#Some little atmosphere enhancements would be really cool though >:]

[shepscapades]

I completely forgot live was today, what's the cliffnotes? What's the deets on the pale garden? How does New Guy work?

Hi! Cliff Notes are:

New biome: The Pale Garden!

> Overworld dense forest biome > Features a brand new wood type called “pale oak” and it’s basically white wood :D and the “growth-style” of pale oaks mimic dark oaks, so there’s a lot of wood per tree > The canopy of the biome is thicker than a normal forest, the grass type is really desaturated, and it’s very graveyard-esque— they’re definitely going for an empty, vacant, spooky “something is wrong here” vibe. > New foliage! Hanging moss and Pale Moss Carpet (that, when placed next to vertical blocks, put little vines growing up the side of walls and stuff) > It’s safe during the day, but at Night the new mob can spawn, and there are new ambient sounds (creaking, crunching, very horror-esque sounds).

New Mob: The Creaking!

> They only spawn at night > They work like Weeping Angels— they’re completely still when you’re looking at them, and they scramble towards you as soon as you look away. > They deal relatively low damage, but damage can add up when there are multiple ganging up on the player > They do not take damage at all, but are instead linked to nearby “Creaking Hearts,” which are special-texture wood blocks nestled in the trunks of nearby trees. When you destroy/mine the Creaking Hearts, The Creeking mob will shatter, so they’re more like puppets. So this is a whole new way to manipulate/defeat this hostile mob :D > You can silk touch the Creaking Hearts, meaning you can place them down again and spawn a Creaking.

In my personal opinion it was really discouraging to see how negative the comments section was after genuinely enjoying the live/video (They had a cute animated section to tease the reveal of the new mob that I thought was really cute too, I couldn’t stop smiling), and I do think there are some small things that could be added to make the new biome a little more immersive or unique (new leaf textures, new tree-growth-style, a new flower type, fog, particle effects, things like that that could enhance the atmosphere!), but I honestly think this is all really exciting and it gives a lot of life to the Minecraft world-building/ecosystem :3

(In other news, they added hardcore to bedrock, gave some insights on the minecraft movie set building, and did a cool little community-feature pre-show. After the reveals above, they did an after-show where they went more in depth on all of the new blocks!)

Also, if I missed anything, feel free to add stuff in reblogs/comments/etc!

[storiesofaot]

Hi, Tori. 👋🏽 How are you doing? Any advice for writing fluff?

Hii Star! I’m doing all right, thank you - starting into June with a hopeful mind haha. How about you? I hope you’re doing fine 😊

First of all, I’m very flattered you’re asking me about this - I hope you’ll be able to take something useful from what I’m going to share, I feel very unqualified to give any form of advice lol. XD I don’t really have a specific method for writing fluff, but as I mentally went through my fics, I noticed a few “recurring “ elements that I think can be broken down into three areas: setting, characters, and gestures. I’ll try to explain what I mean by that under the cut.

🫧 1 - Setting

For me, fluff is usually a moment where two people are being comfortable around or with each other. Comfort, safety, the easing of tension, being able to let your guard down - those are all things that I love and lean into when I write fluff. That's why I think that the right setting can already help create the right mood. Anything that enhances that setting - sounds, smells, what the characters feel or how they perceive their surroundings - can help create a nice atmosphere.

Two people simply being at home can create a sense of safety. A couch and a fleece blanket feel warm and familiar. The sound of rain, and the fact that you know they’re safe and dry inside, adds to that cosy atmosphere. They don’t even have to do much, the setting itself already shows a lot. If the same moment would take place during a busy school lunch break, it might still be sweet, but probably not as cosy or tender as it would be in the quiet of home. 

Even an uncomfortable setting can be made fluffy. If you have a scorching hot summer day, which might not exactly be the cosiest place to be, and two people share some ice cream and open up in a heart-to-heart, the setting still makes it feel fluffy. The discomfort of a heat wave becomes more bearable through the ice cream, maybe a cool breeze comes up just as they start talking, or one of them always has cool hands and puts them on the other one’s wrists, cheeks etc. The setting itself might not bring a lot of comfort, but they bring it to each other instead. 

If a fluffy scene is only one of many part of the plot, placing it after a moment of difficulty or high tension can make it feel even more impactful. If they just had to escape some bad guys and are finally safe, that shared moment feels a little more intense because of the contrast. If one of them had a fight with their parents, the hug they get feels more comforting. That release of tension is what can bring some sort of satisfaction, almost like a reward.

🫧 2 - Characters

Each character has their own way of comforting another person, and their own things that bring them comfort. But sometimes, they step out of their comfort zone for the sake of the other - because they know exactly what the other needs - and that’s what can make that gesture feel more meaningful.

Person A isn’t a touchy person, and yet they're willing to give Person B a hug because they know they need it. Person B’s love language might usually be touch, but with Person A, they might have to do something else, and they’re willing to do so because they love them. (Yes, I’m talking about Levihan xD) As readers, we know the characters and their love languages and therefore also notice the effort it might’ve taken them to do that gesture, or all the thought that went into it, which gives it more weight and, to me makes, the entire moment feel so much warmer. 

Setting the context of their relationship can also make shared moments feel fluffy, or fluffier. Keyword love/intimacy, though I’m not talking about the sexual kind, but rather platonic or romantic.

If two people have a crush on each other and one of them braids the other one’s hair, the fact that you know they’re madly in love makes that gesture even sweeter. When they eventually hold hands for the first time, which moves their relationship a little closer to the “they’re together” stage, it makes you kick your feet because that small gesture shows a real and notable shift. A group of friends sitting around a campfire is particularly cosy when you know they've been together since they were little kids. They know each other well and are very close, and that sense of intimacy can be felt.

Just like the setting, the relationship sets the stage for the gestures, making them feel different depending on where the characters stand with each other. So if you have a fluffy scene in mind, it might help to mentally place it at different phases of the characters' relationship to see where it works best.

🫧 3 - Gestures

Most of the gestures I write about I draw from the people around me, or from the things I watch. Usually, I just think about what I would make the characters do if I wanted them to have a good time, what would make them feel better or what they might need in that specific situation, and go from there. For me, probably any slice-of-life situation and any gesture can be fluffy, especially in the right setting. 

I think just as important as the gesture itself is also the other person’s reaction to it - both their physical reaction, and their emotional reaction or thoughts. When you witness a person letting their guard down, and read their thoughts about how safe that hug is making them feel, it can make the scene feel deeper and warmer.

Something that can also enforce the moment is whose point of view you’re getting to see. Person B, for whom holding hands isn’t a big deal, might not think of it as something special - but Person A might be freaking out on the inside. So gauging who might be having a stronger or “more fitting” reaction, and telling the scene from their perspective, can also enhance the sweetness of the moment. 

This ended up being a lot of examples - sorry about that, I just get a little enthusiastic when it comes to fluff, lol. 😆 I hope it all made sense; some things might already be obvious, but maybe there's still something helpful in there. And, of course, that's just how I personally see it.

If you’re going to be writing fluff, I’m sending you lots of cosy and fluffy thoughts! 😇 Have a great day and week!

[fanfics4all]

Gingerbread House

Request: Yes / No Fuffcember Day 6!

Don’t be shy, request things! <3 Have a nice day/night

Nicholas Scratch x Fem!Reader 

Word count: 687

Warnings: Just magical fluff! 

Prompt(s): Gingerbread House

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK! 

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you! 

Masterlist 

If you enjoy my work, you could also show support by buying me a coffee! 

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

Snowflakes drifted lazily down from the dark winter sky, settling like tiny crystals on the window ledge of Nick’s dimly lit apartment. Inside, however, the atmosphere was anything but dark. Flickering candles lined the countertops, filling the room with a warm glow, and the faint smell of cinnamon and ginger wafted through the air. 

Nick was trying very hard to look serious as he stared at the assortment of gingerbread walls and rooftops spread out before us. I sat across from him, eagerly organizing little bowls of candies, sprinkles, and icing. It was my idea, of course. Even though I was a witch, I was brought up in the mortal world, and my excitement over all things Christmas was clear. Nick had simply raised a brow when I suggested we make gingerbread houses together. 

“So, you’re telling me…” Nick said, smirking as he examined a small gumdrop. 

“...mortals go through all this effort just to create something edible that you’re not even supposed to eat?” I laughed, as I squeezed some icing onto a gingerbread wall. 

“Exactly! It’s all about the fun of making it! It’s like art; you put it together, decorate it, and then just… look at it. For a while, at least.” Nick rolled his eyes playfully, but couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips. I could tell he didn’t really understand it, but he loved making me happy. 

We worked side by side, Nick carefully fit the walls together, pretending not to care when the first roof piece collapsed on him, sending me into fits of laughter. I took my time showing him how to apply the icing properly, my fingers brushing against his as I helped him secure the pieces. When our hands lingered a moment too long, I blushed, giving him a shy smile before getting back to work. 

“See? You’re getting the hang of it!” I said, genuinely impressed as he managed to secure the roof on the second attempt. We sat back, admiring our sturdy little structure, a sense of satisfaction settling over us. 

Now it was time to decorate, and that’s where Nick’s competitive streak kicked in. 

“Alright.” He said, eyebrows raised. 

“I’m going to make this the most magnificent gingerbread house you’ve ever seen.” With a quick flick of his hand, he whispered a small spell, causing a shimmer to sparkle through the icing he’d spread on the roof. It glittered as if dusted the stardust, beautifully catching the candlelight. I swatted his arm, laughing. 

“No magic, Nick! You’re cheating!” He gave me an innocent look. 

“I thought this was all about ‘having fun’, right? I’m just enhancing it.” I narrowed my eyes at him, my face full of playful determination. 

“Fine, but I’ll make mine even better, without any magic!” The game was on. I decorated with precision, lining up gumdrops along the rooftop, and arranging tiny windows with candies and pretzel doors, while Nick went all out, carefully layering frosting icicles and conjuring up little peppermint trees with whispered incantations. His eyes would dark over to me every few moments, unable to help himself from smiling as I hummed quietly, mostly focused on my masterpiece. 

After a while, we sat back, gazing at our creations. Nick’s house was elaborate, almost otherworldly with it’s glittering, enchanted frosting, while mine was sweet, perfectly balanced, each candy and sprinkle placed with care. 

“Alright…” He said, his voice low and teasing.

“...I’ll admit, yours is… charming.” I smirked, nudging him with my shoulder. 

“I think yours is pretty impressive, ya know, for a first-timer.” I said, feigning a serious tone. I glanced at him, my eyes warm with affection. 

“Thanks for doing this with me, Nick. I know it’s a bit… mortal.” Nick slid his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. 

“Anything for you, baby.” He murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. 

“Mortal, magic, or whatever else you can think of, if it’s with you, I don’t mind.” We sat in the candlelight, admiring our gingerbread houses as the snow continued to fall outside. The world felt soft and peaceful, as Nick held me close.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs-blog1 @lover-of-books-and-tea @nerdygaloresposts @teenwolfbitches28 @kmc1989 @drw0301bieber @lady-of-lies @ravenmoore14 @ravenempress101 @cillianchamp @rowanthomasknapp @rachelxwayne @ready-4-fanfiction @madammarvellous-blog1 @lover2448

[satoshi-mochida]

VA-11 Hall-A developer Sukeban Games announces ‘Active Time Action’ game .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND for PC - Gematsu

VA-11 Hall-A developer Sukeban Games has announced .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND, an “Active Time Action” game featuring a mix of real-time and turn-based combat. It will be available for PC via Steam. It will be playable for the first time at BitSummit Drift from July 19 to 21.

Here is an overview of the game, via Sukeban Games:

About

A new world and characters from the award-winning studio that brought you Cyberpunk Bartender Action: VA-11 Hall-A. This is .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND.

Evade Attacks, Stop Time, and Kill ‘Em All

Featuring a mix of real-time and turn-based combat, .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND offers a captivating experience for players of all levels.

Getting Personal

Follow the raw tale of Reila Mikazuchi; a killing machine emerging from depression looking to rebuild her life doing what she knows best. A path well-traveled where the consequences are known, but is her biggest foe really in front of her gun?

Key Features

Experience the tightly designed “Active Time Action” battle system, suitable for both newcomers and veterans.

Explore seven meticulously crafted, atmospheric stages with hand-placed encounters, dialogues, and riddles.

Enjoy detailed lo-fi visuals that enhance the texture of this rich cyberpunk world.

Immerse yourself in a gripping storyline waiting to be uncovered.

And here are some additional details, via Sukeban Games’ Christopher Ortiz:

What is .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND?

An “Active Time Action” game, which sounds a little bit like nonsense but we like nonsense. tl;dr, you move and dodge in real time while you wait for an Action bar to fill at a speed determined by character and weapon stats. Once that’s done you can then stop time and plan your offensive.

The genesis of the battle system can of course be traced back to a personal favorite of mine: Parasite Eve, but that’s about where comparisons end. I’ll talk about this some other time.

The pitch: You play as Reila Mikazuchi; a washed out mercenary whose glory days are long gone. In a last attempt at grabbing life by the horns she decides to go back to the life, only to realize the real enemy isn’t in front of her gun.

—The game’s heroine Reila. Designed by me with help from Merengedoll.

The whole game plays out inside these highly atmospheric environments peppered with hand-placed encounters. You’ll be roaming around finding secrets hidden all over the game’s world, as well as talking to quite the unique cast of characters. Not to mention cool boss fights at the end of every level.

We’re currently aiming for seven chapters; five of which are currently playable from start to finish. Most of the features are already locked in, as well as the story. We highly doubt things will change much from this initial description though we never know… There’s always something we can get rid of to ship it within this lifetime.

Release When?

No idea. I don’t wanna give any time tables here as to not repeat a N1RV Ann-A situation (though we do have an internal one), but we hope it’s sooner rather than later. I was actually gonna wait until we had the entire game built before announcing it Officially, but selling games has become much harder. It’s not 2016 anymore, so if we want this game to have a chance we gotta start now and hoard those wishlists and shit. In short: when it’s done. Do expect monthly devlogs (I’ve been writing them for years now, though I’ve been behind for Very Good Reasons), and progress shots over at my Twitter account and Sukeban’s.

N1RV Ann-A?

No news in that front. Sorry. I know that’s the main event everyone wants to see, but .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND is significantly ahead in development, and I decided to dedicate my full attention to it for the foreseeable future. Once we ship it then the sky will be the limit.

Who’s Working on This?

That would be me as writer and director, with a friend who prefers to be anonymous as the programmer and co-creator (we came up with the story, gameplay and characters together maaany years ago). Merengedoll (of VA-11 Hall-A kids! fame), always the soldier, has been helping me out with character, enemy, boss and production design. Juneji (also from VA-11 Hall-A kids!) is doing the soundtrack and some 3D work; and for the first time ever we have someone managing our asses to move things forward at a nice pace. If you’re familiar with my solo outing then you kinda know what to expect in terms of vibes and story; for better and for worse.

Stray Notes

Spanish, English and Japanese localizations are being planned for day one (hoping for more, but these three are the ones within our current bandwidth).

No downloadable demo planned as maintaining a separate build will probably drive us crazy.

After a couple reboots the current incarnation of the project has been under development for roughly two years, but if we wanna get cheeky, me and the programmer have been talking about doing something like this since high school. It really makes you think.

VA-11 Hall-A, when it came to my contributions to its visuals and atmosphere, was very much a pastiche of inspirations both subtle and in-your-face. This time around I’ve been trying to isolate my brain from external influences as much as possible outside of the initial spark for the battle system and other mechanics. Games take a lot of work to make, so I’d like to deliver a uniquely “Sukeban” experience; whatever it may entail.

For Those in Japan: Play It at Bitsummit Drift!

Lucky people in the Kyoto area can get a taste of the game’s first chapter at this year’s BitSummit Drift. July 19 (business day), 20, and 21. Do come check it out! We plan to exhibit the game at more events around the world in the coming future but we don’t have many details at the moment. Stay tuned. For those who can’t attend, we’ll be releasing the game’s first trailer on [July 19]! This is our YouTube channel.

View the first screenshots at the gallery.

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Echo Tree (2x08)

Ahhhh Percy and Vex my babiesssss.

Cons:

I've been thinking about the "Lady Vex'ahlia" moment and why I'm not 100% happy with this adaptation. I'm pretty happy, but there was something holding me back from loving it unconditionally. First of all, they changed the kicker line to: "Despite your relationship, do watch your manners towards a noble." Instead of just ending on "do watch your manners" which is stronger and cleaner. I think the point would have gotten across without adding the extra words. But more important than that, I think the atmosphere of how that happened on the stream was just so... intense, and memorable, because it was in front of a live audience, there were screams and applause, and you saw Laura's overwhelmed reaction. And Syldor was legitimately put off-balance by it. It was a blow that landed.

Here, I didn't need it to be a big huge mic-drop moment, I'm fine with it happening in only private company the way it would have from the stream version too. But I don't like the change that Syldor doesn't even hesitate before scoffing at it and saying it's just a stupid ploy. I wish he had been a little unsettled. I wish we'd seen him offended or confused or just... at all affected by the whole thing? He brushes off Percy's big grand gesture, and he brushes off Vex snapping at him, as if it doesn't matter at all. I get that there needs to be some build to something bigger, but I feel like it made the moment less fun because of it.

Also, this is fine for me as someone who's watched the stream, but the fact that Syldor lives in Syngorn, and there's also a character name Saundor all in the same episode... too many similar sounding S-names. That must have been annoying.

I had a question just logistically speaking... where exactly is Wilhand Trickfoot supposed to live? Because at the end, they're talking about how they have to go to Westruun. So he's not in Westruun? Even though the Grog backstory from the next episode seems to imply that his whole redemptive moment with Wilhand was happening where his herd had taken over? That just confused me a bit.

Pros:

To start off, I love the twin vibes on "we seek an audience with Ambassador Vassar" from Vex, and then "Ugh... we're his children" from Vax. So good. This episode appropriately shined more of a spotlight on Vex, but you still saw the solidarity between the two of them. Each has their own shit going on at the moment, but the strained awkward family vibes were exquisite. We see how Vax is willing to throw down with his dad from the jump, but Vex is still holding back yelling at him until the moment when she snaps at her dad for insulting Percy.

And yeah, while I wish there had been something to punch up the big "Lady Vex'ahlia" moment just a smidge more, I was otherwise totally 100% satisfied with the way the Percy/Vex stuff played out here. We got another one of the best shippy lines from the show, where Percy tells Vex he's known a lot of people with titles and money, "and none of them are worth you". My heart!!! And speaking of hearts, we have Vex opening up to Percy about how difficult things were for her and Vax growing up, and Percy says that she has a pure heart, that it's wonderful, and nobody can take that away. Percy, my baby! He's being so sincere and kind and gentle, and it's killing me! He also made her a cool new arrowhead, which was 100% the Percy method of flirting from the stream, so I'm glad we got a nod to it here.

A detail I have to point out because a part of me will always be Perc'ildan trash, is that Percy started defending both of the twins from their dad right from the jump, saying "your son and daughter are leading the fight." Hell yeah, Percy.

We got to meet Velora, and she was as adorable and perfect as I ever could have imagined! Vex giving her the blue feather is just the sweetest. This is a moment that really complicates and enhances the twins' drama with their shitty father. They have a cordial relationship with their step-mother, and they adore their little sister so much. It's not some one-note thing where they resent the family Syldor has built without them. There are layers here, and they (rightfully) do not blame a child for the sins of her father.

The whole Saundor encounter was amazing, everything I could have wished for and more! Saundor looks SO COOL. He's sexy and creepy and I love that he says all these awful things to Vex in this really seductive, simmering voice, but then the second she rejects him he says "you bitch!" and just starts snarling at her like any creepy incel bitter loser would. It's such a good turn, and it makes the point eloquently without spelling it out for you. Everything about the corrupted forest, the tree, the bow, the effect on Vex when her eyes go all dark and she nearly succumbs... it was so tense!

Meanwhile we get Vax, Percy, and Keyleth teaming up to defeat a couple of walking tree creatures that are trying to keep them away from helping Vex. I loved the teamwork, of Keyleth getting Vax's knife off him and Vax cutting Percy free once he was free himself. Then you've got Keyleth going into her Fire Elemental form again, and walking through the trees using her magic to defeat them. Not only was that an adaptation of one of Marisha's most brilliant Keyleth moments in the whole game, it was also a reminder/reaffirmation of this cool new ability she has to turn into a giant fire being, so we can be reminded that she has that card up her sleeve for more fights down the road.

