#a phase where she speaks like ''by the gods you fight dirty like a dog without chains nor master--join my superhero group my cousin-!!''

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 2]

Lost and confused? Read this post to catch up!

Chapter 6: Dear Diary, I Couldn’t Find My Diary...

It’s still one more day until move in! Luckily for me, I don’t have to babysit anyone’s brat on this fine Sunday.

“Hey mom” I called out for my mom from the couch “can we watch your iconic fight?”

“Oh sure! I have it saved under high school fights on the digital library” she yelled back from the laundry room “it should be the first one on the list.”

I scroll through the digital library on the TV and the robo doggy jumped up on the couch to take their ‘nap’.

“It still creeps me out that your robo does normal dog functions” Hoshi spoke up.

“Huh? What’s so weird about it?” I asked genuinely confused on their feeling.

“Like they bark, talk, sleep, growl and even pretends to eat at meal times” he looks at the little robo “I didn’t know these things were programed like that.”

“Oh this is the original robo dog and my mom and her friends made for their intel class project” I found the section mom what talking about as I talked “this one has a completely different set of internal devices and mechanics from what’s produced now. Uncle Jin says this AI is different too, Mr Muffins is programed to be a house pet, security bot and learning AI but this was his best at that time.” I tried to remember what else Jin told me “Oh! and his coat was hand sewn by my mom and repaired over the years to preserve the memory of her childhood pet.”

“That’s so sweet actually” Hoshi had a change of heart and pet the napping robo “looks like the rest is history huh?”

“Yup, speaking of” I click on the video “heres the video of that fight.”

We watched the video in awe on how the first two teams failed in the beginning and how my mom, Mimi and Jin just plow through the beginning like nothing. I noticed on how much they didn’t use quirks unless it was necessary for escape. Their roles changed so much in the fight and they all take turns taking the lead, that gave me a few ideas for new formations. We finally got to the part that made the fight iconic.

“Oh hey, that’s my dad and his friends” Hoshi’s eyes lit up “look how young they look! Heh I see why Nejire calls Tamaki chicken feet! Man’s feet are exposed, toes looking like they belong on a farm.”

I stifle my laugher and playfully hit Hoshi “Shut up! I’m trying to pay attention to the fight!”

He stayed quiet as the next part was crazy! I don’t even know how to describe it other than mom tricked all three of them into capture. The last part where she phased into the ground to escape the man’s grip to pop back up, naked and finished the electrical field for the kill. Ending the video with them holding hands as they cross the finish line. My jaw was on the floor.

“That was incredible! Your mom’s friends are just” Hoshi was trying to find the right words “I don’t even know what to say! Why does my dad even bother with those three? Anybody with common sense wouldn’t pick another fight with those three after an ass beating like that!”

“Didn’t they tell you?” my dad said, startling us.

“Tell us what?” Hoshi and I said curiously.

“Your mom and your dad used to date” my dad casually dropped as he took a sip of his canned orange juice “back in my first year, it didn’t last obviously, but that really put your mom on the popular scope at school. And this fight dethroned Mirio from his popular status and made your mom the one to take the spot.”

“My dad dated your mom?” Hoshi was in disbelief “that makes sense! His weird obsession with her and why your mom doesn’t want to work with him” he put everything together in his head “my dad has been harassing her for years because she was the only one that put him in his place!” 

“It’s my specialty!” Mom chimed in with a basket of fresh laundry “your dad had this whole plan to convert me into a hero because I was over powered and rare combination of double quirked. His plan fell through when he got me mad and broke up with me weeks later” she smirked “jokes on him, I hid my second quirk and gave him the slip in that fight when I showed up. If you should learn anything about me, it’s that I’m always 10 steps ahead of the enemy.”

“It’s true, that’s why you’re the queen of spars” my dad put his arm around her waist “smart, beautiful, powerful and witty...And all mine.”

Mom sneered at dad’s move on her but blushed “O si? Okay then Casanova” she phased right through him and replaced her hips with the laundry basket so he was holding it instead “you can put your laundry away, King of Order!”

“Aw I thought I got you there” dad laughed and sighed “all these years and I can’t land a single upper handed flirt.”

“10 steps ahead!” Mom said as she walked away “never forget it babe!”

“Mr. Iida, why did you continue to pursue her?” Hoshi asked like a child asking where babies come from “she was clearly out of your league in so many ways.”

“I was friends with her before we dated, we were so close and she opened up to me about her traumas when I was being nosey” Dad fixed his grip on the basket “and I kept those secrets along with other secrets. We had a deep trust and a different kind of bond that didn’t cross the line. So love wasn’t too far off and boy was I the stubborn one.”

I love my parent’s dynamic to the point of wanting what they have for each other. That gave me an idea once my dad went upstairs. “Let me show you my favorite home video!” I pull up my parent’s wedding video.

