for a while. But, you were anxious with the idea of where you would go from here.

**Two Weeks Later**

You smiled at Malton as you passed by "Morning!" you greeted cheerfully as you carried your bag to the hostel.

After hanging around Mas Pelgo for a while, you began to get along well with the locals. Agreeing to help out around town to pay for your stay. You knew you couldn't stay forever, or at least you didn't think you could. But you had still grown fond of the small community. Not to mention the marshal who saved you.

You and Cobb began to spend more time with each other. He told you about what happened with the town and how he had donned mandalorian armor to scare off possible hostiles, that until a real mandalorian came to town.

For such a small place in the middle of nowhere, there was more action that you expected. Hell, in the short time you had been there some random pirates tried to high-jack a mining shipment. Failed of course. You even helped.

Because of that, Cobb even offered you a position as his deputy. You had not decided if you were going to say yes yet. You were afraid of the feelings you were beginning to develop for the rugged marshal. You had no idea what he would do if he learned you were wanted, especially since it was a decently high price on your head.

- - - - - -

Cobb had grown fond of you as well, seeking you out most days to talk. He flirted and joked with you, but was unsure if you really understood his intentions.

Though, you were still cautious around him, around everyone really, not really revealing much about your past. Which made him even more curious. He wanted to know what you were hiding.

His thoughts were distracted when his door swung open, revealing two tall figures, a human and a twi'lek. Cobb straightened up before standing.

"You're the marshal around here?" the human asked.

"I am."

"We're bounty hunters, tracking a fugitive, we have evidence that they came through here."

"We haven't had any recent visitors." Cobb said before his mind suddenly thought of you. "What do they look like?" He asked.

The twi'lek pulled a small hologram recorder out of their pocket, pressing a button a small blue hologram appeared. It was you.

Cobb felt his heart sink as the human began talking again "They are considered dangerous, and have quite the bounty, are you sure they aren't here?"

Cobb met the mans eyes before nodding "I haven't seen them, but I'll ask around if you'd like. Some of the locals just got back from a nearby town, maybe they saw them. "

"We'll be in the bar, if you get information, it belongs to us, as does the bounty." The man said before they left.

Giving himself a few moments, waiting until the two bounty hunters would be in the bar, Cobb slowly left his office before making his way towards the hostel. He needed to talk to you, he wanted to hear it from you.

- - - - - -

As you stood in your room at the hostel, your eyes caught on two figures walking past. Seeing the guns holstered around their hips, you had a gut feeling they were bounty hunters.

Looking around the room you began to panic. Did you not destroy all of the previous bounty hunters tracking devices? How did they find you? What should you do?

Peeking back out the window you saw them make their way into Cobbs office. "No" you whispered, feeling your stomach and chest clench.

Quickly grabbing your bag you began to stuff your clothes and whatever belongings you had acquired into the bag. Where would you go? Hide out until dark? Maybe Cobb would help you. But he was the law here, would he really help a fugitive? And what would the bounty hunters say you did? The man who hired them to find you was paying a lot, surely he had to tell them something other than the real reason.

Through your manic thoughts and panicked packing, you jumped when your door swung open. Your panic caused you to grab the gun on your nightstand before swinging around.

Your heart jumped in your chest when you saw you had the gun pointed directly at Cobbs face. Hesitating for a moment you put your arm down as he looked from the gun to your face.

A sad smile spread across his face "Now you wouldn't have reacted like that unless what those bounty hunters said is true. So. What did you do, and are you as dangerous as they say?"

You let out a soft scoff, shaking your head as you slowly sat on the corner of your bed, looking down at the floor. Cobb closed the door and watched you, waiting for you to speak.

Looking back up at him you let out a sigh "I'm not dangerous Cobb. Not as dangerous as the man who wants information only I have."

"Explain" He said as he sat in the chair across the room. Your eyes darted to the door. "They're in the bar, they don't know you're here."

You met his eyes again, a mix of relief and surprise on your face that did not go unnoticed by him. Clearing your throat you began to explain what happened.

"You know about the government upheaval going on on my home planet?" He nodded his head before you continued "The man trying to take control of the government needs...certain information that would get him control over a lot of people. The only person who could give him that information is my brother." Cobb leaned forward as he listened, encouraging you to continue. "What I'm wanted for, is harboring dangerous fugitives, that being my brother and his wife. But they aren't dangerous. I helped them get off the planet, and I'm the only one who knows where they went. That's why I have a bounty on my head. So, I fled." You finished as you glanced between Cobb and to your hands.

"So what really happened the day I found you outside town?"

"I was really on a ship going to Tartan. But the ship was boarded by bounty hunters, not pirates. I stole an escape pod, and they did cause me to crash. But I was alone, there were no other passengers. And I did manage to kill the two bounty hunters that followed me, and destroyed their tracking devices. "

He nodded as you spoke before he looked to the door and then stood, looking out the window.

"So. What are you going to do?" You asked cautiously.

He turned and looked back down at you, seeing the fear and pain in your face. He felt his chest tighten "What should I do?"

You let out a small breath "I don't want to endanger the people here...So, if you tell me too, I'll go with them. But I'm not saying I wont try to escape once we're out of Mos Pelgo. I wont let them find my brother."

Cobb ran your words threw his head again "If I tell you to?"

You nodded lightly "You've been kind to me Cobb. You've-" You hesitated "You gave me a place to stay when I had nowhere to go. I don't want to fight you."

He sighed as he took a step closer to you, eyes locked "I don't-"

His sentence was cut off suddenly when the window blew in, shattered glass flying through the room. You and Cobb threw yourself on the ground.

"I think they know you're here!" Cobb yelled as he pulled out his gun, you grabbing your own from the bed.

"You don't say?!" You shouted as you both crawled behind the bed.

Everything went silent as you stayed still, your guns ready to fire if someone entered. You could hear people yelling from the streets and hustling from inside the building.

As you waited a voice suddenly called from outside the hostel "We know you got that fugitive in there marshal! There ain't no need for you to keep them safe! So, here's the deal. You give them to me, and you get a cut of the bounty, and no one has to get hurt."

Cobb turned and looked at you. You spoke quietly "Do it."

He looked at you incredulously "What?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt, and they need me alive." Before he could protest more, you yelled out "I'm coming out! You don't have to fire anymore!"

"Throw out any weapons you have and come out slowly."

As you began to get up, Cobb grabbed your arm "What are you doing?!"

You looked down at him, meeting his eyes and he thought for a second that his heart stopped "It's okay Cobb." You paused before smiling sadly "It's better if I leave anyway."

Stepping away from him and towards the window, you threw out your gun before leaving the room, hands up in the air. Cobb watched as you left, unsure of what to do.

You slowly stepped out of the hostel towards the bounty hunters. The townspeople you had begun to befriend watched you from their houses. "The marshal didn't know who I was." You began to speak to the bounty hunters "He just wanted to make sure I was who you said I was."

The man and the twi'lek exchanged looked before looking back at you "I don't care, get over here" The man said harshly.

As you got closer the man suddenly smacked you in the face with the butt of his gun making you fall to the ground in pain, vision spinning slightly from the impact.

The twi'lek pulled out some handcuffs before walking toward you. As she reached to grab you, you flinched as a shot went off and she fell to the ground. You spun around to see Cobb coming from the hostel.

The man quickly grabbed you and pulled you up, shielding himself with your body as he pointed his gun at the marshal "Don't do anything stupid marshal! This fugitive scum deceived you."

You struggled against the man as his grip tightened around your neck.

"Let them go." Cobb said defiantly before meeting your eyes. You shook your head lightly, trying to get him to stop.

"If you want them, you'll have to kill me first." The man said before suddenly firing, the shot hitting Cobb in the shoulder.

"No!" You yelled before twisting and pulling yourself away from the man. Kicking him in the knee and buckling his leg, you grabbed his arm and tried to get the gun away from him.

The man quickly fought back, hitting you in the face again and knocking you to the ground. Just as he pointed the gun at you, another shot went off and he fell to the ground, dead.

Looking across the road, you saw Cobb lying on the ground, arm pointed out as he dropped the gun he had just fired before turning to lie on his back, letting out a groan of pain.

Getting up you ran over to him, others from the nearby houses coming out as well. "Why the hell didn't you let me leave?" you asked as you gently checked his wound.

He looked up at you and let out a breathy laugh "It's kind of my job."

You shook your head in disbelief "But I'm a fugitive remember?"

He shook his head as he met your eyes "So?"

You frowned as Malton appeared at your side "Help me get him up."

After you stood him up and some others helped him into Maltons, you watched from the road, unsure of what to do. Looking back at the two dead bounty hunters you sighed before walking over to their bodies. Finding the tracking beacon, you stomped on it, destroying it.

Looking back at the hostel and it's destroyed windows you felt a sense of guilt. You never wanted to bring violence to anyone here, but that's what happened. You couldn't let it happen again.

- - - - - -

Cobb groaned as he opened his eyes, shoulder aching. His eyes landed immediately to Malton who was bandaging his shoulder.

"Told you the sedative wouldn't last too long" Malton said "You've only been out for about two hours."

Cobb sighed as he looked around "Where's Y/n?"

Malton remained silent for a moment, peering at Cobb briefly from the corner of his eye. Cobb could tell he was holding something back "Malton?"

The man sighed "I- Well I told Y/n I wouldn't say anything until they were already gone."

"Gone?" Cobb asked as he sat up, wincing from the pain as Malton gently held his steady "Y/n left?"

"Not yet, but..there getting ready too now. Everyone was telling them that they didn't have to go, but...y/n, wont have it. They said they don't want anyone else to get hurt."

Cobb sighed before he gently pushed Malton away as he rose from the bed.

- - - - - -

You began to load your bag onto the speeder as you took one more look around town, waiting for Marix to come back to take you to the next port town.

"Where the hell do you think you're running off too?"

You turned to the sound of the angry marshal as he stocked over to you, shirtless with a bandage wrapped across his body.

"Cobb, you shouldn't be out of bed!" You said as he approached you.

"Answer my question." He said, stopping in front of you.

"Marix is taking me to the port, I'm leaving, I can't let anyone else get hurt Cobb."

Cobb let out a heavy breath before composing himself "You can't go."

"Why?" You asked exasperated.

"Because- Well-" He struggled "No one wants you to go, and...and neither do I." He finally said.

Your heart was beating heavily in your chest at his words. Looking around as you gathered your thoughts, you looked back at him and spoke softly "More will come."

He took a small step closer to you as he peered into your eyes "And we'll deal with that when it happens. I'll protect you."

"What if you get hurt again?" You asked as your eyes ran over the bloody bandage across his shoulder.

"Then that'll be my fault, not yours." He brought his hand up towards your face, hesitating slightly before gently brushing his fingers across the side of your cheek. You locked eyes "Don't go. I've grown too fond of you to let you go now. So- Just stay with me."

You felt as though a heavy weight was lifted off your shoulders, as butterflies fluttered in your stomach. You felt a smile tug at your lips as you held your gaze with Cobb "Well...Since you asked to nicely."

An amused smiled graced his face, his eyes flicking to your lips as his hand cupped the side of your face. Leaning in, you met in a kiss, sealing what was the beginning of a new adventure.

xx End xx

I hope you liked it!! I kind of had to force myself to end it since it was getting so long but I really liked how this came out.

I would be so grateful if you reblogged this to help spread it past my followers!

If you'd like to be added to a taglist, let me know~

[zabrak-show]

Back to School

The Greatest Love I've Ever Known series

Pairing: dad!maul x gn!reader

Summary: 2 nightbrother OC's Grim and Dire, reader and Maul's adopted children on Dathomir. It's the first day of school and Maul is nervous for his precious ones due to his past trauma with schooling as well as the history of Dathomir. Even though it is now peaceful between the brothers and sisters, he is apprehensive.

Based of this prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting

Warnings/Tags: domestic fluff, kid talk, possible ooc for maul given the nature of the fluff and softness here xD, school talk, not really proofread, and no beta reader

words: 869

AO3

gif not by me: but is accurate representation of maul packing his kids' lunches

The first day of school. You hadn’t expected Maul to handle it with ease, but you also hadn’t expected him to be the ball of nerves that he was.

“How much food should we pack for them? I don’t want them to go hungry. What if someone steals their lunch? Maybe we should pack them each a back up lunch. And snacks. Do they have all the supplies they need? I went scavenging yesterday to get them more ingredients for potions. I don’t want them falling behind because I-”

You set your hand on his exposed forearm stuffing a lunch box so full of rancor meat it was almost bursting at the seams.

“Relax darling,” you cooed at him, easing his hands down to a relaxing position, “Brother Viscus is the headmaster, he won’t let anything bad happen to them.”

“Yes, but the sisters-” he started and you cut him off.

“The sisters will behave themselves. It’s all in the treaty that you helped write with them.”

“I know it, I just… the thought of them having to endure anything like myself or my brothers had to, it’s more than I can stand.” He growled out the last words, stuffing the overfull lunch bags into the kids’ backpacks. You knew all too well the treatment of Nightbrothers in the past, and even though Maul was not raised a Nightbrother, he’d had it no better.

“I understand, let’s just get them to school for their first day and take it from there.”

-------------

Grim and Dire held hands as you walked them both to school with your arms around your husband. The air was warm and humid, only to get warmer as the day grew long as was typical for Dathomir this time of year.

“I bet we get to ride a rancor on our first day!” Dire exclaimed, his soft yellow eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Yeah right! You’re too little even if we could.” Grim jeered at his little brother.

“Not uh,” Grim unclasped his hand from Dire’s and flexed his arm muscles. “See, I bet my muscles are bigger than yours even.” Dire rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

You grinned at Maul, watching your boys bicker in a playful sense. He smiled back and you wondered if a moment could get more pure and blissful.

The path was worn and heavily treaded on through the years. It widened as you got closer and closer until at last the durasteel archway leading into the entrance of the school grounds.

“Alright, boys, we’re here. Let’s go talk to Brother Viscus and find out where your classes are.” You took Dire’s hand into your own as you spoke.

Maul grabbed Grim’s hand and you walked into the big brick building. It was just off the edge of the swamp lands with a lot of vegetation growing all around, and a small flat area cleared out for play and training. The building itself was 3 stories high with large windows. It had been a school for the Nightsisters originally. But now things were different on Dathomir. The nightbrothers and nightsisters coexisted in peace.

Brother Viscus greeted them from outside his office. The halls were bustling with students and parents roaming around, the sounds of everything from laughter to crying rang through the drafty halls.

“Grim and Dire!” Viscus smiled wide. He kneeled down to hug the brothers together, one in each arm.

“Hi grandpa,” they both squealed out in his arms.

“Alright boys, let’s see where your classes are.” He rose and pulled out a clipboard hanging on his door and rifled through some papers.

“Ok, Grim, you’re going to be on the third floor. Sister Ventress is your teacher. She’s tough, but fair, so be on your best behavior.”

“And let’s see here, Dire,” he tapped the pen to his mouth as he searched the directory. “Ah yes, that’s right, you’ll be with Mr. Ohnaka this year. He’s on the first floor here, all you have to do is go down the hall and turn left at the end.” He pointed with the pen in the direction of the hall.

A loud crash was heard from the other end of the hall along with some raised voices.

“I’d better go check what that is. You boys be good!” He closed the office door behind him and rushed off in the direction of the crash.

Maul squatted down to eye level with the brothers.

“Ok boys, it’s your first day. Do be good, but don’t follow orders if it hurts you or someone else. Let me know if anyone, teacher or student, is mean to you.” He looked past them both with a scowl as he thought about them in a bad situation. “They will be dealt with by me, if anyone harms a horn on your heads.”

“We’ll be good, daddy.” Dire leapt forward to hug Maul around the neck.

“Yeah, dad, it will be ok.” Grim looked around before also succumbing to the hug.

You knelt down to hug both of them too. “Ok, one of us will be here waiting for you when you get out of school to walk you home. We love you both so much”

---------------------------

a/n: honestly i debated not sharing this because it's a bit silly, but ahh well! i hope someone out there enjoys it. I also am working on a sketch of the brothers and if i can get it to look somewhat decent I'll post that too xD

reblogs and comments super appreciated!

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[sunflowergirl522]

Phobia

Pairing: Din Djarin x Reader

Summary: You get stuck on an ice planet with the worst thing ever. 

Warnings: Spoilers for season two of the Mandalorian. (If there’s anything else let me know)

Word Count: 3,377

A/N: This was inspired because of my poor arachnophobia while watching the new episode. Also I started planning and writing this thinking it was really good but now I’m doubting it so I’m really sorry if it’s just shit.

Also for those who don’t know: Bare = dear, Cyar’ika = darling/sweetheart, darasuum = eternally, Ni kar’taylir darasuum gar = I love you

Masterlist

You’ve been tense ever since you got back. Not only had Din sent you back before fighting the Krayt Dragon, the child had snuck off of the speeder Cobb Vanth had been kind enough to lend you. So now instead of just worrying about if your Mandalorian was coming back safe you have to worry about the little one too. Peli noticed how tense you were when you showed back up to the hangar and instead of asking about it, she tried her hardest to distract you. So here you are sitting in the cantina watching her play with the insect across from you both. The insect had just beaten Peli and they started a new round when Din walks into the cantina. The relief you feel when you see him is visible as you let out a breath of air and your shoulders drop. 

Din makes his way over to the table and you smile up at him as he gives you a small head nod. After he turns his attention to Peli yours transfers over to the little one who coos at you. Mando explains what happened to Peli while you get up and grab the child from the bag on Dins hip. “Come here you little womp rat. You were supposed to come back with me.” 

“That’s a high stakes game.” You tune back into the others as Peli gets Din to cover the insects bet. You turn to look at Din trying to tell if he has any major injuries but there’s none that you can notice at least. “I thought you said he was on a hot streak?” Dins voice causes you to look at Peli who’s collecting the credits from the table. 

“Aw quit your cryin, you’ll rust!” You giggle at the exclamation and Din gives your foot a playful nudge. Peli then translates everything the insect has to say about the contact before starting to talk about the Krayt Dragon meat. 

As you’re following her out of the cantina a thought strikes you and you look up at the Mandalorian next to you. “Did you walk here?” He responds to you with just a nod. “What happened to the speeder?”

“Guild members who were here for the kid made me crash it.” You gasp at his words and immediately start to check the child for any wounds. Once you see that he’s perfectly fine you grab Dins arm to stop him and turn towards him. 

“Are you okay?” You once again look over him to see if you can spot any serious injuries. 

“I’m fine Cyar’ika, don’t worry.” He leans down to touch his forehead to yours. “I took care of them.”

“Good.”

***

You sit with the child in your lap while you both watch the meat cook. Din stands off to the side watching over the two of you and the meat. The silence that exists is comfortable and not unlike many days in the Razor Crest. 

“Hey, don’t overcook it, Treadwell. I like it a little rare! It’s not some Rodian for crying out loud.” Peli breaks the silence as she enters the hanger and walks towards Din. “All right here’s the deal. A Mandalorian covert is in this sector.”

“Are they the ones that left Navarro?”

“Don’t know. All I know is that the contact will lead you to them.”

“How much will it cost me?”

“That’s the great news, it’s free!” 

“What’s the non great news?” There's your Mandalorian always assuming there’s a catch.

“There is none. However there is one small stank in the scud pie.” Normally he’s right. “The contact wants passage to the system. And no hyperdrive.”

You watch them go back and forth until a frog lady catches your attention. She walks in and heads straight for Peli and Din. The child’s attention goes to her as well, more importantly to the eggs on her back. Once you notice him doing this you pick him up to be eye to eye with you. “Don’t you even think about it buster.” He just coos back at you. You can’t help the small smile that graces your face at how cute the little guy is. “Alright little one let’s go start to get the ship ready to go.” You get up with him in your arms and follow the frog lady into the ship where Din joins you shortly after. 

Din explains the importance of staying strapped in while seated after take off and you stop yourself from chuckling at him getting annoyed after not getting a response to speaking Huttese to the lady. “I’m gonna hit the rack. I set the nav for our course. It’s gonna take a while so I recommend you get some rest.” As Din walks out he gives you a head nod motioning to follow him. You smile at the frog lady as you get up and follow him out the doors to the cockpit and down the ladder. Once you get down to the hull he’s turning around to look for the child. “Kid?”

You both look over to see him grabbing an egg from the carrying case. “No, no, no!” You both chant as you rush over to him. Din shuts the container quick and grabs the kid. “That’s not food. Don’t do that again.” The child burps and all Din can do is sigh in exasperation before turning and heading to the bed. You follow behind looking between the eggs and the ladder with a frown. Once Din puts the child in his hammock he crawls in himself and opens his arms as much as he can for you to cuddle up beside him. You tuck the little one in and kiss his forehead before crawling in next to Din and having him wrap his arms around you. 

“Get some sleep my love, you’ve had a long day.” You rest your forehead against his chest plate as you speak. Before you know it you can hear the small snores slipping out from underneath his helmet and you smile before drifting into sleep yourself.