And now, after Vex declares that her "heart is someone else's," and stabs Saundor with the arrowhead Percy gave her, she is officially in possession of Fenthras, her very own Vestige!

I heard people complaining that they've stripped away some of Vex's complexity, making her nothing more than a girl with daddy issues and an angsty anime love interest and I... I mean, okay, if Vex is your favorite character you're going to notice the shortcuts they've taken with her character for the sake of the shortened format. Same as if you love Keyleth most, or whoever else. But I personally think the final scene, where she declares that she's not going back to Syngorn because she's not ready, proves that there's so much more depth to her character than just a few cliché traits. Because you'd expect one of two things, here, right? You'd expect her to either go back and throw her victory in her father's face, or you'd expect her to declare that she's enlightened now and no longer needs his approval... but it's neither of those things. She still needs to face him, but despite the fact that she won Fenthras from Saundor and confronted the insecurities within her, she's not ready yet. It's a journey that will take longer than a single incident, much like Keyleth's self-confidence is much better now than it used to be, but she still has her moments of doubt.

I know I keep saying it over and over again, but I'm so impressed with how thoughtful they've been to every character getting their due on this show. There are seven main characters and a ton of important side characters and in a D&D campaign there are no protagonists. It's a hard sell to adapt, and I think people go too hard on it if their favorite moment didn't hit the way they wanted it to, or if a character they're less interested in got a big important moment when they felt their fave should have gotten it instead.

And so Garmelie helps our heroes out of the Fey Realm, and then transforms into a tall, imposing figure with a different voice, and universes in his eyes... I'm so excited to see where this all goes.

One thing that was so great about this episode was the parallel between meeting Syldor and meeting Wilhand. Even as Vex and Vax's father puts them down and accuses them of just coming to him because of his status, we see Wilhand emerge from his front door, give Pike a big hug and admire her cool new armor, and immediately set to work helping Grog out without really asking many questions. Casting Henry Winkler in this role was inspired, I was instantly charmed by him.

There wasn't a ton of motion here for Grog, just a pill that he had to take with some... ahem... assistance from Scanlan, and no improvement on the weak, noodle-y muscles front. The gnomes are ready to head off after the vestige they know is in Westruun, but Grog has some news for them. That Vestige is in the hands of his uncle, and he killed Grog with them. Dun dun dun....

I loved Travis's line read on: "Hi, Pop Pop. I fucked up." I also love how Grog gets the comic relief treatment but there's still a real gravity and grief to him over this situation. It's no small thing, to lose your strength when it's such a big part of how you identify yourself. I know what this is all building to, and I'm going to scream so loud when Grog tells us where his strength comes from in next week's batch of episodes...

So yeah! Say goodbye to the Fey Realm for now, and we're off to Westruun to meet some of Grog's family in the final installment of this week's drop. Man, they go by so fast, I wish the seasons were twice as long!

8/10

[wild-karrde]

Shadows and Shades - Part 1

Master List | Next Chapter

A/N: HERE IT IS! The long-awaited CrossDen fic I've been itching to write. I've missed these two sarcastic assholes so much. This fic takes place after "Guarded" (where this pairing is introduced), and in parallel to "Reunion." This fic will be rated M (language, canon typical violence, mild sexual content), so please heed any warnings at the beginning of each chapter (the end of this one is a bit spicy). As always, thank you to the outstanding @teletraan-meets-jarvis for beta-reading this for me! :)

The jolt of the ship coming out of hyperspace jarred him awake, the blue and white streaks that had lulled him to sleep outside of the transparisteel viewport fading to the familiar silken black of space dotted with white pinpoints. The sniper’s hands felt stiff and cold from the time they’d spent on the transport, and he flexed his fingers, rubbing them together to try and warm up his palms. The recirculated air of the transport had started to smell stale hours ago, and he assumed the crew kept it cool to try and make the smell tolerable. Turning to glance out the viewport once more, he could see the planet of Raxus Prime growing larger as they puttered towards its atmosphere, the northern hemisphere glowing blue and gold in its harvest season. He sighed, refocusing his eyes to stare at his faint reflection. The tattoo over his right eye always seemed more prominent when he got less sleep, the dark circles under his eyes somehow enhancing the crossed lines that intersected across his eyelid and eyebrow. He scratched at the beard he’d grown out before reaching down and digging for his toothpick pack.

Iden stirred against his shoulder, her eyelids fluttering open as he rustled under his cloak, trying to shift slightly. “We there?” she asked.

“Just about,” Crosshair replied.

As if on cue, a robotic voice echoed throughout the passenger hold. “Approaching Raxus Prime. Atmospheric entry anticipated in approximately five minutes. Please return to your seats and stow any loose luggage at this time. Some atmospheric turbulence may be experienced, and we do not wish you to be harmed. Your patronage is appreciated.”

Crosshair huffed, rolling his eyes slightly. He’d wanted to just pilot their own ship here, but Hunter and the others had insisted that would make the pair of travelers too conspicuous, whereas who would notice just another pair of workers stepping off a public transport? It would be much easier to blend into the crowd, but he didn’t like that it made any escape dependent on a pick-up from another party.

“We can be there in a rotation if needed,” Hunter had reassured him. “If you two get in trouble, I’m confident you can evade capture for that long.”

If not, it won’t really matter. I’m not exactly in the Empire’s good graces. Crosshair shuddered.

“Chilly?” Iden asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“A little,” he lied, not meeting her gaze.

“That’s a surprise given how cold-blooded you are,” she muttered, giving him a teasing nudge with her shoulder. Crosshair rolled his eyes.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t somewhat excited to have been assigned this mission, despite his misgivings about its start. It felt as though his brothers and even members of the rebellion that had been previously wary of his past were beginning to trust him, to see his value. They don’t worry I’ll betray them any longer. That had been a pleasant realization for him, and the fact that he was going with only Iden wasn’t something he’d overlooked as a positive either.

Ever since escaping Naboo together, they’d been camping out at the base on Yavin 4, waiting to be useful. He’d noted her frustration at being sidelined along with her annoyance that they never could seem to find more than a few minutes to be alone together. The base wasn’t exactly constructed with comfort or privacy in mind. They’d been sleeping in the barracks, sharing a bunk only meant for one person, but with rows and rows of beds stacked next to them, there hadn’t been exactly time for them to explore their relationship much further beyond quiet kisses and the occasional wandering hands under blankets. They’d had to rely on stolen moments in supply closets or the occasional room with a lock on the door, the two of them fumbling with each other’s clothes in the dark like a couple of teenagers while they tried desperately to fulfill their needs before either of their absences were noted. The memories warmed Crosshair’s cheeks slightly, and he unconsciously allowed his hand to drift down and grip Iden’s thigh, his fingers clamping down on the soft flesh covered by her leggings. She sat a little straighter next to him, intercepting his hand with her own and interlacing their fingers.

“Better save that for the honeymoon, dear,” she teased.

Glancing at Iden out of the corner of his eye, he raised an eyebrow and smirked at her before leaning down, pressing his lips to the shell of her ear. “Don’t pretend you’re not looking forward to having a place to ourselves.”

She squeezed his arm warningly, but he noted the heat in her gaze. “Keep your head on. We’ve got a job to do, remember?”

He grinned, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand before he placed a kiss right behind her ear. “I’m quite the multi-tasker. In case you’ve forgotten.”

Iden cleared her throat, shooting him a glare.

They’d gotten word that the Empire was planning on building several large manufacturing facilities on Raxus. With the recent pillaging of several worlds such as Lothal and Illum, there was plenty of concern about what exactly the Empire might need additional manufacturing facilities to construct given the resources they’d been amassing.

A concerning development. That’s what the senator from Alderaan had called it, and Crosshair could hardly disagree. While the rebellion had somewhat discarded rumors of a superweapon at first, it appeared as though the evidence had been mounting in recent months. The hope was that Crosshair’s understanding of Imperial protocols combined with Iden’s counterintelligence and defense training she’d received as part of a select group of Naboo’s Royal Security Forces would give them the best chance of success in gleaning information on an occupied world. They didn’t stand out much as a couple, the most noticeable thing about Crosshair being his tattoo when his Firepuncher wasn’t strapped to his back.

They’d been assigned a dwelling near the newest industrial area in the planet’s capital city. It wasn’t going to be grand by any means, but it would be theirs, if only for a little while. They were to try and find employment within one of the newer factories and feed information back to the rebellion on what was being produced and in what quantities. They’d been assured any information they were able to pass along would be helpful, but Crosshair was determined to provide as much as possible. He’d never admit it, but he felt pressure to prove himself here, not just his loyalties, but the fact that he could be a significant asset rather than a liability. It had been several months since he’d had a panic bout, but he knew Iden and his brothers were still cautious with him, watching to see if any of his memories from his time under the control of the inhibitor chip would send him careening off the rails.

He still had nightmares. There were many nights he’d woken up gasping next to Iden, trying to slow his breathing before disturbing her, chasing the memories from his mind and reassuring himself it was over. It felt as though it may never be though; he would just continue to improve in how he coped with it.

Their cover had been simple enough to construct: a newly married couple, Aban and Zo Kress, looking for work in one of the Empire’s new facilities. As the Empire’s influence had continued to expand, spreading into every industry in the galaxy, workers migrating between planets based on needs had become a more frequent occurrence. Where one factory closed, three more opened, ready to be filled with workers just looking for a way to keep their stomachs full and provide for any family they had. In fact, when they’d first settled into their seats, Crosshair had determined that more than half of the passengers on this transport were all migrants looking for work, as they were.

The jostle of the ship entering the planet’s upper atmosphere jarred him from his musings. The sniper glanced out the window once more, his fingers flexing nervously at his sides as the continent rushed up to greet them. Digging around in his pocket, he finally located the pack of toothpicks he’d stashed, shaking one loose and popping it between his teeth. He felt Iden lean into his shoulder, straining to view their new home as well. The large, impressive buildings of the capital city of Raxulon rose from the ground, their massive stained glass windows twinkling in the light of the planet’s singular sun. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Iden.

Prior to their escape from Naboo, Iden had never visited any other worlds. Since then, she’d only seen Yavin 4, but even that experience had been limiting, keeping her near the base despite the towering temples and lush jungle that surrounded it. Crosshair knew she’d longed for the opportunity to explore, and he hoped somewhat that she’d have the opportunity here. Can’t be gathering information all of the time. He suppressed a comment about the look of wonder on her face as she leaned past him to gaze out the viewport. Instead, he smiled slightly, watching the woman he loved experience yet another planet for the first time. She raised an eyebrow and glanced over at him.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” he asked quietly, feigning aloofness.

Iden rolled her eyes, sitting back. “You know like what, Toothpick.”

“Can’t I just enjoy looking at you? Some people might even take it as a compliment.”

“Leering isn’t complimentary, dear.”

“I’d hardly say I was leering.”

“Uh huh.”

The ship drifted over the impressive capital building, heading towards the industrial district and touching down in one of the smaller spaceports sprinkled throughout the city. Crosshair slipped his hand into Iden’s and together, the two of them quietly departed the ship, waiting in line patiently for their luggage. Crosshair was relieved to see no additional scuffs on the longer, thin case he had hidden his Firepuncher’s components in. He slipped it onto his back and grabbed two of their bags as Iden picked up the last few, falling into stride next to him.

“You worry about that thing more than a parent worries for their child,” she said under her breath as they separated from the crowd, heading down the main avenue towards the residential district.

He scoffed. “I’d argue that it’s more valuable to me than a child considering it’s saved my life several times.”

Iden rolled her eyes again, but he knew there was no animosity behind it. She’d heard the stories. She understood the weapon’s significance, even if she continued to give him grief about it. Their fingers remained interlaced as they turned the corner onto the avenue of the residential district. Crosshair was struck by the gorgeous architecture that seemed to permeate even this more humble part of the capital city. The buildings were of course smaller than those closer to the center of Raxulon, and for the most part, their architecture was less decorative, but he was still taken aback by the carved pillars, buttresses, and exterior statues that protruded from even the smallest dwellings. The street itself was clean, lined with planters that held beautifully sculpted trees. In the cooler season, the leaves on each tree were stunning shades of orange and gold, fluttering in the chilly breeze that nipped at his skin. It was all simple, nothing too eccentric, but yet elegant, and Crosshair couldn’t help but feel out of place in his tattered and stained travel clothes. All in all, not a terrible place to be assigned. Aside from the large Imperial presence, of course.

Crosshair had memorized the dwelling’s location before they’d left Yavin 4, and he easily navigated the street, stopping in front of the small stone building that would serve as their dwelling for the foreseeable future.

Iden sniffed next to him, but he ignored her. All of his life, he’d shared a room with his brothers or his squad, the only time he ever had a room to himself being in Imperial prison. He’d never considered what it might be like to have an entire building that was his, and while this wasn’t exactlyhis home, something about the entire ordeal warmed him.

“Kind of run-down,” Iden murmured, her eyes flicking to the crack in one of the pillars and the smudging on the windows.

“Nothing we can’t fix,” he replied, and he felt her turn her gaze on him. He met her eyes. “What?”

“Is that optimism I’m hearing? From you?” She reached up, resting the back of her hand against his forehead, and he huffed, swatting her hand away. Iden grinned. “Just ensuring you’re not ill or that my husband hasn’t been replaced with a changeling.”

He flicked the toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other, scowling at her before climbing the steps to the front door and keying the unlock code he’d also memorized. The door hissed open with a creak, and he stepped into the dim, dusty sitting room. We’ll need some grease for the door track.

The room was modestly furnished, a small couch tucked to one side with a low table in front of it. In the opposite corner, he glanced over the small kitchen area that also held a table large enough for the two of them to share a meal at. He reached over to flick on the lights and was met with a hum, but no light. Need to repair that as well. Stepping forward, he glanced down a short hallway that held three doors. The first one on the left was a closet, the second a small refresher, and the one across the hall opened up to a bedroom. He struggled to suppress the grin that was threatening to smear across his face as he glanced at the bed. Actually large enough for two people. The bedroom also contained a small chair tucked into one corner, a door that he assumed led to another closet, and a short dresser with a full length mirror leaned against the wall next to it.

It’s perfect.

Stepping back out into the sitting room, he leaned against the wall, watching as Iden took in their dwelling. Her nose was wrinkled, but when she finally met his gaze, she smirked.

“It’ll do, I suppose,” she teased.

“It’s the first place I’ve ever had that was my own,” he replied, his voice softer than he’d intended.

His response sobered her, and he despised the flash of sadness that flitted behind her irises before she recomposed herself, giving him a grin.

“Well then, we’ll have to spruce it up.” She collapsed on the couch, and a cloud of dust erupted from the cushions. He couldn’t stop the chuckle that erupted from him as Iden sputtered, brushing the dust from her travel cloak and shaking it from her hair where it had settled. Crosshair crossed the room, coming to stand in front of her before reaching down and brushing a smudge of dust from her cheek. She paused her fidgeting at his touch, her eyes locking onto his in the way that made his stomach flutter, although he’d never admit it. Taking her chin between his fingers, he leaned down, not pressing his lips against hers but enough so that he knew she could feel his breath against her skin. Her eyes flicked from the toothpick clenched between his teeth up to his eyes.

“I take it there’s a bedroom,” she said, her voice deeper than it had been a moment ago.

“There is.”

“With a bed large enough for two people?”

“More than enough room for us to sleep comfortably.”

“Who said anything about sleeping?”

He chuckled, leaning down further just as his commlink pinged. Iden rolled her eyes, unleashing a hard sigh as Crosshair let out a frustrated huff at the interruption. Reaching for his belt, he removed his holopad, checking the frequency before powering it on.

“Hunter,” he growled.

“Tell him he has shit timing,” Iden muttered before pushing herself off the couch. “I’m going to go check out our room. See if it’s as dusty in there as it is in here.” With that, she disappeared down the hall and into their bedroom. Crosshair could hear the opening of the closet door and the rustling of sheets being shaken out as he placed the holopad on the small table and activated it. Hunter’s blue form glowed in front of him, his eyes taking in his brother. Crosshair scratched at his beard again.

“Crosshair,” Hunter greeted him. The sniper grunted in response.

“Settling in?” the sergeant asked.

“Something like that.”

Hunter seemed unphased by his brother’s clipped responses. “I take it the trip was uneventful.”

Movement caught Crosshair’s eyes, and he glanced up in time to see a piece of cloth come flying out of the bedroom, falling to the floor in the hallway. Narrowing his eyes, he realized it was Iden’s shirt. He looked back to Hunter.

“My back may never realign itself after having to sit on that transport for a full rotation, and who knows what is crawling through my gut given the quality of the food, but other than that, nothing noteworthy.”

Another garment came flying out of the room, this time Iden’s tan trousers that she’d worn. Crosshair’s fingers clenched and unclenched at his sides.

“Very good. Take tonight to get settled. You know where you’re going tomorrow?” Hunter continued. The sergeant didn’t seem to note his brother’s twitching hands, and Crosshair was grateful for the distance the hologram provided.

“Yes,” Crosshair muttered. “It’s close enough to walk. Shouldn’t be difficult to find considering it’s a massive black building.” The factory had stuck out like a sore thumb as they’d made their way through the city, a large black durasteel rectangle amongst the city’s lighter stone architecture. Its outward appearance was somehow hostile, and the mere sight of it had made Crosshair’s gut twist with revulsion and anger.

“Alright. Let me know the moment you both find work and are in. We want you to start feeding us information as quickly as possible. Anything can be helpful, but particularly anything that the senator can use to push on the Imperials to disclose what they’re planning in a public forum.”

Crosshair fought the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t see the point in diplomacy when the Senate was so clearly nothing more than a figurehead at this point to give the illusion of democracy. However, he gave his brother a curt nod. “We will.”

Hunter nodded in return, clearly out of things to say, but appearing to not want to end the call. Crosshair was about to snark about Hunter missing him just as another two pieces of fabric came flying out into the hall. His eyes flicked to them, and his teeth clamped around the toothpick as he recognized the items as Iden’s undergarments. Karking hells, she’s going to be the death of me.

“If there’s nothing further, it’s been a long day, and I’d like to get showered and rest,” Crosshair said shortly. Hunter seemed to want to say something, but bobbed his head.

“Very well.”

Crosshair bent down to hang up the call.

“Crosshair.”

“Yes?” He didn’t bother to keep the exasperation out of his voice.

“Be careful.”

This time, the sniper couldn’t suppress the eyeroll.

“I’m serious. We can’t lose you again,” Hunter said quietly, and the sentimentality gave Crosshair a warm feeling in his stomach that he’d never particularly cared for.

“We will,” he assured Hunter. “I’ll comm you tomorrow after we’ve got our assignments at the factory.”

Hunter nodded before blinking out of existence. Crosshair sighed, stowing the holopad back in his hip pouch.

“Oh, for Maker’s sake, do I need to come waltzing out there in front of him to get your attention?” Iden called from the bedroom, her impatience evident.

Crosshair chuckled as he made his way down the hall. “He’d likely pass out from the shock. Wouldn’t recommend it.” He felt the heat in his gut flush to the rest of him as he leaned against the doorway, taking in the sight of Iden, bare as the day she was born, examining herself in the full-length mirror in the corner. Crosshair walked up behind her, gently laying his hands on her hips. He could see she was studying the scar on her knee that she’d gotten while they were on Naboo together.

“It’s healing well,” he said softly, his arms wrapping around her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “Even starting to fade a bit.”

“I suppose,” she sighed. “Could have been worse.”

“Indeed. You got to keep the leg.”

“I did.” Her fingers traced the more prominent scar on her abdomen, given to her by thieves when she was young. It was the day she’d lost her parents, and Crosshair felt his throat tighten at the distant look in her eyes before she appeared to pull herself out of it, blinking rapidly. “Another one to add to the collection, I suppose.” She whirled, facing him and allowing her arms to drift over his shoulders. “If you stick around long enough, I may just be a ball of scar tissue by the time it’s all said and done.”

He smirked, reaching up to brush a lock of her hair behind her ear. “You seem to think I’ll allow you to keep getting yourself into trouble.”

She grinned before standing on her tiptoes and taking his toothpick between her teeth. He relented, allowing her to pull it from between his lips as she lowered haughtily back down to her heels. “You seem to think you’ll have any say in the matter.” She spat the toothpick into the wastebin tucked against a wall, and Crosshair gave an exasperated sigh.

“I was using that.”

“I’ve got better ideas about what you can do with your mouth.” She slowly began pressing him back towards the bed, and he allowed her to take the lead as she peeled his travel cloak from his shoulders, flinging it somewhere random before she began working on the buttons on his shirt.