“Look how young your parents are!” Hoshi awed “OH THOSE ARE MY PARENTS!” he yelped as he pointed at a couple in the background “and my mom was pregnant so that means my brother is in there and my older brother was maybe like 2 or 3 at the time.” He sighed “what a lovely wedding, your uncle and aunty really know how to plan a wedding!”

“Right?! But my favorite part is coming up” we watch as the video transitioned from my parents running out of the church to the reception “here, the first dances are my favorite!”

Hoshi watched the dances with awe “Oh! That’s the ballroom move you came up with! This is were you got it from?”

“Yup, it’s my favorite dance move but obviously I need a partner to perform it” I sighed “I really like ballroom dancing but I was really good at ballet that I just stuck with it and didn’t do much ballroom when I was in my private lessons.”

Hoshi stands up and sticks his hand out “You have me, let’s dance together!”

I giggled “I’d be a fool to refuse a dance from you!” I take his hand and we clumsily danced to pass the time. We didn’t notice my parents looking on from the stairs.

“Is that what we looked like?” Tenya whispered “no wonder everyone pushed me to say something.”

“How do you think I felt? It took so much self control not to kiss you” Ita whispered back “but I’m afraid history is going to repeat itself.”

“Oh those poor kids are going drive themselves crazy” Tenya sighed then smiled “but I’d do it all again and fix the last part of 3rd year.”

“I’d just connect the kiss at the dance, get all the weird shit out of the way” Ita slapped Tenya’s ass, startling him “we could’ve skipped the after party and jumped straight into bed with you~”

Tenya turned red from the bold statement “Well, that’d still be one of the best nights of my high school years.”

-Dorm move in day-

Both of my parents decided to come even though I asked them just drop us off at the curb of the dorms. I don’t mind my mom accompanying me, it’s my dad I’m concerned about. He tends to get emotional every time I go through a new phase of life, it’s embarrassing.

“OH HONEY LOOK!” dad pointed at the commons room “they kept the cat tree!”

“Oh shit that means-” mom gasped as she searched for something in the room. Dad joined her in the search.

“Um, who’s the weirdos in the commons room?” asked a passing classmate that stopped to see.

I sighed stressfully “Those weirdos are my parents and I have no idea what they’re looking for.”

“FOUND THEM!” my mom jumped up with a cat in her hands “Tenya look! They’re a chonky wonky.”

We watch as my parents coo and pet the cat “Oh gross they’re baby talking the cat” I take a deep breath “it’s like they’re teenagers!”

“I think it’s cute that they act like they’re still young” Hoshi chuckled “so carefree and madly in love with each other, couple goals.”

Sensei walks out of their quarters and spots my parents “Ugh it’s like I’M in high school again” he rubbed his forehead “get a room! geez and put Clawford down!”

“It’s name is Clawford?!” my mom squealed “so cute ahhhhh! I’m gonna cry!”

“Sensei, can we get the dorms unlocked?” said the classmate “I just remembered what I came out here for heh.”

“OH? They’re locked?” sensei and our classmate walk off.

“Locked? Hmm, I wonder if I can warp in my old room” mom pondered as she put the cat on the cat tree “it’s this first one in this hall.”

“That’s the boys side?” I observed.

“The school did your mom so dirty with the accommodations our first year” my dad explained “she lived among the boys hall, used the shared bathroom with us and did laundry in the shared laundry room until 2nd year” he pointed out the window “then she moved into the proper dorms, right over there with your uncle and aunty.”

“Oh my god TENYA COME!” my mom cried out as she opened the door of her old room. My dad ran in and we followed “they got balconies! do you know how much easier life here could’ve been if we had these!”

I watch my parents geek out again, then I looked at the name plate “Hmm, this isn’t a claimed room.” I turned around to see the other door’s name plate “wanna find your room Hoshi?”

“Sure” they walk with me down the hall “I wonder what happened in these halls when your parents where here!”

“A whole lot of my mom causing chaos” I smirked “dad and his friends told me of her iconic roasts and other quips she said that caused big reactions.”

We find his dorm and called my mom over to open it from the inside “Oh this was Shoji’s room!” she reminisced before warping in and opening the door “I wonder what happened to him after that huge fight in Chiyoda a few years back.”

“He’s alive and well but he’s not in hero work” dad answered “but it has been a while since I last spoke to them, maybe we should pay him a visit soon.” 

“Well in any case, Lets get your things from the van Hoshi” mom said as she held her hand out “I’ll warp us there.”

I watch them warp out, then turned to dad “Which one was your room?”

“It was the dorm closest to the shared bathroom” he chopped to the room down the hall “or if you’re everyone else in the class, 5 doors down from the love of my life.”