A ringing wakes you both up and Din rushes up to the cockpit leaving you and the child alone. You groan to yourself about being woken up too soon and how your Mandalorian just needs some rest before crawling out yourself. “Behave yourself.” You speak to the cooing child before heading up the ladder and entering the cockpit. You walk into Din speaking to two X Wings and silently sit in the last open seat.

“May the force be with you.”

“And also with you.”

You yawn and stretch as he sends them the ping they had asked for and the frog lady wakes up. Next thing you know the X Wings are opening up and Din is speeding away and you’re thanking the heavens that you had buckled in.

A sigh of relief leaves your mouth as they lose you and the Crest slides to a stop on the ice. Frog lady starts to unbuckle and get up to most likely check on her eggs as Din places the ship completely down just for it to fall through and crash at the bottom. When you open your eyes it’s suddenly so cold in the ship. Frog lady is shivering on the ground and you quickly unbuckle to help her up as Din picks his head up and tries to start the ship. Once she’s up she starts to speak in a worried tone and points to the door. Din states that he’ll find the eggs and walks out of the door as she whimpers to you. “I’ll find some blankets too to keep you warm.” You leave her and get down to the hull just to gasp at the hole in the side of the ship. You then catch up with Din in the wreckage.

“The kid’s gone.”

“Oh no.” You walk towards the hole hoping you won’t see little footprints leading away. Din continues to look in the wreckage as the anxious pit in your stomach grows.

“No! I told you not to do that.” You turn to see Din grabbing the container of her eggs from the kid and rush to grab the one out of his hands before he can eat that one too. Din yells up that he found them as you place the one you took back in the case. “How many did you eat?” The concern in his voice is clear and the only response he gets is a burp from the kid. A gust of wind comes through the hole and you wrap your arms around yourself to help provide a little warmth. 

“Hold these for a minute Y/n, I’m sure I have a coat around here somewhere for you.” Din hands you the container of her eggs that’s giving off a little bit of heat and gets to work searching for something to protect you from the cold. As soon as he finds the coat that’s just a little too big for you he starts to clean up the wreckage and you grab one of the blankets for the frog lady who makes her way down and start working on a lunch tray for the little one and the new passenger. Once Din feels everything is cleaned up enough he explains the situation to the lady and she tries to communicate with him.

“I’m sorry lady, I don’t understand frog. Whatever it is can wait until morning. I recommend you get some sleep.” He then crosses his arms and leans against the wall he’s sitting in front of while you watch the lady take her blanket off and put it over her eggs. After realizing it was to keep her unborn children warm you take off the coat and hand it to her in order to help. Din is quick to wrap an arm around you once you sit next to him and you curl into his side using his cape as a blanket as much as you can. “You're too kind bare.” You smile at the words whispered to you and shrug before dozing off once again.

You’re both startled awake again however when the frog lady accesses the vocabulation on Zero’s head. You can’t stop the smirk that makes it’s way onto your face as she tells Din off for saying that the deal was off. The sigh of defeat he gives before grabbing his tools and heading outside almost makes you giggle but him mumbling about how this wasn’t part of the deal throws you into a fit. Once you’ve calmed down you pick the child up and carry him over to his hammock. “Get some sleep you little womp rat and don’t bother the nice lady too much. I’m gonna go help your papa.” You grab the last blanket and exit through the hole to follow Din.

“You shouldn’t be out here Y/n, it’s too cold.”

“I’ll be fine, I just wanna help.” You wrap the blanket tighter around you and sit in the snow next to him. A bit of time passes by with you handing Din tools he asks for to help him repair the ship. Your hands had gone numb a little while ago and you can’t stop your shivering but you’ve been dealing with it to help your Mandalorian. When handing him a new tool it falls from your shaking hand and Din’s attention is drawn from the wires to you. He notices your blue lips and chattering teeth immediately and sits up straight and putting the tools he had down. 

“Cyar’ika please, go back inside and get some rest.” His voice pleads with you as he grabs your hands in his gloved ones to try to warm them up. The leather is still warm from the heat coming from the broken wires.

“I want to stay out here and help you.” 

“You’ll only get sick if you stay out here much longer. You can come back out after you’ve gotten some rest and warmed up, okay?”

“Okay, fine. But only because you sound so desperate for me to go.” 

“I just want to keep you safe ner kar’taylir darasuum.” He leans his forehead against yours and you stop yourself from flinching from how cold it was.

“I’ll be back in a bit.” You head back inside and pass the frog lady who’s cradling her eggs and the child who’s now sitting on a crate watching the eggs. “C'mon little one, you wanna keep me company?” He follows you to the small makeshift bedroom and you curl up with him at your side. 

***

Waking up from your nap and going into the hull you’re met with silence and you don’t see anyone. You search around the ship just to find noone and you scrunch your face up in confusion wondering where everyone went. You make your way outside and blaster fire breaks you out of your thoughts. You look up to see frog lady and Din carrying both the kid and the eggs running towards you with Din shooting behind him. “Y/n! Go inside! Get to the cockpit!” You’re about to shout back why when you almost freeze in your spot from what’s chasing them. What has to be thousands of Krykna spill out of the caves all around. You let out a shriek and run as fast as you can back into the ship and up the ladder. Once in the cockpit you curl into a ball in a corner breathing fast and panicking.Of anything that had to live on this planet it just had to be kriffing Krykna. You’ve been terrified of them almost your whole life and you’ve only ever heard stories about them. Now that you’re seeing them in person you’ve decided that they’re even more terrifying.

The child is the first one to enter followed closely by the frog lady. She sits in her seat holding her eggs close to her and the little one stands to the side. Din comes in then followed by loads of Krykna that are keeping the door open as he tries to close it. You scream as they begin to crawl and jump into the cockpit. You try to shut your teary eyes and go to a happy place in your head but the child's whines make your eyes snap open. The Krykna are all over the cockpit but your attention is on the one that’s made its way onto the child's head. Something in you snaps as you watch him try to get it off and you dive next to him and knock it off before stomping it. Two more start to crawl up your legs and you snap right back out of it. You kick your legs trying to get them off while crying before two blaster fires kill them. The frog lady has a small blaster in her hands and you smile in thanks at her and bring the child into your arms keeping him close to you. Din uses the flamethrower on his wrist then to get them away from the door and it closes. He pants as he kneels down next to your shaking form.

“Are you okay?” All you can do is nod at him. He helps you up and into a seat as quickly as he can. He buckles you up before sitting himself in the pilots seat. “Strap yourself in. This better work.” Din gets the ship to start up and says something about a bumpy ride but you’re not paying attention to that your eyes are stuck on the Krykna that are climbing over the ship. You start to calm down a little bit once the ship starts to take off just to start panicking again when it crashes back down. Two giant legs pierce through the roof and yet another shriek leaves your mouth. When you see the giant Krykna outside of the ship your mouth opens in a silent scream while tears stream down your face. You sit there paralyzed in fear as it’s mouth lunges at the window. When Din gets up to go see who shot it down he hands the kid to you and you grab onto his arm in a panic. 

“Please no.” You want to tell him about how you don’t want him to go out there to die and how scared you are but that’s all you can force your mouth to say. Din seems to be able to pick up on the panic in your voice though.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’ll be right back Cyar’ika.” Your grip on him doesn’t loosen and he brings a hand up to cradle the side of your face. “I’ll come right back to you like I always do.” The way he says it causes you to let go and you hold the child tight the whole time he’s gone. However once the frog lady leaves the cockpit the kid starts to coo at you till you loosen your grip on him so he can follow her. You try to get up to go with him but you're still paralyzed where you are. 

You don’t hear Din come back up, too absorbed in your thoughts, so when he places a hand on your shoulder you flinch away. “It’s just me Cyar’ika.” He puts his hands up and you snap out of your trance and fling your arms around him not caring about how cold his armor is or the webs that are attached to him. 

“Baby get me out of here.” You sob into his ear and his arms wrap tightly around you. 

“I’m gonna work on that. Do you need to use the privy, we’re gonna be stuck in the cockpit and it’s gonna be a long ride.” You just shake your head in response. “I’m gonna need you to let go so I can do repairs.” You let him go but make sure to stay close to him while he does them. 

After getting off the planet Din turns to the two of you. “Wake me up if someone shoots at us. Or that door gets sucked off its rails.” You can tell that as soon as he crosses his arms and leans back he passes out. He deserves a nice rest after the day he had. You try to sleep, knowing that it will make the trip go faster, and you can normally sleep anywhere and anytime you tried. But this time anytime you closed your eyes your thoughts just took you back to the Krykna and you could feel the ghost of the ones that were crawling up your legs. Frog lady fell asleep a little bit after Din had and all you could do was stare at the endless darkness of space. All you wanted to do was curl up with your Mandalorian to feel safe and get some rest but you didn’t want to wake him up so you just stayed there rubbing at your legs when the reminder that they were on you came back to haunt you.

The child, who you didn’t realize was still awake, noticed that something was wrong after watching you for a while. He’s the one who wakes Din up. Before he can say anything to the kid he points in your direction. Din turns to look at you just in time to catch you rubbing your legs.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” Your head whips over to face him once hearing his voice.

“Why are you awake?”

“The kid woke me, I think he could tell something was wrong. Why are you still awake?”

“I can’t.” Your voice breaks in the middle of can’t and your bottom lip wobbles. He swivels to face you after putting the child up on the console. He pats his legs motioning for you to sit on his lap and you immediately comply, straddling his legs and getting comfortable. You feel so much better already knowing that he’d keep you safe. 

“You can sleep now, I’m here to protect you, darasuum. Ni kar’taylir darasuum gar, Cyar'ika.” You smile at his words and close your eyes ready to drift to sleep knowing that he’ll be there if you need him.

[kaijuscientists]

Company

My fill for the SFW day 2 prompt: Hurt/Comfort of @dincobbweek

Title: Company

Cobb's supposed to meet Din at a seedy bar in Mos Eisley, but he’s running late and a group of regulars are giving him trouble.

Cobb sits at the bar of a dive in Mos Eisley, waiting for Din. He’d contacted him the day before, on short notice, but he was going to be in the sector and stopping on Tatooine, and Cobb was not about to pass up spending a night with his Mando.

So, Cobb had hightailed it all the way from Mos Pelgo, excitement simmering in his belly at the prospect of seeing Din again.  Unfortunately, it seems Din is running late. Cobb checks his chrono for the fifth time, an hour and a half past when Din had said he’d be there. 

He’s already had a few drinks waiting, and he’s just minding his own business, enjoying his liquor when a rowdy group of humans walk in and situate themselves at the bar. It doesn’t take them long to single Cobb out of the slim crowd, 

“Never seen you here before.” one of them asks. A skinny looking, nerf herder of a guy. 

“Ain’t never been here before.” Cobb says, swirling his drink in his glass. 

“What brings you in?” “Meetin’ someone.” 

“Who ya meetin?” “A friend,” Cobb says, feeling his temple start to flare. “That ok with you?” 

“I dunno.” A second guy chimes in, with a bigger build to him. “Depends on who’s comin’ doesn’t it.” 

“Well, I don’t personally see how that’s any of your business.” Cobb says. 

The last guy, big and bald, starts now. He’d been sizing Cobb up, looking him up and down.  “You’re not from around here are you?”

“I’m about as tatooine as you get.” Cobb says, pushing his empty glass across the counter. The bar keep refilling it, looking like he wants to say something, maybe tell these guys to behave, but it’s not worth the effort or what it might cost him in tips. 

“Based on that accent of yours.” The big guy says, “I’d say you are from some out skirt moisture farm.” 

That makes Cobb’s hackles rise instantly. 

“What business have you got here, really?”

“I told you” Cobb says, tenuous grasp on his temper slipping. “I’m just meeting a friend. Leave me be.” 

“Why don't you just get out of here.” The bald one says, Cobb guesses that he’s probably the one in charge. “This is our bar, and I'd personally like to drink in peace.” 

“Then just leave me alone, partner.” Cobb says, every hair on the back of his neck bristling as one of the guy's lackeys starts to circle him where he sits.  Cobb bows his head, breathes deep. Last thing he needs is to start a fight. He should at the very least wait for Din to arrive before he does that. “I’m not lookin’ to start anything.”

Cobb rolls his shoulders when the guy leans in close, breathing down his neck and it takes all of his self control to not throw back his head and break the guy's nose right there.   

“Hey,” Skinny says, motioning at Cobb’s scarf. “I think this guy has a brand under there.” 

“Oh, you’re a slave, huh.” The leader says, his interest suddenly piqued.  “That sure explains a lot.” 

“I ain’t been a slave in a long time.” Cobb says through grit teeth, his knuckles white as he grips his glass. “Now i’m only gonna ask nice one time — back the fuck away from me.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think so.“ Leader says. “You got any papers?”  

“Maybe we oughta take him in, just in case,” Skinny says, still hovering around Cobb’s back.  “Might get a reward.” 

Cobb slowly pushes away from the bar, ready to cut his losses at this point and leave the bar, maybe he could try to find out what’s keeping Din. 

“Hey you ain't going anywhere, lemme get a good look at that brand.” The leader guy says, finally reaching out and trying to grab Cobb. 

Cobb doesn't like that one bit, his arm shooting out and knocking the man's hand away before he can make contact. “Do not fuckin’ touch me.” 

That’s when the guy behind him decides to grab him, and this time he does throw his head back, hearing and feeling the sickening crack of cartilage as someone's nose breaks. Followed by some muffled cursing as he’s let go. 

“I did warn you.” Cobb says, losing no time before launching himself at the leader, throwing a punch that lands on his jaw and knocks him back.  He quickly spins, throwing another punch at the bald guy, and kicking back to land a kick in the skinny guy's stomach. 

Cobb kneel’s, laying into skinny, punch after punch, until the big guy throws his arms around Cobb’s neck, pulling him back and off his friend. Cobb, reacting on pure instinct at the point, sinks his teeth into the man's forearm, making him let go with a furious scream. 

“You little shit.” The leader yells, grabbing Cobb by the back of his shirt and throwing him to the ground, where he lands sprawled on his belly on the dirty floor, gasping as the wind is knocked from his lungs. 

He’s flipped on his back, and before he can wiggle free, he’s pinned to the ground, knees digging harshly into his chest. 

“Lemme go.” Cobb growls, fighting against the hold, kicking out with his legs, 

“Oh shut up.” the guy says, drawing back his fist, slamming home into Cobb’s face several times in quick succession. 

Cobb is left dazed with his ears ringing when the weight holding him down suddenly relents. He tries to get up, only for sharp pain to explode in his side, as heavy boots collide with his chest over and over. He rolls onto his side, trying to curl into a fetal position to protect his middle. 

Until everything goes quiet and stops.  

Cobb forces his eyes open, uncovering his face to find everyone's attention is on the door. He lets his head fall to the side, and sees a blurry figure standing backlight in the entrance. 

A silhouette he’d recognize anywhere. 

“You’re fucked now.” Cobb groans.

“Is that who you were waiting for?”

Cobb just smiles, blood on his teeth. 

Din walks into the bar, approaching the group with his hand resting on his blaster.

“I think it would be wise if you took your leave.” Din says. And when no one moves a muscle, only staring wide eyed, Din unholsters the blaster and points it right in the man's face who’s holding Cobb down. “Now.” 

The three run, leaving just Din, Cobb, and a few other patrons. 

“For your trouble.” Din says, tossing a few credits on the bar.

“I’m glad you showed up.” Cobb says, as Din lifts him to his feet, he sways until Din gets a hand on his waist to steady him. “I… I coulda taken‘em though.” Cobb mutters, clenching his eyes against a sudden wave of dizziness, leaning into Din.  

“I’m sure you could have.” Din says, placatingly. “Maybe if you hadn’t been drinking.” 

“M’not drunk.” Cobb sighs, his head aches and his face is throbbing, and each breath burns his against his ribs. “I’m injured.”

“I know.” Din says, slipping his arm around Cobb's waist. “Let’s go, I’ve got a room.”

They make their slow way through the streets of Mos Eisley, to the little hotel Din has a room at.  Cobb leaning heavily on Din as they walk, each step jarring his chest, he knows he’s going to have some bruised ribs tomorrow, if not, some cracked.  

“Wait here.” Din says, depositing Cobb on the single bed to return just a moment later with a damp towel.  He sits next to Cobb, cupping his cheek to hold him in place as he gently cleans the blood from his face.  “You want to tell me what happened back there?” 

“They didn’t like how I looked.” Cobb sighs, hissing when Din presses against his split lip. “Started talking shit, saw my brand and threatened to turn me in since I don’t have papers.” 

Din cringes under his helmet, that would certainly be a great way to get a reaction out of him. 

“If I hadn’t been late,” Din says, folding the towel over to a clean clean, dabbing blood from Cobb's nose. “Maybe this could have been avoided.” 

“Those assholes woulda gave me shit regardless.” 

“Maybe.” Din says, moving to clean the dirt smudged on his temple. “But you wouldn’t have ended up in a fight alone.” 

Cobb laughs, regretting it as pain bursts in his chest, gasping as he presses a hand to his ribs. 

“How are your ribs?” Din asks.

“Feel like I got stepped on by a bantha,” Cobb says tightly, gingerly letting out a breath.  “I'm afraid I am not going to be up for any sort of strenuous activity you mighta had planned on tonight.” 

“Do you think I came here just for that?” Din frowns as he runs his fingers though Cobb’s hair, checking for any hidden bumps. “That I see you as what? A convenient fuck.”

“Can’t see any other reason.” Cobb says, letting his eyes fall closed at the feeling, almost asking Din to keep stroking through his hair when he pulls away all too quickly. “I wouldn’t blame you, if it was.”

“Maybe I just enjoy your company.” Din says, gently taking hold of Cobb’s face in both of his hands. Cobb should probably feel intimidated, having the undivided attention of a mandalorian staring him down. But he just feels… cared for. Din presses his thumbs in along his eyes, seemingly satisfied with the lack of response from Cobb. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Cobb shakes his head.  “You could get company anywhere though.” Cobb says, watching as Din stands, removing his armor piece by piece, placing them neatly on the small desk in the room.

“I don’t want anyone else's.” Din says, unzipping his flight suit, stepping out of it. He’s left in just his helmet, boxers and an undershirt when he turns to face Cobb. “I just want yours.” 

Cobb wants to crack a joke here, about how Din looks ridiculous in his under clothes and helmet, but he can’t find the words, can’t do much of anything under Din’s gaze, except feel his cheeks go suddenly warm. 

“Ok,” Cobb says quietly, following Din as he crosses the tiny room, and starts to undress him with the same care he showed to his armor. Slipping Cobb’s shirt down over his shoulders, he can already see the first bruises forming along his ribs, dark purple and mottled. 

“I can get you something for the bruises tomorrow morning.” Din says, letting his fingers trail lightly along Cobb’s ribs and down to his belt.  Cobb lifts his hips when Din asks, letting him pull his pants down, leaving him in just his underclothes too. 

Din lifts the blankets, tucking Cobb underneath before sliding in behind him. He slips his arm around Cobb’s waist, and pulls him gently flush against him, handling him with more care than Cobb thought he was capable of, compared to their usual rough tumbles.  Cobb sighs, relaxing back against Din’s warm chest, resting his arm over Din’s, drawing his hand up to rest over his belly, lacing their fingers together. 

“Hey, Din?” Cobb whispers, smiling when he feels a rumbling hum in response against his back. “Thank you.” 

“Go to sleep.”

[moon-ursidae]

TBOBF FINALE SPOILERS

-HERE WE FUCKIN GO LADS

-i think i’m gonna shit my pants i’m so hype

-oh shit the aftermath

-WHERE IS MAX REBO

-AND GARSA?????

-HEYYYYYY DIN DJARINNNNNNNN

-ope financial disputes

-“when he arrives…” girl IF he arrives

-i’ll laugh so hard if they just fuckin shrug and walk out

-CAD BANE CAD BANE CAD BANE

-BSBSKABSKABAKSBKABSKSBSK

-PYKES AND THE MAYOR????? AYO???

-WHAT THE FUCK

-how the fuck do they know they’re gonna be in the sanctuary ruins

-“in the name of honor” i’m scared

-aHskansksbksnskd XWING

-LUKE BACK ON TATOOINE???? IN MOS EISLEY????

-KABSKAVAKSBSKSBKABSKSBS

-WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

-PELIIIIIIIII YEA

-GROGUUUUUUUUUUU

-AHHHHHHHHHHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHA

-wait what the fuck where is luke

-OHHHHH R2 took him there i’m dumb

-HE CHOSE MANDO FUCK YEAAAAAA

-or did he??? what the fuck am i saying of course he did

-SHE SAID IT SHE SAID GROGU

-HE DID CHOOSE MANDOOOOOOO

-YENSBDBDBHDJBDB I’M SCREECHING

-“baby’s gotta eat” DAMN RIGHT

- peli knows the way to grogu’s heart

-DIN IS GONNA BE SO HAPPY

-fennec is so hot

-both of em w the leg up? HOT AND SEXY

-i’m still not over these speeders

-QUICK REFLEXES HOT

-OKDBDHHDHDBBXHXHX

-CADE AND BOBA FACE OFF?????