“We should eat at some point,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes before undoing the last button and gently raking her nails across his bare chest. Her eyes flicked down to his crotch before meeting his gaze again, an eyebrow raised cockily as she pressed him back onto the bed. “You’re hungry now? Seems you’ve got other things on your mind.”

He kicked off his boots before pulling her into his lap, his hands trailing up her bare spine as he mouthed at the hollow of her throat.

“I told you I’m a good multi-tasker, remember?”

She sighed heavily before pressing against his chest, forcing him to lay back as she grinned, starting to stand back up and pull away. “Well in that case, we should clearly stop and go get groceries.”

Crosshair folded his hands behind his head, a smirk creeping across his face. “Groceries? I’d planned on ordering takeout since you’ve told me you can’t cook anything.”

Her nostrils flared, making it clear he’d hit a nerve slightly, something he still took a small amount of pleasure in. He knew it was petulant, but he didn’t care.

“And what exactly can you cook?” she muttered.

He shrugged. “Wasn’t a skill required of a soldier designed to survive on rations. What’s your excuse?”

She rolled her eyes, but before she could fully stand, he surged forward, wrapping his arms around her and flipping her underneath him with a squeal. The flush in her cheeks and the flare in her eyes told him he had won, even as she huffed indignantly, and he grinned down at her.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, darling. You and I are going to break this bed in, and once we’re both sated for the moment, I’ll order whatever food you like before I spend the rest of the night reacquainting myself with every inch of your body. How does that sound?”

Her stuttering breath and the way he could feel her pulse thrumming when he pressed his lips against her throat told him exactlyhow she felt about it, even though in the next breath, she exhaled sharply, giving him a mischievous grin.

“I suppose that’ll do, dear.”

Tag List: @misogirl88 @seriowan @rosmariner @partoftheeternalsoul​ @canesjedi31

[paimon-rambles]

Could I request D F K O for the fluff alphabet with Diluc please?

Your Aether one was so enjoyable to read! The amount of effort you put into it really showed🥺

Characters: Diluc

Fhjshshshsh thank you so much <3 I hope you like these!

-

Diluc

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Diluc is a very down-to-earth person, he mainly focuses on the present and tries to leave the past behind despite how haunting it could be at times. And same can apply for the future

Though he won't lie, whenever you two are together his mind does slip into the realm of possibilities. It's in moments where you could be doing the most mundane things such as helping him close up after opening hours came to an end. Seeing you put so much effort just for him causes him to wonder about a possible future with him. Ofc the redhead will never admit that aloud, that's his little secret. 

But it's also in moments where he allows you to see him vulnerable, it really shows the amount of trust he has in you. Never before did Diluc believe he would find someone to trust the way he does with you after all the trauma he's endured. With a squeezing sensation being felt in his chest, he can't help but imagine you being there for the rest of his life, he makes various promises to himself to protect you with all his power in the hopes he can live that dream someday

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

If there was something Diluc dislikes more than his brother it's fighting with his s/o.

Unfortunately, fights can be quite often in your relationship much to Diluc's (and yourself) dismay. Most of the causes are just frustrations bottling within him and the cork pops off

Whenever there's a fight between you two, Diluc will try to remain cool in the situation and doesn't resort to yelling unless it's very serious or if you start raising your voice he'll raise his as well but it never gets that loud. If in a situation where it does lead to screaming levels(which is incredibly rare), Diluc will begin to cool the atmosphere down.

Don't take any of the fightings to heart, he's just really tired from his double life as batman, and peeved from work. And as he leaves the room, saying he "needs to cool off", you can see in his eyes that he's really just tired.

After a fight ensues between you two, you both go to cool off. You head off to do your own thing while Diluc would vent out his frustrations with his claymore; slaying down monsters and playing the dark knight hero. He blames himself a lot during these hours, and people take notice of it too. 

In most situations you'll have to apologize first, the reason being Diluc wants you to first cool down and approach him when you're ready to talk it out. And when you finally get to talking it out, it's more of a longggg cuddling session of him apologizing in turn. You both end up passing out in the process, being lovely cradled in each other's arms. It becomes a very tiring day whenever you two fight which in the end leads to cuddles and a good nights rest

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Diluc is very reserved when it comes to physical forms of affection. More enhanced when it comes to the public eye, however, the more as your relationship goes on the more walls he breaks away

Most kisses are hidden behind closed doors, sealed away from the world. He wants to be able to take his time with the kiss and not rush it as he would if you two were public(hell, getting a peck is the most you're really getting in public). 

He loves you very much, and it's reflected by his actions of words. Whilst he enjoys cuddling above all, his kisses hold the hidden meaning of his love for you. His kisses are always passionate and sensual, with a lot of emotions behind every single one. It's teeth rotting of how soft he can be

In public, kisses are quick, simple pecks on your cheek or the back of your hand. How chivalrous 

I have a post about kisses here

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Master Diluc is stoic as ever. He remains his calm exterior and keeps himself composed. From a blind eye, it can easily be mistaken that Diluc wasn't interested in anyone. 

However, those who are around the young master daily may start to notice some shifts in his behavior after a while(cough Kaeya cough). They notice how he almost immediately flickers his attention to you whenever you walk into a room. Or how observant he is when he talks of you, he's as if looking for your reaction towards everything you say. He's intrigued by you. 

Oh and not to mention the mood change. Diluc becomes a lot calmer and less stoic than he naturally is whenever he finds himself talking to you. Some take notice of it.

After getting into a relationship with him, the signs are more visible to the public eye, he isn't necessarily hiding the fact you're together but isn't one to announce it to the world either. But people know he's in love with you. 

[wannabe-fic-writer]

Natasha Romanoff x Reader : Let’s Get Away

Summary: It’s due time for Natasha to take a break.

Genre: Fluff

Request: Yes / No

Word Count: 3,899

“ty mne ne doveryayesh’?” - “do you trust me?”

* * * * * *

The other side of the bed is cold when you wake up, void of the body that had been keeping you warm at night.

Sleepy eyes scan the room and even though you know she’s gone again, you still feel disappointed to find her combat suit missing from the closet. 

Knowing that your worry for her isn’t going to allow you to go back to sleep, you toss the covers away from your body and trudge out of bed. After brushing your teeth, you grab the first aid kit and head to the common room.

Two and a half cups of tea and a partially burnt bagel later, you hear the tell tale sound of Natasha coming home. 

Not only does FRIDAY announce her arrival, Natasha herself lets out a pain induced groan.

Having known your fiancé for more than ten years, you can even hear the difference in her footsteps, the way her feet shuffle across the floor instead of her usually confident strut. She’s exhausted, bruised and beaten, but not in the least bit ready to admit to needing a break. 

It’s dead silent between the two of you. 

Natasha was really hoping you’d still be asleep, most nights she’d been able to slip back into bed without you noticing, until you saw the fresh scars and bruises in the morning. 

Tonight is different though, and she can tell. In the way you quietly rise from the couch and walk over to her, the way you sigh when taking her hand in yours and seeing her newly bruised knuckles, the way you aren’t able to look her in the eyes even after you’ve pulled her to sit down and start to tend to her wounds.

Every touch is soft, some could say overly delicate. You touch her as if one wrong brush of the alcohol soaked cotton will hurt her or break her completely. You know it won’t, she’s the Black Widow for Christ sake, she’s had far worse injuries than these and her pain tolerance is high, that doesn’t stop you from being gentle with her.

Even though the atmosphere is tense, Natasha can’t help but to remember that this is exactly how you were with her when you’d begun to develop feelings for her. 

Being a medic at S.H.I.E.L.D since before she was recruited meant you weren’t new to dealing with the injuries of the agents that came through. When she was brought to you the first time, with a gunshot wound to her thigh, you were the perfect picture of calm, cool, and collected. While you weren’t aggressive or rough with her, there was a noticeable difference in her first visit and how you would later treat her.

Despite her incredible skill, Natasha ended up taking a lot of trips to the med bay, all of which lead to you two getting closer. Which in turn lead to the development of your feelings for each other. Each one, she felt you becoming softer with her, she started to see the worry in your eyes when she would come in. There was something about the way you treated her as if she wasn’t invincible that drew her to you, she was always the badass Black Widow to majority of the people she knew, it was a breath of fresh air to have someone treat her like she’s just Natasha. 

Natasha sighs heavily,“ I’m sorry.” She mumbles, but you hear it in the quiet of the compound. 

For a moment she thinks you’re pissed at her, what with the lack of a quick reply. In reality you’re just focusing on pulling the tiny shard of glass out of her knuckle, cleaning, and wrapping it. 

Once you’re done, you set everything you’d used to the side, opting out of painkillers since it won’t do much to her enhanced dna anyway. 

“What exactly are you apologizing for?” You ask softly, finally looking up into her eyes. It surprises you to see the amount of guilt in her eyes that you do. A frown forms on your face. 

“I-” she swallows, breathing heavily,“ I don’t mean to worry you so much.” That guilt in her eyes mixes with a troubled expression and it breaks your heart. 

“Then why keep going out there?” You turn to face her completely, legs folding as you play with your fingers.“ If you keep it up the NYPD are gonna be out of jobs.” You try to tease, hoping a little joke will take that look off her face.

God you hate seeing anything other than a smile on her face.

Natasha shakes her head and the tears that spring into her eyes after her prolonged silence takes your breath away.“ I don’t know what I am outside of being an Avenger,” she confesses. When a tear escapes, you reach up and swipe it away, leaving your thumb there to caress her cheek.“ There’s always been a mission, a threat, a purpose.”

Listening to the way she says it, you know what she actually means to say. She had a purpose. The fact that the Avengers dismantling has left her feeling so lost wasn’t something you knew. It affected her hugely. Tony and Clint both stepping away to be with their families, Thor switching over to the Guardians, Bruce going back to do whatever he had been doing after Thanos’ snap, and Steve choosing to go back to be with Peggy only to return and pass the Captain America mantle to Sam.

If you were in Natasha’s position there’s no way you wouldn’t be affected by that. Everyone was moving on, everyone seemed to have their purpose outside of the Avengers, everyone left her behind. 

You take a deep breath, tilting your head to catch her eyes,“ not knowing what to do is hard,” you see her shoulders drop at your words, as if she’s relieved to hear that you understand.“ But it doesn’t mean you don’t know who you are.”

That makes her freeze, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Her head tilts to draw her gaze from the floor to your face.

“Nat, honey, you were an Avenger. And I know what that means to you. But being an Avenger was only part of who you are.” A gentle smile forms on your lips at just the thought of how extraordinary this woman is.“ You’re a loyal friend, an incredible aunt, a hero,” she chuckles softly at that,“ and you are the most amazing fiancé.”

Soft green eyes bore into yours, tears brimming her eyes again but for a different reason all together.“ I love you so much.” She says, turning to press a kiss to your palm. 

Pulling your hand away, you open your arms to her and she happily obliges to your invitation for a cuddle. A grunt of pain escapes her when she twists to lay between your legs, her body freezing up for a second, before she nearly slumps into you. 

Her back presses into your front, your arms circling her waist. You press a soft, lingering kiss to her temple and she laces her fingers with yours, taking in a deep calming breath. 

“The last few years have been hectic, and even before all of that, it seemed like we never slowed down,” you tighten your hold on her,“ but right now, we don’t have those kinds of threats looming over our heads.”

“You’re saying I should stop.” 

With a frown, you shake your head and lean over to look her in the eye,“ no, god no. I told you, a hero is part of who you are. What kind of fiancé would I be if I told you to stop doing what you were meant to do? Not a very good one right?” She answers with a nod and a chuckle.“ nor would I be a good fiancé if I let you keep going without telling you to take a break.”

As if her body picks up on that phrase alone, a long, loud, yawn leaves her lips. You can’t help but smile at how cute she looks, her nose all scrunched, eyes shut. The second the yawn ends she blinks back the tired tears and snuggles closer. 

She says something but it’s muffled by another yawn and by the time that one ends, her eyes are shut, and she’s fast asleep. 

* * * * * *

When Natasha wakes up in the morning, she’s in bed and she’s alone. 

The emptiness of the space beside her does something to her heart and she can’t help but wonder if you got this feeling whenever you woke up and she was gone. 

Some of that guilt from last night creeps back up and she groans, turning to bury her face into your pillow. While your scent usually calms her down, now it only serves in reminding her of just how dumb she feels. 

You’ve always been the most understanding and loving with her, more than anyone she’s known. Just like last night proved, you’ve always known that saving people even though it put her in danger was what she was meant to do. You knew how important it was for her to clean her ledger, you even understood when she went to Russia for months to shut down the Red Room and make amends with her family. 

The second she came back you didn’t have to ask if she’d done what she set out to do, you could just tell and it translated through the following days. You took even greater care of her just to ensure that she was truly okay both physically and emotionally.

After all of that, after all you’ve done for her, she’s still making you worry by throwing herself into danger she doesn’t have to be involved in. Somehow you even understand that.

This time she groans, squeezing the pillow as frustrated tears pool in her eyes. 

“That does not sound like someone who’s having a good morning.” Your teasing voice hits Natasha’s ears and through her frustration she can’t help but roll her eyes. Then moving to sit up, resting her back against the headboard.“ Wh-what’s wrong? Does something hurt?”

You rush to her side, hands and eyes instantly starting to roam her body for any signs of injury worse than what you found last night. 

“I-I’m fine, physically.” That just makes your frown deepen.“ I just realized I’m the worst fiancé in the world.”

Figuring this has to do with last night, you climb over her legs and sit beside her.“ As your fiancé I think I’m the one to determine whether that’s true or not.” She raises an eyebrow at you and you know to drop all the teasing.“ Okay okay. Why do you feel that you’re the worst?”

“Aren’t you tired of me?” She turns to look at you directly.“ I’ve always been in danger and you’ve understood and now I’ve been blatantly throwing myself head first into danger and yet you still understand?”

You cock your head to the side with love in your eyes.“ I’m far from tired of you Romanoff. Am I fond of the idea of you being beaten up and shot at, no. But I love you and I know you’re more than capable of handling yourself. And I’m going to worry about you because that comes with loving you. You could work with puppies, or babies, or I don’t know what a safe job is, either way, I’d still worry about you.”

A sigh falls from her lips,“ that makes me feel a little better.”

“I know how you can make it up to me.” Hopeful eyes look back at you.“ Get your cute little ass out of bed, get ready, and meet me out front.” You smack a kiss to her cheek before hopping out of bed, leaving Natasha to watch you nearly bounce away in excitement. 

Curiosity is the main driving force in Natasha’s actions. She does in fact get out of bed, taking a much needed hot shower afterwards and changing into a pair black stretch pants and one of your sweatshirts.

The last thing she’s expecting when she meets you outside is to find you leaning against a very new looking silver sports car. It being a convertible allows her to see the red leather interior. 

“Is that my sweater?” You ask, brows pinched together with a finger pointed at her chest. 

“We’re getting married medovyy, what's yours is mine.” A sweet smile hits her lips. You weren’t going to ask her to change anyway cause you love seeing her in your clothes, but had you been considering it, that smile would’ve done you in.

Humming, you shake your head,“ that aside. Let’s go.” You reach back to grab the handle and pull the door open for your fiancé. 

“Go where?” She takes a hesitant step forward.

You smirk, reaching up to cup her cheek and ghost your lips over hers,“ ty mne ne doveryayesh'?” You whisper.

Dammit she’s a sucker for you speaking Russian. Had she known when you started learning in your first years of dating that it would become a weakness, she would’ve stopped you. You already had a hold on her, that just made it tighter.

It’s why she nods, seemingly in a trance. Only easing into the seat after you’ve given her a proper kiss.

The door shuts after her and you round the car, jumping over the door and into the driver’s seat. You look over at her,“ I’ve always wanted to do that.” You say giddily, before clicking your seatbelt into place.

With a shake of her head, she puts her seatbelt on as well, and gets comfortable in her seat.

“The final destination is a surprise, but you can know that we’re going to that little diner you love so much in Greenwich.”

She can’t help but smile at you. She couldn’t get more lucky if she tried. 

“One last thing,” you reach across her lap to the glove compartment, pulling it open and retrieving two pairs of sunglasses. Setting them in your lap, you lean towards her and reach up, fingers deftly combing the braid from her hair, and then you slip the glasses onto her face. 

Winking at her, you slip your own pair on and start the car. It purrs to life and right before you pull away from the compound, you flick the radio on. 

The quiet that settles over the two of you is full of contentment. Music plays softly as Natasha holds your free hand in hers, fingers occasionally playing with the engagement ring on your finger. 

That feeling remains as you open the door for her and escort her into the diner. You let her slide into the booth first and she takes your hand and tugs you down into the seat beside her. 

An amused smile plays on your lips that makes the redhead give you a look, her eyebrow raised at you.“ What?” She asks.

“Nothing I just-” you chuckle shortly,“ I remember a time when you’d only let me sit across from you. I could hold your hand but sitting next to you, that was a no. Wasn’t until a year after we made things official that you let me sit next to you. I couldn’t help but wonder if that meant I was special.”

Her finger presses into the side of your jaw and she gently turns your head to face her,“ you are special. Especially to me.” And then she kisses you so sweetly you think it might give you a cavity. 

Your breakfast date passes with flirty remarks, quietly spoken affections, and soft kisses between bites of food and sips of tea and coffee. After which you settle the bill and head back out to the convertible. 

The next destination is unknown to Natasha but, unlike usual, she finds herself excited about the unknown. It’s an odd feeling but she welcomes it, letting herself feel free of worrying about what’s next. And you revel in seeing her like that. 

Sending an occasional glance in her direction just to watch her long red tresses flow with the wind, to smile softly at the way she shuts her eyes and let’s the breeze caress her skin, and to chuckle when her hand raises to create a wave against the wind. 

More than ten years you’ve known her, majority of which you’ve had the privilege of calling her yours. If there’s one thing being with her has taught you, through every obstacle you two faced together be it arguing about if tea was better than coffee to the many many life threatening missions she’s been on, it’s that moments like these were precious. 

There’s never any way of telling when the next world or universe threatening event will occur, if it’ll be the one to take Natasha away from you, so it became abundantly important that you get these chances to bask in being with her. 

Your thoughts lead you to subconsciously taking her hand in yours, raising it to press your lips against the back.

Natasha smiles. She swears your lips feel like rose petals. Nothing compares to your kisses. 

“I love you,” you say blissfully. 

Nothing except that.

“I love you too,” she squeezes your hand. 

The look of excitement that lights across your face makes her eyebrows raise. It’s not the same as the usual look you get when hearing her say those words, your expression is usually softer. Which is why she follows your line of sight when you look away from her.

Her eyes are met with the view of a beautiful lake house and she quickly snaps her gaze back to you. 

“You’ve given the NYPD a break these past couple of months, I think you’re in need of one.” A wink finishes your statement and she surges forward, hands on your face to pull you into a searing kiss. It expresses her love for you more than words ever could.

With the cutest most beautiful smile you’ve ever laid eyes on, she throws her door open and excitedly tells you to come on. And you’re more than happy to follow. 

Leaving the bags you secretly packed in the trunk, you accept Natasha’s outstretched hand, and allow her to guide you around the grounds. 

The view of the lake and everything beyond looks even better than the pictures let on. For a last minute trip to Jersey, this was considerably good.

Despite how tempting it is to stroll down the dock and hold Natasha in your arms like the clichés you read about, you save that for later, instead following the still curiously excited redhead towards the house. 

In one action you scoop your fiancé up into your arms after having unlocked the back door. Her arms wrap around your neck and she raises her eyebrows at you in question.

“Figured I could get some practice.” Your teasing tone is back, your words bringing a coy smile to her lips.

“Are you still excited?” She asks as you step into the house, careful to not bang her head on the door.“ I know we’ve pushed it off a few times.” 

You gingerly set her down.

Postponing the wedding was never due to a lack of wanting to be married. 

The first plan was thrown out the window when Lagos happened and the team fell apart. Neither of you were sure about getting married while on the run, your family no longer around. But you’d found yourselves in the city of love, completely taken by the atmosphere, and decided that there was no need to wait. Then Thanos came. Losing half of your family to his homicidal plan hit you both incredibly hard.

Three and a half years it took for you both to realize that maybe you couldn’t get everyone back, which also made you appreciate that through everything you’ve always had each other. While there was nothing you could do about the past, you had a say over your present and you wanted to spend as much of that as wives as you could. Only for Scott Lang to show up in the midst of planning with the idea of the Time Heist.

All of that happened, you got everyone back and were blessed with your family again. So when things settled you both got back to planning. A year and six months after the final battle against Thanos, where Thor “went for the head”, you were finally a mere two months away from making the woman that is the love of your life your wife. 