“Oof that type of classmates” I laughed then I thought about what my mom said about their old classmate “Hey, are you in constant contact with your old classmates? I know the ones that come by the house and invite us to their events, but what about the others?”

“Well, as much as I wanted all of us to stay together like we used to” he fixed his glasses and sighed sadly “I haven’t seen our good friend Aoyama for 10 years, just the occasional video and card. Sato is another good friend that I know is well but runs a business and does hero work, so no time to socialize. Oh and sweet Hagakure, she’s a mystery in itself! Haven’t seen her since I married your mom! Kota travels all over the world lending his voice to help all sorts of animals, not that he talked much to humans anyways. Asui is too wrapped up raising a whole pond of kids nowadays. And I think that’s all of them.”

“Oh that’s not that many” I counted them on my hands “then your class was bigger than mine!”

“Yes but also technically your mom didn’t count in the official count in our hero class” he said as she warped in with all of Hoshi’s boxes “I was just talking about you! And the classmates we haven’t seen in ages.”

“I’m seriously missing Aoyama!” my mom reminisced “my eyes hurt every-time I look at him but I’ll be damned if he didn’t appreciate a good flashy piece!” she turned to me “Okay, your turn to settle in! I saw more people roll up.”

“Oh shit okay!” I refocused on moving in “see you later Hoshi!” Later found my room on the next floor up and took more time than I thought getting things laid out. I walk out to my balcony and see what I can put to occupy the space I didn’t plan for. Then my attention was shifted by the loud muffled music coming from the other dorm building. Mom said that intel students party hard because school rules don’t apply to them, she also said that not to crash their parties or I’m going to get my ass beat. I believe her so I’ll keep my distance. Then I looked at the balcony below me, I wonder who’s my next floor neighbor? I cut a piece from my practice muslin bolt to make a rope ladder and made my decent. I took a good look and it was Hoshi! I jumped onto their balcony and knocked on their sliding door.

“Knock Knock neighbor! May I borrow a cup of sugar?”

“What the? Lili?!” Hoshi opened the door “is this allowed?”

“What’s sensei gonna do? Oooh! I’m soooo scared to get a sticky ball on me!” I sarcastically acted out as I walked in his room “but dang your room looks so lively! I like where you moved your bed.”

“Thanks! I was just organizing my closet” he pointed to his empty boxes “I’m trying to figure out what to do with these.”

“Save them for move out?” I suggested as I was looking at his desk and a picture caught my attention “hey, who’s that in the picture?”

He looked at what I was pointing at “Hm? Oh! That’s my mom” he picked up the picture to show me “This is my favorite candid of her, I keep her around when I need a little pick me up.”

“You look so much like her” I pointed out “the same icy hair, light blue eyes and smile.” I then remembered something from when we were leaving Hoshi’s house “hey, um who’s Hime? If you don’t mind me asking.”

The smile disappeared from Hoshi’s face “Um, well that’s my...my old name.”

His tone made me realize that it was a sensitive topic “Oh, OH! I’m sorry if I hit a nerve! I didn’t-”

“It’s okay! You didn’t know and I’m comfortable enough to talk about it” he took a deep breath “I was born Hime Togata and I was raised like how I was named, like a princess, dresses in all sorts of colors and dollies. I wasn’t bratty or anything but my family spoiled me because I was the only girl but I wanted the attention of my mom.” his smile came back “I only wanted to wear those dresses and play princess with my mom because she was the loveliest person to be around. She taught me all about being good and how to be a better person to others. Imagine my poor little heart when she died, I felt like I lost my best friend and I didn’t want to wear the dresses anymore because it hurt too much. I didn’t want to play princess or smile anymore because my reason to do so was gone” he wiped his tears “then I showed signs of my quirk and my dad was extra obsessive of me and put me right to training. I didn’t want to do that either! I didn’t want to be hero or my dad’s prodigy child, I just wanted to have somebody to make me feel happy again and for things to make sense.” He turned to me “then I met you, when you played with me, that was the first time I smiled in a long time. You were different and so sure about who you wanted to be, I wanted to be like that and it gave me the courage to make my wishes come true. Things back home were getting worse and worse but I held on to that wish. At 12 years old, I decided to change my name to Hoshi and made the physical changes to be more masculine. Because it felt comfortable, it felt more like the real me!”

I was straight up crying “Hoshi what the fuck?! Like, I actually love that for you!”

“You’re actually crying!” he laughed and wiped my tears “but I have to thank you for everything. For being yourself, for accepting me, for saving me in more ways than physical.”

He held me so tightly that it knocked the wind out of me, but I welcomed it. I never thought of myself as somebody’s savior but he said it like I was divinity. Theres those warm feelings again, feeling small like a baby in their parent’s arms. How this boy reduced me to such!