-my money is on fennec and din sorry but not really💅🏻

-oh shit he’s goin for the low blow w his tribe

-fennec knows shit’s gonna go down

-OH FUCK IS THIS GONNA HAPPEN??

-WAIT IS COBB ACTUALLY DEAD????

-yeaaaa fennec

-“we all do” i fuckin love that shit he accepts it bc it’s okay to be badass AND soft

-oh shit??

-IT’S A TRAP

-KRRSANTAN IS ON HIS OWN SOMEONE HELP HIM OUT PLEASE

- i have a bad feeling about this….

-NOT THE GAMORREANS

-YEA FENNEC SO HOT SO SEXY

-SOMEONE HELP KRRSANTAN PLEASE BRO

-FENNEC IS SO HOT DUDE

-i’m so scared ya’ll i want everyone to come out of this alive

-“i’m with you until we both fall” WITH THE MUSIC IN THE BACK AHHHHH

-“we’ll both die in the name of honor” DIN PLEASE SIR GROGU IS ON PLANET PLZ BE CAREFUL

-“this is the way” with the fuckin armorer hammer sound after it AHHHHHHHHHH the score is phenomenal

-“if i may offer an alternative” PFFFFF I’M WEAK

-he was really about to storm out there guns blazing

-this twi is gonna die as soon as he steps out

-oh shit

-YEAAAAAA BOBA

-AND DIN????

-JETPACK DUO HOLY FUCKKKKKK

-THIS IS SO SICK

-GUYS PLEASE GET BACK INSIDE

-FREETOWN PEEPS HELL YEAAAAA

-THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD

-IS COBB OKAY THO?

-IS HE ACTUALLY FUCKING DEAD?????

-omg wait you can see through the visor hehehe lil peek

-all the reinforcements comin in fuck yea

-KRRSANTAN IS OKAY FUCK YEAAAAAAAAA

-WAIT IS HE THOUGH????

-OMG PLEASE

-din and boba know this shit ain’t over

-WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE????

-this is some video game shit

-“we got reaall problems”

-HOLY FUCK THEY’RE LIKE THE DROIDS FROM THE PREQUELS…BUT SO MUCH FUCKIN BIGGER

-i’m scared this isn’t gonna go well

-like i know din is gonna be okay bc s3 but i’m still worried

-DARKSABER TIME BABYYYYYY YEAAAA

-this is the loudest i’ve heard din speak literally ever oh my god

-DIN PLEASE BE CAREFUL

-KRRSANTAN ALSO BE CAREFUL

-PELIIII PLEASE

-the way he literally fucking screamed for her to turn around he’s being so loud this ep i like it

-THE WAY HE JUMPED ON YEAAAAA

-OH MY GOD REUNION

-GROGU J U M P E D INTO HIS ARMS

-STOPPPPPP

-DIN IS SO HAPPY

-HE GOT SO SOFT SO FASTTTTTTT

-OH MY GOD

-PLEEAAASSSEEEEEE

-“you got the shirt.” JSBSHHDHHDHDHEJHEHS

-HE CAUGHT HIM MID AIRRR

-THE RANCORRRRRRRRRRRRR

-OH MY GOD YEAAAAAAAAAA

-THE FAN ART WAS TRUEEE

-HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS THE MOST EPIC SHIT I’VE EVER SEEN

-YEAAAAA DIN

-GROGU WHAT YOU DOIN DAWG

-GOGURT??

-YEAAAAAAA SAVE UR DAD AGAIN

-damn he’s hella smart

-“do it” IMMEDIATE FUCKING CARNAGE

-OH MY GOD

-THIS IS LIKE THE MOST EPIC SEQUENCE OF STAR WARS I’VE EVER WITNESSED

-i would very much like to see drash and jo together more

-PLEASE DON’T KILL THE RANCOR I WILL BE SO UPSET

-THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING CARNAGE THAT IS THIS EPISODE IS FUCKING INSANE

-GODDAMN

-YEAAAAAA PELI

-WILHELM SCREAMMMMM

-he cheemp he chomp

-oh shit cad bane

-PLEASE DON’T HURT THE RANCOR

-oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

-quit hittin his soft spot my guy

-cade bane is always lookin to duel someone

-YEAAAAAAAAAA USIN TUSKEN WEAPONS AGAINST HIM HAHAHA

-DID HE JUST FUCKIN KILL CAD BANE??

-oh shit boba COME GET YO FUCKIN DOG BRUH

-damn this king kong reboot looks great

-THE BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

-OH MY GOD DIN?????

-“your old man’s crafty” INDEED HE IS

-HELMET??? COMIN OFF???

-DIN GET UP

-IT’S LIKE THE MUDHORN ALL OVER AGAIN OH MY GOD

-EVEN THE SAME SCORE PLAYING AHHHH

-FUCK YEA GROGU LET’S GO

-they grow up so fast🥺

-naptime

-HE SNUGGLED IN TOWARD THE RANCOR🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

-fennec is about to wreck ass

-DUDE THE FUCKIN CARNAGE THIS EP??

-awwwwww wait this is so cute ppl actually see him as daimyo now

-the music is so cute

-THE MEILOORUN FRUIT

-YEAA THE MANDO MUSIC MIXED IN

-CHILLS

-wait so are they alluding that din is gonna help run tatooine? they played his music after she said that?? and that happened at the end of ep4 👀

-PLEASE TELL ME HE’S IN THE GODDAMN DROID PORT

-YEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS

-OMG THE TAPPING ON THE GLASS I CAN’T

-“no.” *tap tap* “nuh huh” *more angry tapping* “no.” *even more angry tapping* “alright”

-literally father and son this is fantastic

-THEN HITTING THE THRUSTERS

- OH MY GOOOODDDDDDDDD

-POST CREDS HERE WE GO

-I FUCKIN KNEW HE WAS ALIVVEEEEEE YEAAAA BABY

-THUNDERCATTTTTTTT AHHH

HOLY FUCKING SHIT YA’LL. that was fucking insane. incredible. holy fucking shit. i’m gonna need like 6 months to recover from that. goddamn. so epic. so much happened. fuckin hell. i HAVE to rewatch that later. jesus christ. what a time to be alive, and a star wars fan. JESUS CHRIST. what the fuck do i do now????

[chadillacboseman]

Stay Chapter 2

Pairing: Cobb Vanth x F!Reader

Warnings: Violence, death, followed by smut.

Word Count: 2.1k

A/N: You can find the first chapter HERE. NO USE OF Y/N

--

Cobb Vanth never knew it was possible to be loved the way you loved him. He’d had flings, sure, even one serious girl he thought he wanted to marry. But when you pressed yourself against him or planted a kiss on his cheek, he felt like his heart was soaring.

Word got around town pretty quickly- Mos Pelgo was small and the folks there had nothing better to do some days than gossip.

Hear the Marshal’s got a girl?

The pretty thing from the cantina.

Never thought I’d see the day.

He looks happy

Cobb was happy. Maker, was he happy. Some days, the desert beat him down so badly he felt like he couldn’t go on- then he’d come in the door and you were there, fresh clothes and a hot meal in hand. Some nights he wouldn’t get in the door until the suns were just about to rise and you were long since asleep. He’d crawl into bed, exhausted, and you always sighed and curled into his arms.

“You sure you want me?” Cobb had asked you one night as he walked you home, “There’ll be bad times, sugar, times when I don’t come home.” His breath had hitched in his throat, “Times when you’ll wanna hate me.”

He thought back to a woman from his past, of the ring she’d thrown in his face before leaving him.

You had cocked your head, your eyes gleaming in the moonlight, and stopped in your tracks. “I don’t think I could ever hate you, Cobb,” you had murmured.

“Promise?” A small smile crept onto his face as he spoke.

“I promise.”

--

And of course, there were nights when you worried.

Nights when Cobb didn't return home before sunset, and you sat by the window worrying for his safety. Inevitably, he'd come through the door, disheveled and often bloody, and you'd throw your arms around him like a schoolgirl and bury your face in his chest.

You worried, but you never resented him. How could you? He was keeping the town, and you, safe.

And when he did get home on those late nights, he fucked you like his life depended on it. Gripping you as if you might drift away at any moment, and rasping praises in your ear.

"You're so perfect, sweet thing," he'd whisper, his voice hoarse from the heat and the sand, "so tight and so beautiful with my cock inside you."

And when Cobb finished, he'd fall asleep with you held tightly in his arms, his breath warm on the crown of your head. In those moments, you knew there was nowhere you'd rather be, no man you'd rather spend your nights beside.

--

It was another late night for Cobb- staking out a smuggler den in an old mineshaft east of town. He'd been tracking their movements for weeks, taking down small-timers and caravans, but tonight was the night he expected a big deal.

When there was no movement for an hour, he got suspicious- maybe they had been tipped off or had gotten scared by the recent takedowns.

The distinct click of a primed blaster behind him made Cobb's heart sink.

"On your feet, Marshal," the unmistakable growling voice of a Dowutin.

A smuggler.

Cobb rose to his feet and let his blaster fall to the sand with a dull thud. He raised his hands in the air and turned to face the smuggler.

The butt of the blaster caught him off guard, and stars erupted in his vision as he crumpled to the sand in a heap with a groan.

The Dowutin laughed, a grating, evil sound that echoed over the dunes, "I can't believe the big bad Marshal of Mos Pelgo is out here all alone."

Cobb ran the scenarios through his head. He could make a run for it, grab for his blaster and run toward his speeder's hiding spot.

In his heart he knew he'd be gunned down before he made it ten paces.

"You've been a pretty big thorn in my side, Marshal," the Dowutin reached down and hauled Cobb up by the back of his shirt, "Gonna have to make an example out of you."

Cobb closed his eyes and tried to make peace. He knew what he was getting into- he knew how dangerous the job was-

But what about you? You didn't deserve to wait up all night. To worry and wring your hands until one of his deputies came and knocked on the door. He'd seen you cry before- seen your pretty face crumple into tears and choked sobs.

You didn't deserve that.

The Dowutin made a whistling sound and at least a dozen other members of his operation marched out from the mineshaft.

"Boys, meet Marshal Cobb Vanth, the one who's been taking out all our transports," the Dowutin clapped a massive hand onto Cobb's shoulder, his large claws digging into the Marshal's flesh.

"Think we better string him up by one of Mos Pelgo's precious vaporators and let the sandswimmers have at him."

The crowd of smugglers cheered and Cobb felt genuine panic begin to form in his chest. There was no escaping this- even if he managed to break free, they had him by at least twelve to one.

He was going to die here.

Cobb closed his eyes and thought of you, of every moment he had spent beside you. If he was going to die, it would be with his last thoughts focused entirely on your love.

A loud scream from the crowd of smugglers snapped him back to the moment. He opened his eyes and scanned, vision struggling against the dark.

"Massiffs!" One of the smugglers shrieked.

A pack of the reptilian hounds had unleashed upon the crowd, their powerful jaws ripping into flesh and bone. The Dowutin snarled in frustration and shoved Cobb to the ground, aiming his blaster into the Marshal's chest.

The gaderffii came out of nowhere as if wielded by the sand itself. The Dowutin's head collapsed in a spray of blood and his body fell to the ground with a sickening squelch.

Cobb had never been so happy to see a Tusken- standing tall, framed by moonlight, its gaffi stick gleaming with blood. He scrambled to his feet and turned to examine the bloodbath.

The moonlight glinted off of the bloody sand- what was left of the smugglers was being examined by Tuskens, searching for weapons and supplies.

Cobb mustered a weak thank you, and the gaderffii-wielding Tusken let out a guttural grunt in response.

The Marshal stumbled, weakly, through the sand to where his speeder was stashed. He paused to take a shaky breath before straddling the seat and beginning the short trek home.

--

Your eyes were heavy as you rose from the chair and headed to bed. Cobb still wasn't home, and the suns were already beginning to peek over the dunes in the distance.

You were reaching for the light when you heard the door open.

You spun on your heel to find Cobb framed in the doorway. His face was bloodied and his eyes looked wet.

"Cobb?" You whispered it, waiting for him to move or speak.

He stepped forward into the light and you let out a choked gasp. He looked terrible- there was a large, angry cut on his forehead and a set of bloody clawmarks on his shoulder.

You ran to him, tears already pricking in your eyes, "Cobb what happened?" You sounded hysterical, but you didn't care.

"Smugglers. Ambushed me," his voice was shaky, "Were gonna kill me, but-" he exhaled heavily.

You ran a hand, gently, through his greying hair, soothing him in the way only you could. "How did you get away?" Your tears were threatening to begin in earnest.

"Tuskens," he said simply, "showed up with massiffs and massacred 'em."

Your eyes widened with surprise, "They saved you?" He nodded in affirmation. You wondered, briefly, what the Tusken version of a thank you card was.

You took Cobb's hand and led him to the 'fresher where you wetted a cloth and began to dab the blood away from his face. He leaned into every touch, sighing at the feeling of your hands and the warm water as it passed over him.

You retrieved the first aid kit from a high shelf and cleaned the puncture wounds in his shoulder. You sprayed them with a bacta solution and wrapped them gently with clean bandages.

Cobb felt guilty. He watched you work, diligently, refusing to look him in the eye. He knew why- the second you made eye contact, the flood gates would open.

"Sweet thing-" he murmured, bringing a hand to your chin and turning your face to his, "I'm sorry."

The tears overwhelmed you and you buried your face in Cobb's chest, sobbing without restraint against his skin.

"I can't lose you, Cobb," you whispered between choked sobs, "I just can't."

He pulled you away gently and brought his lips to yours, kissing through the tears and the resentment he knew you were feeling. You leaned into the kiss and pressed your body against him; he felt his erection straining against his zipper.

Cobb pulled his lips away from yours, breathless, "I need you," he whispered, and you nodded and followed him to the bedroom.

Cobb stripped his remaining clothes and you followed suit, tossing your nightgown to the floor. He took a seat on the bed and pulled you onto his lap; you hovered above him for a moment, the head of his cock teasing at your entrance.

"You want me, baby girl?" He drawled, his eyes staring hungrily into yours.

You nodded and sank down onto him, letting out a breathy whine as he bottomed out inside of you. "You feel so good," he murmured, placing his hands on your hips and guiding you slowly up and down on his length, "so perfect."

"Cobb-" you breathed as you buried your face in the crook of his neck, "Please."

"What do you need, darlin'?" He rasped, and you clawed at his broad shoulders, desperately grinding on him.

"Touch me, please." You bit your bottom lip and looked at him through your lashes.

Cobb grinned and stood, pulling you up with him before tossing you to the bed and crawling between your legs.

"You want this?" He whispered, his breath hot on your soaked folds.

You nodded furiously, and he dipped his mouth to you, his tongue finding your clit and quickly setting to work on the bundle of nerves. You let out a strangled cry as he curled one, then two digits inside you, working them rhythmically into the spot he knew drove you wild.

"You gonna come for me, babygirl?" He murmured against your folds, the vibration sending you closer to the edge.

Cobb sucked gently at your clit, his fingers working inside you, until you finally spilled over the edge, your release soaking his digits.

"Good girl," he purred, pulling from you and pausing to taste his fingers, "you taste so good, sweet thing."

Cobb moved slowly on top of you, parting your legs and positioning himself between your thighs. "You got one more in you, darlin'?" He murmured, and you nodded, exhausted.

Cobb pushed inside you slowly, burying his thick length to the hilt with a low groan. His pace was intense, releasing all of the built up tension and fear he had been holding in since the botched stake out.

He braced himself on one hand and snaked the other back to your sensitive clit and pulling a low whine from you. You sounded so beautiful, Cobb knew he wouldn't last long.

"You want me to fill you up, darlin'?" He breathed, his pace faltering as he teetered on the edge.

"Please, Cobb-" you moaned, digging your fingers into his broad chest.

Cobb bucked his hips roughly and spilled inside you with a moan as you coasted past your own high.

He stayed inside you for a moment before rolling off of you and lying flat on his back, panting. You sighed and wrapped an arm around his chest, finding your comfort spot nestled against him.

"I'm sorry about tonight," Cobb murmured, "about everything."

You stared up at him in the moonlight, his eyes were full of fear- of worry that you'd be angry, that you'd want to leave him.

"Cobb," you paused to find the words, "I'm not upset with you. I knew what I was getting into. I'm just glad you're safe."

Cobb pulled you in and planted a kiss on your forehead, savoring the little contented hum you gave him in return.

"I promise I'll always come back."

--

This one is for @djxrxn and @calamity-queen 😘

[swan-of-sunrise]

Taking Care of Business (Chapter Five)

Summary: (Y/N) and Mando join forces with Cobb Vanth to kill a krayt dragon, and they attempt to get the townsfolk and the Tuskens to peacefully work together. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairing: Din Djarin X Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Five The Dragon (Previous Chapter)

When she made the decision to join the Mandalorian’s crew and help him fulfill his quest, (Y/N) knew that they’d frequently be encountering dangerous situations. However, she didn’t foresee one of them involving her and Mando having to help kill a krayt dragon to protect a settlement in the middle of the Dune Sea. Cobb Vanth, the Marshal of Mos Pelgo, had offered Mando a deal: if they helped him kill the krayt dragon, he’d give them the Mandalorian armor he’d been using for years to protect his people.

“Deal. (Y/N) can ride back to the ship and blow it out of the sand from the sky; we’ll stay and use the bantha as bait.”

Cobb looked away from Mando to shoot her an astounded smirk, to which she responded by raising a brow, daring him to challenge her piloting skills. Silently conceding, the marshal looked back at Mando with a grimace. “Not so simple. The ship passes above, it senses the vibrations and stays underground. But I know where it lives.”

“How far?”

“Not far.”

So, she and Mando had wrangled up the child before getting onto the speeder bike and following Cobb further into the desert. Sensing that the Mandalorian was still agitated about the marshal’s blatant disrespect of his people’s Creed, (Y/N) had allowed him to drive and resigned herself to sitting behind him on the bike. I suppose there’s worse ways to travel, she thought to herself with a faint blush as her arms tightened slightly around her partner’s waist, like on the back of a bantha or dewback.

“You two don’t understand what it was like,” Cobb interjected after about a half an hour of driving. “The town was on its last legs; it started after we got news of the Death Star blowin’ up…the second one, that is.” (Y/N) smiled to herself, a little pleased that someone else had realized just how idiotic the Empire had been to build two of those things, then turned her attention back to the marshal’s tale. “The Empire was blown out of Tatooine and there was blaster fire over Mos Eisley; the occupation was over. We didn’t even have time to celebrate. That very night, the mining collective moved in; power hates a vacuum and Mos Pelgo became a slave camp overnight…”

(Y/N) listened as the marshal detailed his escape from Mos Pelgo, how he’d stolen a camtono of silicax crystals and wandered the desert for days until being rescued by the Jawas. She felt Mando’s body stiffen as Cobb explained that he’d traded the crystals for the Mandalorian armor and returned to the town, ridding it of its enslavers and establishing himself as its marshal. Based on what he’d told them, (Y/N) decided that he was an honorable man just doing everything to keep his people safe; however, she knew that the silent Mandalorian sitting in front of her would take more time to win over.

That’s what Cobb Vanth must’ve thought as well; once he’d finished his story, he turned his attention to her instead of Mando. “So, what’s your story? How’d a smuggler end up workin’ with a Mandalorian?”

“How’d you know-?”

“Livin’ on Tatooine, I’ve met my fair share of hot-shot pilots.” His mouth stretched into a lopsided grin. “None as pretty as you, though.”

Feeling her face warm at his flirtatious tone, (Y/N) couldn’t help but smile back. “Well, Mando here asked me to join his crew after seeing my piloting skills firsthand. And I’m actually a former smuggler; I worked for the Rebellion but I retired from that life just after the New Republic was established.”

The two speeder bikes had just reached a rocky canyon and they reduced their speed in the narrowing ravine. It was then that Cobb glanced over at her with a raised brow. “I didn’t know they had smugglers workin’ in the Rebellion. What’d you smuggle for ‘em?”

(Y/N) hesitated for a moment, acutely aware that there was more than one person waiting to hear her reply. “I, um-”

Cobb signaled for them to halt right when a loud growling noise began echoing through the canyon; both speeder bikes came to a stop and all three took cover behind them as they drew their weapons. Not knowing what to expect, (Y/N) pulled the plaster rifle off her back and propped it up alongside Mando’s pulse rifle on the top of their speeder, furrowing her brow when the howling grew louder. Moments later, a massiff emerged from behind an outcropping of rock and was soon joined by several others. Instead of firing, Mando lowered his pulse rifle and let out a familiar-sounding growl of his own before walking around the bike and towards the creatures.

“What the hell’s he doin’?” Cobb whispered loudly, his look of surprise growing when (Y/N) got up from her crouch and slung her rifle back onto her shoulders. “What the-?”