“Am I excited to become a Romanoff?” Your question trails off with a pondering gaze to the ceiling. Natasha’s eyebrows pinch together at your need to think about it and seeing her frown makes you laugh.“ After three failed attempts I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty damn excited.”

The redhead smacks your arm in annoyance at your constantly playful behavior and you wrap your arms around her waist, laughing once again.“ You’re incorrigible.”

“Oh absolutely,” you wink,“ but I think that’s one of the many things you love about me.”

Her eyes narrow and her lips press together in a thin line, a hum of uncertainty leaving her lips. That makes your jaw drop and this time Natasha laughs. When she raises a brow at you, you nod in understanding. 

A beat of silence passes before you both set off to do something, Natasha offering to make tea and you go to grab the luggage from the car. Taking both straight to the bedroom before going back to join Natasha. 

She raises the cup of tea to her lips, eyes focused on the view outside the window. You slip behind her and wrap your arms around her waist, resting your chin on her shoulder and looking out the window as well. 

You know something’s on her mind but you’d learned a long time ago to let her open up herself as opposed to prying.

“Do you think everyone will be able to make it?” She finally speaks up.

Biting your lip in thought, you take a deep breath,“ I think everyone is going to try their best to be here but things come up. Everyone has RSVP'd so they want to be there that’s for sure.” You’re taken aback when you turn and find those green eyes staring back at you.

The most intense emotions swirl in those angel eyes.

“I know I keep saying it but, I love you, so much.” Her free hand raises to rest on your cheek. 

“And I, you my love.”

Adjusting herself back into your hold completely, she returns her gaze to the lake.“ Thank you for this trip as well.”

“I figured if I brought you out here I could get lucky.” 

That statement seems to be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Natasha slips from your grasp and heads towards the back door.“ Wait no, I’m sorry. I meant to say that I did it cause I love you and I wanted to spend time with you!” You call after her, only for her to continue to walk away. 

For the rest of this trip, Natasha knows you’re going to continue to be a pain in her ass but she also knows that for every annoying and teasing comment, there are ten times as many affirmations of love and whispers of sweet nothings. 

You whisked her away to give her the break she so greatly needs and deserves and you plan to make sure she enjoys it in full.

* * * * * *

Taglist: @owloftheshadows

[hanoella]

Affettuoso- With Feeling (Part 3)

Pairing: Bucky x Pianist!Reader

Set after the events of TFATWS: In an effort to start over and make a home in Louisiana, Bucky meets a friend of Sam’s who ends up being his landlord. With only a driveway to separate them, he finds that he’s not the only one looking for a fresh start.

Series tags/warnings: Slow Burn, Eventual Bucky x Reader, Mentions of Domestic Abuse, Canon Level Violence

Part 3 Word Count: 3k

A/N: Can you tell I don't really have a posting schedule? lol. I also introduced links to the specific pieces I had in mind. I'm using soundcloud because I don't think everyone has access to spotify. Trying to be reader friendly! This can be read with or without the audio, as I do my best to still convey the thought in the fic. Though if you can, I highly recommend :)

Thanks again for all your support! Every heart and comment motivates me and is just so wonderful

Read Part 1; Masterlist

---

A few days had passed since the night that Bucky had overheard your troubles. It had been quiet since, and you hadn’t left the house. The curtains were opened during the day and closed at night, the only telltale signs that you existed.

Doesn’t she have to work? Bucky thought to himself. He speculated all the different possibilities as he used the riding mower around the property. Maybe you were an heiress? You seemed pretty down to earth though. Or maybe you sold a patented idea for a ton of money. All this land had to have been expensive. And to not request actual money from him?

He eyed up the width of the gate for your fence. The riding mower couldn’t fit so he would have to use a push mower for your fenced off yard. He hadn’t seen one in the garage. Maybe the old shed at the back of your yard had one? Bucky parked the mower in the garage, taking a moment to make a mental list of everything. Depending on if he found anything in the shed, he might need to buy a few basic tools and a chainsaw for that fallen tree.

He walked out of the garage and over to the shed. The leaves were changing color and it brought a whole new atmosphere to the secluded forest area. Opening the gate of the weathered white fence, he looked around to see if you were out. No signs of life. Entering the yard and closing the gate behind him, he started walking to the back. Halfway through, he stopped at the fire pit. The grey stone blocks were starting to crumble, with a few of the bricks having fallen off. It would probably be really nice if he got a little bit of cement mix and filled in the gaps. Bucky made another mental note.

The shed had no padlock so he was able to open it with no problem. Amongst the cobwebs and bags of soil, was an older green push mower that looked like it might work. He gave the gas a pull and got no response back. Looking underneath, Bucky saw what might be the problem. He’d have to take a closer look later. Putting the lawn mower back onto its wheels, he pushed it across the yard, pausing when he saw movement though the glass doors of the back patio.

Craning his neck to avoid the glare, he saw you sitting at your fancy full keyboard. The way the piano was against the opposite wall, your back was to him. You had big over-ear headphones plugged into it, so he couldn’t hear the sound but he saw the flurry of keys being pressed down. Whatever you were playing, you played passionately. Hands and arms gracefully moved despite the speed at which they were moving. Enhanced hearing coming into play, he heard the muffled clicks of the fluttering keys. Suddenly, you pressed down forcefully, holding whatever chord you had struck as your shoulders gently relaxed. A deep breath. Arm creating a graceful arc as if you had studied ballet, you pressed gently on another chord. And another. Bucky counted three more times you did this before you let your hands gently fall from the keys to your lap. Several moments passed before slid the headphones off of your ears to sit wrapped around your neck. Another deep breath. This time as the breath escaped you, you stayed slouched, head tilting up to stare at nothing on the wall.

A buzz broke Bucky from his trance.

“Call me, new mission” The text from Sam on his home screen said.

He pocketed his phone, glancing through the glass one more time. There you still sat.

Unmoving.

---

The roar of the plane’s engine was just loud enough to drown out Bucky’s thoughts without being annoying. If it weren’t for the adrenaline of the recovery mission under the cover of nightfall, he probably would’ve been lulled to sleep. Beside him sat Sam, looking on his phone for the exact coordinates of the politician they had been sent to rescue.

“Here it is. I’m assuming there’s some sort of underground base since there are no heat signatures anywhere within the radius where he was taken. It should take us about ten more minutes before we’re directly over it.”

Bucky hummed in acknowledgement.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Earth to Bucky.”

“What does your friend do?” Bucky asked suddenly, sitting up straighter and turning towards him.

“… What?”

“What does she do? I’ve never seen her leave the house. Is she okay?”

“If you’re asking why she doesn’t leave the house, it’s because her contract doesn’t start for a while. She’s technically still supposed to be in physical therapy but she hasn’t found a place yet. You know, your whole routine gets messed up when you move.”

“For her shoulder?”

Now it was Sam’s turn to look at Bucky, trying to decipher the motive behind these questions. Bucky shifted his weight in the chair, antsy under the scrutiny.

“Never mind, I-”

“Yes, for her shoulder.” Sam said, cutting him off. He stopped himself from asking why Bucky wanted to know. There was an awkward pause before Bucky explained himself.

“I just wanted to know. I’m not used to seeing people so…”

“Similar to yourself?”

“I was gonna say isolated but fair point.” Bucky admitted. Sam leaned back in his chair, looking straight forward.

“She’s been through a lot… I know you heard some of it.”

Bucky blinked in surprise.

“I realized the window was open when I could hear you drive off.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s alright, it’s good that you know.” Sam said as he held up his hand to cut Bucky off.

“She’s just trying to get a fresh start. She’s in a raw emotional space and in the meantime is a little skittish. Just like someone else I know.” Sam jabbed his elbow into Bucky’s side as he enunciated the last sentence.

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’m trying!” He shouted as he held one hand up defensively and using the other to block the second jab Sam was trying to get in. Sam chuckled and then stood up, grabbing a parachute pack and tossing it at Bucky, who caught it without even looking.

“Figured you might wanna try an actual chute this time.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and mouthed Sam’s words mockingly with a grimace as he put the backpack on. Clipping it into place, he joined Sam at the side door of the plane.

“She used to play in an orchestra you know.” Sam said wistfully. “The piano. That’s actually how we met. She had volunteered to play a small concert before the dinner. It really helped raise a lot of money for the VA.”

Bucky stayed silent, prompting him to continue.

“Then that bastard she was engaged to beat her and then shoved her down a set of concrete steps when she tried to leave him. It was like a month after we all came back. She was in the hospital for a while. Broken ribs, broken shoulder, and a nasty concussion to boot. Neighbor saw the whole thing and called the cops but the courts were so backed up and the case fell through the cracks. Wouldn’t leave her alone after he got out. So, I pulled some strings and helped her move down here on the fly.”

“… That’s terrible.”

Bucky didn’t know what to say or how to react. They stood in silence, taking a moment to pay a respect of sorts to the trials you have been through. Then Sam broke the silence.

“She just needs time to heal in more ways than one. But she’s strong. Resilient.���

Putting a hand on Bucky’s shoulder, he squeezed it lightly with reassurance.

“Reminds me of someone else I know.” Sam said, finishing the conversation and pulling his goggles over his eyes, giving Bucky the opportunity to take the compliment without feeling too on the spot.

Pulling the door open, Sam shouted over the wind.

“Ready?”

Bucky nodded. Sam jumped from the plane and deployed the wings, the shield shining in the moonlight. Bucky jumped right behind him, using the glint of the silver star to guide his descent as he followed the man that gave the shield its meaning.

---

You laid with your head down on the kitchen table, letting the last golden rays of sun warm the side of your face. You were exhausted from going to physical therapy, especially since today had been the first appointment. All the measurements, all the exercises, all the stretching.

All the questions.

“So, how did you break your shoulder?” the young blonde physical therapist asked.

“Ah, I… fell down some stairs.” You said, looking down at your hands in your lap.

She didn’t look up from the papers, instead just raising an eyebrow.

“You also cracked some ribs and had a concussion?”

“… They were concrete.”

She looked up from the papers at you, analyzing. Her gaze softened and she asked no further questions on how these serious injuries had been obtained.

“Let’s look at your range of motion.”

You had practically stumbled into the house, kicking off your sneakers and plopping down at the kitchen table. Minutes passed by as you regained your breath, heartbeat steadying. The house was slightly cold since you had turned the heat down this morning. As your sweat cooled, you wrapped your arms around your legs in an attempt to keep you warm without getting up.

The sun feels so warm… You thought to yourself drowsily, feeling slightly less lonely. The sun was a cheap substitute for the warmth of a partner…

---

You jolted upright, the kitchen dark and cold. Neck and shoulder stiff from the awkward position you had dozed off in. Feeling the dryness of your mouth, you got up, stretching your neck gently while you walked to the fridge to get water. Chugging about half the bottle, you squinted at the clock. You had been asleep for about forty-five minutes. Groaning, you put the bottle down on the counter and walked into the living room to close the curtains. Grabbing one in each hand, you went to pull them together when you hesitated, noticing that Bucky’s apartment was dark for the third day in a row. The sleek motorbike that was usually parked under the slight overhang of the garage was missing as well.

He was probably on a mission, right? Not that it was any of your business. You shut the curtains and turned off the lights before lightly padded down the hall, stopping to adjust the thermostat. The heat kicked on, sending a puff of cold air your way. You shivered as you walked with a quickened pace to your room, shutting the door and heading into the master bathroom, turning the hot water on with just a tad of cold.

Waiting for the shower to warm up, you leaned over the sink and looked into the mirror. Dark circles under your eyes. Small scar on the bridge of your nose. Running your hand through the roots of your hair, you felt for the scar where the stitches had been. When was the last time you had a haircut? Or put on some makeup?

Some higher being must’ve felt pity for you since the steam from the shower fogged the glass, preventing you from tearing yourself apart any further. Stepping underneath the warm stream, you let the warmth seep into your muscles, then bones, filling every fracture and break with a temporary sense of wholeness until the emptiness of your heart and home caused it slowly to drip out until it, along with you, was gone.

---

The next morning, you weren’t motivated to do anything. You lounged around the house, sipping on coffee and browsing on your phone for furniture, clothes, even sneaking a peak at some pianos. Wanting to invest in one you’d use for the next several decades, you had put off buying one until the money from your contract with the orchestra started in a month. You were still well off, nowhere near struggling and probably wouldn’t ever be unless you decided to buy a mansion (which was a no). You just wanted to be careful.

In the afternoon, you popped a pain killer and muscle relaxer in preparation for the few hours you wanted to practice. Thirty minutes went by and the ever-present ache in your shoulder calmed enough to let you practice with relative peace. Sitting on the bench in front of the keyboard, you pondered what you might play to warm up.

Hmm, maybe a Chopin prelude? Short, emotional, familiar.

Your left hand held the soft deep chords as your right hand softly flitted around the higher notes. Breathing in and out with the music, you tried to ignore the ache that start to surround your shoulder.

Playing the last few notes, you paused before reaching over to the bottle of painkillers.

---

Shortly after finishing up, you dragged a small table outside next to the wooden bench swing that was hanging on the porch. Bundled up in a soft sweatshirt, long-sleeve shirt, wool lined leggings, fuzzy socks and slippers, you brought out your hot tea, several blankets, a pillow, and a book you had been meaning to read for months. You were determined to do something besides practice, watch TV, and scroll on your phone.

You settled onto the bench, wrapping the blanket around you, nice and toasty from the layers trapping in the heat of a thorough practice session. The extra medication had really helped keep the pain at bay. Tentatively sipping the steaming cup, you closed your eyes to further appreciate the sweet tones of peach and honey. Setting the cup in your lap with one hand, you used your other hand to flip open to the first page.

---

Bucky hadn’t expected the mission to get so complicated. Finding the base was one thing, navigating in and out of the expansive maze was another. It took a few days to successfully get the target out and back to the embassy. He hadn’t properly slept during that time due to taking shifts with Sam. Not that it was any different from how he slept at home.

The sun was letting its last few rays bless the earth when he turned onto the driveway. Taking it easy on the gravel, he eased his posture and slowed the bike. He put pressure on the brakes as he made it past the final wall of trees that hid the water that was reflecting the last bit of color left in the sky. Rolling casually into a stop, he parked and let out a deep breath, shoulders sinking.

A stray bird calling out turned his attention in the direction of your house. The porch light was on. That’s new, he thought. Squinting his eyes, he saw a bundle on the porch swing. Was that you? Quietly walking over while taking his leather gloves off, he confirmed his suspicions. There you were, lying on your side propped up by a large fuzzy pillow. Eyes closed and breathing rhythmically. Scanning the scene, he noticed the mug on the side table, empty except for the used teabag. Your book was closed, the page you were on marked by one of your fingers. You must’ve fallen asleep while reading.

“Hey…” Bucky said gently. No response besides a small nose scrunch.

He repeated himself a little louder, squatting to be at eye level while gently setting his hand on your arm and shaking you lightly. You groaned this time, eyes fluttering open, taking a moment to focus. You squinted and pushed yourself up into a sitting position, losing your place in the book and attempting to blink the heavy drowsiness from your eyes.

“Bucky?” You questioned hoarsely as you met his eyes. He was still crouching so you were looking slightly down at him. Brow furrowed, you searched the blue of his eyes before looking around to see how dark it had gotten. As you turned your head back to him, he stood back up, scratching the back of his neck just to occupy his hands.

“It’s starting to get cold. I didn’t want you to spend the rest of the night out here.” He explained, choosing to look out at the water, now dark. When he turned his head back, you had also turned your head to look at the water, exposing the side of your neck, the tendons and clavicle accentuated by the strain. Bucky swallowed and your eyes met his, oblivious.

“Ah, thank you. I must’ve fallen asleep reading. I just started going back to physical therapy so I’ve just been so wiped… Anyway,” you said, dismissing yourself mid-thought. He didn’t want to hear about all that. “…did you just come back from a mission?” You eyed the diagonal cuts of leather on his jacket, noting the missing sleeve that exposed the glint of the metal.

“Yeah. I was gone for a few days.”

“Okay. I’m glad you’re home safe.” You mindlessly said, picking up the book and other various items strewn about.

Home safe. What an unfamiliar phrase.

As the words echoed in his mind, you had opened the door and stepped in, turning your head slightly to look back at him.

“Thanks again… Good night.”

“Good night.” Bucky replied, watching as you shut the door softly behind you.

Slowly walking down the porch steps, he crossed the driveway to the garage. Turning his head just in time to see the last light turn off in your house, he stood with his hand on the knob, meditating on the effect that one short sentence had on him.

Glad you’re home safe. Was this what it was like when you had someone waiting on you at home? The tired eyes and gentle smile. Would that be what it was like when he came home in the middle of a night from a mission when he had someone to share a bed with? Gently shaking them to let them know he was home? Or would he try to sneak into bed without waking them? He tried to imagine what that sort of intimacy would be like as he entered his apartment and then his room. Unzipping his jacket and tossing it over a chair, he stripped down to his boxer briefs and climbed into bed, wondering what it would be like if it was already warm.

[chaseatinydream]

pirate king (41) || atz

“Chin Hae, can you pass me the salt?”

“Coming right up!” You call over the rattle of the pans, grabbing the wooden bottle from the shelf and tossing it over your shoulder without a second glance. Seonghwa catches it easily without turning around, the two of you already so attuned with each other’s actions in the kitchen that you might as well be telepathic.

“Thanks!” He tells you and you nod, knowing that even though he can’t see it, he’ll somehow sense it anyway. The fragrance of steak and chicken marinated with spices and wild onions grilling over a charcoal fire wafts into the air and you breathe in appreciatively.

You’re almost salivating at the very thought of eating it already, the tantalizing smell lingering on in your mouth.

“Your cooking is amazing, you know that, Seonghwa-oppa?”

The cook smiles shyly, shaking his head as he prepares the stir fried vegetables in the pan, seasoning them lightly with salt. Not too much, Seonghwa always tells you, because salt has a strong taste and he wants people to appreciate the original flavour of the food. Enhance, not replace, as he likes to say.

“I did grow up intending to be a chef and cook lots of delicious food for customers.” He says wistfully, and for a moment you’re brought back to that beach on Nassau, watching Seonghwa as he chose to stay with the Treasure. Then his smile broadens gently as he puts the vegetables on a plate, hand stilling in the air for a moment. “But it’s more fulfilling to cook for people I love.”

You can’t help but beam back at him. Seonghwa is truly too sweet for this pirate life, you think as you chop up the chives finely to use as garnishing. He looks at your work proudly.

“You’ve really improved by leaps and bounds.” Seonghwa praises you, one hand ruffling your hair like a proud older brother. You laugh as he moves to the charcoal oven to take out the pieces of grilled meat, shaking your head in amusement.

“You’re not lying out of the kindness of your heart like the last time, are you?” You jibe teasingly, referring back to the time San had described your cooking to be akin to “fish innards”. Seonghwa assumes a perfectly innocent face faster than you can blink, piling slabs of perfectly grilled meat high on a tray.

“I didn’t lie. You did improve greatly… with plenty more room for improvement.”

You throw the pepper grinder at him playfully, but he catches it without blinking an eye and seasons the grilled meat to perfection. Now the food is finally done.

As if on cue, your stomach growls loudly and the door creaks opens to reveal Yunho, his head peeking in between the crack.

“Hey, hyung, is dinner ready?” He smiles that beagle like grin, hopping up and down excitedly on each foot as he sniffs the air hungrily. You swear that you had thought cooking was an easy job at first, but cooking for so many hungry men on board a pirate ship put fighting a battle to shame.

Seonghwa shakes his head good naturedly as he passes Yunho the platter of meat. “It would have been done a lot faster if you had offered to help, Yunho-ah.”

The lookout shrugs, but there’s a mischievous grin on his face that spells trouble. “I’ve got to leave you some job to do, otherwise you’d be useless on this ship, hyung.”

Seonghwa sputters in outrage and draws his meat cleaver, but Yunho ducks out into the galley stairway before the knife can find his head, the blade sinking into the wooden door instead.

“Come back here, you coward!” Seonghwa shrieks, but Yunho’s laughter only echoes down the hallway after him.

You raise a hand to your mouth to stifle your giggles, picking up the plate of vegetables and tugging lightly on his arm. “Come on, Seonghwa-oppa. Let’s go before all your steak is eaten.”

At the very horrifying thought, Seonghwa starts in fright and throws off his apron, before flying up the stairs so fast you would’ve thought the kitchen was on fire. Shaking your head in amusement, you climb the stairs after him at a more sedately pace, balancing the plate carefully in your hands.