“Oi Togata-kun” hollered and knocked one of our classmates, interrupting the moment “can you help us with moving Toei-kun’s furniture?”

“Uh yea! Be right there!” Hoshi broke the hug and refocused “you should probably head up your room, I’ll see you later.”

I climb up the rope ladder to my room and decide to keep it there for quick travel to each-other’s room. As I reach my room, I see all 7 of my female classmates in my room, giving me that look.

“Soooo, where does that rope ladder lead to?” said one of them.

“That’s none of your business” I responded “why are you guys in my room?”

“I was knocking and thought you died so we jumped balconies to see if you were alive” responded a different classmate “then I saw the rope ladder and figured you were busy. Then we all gathered here.”

“Come on Iida-san! We saw you come with Togata-kun” coaxed my classmate “your parents basically treated him like he was part of the family! Just say you two are a thing, we’re supportive of this ship.”

“My parents are just nice people!” I was heavily dismissing these assumptions “plus, well, Hoshi is going through a lot lately with things at home. I kinda don’t want to leave him alone for a while until things are better” I fixed my glasses and sighed “we’re just really good friends.”

“Oh I’m sorry that he’s going through it” winced a classmate “now I kinda feel like an asshole for assuming.”

“It’s all good, you didn’t know” I smiled then my stomach growled real loud “oh wow that was loud hehehe, guess we should figure out dinner?”

We all make our way to the kitchen to see there ain’t no fuckin’ food except dry pasta. Turns out (but to nobody’s surprise) Mineta sensei didn’t get all the arrangements done to get us food. And I did what any girl with my status did... I called my aunty Midnight and told her that I was hungies and there was no food. And that’s how I got whole class pizza for dinner that night.

“Iida-san you shouldn’t just call a pro-hero like that!” scolded the class rep “what would your father say?!”

“My daddy won’t say shit! He knows how I get when I don’t get food first!” I huffed as I was feeling very hangry “if anything he’d do the same thing and personally deliver it to me!”

“Thanks Iida-san! We appreciate your efforts!” cheered the rest of the class.

“See, everyone else isn’t complaining” I crossed my arms “I get things done!”

“Your daddy also got things done” chuckled sensei “he was class rep when I was in high school. Great guy but he’s so dorky!”

“My dad was class rep?” I perked up “I mean it suits him but he’s like me?”

“Yup OH! I can show you!” he pulls up a video on his phone “heres a video from our 2nd year, your mom put my friend on the flag pole by the briefs.”

“...and for the last time, just so it gets through your thick head, NO I WILL NOT GO OUT WITH YOU!” blared the familiar voice of young mom.

“AHHHHhhhhhGUAHHHHH!” cried out the yellow haired boy as an unseen force pulls the back of his underwear that hung on the top of the flag pole.

“ITA! Get him down this instant!” demanded young dad, with the iconic chops.

“You can’t tell me what to do Tenya!” yelled young mom at dad “the boy had it coming! He put his hand on my ass!”

“I don’t care! DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME!”

“Get bent you square!” young mom retorted as she warped out.

“Dang it! DON’T WORRY DENKI! I’LL GET YOU DOWN!” assured young dad as he made some calls and got him down in a few minutes.

“I still can’t believe he married your mom” sensei shuddered “she’s not a force to be reckoned and had kicked your dad’s ass multiple times! On and off the field.”

“Why do you still have that video sensei?” asked Hoshi, almost too scared to know the answer to that.

“Every-time that girl gets to fighting” he puts his phone away “she makes it into a spectacle and at the time nobody could figure out how to defeat her. So we’d record her fights and study them so we could have an idea on her weak points.”

“Has anybody succeeded?” I asked.

“Nope, she’s too unpredictable and brash” he sighed in defeat “her roasts were too devastating that they would end me instantly without her touching me!”

“I’m suddenly feeling less and less secure on sensei’s abilities to protect us” spoke up on the the girls. And everyone nodded in agreement.

The pizza comes and it looks like my mom paid for it from the receipt notes. I didn’t think much of it but everyone else was.

“What does your mom do for a living?!” asked one of my classmates “I know sensei said that she’s not in hero work but if she’s powerful and tactful PLUS can afford to buy us all pizza on a whim, what or where does she work in?”

“She’s the CEO of RoboDog INC and works as an independent unit with the Emperor’s Coup” I say before taking a bite of my pizza.

“I WAS WONDERING WHY SHE LOOKED SO FAMILIAR!” screamed the classmate that saw her in the commons room “oh my gosh Iida-san! Your mom is one of the most powerful women in the country and she’s just roaming around in public like that?!”

“I mean, she’s just living her best life” I responded before swallowing my bite “my mom taught me that simplicity and hard work is the way to go, she’s humble and gives back to the community.”