She and Mando both raised a hand to calm the marshal down, and (Y/N) watched with an impressed smile as her partner knelt down and began petting the now-happy massiff. I guess Mando’s got a way with pets, she thought to herself, her smile widening when she noticed several Tuskens emerge from behind the rocks. (Y/N) had enjoyed sharing camp with the Tuskens the night before; they’d been pleasant hosts, and she’d truly loved learning more about their culture while teaching them a little of her own.

(Y/N) glanced over at Cobb while Mando conversed with the Tuskens, her smile faltering a little as she took in his hardened expression; and when Mando informed them that the Tuskens also wanted to kill the krayt dragon, a feeling of foreboding settled in the pit of her stomach.

As night was beginning to fall, the Tuskens led the three of them to their settlement and allowed them to stay in two of their tents. (Y/N) thanked them for their hospitality using the hand gestures she’d picked up from Mando, pleased that she was still able to remember them but before she could make her way over to the Tusken’s campfire, Mando stopped her.

“Word travels fast on the Dune Sea; they already know about your peaceful encounter with the other clan of Tuskens yesterday. It’s Vanth who needs to earn their trust tonight.” Mando explained, his voice becoming a little gruffer when he mentioned the marshal’s name before quietly continuing. “Why don’t you and the child get some rest, alor’ad? I know it’s early but we’ll be traveling to the lair at first light and you’ll need your strength if you’re gonna help us kill a krayt dragon…”

(Y/N) relented, taking the child from Mando and crouching into their tent as she stifled tired yawns behind her hand; settling down in her bedroll, she drifted in and out of sleep, glancing over where the child was soundly sleeping every once in a while to see if he was all right. The little guy must be growing on you, she thought with a small smile, closing her eyes and rolling over to face the tent entrance.

A sudden sound caused (Y/N)’s eyes to snap open and in an instant, her blaster was in her hand and pointed directly at the Mandalorian’s head; realizing it was only her partner, she lowered her blaster with widened eyes. “Oh! I’m so sorry, Mando, I thought that-!”

“It’s okay, you shouldn’t apologize for having a quick reflex.” Mando replied, entering the tent and sitting down on top of his bedroll. “It’s good that you’re up; the Tuskens are going to take us to the lair tomorrow, but they’re insisting we travel in a small number and only scout the area. Will you be all right staying here with the kid while we go?”

She smiled, tucking her blaster back under her pillow. “Sure, that sounds okay. I guess that means you’ll be traveling with Vanth by yourself, huh?”

Nodding, Mando glanced over at the sleeping child before looking back at her. “I don’t trust him. He picked a fight with the Tuskens earlier, and he was asking a lot of questions about your Rebellion days.”

“Well, he was born and raised on Tatooine; he’s probably been told all his life that the Tuskens are the monsters. And as for the questions…well, most people don’t know that the Rebels recruited smugglers to their cause and then once they learn, they always assume that I was only working with the Alliance for monetary reasons. But I don’t mind.” Shrugging, (Y/N) laid back down on her bedroll, resting her hands on her stomach as she stared up at the ceiling of the tent. “Better to let them assume than to re-open any old wounds by explaining. Does that make any sense?”

The Mandalorian was silent for a moment and when he answered, his voice sounded softer than usual. “Yeah…yeah, it does.”

“So, um, what’s the story with the little guy?” (Y/N) asked, eager to change the subject but also curious about the child’s background. “When you say we’re returning him to his kind, do you mean his species or maybe his family…?”

She heard Mando lay down on his own bedroll. “The child is…special. He has many abilities, and he belongs with a race of sorcerers called Jedi.”

“Jedi?” (Y/N)’s sleepy eyes widened and she rolled over to look at the Mandalorian. “I thought that they were just myths!”

“You’ve heard of the Jedi before?”

“My mother used to tell me stories about them when I was a child on Naboo, but I didn’t…” She trailed off, feeling his gaze from behind the visor of his helmet. “I always thought they were fairytales.”

Mando nodded eagerly. “Do you remember anything about your mother’s stories? Anything at all?”

“All I remember is that the Jedi were supposed to have been the guardians of the peace but if that were true, then the Empire never would’ve happened.” (Y/N) snorted, laying back down and frowning a little as she sensed her partner’s disappointment. “That doesn’t really help us, though.”

“Well, it’s one thing I didn’t know before, so I’d say it was a little helpful.” The Mandalorian offered. “We should get some rest; we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow…”

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

The next day, it quickly became apparent that they were in for more than what they’d originally bargained for. (Y/N) stayed at the Tusken settlement with the child while Mando, Cobb and a handful of Tuskens traveled by bantha the short distance to the krayt dragon’s lair. To pass the time, she’d mended some of their clothing and cleaned her borrowed blaster rifle, knowing that she would soon be needing it.

When the others returned, Mando explained their plan to recruit the villagers of Mos Pelgo to aid in the attack against the creature before they headed back to the town. (Y/N) hadn’t said anything out loud, but she was wary of their new plan; it essentially hinged on the ability of two warring peoples to set aside their differences in order to defeat a common enemy, and while (Y/N) had no problem working alongside the Tuskens, she knew that the villagers would have a very different opinion than her. Now I definitely have a bad feeling about all this, she thought as she parked the speeder alongside Cobb’s in front of the cantina.

“They attacked us less than a year ago, killed half a dozen of us by the mining camp. I’d say I took down about twice as many Tuskens.” Cobb got up from his speeder, a fresh look of guilt on his face.

“The town respects you.” Mando pointed out as (Y/N) hopped off their speeder and dusted off her clothes. “My guess is they’ll listen to reason.”

(Y/N) nodded and offered the marshal a brief smile. “If the Tuskens are willing to put the past aside, then I don’t see why your people can’t find it within themselves to do the same.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

A doubtful-looking Cobb quickly gathered the town into the cantina and it went about as well as she’d feared it would; after explaining the entire situation to the villagers they reluctantly agreed to the deal the Tuskens had offered, that in exchange for their help and the carcass of the creature, they would unite with them in battle and never attack Mos Pelgo until a villager breaks the peace. Tension filled the air as the Tuskens arrived to help with the preparations and it went fairly quickly, save for one brief moment of unrest between a Tusken and a villager. But in no time, they were slowly on their way to the krayt dragon’s lair with the villagers and explosives in tow.

With the suns high in the sky, (Y/N) stood between Mando and Cobb as they carefully watched a lone Tusken make his way to the large cave entrance and place his hands on the ground before it; after several terse moments, the Tusken straightened and signed a message with his hands.

“What did he say?” (Y/N) quietly asked, the hand holding the blaster rifle’s strap tightening with anticipation.

“He says it’s sleeping. If we listen carefully, we can hear it breathing.”

(Y/N) glanced over at Cobb beside her, shrugging and watching as another Tusken offered him a familiar-looking green object; she gave the marshal an expectant smile that widened when he lifted the object and drank the sour liquid, finally accepting the Tusken’s gesture of peace and good faith.

After receiving their instructions from the Mandalorian, they got to work as quietly as they could. (Y/N) removed her cowl before grabbing a shovel and helping the others dig the shallow hole that they’d bury the explosives in; the muscles in her arms were aching in protest by the time the hole was finished, but she hid her pain as she walked up to Mando and Cobb with a smile.

“Ready when you are, fellas.”

Mando nodded and moved forward to watch the Tuskens approach the mouth of the cave, leaving Cobb to walk alongside her as he flashed her a lopsided grin. “How ‘bout a kiss for luck from a pretty lady?”

(Y/N) only rolled her eyes and raised a brow in amusement at his flirting attempt. “How about we focus on killing a krayt dragon and not dying instead, Marshal?”

“Worth a shot.” Cobb shrugged as they stood alongside Mando on the rocky ridge overlooking the villagers and Tuskens. They watched as three Tuskens slowly made their way to the cave and stopped, hesitating a brief moment before loudly calling out; their grunts and growls echoed throughout the rocky canyon and just as they had begun to fade, the growling of a large creature called back. All three Tuskens turned and ran, and the krayt dragon burst out of the cave in an explosion of sand; its roar shook the ground, and (Y/N)’s jaw nearly dropped when she realized just how massive the creature was.

Beside her, Mando pulled out his scope and all three of them watched the Tuskens and the villagers enact their plan; they fired the harpoons they’d built to pull the creature from its cave, but it quickly became clear that it wasn’t working when the krayt dragon reared its head back and tried tugging itself loose from its captors. “Dank farrik, it’s going back in; it’s retreating.”

Cobb gripped the detonator in his hand, his thumb hovering over the button. “I’m gonna hit it.”

“No, wait. We only have one shot; we’ve gotta get it out.”

Following the others lead, (Y/N) slung the blaster rifle off her shoulder and quickly aimed before firing at the creature, her precise shots joining the blaster bolts and small explosives hitting its thick hide. Their actions enraged the krayt dragon, which charged forward and forced the others to run for cover.

“Now?” Cobb asked, his jaw tightening as he watched his village continue its assault on the creature.

Mando shook his head. “Not yet. It’s gotta come out further.”

But as he spoke, the krayt dragon finally pulled itself free of the harpoons with a deafening roar, throwing Tuskens high into the air before opening its mouth and spewing acid onto a group of retreating Tuskens and villagers.

Both Mando and Cobb stiffened at the sight, and (Y/N) heard herself breathe out, “Oh, Maker.”

The creature continued forward after its attackers, and Mando held up a tense hand. “Almost, almost…now!”

The marshal’s thumb smashed down on the button and the explosives went off, sending a massive cloud of dust up with a blast of air as the creature roared and vanished from view. (Y/N) lowered her blaster to shield her face from the sand-filled wind, looking up as the dust began to settle and frowning when she noticed the empty patch of ground.

“I don’t think it’s dead.”

“Me either.”

(Y/N) merely bit her lip and watched as the Tuskens and villagers looked around in confusion, an unsettling feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, the krayt dragon exploded out of the rocky ridge high above the entrance of the cave with an ear-splitting growl and began spewing more acid onto the panicked crowd below.

Cobb’s face twisted in fury. “It’s pickin’ us off like womp rats.” He suddenly turned and grabbed his blaster rifle off his speeder. “Let’s get after it!”

Mando turned to look at her and she nodded, already knowing exactly what the two of them had in mind; he hurried over and grabbed his pulse rifle, rushing back to her and wrapping his free arm tightly around her waist. He barely gave her enough time to latch onto him before activating his jetpack and shooting up into the air, flying fast towards where the creature was emerging from the rocks. Yeah, I think I prefer flying in an actual ship, (Y/N) barely had time to think, landing roughly beside Mando and Cobb on the side of the ridge and immediately joining them as they fired their weapons at the side of the creature’s head.

“This ain’t doin’ a thing!”

“Yeah, I have to agree with the marshal on this one!” (Y/N) yelled, watching as their shots bounced off its thick hide.

Reloading his pulse rifle, Mando loudly replied, “Just keep shooting!”

The three of them continued firing their weapons and after a few moments, the krayt dragon seemed to finally notice their presence; it let out another roar and moved its head towards them, but the Mandalorian grabbed her around the waist again and they flew out of the way just as it bit down on the rocky ridge. They flew down to the ground in front of the cave entrance and spun around, their weapons at the ready, but the creature had disappeared once again.

“Dank farrik…” (Y/N) murmured under her breath, her grip on her blaster rifle tightening as she waited for the krayt dragon to re-emerge; she didn’t have very long to wait. They quickly turned as the creature appeared from the sand dunes behind them and lunged forward, narrowly missing a cluster of escaping Tuskens and villagers.

“There he is.” Mando spoke under his breath, his modulated voice steady despite the dire situation. He glanced past (Y/N) to Cobb with a nod. “I’ve got an idea. Get it’s attention.”

Without hesitation, the marshal leaned forward and activated the missile strapped to his back; it hit the creature with a fiery explosion, causing it to shriek in anger and change its course, charging through the sand in their direction. “I got its attention! Now what?”

“You still have that detonator?”

Cobb unclipped it from his belt and reached past (Y/N) to hand it over. “Take it!”

“Wait, what’s the plan, Mando?” (Y/N) frowned, trying in vain to piece together what her partner was planning on doing.

Mando turned his head to look at her. “You’re gonna take care of the child.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know but wish me luck!” Before (Y/N) could realize what was happening, Mando pushed her into Cobb’s arms and as she instinctively brought her arms up around the marshal’s shoulders, he slammed the butt of his pulse rifle into his jetpack and they shot high up into the air. Clutching tightly to Cobb as they zigzagged through the sky, (Y/N) had just enough time to glance over and see the krayt dragon swallow Mando and a bantha whole before they landed hard on the ground.

Quickly sitting up, (Y/N) stared at the spot the Mandalorian had been with her jaw dropped in horror. She couldn’t move or speak and beside her, Cobb ripped off his helmet to reveal an equally-stunned face; before either of them could say anything, the ground began to rumble beneath them once again. (Y/N) grabbed her blaster rifle just as the krayt dragon re-emerged from the ground, its jaw widening to release a mighty roar, but just as she was preparing to fire on it, a familiar beskar-clad figure flew out of its mouth and was followed by the electric-blue shockwaves of a pulse rifle.

“That son of a mud-scuffer…” (Y/N) breathed out, watching through her rifle’s scope in amazement as the Mandalorian pressed down on the detonator and set off the explosives within the creature. With one last ear-splitting scream, the krayt dragon collapsed to the ground in a cloud of sand and dust, finally defeated.

She and Cobb shielded their faces as a strong gust of wind blasted them, looking up in time to watch Mando land on the ground in front of the creature’s carcass. (Y/N) glanced over at the marshal and they shared a disbelieving grin, clambering to their feet while the cheers of Tuskens and villagers filled the air.

(Y/N)’s leg twinged in protest when she stood but she ignored the pain as she and Cobb hurried over to where Mando stood; his armor was dripping with the creature’s green stomach acid and his chest was heaving with labored breaths, but to her he looked incredible.

“You’ve gotta be the craziest kriffing man I’ve ever met!” (Y/N) exclaimed, looking over her partner for any serious signs of injury and grinning when he merely shrugged his shoulders. “Keep pulling stunts like that and you might just change my low opinion of ex-bounty hunters.”

Mando chuckled between breaths, the sound causing her heart to warm in her chest. “I’ll keep that in mind, alor’ad.”

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

A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading!

Mando'a Translations: Alor'ad-Captain

Chapter Six

Taking Care of Business Masterlist

Tagging: @remmysbounty​ @sinon36​ @seninjakitey​ @thatonedindjarinfan​ @ginger-swag-rapunzel​ @mostclevermiss​ @momc95​ @welcometothepedroverse​ @sarahjkl82-blog​ @zukoyonce​ @itsnottilly​

[caitlinsnicket]

Bored

Summary: Without realizing, he started sharing small pieces of his past with her, things he thought he had forgotten, and in return, she told him her stories too. Some of them were hilarious, some of them were sad, and some were terrifying. Anyways, and to some extent, he felt like he knew her. And now, she was leaving.

Characters: Cobb Vanth, fem!reader, mentions of Din.

Warnings: SMUT, curse words, oral sex (M and F recieving), vaginal sex, mentions of cum, Cobb being the little bitch he is.

Pairing: Cobb Vanth x fem\!reader.

A/N: I know I have other shit to do and that this wasn’t even requested, but I wanted to post something for the new year! Feel free to like, reblog or leave a comment!

"Are you still thinking about the Mandalorian?".

Cobb's thoughts were interrupted by the outsider. She seemed to like doing that, stopping his reasoning with a witty comment or observation. At first, he found her annoying, unpleasant even, but as time went by, he found himself enjoying her company more and more.

Without realizing, he started sharing small pieces of his past with her, things he thought he had forgotten, and in return, she told him her stories too. Some of them were hilarious, some of them were sad, and some were terrifying. Anyways, and to some extent, he felt like he knew her. 

And now, she was leaving.

"Nah. You know how I am, I get over my romances pretty fast" Cobb joked, leaning back in his chair and smiling at her. It was already night, and as he'd let her stay at his place, they were alone. The thought left the Marshal fidgety at first, but now the feeling had quieted down.

Looking over at her, he could see she was wearing only a small tunic or a big shirt, which either way left her legs on display. Trying not to be a creep, he quickly turned his head back to where it was before, avoiding her. He heard her chuckle.

He could sense her eyes on him, and then herself getting closer. He tried his best to fight off the things he was feeling, he really was. Ever since one night, at a celebration in the village, after he saw her dancing. If someone asked him, he wouldn't be able to answer, but he felt something.

It was either how she moved her hips, how her chest stood out from the puffs of air she left out or the way she looked at him. He felt the urge to kiss her.

He didn't, of course. He had to keep things professional. Besides, even if he liked her, she could be in trouble. 

That's why he was surprised when she leaned in his direction, body bowed down in front of his, their eyes at the same level. He could feel her body heat, and his mouth went dry when one of her sleeves slid down and her shoulder came into view.

Well, this is unfortunate.

"I'm bored" she blurted out.

"I can see that".

"We could do something".

"Or... You could do something alone?" he wanted to sound decisive, but deep down he knew he had already lost.

In a fight with her, he would always lose. Gladly.

"But where is the fun in doing that?" She leaned in more, her nose almost brushing his, and now he was the one reaching her mouth.

Before they touched though, he stopped himself one more.

For fucks sake.

"I... Look, we are good friends. At least, I think we are getting there. I don't wanna mess this up" he said, but didn't look at her. Yet, he could feel her smiling at him.

"I'm not asking you to mess up things. All I'm asking is for you to entertain me. Unless, of course, you're not interested". She stood again, staring at him.

She looked soft.

Cobb grimaced. He wanted to entertain her. Badly. So why couldn't he just grab her and kiss her? Was it his nervousness? Was it the will to make sure he was good enough to make her happy and satisfied? Was it the fear of how much he would miss her once she left?

And while he was deep in thought, she admired him. His defined jaw had always distracted her, and it pleased her that she could read him through his eyes: he was very expressive. His hair, which she had daydreamed many times of touching, and the bridge of his nose.

He wasn't just magnetic. If she dared to say it, he was pretty.

"You don't have to decide now. I'm not tired, so I don't think I'm sleeping any time soon. My door will be open" the smile she gave him this time was a shy one, and as she left (he got distracted by the sight of her legs), Cobb sighed.

What would he rather be sorry for, what happened or what didn't happen? 

He could see the door of the spare room she was staying in half-opened, and the dim light of what he supposed was a candle (he found out that Y/N liked candles) created shadows in the walls. She was so close. But what if-

Fuck it.

Getting up from the chair, Cobb made his way to her room, as quickly and silently as he could. He didn't want to scare her, or to seem too desperate. 

The door didn't make a noise when he pushed it more, and he found her with her back turned to him, working calmly in one of her bags. She probably was finishing to pack for leaving. The thought of it made something inside him clench, but he wasn't going to run away now.

Not anymore.

He walked up to her, and she knew he was there. Y/N stood still, her hands holding the strings of her satchel, and when Cobb lightly kissed her exposed shoulder, she let out a content sigh.

Her body leaned into him, and his arms went around her waist, while his lips tried to convey all he was feeling. They trailed from the farthest part of her shoulder to the back of her ear, and when he reached that part, Y/N whined.

"Feeling eager are we?" his voice was hoarse when he mumbled in her skin.

She quickly turned around and grabbed him by his shirt, bringing him closer until they shared the same air.

"You left me waiting long enough" she whispered, not sure if he had listened or not. It didn't matter.

Their lips locked, and her hands went to his hair. Now, gripping her tightly to his chest, he tried to decide what he wanted to do first: keep kissing her, touch her, look at her, tell her what was going on in his mind, take all her clothes off, devour her. But even if he tried, it was very hard to think when she was kissing him like that.

And when she pulled his hair with one hand and used the other to touch him under his shirt and he gasped, both of them knew it.

Cobb Vanth was a goner.

She took off his shirt, a red one that he always wore and somehow was still intact, and broke their kiss to look at him. He wasn't crazy toned, but she could see that he had muscles. A lot of scars, most of them already fading away, others still pink. She traced them with her cold fingertips, a frown on her face as if she was analyzing a specimen.

"What are you thinking about?" he let her touch him, and in return, he just stared at her. His lips already begged to go back to hers.

"These are new. You didn't tell me you had been cut here" a shiver ran down his spine as she kissed just below his collarbone, in a mark that was too pink to be old. She trailed her lips to the back of his ear just like he'd done to her, licking and sucking gently. Her arms held him by the waist of his pants.

He smirked softly, trying to suppress a moan, his hands going back to her hips. He guided her to bed and grabbing the nape of her hair, he connected their lips again. 

He could tell she was content by how she was sighing against him, and how calm she was when he laid her down. Both her palms touched his cheeks and she just held him there for a while, looking into his eyes. Her shirt had rolled up, and when she bit his lip and slowly touched his tongue with hers, he rested his hand in her belly.

She was warm and tasted like some tea she had asked him to buy. He could just stay like that for the rest of the night, maybe for the rest of his life, but he wanted to please her.