The night air is cool upon your face as you step onto the main deck, a steady breeze tugging at your hair. You set the plate of vegetables on the deck and the crew all move forward to take their servings, thanking you one by one with smiles.

Your heart warms in your chest. You just want to stay this way forever.

“Woah, there’s chicken! And beef!” Wooyoung’s voice is right next to your ear as he glances over your shoulder at the menu for the night, clearly excited. You smile at his childlike excitement.

“You should eat before Seonghwa-oppa takes all the beef, Wooyoung-oppa.”

At your words, you see Wooyoung’s cheeks colour a little even in the dim light of the torches, making his face look rosy. He puffs out his cheeks at you.

“I know you’re just doing it to tease me, Chin Hae.” He tries to sound stern, but then an uncontrollable grin breaks through his pout. “But don’t stop doing it.”

You quirk your eyebrows playfully at him as you brush your hair out of your eyes. The wind really is very strong today. Wooyoung’s bright green eyes dart over to your hand immediately and his lips pull into a brief frown.

You’re about to ask him why the sudden change in expression when he reaches into your belt and pulls out the silver hairpin he’d given you so long ago that day in Tortuga.

“Wooyoung-oppa, what are you-” You begin to say, but then he moves behind you, gentle fingers gathering errant strands and brushing through your hair softly.

“Don’t move.” His warm voice whispers past your ear as he concentrates on twisting your hair together into some elaborate braid, tugging lightly before sliding the hairpin in to keep the knot in place. Satisfied with his work, he steps back, tucking one last strand behind your ear gently, fingers lingering there for a moment before pulling away.

You raise a hand to touch the hairdo in surprise. It’s actually very well done, a beautiful braid wrapping around itself to form a simple updo. You glance at Wooyoung in surprise, who’s smiling proudly at his creation.

“How are you so good at this, oppa?” You remark, stunned by his skill, but then you see his face fall minutely, a shadow flickering across his eyes. His smile turns a little sad, a little lost as his hands fall to his sides, the sound of the chains clanging strangely loud in your ears.

“Maybe I’ll tell you another time.” He shakes his head, but before your can press him further, there’s the strum of a guitar chord ringing through the night air. You glance behind you in surprise to see Jongho sitting there with an acoustic guitar on his lap, strumming a few random chords to warm up his fingers.

Wooyoung’s eyes light up immediately.

“Oh, they’re about to start a song!” He cheers, taking you by the arm and pulling you forward. You stumble after him as Yunho takes his place in the centre of the circle that the crew has formed, all shouting song requests to the younger battlemaster.

“They’re the battlemaster music team.” Yeosang whispers in your ear as he joins you and Wooyoung at the front, watching Yunho go around listening to the crew’s requests intently. You frown, but before you can say anything else, Jongho’s strumming suddenly picks up a lively tune.

“I can make your hands clap~”

Everyone on the ship claps in time to the beat and to your surprise, the crew all start chanting one name.

“Go Captain! Go Captain! Go Captain!”

Glancing about you, you barely spot your captain’s horrified face next to yours before Wooyoung grabs him by the arm and shoves him into the middle of the circle, the crew breaking out in a round of applause. Your captain looks around frantically with a chicken skewer hanging out of his mouth.

“Now come on guys, let’s not do this-” He begins, but then everyone starts whistling and singing along, and your captain in the end, with a defeated smile on his face, does some strange dance that looks as if he’s running on the spot, before he finishes off with an attempt at a handstand.

“You’re so cool, captain!” San screams and Hongjoong throws the skewer stick at him.

It doesn’t matter how silly he looks, because all his crew absolutely adores him and breaks out in cheers. With an embarrassed smile you’ve never seen on your captain, he hops out of the circle and pushes Mingi in instead.

You’ve never seen the silent quartermaster so energetic, because the second he steps into the circle he’s singing along and gesturing for everyone to follow him as he claps.

“I can make your hands clap!” And he can indeed, because everyone does imitate him, cheering and clapping along.

Yunho comes in with a some strange dance that involves hopping from one foot to the other while saluting, but it’s when Seonghwa is pushed into the centre of the circle, ready to dance his heart out, the music abruptly stops.

Seonghwa gives the biggest baby pout you’ve seen, and that’s almost enough to send you into fits of hysterical laughter.

There’s an awkward silence as everyone turns to stare at Jongho.

The maknae looks up from his guitar in surprise. “Ahh… sorry, I just thought one string was off key.”

But there’s a little quirk to the side of his mouth that you don’t quite believe.

The song switches up again and everyone’s back to dancing once more, Wooyoung jumping into the circle completely of his own volition, doing some “sexy” stretching that you’re laughing too hard over, shaking your head in amusement.

The night ends with Seonghwa breaking out a barrel of rum, announcing that he felt that the atmosphere was lively and they needed something to help the crew sleep.

He clearly doesn’t know his crew mates well enough.

San is doing the same ridiculous dance from before, except this time he actually managed to find two star anise herbs from the galley and put them on his chest. It fits your dream from before almost too accurately and you’re not sure if that’s a good thing.

Mingi is bawling his eyes out in a corner of the ship with a tankard of rum in hand, screaming to the skies and demanding that Hongjoong should be blessed with a better life. You smile in amusement and turn around to search for Yunho and Wooyoung, and there they are again, screaming drunken insults at each other from their respective masts.

From here you can faintly hear the same nicknames ‘Poo Young’ and ‘Yun Hoe’ drifting over the wind and an amused smile tugs at your mouth. Just as you’re considering going over to break up their argument, you feel a gentle tap on your shoulder.

Surprised, you turn around to see Yeosang standing there, holding out a tankard to you with a smile on his face.

“Drink with me?”

You’ve never really drunk any alcohol before, but you suppose there’s a first time for everything. Taking the tankard in hand, you look into it and are surprised to see a fruity juice inside instead of alcohol.

Seeing the confused look on your face, Yeosang explains. “I know you’ve never tried alcohol before, so I made a fruit juice earlier from apples and oranges and added just a little rum to it so you won’t get a hangover tomorrow.”

Your heart warms at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you, Yeosang-oppa.”

The two of you huddle together against the cold at the port side of the ship, the wood of the bulwarks shielding you from the biting winds. You lift the tankard to your lips hesitantly and take a sip, to your pleasant surprise, it tastes just like a well blended fruit juice, with just a tiny nip of alcohol to take the edge off the cold.

Yeosang has some hidden kitchen skills you’ve never known about.

The two of you sit in comfortable silence until Yeosang finally breaks it.

“So, I heard that you gave up on your memories.”

You start a little in surprise, turning to look at the navigator. You’d never told anyone on board about what the sea witch had said, merely telling them that you’d die if you regained your memories, not wanting to tell them exactly how tempted you had been to do it anyway. Fortunately, no one had asked too much about it, but that Yeosang is finally confronting it, you feel like you should give him the truth.

“I really wanted to accept it, you know?” You murmur softly as you take another sip, watching the rest of the crew fool around the deck, laughing and singing drunken songs. It’s cold, so you curl a little closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder. One of his arms comes up to encircle you, pulling you to him.

“I know.” He answers, and you know he does. Since the time the two of you had brushed death together, Yeosang can simply understand what you’re feeling like no one else, sensing the thoughts that pass your mind. You pause for a moment to sort out your thoughts.

“I thought I’d feel sad after I left the island, you know?” You whisper softly to him. You’re starting to feel a little drowsy, a warm heaviness settling over you like a thick blanket. “But I don’t regret it in the least. Not even a little.”

You can feel Yeosang’s smile more than you see it.

“I’m glad.” He says, and you know that he genuinely is. That’s the kind of man Yeosang is, pure, kind hearted, a gentle soul in every sense of the word. Your eyes close and you settle against him, basking in his warmth, feeling the buzz of alcohol in your limbs.

Yeosang hums a light tune and you feel yourself drifting off into sleep, eyes fluttering shut.

“Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me and other times I feel like I should go… and through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets, and when you're gone we want you all to know…”

Apparently Yeosang also has some singing skills you’ve never known about either.

Yeosang’s voice is deep and soothing, washing over your ears. You’re clinging onto his words as you slip into your dreams, hoping one day you can see Jongho and he sing together.

You brought back into consciousness by a gentle rocking motion and the feeling of warm arms around you, something hard digging into your back. The person carrying you shifts a little, adjusting himself so that you’re nestled more comfortably in his arms.

“Did I wake you up?” His voice is soft in your ears and you merely curl deeper into him, burying your face into his chest, still in that sleepy stupor. He chuckles a little as he continues moving forward, raising a leg to unlatch a door expertly with his foot.

The door to the sickbay, you realise drowsily, as the person carrying you ducks inside, careful not to knock your head on the doorframe. His boots thump softly on the floorboards, an oddly familiar jingling sound in your ears.

It’s only when he sets you down on your bed do you realise who it is.

“Wooyoung-oppa?” You ask, a little too tipsy and drowsy to think properly. A hand reaches down to your hair and he slides the hairpin out of your hairdo, placing the accessory on the bedside table.

Wooyoung smiles fondly at you for a moment, even though you can’t see it, one hand running through your hair to free it from its braid. “No, it’s the dream fairy. Go back to sleep, Chin Hae.” With one last glance over his shoulder, he stands up and turns to leave, but then something stops him.

“Don’t go.” You mumble, one hand reaching up to catch his wrist. He freezes under your touch, squeezing his eyes tight against the memories that flood his mind of scarlet lipstick, painted nails dragging down his back leaving bright red marks on his skin. Scars upon scars upon scars, bruises and kisses over the same places on his body until there is no more space for more-

No. He forces those thoughts from his mind, willing the fear built into his body to understand. You’re different. You wouldn’t hurt him… you won’t hurt him. That’s why he lets you take his hand every time you reach for it with a smile, praying that you build new, brighter memories over the dark rooms and suffocating perfume that linger in his mind, hoping that one day, he might be free.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he turns to glance at your sleeping form with a pained smile. Then he bends down, dropping a brief, chaste kiss to your forehead, before tugging the covers over you.

“It’s dangerous to say those kind of things to a man, you know.” He chides you gently, even though you’re already lost in your dreams, eyes shut, chest rising evenly with each breath. He still tells you this, even though he knows full well you’re not afraid of him in the least bit.

In fact, the one in danger of being hurt is probably him.

What are you doing to me, Chin Hae?

Wooyoung sighs in exasperation at his thoughts, shaking his head, but his thoughts turn to something darker. If even battle hardened Mingi had feared that part of him, if even Seonghwa and San couldn’t handle him, what more you? If he ever let you see the other side of him, if he scared you away… what would he do then?

“I can’t.” He whispers to himself. The words are like a weight in his chest, but they’re the truth.

He can’t ever let you see that part of him.

He sucks in a deep breath, bowing his head for a moment as he collects himself. He’s got to fight it, no matter what happens. He needs to only show you the happy, joyful Wooyoung, the Wooyoung that gave you the pin with an earnest smile, the Wooyoung that kept you safe in Nassau. He can’t let you see it. He can’t scare you away. He can’t hurt you, or he’d never forgive himself.

“I need to keep her safe.”

[thebadbatch]

The Bad Batch: Soft Universe

Chapter Two - Attempt.

Morning soon arrived, the time reasonably early overall as several members of The Bad Batch were beginning to wake up. Tech awoke rather easily, rubbing his eyes to get rid of any blurriness and began to prepare for landing which he had hoped would be soon, they were low on rations at this point. Once each member had fully awoken, putting their well known armour on, Omega bounded into the room with her usual burst of energy.

"Good morning!" She gleamed, Standing beside Echo who just Placed a box of Supplies Cid had Sent them to collect on their Previous Mission. It was a lot of blaster fire and close calls just for Some Supply Crates. Echo grinned at her usual Sparks of Morning energy, grateful they had her to keep morale up.

"Morning, Omega." He returned, gently shuffling the supply crate to join the pile of them that Wrecker had just put down. They were all filled with a variety of items, Some crates holding What Tech discovered to be unknown weapons and others filled with a Variety of bottles filled with a liquid Tech couldn't figure out without opening them- a risk they didn't really want to take.

"Ah, Miss Omega." Tech began, moving over toward her.

"Morning Tech!" 

"Oh, yes. Good Morning." He jumbled, going through his datapad after a quick and warm smile he was known to share with his little sister. "Anyway, Hunter informed me that you wished to discover your enhanced Skill, if you have one that is." She gazed at him with rather confident and hopeful eyes as She rested her arms crossed against her chest. "Is that correct?"

"Indeed it's correct!" She Spoke, her words misplaced within a clear attempt to copy Techs rather advanced language Skills. 

"Indeed, that is correct is the correct Sentence Structure. But good shot." He praised, moving to guide their Ship toward the correct Planet. A softer nod came from Tech before Echo sat upon on One of the crates before his voice joined the conversation,

"Isn't it a little early to discover your enhanced Skill?" Hunter noted the worry in Echo's voice, knowing that he really didn't want her to become a soldier and fight through chaos and wars like they had to. None of them wanted her to! They all wished to Spoil Omega with everything that She had ever wanted and give her a Sheltered and loving life. However, this was all very late due to what happened to Kamino and the fact that there were two confirmed bounty hunters after her. Besides, they had to teach her ways to protect herself in the worst case scenario that nobody was with her to guard her against the harsh universe that routinely seemed to have something against the little family aboard the Havoc Marauder. 

"It'll be okay Echo, it'll take some time anyway." Hunter's voice reasoned, a hesitant nod of agreement coming from his brother's soft whispers toward him. Wrecker laughed, going toward Omega and picking her up to place her on his shoulder. 

"Kid, that's going to be awesome! I bet it's something really cool like me!" His enthusiasm and usual supporting words always brightened up their omega, a laugh coming from her as she settled on his shoulder. They were closer to Ord Mantell, the planet they were growing more and more used to each visit which led to everybody Putting on their Signature red and black helmets. Crosshair grumbled at everybody's curiosity and their hesitancy to find her enhanced skill or to unlock it as such. 

"Hopefully it's something helpful." That familiar sour tone returned to his voice, making Omega Shy away a little - still unused to his  sarcasm and dramatic seeming personality, she knew it was his coping Mechanism though, they all had one. Though her being used to it and understanding didn't mean it didn't make her think about his words. She was close with him for sure, like last night for an example. He does care, but his guard is always up to keep him Safe She presumed.

The others along with Omega ran past his remark with a little glare from Hunter for his choice of words before Techs voice piped up.

"I Suggest you take your seats, we're about to land." Hunter took a Seat beside him as the others took their usual Seats, finally ready for the day ahead of them. Havoc Marauder landed well, not Sustaining a Single Scratch due to Techs excellent flying Skills - if he did say So himself anyway. The land around them felt familiar, filled with bustling city Streets and a Variety of neon Coloured lights Shining amongst the early sunrise coating the sky with a vivid tango blast. Luckily, this planet was a lot softer on Hunters Senses, compared to the planet they did their last mission on especially. 

"Alright, wrecker take the biggest two." Hunter began his leadership Skills activating. " Me, echo, crosshair and Tech will bring the remaining Crates." Everyone nodded in agreement as the large door opened, everybody taking their newly assigned roles  and bringing the Crates down, even if it was a little tough to carry  compared to Wrecker who was doing so with ease. 

"What can I do?" A persistent voice questioned, Omega gazing around seeing if there were any other crates they had forgotten. The bad batch were always thankful for Omega's willingness  to help out, but due to her being untrained, having limited Strength and being a child, there wasn't much She could do this time. Telling her to just walk with them wasn't an option though, She gets Pretty upset when they don't need her help. An argument was something they wished to avoid.

 "Uhm," Hunter mumbled, the ship closing behind them all as they slowly  began to walk toward the hidden bar Cid lingered within, desperately awaiting their now evenly cut Share of credits thanks to Omega Paying off their debt with gambling. Probably an issue they'd have to review later in her life after Tech reviewed the Possibility of her developing a gambling addiction being pretty high. "Why don't you help me carry this crate?" He continued, being cut off from saying anything further as Omega rushed over, helping to lift the heavy crate with a rather ecstatic;

"Yes sir!" Hunter just chuckled, ensuring that nearly all the weight was against his arms as She walked alongside him, both hands holding it up. The rest of the walk was rather silent, warning off any Suspicious looking Civilian with unknown glares and a hidden gesture to his blaster.

"Why is everybody so interested in what we have?" Echo mumbled, a little  irritated at the seventh person getting  a little too close to them. "They're never usually bothered."

"Maybe it's because five clones are carrying Six crates filled with something heavy." Crosshair rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his words. "You've got to be stupid to assume these aren't worth a good amount of credits." His brother rolled his eyes, still feeling a strange sense of tension and uncertainty.

"We've brought back bigger and more expensive loot, that's what made me ask." Echo's voice was laced with annoyance as they began to place the crates at the entrance to cids office. Omega gazed around, still liking the energetic atmosphere in the room which seemed to match her own upbeat rhythm.

"I was wondering when you losers would show up." A familiar voice grumbled, Walking into view.

"Cid!" Omega shouted, a clear Smile on her face as they Shared a short hug.

"Heya Tiny, tough Mission?" She asked, ruffling the younger girl's hair.

"There was blaster fire everywhere when we finally got to them!" Omega's voice was strangely filled with enthusiasm as She spoke, "There were Super loud alarms but we managed to set a diversion!" Hunter sighed a little, rubbing his ache-free head feeling a twinge of sympathetic pain for himself due to yesterday's chaos.

"Once again, an insufficient amount of detail was retrieved from you." Tech intertwined his words with their conversation, a little irritated that he didn't disable the traps prepared for them on the mission by those who stood arrogantly in their way. Not that they were tough to deal with or anything -the traps that is, not the larger droids that threatened them.

"When do we ever get detailed information?" Crosshair complained, ensuring his sniper still stood proudly against his back untrustworthy to the people gazing over at them all. He began to understand Echos previous worry, wondering whether or not he should hold his Sniper up front or just get rid of them. Tough day to day choices required the most moral answer no matter how much Crosshair disagreed. Cid laughed, opening her office door and waving at them all to come in with the crates.  Once they had all finally lunged the crates in, Hunter threw his arms on the desk. 

"Our Credits?" He asked with both Omega and Wrecker bouncing a little, eagerly awaiting the go ahead for their Mantell mix. Cid nodded, sitting calmly at her desk and retrieving the two small black boxes where their credits were held.

"Calm down Bandanna," The others stifled a laugh, "You've got double your usual amount Since your kid there paid off your debt." Hunter nodded as he gazed over at Omega,  thanking her once more with a small Smile that resulted in Omega practically a beacon of pride.

"Thanks kid, you did great." Echo reminded, patting her head in a form of praise. Hunter opened the two boxes, pleased at the sight of plenty of credits laying there prepared to be spent rather rapidly. 

"Brilliant!" Tech smiled before typing into his data pad, retrieving some information. "This will easily Cover our supply run for fuel, food, any necessary repairs, clothes and anything else we may need." 

"It's about time we made some decent Credits." Crosshair Spoke before Standing. "Are we going then?" 

Hunter nodded before thanking Cid for their finally justified payment. 

"Echo and Crosshair Come with me, we can grab food and spare clothes." Both stood, Standing beside Hunter. "Tech, Omega and Wrecker you can grab the Mantell Mix you wanted and assist Tech in grabbing any tools for repairs."

"Yes sir!" Omega smiled, saluting her other brothers before practically dragging a gleeful looking Wrecker along with her and a tired looking Tech. They'd all turned their separate ways but they all ensured that they remained within the same neighbourhood for safety reasons. "What shall we do first?" She asked, holding Wreckers hand among the busy Street as she gazed toward Tech for an answer.

"Well, I believe that the most appropriate course of action would be to collect...collect the repairs first?" His voice trailed off as he saw a rather upset gaze from Wrecker followed by a rumble from Omega's stomach. "I mean I think It's most appropriate to get your end of the mission reward now due to the correct timing. Do you agree, Miss Omega?" Tech lied through his teeth, they couldn't supply breakfast for the Poor girl this morning so to tide her over until Hunter and the others returned, it was the least he could do. Besides, it would keep them both quiet and entertained whilst he viewed repair items. It was something he was very much looking forward to doing as per usual.

"I agree!"

"Heck yeah! Let's go, kid!" Wrecker gently guided them along the path before finally reaching the stall filled with boxes of the Sweet treat. "One box, Please." Wrecker asked, retrieving credits from Tech and passing them to the Seller in return for the purple-toned treat. Both couldn't contain their excitement as they began to dig in, omega taking a smaller handful then wrecker but it was seemingly pretty big to her. Both members shared a nod and a big grin, eating their treat with a feeling of satisfaction. The last mission was a tough and irritating one, but it's all completed and they're all alive. The treat became a sort of reassurance for little Omega, knowing that whenever she felt the sweet taste - they were all safe for another day. Tech smiled gently before pointing toward the marketplace stall filled with various tool kits with loose bolts and parts scattered around. 