“Yup, she’s one of the school’s biggest donors” sensei spoke up “she’s the reason we have a botanical sanctuary garden and why we have a very expansive and stable international student program” he wiped his mouth “oh and a music program, wish we had that when I was a student.”

“Wow your mom really does care” said another classmate in awe “tell her we said thank you!”

All that affirmation made me feel good. It’s way better than being treated coldly at the dance academy. That night I went to sleep feeling much better about my stance in hero school... lets see how tomorrow goes!

-Chapter 6, End-

<Previous - Next>         

[ramblinganthropologist]

“i want to either kiss you or kill you right now.” Cherche/Sten

Summary: Sten takes a hit for that special woman in his life. Cherche worries, and Dog offers valuable advice.Pairing: Sten and Cherche, pre Orzammar Word count: 1.7k

“That fucking asshole... if hedoesn't die I'm going to kill him!”

There were few times that Cherche hadever felt this upset in her life. Her father dying was on top of thelist, followed by losing Tamlen only months prior. Now a third personwas trying to join the list, and all she could do was sit outside andwait for the inevitable.

It wasn't supposed to turn out likethis. When Alistair had run back to camp reporting a sudden group ofdarkspawn was nearing a small village, it was supposed to be an easyfight. There were no ogres, no alphas to worry about. It should havejust been a simple beat down that they'd all come back from smellinglike shit and laughing about.

In fact, it had gone like that untilSten had dropped to the ground to her right, practically impaled onno less than five arrows fired from a small group of hurlock archers.He hadn't said a word, just fell like a stone. The ground had shookwhen he landed, almost knocking her off her feet.

Cherche didn't remember much afterthat. When she had asked Cahel, the boy's face had turned white. Hehad managed to mutter she'd ripped them apart as he began to siftthrough the corpses, unable to meet her eyes. No wonder her hands hadbeen so bloody, along with the rest of her armor.

Sten hadn't died on the battlefieldthanks to her practically holding his guts in while they carried himback. Now they were all at camp, waiting outside Wynne's tent fornews on whether or not the Qunari was going to pull through.

The dirt around the tent was churnedup she had paced through it so many times. She could smell the sicklysweet aroma of blood sticking to everything, herself included. Dogwhined as he sat at her side, similarily coated.

“Perhaps you should wash off.”Leliana's accented voice caused her to whip her head around. The bardwas standing a respectable distance away, cleaning off her bloodstained daggers. “He is in good hands, Cherche.”

The elf's barbed tongue began to formsome insult, but it died in her throat. Instead, she sighed andnodded. She did smell pretty bad, and if she knew the healer therewas no way she was going to let her in like that. Something aboutcontaminating the wounds; it all went over her head.

“Come on, Dog. Let's go.”

There was a small creek near the campthat served as her wash site. It was hard to strip out of her armor,sticky and gross as it was. A few cuts and bruises stung as sheremoved her clothing, but none of it was life threatening. Naked, sheplunged into the water, coming up for air with a gasp.

It was damn cold.

Next to her, Dog paddled to a rock inthe creek, shaking off once he was clean. She would have normallylaughed at that, but not today. Sighing, she settled in to washingoff, staring down at the blood that ran off her.

There had been a lot of blood. Hisblood, darkspawn blood, it had all mingled together into a foul soupthat turned the hard packed earth a dark red. It had squished underher feet as they had carried him back, his face ashen and visionunfocused. She hadn't even know one person could bleed that much andstill be alive.

Groaning, she plunged below the waterto assault her senses a second time. When she came back up for air,Cherche shivered. At least she was cleaner now, but she could stillsmell the blood as it ran off her in rivets of dirty water.

“Why the fuck did he do that?!”

Her shout caused a few bird to leavetheir nests with surprised squawks. Dog to his eternal credit didn'teven look over; he just wagged his stumpy tail and made a littlenoise to let her know he was listening to her. It helped a little,but not much.

Cherche groaned again as she scrubbedoff the last of the dirt from her skin, revealing the lines of hervallaslin as she did. “I could've handed those archers just fine?Why the fuck did he jump in and get hit like a pin cushion?!”

She turned to face Dog, exasperated.“Did he think I wouldn't see them?”

The Mabari didn't answer; there wassome Ferelden wording that was lost on her at the moment that theywere too smart to speak. Instead, he just cocked his head to the sideand barked once. That was about as good as she was going to get fromhim.

Sighing, Cherche slid deeper into thecold water. It was losing its bite now, which was a sure sign sheshould get out soon. “That dumbass... I'm going to give him a pieceof my mind once grandma finishes with him.”

He had to make it. There was no way acouple of arrows would be enough to take down a Qunari warrior,especially one of his level. She might not have known much abouttheir traditions, but he had explained that much to her one night inbed. He was more than just a basic soldier. Something like thisshouldn't have phased him.