He wanted to make her come.

Swiftly, he took off the thing she was wearing (she later would tell him it was, indeed, a tunic) and stopped dead in his tracks. She giggled and hid her face in her hands, which pushed her breasts up and made it look... pretty.

Of course, Cobb thought of other words to describe it, but then his eyes met hers and he saw how flushed she looked. It was like getting punched in the guts.

She let her arms fall to her sides and grinned at him, her brow lifting as if she was challenging him.

"I could beat the shit out of you" she declared.

"I know," he said before kissing her again.

Now, he didn't stop himself at her neck (even if he wanted to, the skin there was soft). His mouth kept going lower and lower, and he appreciated her moans as he took her breasts in his mouth. He sucked on her left nipple as his hand massaged her right breast, making her hum.  She gasped when he bit her belly gently. 

He was going slow, and he could see she was enjoying that. The laziness coming off from both of them just made everything more delicious. His pants were getting uncomfortable, but now that his mouth reached her underwear, he couldn't think of anything else.

Y/N ran her hand through his hair and watched as he took off the last piece of clothing. She was exposed to him. And he was just staring.

"Stop looking at me like that" her hands fumbled with the sheets, eyes glued in the ceiling.

"Like what?" He started dragging his lips in her inner thighs, kissing and licking before stopping to hear her answer.

"Like I'm the sun" she blurted out, holding back a moan.

He didn't reply. Instead, he licked a long stripe in her slit, taking in her wetness. He hummed against her, which made her buckle her hips against him. His mustache and beard tickled her sensitive skin, burning in a very pleasurable way, and now she moaned loud and clear.

He started slowly, not staying in one place for too long as if he were teasing her, and not until she grabbed his head by the hair (which he enjoyed very much) and guided him to her clit, he started to eat her out properly.

He licked, sucked, hummed against her slit until she was a moaning mess, getting closer and closer to see stars. Then, he used one hand to keep her still under him and inserted two fingers in her with the other. 

"Cobbie" she whined, wiggling and massaging her sensitive breast, feeling her orgasm arriving. It was too much, too quick, and she wanted him to stop and to keep going. She mumbled incoherent sentences and he was enjoying it too much.

He had to use all his will to not just end it there and watch her come undone, but his erection was starting to get painful and he could feel that there was a wet spot in his briefs where his cock had been twitching. So, he stopped.

"Son of a-" he interrupted her by locking their lips, and she could taste herself in his tongue. 

Her hands went to his shoulders and pushed him off of her, and Cobb was so surprised that she managed to toss him in the bed. He let out a puff and she got on top of him, the pressure of her slit in his throbbing erection making him moan and move under her. But before he could do anything, she held his hands over his head.

He would never admit it, but if she had moved at that point, he would've come in his pants. He'd never been more turned on in his life. And she was just looking at him, flushed, her hair a mess, and angry.

God, she was breathtaking.

She leaned down to kiss him, and he relaxed, but then she bit his lower lip. Hard.

"Ow! Why in hell would you-" now she stopped him with a quick peck, before getting up to take his pants and briefs off.

"I told you, I can beat the shit out of you".

She stared at him for a moment, at his cock, and he suddenly felt self-conscious. He knew he looked good, but maybe, just maybe, he wasn't-

"You look delicious" Y/N purred, and took her place between his open legs, nibbling at his tighs gently.

And Cobb would never admit it, but he blushed.

He tried to grab her shoulders and bring her closer to him, but she slapped his hands away and grabbed his erection, kissing the tip softly. His hips jerked upwards and he whined, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. It was too much.

"You... Sugar, you don't need to- ah" she started bobbing her head up and down, dragging her lips slowly on him. "I'm not going to last long".

She stopped her ministrations and wiped her lips, smiling wickedly at him.

"Oh, you better last" she crawled back to him and kissed him, no bites this time, and he sat up, bringing her on top of him. 

Now, sitting on his thighs, Y/N put her hands around his neck and smirked at him. Even if she looked malicious, she also seemed satisfied.

As satisfied as she could feel after being denied her orgasm. He felt good looking at her, but her slit touching his cook tenderly and her breasts against his chest distracted him. He lifted her gently, and she bit her lip, expecting. After pumping his erection a few times and kissing Y/N's neck, his dick found its way inside her.

She moaned, he grunted, and they started at a slow pace. They ground against each other, gripping hair, ass, shoulders, anything they could. Y/N bit his neck, not too hard to draw blood but hard enough to leave a mark. Cobb liked it a little too much and rocked upwards, at a perfect angle.

It hit's something.

She grasps his shoulders more forcefully, stops moving completely, and has her eyes wide open. What she felt was too close to the edge, she wasn't ready-

But the way she clenched around him was too tight, too warm, so he just keeps hitting that same spot, savoring her noises and pleas.

"Cobb- ah" she can't say anything. Her legs are trembling and her eyes are rolling to the back of her skull and oh god his hip bone is hitting her clit. 

"Just let go sugar. Let go" he holds her with one arm and uses the other to prop himself up, and he goes too deep and hits her clit again and kisses her neck-

White explodes in her head and she chokes in thin air, holding Cobb for dear life, unintentionally going closer and taking him in deeper. She's buzzing, and her hips keep buckling on their own and suddenly she realizes she's exhausted.

He, on the other hand, is trying to stop himself from just busting his load inside her. He doesn't want an accident, but she's squeezing him so nicely and this is too good and he's almost there-

"Cum for me, Cobbie".

And so, he does. And he swears he almost passes out. It just keeps going and going and she's just quietly waiting for him to finish, tracing patterns in his back and kissing the mark she left in him a few moments earlier. He moans against her skin, and their breaths are in sync, both trying to catch air again.

After some time just holding each other, she lifts herself, but her legs are still trembling, so she gets off of him (making both of them groan when he slips out of her) and falls back in the bed.

She laughs, a real laugh this time, in the way you would laugh after running miles. He gets up without saying anything and goes to the bathroom, and she waits for him, wetness coming out of her, arms splayed on her sides.

She's content and satisfied. And now, she has second thoughts about leaving. Her body is sore but also tingling in a good way, and she wants to touch him again. She also doesn't say anything when he comes back with a wet cloth and, with all the care in the world, starts cleaning her.

He knows she's still sensitive. She appreciates it. Neither one of them mention it.

After he finishes (and she also notices that his hands are kinda shaky), he tosses the fabric somewhere in the room and grabs a blanket, covering her. She giggles and funnily looks at him. 

"What is it?" he is still standing there, feeling awkward. Should he leave? Did she want him to stay? What was the right thing to say?

"I was just wondering" Y/N rested her head on a pillow and pulled the cover until it was covering half of her face. "How long will it take for you to come here and cuddle with me".

Oh.

"So you like cuddling?" he scooted in the bed and closer to her, until they were face to face.

"Oh yeah, I just didn't cling to you before because I thought you didn't like me" she snorts and stares at him as if she was trying to memorize his face. 

She rests the top of her fingers under his chin and goes closer to him, which allows him to put his arm over her waist. She closes her eyes and sighs, but Cobb is still at a loss for words.

"That's not what happened, I was-" her hand comes up to his lips and stops him from finishing his sentence.

"Don't. Right now I need you to kiss me goodnight and hug me" she scoots even closer to him and tangles her legs with his.

He chuckles, a sound coming deep from his throat, and kisses her finger that still lingers in his mouth. He could do that.

He was more than happy to do that.

When he woke up, she was gone.

She'd left a note to him, handwritten, and he snorts as he reads it. He doesn't want to get hopeful, but something awakens inside him. A maybe. An almost.

I have a job in Adriana and business to take care of in a moon nearby. After that, I'll come back here. 

I took your red shirt.

- Sugar.

[staranon95]

DinCobb Week Day 4: AU/Freebie (SFW)

for @dincobbweek​ this time we’re returning to a favourite AU of mine. The Halo universe!

i’ve previously explored a Halo/Mandalorian AU. the first story is very much NSFW but this story acts as a prequel showing how Cobb and Din meet in that verse

before we get started here is some very handy terminology

ODST - Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Spartan - a term for someone who was a child soldier and given physical augmentations to become a weapon ONI - Office of Naval Intelligence (so like the in universe FBI) UNSC - United Nations Space Corp (the army but in space) Covenant - invading alien forces and the main villains in the series Reach - a planet humans had settled that was destroyed by the Covenant

AO3 Link

Blast Radius

When Cobb was told by his CO to expect some heavy infantry of reinforcements, he was expecting another ODST squadron, not a Spartan III whose black and silver armour made him look more like an ONI operative than a functioning war machine for the UNSC.

Now granted, Cobb had nothing against Spartans. Spartans were the reason they were even managing to hold their own against the Covenant. But he did have a problem with this Spartan.

“Sergeant Vanth?”

Cobb looked up from the view into New Mombasa to see his Lieutenant Jo leading forward a heavily armed Spartan.

“Infantry’s arrived,” she said, and Cobb wished she didn’t have her helmet on so he could read her better.

“Sergeant Vanth,” the Spartan said. “Spartan A114 reporting in.” The Spartan then snapped to it and saluted him to show that he knew how to respect his superiors, but Cobb knew better. Spartans had a reputation to Lone Wolf it, and Cobb didn’t need that shit on his team.

“A Spartan,” he said incredulously. The Spartan easily towered over him by nearly a foot. All those augmentations and front of the line armour specs only added to the mass that made all Spartans seem unkillable. But in Cobb’s eyes, it made them cocky as well. “Wasn’t expecting a Spartan.”

“It was all they had on hand to offer,” 114 said.

“Right, well, settle in, big guy. We’re mainly search and rescue. Free hostages and get them to safety while clearing out the nests, you hear?”

114 nodded. “Loudly.” He unhooked a sniper rifle from his back and moved forward to join the rest of Cobb’s team with the look out—without needing to be told or looking to be told.

Cobb sighed. It was going to be a long fight.

…

“Vanth, come in.”

“Go ahead, Issa.”

“I’m spotting Jakal reinforcements on the rooftops. Beam rifles from the looks of it.”

“All. Squad, keep your ears on and your heads low and—”

Cobb heard a crack over head and ducked low as a second one followed shortly after. He held his battle rifle up as he looked for the source of the shots.

“Jakals are cleared. You’re free to go.”

That was 114.

Cobb sighed and clicked his tongue. “A heads up would be nice next time, 114.”

“Time’s of the essence, Sergeant.” Then he heard a ‘click’ and Cobb knew the bastard had likely muted on his end.

Fucking Spartans.

…

New Mombasa was a fucking mess. Based on the chatter they were picking up, the Covenant forces seemed to become more and more contained to one part of the city, like they were congregating. Other ODST squads had been deployed to hotter areas in the city, and Cobb’s smaller strike team made it easier for infiltration to minimalize casualties. They were the cleaning crew, really, and Cobb didn’t mind that.

But he did mind that his Spartan was deathly silent most of the time.

He had 114 act as their eyes. With his high-powered scope, he was able to get a better view of the terrain before Cobb’s team went down in to clear it out, and Cobb had to admit, 114 was a good shot. Those enhanced reflexes sure came in clutch in the best ways possible, but Cobb was expecting at least some communication on his end.

114 acted like a brick wall and Cobb hated it. He knew nothing of the Spartan, didn’t even know his name, and while it was nice to be fighting with someone who was this well skilled, Cobb didn’t know if he’d choose 114 over another top notch ODST squad.

“Looks like we got a standard fair here,” Jo said. “Couple of Brutes. Grunts as back up and a Jakal nest.”

Cobb nodded. “You see a Chieftain?”

“Nah, looks like pretty standard fare for them.”

“Good. Listen up! We clear this intersection and that gets us one step closer to the bank. You play it safe and you play it hard. Cover always. Focus fire on Jakals and Grunts and then the Brutes. Clear the field before we got in heavy. Got it?”

He received a chorus of Oo Rahs! and then utter silence from 114. “Hey, Spartan, you got that?”

The Spartan nodded and said nothing.

“Good. I want you on that roof top. Take the Jakals and then we move in. Provide cover from the Brutes if they get close.”

“I think it’d be better if I were on the ground with you,” the Spartan said, and Cobb was surprised he said anything at all—let alone battle advice.

“No,” Cobb said. “You’re best on the rooftops.”

“But—”

“That’s an order, Spartan.”

He could see that 114 was frustrated with how he tightened his grip around his sniper, but he fell in line all the same and marched off to find a perch of the sight before the team moved in to clear the junction.

“Get into position,” he said to his team, and they all crouched for cover and waited for 114 to get into position.

He looked through the scope of his battle rifle and scoped out the scene. Four Brutes, half a dozen Grunts, and two Jakals. Nothing in comparison to what Cobb had dealt with before, but it was better to play things safe and slow rather than to rush in.

“114, check in,” he said.

Silence.

“114, this is Sergeant Vanth. Check in.”

Again, silence. And then he knew why.

Rather than targeting the Jakals first and letting the squadron in there was a sudden explosion that caught Cobb off guard. 114 had discharged a round into one of the plasma cells stacked in the area that took the Covenant force by surprise, killing one Brute in the onslaught. Then Cobb saw 114 jump into the fray from what should’ve been his perch, taking a running jump to clear a distance of a dozen or so feet and come to the ground in a roll to lessen the impact from a fifteen foot drop. Then he struck with deadly precision on the Covenant left recovering from the shock.

“Fuck,” Cobb said. “Issa, eyes on the Jakals.”

“You got it, Sarge.”

“The rest of you, eyes forward! Now!”

He leapt over his cover, raised his rifle against his shoulder and began to pick off the Grunts one by one, while 114 aimed for the Brutes. And he was doing so with just a magnum pistol and a knife.

One of the Brutes raised his spiker in Cobb’s direction, and he dove down behind a concrete barrier as the deadly spikes imbedded themselves into the asphalt where he had just been standing previously. A Grunt jumped into his field of vision on his left and he turned and fired, hitting the Grunt’s methane tank, which he saw spark and catch before it blew. He raised his hands for cover and then looked over the barrier to see the field. The Grunts were fleeing. The Jakals were dead, and 114 was locked in combat with the only remaining Brute until he managed to drive his knife into the Brute’s throat and finish it off with a shot from the magnum until the Brute fell dead.

Cobb charged up to him. “What was that!?”

114 wiped his knife off his vambrace before sheathing it. “I told you. It was better to have me on the ground.”

“You disobeyed an order!” It was hard to feel commanding in contrast to a Spartan, who towered over Cobb in every way and could likely throw him up against the wall.

“It was efficient. You aren’t using me for my skills.” It also didn’t help that 114 was a calm speaker, rarely showing any form of inflection.

“Your skills are firing cover. My team can handle the job on their own. Disobey me like that again and I’ll see you reassigned.”

The Spartan looked at him, head tilted down in his direction. For the longest time he didn’t move until he took a half step back.

“Clear?” Cobb said.

“Clear, Sergeant.”

“Good.”

He looked over his shoulder to his team and waved them forward. “We’re moving.”

…

Scrounging in conditions like this were hard. Training to be an ODST required a certain amount of time in the field already before jumping into training specifically to handle an orbital drop. And then from there it was ‘survive until you group up or you’re pulled out’, which meant with the sun falling on the city that was burning, it was time to break for an MRE and some water before the final push into the heart of the city to help with the withdrawal of ONI scientists. It was the last job before the UNSC was pulling out the troops, which meant that ONI was going nuclear with its facilities so it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the enemy. New Mombasa was being abandoned in the short run. Once the Covenant was off Earth, they’d probably try to rebuild, but for now, it was pull back and see what happened.

It was nice, for a moment to sit on the ground with his back against the wall and his helmet off. It could’ve been a nice day in the city. The sun was warm. There was a breeze cooling his sticky skin from the sweat when the internal fans in his helmet couldn’t cool him fast enough.

But then he saw the Spartan who stood there rigidly off to the side of their little encampment. He had his back to the rest of them and seemed as if he was still on patrol despite the fact that the area was safe and they needed to rest before the final push.

Cobb sighed and got to his weary feet. He walked forward, grabbing at his pouch for one of the MREs he still had left. “Hey, Spartan.”

114 only turned to look over his shoulder.

“You eat yet?”

“Not hungry,” he said, before looking over the highway they were on and the sheer drop it led to.

“Come on, partner. You gotta eat. We’ve been going for near twelve hours and at least another twelve yet before we’re out for good.” Cobb stepped in front of him and handed out the MRE. He didn’t know if Spartans had the same standards as ODSTs. Did he carry MREs? Looked like he had water at the least.

Then 114 did lift his hand and take the MRE from Cobb’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Nothin’ to it, pal.” He stepped back, slapped 114 on the arm, and went back to his squad.

Then, when Cobb was sitting on the ground once more, he saw the Spartan move to a concrete barrier and take a seat. Then he removed his helmet, showing only a shock of dark hair, overgrown by UNSC standards. He didn’t see his face, but at least the Spartan ate.

…

Their final push into New Mombasa was the ONI facility itself, a giant cube looking building built in the center of a manmade pond to look fancy. It was a rough sight, but under the cover of darkness, it wasn’t like Cobb could see it all that well. All he was looking at was the sight of four ONI scientists being overlooked by a Covenant strike team—which included a Brute Chieftain.

Chieftains were worse than the usual foot soldier Brutes. Their armour was heavier, including armour that could only be struck through or cracked at the very least with specific armour piercing rounds. Chieftains also usually carried heavier weaponry, and this one had a gravity hammer on his back.

“They’ll want to keep the scientists alive,” Cobb said. “That’ll be our advantage to get in. Issa, what do you see?”

“By my count? Five Brutes on top of the Chieftain. A dozen Grunts. Jakals with shields but no beam rifles.”

“The structure doesn’t make good for sniper nests,” Jo added.

“114, you there?” Cobb asked.

“I’m here.”

“Report in.”

“I’m in position. Not the easiest place to leave in a pinch if you need back up.”

“We’ll go slow,” Cobb said. “Target the Brutes and get them broken up. I don’t want to fight the back.”

“Hear you loud and clear.”

114 went quiet on his end but didn’t mute.

Progress.

Then he turned to the scene at hand to plan the best way forward.

“On your count, 114. You take the lead. We’ll pick off the stragglers.”

“Going loud in three.”

Cobb looked down his scope and breathed in deeply and watched as 114’s first shot landed and struck a brute dead.

“Keep them clear from the hostages,” Cobb said. “I don’t want them taking them anywhere else. Issa, Jo, on me. We’re moving.”

They moved in as a unit before breaking and posting up at the windows that lead into the building they were infiltrating, most of which were broken. Once Cobb had a clear line of sight, he opened fire.

The darkness gave them a natural cover, and with their spread position, the enemy had no idea where they were. They kept the Brutes at bay away from the hostages where they were pressed flat on the floor to cover from the spray of bullets and plasma. For the time being, they had the upper hand until the Brute Chieftain roared and pointed in their direction.

“They’re coming out! Heads up!” Cobb said.

First the Grunts and then the few remaining Jakals which were picked off with deadly precision until the Chieftain himself charged out with his hammer swinging in Jo’s direction.

Cobb stood up from his cover and peppered the Chieftain’s back with bursts of rounds until he turned on Cobb and came in his direction.

“Cobb!” He heard Jo’s concern over the radio, but it was too late.

He rolled and dropped to avoid the Chieftain’s hammer as it discharged a burst that affected the CPU components in Cobb’s armour. But then the Chieftain swung again and the force of it sent him to his back, momentarily stunned before the Chieftain swung the weapon around, showing the sharp edge on the other side of the weapon head before crashing it down on Cobb’s chestplate.

The chestplate cracked under the pressure, and Cobb felt a burst of pain before the force drove the air from his lungs and he laid there, prone and stunned.

His ears were ringing, and he gasped like a fish which only made the wound worse until spots clouded his vision and he blacked out.

He blinked and saw the Chieftain’s armour cracked by an armour piercing round from a sniper.

He blinked again and saw Issa and Jo corner the Chieftain before a second round struck his back before a third struck his neck and he began to tumble.

He blinked and lost sight of what was before him.

…

“Cobb? Cobb.”

“Sarge, lift your right hand if you’re awake.”

“Is he okay?”

“We need to get the hammer out. His lungs could be damaged.”

“I’ll handle that. Hold him steady.”

Pressure on his shoulders, gently so before a wrenching and—

He gasped and coughed, felt pain radiating out from his chest and he tried to raise his hands to cover it, but he was held down gently.

“Spartan, there’s biofoam at his hip.”

“Got it.”

He heard the sound of an aerosol can being applied to his chest before the pressure on his lungs was abated and he could take a deep breath and relax.

“You there, Sarge?”

He nodded and tried to reach back and pat for Issa’s hands.

“Chestplate is cracked,” he heard 114 say. “The biofoam will hold for a few hours, but he needs medical attention.”

“I’ll get to the hostages,” Issa said.

“Evac point is over the bridge,” Jo said. “I’ll post up with Issa and get the hostages to safety. You good with the Sarge?”

“Just fine.”