"I believe our next stop is over here, shall we?" They all walked over, watching as Tech picked up various amounts of tools, explaining in very clear detail what each part was for and why they may or will need it at a later date. Omega was truly fascinated but Wrecker was losing his patience a little but smiled a little at her well structured questions much to Techs joy. 

"Can't you just buy something already?" Wrecker asked, noting the seller's patience was wearing thin, her arms crossed as she stared at them both pretty closely. 

"I suppose so." Tech replied, grabbing a few more tools with Wreckers help. "Wait here Omega while we pay." She gave a Sound of affirmation, her mouth filled with the sweet preventing her from saying anything further. Once they walked further up to discuss prices she had turned her head toward a cloaked-being Staring her way. She could only really make out from this prescience the emerald eyes that were staring into her own along with an unsettled feeling about them laying wary against her heart. Despite all of her alarms ringing in her mind, she gave a quick smile and wave before wiping her mouth with her sleeve, ridding of any purple crumbs. Her eyes darted toward her two brothers who were arguing amongst themselves over why they needed to spend the credits on something Wrecker believed to be so useless. Of course, Tech had covered the conversation earlier but Wrecker wasn't really interested at the time due to the attention span of a youngling. Once her eyes flickered back toward the Suspicious figure, her underlying fears were instantly confirmed as they took rapid steps toward her which almost broke out into a Sprint. 

"Uhm, Tech-" She Stumbled, moving over to her two brothers. "Someone's coming." Tech heard instant uncertainty and fear in her voice, not wasting a moment in taking out his blaster and noting the same cloaked figure rushing toward them, a blaster in their hand too. 

"Wrecker notify the others, we've got company." Using his own com, he sent out an alert to his other three brothers who confirmed that they were on their way. "Stay back." Tech threatened, raising his blaster toward the hooded figure who insisted on not listening to his stern voice and shot red bullets toward their direction. In return, Tech shot his own before dodging the several other worryingly accurate shots made at him. Wrecker Moved in front of Omega, firing back at the person that threatened them but to no avail as they dodged the rapid fire from his gun with ease. By this point, every Civilian had left for shelter, presumably in their own homes away from the sudden fire of bullets. Omega had grabbed her energy bow from her back, aiming it toward their new target hoping to make a bit. Why did trouble always follow them? "We need to get Omega back to the ship now." Tech Sternely Spoke, firing more bullets, taking cover behind a nearby wall with Wrecker and Omega. 

"But I can help!" She protested, firing a few more shots. "I can shoot now!" Wrecker ensured she stood behind him in the alley within a clear attempt to keep her Safe. 

"Now is not the time, Miss omega." He gestured toward the appearingly clear path behind them. "This is a bounty hunter, I'll instruct the others to meet you there - this isn't anything we can't hold off." 

"And how do you know that?" Wrecker grumbled, softly pushing his little sister back a bit further with them. Without saying a word Tech effortlessly gestured to his datapad. "There has been a surge in bounty hunters, I can guarantee this is one of them with such shooting skills  and their target appears to be us." More firing commenced as Omega moved further back into the alley, clutching to her bow for some much needed  comfort. This was supposed to be their break! Without warning, She felt a Strong grip against her Neck causing her to cough against it, throwing her arms back into whoever had her.  Both brothers turned to her Struggling form, blasters facing her way.

"Make another move and I'll shoot." A deeper voice threatened, a blaster being held against her head - no mercy lurking within the man's eyes. "This little thing is going to get me a lot of credits once I turn her over to the Empire." 

"Just you?" The cloaked being arrived, removing their hood to reveal a Scarred face filled with sickened joy. "Who do you think got us here?" She scoffed, moving Past the two angry yet fearful brothers, terrified in case they shot their little sister. Footsteps quickly approached, another blaster tilted toward the Previously clocked woman. 

"Let the kid go." Hunter Snarled, moving toward them, seething anger pumping through his veins. "Or you won't live to see tomorrow." The woman laughed, gesturing toward the blaster against a Struggling Omega desperately looking toward Hunter for help.

"Elidar, did you hear that?" She smirked, "They think we won't kill her!" Elidar grinned alongside her, shoving Omega more to stop her violent kicks and various movements to get her weapon which was now thrown to the side. "We get our reward regardless if she's dead or alive, we will pull the trigger and be on our way." Little did they know, Echo was hidden to the side, waiting for Hunter's call for the shot against Elidor and who appeared to be his own leader. Crosshair had also situated himself opposite the Situation  Placing himself high on a building opposite, his aim directly on Elidars head doing his best not to allow anger to consume his breathing, praying that it didn't Screw up his only shot. "Let's go, El." He shoved Omega along with his footsteps whilst his companion 

"Don't say I didn't warn you Scum." Hunter growled before clicking his com. "Take the shot." A single Sudden shot rang through the air, taking the woman out causing her to collapse to the ground. Just as the Shot was taken, Echo moved out to grab Omega - shooting him in the process and pulling her closely.  As if in slow motion, Elidor had taken the shot against their little sister Just as Echo moved her away - the bullets luckily only scraping her cheek and arm. Crosshair was quick to take him out, ensuring he was dead before climbing down from the high ground. Tech, wrecker, Hunter and eventually Crosshair rushed to Omega who remained hidden against Echos chest. "Come on, let's move her away." Swiftly picking the Shaking girl up- they made a quick way to their Ship concerned about the possibility of more bounty hunters arriving to take an attempt on her life. More would come, that was certain. But none would remain alive if they threaten her or her brothers again, that was a promise.

[starrykitty013]

Sneak Peak!! This will be a Cake Walk (oneshot)

Here’s the full fic...finally: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33658105

This takes place in my JGLEH universe (https://archiveofourown.org/series/1415002) but this oneshot could be read as a standalone :)

Enjoy!

August 7th, 2019.

That was the date that this year’s birthday fell on. Technically it was the first wednesday of August, since this month started on a Thursday, but it was basically the second week of August, so they’d let it slide. Besides the 14th of August seemed like a good date, but Ned and MJ were just so anxious to finally be spending a birthday with their best friend, because it had been 2 years since they last had - well more Ned than MJ, MJ was cool with anything.

So here they were, lounging around Peter’s - and his parent’s - little apartment/penthouse/whatever-this-place-they-were-living-was-classfied-as in Stark tower, eating junk food and marathoning Voltron - every variation of it, eating a slightly melted ice cream cake MJ bough - they bought an entire sheet cake this time, instead of a small one because Ned and MJ got paychecks now and Peter has the metabolism not to waste it.

Different location, same traditions. Sure the atmosphere of the tower was not as cozy as Ned’s cramped living room or MJ’s box apartment, but they made do. They dulled the settings on the floor to ceiling window that took up an entire wall and viewed over the city. They cuddled in blankets and made an entire pillow fort, and they made it surround them so they were forced to be closer together.

They would’ve invited everyone else in the tower, but his official birthday wasn’t until the 12th and Peter’s sure they had something planned. He kind of just wanted to keep this serenity of the three of them, even if he felt a little guilty about being exclusive. It was worth it.

It felt right.

Keeping his old traditions while preparing for the new ones that he was bound to make this year.

He hadn’t celebrated his birthday with the Avengers last year, because it was the date of the trial and he hadn’t been living with them at the time, even if like a week later he was. Everything had been so hectic and moving too fast that his birthday had barley been on any of their minds. He had spent the night with Wade and Matt goofing off in and out of their costumes though - the aults getting thoroughly plastered and Peter thinks it was only 60% for his amusement.

It was an enjoyable night. Or at least it it was shaping up to be. He liked the chill vibes that they had managed to create. It was almost like they were hanging out just like any other day, and not celebrating Peter being one year away from being a legal adult - in America at least.

His parents had walked in around 11:30ish, and they just were about to pass without looking twice at the kids lounged around and the mess of stolen blankets and pillows they probably didn’t know they owned - and they didn’t own most of them, again they were temporarily stolen, he’d give them to their respective owners again...eventually...maybe.

Ned had greeted them absently, because he was polit like that, and Nat smirked fondly at them, watching them out of the corner of her eye, while Bucky turned and nodded in acknowledgment, lips quirking up for a second at the scene. MJ gave a salute as she had a chip half in her mouth.

“Russian → ”(Hey, guys.) Peter said absently, not really looking at them as he leaned forward to grab another slice of melted cake. And that’s when Natasha paused for a second, looking frozen. Bucky had just barley managed to ram into her. It was a slight action but it made Peter pause and look up in confusion and slight alarm. His spidey sense wasn’t going off, but Nat had that look on her face where she kept it carefully neutral to not give anything away. Peter turned his head to them and sat up a bit, Ned and MJ seemed to pick up on his vibes because a moment later MJ had shifted into a slightly more alert slouch and that was followed by Ned swiveling his head to look confusedly between everyone while trying - and failing, but it’s okay Ned you are still a precious bean child that will be protected by everyone here - to be subtle about it, his anxiety kicking in a bit. “What’s up?” he said trying to maintain a casual tone. If it was an emergency, he’d know, they would’ve been more on edge. It was more likely that they had gotten taken off guard by something - which was only barley more comforting, since they usually were never taken off guard by much.

Bucky had trained his eyes on Nat, so Peter did the same. She darted her eyes quickly to something next to him and then back to Peter, Bucky followed her gaze and kept it locked on the thing she was looking at. Peter slowly moved his head to where Bucky’s eyes were trained and looked down to see the mostly melted cake, with the watery, sloppy lettering that was supposed to spell out “Congrats on not dying spider dweeb” and then a messily drawn spiderman logo, but they had eaten the cake in a way that it said “C---ats o- ying- ider dw-b” and part of the logo was cut outso it was only the lens’ of the mask showing. Peter then moved his eyes back up to Natasha, still confused over why she was so still about it.

“I thought you're birthday was the... 12th.” Her tone was still carefully neutral, but Peter could detect some tension that his friends probably didn’t pick up on. Bucky definitely did though. It almost seemed like it was hard for her to get that out, for some reason.

Peter cocked his head. “Well yeah officially.” he said. Something seemed to click for Bucky and he looked to Peter and his friends again.

“It’s the 7th.” Bucky said, in a much more genuine neutral tone.

“Yeah, it is.” MJ said sarcastically, but she seemed to tone her usual snark down a bit. Peter was inexplicably grateful for that, for some reason.

“We celebrate it on the second Wednesday of August though.” Ned explained. He had told them the story of how he officially got his birthday with Wade and the army camps earlier that day, because Ned had asked if there was a story he was previously unable to tell them. He had told them the whole truth and they accepted it without any preamble. At this point they had heard so many messed up stories about his childhood that the initial shock and horror reaction had dialed down. At first - when he first started telling them about his past that he had to keep a secret, even without all the spidey stuff like the White room and Special Forces - Ned had been in tears nearly every time and MJ would close off almost to the point of dissociation. But after nearly a year the most reaction he’d get was MJ’s concerned eyeroll and Ned’s shift so they bumped shoulders or they were closer. Still, the birthday story did get a hug out of Ned and MJ to shift a tad closer.

Bucky’s eyes flicked to Natasha and his shoulders slumped like he was holding in a sigh “Why?” Bucky asked after a beat of silence, maintaining the same casual light tone.

“Some stupid thing Wade made up.” Peter shrugged and fought the urge to look away. Why did he feel so weird about this? “Something about sticking it to the man, or society or the government or whatever.” he said looking down at his cake and putting a small bite in his mouth that he could talk around. “We did it every year and then we did it with Ned and MJ and it just stuck. It’s not a big deal, we just chill.” he mumbled more than said. There was a long pull of silence between them, with only the sounds of Allura explaining some complicated space matter to the team of palidins on the screen.

When Peter finally had the urge to look up he found himself looking at the tail end of his mother going into her bedroom and quietly shutting the door. He looked at the door for a moment then at Bucky who was doing the same, but he sighed and shot him and his friends one last supposedly reassuring smile, as if to say ‘as you were’ - it did not have it’s desired effect- and then follow after his partner, opening and shutting the door softly.

That was weird.

Peter just looked at the door for a few moments, not really sure how to feel about that. He felt his friends’ gazes on his back, and it almost felt like they had no clue what to do with that strange interaction either. It hadn’t left bad vibes, but it hadn’t really left any good ones either.

He turned back to the movie, MJ and Ned seemingly following his lead and going back to marathoning. But instead of listening to Keith and Lance’s 143th argument of the show, he was listening to the quiet murmurs coming from the room. Loud enough that Peter could pick up on the sound with his enhanced hearing but too soft to actually make any words out.

Eventually, after about 10 minutes of not knowing what was up and the feeling something was off still lingering in his mind, he stood up and made his way to the door. HIs confused friends’ gazes followed him up and to where he was walking.

“Be right back.” he said absently before entering the room and closing the door just a quietly as his parents’.

[jurassicparkpodcast]

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 3 SPOILER Review!

The Third Season of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous has arrived – meaning we’re bringing you some more content around the show, including our spoiler thoughts on how the third season did when compared to the first two. If you haven’t seen Camp Cretaceous Season 3 yet then click off this article now, as we are going to be discussing some of the key set pieces in this series which make it by far the best one to be released to date. Let’s get into it!

We’ll start by summarising the third season – and, in particular, it’s story. The story of the Campers attempting to get off of the island whilst uncovering that a terrifying new hybrid has broken loose is interesting, with plenty done to explore more of Isla Nublar and, indeed, the terrifying work which Doctor Henry Wu was doing in the shadows of the former Jurassic World. Although the kids ultimately escape the island, this isn’t without a few interesting sequences sprinkled in throughout – including direct tie-ins to Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, and also hints at the future of Mantah Corp and their research into InGen’s work. The third story feels incredibly well balanced – with lots of fantastic set pieces balanced with meaningful storytelling and interesting characters alongside brand-new dinosaurs. The third season brings us a much more grounded story which aims to fill some of the canonical gaps left by Season Two – creating a story which feels satisfying and fulfilling.

The third season maintains the same cast of characters – with each of them getting plenty of interesting development. Darius, for example, spends some time earlier in the season filling the holes in his notebook – giving us a fun look at a Dilophosaurus drawing indicating he encountered this animal on the island at some point. Kenji struggles with the kids liking him and feels the need to use his wealth to impress them, whilst Sammy worries about what Mantah Corp may have done to her family back home. Each character feels three dimensional in the third season – with some great development showing how they have adapted to their environment. Of note here in particular is the character of Yasmina, who selflessly heads across the island in search on an anti-serum when Sammy is poisoned by the quills on the Scorpios Rex. This animal itself is handled incredibly well – with the kids feeling genuinely in danger at some points throughout the story.

The other dinosaurs in the story are good too – including surprising appearances from both the Ouranosaurus and the Monolophosaurus. These animals do go against the pre-established canon of the island a little bit, with neither of them ever mentioned as being present on Nublar, but it is possible that the prior existing list was only ever intended to reflect the public-facing dinosaurs. These animals get some interesting sequences throughout the story – although there are a lot of the Monolophosaurus at one point in the story. Beyond the small canonical issues here, the only other real issue I had with Season 3 was the fact that the Scorpios was developed before the Indominus Rex. This does retroactively go against a lot of the pre-established timeline in things like the viral marketing – but it is possible that the Scorpios was hidden from existence altogether given it was seen as a failure by Simon Masrani. It is interesting to note that the Scorpios was able to reproduce asexually – suggesting a second E750 which is present in the show was able to grow to maturity incredibly quickly. Perhaps this can be explained by the enhanced growth Bumpy also inherits, however. These small issues aside, Season 3 took big strides to fix my issues with Season 2 of the show – creating a much more well-rounded experience which fits better within the universe of the films.

There were a few moments throughout Season 3 which stood out to me as building on the critiques on Season 2 – the first of which was the Ouranosaurus Attack at the dock as the kids attempt to patch up the damage which Tiff’s boat has sustained. I loved how the ambience in this sequence felt reflective of sequences in both The Lost World novel and in Trespasser – with some fantastic, tense sequences utilising natural fog and darkness to really elevate the stakes and create something which felt darker and scarier in tone than anything beforehand. We don’t often see herbivores as direct threats for the human characters in Jurassic, so the attention to ambience and atmosphere throughout this sequence really helped to make the Ouranosaurus feel more intimidating when they eventually attacked. I also loved how this sequence is later explained as the animals behaviours changing due to the ecosystem being tilted off-balance by the Scorpios Rex – a fun note which perhaps suggests that the Spinosaurus may have had a similar impact on Isla Sorna. This was a really fun sequence and one which I thought was worth highlighting here as I really enjoyed it.

Next up I wanted to talk about a sequence which hits the nostalgia factor and tones it up to eleven – with the pair of Scorpios Rexes hunting the campers through the original Visitor’s Centre. A lot of the sequences in the centre feel very similar to those in 1993’s Jurassic Park – with sequences in the kitchen, in particular, recreating shot-for-shot some of the moments from the kitchen sequence in the first film. I really liked these call-backs as whilst they were quite overt, they felt as though they fitted with the show, and worked incredibly well. I also love how the series initially shows Blue nesting in the Visitor Centre before she heads to the Ford Explorer, as this underpins how much of this animal’s present-day existence is nested in Henry Wu’s past work at Jurassic Park. The Visitor’s Centre is also ultimately destroyed by the Scorpios Rexes during this sequence – with both animals buried by the rubble. Whilst some fans may be upset to see this location destroyed, I loved how it underpins a very core concept moving forwards – highlighting how Henry Wu’s arrogance and continued ignorance in the implications of his science has ultimately destroyed the legacy of the work that both he and John Hammond attempted to do.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the third season features two bonus episodes – with the final two episodes tying directly into the Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom opening sequence. After Season One of the show, I tweeted one of the writers asking him if there was a chance we’d see reference to this in the future, so seeing this recreated shot-for-shot in the show with the kids watching on as the Indominus sample was extracted was awesome. It was also really cool seeing how Wu’s additional mission was to retrieve his laptop – noting that without it, the work he needed to do on the Indoraptor would take years and not months. This perhaps explains why the animal we see during the Lockwood Manor auction sequence is only a prototype – as Wu ultimately leaves the island without this information. It is interesting seeing some of Wu’s dialogue with Brooklynn throughout these episodes – with the character perhaps showing some small semblance of remorse. Ultimately, however, he leaves the kids on Nublar – reinforcing his status as a character with a questionable moral compass moving into Jurassic World Dominion. I have to admit – the way this tie-in played out was handled masterfully, and I was really happy to see things unfold in the way they did. I genuinely screamed out loud at my screen with happiness at one moment – emphasising how much work went in to nailing this crossover. It’s clear that the team working on Camp Cretaceous went to great lengths to smash the third season – and the result is some fantastic crossover which pays off and builds the lore of Wu’s work in meaningful ways without any of the massive contradictions I was worried these sequences may introduce.

The Series ends with the Campers finally escaping the island – heading off in a repaired boat, although we do see at the very closing moments that something else is on-board and hidden in the lower decks. This poses an interesting question in its own right, as it has been pre-established that Scorpios can self-reproduce – so is it possible a third hybrid existed on the island? If so then this could pose a grave risk to people on the mainland when the campers return there. We also know that Mantah Corp may potentially still be at play – with a quad-copter drone observing the Scorpios Rex on the island. Is it possible this shady corporation may now recover the carcasses of the dead hybrids for their own experiments? And what happened to the pilot of the Helicopter which the kids crashed in? She didn’t appear to have been eaten – but we never see her again after the crash sequence. These are just a handful of the questions we were left with at the end of Season 3 – implying there is more story to be told, even if the third season felt like it reached a nice natural ending for the series as a whole.

Overall, the third season of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is fantastic. Do not sleep on this season. It adds a lot to the lore of Doctor Henry Wu and his research, and it builds out a lot of interesting lore for the experiments which were happening on Isla Nublar. It also sets up some interesting plot threads for the future without them feeling overly intrusive and detrimental to the wider story telling in the Jurassic universe. Season 2 of this show left me feeling a little deflated, but Season 3 left me feeling reinvigorated. This wraps up the story of E750 and the wider universe in meaningful ways, and is a fantastic and more mature Jurassic adventure which adult fans will enjoy. I can’t wait to see the reception to this season – and how it informs Jurassic content in the future.