Approaching footsteps caused Chercheto turn her head, reaching across for a sharp looking rock just incase some of the darkspawn had returned. However, she dropped it atthe sight of Cahel standing on the bank, Tamlen wagging his tail athis side.

“Da'len? Did something happen withSten?”

The boy nodded as he reached for theclothing she had piled at the side of the bank. “Sten wants to seeyou.”

Her heart exploded as she rocketedout of the water, pausing only to grab her offered clothes. Gettingdressed as she ran wasn't new to her, but being wet complicatedthings slightly. Dog kept pace with her as she sprinted, all butleaving her son in the dust.

“Hey, would you-” Cahel shook hishead as he went to collect her forgotten armor. “Never mind. GuessI'm on cleaning duty tonight.”

Cherche never heard any of that.Instead, she was focused on heading back to camp as fast as her feetcould take her. At least she was dressed as she thundered into thering of tents, dripping water with every step. No doubt she was quitethe sight then, but she didn't care as she ran to Wynne's tent.

The healer was waiting outside forher. If she had something to say about the elf's state of dress, shekept it to herself as she wiped off her blood covered hands. Oncethey were clean, she held open the flap of her tent.

“He's resting now. Please don'tpunch him, it took quite a lot of effort to patch his shoulder up.”

By that point, the elf had formed asmall pool of water just from standing there. However, she splashedthrough it in order to go inside. Like she would have expected, Stenwas laying on a bedroll on the floor. He was shirtless, and probablypantsless under the blanket, and his entire torso was wrapped inheavy bandages. Luckily, none of them were stained pink yet.

“Kadan.”

The Qunari's eyes were a littleunfocused as he looked over at her. Whatever Wynne had shoved downhis throat – probably with much protest – for the pain he was nodoubt in seemed to make him a little sedate. It was downrightpathetic to see him lying there.

That didn't stop her from reachingout to slap him across his damn face, but it did stay her hand for afew seconds.

“You gods damned idiot!” Chercheheld her sore hand, tears brimming in her eyes anew. “I don't knowwhether to kiss you or kill you right now!”

She did the former before he couldreact, almost shoving their lips together. It wasn't easy with theangles, but she managed. Sten's support came in with wrapping hislesser damaged arm around her until she stopped shaking.

“You are soaking wet.” His voicewas as level as ever. “It is unpleasant.”

Talk about a mood killer. Cherchepouted as she backed up to sit on the ground next to him. Sten wasrubbing his sore cheek while she created another pond inside thetent. Their eyes met briefly, but she looked away.

She was still mad at him.

When he spoke again, the Qunari'svoice was a little confused. “Why am I being slapped? Is this forsaving your life?”

Saving her – Cherche rounded onhim, eyes on fire. “Are you out of your mind?! You were stuck moretimes than a pincushion! You could've died!”

Sten shook his head in response. “Andyou would have. They were aiming for your head.”

It was a simple sentence, but itstruck the elf dumb as she sat there in the middle of the newlyformed Lake Dalish. The shiver was back, but it wasn't from the cold.The highest of Sten's arrow wounds would have been where her headwas, now that she was looking at the bandages better.

“Couldn't you have just pushed meout of the way?”

He turned to face her, reaching outone large hand. “Then you might not have been able to dodge. It wasthe most logical choice.”

Well, fuck logic. Tears began to brewin Cherche's eyes anew as she reached out to fit their fingerstogether. It was always a clumsy match between them, but the warmthof his palm was all she needed right then.

“I will be recovering from mywounds for some time. The mage has brought me out of danger.” Hiseyes were beginning to sag. “You do not need to stay here to watchme sleep, kadan. Go dry off.”

The problem is, Cherche didn't wantto move at all. However, her little pond was about to become a lakeif she decided to keep sitting there. Rather than risk Wynne's wrath,she nodded and stood. Releasing their hands was one of the hardestthings she had ever done, but she did as she carefully stepped aroundhim to leave the tent.

Unsurprisingly, the group's healergave her quite a look as she exited. “I said no hitting him.”

“I slapped him. There's adifference.” The elf frowned as she headed towards her own tent.“He's sleeping now. I'll be back once I'm dry.”

Her heart still pounded uncomfortablywhen she sat in her tent a few minutes later drying herself off.Knowing how easy it would have been to lose the Qunari wasn't sittingright with her. What scared her more was that it wasn't.

“I'm a mess, Dog.” The Mabari,ever wise, didn't respond to his master. Cherche sighed as she laidher towel aside, finally dry for the moment. Her face still felt hot,even as she sat there. He might have been against magic, but Sten haddefinitely laid a spell on her.

And, to be honest, she didn't want tobreak it anytime soon. Break him, maybe, for being so stupid, but shewas happy to stay under.