Then he felt himself being lifted from the ground and cradled close to someone’s chest.

“Hey, Spartan,” he mumbled.

“That was damn reckless. You’re lucky you’re alive.”

“Knew you were watchin’.”

He heard 114 sigh. “Keep your words to yourself, Vanth. This fight isn’t over yet.”

…

He had heavy bruising to his chest and a hairline fracture in his sternum. He was on bedrest for a least a month with another month of light duty. He was lucky his lungs weren’t pierced.

Regardless, he had the luxury of his own private room in an actual hospital and not just a field tent. He was on some medical grade painkillers, and his team was being commended for their bravery. All around successful.

But now with this free time, he intended to do some research—never could abide stagnation for long. He pulled up a datapad and using his UNSC credentials, managed to get into the databases of every active soldier on the ground. He searched for Spartan A114, and as he suspected, he was given a lot of redacted material.

The Spartan III program was still tightly under wraps, but parts of it were being declassified, and through the grapevine, Cobb knew they were different from the old Spartan IIs.

Not as good training facilities. Not as good outcomes or survival rates.

He saw the name ‘Reach’ in 114’s file and knew if the Spartan had survived the planet’s destruction, he was a survivor to reckon with, and also why he didn’t have a fireteam of his own. He probably lost them all in the fray.

Everything else including personal details like date of birth, home planet, and name were redacted, so there wasn’t much else he could look into for the time being. But he did file a request to have 114 placed permanently on his team. He wanted to keep the Spartan close.

…

Friends and teammates would come by and visit him. Issa and Jo in pairs, but then one strange visitor came: a very, very tall man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a neatly kept moustache.

“This seat taken?”

He’d heard that voice of his helmet dozens of times, and Cobb looked at him and couldn’t believe his eyes, that he was seeing the Spartan—his Spartan—out of his armour.

Cobb waved his hand to the chair and pushed a button to have his bed elevated so he could face 114 head on.

It was almost comical to see 114 sit down in a chair not meant for someone of his size, but he made it work. He was dressed in a uniform and not standard military fatigues. There were metals pinned to the beast pocket, and Cobb could see what many of them meant.

“Ceremony?” Cobb asked.

“No. Meeting. I heard you put in a request for me to be made a permanent member of your squad.”

“Well. I liked you. Felt we fought well together eventually. We could use another on our team.”

“I’m surprised you’ve been managing well with only the three of you.”

“Used to be four, but I sacked the other guy.” Cobb shook his head at the memory of Toro and his hot-headed ways. The kid was lucky he hadn’t lost his head if Cobb hadn’t pulled him back time and time again.

“How are you holding up?” 114 asked, eyes drifting to Cobb’s chest and how its swathed with bandage and gauze.

“Eh. Could be worse. Chestplate took the brunt of it though.”

“That’s what it’s for.” 114 breathed in deeply, licked his lips, and looked down at his hands. “It’s . . . it’s good to see you. That you’re okay.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I barely had my sights on him.”

“Hey, Spartan. Look at me.”

He looked up, and Cobb was struck with how upset 114 looked. Upset in almost a sad way.

“I’m here. You killed the Brutes. Hostages made it out. That is a hundred-percent in my books.”

“Still, I . . .” He breathed in, a shuddering breath. “I don’t like watching from afar when my teammates are in the direct line of fire. It makes me feel . . .”

“Like you can’t protect us.”

114 said nothing.

“Listen,” Cobb said. “We can discuss this. Figure out new strategies. My team, we’re new at this. We’ve worked alongside only a handful of Spartans but not directly with one. We’ll figure it out, see what works for the both of us. But I’m not tolerating Lone Wolf shit. We’re a team.”

114 nodded.

“You good, soldier?”

114 raised his head. “Sir, yes, sir.”

Cobb smirked. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Satisfied with that answer, 114 stood and prepared to leave but just before he could get to the door, Cobb called out, “Hey, Spartan. You got a name to add to the A114?”

The Spartan turned to look at him, pulling open the door as he did, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, “Din.”

“Nice to have you, Din. Rest up if you can.”

“Yes, sir.”

[captainkappa]

Fanfic:: In Other Hands

When Din and Cobb go to take care of some slavers, Cobb is disarmed and has to improvise with the weapons that have fallen off Din’s utility belt.

Din/cobb, post-season 2, canon-typical violence

Shout out to coffeequill for betaing!

Link to AO3

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As Cobb picks off another slaver running in fear of his life, he realizes how regular this is becoming. And it has all started with a meeting with the new self-proclaimed ‘King of Tatooine.’

He has invited all kinds of authority to Jabba’s old palace, now his. Even though Mos Peglo isn’t on the map anymore, Cobb wakes up to a stern-faced woman at his front door all the same. The conversation on the ride over hasn’t been great, but it does confirm the rumor that floated around Tatooine in the past few weeks.

The new king is the Boba Fett.

He has heard stories about Boba Fett, who hadn’t? Late enough in a cantina in Mos Eisley, it wouldn’t take long before someone started talking about their buddy who had family who had a friend who got taken in by the famed bounty hunter, never to return.

So yeah, Cobb is man enough to admit that, as he’s led through the dark, old palace, he is a little on edge. At the door, no one even asks for his blaster, which is a clear enough message as he’d ever heard.

His heart damn near plummets when he faces the man himself though.

Because if he is the rightful owner of the suit of armor Cobb had, he is properly fucked.

And damn did he ever look better in it, all polished and properly painted. He could see the glint of what might be his old armor behind him, on proud display.

Cobb tries to shake himself out of his fear and take in the rest of the room. The woman who led him there takes position on the other side of Fett. There are other people in the chamber, clearly all from Tatooine, looking just as scrappy as he. He tries his best to look his most mayoral as Fett starts talking about his plans for the planet. It is… far more humanitarian than he expected, with plans laid out for wiping out the slavers who take more than they give.

Cobb instantly likes Fett way more.

Then he is asking they introduce themselves and when the line gets to Cobb, he couldn’t help himself.

“I’m Cobb Vanth, marshal of Mos Pelgo. And I hoped Mando mentioned that I wasn’t the one to destroy the jetpack.”

Boba looks at him for a moment before letting out a laugh that echoed in the chamber. He turns around to face the suit of armor.

But then it moves.

He can’t help the words coming out of his mouth, interrupting the new king.

“Mando, is that you?”

And with that, the entire meeting is thrown into disarray. Cobb barely pays attention to the others as he meets Mando halfway up the steps to clasp his hand in both of his, making sure he’s real. Questions are flying out of his mouth a mile a minute; where’s the kid? When did he get back? How the hell do he and Boba know each other?

Mando and Boba share a look and with a shrug, the king dismisses them, the other authority figures looking confused as Mando leads him back into the palace, where they can catch up in peace.

Cobb tries not to think about how Mando’s hand doesn’t leave his until they’ve arrived at the room.

It’s been a couple of months since they first met, but Mando keeps making his way in Cobb’s memories. He tries to play it off as simple appreciation, he can appreciate the pure physicality of everything Mando had done, that was normal. But the longer he thinks about how Mando handled his son, the affection that could be stored in shoulders and head tilts, he has to admit that he’s harboring something else fiercely in his heart.

But those thoughts leave temporarily as Mando describes everything that happened since he left and Maker, if it doesn’t bring a tear to his eye seeing the restraint to which he described being separated from his son. Cobb can tell he’s not telling him everything that happened that day, but he doesn’t mind. Thankfully, Mando has managed to get contact of the Jedi since then, so he can see him and visit occasionally, but it’s just not the same.

Cobb is considering putting his hand on top of Mando’s when there’s a knock at the door and Boba, helmetless, lets himself in. He’s just as intimidating a figure with or without it, scars telling enough of a story as to the character of the man who proclaimed himself king.

Conversation flits between business and pleasure, stories about Boba, Mando, and Fennec on Tatooine. It’s clear the three of them have been planet side for a couple of weeks, if the body language between them is anything to go by. Cobb lets himself feel a little offended before letting it go. Mando clearly had some shit to parse through and Boba and Fennec had been there for him.

Any anxiety Cobb had about meeting the king has left. He leaves the palace with a scheduled date to take out some slavers near Mos Pelgo.

-=-

And now here Cobb is, a couple missions in, ducked behind some crates, picking off slavers one by one as they run out of the cave where Mando has since been let loose. He’s almost sad to miss seeing how Mando fights, especially if the terrified looks of those who thought they’d escaped are anything to do by.

It’s just them on this mission. He takes small pride when Mando vouched for his skill in front of Fett, letting him know they didn’t need any more help. It’s nice to know he’s earned Mando’s trust.

Ducking behind the crate, he’s swapping out power cells when Mando gets thrown out of the cave, rolling with a low grunt. He’s quickly followed by three of the biggest guy’s Cobb has ever seen, human all of them.

“Mando!”

He gets a hand waved at him for his trouble as Mando staggers to his feet, pulling out the spear on his back. At one point, Cobb had wondered if it was just decorative, but seeing Mando fight with it, as it sings in the air, the impact it makes on arms and heads, reveals it to be anything but.

But his fancy fighting with the goons isn’t helping him in a three on one match, especially with how long they’ve been at it already.

He takes another solid hit and goes flying farther away from Cobb, items from his belt going spinning into the sand.

Cobb shoves the battery pack in the blaster and tries to take a couple shots at the slavers before the trigger clicks.

Jammed.

“Dank farrik,” he yells, slapping the side of the blaster. All that gets him is a stinging palm.

He glances up to see all three goons going for Mando. Thinking quick, he fishes the knife he keeps stored in his boot and chucks it at the closest guy, only it goes lower than expected and pings off the armor.

Shit.

Cobb quickly scans for any weapon available as he hears Mando continue to get his ass handed to him. There’s a knife, but Cobb doesn’t trust his aim a second time, but it’s the thing beside it that catches his eye. It looks like a hilt, with what must be a spring-loaded blade inside, even if the size seems wrong for such a weapon.

As if he can tell what he’s thinking, Mando yells from across the way, “Don’t touch it!”

Well, with an invitation like that.

Cobb knows he’ll only have one shot at this. He vaults over the crate and scoops up the hilt. He gets a brief glance at it, figures the best place to hold it without hurting himself before charging in.

He takes a running leap before latching himself around the closest guy. He pulls his arm back for a swing.

He pushes the button and instead of a vibro-blade, a jet-black beam of light cuts through the man’s head as smooth as bantha butter.

“Fuck!” Cobb yells, falling off the man as his other arm screams in pain. He scrambles off the man’s back as he falls forward, dead as a doornail.

The blade stays there, letting out a faint humming as it lies in the sand, partially buried from where the man fell. The sand bubbles around the blade, heating up impossibly fast as it sits there, looking like a hole to the middle of the planet against the glare of the sand.

Before he can comprehend the power of the sword, a noise in front of him told him Mando still had trouble on his hands.

Cobb struggles to his feet, trying to pull out the blade as cleanly as possible before walking forward.

“Hey!” he yells, throat going dry as he catches a glance at the state of Mando, shoulders heaving and armor not looking terribly pretty.

That at least gets one of the goon’s attention, who looks at the blade in his hand and at his dead buddy.

“Leave ‘im alone.”

The guy doesn’t appreciate that and gets out his own blade, long and curved like a machete, before charging.

Cobb has never been a swordfighter, so he tries to go with motion that felt natural, a two-handed grip as he raises the sword to block the incoming attack.

He’s not expecting the blade to cut through the knife like it’s nothing. His balance thrown off, he tries to use the momentum to shove into the other man, forcing him to stumble back.

The other man looks just as surprised as Cobb feels, but he has a slightly better grip on the strange weapon. He takes the slavers hesitation to lunge with a swipe to the chest. The man goes down quick, a visible molten line through his armor.

It’s at that instant the smell of burn hair and flesh hits him. He falls to his knees, blade slipping through his fingers. He hears it sizzle and pop against the sand, but he can’t bring himself to right it.

He doesn’t know how long he stares at what lay before him.

“Cobb?” His head snaps up as he sees Mando blocking one of the suns. His armor is littered with blaster residue and a pauldron is hanging to his arm by a thread.

He should ask if he’s okay, if he’s handled the other guy.

“What the fuck is that?” he asks instead, pointing to the black blade.

Mando’s shoulder’s drop in a way that makes him expect a lecture, but then the Mandalorian stiffens, rushing to his side with a speed he wouldn’t have expected after that fight.

“You’re hurt!” And Cobb looks down at where he is looking before quickly looking away.

His left vambrace has been cut in two. Cobb only gets a glance at the wound before he has to look away, gut clenching. There is a huge gash on his arm that already looks cauterized.

“Easy, easy,” Mando says quietly, head suddenly right by his shoulder. “C’mon.”

“I can still walk,” Cobb says. He can tell he’s not convinced as steadier hands help him to his feet.

He swears he can hear Mando laugh as the wind kicks up and he feels his scarf be pulled up over his nose.

The last thing he hears before he passes out is Mando’s low voice saying, “We’ll be back at Boba’s soon.”

-=-

When Cobb wakes up, his head feels like it weighs as much as a bantha.

He puts two and two together when his head lolls around and he glimpses at the dim room around him, at white bandages around his arm. With no room looking nearly this nice at Mos Pelgo, he must be in Boba’s palace and he must be pumped full of drugs after the fight.

There’s movement close to his arm and he looks up and Mando is right there, beside him, fidgeting with something.

“Hey,” Cobb says, hoping the feeling of cotton in his mouth will pass.

Mando sits up straighter, visor turning to face him. “Hey, how do you feel?”

“Like my arm has been trampled to death, but it’s attached, so I can’t be too mad. You alright?”

He gets a head tilt at that. “I’m not the one in the medical wing.”

Cobb waves him away with his good arm. “Yeah, yeah, but you still took a beating from those guys.”

The helmet ducks down, and Cobb bites his lip to avoid blabbing about how cute the gesture is. “I’m fine.”

Cobb clicks his tongue. “Now don’t you go looking like that.”

Another head tilt, but Cobb continues, “If you feel bad about what happened back there, don’t. I won’t hear of it. You told me not to touch the laser sword and I still did. And I’d do it again if it meant saving your hide.”

He blanches, having wanted to keep that last part to his chest.

Mando, to his credit, doesn’t comment on it. He reaches down and unclips the hilt from his side and ignites it. Cobb can’t help but flinch back into the bed as it comes to life, humming in that eerie way as it did in the desert. It’s somehow more striking here, the glowing outline more obvious in the dim light of the room.

“It’s called a darksaber, Mando begins, “I won it on Moff Gideon’s ship by accident. It… it’s a symbol of authority and power for Mandalorians.”

“Oh, is that all?”

That gets him a huff of a laugh from Mando as he extinguishes the blade and slips it back on. A quiet descends into the room. Now, Cobb can handle silence and he can handle being still. He just can’t handle both at the same time.

“I hope Boba doesn’t charge me for room and board.”

“He was impressed, said you could stay here as long as needed.”

Oh. The knot of worry that had appeared out of nowhere unravels in Cobb’s chest. He’d been at least expecting a debt of some kind, hackles still raised even if he liked the man, the distrust of authority running deep.

“We’ll probably get called for more jobs after you’re healed, though.”

“That sounds like the opposite of a problem,” Cobb says with a smirk.

A sudden tiredness floats over him like a blanket and he closes his eyes for what feels like a second but could be any amount of time.

There’s a moment where he thinks Mando has left the room, before he registers the feeling of soft fingers on his hand. He cracks open an eye and sees Mando still sitting where he was, his gloves off as he runs his thumb over his knuckles, catching in scars and pocket marks Cobb had collected throughout the years.

Cobb shifts and Mando’s hand stills. Acting on instinct and ignoring the feeling that floods through him, he holds Mando’s hand as tightly as he dare with the bandage.

“You’re supposed to be asleep,” Mando says, voice quiet.

“I just woke up.”

Mando lets out a huff that might be considered a laugh. “You were only asleep for half an hour.”

“Alright, then you gotta go to bed too.”

“Cobb…”

“Mando…”

“It’s Din.”

He swallows down his feelings once more, not trusting himself in this drugged up state to say more. “Alright, Din, go to bed. You got roughed up too.”

“Alright,” his voice trails off but then he’s clearing his throat and saying, “Thank you. I- I haven’t had the chance to say that yet.”

This time, Cobb is able to keep the words close to his chest as he drifts back to sleep.

Anytime, partner.

[what-the--curtains]

Alliance

Chapter 3 - The Revelation

(Mando x f!reader)

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

Summary: After agreeing to help the Mandalorian, you land on Tatooine. Joined by an old friend the three of you locate a potential informant and a secret is revealed.

Notes: everytime I get a lil notification sayong someone has liked this post my heart gets so full so thank you all❤️❤️ I hope you continue to enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it!

Tw: Mentions of Alcohol/blood, Swearing

Tagged: @crazycookiecrumbles

Word count: 3.2k

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

R-16, Geonosis, Outer Rim Territories

Your POV

“Pretty swanky” you say, taking note of the Mandalorians newly acquired ship “who’d you steal this off of.”

He boards it stopping at the top when he realizes you hadn’t followed him up. “Are you coming? They’ll notice you’re missing soon. Your client didn’t look like the kind of guy to last a whole night.”

“How do I know you’re not going to sell me off again?” you ask, currently rethinking this whole situation.

“ If that’s what I was here to do that, you’d be handcuffed already”

“Really? Because if I remember correctly had it not been for your counterpart hitting me in the head last time, you’d have been on your way back empty handed.” He shakes his helmet evidently getting aggravated.

“Where is she by the way?” you ask.

“We don’t have time for this.” he interjects, walking back down and grabbing you by the arm. You shake free “I’m not going anywhere with you if you’re going to treat me like a prisoner.” A clatter from up above draws you attention away from the conversation at hand. “You sure the kid’s not just roaming around upstairs.”

“Wait here” he exhales, disappearing briefly before returning with an unmistakable bundle.

“Anya!” you exclaim under your breath, eyes lighting up. “Impossible” you whisper as the small creature wriggles out of Mandos' arms and rushes towards you. “How?” you ask looking up. “Answer me Mandalorian” .

“The child” he responds “he brought it back to life. What?” he asks, noticing your forehead wrinkle in confusion.

“Nothing, I just thought the only people that could do that were long gone.” Perhaps you owed this child more than just a thank you for saving Anya. If he was able to give life he too was able to wield the force, your grandmother would not be happy if you left a Jedi in the arms of the empire. Knowing this you climb onto the ship with Anya.

“They’ll be a bounty on me now.” You state, sitting down in the co-pilot seat.

“Welcome to the club,” he says, jumping the ship into hyperspace.

“Let’s get a few things straight. I now understand why you traded me, and why this child must be returned safely, but do not get me wrong, we are not friends, I do not forgive you and I definitely do not trust you. I am here to repay a debt. Once I have we go our separate ways, and I never have to see beskar ever again. Got it?” He nods shifting into auto-pilot. “Good. There a shower on this thing?” you ask, your smell becoming increasingly offensive.

“Downstairs to the right.” You drop down scoping out the ship, not too shabby. You hear a clang, turning around to face the Mandalorian.

“What?” you say, concerned he’d caught you snooping.

“Here” he says, handing you a set of clothes, “should fit.” You take them, but he doesn’t move, and he’s blocking the door to the shower.

“What are you waiting for? A kiss?” You ask as you push by him into the bathroom having flustered him enough to knock him off balance. Closing the door you breathe a sigh of relief, as you lock it behind you. You get into the shower letting the water hit your face and run slowly down your body. It’s not warm, but it’s better water pressure than you’ve had in months. Looking down you see a puddle of burgundy pooling at your feet, caused by the admixture of blood, makeup and various other fluids currently coating your body. You rinse the blood and guts out of your hair scrubbing at that which had been there long enough to crust over. You wince in pain when you brush up against an old scar that must have reopened in the fight earlier today, oh well, you think, it will heal. The various wounds on your body were proof of that. After about a month of being in the rings you stopped bruising, but scarring was still a part of day to day life. They covered the markings and tattoos scattered across what was once smooth skin. Turning off the water, you step out of the shower and dry off before pulling on the black pants and long sleeve provided to you. Walking back up to the cockpit and placing Anya onto the seat you lean over the dashboard.

“Where are we going.” you ask. No reply. “Hey beskar head I asked you a question.” You say not realizing he had been staring at you. He points at the tracker sitting on the dash. “On another hunt?”

“ This was on the guy who sold me and the kid out, started beeping again while you were showering.”

“You gonna give me my weapons back?” you inquire, unsure of what the plan was.

“Still downstairs, I couldn't sell them. No one wanted them” he says locking in the coordinates and beginning his landing.

“Well I guess I was wrong Mandalorians can’t tell jokes after all. Where are we by the way”

“Tatooine home of the moisture farmers, and not the nice part”

“Think they’d choose a wetter planet to farm moisture” you say, looking out at the planet's arid landscape through the windshield. The two of you exit the cockpit and head towards the armoury.

“Careful” he says, as you reach your hand in.