Written by: Tom Jurassic

[aromantic-romance-writer]

Tokito Muichiro x Fem! Pillar! Reader! [It Starts with a Piggyback Ride]

Reposted this here from my other account because it was broken somehow

Aaahhhh!! This my first time EVER writing something kny related. Is this a headcannon? A one-shot? I'm still pretty confused with the terms Woops-

I hope you enjoy!

WARNING: Slight manga spoilers and a long read ahead!

"I'm [L/N] [F/N]. I look forward to be working with you." You smile at your now fellow pillars sincerely. You're only 16, yet here you are; now called the Air Pillar.

In just a few days, Mitsuri, Rengoku and Shinobu has taken a great liking to you already. You can't say the same for Shinazugawa but you surprisingly spend a lot of time with him. You mostly trained and fought with him though. He was deeply intrigued with your breath style. Uzui and Himejima were close enough with you to let you ride on them and train with them for fun. Then there's Iguro, who doesn't really interact with you too much. The same for Tomioka, though you heard he was like that with everyone.

And as for Tokito-kun, he doesn't interact with you at all. You do see him often spacing out. You thought the two of you would get along better than the others since you're both the youngest amongst the pillars, I guess you were wrong.

° ° °

The first time Muichiro saw you, he felt odd. You somehow give off a vibe like Oyakata-sama to him. When you introduced yourself, he felt drawn to your voice. Your voice reminded him of something, but he wasn't sure what, since he lost his memories. He didn't like what he was feeling, what you were doing to him. He distanced himself from you as much as he can. Plus, he was taller than you. Sometimes though, he would watch you. He would watch you talk with Kanroji and Koccho. You always had a calm composure, and you seemed to have an easy atmosphere. He woyld also watch you play along with Uzui's 'I am a god' act, listen to Rengoku's telling you about his past missions and ecncouragement, make an effort to communicate with Tomioka and Iguro. Of course, you applied the same effort with Muichiro, but he somehow always finds a way to distance himself with you.

One day, the older pillars were discussing about something. You were curious as they didn't include you in the sudden meeting. Was it important? Was it about a mission too dangerous for a newbie like you?

Finally, Rengoku spotted you and waved. "Ah, young [L/N]! You're just in time!"

You walked closer and tilted your head in confusion. "In time? For what?"

"Looks like Tokito just arrived as well." Shinobu added.

Shinobu's tone was giving you a bad feeling. Tokito-kun is just as confused as you are.

"Hah! I've seen this kid fight a hundred times already. I'm betting my ass on her." Shinazugawa says with a little too much confidence in his voice.

"This isn't really appropriate for the children..." Himejima grumbles in response.

"It could be fun! Our two youngest, heading face to face head-on! Flamboyantly!" Uzui's eyes sparkled.

Bad feeling confirmed.

° ° °

Muichiro wasn't comfortable at the idea of having a duel with you. He didn't know why, as he never even gave the time to consider talking to you. But it did piqued his interest that Shinazugawa himself acknowledged your strength.

You unsheathe your sword. He had just noticed that a deep-blue ribbon was tied around the handle of your sword with its two tails flowing like a graceful wave behind you due to the breeze. The blade was a blinding silver and it's quite short compared to normal blades. Even as you are about to battle, you wore a smile. "I'll be in your care, Tokito-kun."

Muichiro twitched and initiated first. It was rare for him to attack first, but he wanted to end this as soon as possible. With a deadpan expression, he says; "Breath of Mist, Seventh form: Haze". He charges at you. Before he can even come close...

"Breath of Air, Fourth form: Ozone Deflection." You spin your sword in front of you with full force like a giant fan. You gripped the tails of the ribbon of your sword tighter as all the mist Muichiro created blew away. He falls back, realizing what you have done to his attack.

How can a girl like you were able to deflect his attack like it was nothing? And that calm with a mix of ease expression you always have. He's getting serious now.

"Sixth form: Moonlit Mist." He attempts to attack you from above--

"First form: Intoxicating Oxygen." You deflected his ranged attacks with your swinging the sword around. The slashes of your sword while deflecting his ranged attacks reaches Muichiro. Each slash didn't hurt him or wound him, rather it suffocates him more and more.

He noticed that you weren't holding your sword by the handle at all. You attack and use it like a single nunchuck by gripping unto the tails of the ribbon tied to the handle. If he can only get closer and cut that damn ribbon...

He barely lands back on the ground, coughing and wheezing as he did so. You took this chance...!

"Third form: Mountain Peak." You charged at him with great speed, he barely saw you move. You swung your sword at him consecutively, not giving him time to catch his breath.

Why is the air thinning? Or is it just the form you're attacking at Muichiro? Or is it just because of how fast and continuous your attacks are?

"Second form: Eight Layered Mist." His attacks were as equally fast as yours, but not a single attack from each one of you hits the other.

Soon, one of his attacks reached you and was able to slice the tails of your ribbon. You cuss in frustration and took your sword by the handle before it reaches the ground. You dodged his attacks as you rolled to the side.

"First form: Hanging Sky, Distant Mist." Your eyes widen in conflict as to what form you should use to deflect his straightforward thrust attack. You decided you didn't have a choice.

"Breath Technique: Atmoshpere."

Muichiro stopped in his tracks. You disappeared. He just blinked for half a second and you were gone. A breath technique? What the hell is that? And how did you move without barely--

Muichiro felt his body freeze up as he felt the cool iron of a blade. Your blade. You were breathing hard. The breath technique you used exhausts you too much, but it was worth it.

You won.

"Hell, yeah!" Shinazugawa screamed in triumph. "All of you dumbasses owe me a drink."

"You're surprisingly hyped up about this." Iguro implies. But Shinazugawa doesn't listen.

"I had faith in you, young Tokito!" Rengoku huffs jokingly.

"Ara ara, I didn't think you'd lose, Tokito-kun." Shinobu says with a tone that annoyed Muichiro.

Mitsuri slithered her arms around your neck, pulling you into a hug. "You did so well, [Y/N]-chan!"

"You have such a unique combat style though. What a flamboyant way to use a sword!"

You thanked them and laughed. After that, you all had dinner at the Ubuyashiki Estate. Everyone was talking about your fight with Tokito-kun, and how you defeat him. It was all flattering, but you just really wanted to have a bond with Tokito-kun. Tokito finished early and went outside. You followed soon after, not wanting to be dragged into the older pillars' drinking sesh.

You found him sitting on the engawa, staring at the star-filled sky. You sat a few meters away from him. Tonight, you were determined to at least start a short and small coversation with him.

Muichiro doesn't take notice of your presence on purpose. He knew he was gonna distance himself from you, but he was embarassed of his loss. Leaving might give you an impression that he's ashame of it. Truthfully, he kinda is.

"You're such a skillful swordsman, Tokito-kun!" you compliment him suddenly, almost startling Muichiro. "Even though you're just 14 and have a small build, you seem to have enhanced strength. It was fun clashing blades with you!"

He stares at you. "Fun? You find that fun?"

You nodded, smiling blissfully under the light of the full moon. For a moment, Muichiro was entranced. He never knew a simple smile out of pure joy can be so magical to look at. And he sees grateful faces almost everyday. The people who he have saved would always thank him and smile, happy to be saved and alive. That felt good for him, of course, but seeing you smile such a wonderful smile felt different. It felt foreign to him. Now, he thought if you smile like that and he was the reason...

He felt as if his temperature went up by a few degrees. Is he sick? What's with the sudden high in temperature?

"T-Tokito-kun! Are you okay?" You ask with concern clear in your voice. "You're face is red..." you scooch closer to him. It only made his temperature higher. "May I?" you ask, gesturing if you can place your hand on his forehead. He nodded slowly. You place your hand on his forehead; resulting to an even hotter and redder Muichiro. "You're hot...you should call it a day and get some rest."

Muichiro just kept nodding. He didn't know why his temperature keeps getting higher and higher. What made him question the most is his fondness of you getting concerned for him. Somehow, this felt different from Shinobu and the Kakushis aiding him after missions. He couldn't control himself and lets you pamper him more. This was such a nostalgic feeling for him. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember anything.

All he knows is that he craves for more of your genuine care and concern for him.

You stood. "I'll walk with you to your residence before anything happens to you. I'll tell the others that we'll take our leave-"

You stop mid-sentence, surprised. Muichiro was holding unto your haori, his head low. He was feeling ashamed and good of himself at the same time.

"It's fine, they're too drunk to notice we're gone anyway." He says softly. His voice alarms you.

"A-are you okay?!" You place both your hands on his cheeks and crouched a little to level your eyes with his. It was probably a bad idea because the only thing you can think of is...

Adorable.

A d o r a b l e.

Muichiro was so cute for you at that moment, being red in the face with an embarassed expression.

But you forced yourself to come back to reality. "Tokito-kun, you're burning up! Can you walk?"

His hands slightly shakes as he clasped your hands and put them down. You give him space to stand, flushed about your actions and thoughts earlier. He stands successfully, but when he takes a step, his face almost meets the ground before you catch him.

"How can you have a blank expression right now..." You mumble to yourself as you examine Muichiro to see if he hurt himself. "This will be embarassing for you, but I need you to cooperate with me before you get a fever or flu." He stares at you expectantly.

° ° °

This was definitely not what he had in his mind.

He was riding on your back. A piggyback ride.

You gave him a piggyback ride. He wasn't sure what to feel about this.

"Tokito-kun, hold onto me or you'll fall." You say.

"...o-okay." His wraps his arms around your neck as he let his head rest on you, feeling flustered.

He admits that you are strong. You've proven that to him clearly. And it somehow gave him a sense of security when you're like this with him. The feeling also felt...nostalgic. He couldn't remember what, but it isn't like he's trying hard though.

The crickets were noisy tonight, and the cool breeze is making the leaves of trees rustle. The wisteria trees seems to be glowing with the moon. Deep in his heart, Muichiro wished to stay like this for the rest of the night.

"Are you okay back there?" You ask quietly, in case he was asleep.

He hummed in response. Now he understands why he was so drawn to your voice. Your voice was like a soothing and sweet lull to him. He can listen to you talk all day without even trying. Such a sweet and kind sound...

"Keep talking." He says blandly. He craves more of your voice.

"Oh, okay..." You decided this was a chance to get to know him better! "Do you like to cloud-gaze, Tokito-kun?"

He wanted to listen to you, but he doesn't mind talking with you. "Mhm. They're nice to look at."

"They are since they can form into familiar shapes. I like the stars better though." You smile to yourself. Stars were very beautiful, and you can't help but feel jealous of their beauty.

"You said that you had fun earlier...why so?"

You give it a thought before answering. "Most people would feel anxious about being in a fight, but it's a different case for me. I feel excitement runnung through my veins instead. The sound of swords clashing, the raspy breathing I'll have because of exhaustion...it gives me such an adrenaline rush!" Your eyes sparkled. "Of course, I was against of the idea of fighting you though."

Muichiro stays quiet, waiting for a reason why.

"You're just so cute, Tokito-kun!"

He blushed. Hard.

His heart was beatung way too fast than it should be, and he was starting to sweat. He fiddled with his fingers and attempts to hide his face in your soft hair even though you can't see his reaction. But you can feel his heartbeat against you. You laughed is response.

"Cut it out."

"I'm just being honest."

"Yeah, cut it out."

You let out a giggle, making Muichiro blush even more. What the hell is happening to him?

° ° °

Everyday since then, he was clingy towards you. He was always beside you during meetings, eating meals with the other pillars, sometimes when you chat with Shinobu and Mitsuri. The other pillars were aware of what Muichiro is showing you, but they decided to shut their mouths to tease him. It was obvious he has no idea what he's doing, moreover what he feels about you. Whenever he would give you space, though, he would sit on the engawa and 'cloud-gaze'. That's what he claims. In reality, he would watch you. If he can't be beside you, it doesn't mean he can't watch you, right? Whenever you look at his direction though, he would look up and pretend that he's been watching the clouds this whole time.

"[Y/N]-chan~." Mitsuri calls you with a sly smile. "Have you not noticed it yet?"

You tilt your head in confusion.

"It seems like she has no idea, actually." Shinobu laughs.

You blink. "What?"

Mitsuri giggled like a five-year-old. "[Y/N], you're too cute for your own good."

"I think the right word is dense." Shinobu adds.

"Please don't compare me to Tomioka-san..." You sheepishly smile, half-joking. Shinobu is happy at your response.

She has a bad influence on you regarding Tomioka.

"Really though. You don't see it?" Mitsuri asks. Shinobu turns to Muichiro, who was looking at your direction. Shinobu waves at him with an innocent smile. He was about to hesitantly wave back, when you turned to him. His face was tinted with an obvious color of red and quickly looked down.

Oh. That's what they meant.

"Do you see it now?"

You nodded, feeling a bit flustered as well. Honestly, you've noticed this behaviour already last week. You didn't want to be full of yourself as you thought it was only you, so you shook the thought off. But knowing that the pillars noticed as well...

Your heart skipped a beat.

Muichiro is fun to be with. He had this side you never knew he had. And you noticed that he only shows that side to you. He was adorable, yes, but he had this charming side to him as well. And the smile he always gives you.

You fiddle at the sleeves of your haori, embarassed. You like him as well. Though all this time you kept convincing yourself that he only sees you as a big sister, since you're older and taller than him.

"[Y/N]-chan! You're sooooo cute!" Mitsuri squealed, pulling you into a tight embrace.

"M-Mitsuri-san!" You stutter. Shinobu just laughs. Your reaction was adorable for them.

° ° °

"Muichiro-kun!"

Later that afternoon, you dcided to spend it with Muichiro. Your heart is already beating out of your chest.

He was silent and just stared at you. You blink a few times. Did you do something wrong? Did he know what you and the other female pillars talked about earlier?

"W-what's wrong?" You ask before you sit beside him on the engawa.

He stares at the ground for a minute before answering. "Rengoku-san and Uzui-san told me something. I'm not sure if it's true..."

~

The Sound and Flame pillar had given Muichiro a pep talk this morning.

"Tokito, you like [L/N]." Uzui says bluntly.

Muichiro just stared at him. "I know that. Doesn't everyone like her though?"

Rengoku laughed heartily while Uzui face palmed.

"Young Tokito! It seems that you have not realized your feelings yet!"

"Yeah, no shit."

Muichiro just wants to walk away at this point, but Rengoku grabbed his shoulders.

"Tokito...you must know what love is, right?"

He nodded.

"Then let me rephrase Uzui's statement; Tokito, you love [Y/N]."

Muichiro processed what he said. After a few seconds, his face basically exploded. Does he love you? LOVE? Well, he likes the other pillars as well, but he likes you more though. He always wants to lean on you, smile with you, be safe with you...

...to be with you...

Muichiro wanted to stab himself with his sword.

"Question is, does she love you back?" Uzui adds.

Now Muichiro wanted to stab him.

"Why don't you ask her?" Rengoku smiles radiantly.

Now Muichiro wants to stab both of them.

"Just tell her this, then if she reacts this way, you'll know." Uzui winks. "We've got your back."

~

Can't he just stab himself right now?

"What's that?" You tilt your head a little.

You cute bundle of joy. How the hell is he supposed to say that to you?

He takes a deep breath. "[Y-Y/N]..." he started the statement, too late to back down now. "...I want to be with you."

You stare at him. His head was low, but you can see how red his face is. After some processing, you were a blushing mess.

"E-eehhh?!"

"B-before you say anything...!" he finally looks up at you. He froze. You were very red in the face. Your eyes were darting around. You were fiddling with your hands and hair.

All the reactions Uzui stated.

"...You're more beatiful than the stars!" He exclaimed almost too loudly. "You don't have to compare yourself with the stars. You're pretty just the way you are."

You swear, you're gonna have a heart attack soon.

"A-and I want to take care of you. You make me feel safe. You make me feel like I don't have to draw my sword when I'm around you, but I'll protect you too! My memories aren't back but that doesn't matter as long as I get to see you smile everyday..." he finished. His knuckles were white, anxious and afraid to what you will say.

You finally calmed down and smiled softly. You wrap your hands around his own, making him look at you. You were both a blushing mess, but you were more calm now. You kiss his nose and rest your forehead against his.

"I feel the same way. Thank you for coming into my life. Let's protect each other, Muichiro-kun."

Muichiro has never felt so happy, and hummed in agreement. You stayed like that for what felt like forever.

° ° °

"Muichiro-kun, give this to Tanjiro and the others at the Pillar Training later." You hand him 3 bento boxes and kiss him on the forehead. He was disappointed he can't do the same since you're taller, but you still appreciate his surprise kisses on your cheek.

"Can't you delay the mission just a little bit?" he pouted. You giggle at his cuteness.

"I'm sorry I have to go, Mui, but I promise I'll be back before midnight, okay?" he placed the bento boxes down and hugged you tight.

He regained his memories a while back and met a kind hearted boy named Tanjiro. Though your first meeting was a bit rough, the both of you were very fond of him and soon became close with him and his demon sister. Tanjiro and Nezuko, as well as most of the pillars, are supportive of your relationship. While Zenitsu, Inosuke, Shinazugawa and Iguro woukd either be pretending to throw up or disapproves, or just gets jealous and tries to snatch you away (mostly Zenitsu, and his reason would always be 'because you're the same age', resulting with Muichiro training him harder than ever.)

"You better be back. I'll be waiting for your return." he tries to sound intimidating, despite smiling.

You wave at him as he waves back. "Don't be too harsh on training today!" And you set off.

° ° °

"You're a strong one. You only survived from that attack."

The smell of blood was pungent as at least dozens of corpses clothed in either yukatas and kimonos or the black demon slayer uniform were lying on the cold ground.

"T-this was s-supposed to be a mission suitable for us Tsuchinoto, then an upper moon shows up...!" the demon slayer tells himself, shaking in fear under the intimidating eyes - 6 eyes - of the demon. He attempts to kill him, before--

"Breath of Air, Second form: Jagged Pierce Breathing."

You saved the confused and afraid demon slayer before the demon lands a blow. His arm sprayed blood all over in a zigzag, before the wounds completely closed.

"Run. Escape, and report immediately." You tell him. He didn't hesitate and ran away as fast as he can, but it was useless. The demon had caught up to him and killed him on the spot.

"Breath of Air? In all my years, I haven't heard of that one." he says, as if he didn't just kill a person. As if nothing happened.

His presence made your skin crawl with fear. You gripped tightly on the tails of the ribbon tied to your sword until your knuckles turned white. You can't move, afraid that a single step might do harm on you from him just by looking at you. You took in the scene - the horrifying scene. Adrenaline coursed through your veins. It was a different kind; it wasn't the same as you've always felt when you fight. A new emotion slowly envelopes you.

"I guess you're about to know." You say as fear turned to rage. Without you knowing, a demon slayer mark has appeared on your wrist. Then you see everyone's smiling faces flash before you one by one. Muichiro was last and the longest. Then it ocurred to you.

Upper Moon One.

You're not gonna survive this fight.

You weren't sure if you were gonna win or not.

But you'll die trying. You quietly apologize to Muichiro for breaking your promise.

The demon, with a blank expression, says to you;

"Don't disappoint me."

° ° °

Everyone was at their own home. Enjoying the morning, or eating breakfast, or training. Either way, everyone was calm and peaceful. Then the color of the crow, dark, have influenced the moods of the ones closest to [Y/N] as their own crows brought the news.

The pillars were in disbelief. Mitsuri cried while Shinobu was on the verge of tears, but tried to remain calm. "First, Rengoku-san, now..." She couldn't continue her sentence. Shinazugawa's hatred for the demons only increased as he almost grew violent to the point of almost destroying his own dojo. Uzui heard the news and visited the Ubuyashiki Estate, meeting the other pillars there. They also had a meeting so everyone was present, even Uzui when he's already reitred. Muichiro was the only one who didn't show. Oyakata-sama had exempted him from the meeting.

Muichiro was the last to hear the news. His crow brought along with the news a tattered and bloodied ribbon. Its natural blue color was barely visible because of the blood. He lost his brother, then Rengoku, then you...

You, who brought joy to his world. You, where he can only feel safe. You, who would braid your hair, gaze at the clouds and stars with him, train with him, eat with him and with friends, live happily with him...

At first, he couldn't believe it. But his crow wasn't done delivering the message as it didn't fly away yet. His usually obnoxious crow was quiet, as it can feel the tremendous amount of emotions he's feeling. He saw a piece of parchment tied to its leg. With shaking hands, he carefully unties the parchment from its leg and read what it said.

There, written in blood with your familiar handwriting.

"I love you."

That's where he broke down. The words he always wanted to say. You managed to say it to him first, even after you have died. His sobs were loud. He never cried like this. He never felt this kind of pain before since hmthe death of his brother.