Shaking her head, the elf stood.“Come on. Let's go bother Sten. Grandma's probably trying to pumphim full of healthy food again.”

This time, Dog answered her with ahearty bark. Together, the two headed off to where they would nodoubt be spending the night. After all, Sten hadn't said anythingabout hanging around after she had dried off.

[serenitykrp]

—WARNING : suspect may be armed and dangerous! YANG JAEWON, code named ORION, is a CREW MEMBER on an unidentified firefly-class ship, traveling through the ‘Verse under the radar. They are known for being confident, assertive, and goal-oriented, but beneath the surface, they have proven to be argumentative, insensitive, and stand-offish. Although their origin lies somewhere on their home planet VALLURIA, they have been caught by stardust and lost to the great expanse.

YOU ARE YOUR OWN EXPLOSION, BRING US YOUR VERY BEST VIOLENCE.

he is a forceful personality, a hurricane personality. his upbringing has bent his heart into twisted, jigsaw puzzle pieces, propelling him to bite, growl, scratch and learn how to survive by the edge of his teeth. he believes in actions more than words, and purpose more than chaos. he makes himself a force of nature, a human wildfire, mixes together the pieces of his soul that never seemed to match; longing for violence and understanding, adventure and peace. he has learnt that self-control is the only way he can get what he wants, and being confident and perceived as strong is often the difference between life and death. any insecurities or overabundance of emotions, he masks them with slight sarcasm, a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, and shoves them down even deeper than they already had been before. he doesn’t love hardly anything at all, but the few items or people that he does, become so ingrained on his heart that he is more than willing to kill for them.

he wants to surround himself with people he knows he can trust, or at least intimidate into respecting him. he is a headstrong individual, full of confidence and determination, so he knows he’s not the easiest person to live with, but he understands that there isn’t really any need to like one another—just get along and be useful. he can be ruthless with strangers, suspicious and deadly, and he is not kind to those he deems worthless or disloyal, but that’s simply because he knows the responsibility he owes to his crew, to make sure they’re safe on every job they embark on.

he doesn’t often show real emotions, preferring to bottle it up until it eats him alive, but he thinks of his crew like family and is very under-the-surface, lowkey about his protective nature over them. all of them are as important to him as any of the money or treasures they find, but he tries not to reveal any of that, doesn’t want to let them know his attachments to them. he can’t seem weak. he tends to slip up though sometimes, whenever any of them get hurt really badly, often secretly blaming himself for it, no matter the circumstances.

THERE IS NO NEWS, THERE IS ONLY THE TRUTH OF THE SIGNAL.

rule one : never look back.

the universe is full of chaos and blackness and sometimes there are no answers or reasons why. suns don’t spin to please anyone, stars don’t explode out of any malice or intention. the sky yawns and folds to its own whims and doesn’t share secrets with anyone just passing through, a blanket-wrap of diamonds in pure darkness. since his first breath, jaewon has taken these things in stride, understanding that he might never know who his parents are, why he first recollection is standing beside a dumpster, skin dressed in trash, heart formed from scraps.

it could have been anyone to pass along across this dusty alleyway, early in the evening as the large, orange sun just began to kiss the horizon; it could have been a squadron of The Zero Hunters or a clan of “the restless believers,” or wild dogs, hungry and ravenous for anything, pawing for scraps that tumble through the war-torn city streets. this isn’t the planet where tourists meander and stumble through, this isn’t the picturesque, pretty daydream the wealthy elite like to pretend they are surrounded by. valluria is the gutter, the grey area of the spectrum, a playground for the greedy and blood-thirsty, the ninth circle of hell—a desert planet mining for spice, with no hope and no other final destination.

this is the boy’s first memory, the closest to a womb he can ever bring himself to accept. there is nothing before right now, no one there to explain the universe or how it works, so from then on, he just assumes the rules are his to create.

he doesn’t remember how long he sits there until he hears someone else rummaging in the trashcan at the end of the alley. he is not terrified at all, merely curious, too young and too much a blank, white page to really know fear. he peeks out of from the box he’s shielded himself with and sees another kid there. older, trashy clothes, dirty from head to toe, too-thin arms, and a scowl as mean as any kid can look.