“I just spent several months in combat I think I’ll be fine” you say sarcastically. You reach into the armoury, quickly pulling your hand back when the security system zaps you. “Fuck” you say bringing your hand to your mouth, as he turns off the protection. “Shut up”

“I didn’t say anything”

“But you were thinking it. So same goes.” You remove a bow and arrow, quickly realizing they weren't your originals.

“Real ones were lost in the incident, picked these up on the way to get you” he says leaning forward and removing the Anbam sniper rifle and standard issue blaster.

Anya follows the two of you out of the ship burying her nose into the sand pulling out a large bone. The Mandalorian was a man of few words so you have no idea where you were going, or what the plan was, but you were happy for the peace. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been in complete silence.

“Well, well, well.” A voice echoes. You draw your bow and the Mandalorian unholsters his blaster.

“Didn’t think you’d be back so soon and with someone so pretty.” the voice says as a figure of a tall man appears from behind a large sandstone.

“Cobb” the Mandalorian says, lowering his blaster

“Mando!” The older gentleman exclaims locking arms with the somewhat reluctant Mandalorian. You keep your bow aimed, as Anya approaches him sniffing his boots.

“And who might this be?” he asks looking at you while bending down to pet the critter.

“Ask her yourself.” Mando says, almost annoyed. Cobb was handsome, more so than most which makes you almost immediately untrusting of him. Anya seems to have taken a liking to him though so you drop the hostility for now. You lower your weapon and take his extended hand. “Cobb Vanth, i'm the marshal round these parts, Nice to meet you” he says

“y/n, and likewise” you respond, pulling your hand back.

“Where’s the kid?” Vanth asks and you see the Mandalorians' demeanor change guilt radiating off him.

“He’s gone, we're trying to find him. She’s a tracker” he says, pointing to you.

You look over at the Mandalorian, how did he know that? The two men walk in front of you, discussing the events that had unfolded a few days prior. As you make your way into the town you find yourself relaxing slightly. None of the locals looked like the kind to recognize you.

“Glad to see things have picked up since I was last here.”

“Well Mando, turns out less giant snakes makes for happier people.” Cobb says

“Funny how that works”

“C’mon, you look hungry and like you need a few drinks,” the Marshal says with a smile. “Might just run into your bounty if we’re lucky.” He throws two fingers up at the bartender, as you enter, leads you to a nearby empty booth. You thank the bartender as he brings out the food and drink.

“So who are we looking for.” The Marshal asks

“Ugly guy” Mando starts

“Well that narrows it down” you mutter earning a chuckle from the Marshal. Before he can continue describing the guy, the tracker starts to beep more consistently.

“Must be your lucky day” the marshal says coolly as an Aqualish enters into the establishment, tusks and all.

“Put your hood up” you say to the Mandalorian “he’ll recognize the armour, switch seats with me.” He obliges, pulling up the hood of his cloak as you shift over top of him so his back is now facing the door and you're sat between him and the Marshal.

“Alright looks like we’re in need of a plan” Cobb says.

“Give me 20 minutes with it, I’ll get the information” you say standing up.

“No way. Not happening. If this falls through you’re our only shot at finding the kid.” The Mandalorian says tugging you down by the back of your shirt, much to your dismay.

“Well there's always option B.” you say, pausing for a moment “you get up and he runs a mile then we're really gonna be screwed.” Seemingly having convinced the Mandalorian you were capable of getting the information needed, he agrees.

“Fine. 20 minutes, then we're coming after you.” He says. You stand up passing by the marshal and make your way over to the bar.

Mandos POV

He watches you head over, scanning the crowd for any potential threats. Even cloaked you stood out, and the odds of someone recognizing an ex-gladiator was high, especially one as successful as you. He tenses up when a Nikto approaches you. His hand subtly moves to the blaster, but not so subtly that it didn’t catch the marshals attention.

“You should relax Mando, it seems like she’s got it under control.” he says, nodding his head in your direction . He turns seeing you utter a few words to the Nikto causing it to continue on seemingly in a trance. His hand eases off the blaster and he relaxes back into his seat.

“Awfully protective” Cobb says, the Mandalorian ignores this comment, of course he was being protective, he needed you to find the child. He’s pulled out of his thoughts by a glass being dropped off at the table. Cobb throws his hand up nodding to you in thanks, the target had been acquired.

“So, where’d ya find her?” he asks, taking a sip of the drink.

“Long story.”

“Well we have twenty minutes.”

“Traded her for the child a while back she was fighting in a gladiatorial ring until about 25 hours ago.” He says as Anya settles down on the Marshal lap.

“This is quite the creature.”

“The kid saved it.”

“So that’s why she’s hanging around with your homely helmeted ass. Seriously, she looks like a fallen star.” Cobb pauses looking to his friend “Ahhh, but you’ve already noticed.” With no response the Marshal continues “Well if there’s nothing there then I’m in luck.” The helmet turns ,“A joke Mando, a joke.” The Marshal says lifting his hands up. Before he can respond the Mandalorian feels something bump against his shoulder causing him to look up just in time to see you pass by with the target in pursuit. As he watches him exit the bar he catches a glint of a small sphere, a bomb.

“dank farrik” he says, standing up and moving through the bar in pursuit.

“What happened to twenty minutes?” the Marshal shouts after him.

Your POV.

“Thanks for the drink sweetheart” the Aqualish says as you turn around, this was not your first time dealing with one, but you did hope it would be your last.

“If you’re looking to repay the favour you may be able to help me find something, I believe you’ve come across. A child. Small, green, big ears.”

The Aqualish laughs reaching its hand back for the bomb. Using the force you stay his hand a few inches away from the weapon.

“Answer me, before my patience wears thin.” You say. Patience, already wearing thin.

“Look lady I was hoping for some fun, let me go and no one has to get hurt.”

“You’re not in much of a potion to be negotiating.” You say. The unmistakable sound of a blaster going off suddenly echoes and you feel something cold and wet hit your face. You look up as the Aqualish drops to the floor standing behind him you see the Mandalorian.

“Seriously!” You say angrily, wiping the residue out of your face.

“It had a bomb.”

“I know I had it under control. Clean this up you say” pushing past him.

“Why do I…” he starts,

“Because…” you say turning on your heel to face him, “if we had done things my way there wouldn’t have been a mess to clean up at all.” you exclaim, throwing your hands up in the air, before returning to the bar.

You slump down in the booth next to the Marshal.

“How long did you put up with him for before you lost it?”

“Went well I take it.” He says offering you the remainder of his drink.

“Could have, if someone had just showed a modicum of trust.” You say taking a swig of the blue liquid.

“Seems like he trusts easy. He trusts you enough to ask for your help.”

“He doesn't trust me he needs my help, there's a distinct difference.” You say downing the rest of the drink causing Cobb to raise his eyebrows slightly opting to change the course of the conversation.

“Well I have to say you are just about the prettiest thing to show up here.” You roll your eyes, it wasn’t the first time you’d heard that. Despite this you find yourself smiling Cobb was quite charming after all.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on her, she doesn’t usually take to strangers.” You say moving in to scratch behind Anya’s ears.

“Got a way with all living things, though I find humans easier than animals.” He laughs.

“Well I’m sure that has something to do with your charm and face” you say. He’s about to respond when you both see a flash of armour leave the bar.

“Guess we’re leaving” He says offering you a hand, you take it and exit in pursuit of the Mandalorian.

“Mando!” the Marshal calls after him.

“Don’t leave on my account. I’ll be on the ship. If you’re not back by morning I'll find the child on my own.” he says continuing on his way.

“Oh don’t be jealous Mando we were just talking.” Cobb, says not making the situation any better.

Assuming you couldn’t piss him off anymore than he already was you pick up a stray rock and throw it at him. It hits the back of the helmet causing him to stop and turn around.

“Nice shot” the Cobb whispers to you looking impressed.

“Thanks” you say walking over to the Mandalorian.

“You okay Mandalorian?” you ask

“We should be looking for the kid not relaxing in a bar.”

“You’re not the only one who owes this child something, and don’t act like this wasn’t the first moment of freedom I’ve enjoyed in months.” with no reply you continue “What now? You killed our last lead.”

“I don’t know that’s why you’re here to figure it out.” He says sharply, the two of you now staring each other down.

“Well that’s my cue, Mando, always a pleasure, (y/n) lovely to meet you, if you’re ever looking for work I’m always in need of a deputy.” Cobb says, patting Anya on the head and heading off back towards town. You interrupt your glaring contest and wave goodbye to the Marshal. Having calmed down slightly, you turn back to the Mandalorian.

“Do you have something of his?”

“What?” the voice asks, even with the modulator you could tell he was frustrated.

“Of the child’s anything belonging to him?” you say suddenly feeling equally as irritated.

“It all went up…wait.” he says reaching into his pocket pulling something small and silver out.

“A toy of his” He says. You stick your hand out and he drops the small silver ball into your hand. As it makes contact with your skin you feel the emotion enveloping it. He cares greatly for this child, perhaps you had misjudged the Mandalorian. With this in mind you begin to gather stray stones placing them in a pattern on the ground using a nearby stick to trace lines in the sand.

“Are you going to summon him or something?” He asks.

“Not a witch.” you reply unsure if he’s joking or not.

You close your eyes, breathing deeply. The Mandalorian watches in awe as the rocks and sand begin to rise recreating a map of the galaxy. You open your eyes and walk over to Anya, bending down, you offer her the small metal ball which she sniffs. She begins circling the base of the galaxy stopping on the outer rim. Pulling more rocks forward you create a series of steps which Anya begins to ascend, sniffing the planets in front of her. She stops, sitting down so as to indicate she had located the scent.

“You know where that is?” you ask, looking up at the T visor which was still fixed on the map you had created. He hadn’t said anything in a while not that he ever really did, but you’d asked a question and needed an answer.

“Anyone home” you say, lifting your hand to knock on the helmet. He grabs your wrist before you can.

“No, I don’t, but I can get us there.” He says, gently releasing you. You drop the map to the floor leaving a small cloud of dust in its wake as you re-enter the ship.

“I hope you appreciate the delicacy of what I just did and the possible danger I’ve put us in.” You say, taking your seat, hoping you had made the correct choice in trusting him.

“How long have you known? That you have powers?” He asks, you smile at his choice of words.

“Since I was a child. My grandmother trained me in the way of the Jedi until she passed.”

“I’m sorry.” He says as he takes off.

“For what? you didn’t kill her.” After a prolonged period of silence you speak again. “I trust you’ll keep this between us, man of few words and all if it was to get out I'd take it very personally.” Taking his silence as understanding you breath a sign of relief. Leaning back you settle in for the upcoming journey.

[darlingandmreames]

(also on ao3)

Eames sighed as another drop of water hit his face. No matter where he sat he seemed to be directly under something that was leaking; at this rate he’d still be wet by the time they woke up in 3 days, and that was not a pleasant prospect. “You did realize we’d actually have to stay in these places when you designed them, right?”

Ariadne shrugged. “They were all designed for Fischer to be held hostage in, and it needed to feel authentic. Besides,” she shot Yusuf a look, “I didn’t realize we’d be dealing with heavy rain the entire time.”

“I already apologized for that four times, I’m not doing it a fifth.” Yusuf frowned. “And it was free champaign! How was I supposed to turn that down?”

“With a polite smile and the knowledge that you were going to be unconscious for the next 10 hours.” Eames groaned and stood up slowly. “I’m going to go join Arthur in keeping an eye out. You kids get some sleep.”

He could still hear Yusuf grumbling as he walked over to the garage door. Arthur was seated next to it, a dent in the metal making it possible to see the general area outside without the door being open. He was watching it intently, gun in hand, as Eames sat down beside him. “Any sign of the projections?”

“No, we still seem to be good.”

Eames glanced over Arthur’s shoulder, trying to see out into the dark. “If they haven’t come after us yet, I’d say they probably aren’t going to at all. They don’t have any reason to now that we’ve left Fischer alone.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Arthur shrugged, still looking outside. “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared though.”

Eames nodded, watching Arthur as they fell into silence, the rain outside and Yusuf and Ariadne’s conversation in the other room the only noise around them. He’d been quiet the past couple of days which wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for him, but his quietness wasn’t usually this tense. Eames had a decent guess what was behind it but Arthur had kept himself busy and generally away from the rest of them over the past few days. He wasn’t exactly much of a conversationalist at the best of times, and he seemed particularly keen on not talking right now.

They sat in silence for a while, Arthur watching outside carefully. Eames went between watching the rain fall and watching Arthur’s profile in the dim light. He was tense, on guard, even though both of them knew they likely weren’t in any danger. If Fischer’s projections hadn’t attacked them by now, it was unlikely they would at all. At least not as long as they left Fischer alone. Yusuf and Ariande's conversation faded behind them, the two of them clearly taking Eames up on his suggestion to get some sleep, until there was just rain and silence. Arthur didn't get any less tense as the minutes passed though, gripping his gun tightly. Eames watched him carefully. "You alright?"

"Of course." Arthur's tone was short and clipped. Not the voice of someone interested in conversation. "I'm fine."

"You've just been a bit…tense the past couple of days is all."

"We're not out of danger until we wake up, and it'll be another 3 days before that happens. Of course I'm tense."

"Right. Yeah. Of course." They fell back into an uncomfortable silence. Eames watched as Arthur tightened his grip on the gun. He hesitated, wondering for a moment if he should just let this lie. Arthur clearly didn’t want to talk. But wanting to talk and needing to talk were two different things. "He's going to be alright."

"Who?"

"Cobb." 

Arthur's shoulders hunched slightly and he looked down. When he spoke again after a moment his voice was curt and hard. "You should go get some sleep. There's no use in both of us keeping watch."

"Arthur, you…"

"I'm fine, Eames. Get some rest."

"It's not your fault, it…"

"Yes, it is." Arthur's response was immediate and Eames flinched at the harsh tone. "It was my job to check Fischer's background thoroughly. His sub-security shouldn't have been a surprise. I fucked up. I fucked up and Saito got shot and Cobb followed him into limbo, and that's entirely fucking on me." His voice cracked slightly at the end and he looked back down, taking a deep breath. "If I'd done my job properly we wouldn't be here."

Eames stared at him, shocked. He'd heard Arthur angry before, his words harsh and tone hard, but not like this. This wasn't anger. This was pain. "You're good at what you do, Arthur. The best. There's no question. But you're not perfect. No one is. People make mistakes. They miss things. It happens to everyone, even you." He paused, considering his next words carefully. “And…even if you had found absolutely everything, you still wouldn’t have had all the information. Cobb deliberately withheld information about the job from us, and you know as well as I do that he brought shit in here with him. We would’ve faced fire from Fischer’s security regardless, but I guarantee we faced a hell of a lot more because of the freight train Cobb brought through that intersection.”

“It was still my job though. It was my job and I missed it.” Arthur’s voice was quieter now and he seemed to draw in on himself. “It’s my fault.”

“Arthur.” Eames rested his hand gently on Arthur’s arm. “Arthur, darling, look at me.” Arthur wouldn’t look at him fully, but he turned enough that Eames could see the pain in his expression in the dim light. “Don’t blame yourself for this. You made a mistake, yes, but this isn’t all your fault. And Cobb made his own choice. I know you’re worried, but his decision to stay in limbo was his and the consequences of that decision fall on him, not you.” 

Arthur looked away again, not saying anything. He didn’t pull his arm away though, and after a moment Eames moved closer, sliding his hand to Arthur’s back and moving his thumb back and forth in what he hoped was a comforting motion. He could feel the tension in Arthur’s body, like a rubber band that had been stretched too tight, ready to snap. Eames thought back over the past couple of days, to Arthur’s strained silence and tight expressions. Maybe that wasn’t really that inaccurate.

“And what if he’s not?”

Eames looked over, Arthur’s question surprising him slightly. He’d figured he’d said all he was willing to say. “Not what?”

“Not alright.” He was still speaking quietly. “What if he loses himself down there? You can say he’ll be alright all you want, but we both know there’s the very real possibility that neither he nor Saito will make it back. Who explains that to Miles? To his kids?” Arthur was gripping his sleeves tightly, distinctly not looking at Eames. “That’s all he wanted, Eames. To get back to them. I watched him after Mal died, after he had to go on the run. I saw what it did to him to have to leave James and Philippa. I followed him around the fucking world on job after job even after he started fucking them up and stopped being able to keep Mal out of them because I wanted to see him get home eventually. And I-” Eames could hear the tell-tale hitch in his breathing as he took another deep breath. “If he loses himself, I’ll be the reason he never made it there.”

“Don’t. Don’t do that, alright?” Eames wrapped his arm around Arthur’s shoulders, running a hand through his hair as he dropped his head, seeming to draw in on himself even more. “Don’t try and carry the blame for things that haven’t even happened. For things that aren’t your fault.”

Arthur needed to talk. Otherwise he’d try to ignore it and bury it and pretend it wasn’t there, that he was fine, and absolutely none of it would go away until he talked about it. Eames knew that. But he also knew the importance of silence sometimes. So he didn’t say anything when he felt Arthur’s breath catch or when his shoulders started shaking slightly, he just pulled him a little closer. Arthur moved easily with him, leaning against his side, bringing a hand to his mouth to try and muffle already quiet sobs. Eames had worked a lot of jobs with Arthur over the years and had seen him in a variety of situations and circumstances. He’d seen Arthur angry, seen him annoyed and frustrated and smug, seen him hold his own in fights that would’ve taken out most other people. But he’d never seen him cry. Extraction was a profession where vulnerability was a weakness and a thing to be avoided, and in all their years working together Eames had never seen Arthur’s carefully built and maintained walls crumble so completely. 

Arthur didn’t pull away even after his breathing started evening out again. Instead he leaned further against Eames, some of the tension finally draining out of his shoulders. Not much, but some. “Thank you.”

Eames could still hear the pain in his voice, mixed with sadness and blame. It would be a while before it went away, even once they woke up, even if Cobb was ultimately fine. He knew Arthur well enough to know that. It wasn’t quite as strong though, and Eames would take any victory he could, no matter how small. “Of course, darling.” He ran his hand through Arthur’s hair again, smiling as Arthur leaned into the touch slightly, sniffling quietly. “You should get some rest. I’ve barely seen you sleep these past few days.”

“Is it alright if…if we stay here for a bit?”

“Yeah. That’d be nice, actually.” Eames rested his cheek on the top of Arthur’s head and stared out at the rain falling outside as Arthur settled against him. His hand was resting on Arthur’s upper arm, and after a moment he felt Arthur’s fingers hesitantly brushing against his. He shifted his hand, intertwining their fingers slightly. “We can stay here as long as you want.”

It wasn’t long before Arthur’s breathing started to slow and he relaxed against Eames more fully. It briefly occurred to Eames that maybe he should wake Arthur up before he fell asleep too- he could already feel exhaustion tugging at him and sleeping sitting up like this certainly wouldn’t be the most comfortable option- but he dismissed the thought almost immediately. He could rationalize it as Arthur needed sleep and he might not fall back asleep if Eames woke him up, but he was tired and rationalizing things was more energy than it was worth. Arthur needed comfort. Needed someone there for him. And Eames wanted to be that person. Simple as that. He could figure out what that meant later, when he was less tired and Arthur was less upset. In the meantime, though, it was late and they’d had a long couple of days, and the pull of sleep was quickly getting too strong from Eames to ignore. He closed his eyes, letting the soft sound of rain and warmth of Arthur beside him surround him as he drifted off. 

[dinmadness]

Request (from ao3): After saving The Child and leaving him the safe care of the Jedi. Mando and Migs continue to travel together. Din is incredibly depressed about having to leave his son behind and Migs doesn't know how to help. Migs thankfully remember the name of a a man Mando once told him about, an old lover on Tatooine, Cobb Vanth. Can Mando's two boyfriends manage to get him out of his depressed state?

Pairing: Migs Mayfeld/Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth

Tags: slight cursing, three fella cuddling, Sad Din Djarin, hints at depression.

I hope you enjoy!

You can also read it here along with all of the prompts I have written.

Fic under the cut!

Migs is starting to worry about his partner. It’s been one week since Din watched that Jedi douchebag walk away with his kid. Migs doesn’t take kindly to pretty boys who separate families. The ex-imperial officer is not as oblivious to what these, so-called peacekeepers, actually do.

It isn’t Mayfelds place to say what is right or wrong in this situation. Din knew what he had to do and he kept his promise to the child. Mayfeld can’t remember the last time he’s felt so sick to his stomach, watching the pure devastation overtake the Mandalorians face. Once the doors closed Din bent down and placed his helmet back on. The physical representation of building a wall around himself. He turned to the rest of the group and had Fennec radio for Fett. When the others tried to comfort him he turned the other way, a crisp “I’m fine.” is his only response. Once Fett shows up, Din request that he takes him to Nevarro, he wants to find a new ship.