He felt absolutely broken. He misses your soothing voice already.

Tanjiro arrives with Nezuko on his back, who seemed to have been crying on the way. He comforted him as best as he could.

His chest hurt as he brought the ribbon close to him. The only piece of your memory.

After a few months, Muichiro have regained himself and did his best at training the demon slayers, doing his job as a pillar, and making up to Oyakata-sama for not showing up to a lot of meetings. When he was done for the day, he would go straight home and hold your sword that has been delivered to him 2 weeks after your death. On display, a jar decorated with the tattered ribbon stood. Inside were your ashes. Luckily, your battle with the upper moon demon lasted until morning, so you're body was still there. He would always tell you about his day. But he always says the same sentence after he's done.

"[Y/N], you're so unfair..." he whispers. "...you met and seen my brother before me."

° ° °

Muichiro couldn't believe it. In the infinite fortress, there he stood.

Upper Moon One.

The same demon who killed you.

His hands trembled, gripping his sword. He took the ribbon from your jar and have tied it around the hilt of his sword. He can feel his blood boiling. He can feel the anger surge through him as memories of you become fresh on his mind. He was gonna lose it.

"Calm yourself." Your soothing and sweet voice echoed, sounding hollow and afar.

But then a breeze. A breeze that was never meant to be there. A cool breeze as if to cool him down. A breeze where he can breathe. A non-existent breeze.

He can feel your arms hug around his neck; the same way he hugged you that day being carried on your back.

"Breathe. Breathe, Mui, and you will win."

He closed his eyes. "I love you..." he can feel you smile. Soon, he couldn't feel your warmth anymore.

He's gonna avenge you.

Somehow. Even if it kills him.

[stefciastark]

Webpril Day 16 ~ Paparazzi

A/N: Here we are upon request :) Tony gives Peter the VIP experience at the Stark Expo, but something's not quite right with Tony, and Peter just wants the world to realise that Iron Man is human after all. Just a short and sweet one, less based on dialogue and more description-focused. It's been an exhausting few days and the headache struggles have been real, so here we are.

~Read it on AO3

~Read it on FFN

“Here you go, Mr Stark.”

“Thanks, kid.”

The room was dark. Really dark. Not ‘can’t see your hands in front of your eyes’ dark, but to anyone else without Peter’s enhanced eyesight, tripping would be easier than walking.

Peter scrunched his nose at the strength of the aroma coming from the cotton cloth he passed to Tony. He wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if the smell of lavender and peppermint clung to the curtains, sheets, or anything else for at least three months. Even then…

“You sure you’re okay?” Peter hovered by the door, unsure whether he should stay or leave Tony on his own. The last thing he wanted to do was overstep any boundaries.

“Yeah, nothing anything I haven’t dealt with before,” Tony murmured, hand over his eyes, his brow tense and pinched in obvious discomfort.

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

It had all started a few hours prior. The Stark Expo was on once again, and Tony spared no extravagance for the kid. Peter was going to have the VIP pass. This included accompanying Tony in his top-of-the-line limousine that housed bottles of scotch more expensive than Peter even wanted to imagine (not that he’d be trying any), delicious canapes that seemed to appear out of nowhere from a cylindrical table in the corner between the leather seats, and the paparazzi.

The paparazzi is where everything had slowly fallen apart. Peter should have known something was going on with Tony when the sunglasses donned by the billionaire were tinted a profound level of dark. Whilst wearing sunglasses indoors – even at night - wasn’t unusual for Tony, having the lenses look like two black holes should have tipped Peter off.

The moment they stepped out of the limousine, the cameras blinded Peter, and it felt like he was at a rave party hosted by his high school; everything seemed chaotic and disorganised. He didn’t know where to look, and it was so overwhelming that if it weren’t for Tony’s hand between his shoulders guiding him, he would’ve gotten lost on his way up the red carpet.

Meanwhile, Tony was just trying to grin and bear it. Each flash of the cameras was like another knife drilling into his skull, the layers upon layers of loud voices making his head swim. Of course he would develop a Class A migraine on one of the few days he wanted to keep his shit together.

Tony could see the bewildered look in Peter’s eyes and smiled inwardly. He was sure Peter would one day get used to the celebrity treatment; that is, if he chose to go public about his identity…and if he chose the same ostentatious lifestyle. Not like it had been a choice for Tony.

Fast forward to Tony’s opening night speech and presentation, and Peter was growing anxious. From his front row seat, he could see the way Tony swayed slightly and struggled to deliver the words even though the teleprompter was directly in his eyeline. Journalists and paparazzi alike sent flashes of bright light into Tony’s eyes from where they stood below the elevated stage. The flashing coming from the lights displays that accompanied Tony’s grand-finale announcement on the future of sustainable Stark-sponsored energy didn’t seem to be helping either.

An enthusiastic round of applause alongside hearty cheers signalled the end of the Stark Expo launch, and Peter was one of the first to stand up from his seat and make his way backstage to where Tony had told Peter to meet him after the opening speech. Peter needed to know what was going on with him, and he already had some suspicions.

“Hey, uh yeah hi, have you seen Mr Stark?” Peter had grabbed the attention of one of the security staff and his question was met with a wordless and curt shake of their head. With a mumbled ‘thanks’, he darted between the various makeup tables and costume storage, where he eventually wound up in the sound and lighting section.

For a place that dealt with sound and lighting, it was oddly silent and surprisingly dim. The shade of light that was there was warm, emanating from various box lights that were scattered throughout the space. He was reaching the end of the backstage halls, and the only place he hadn’t looked were the VIP bathrooms. Peter could see why they would be placed behind the sound and lighting department; they were located in the most private and inconspicuous area, very few people having any need to go back there. Any snooping paparazzi or – Peter was uncomfortable just thinking about the possible breaches of personal privacy – stalkers would have to carve their way through layers of security and staff first. That was if they could navigate the maze of equipment and frankly ridiculous amount of intersecting miniature hallways.

Pushing the door open to the men’s bathroom, he was greeted with sleek black tiles, a marble sink, and a whole lot of other unnecessary décor that made it look like it was out of the 1920s art deco era. Peter had absolutely no doubt that Tony would have payed to have the bathroom refurbished for his own personal use during the Expo.

What also greeted Peter was the sight of Tony shakily emerging from the large handicapped stall at the end of the room, looking like he was simultaneously hungover and had been hit by a car. Peter had seen Tony in far worse conditions, but there was something else about what he saw that made his heart ache in sympathy.

“What’re you doing here Pete?” Tony was leaned over the sink, running his fingers under cool water, and pressing them to his eyelids.

“I was looking for you, you told me to meet you backstage after…” Peter trailed off, frowning at the reappearance of Tony’s sunglasses, his mentor’s deathlike pallor emphasised by the stark contrast in colour of the shades. “Are you okay Mr Stark? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine, just a little headac-” Tony swallowed against the bile that had resurfaced with a vengeance.

Peter winced as Tony darted back into the stall and prayed to the porcelain gods. Admittedly, the situation would have thrown Peter into a complete panic if it weren’t for the fact that – even though he’d never own up to it – Tony was relying on Peter to be the one with good executive function in that moment, and that Aunt May used to get the world’s worst migraines, especially after Uncle Ben died. She still got them, but they were few and far between, and Peter was thankful. Peter hated feeling helpless, and there was so little he could do to take away the pain.

Peter soundlessly joined Tony beside the porcelain altar and bent down, beginning to rub soothing circles onto Tony’s back…which was also when he reached down into Tony’s inner-lining suit pocket and took out his phone.

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

That is how Peter and Tony ended up in Tony’s now fragrant hotel – more like penthouse – unit near the location of the Expo. After Peter had nabbed Tony’s phone whilst his head was back in the VIP washroom’s immaculate toilet, he had called Happy to pick them up. Tony hadn’t complained.

After Peter exhausted his migraine-care repertoire – years of Aunt May’s killer headaches gave him a pretty good arsenal - Peter had bid Tony goodnight, and he made himself comfortable under the soft white linen sheets. The whole room smelled of fabric softener and expensive cologne. The muted TV played an early episode of Friends, keeping him company while he couldn’t sleep, all his senses still too overstimulated from the excitement and atmosphere of the evening.

Laying in the silence, Peter then realised what it was about the whole situation that made feel a profound sense of sadness. It was how human it all was. It was that despite the flashing lights, expensive limousines, lavish lifestyle, and paparazzi, it wasn’t Iron Man walking up the red carpet, comforting hand on Peter’s back. It wasn’t Iron Man sneaking off to the VIP bathroom to try and hold himself together in private. It was Tony Stark, who the world seemed to have forgotten was mortal, fragile, and human.

[muwi-translates]

Otomate Party 2019 Collar x Malice Drama “Reverse reality”

Short drama featured in Otopa 2019, this was also shown in the 2020 Otomate New Title Party livestream. 

HEAVY BASE GAME SPOILERS. There’s also some minor spoilers AND a CG spoiler for -Unlimited-. Either way, don’t read this if you have not finished the first game.

Highly recommend that you watch while you read, it will 100% enhance the experience. It’s also because there are some ad-libs that are better experienced while you can see the voice actors and be able to hear the crowd. Here is a timestamped link to the section (if it doesn’t jump there, it starts at 15:23)

**Please don’t move this translation or claim it as your own.**

---

Yanagi: 20XX, December. Vicious events that have been committed in succession have disrupted social order. Known as the X-Day Incidents, we, who were former police officers, have been investigating--

Okazaki: Aha, wait, Yanagi-san~

Yanagi: Okazaki…Don’t interrupt others when they’re starting their monologue.

Okazaki: Sorry, but this time it doesn’t look like we need a very serious atmosphere.

Yanagi: What did you say?

Okazaki: The title seems to be wrong, it’s actually this:

[Title: It was just a dream]

Yanagi: What?

Okazaki: Shall I give you a summary then?

Okazaki: On a day in 20XX, a party was being held in a corner of Shinjuku. Thanks to the magic of Otopa (Otomate Party), in a place where time and space become twisted, a group of people who normally cannot meet have gathered…

---

Yanagi: An izakaya… no, I really don’t understand what’s—

Shiraishi: If it were just Yanagi-kun, Okazaki-kun and I… 

Saeki: I feel like I’m intruding, sorry about that.

Mikuni: There should be no need to apologise. We were also forcibly brought here when we were busy.

Okazaki: Soooo… I believe that one is Ichika-chan’s co-worker from the police station, Saeki-kun, right?

Saeki: Yup.

Okazaki: And that one is the politician Mikuni-san?

Mikuni: Yes. I also know who you are very well. You’re the people from the detective agency who are investigating the X-Day incidents by yourselves. Since you’ve also been investigating the identity of the mastermind of Adonis, you must have discovered our involvement by now.

Yanagi: Hmph. Not gonna bother to hide it? Should I treat this as your confession?

Shiraishi: Hey, Yanagi-kun, you don’t have to think that much this time. All that about the incidents, arrests, they all don’t exist~

Yanagi: Excuse me?

Saeki: Ah, they told me before I came here, Today, let’s just throw away all that messy stuff from the main story. We can’t go dropping spoilers, yeah?

Okazaki: Haha, yup, it’s Otomate Party, after all.

Saeki: Yup, hehe~

Okazaki: So that means that it’s Saeki-kun and Mikuni-san’s first time meeting us, isn’t it?

Saeki: Ah, I know Shiraishi-san since he’s pretty famous in the Shinjuku station… but that’s about it.

Shiraishi: Ahaha… Mikuni-san, this should be fine, yes?

Mikuni: Are you trying to say that I should pretend I don’t know you, Num—

Shiraishi: Waitwaitwait… If you say it then what’s the point?

Yanagi: …Not enough...

Okazaki: Hm? Yanagi-kun, what’s wrong?

Shiraishi: Is there something wrong with your account book?

Yanagi: ...Not enough of Enomoto’s complaints...

Okazaki: Ah…. mm…. We do have a serious shortage of complaining.

Yanagi: Whatever. I can call you Mikuni, right?

Mikuni: Yes, even though I didn’t allow you to call me by name. The only one who has permission to do so is--

Shiraishi: S-S-Stop, didn’t we just say not to talk about the personal identity of that person today?

Yanagi: I can’t believe it… that Shiraishi’s thinking of other people?

Okazaki: Wait a second, Saeki-kun’s being left behind. I’m sorry, making you feel uncomfortable.

Saeki: It’s no problem, but… maybe I’m not meant to be here? You’re all important characters in the main story. I’m probably the youngest character amongst everyone here. Plus I’m just the friend of the protagonist.

Okazaki: What’s up with the weird reaction from the audience?

Saeki: You must be mistaken!

Okazaki: I must be! Haha~

Saeki: Hahaha

Okazaki: Ah, now that I remember, I’m so jealous you’re Ichika-chan’s coworker. I heard you two go out drinking together a lot.

Yanagi: That’s right, Saeki’s the only one who knows Hoshino well here.

Shiraishi: She’s still cautious with us, so I’m very interested in what kind of person she is.

Saeki: He~eh, Hosino’s pretty popular. But all I know is that she’s a really normal person. She’s always doing her best, and straightforwardly. Sometimes she can be discouraged and be in low spirits, but when she’s angry, she can be really scary. Ah! And when she gets drunk, she laughs a lot and gets really passionate when she talks to me.

Mikuni: …Is that it?

Saeki: Hm?

Mikuni: If Ichika Hoshino is as normal as you say then I believe she should not have been chosen by Adonis.

Yanagi: Oi, Mikuni, what do you mean?

Saeki: Oh… I don’t know how Adonis thinks, but I think she’s strong because she’s normal.

Mikuni: I don’t understand, even if I do want to, since she holds the key to us.

Saeki: Ahaha, to a brilliant politician like you, our worlds are completely different.

Shiraishi: ...Sorry, I can’t stand this anymore.

Yanagi: I can’t believe it… that Shiraishi’s losing his cool!

Okazaki: Truly a rare sight to behold.

Okazaki: That said, we’re in front of a gathering of girls, we shouldn’t be this aggressive. If our goal is to become friends, why don’t we play a game?

Shiraishi: Do you mean the friendship games that Okazaki-kun and Mineo-kun always play?

Yanagi: Those? It’s going to get more chaotic if so many people start drinking tequila. 

Okazaki: Then what about a ‘revelation game’? We’ll reveal our true thoughts on the subject written on the back of these cards. And you have to answer the question no matter what it is.

Saeki: Oh, I like it! I’d be happy to get to know everyone better.

Mikuni: It’s of no loss to me if I get information from you.

Shiraishi: Then let’s go clockwise from Yanagi-kun.

Yanagi: Why do I have to go first? Nothing I can do about it-- IT’S MY TURN.

[Card: What kind of gestures do you like in a woman?]

Yanagi: Gestures? I haven’t really thought about it, something like tying long hair into a bun, I guess?

Saeki: Ah, I get that! It looks really nice when they’re wearing a yukata.

Shiraishi: Really? Should I tie my hair like that?

Yanagi: I didn’t ask.

Mikuni: I see. I’ll add this to the data we have on Aiji Yanagi.

Yanagi: I. Didn’t. Ask.

Okazaki: Then it’s my turn next. What’ll it be~?

[Card: What’s something you want a woman to say to you?]

Yanagi: Is this really about friendship?

Okazaki: Hm… I can feel the coercive energy of Otopa… it’s like... a heavy pressure.

Saeki: Okazaki-san looks like he’s pretty popular. I wanna learn from you.

Okazaki: Haha, you sound like Mineo-kun. Words I want to hear from a woman… Yanagi-san, it’s better to give a more restrained answer, right?

Yanagi: Yeah, it might be bad if you’re too careless, ah, but there’s still a chance. I’d rather you say something that can be visualised, it’s okay if you say something that can’t. Anyway, I’m leaving it up to you.

Okazaki: I’m just going to follow what’s in the script, then.

Okazaki: The golden phrase “I don’t want to go back”. If she said it like that, it would be impossible not to want her.

Shiraishi: I don’t get it, what kind of situation wouldn’t let her go home? Does she work at a bad company?

Mikuni: Perhaps her family situation is complicated?

Saeki: Uh, are you two really fully-grown men?

Yanagi: ...Enomoto… come here quickly… I’ll even take Namikawa (Daisuke)!

Shiraishi: It’s my turn next, right?

[Card: What kind of food do you want a woman to make for you?]

Shiraishi: Hm. Nothing in particular. I could just make it myself.

Okazaki: So dreamless! Shiraishi-san, you always eat such dull things. Don’t you ever crave some homemade food?

Shiraishi: Then Yanagi-kun will make something for me, so no.

Yanagi: Oi, I’m not your mother.

Mikuni: So Aiji Yanagi has the ability to win people’s hearts with good food. This cannot be underestimated.

Shiraishi: No matter how you say it, home made food is--

Saeki: [Slams his cup down] No! There’s stuff like meat and potato stew! And karage! That’s romantic!

Okazaki: Oh… Saeki-kun’s drunk. When did he drink that much?

Saeki: Pfft- I ain’t drunk! The night’s still young~!

Yanagi: The alcohol’s gone to his head, here, drink some water.

Mikuni: It might be better to lie down, come over here…

Saeki: Nuh-uh. I wanna play… the revelation game!!!

[Card: What’s your type of woman?]

Saeki: Ooh! My type of woman… let me think. Of course, she’s gotta be cute… has style, she’s good at cooking. Someone who’s usually honest, but sticks to their beliefs… and responsible with work.

Shiraishi: So someone who’s similar to you? Or someone who has the same type of thinking as you?

Okazaki: Also… this… sounds similar to Ichika-chan.

Saeki: Hm? Nah, we’re not like that--

Mikuni: --Enough. I should be going back soon.

Yanagi: Oi, what’s with you all of a sudden--

Okazaki: Ah… my vision… it’s weird… Yanagi-san...

Yanagi: What’s going on… this sound…

Shiraishi: Ah, is it over already?

Mikuni: We have fully obtained the information required for analysis. You must be satisfied too?

Okazaki: What… it hurts…--

---

Okazaki: *gasps* Huh? ...A dream? My bad, did I wake you up? No, I’m okay. I just had a weird dream. Good morning. Is your body okay? Last night I went too-- ah! Hehe, so cute~

I didn’t forget. Our promise that we were going on a date today. But I just want to hold you all the time, because you’re too cute. So cute it’s trouble.

If I kissed you like this outside you’d get angry at me, right? So… can you let me keep you all to myself just for a little longer?

---

Shiraishi: Hm? Was I asleep? I was reading to the children… it looks like I fell asleep when we were together. Eh? You were looking at my sleeping face? What’s that about, so unfair. You know I wanted to see yours too. I’ll see it someday. That’s right, there’s still ‘someday’ after this…

I still think it’s strange even now. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t know that the sun was this warm, or that the breeze is so pleasant. Just holding hands with you makes my chest hurt. Even though I still have to make you feel lonely for a little while longer, don’t worry. Because we’re connected under the same sky.

---

Mikuni: Ah, it’s you. Are you reporting something for work? My complexion is bad? No… I just had a strange dream. How rare for you to worry about me. I know, this is just superficial rhetoric used by subordinates. However, after talking with you over these past few days, the way I deal with people seems to have changed.

I… quite clearly think that you are annoying, but I do not hate you. Even in a hell like this, the light in your eyes has not disappeared. It seems that I am drawn to your strength. 

No… forget what I said. That was just a joke that will disappear one day like illusions.

---

Saeki: Ah, sorry, I was just a little dazed. ...Careful! Almost dropped the crepe. It’s already sunset, after we finish, we should go. 

…! Don’t make that kind of expression. Hey, Hoshino. I know you’re at your wit’s end trying to figure out what path you want to take. You must have already decided in your heart, right? 

I see… I’ll always support you no matter what decision you make. And… I’ll resist like you are until the very end, if this is the ‘justice’ you believe in.

It’s sad, but let’s finish our date here today. Hey, will you go on another with me? 

Haha, how cold… I still want to be with you like this. That’s why, see you again.

---

Yanagi: ...It’s still night.... You’re awake? I sounded like I was in pain? ...I made you worry. It’s okay, it wasn’t the dream I usually have. ...It wasn’t the same, but I guess it was still a nightmare. 

Can I hold you? It’s not that I feel uneasy. It’s just that I can feel peaceful when I can feel you next to me. As long as you’re smiling next to me, I can push away any nightmare no matter what it’s about. And I can believe that I can welcome the dawn the next day.

We have the day off today, don’t we? Let’s go somewhere. I want to walk with you, through the streets of the Shinjuku I love.