Now, Mayfeld and Din have long said their goodbyes and are now traveling through the black abyss of space. The ship has been quiet. Din has barely said two words to Mayfeld since they’ve left Nevarro. Mayfeld understands, and he’s not selfish enough to think he deserves to be spoken too. He is, however, selfless enough to know that it isn’t healthy for the Mandalorian. He’s not eating and occasionally Mayfeld can hear soft cries coming from his sleeping bunk. His whole persona has shifted into something broken. It’s gut wrenching.

He’s got to think of something to help ease the pain. Mayfeld stews on it for a little while and finally remembers Din talking about someone he left on Tatooine. A Marshall of a small sandy village, Cobb Vanth.

Once Din retired to his bunk, Mayfeld sends a transmission to Vanth explaining the situation and prays that the other will get the message and help.

—

It takes a day for the Marshall to get back but when he does he plays it well. No sooner than Din sat in the pilot seat a hologram plays, it’s Vanth. Migs watches as his helmet tilts to the side slightly as the other talks, explaining that he is having some issues with raiders and he needs the Mandalorians help. Din nods and charts the course.

—

They ended up being close to Tatooine so it only took a few hours to get there in hyperdrive. Once they were on the planet Din borrowed some land speeders and they headed out. Migs only asked vague question so he didn’t give away the plan. The Mandalorian answered briefly.

Once they made it to the small town, Din heads straight to a cantina, no doubt where they will find the Marshall. Mayfeld scans the beige interior of the cantina and searches until he finds Din coming to a stop in front of a tall, skinny man. The complete opposite of the Mandalorian.

“Hey Mando, good to see you again.” Vanth said standing to greet Din. Mayfeld watches his hunched shoulders fall as the taller one places a hand on the bend of his neck, this thumb ghosting under his helmet.

After a moment, Din finally speaks and his voice is dry from being unused. “The raiders?” He asks. Vanth looks past Dins head and into the eyes of Mayfeld before he looks back the Mandalorian.

“Let’s just catch up,” he motions towards the door.

“Introduce me to your friend here.” Din turns to look at Mayfeld.

“‘M not really-“

Vanth cut him off, turning him toward the door and urging him out into the hot sun. The pair followed the Marshall into a small home just past the cantina. Inside was simple, the basic needs of man. A large soft looking bed, a small kitchen and dining and a fresher.

“When did the raiders start attacking?” Din asks as he sits down at the small two seater dining table. His whole demeanor bleeds tired.

Vanth looks at Migs again and they both nod at each other. The Marshall turns back to Din. “There are actually no raiders. I needed a reason to get you here.” He goes to squat in front of the Mandalorian.

“You’re friend here is worried about you,” he jerks a thumb in Mayfelds direction before he continues. “He told me what happened.”

Din looks at Mayfeld and if he could see his face he knows it’s full of hurt that Mayfeld would go behind his back. Mayfeld flushes pink with embarrassment and shame.

“I am fine.” He bites as he stands abruptly. Vanth has to grab the table leg to keep his balance. “Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

He makes like he is asking the pair but he doesn’t look at either of them at any point.

“It isn’t like the one thing- the only thing -that I have ever truly cared about, I just gave up.” His whole stance shifts as he back away from the dining table. Mayfeld and Vanth stand on edge. “As if, every fucking day I don’t remind myself that it was my mission from the start. That I knew what I was doing-“ his voice breaks and Mayfeld knows what that means.

“Hey, Mando, you know you can’t beat yourself up.” Migs takes a step closer, he wants to reach out but he’s afraid. “You’ll see the little guy again.”

Din looks to Mayfeld. “What if I don’t?” He backs away further until he meets the bed and he sits heavily. He rips his helmet off without care and digs his the gloves heel of his palms into his eyes. Sobs overtake him and he cries harder than he has in a long time. All the emotions he has been withholding in the week since their separation spills out of him like a storm, tearing away at the structure.

Mayfeld watches as Vanth walks over and unclips his chest and shoulder plates and stacks them on the table along with his helmet. He goes back and places a kiss on his bent head before he pushes him back so he is laying down further up on the bed, Din giving no resistance. The Marshall crawls into the bed with him, wrapping the distraught man into his arms as he cries silently, Vanth cards his fingers through his dark waves.

Mayfeld feels like he is intruding so he goes to leave but he is stopped by a soft voice. He looks back and Vanth is waving him over, holding his hand out. Mayfeld takes his hand and slots himself behind the Mandalorian and wraps his arms around his waist and up, placing his hand over Dins heart.

They lay like that until Din finally sleeps. The other two eventually fall asleep also. It isn’t a cure for the heavy sadness but when Din wakes in the morning surrounded by two people that love him, he knows he will get through this until he can be reunited with his son.

[ourmiraclealigner]

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Floyd Talbert x Reader

Gif not mine! Credit to owner.

synopsis: Floyd comes to the readers defense after cobb insults her + prompt #13 “did i ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are?”

request: @floydtab

warnings: swearing, insults, mention of a fight

word count: 1.2k

taglist: @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant @mavysnavy @ivy-miranda-2390 @love-studying58 @ya-yeeteth @rarmiitage @primusk @punkgeekchic @joesliebgott @weirdbiwitch @inglourious-imagines

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(Y/N) and Floyd had been close throughout the entire war. They had always been more than friends. Constantly flirting, drunk kisses, and jealous glares at other men and women. They knew each other's feelings, but never labeled anything, not wanting to ruin their friendship. However, things changed after Bastogne. No one was surprised they were together, they were only surprised it had taken so long. But after seeing all of the death and destruction, Floyd promised himself to not let (Y/N) out of his sight, and he didn't.

He became a shell of the happy go lucky boy from Kokomo he had been before. He was always angry, on the edge of snapping all of the time. Everyone was dealing with the trauma left from Bastogne, the memories straining the relationships between everyone.

This led him to many confrontations with the other men.

The air was stale as they sat around, a heavy silence in the air as they choked down the ‘stew’ in their mugs. They were all exhausted and cold, hearts and minds heavy from the seemingly never ending battle.

The men didn’t have a problem with the constant public affection that Floyd and (Y/N) showed. It wasn’t unusual before they were dating to see them holding hands, or Floyd’s arm over her shoulder when they were sitting around; so no one made a big deal about it. But this time, Cobb was drunk.

His comments wouldn’t stop as he leaned against the wall, eyes half lidded as slurred words and insults escaped his lips. He was upset at the Germans, the officers, the other enlisted men; anyone and anything that was near, Cobb had a problem with. Annoyance bubbled in Floyd’s stomach as he listened, leg bouncing underneath the table, finding it harder to keep his composure as seconds ticked by.

“Cobb!” Johnny’s voice boomed through the basement as (Y/N) reached over and grabbed Floyd’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Shut the fuck up.” A feeling of relief washed over the crowd. Finally, someone had said it.

Floyd felt himself relax, (Y/N)’s hand grounding and reminding him where he was. Cobb caught sight of this movement, pushing himself off of the wall with his shoulder to face the two.

“Since when did they let whores into the army? (Y/N) has tried to fuck everyone of us atleast once, I guess Tab was the only one stupid and desperate enough to let her.”

“Watch it, Cobb.” Johnny warned, catching sight of the way Floyd tensed in his chair.

“No. We have to see good guys die all of the time but-” A hiccup cut him off. “But people-whores,” He corrected himself, “Like (Y/N) get to live? That’s bullshit.”

Everything happened so quickly. One moment, (Y/N) was sitting next to Floyd, her hand in his. The next he was standing, his large hands slamming down onto the wooden table top, the loud boom filling the room and making everyone fall silent. Wide eyed with flushed cheeks, Floyd moved around a few chairs, trying to lunge at Cobb. Chuck was quick to stand behind him, his hands trying to pull his friend down.

“Tab.” Chuck pleaded, grabbing a hold of his arm to keep Floyd back. Shifty quickly got up and walked over, standing between Cobb and Floyd to create any sort of distance. “It’s not worth it man, just try to calm down.”

“No.” His tone was sharp, his voice laced with venom. “Say it again,” He almost spit the words out. “Say that shit again Cobb.” Floyd’s chest was heaving, his breathing labored as he tried to pull free from the grip of his friends. “Fucking say it again.” He pleaded, his tone almost desperate as he tried to yank his arm from Chuck’s grip.

Cobb took a step forward but remained silent, not expecting Floyd to be the one to snap.

(Y/N) stood up, pushing past everyone as they started to separate. “You’re all fucking ridiculous.” She mumbled before leaving, making sure to slam the door behind her.

The air was cool and quiet, the only light coming from the bright moon. Snow littered the ground and made a soft crunching noise as (Y/N) walked on it. She kept close to the buildings, not wanting to become the target of any lone mortars. She could hear him running after her, the mix of his boots and breathing loud in the still night.

“You’re really mad at me?” He asked as he caught up to her, taking her wrist into his hand and pulling her to a stop. She pulled her arm out of his grip before turning and walking again, wanting nothing more than to just go to bed.

“Yeah, you were acting crazy.”

“You’re upset with me for defending you?” He asked incredulously.

“I don’t need you to defend me.” She said as she stopped and faced him again, wanting to get through to him. “I don’t need you doing anything stupid and getting hurt. Don’t you think I worry enough?” He stopped, his hand dropping to his side in defeat. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her. “I don’t care what Cobb thinks about me or us. But I can’t be worried that you’re going to get yourself involved in something you don’t have to.” She paused. “The one place you should be safe is around those men, don’t create problems if they’re not worth being made.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was soft, a twinge of guilt in it. She sighed, letting him take her hand in his. She could never stay mad at him for long. “Let me walk you to your building.” His skin was warm and soft against hers as they started walking side by side down the dark street.

He walked her inside, their voices hushed as a few men slept on the floor and on the bunks. Thankfully, hers was still open. “You can stay,” She mumbled, watching his eyes light up at the suggestion. “If you want.”

He didn’t hesitate to slip into her small bunk, opening his arms for her to lay in.

“Does this mean you forgive me?” He asked, keeping his voice low as he pressed a kiss to her temple. She nodded, struggling to keep her eyes open as she started to feel warm and safe, two things she never thought she could feel in the middle of a warzone. Her hand brushed through his freshly washed light brown hair, a content smile on her face as she looked up at him.

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are?” He asked, not being able to stop the small giggle that escaped his lips.

“Mmhh, I don't think you have.” She responded teasingly, feeling his lips start to kiss around her face.

“Well,” He pressed a light kiss to her chin. “You have the prettiest eyes.” A kiss to her cheekbone. “And the cutest nose” A kiss to her nose. “And the prettiest smile.” He finished with a kiss to her lips. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

She rested her head on his chest, the sound of his heartbeat filling her ears as she finally let her eyes close. “I love you too.”

[musicnoots]

Sweet Surrender

Joe Liebgott/Reader

Synopsis: He gave himself up in sweet surrender.

Tags: @gottapenny @wexhappyxfew @junojelli @david-weepster @inglourious-imagines @dumpofdumblings @not-john-watsons-blog @bandofmarvels @medievalfangirl @dustyjjumpwings @alienoresimagines @higgles123 @those-dusty-jump-wings @curraheev @majwinters

It’s the early hours of the morning when you hear three taps on your bedroom window, the silhouette of a certain scrawny cab driver through the brown curtains. You tiptoed quietly across the wooden floorboards of the Williams residence, swiftly opening the front door to a gust of cold winds and gently shutting it to meet the man that soothes the goosebumps on your skin and bruises his knuckles for you.

“Joe.”

He’s sitting on the steps of the front porch with his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants, and you sit next to him, shoulder-to-shoulder. He smells of burning wood and tobacco, and you can almost immerse yourself into his scent and fall asleep against his chest peacefully. His hands rest in his lap and, oddly enough, there aren’t bruises decorating his knuckles or blood breaking through his skin.

You can’t recall the last time you’ve seen him without the purple and blue marks painted on his skin. On nights like these, he’d ask you to bandage them up through your open bedroom window, hushed whispers as part of an effort not to wake the Williams up—they didn’t need to know you had a visitor at this hour. He’d take you on a night trip to walk along the winterbourne, his hand brushing against yours every time, and your stifled sounds of laughter becoming louder the further you walk from the Williams property. But this time, as he sits there with slumped shoulders and a gentle heart, it’s different.

Not because he came without the bruises, or a reason as to why he had to beat the shit out of so and so. Joe doesn’t come looking for opinions that conflict his own, rather, he comes with a conflict in himself that he presents to you with a heavy heart and glazed eyes.

“Do you think we’re gonna jump tomorrow?” he asks, and you’re surprised that’s the first thing he asks you. None of that I didn’t fight anyone today, are you proud? bullshit.

In the days leading up to the jump, you didn’t realize that Joe hadn’t angrily put his hands on someone for bringing you down and instead, wanting to be alone with you in the middle of the night, sneaking out of your respective quarters. When he would ask you why you’re so complicated in his eyes, he finds comfort and warmth in your eyes, warmer than the army noodles served to him back at Toccoa.

You shrug, sliding closer to lean on his shoulder. His own hand holding himself up by the patio floor. “I’m...not sure. Only the weather can tell. Maybe it’ll come when we all least expect it.”

He doesn’t immediately respond, and his silence feels so foreign to you. You feel like a careless tourist in his presence because you never really know what he’s thinking of.

You like to think that he likes you, that he sees you as a friend—that’s why he’s always picking the fights you refuse to partake in, after hours rendezvous spent being in your company rather than cursing at the stars, alone. Maybe he just sees you as just someone he can trust when it comes you go into combat because the only person you can trust is yourself and the fella next to you.

“Does that ever bother you?” He lifts his head up and turns to look at you. “That one of these days might be the last…because once we jump, we don't know what's gonna happen to any of us. Aren’t you scared of that?”

“Well,” you sighed, “when you put it like that, yeah. Yeah, Joe, I’m scared as hell.” You weren’t sure what you were scared of more: being shot at while falling or the uncertainty of it being your last night with Joe. You felt more terrified of the latter.

Lieutenant Meehan had called off the jump tonight because of bad weather, and for a second, you felt relief. Knowing that you were spared another day felt like bricks were being lifted off your shoulders, waiting to be placed again once the sun rises from the horizon and the larks ascend into the highest heavens.

“I think,” he speaks again, “what I’m most scared of is dying and all the things I wanted to do...I never get to do them. Like buying that new car I’ve always wanted. I’ve been savin’ up for long!”

You laughed. Him and cars—you can only imagine just how life was like for him back in Oakland, feeding the stray cats that purr at his feet every morning before he leaves to serve his community as the best cab driver the Bay has to offer. “I’m sure they give you cars in the afterlife, Joe. Nice cars, too.”

“Well, it’s not just the car, Y/N. I...damn,” he curses and runs his fingers through his hair, toasted almonds sitting by an open fire and you wish you were sitting by an open fire, but to have Joe’s arm wrapped around your shoulders and his nose snug in the crook of your neck. “I might’ve not had a great time here or in Toccoa, but I know we had our good times together. Great times, even.”

“Are you trying to say that you’re scared of losing me?”

He sat up almost instantly, reminiscent of the time he got in Cobb’s face on a weekend pass in Toccoa for a stupid accusation concerning you, his fists balled and ready to throw a punch until he saw you standing in the middle of the doorway. You remember seeing his shoulders relax and the hands slowly loosen up, his eyes said all the apologies that were needed that night when you took him into your arms and buried your nose into the fluffy mop of hair that rests on his head so gorgeously. No matter what he does, he always finds his way back to you.

He nods. “Yeah.”

You hope Joe sees you as his best friend. The things you’ve gone through together, and the things he’s done for you—you’ve begun to suspect that there’s more than meets the eye. You hope that there’s a reason behind his bruised knuckles, for his body provides a kind of warmth the knitted blankets Mrs. Williams can’t provide you.

In your wildest dreams, you hope Joe saw you more than a friend.

“I don't know what I would do if, you know, you didn’t make the jump. You’ve been by my side for as long as I can remember, I don’t wanna fight this war if you’re not with me,” he says, and he says it like romantic poetry spills from his lips, effortlessly. He’s nervous, he looks up to you with eyes that beg to know if his feelings are valid for a guy like him. “I don’t wanna know what happens if we aren’t in the same plane for the jump. If you aren’t by my side when we made it to Normandy, then...I don’t know.”

“Oh, Joe—“ You lean on him, resting your head on his shoulder and you feel his wrap around you and placing his hand on your hip. In this moment, he’s closer than he’s ever been and you only wish to know what he’s thinking about.

You’re lost for words. If this was your last time with him, you wish he would never let you go. You’ve loved him for a lifetime.

“I hope you know I don’t get into all of these fights for nothing,” he mumbles. “I don’t beat up other guys because I wanna be tough or because I wanna be an angry war child—none of that bullshit. I’m not an asshole...really. I’m not.”

Your response comes out as breathless as his. “I know.”

“I get into these fights because those guys...they don’t respect you. They don’t understand you the way I do, and the things they say about you—it pisses me off, ya get what I’m saying?” he asks, and you nod. “They don’t truly appreciate how great you are.”

“So you punch them until they can’t talk shit about me anymore?”

“Yes, no!” He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “I punch them because I don’t like the stuff they say about you. You mean a lot more to me than I expected and...I guess I wasn’t ready to admit it.”

You’re not sure if it’s the euphoria that courses through your veins or the sleep you so desperately need, but he looks more beautiful than he usually does. Under the same stars you used to wish upon every night on your windowsill, wanting Joe to be more than just your friend and the moment he is, you’re happier than when he took you to watch the cows graze out in the pastures on your last weekend pass together. The sky was blue, no clouds in sight, and you were happy just from the sight of seeing him happy, smiling and at ease as if he was back home in Oakland where he belongs.

But to be in his arms, safe and sound in the comfort of him, you feel complete.

Nothing hurts anymore. Everything is beautiful.

He mumbles something, and your ears perk up, wanting to savour these moments as if they were your last together. He says something along the lines of I love you, but you’re not sure at first.

Part of you still thinks you’re dreaming, wondering where the sheep are and it feels like he’s passing you a love note between the nape of your neck and his front teeth.

“Mm?”

“I love you,” he says, and it comes naturally, and you wonder if he’s practiced that in front of the mirror before. You smile at the thought of it.

He loves you.

To be loved by a man who gives up everything for you, who is your everything—you have won the game of life. You never want to spend another day without being in his arms, begging to hold your heart in the same hands that he longs for you to plant your lips on. For a quick second, you imagine a life with Joe back home. Waking up with your legs tangled and his arms wrapping around your waist in the kitchen as the pancakes begin to burn on the stovetop, afternoon donut runs and kisses on the front lawn under the stars that shine brightest.

You love him. From the soles of your feet to the hairs that stick out no matter how many times you've brushed it, you can’t quite scrub him out of the palms of your hands, and you’re glad.

“Can I kiss you?”

His question comes without a warning, and you nod, leaning in to feel his lips against yours.

Joe’s hand cup the small of your back, the other on your cheek just barely grazing your skin. His lips are chapped and he thinks he probably tastes like cigarettes and tasteless army-issued toothpaste, but he loves every moment of it, and he loves you.

He had already known that he loved you back at Toccoa, when the hot summer nights were spent talking about the hardships you faced throughout the day, gentle touches and even gentler eyes. It was then Joe realized how you had unknowingly wrapped him around your finger, and maybe he wasn’t ready to accept it back then, but he is now.

When you kiss him back, he wants to cry. “Y/N—“ he chokes out, and you pull away, concerned.

You think you’ve done something wrong or that he’s suddenly changed his mind, and either way you’ve been as understanding as you had previously been. The tears start falling down his cheeks at rates incalculable, unable to silence his sobs, you wrap him into your embrace.

His love for you strings deeper than a simple midnight confession—he wants to go home with you.

After the war, hand-in-hand on the trip back to California where he can comfortably love you in all the ways he should have done years earlier. He wants to build a life with you, to feel your weight on his chest in the early hours of the morning, wedding rings clinking against the glass of water on the nightstand, brushing his lips against your before leaving for work in the morning—that is the life he wishes to fast forward to instead of fighting a war that wasn’t either yours to fight.

“I love you,” he says in between sobs, and you understand his pain. It stabs you in your gut, glassy eyes under the moonlight because you know this may be the last time you both can have a moment like this. “I love you, I love you, I don’t wanna lose you, Y/N.”

You nod, and you kiss him again, hands bracing his shoulders and his heart, the man you found yourself loving so easily, so proudly. “I love you,” you say, and it comes out as a whisper that wraps around his heart and his fingers tangled in your hair.

When the sun emerges through the horizon hours later and you’re preparing for the jump, you feel exhausted yet content. If that was the last time you and Joe would ever be in each other’s arms, you feel like you could die happily. Knowing that you were loved and held by him was one of the greatest things you have ever experienced.

A year later, you find yourself waking up in his arms at your shared home in Oakland.

It’s far too early to make breakfast, the sun barely peers through the curtains and the birds aren’t chirping yet. You lay on top of Joe, his arms wrapped around you safely and his nose buried into your hair that smells of jasmine. The wedding rings lay on the nightstand, and you fall asleep for a few hours more, grateful that you had made it this far to live the rest of forever with him.