“what do you want?” the grungy scrounger snarls at him, giving him his best intimidating look, as though they aren’t both just as desperate for the same sort of food amidst all this garbage. “go away, go somewhere else!”

he tilts his head and frowns for a long moment, dark eyes glinting eerily in the dimming light. “i have nowhere,” he responds matter-of-factly, not willing to beg because something deep in the pit of his soul tells him never to grovel. “i have nothing.”

the kid smirks at him. “join the club.”

rule two : be like them but not one of them.

he is led back to a den of thieves, all of them older than him and taller than him and meaner than him. they teach him ruthlessness, they teach him that pain is survival, and fear belongs to other people. you can’t be scared when you have a purpose to fulfill: get food, rob treasure, steal anything, and get away fast. he runs smart, evading anyone who chases him by sheer determination, and trusts that his feet will take him back to the shed the same way he trusts his lungs to breathe in air.

the city is nothing but a grouping of shacks, small huts to house miners between 14-hour-shifts inside the spice mines, every step taken is only a few inches closer to inevitable death. if the desert storms don’t rip your soul straight out of your body, the constant wars fought between crime lords just might. provisions are scarce out here, and always fought over. spice is valuable and lucrative; individual lives are not. they are street rats, the abandoned mongrels, dodging the battles and explosions between factions, and if either clan catches them, they’ll either kill them or put them to work—which is basically the same thing.

he is quick and assertive, fearlessness and unspoken power in every step, so by the time he is eleven, he begins turning their little ragtag gang into a more profitable, organized group of criminals. he is given no position of power officially, but he’s surprisingly smart for his age, alert to things he probably shouldn’t be, and he has a way of looking straight through someone when they speak to him.

rule three : trust no god.

he is out in the desert again, outrunning a sandstorm as though they are old friends playing tag, when his whole crew is found in their hideout and slaughtered without hesitation. when he comes back, he finds nothing solid of any of them, pieces of their bodies strewn across the floor, intestines and brain matter splattered against the walls like gothic decorations from a madman. he is surrounded by the stench of iron, a smell he’ll never get out of his nostrils now, forcing himself to take a big whiff of it, forcing himself to take a slow step further inside.

understanding such a horror is nearly impossible for a thirteen-year-old, but his brain freezes this moment in his memories to dream about later, picture-framing the destruction to agonize over night after night for years to come. the ghosts he finds there haunt him with every new step he takes, but then the shadow of a net falls across his vision, wrapping itself around his arms and torso, the evil chuckle of a slaver just behind him.

on this planet, these sorts of things happen; no one will shed a tear. the poor are in abundance and therefore somehow their lives mean so much less, and it burns through jaewon’s blood like fire, the very idea of it. people get snatched up and disappear all the time, sold for ransoms or labor or sex objects, phasing in and out of reality until you’re not rightfully sure if they were ever there in the first place.

when he wakes up, it’s to the sound of bartering, the slave market anthem, and they have his hands chained behind his back, but they’re going to need a lot more than that to keep a monster like him down. the slavers want his teeth and bones and skin all laid out for display in the most degrading fashion, but they must laden him down to the floorboards with more chains, fasten him with a mask on to keep his mouth shut. he won’t stop struggling and he won’t stop fighting; there’s no way he’d ever go quietly for these assholes. he’s hoping he’ll be problematic enough that no one will buy him, but after two or three months of blistering sundried heat in the day and beatings in pitch darkness at night, eventually someone picks up the tab, and he gets branded with a slave trade number.

that night however, before they can shove him off, he involves himself in the middle of a revolt, falls into the heat of a firefight. it’s nothing new for valluria, but this time it seems to be a prison breakout by an interstellar crew of a spaceship, and obviously he doesn’t actually care which side wins, but he has a deep-seated hatred for slavery and the men who killed his friends and captured him, so his first action once the cage is broken is to find a gun. he is the son of this shredded desert, born in the midst of battle, and you’re not truly a vallurian if you don’t know how to shoot straight.

rule four : don’t settle for scraps anymore.

“which side are you on?” asks one of the ship’s crew, after the fight is over; an older woman, scars on her face like battle trophies, her eyes cold and steady as stones. he’s pretty sure she’s ready and willing to put a bullet in him any second he says the wrong thing.

he doesn’t hesitate. “whichever side gets me the hell off this planet.”

it’s not his first step into the life of thievery, but it is what gets him onto the crew of this ship, a smuggling vessel under the control of a woman named vera, the same stone-eyed woman he’d met before. she captains the ship like an extension of herself, dictates to her crew members like an ironclad storm, and he wants to be just like her. she’s much older than she looks, and much colder too, but for all her clipped words and strong demeanor, she gives jaewon a softer patch in her soul, talks to him like he’s a person instead of a dog, recognizes the drive in him to achieve.

it’s not long before he’s learning everything there is to know about the ship, about the intergalactic system, about their codes and the alliance, what to avoid, how to conduct business. he pours himself over the interwebs, memorizing engine compartments and pilot techniques, politics and histories and diplomacies. eventually, they let him fly the ship, finding it entertaining that the youngest member of the crew seems to think himself capable of greater things than what he was raised with. he doesn’t know where his ambition will stop, but he won’t accept any limits or rules laid out for him—none except his own.

he falls in love with the stars, all his sand dunes replaced with asteroid belts, his storms with dust clouds, the heat of constant summer with the frigid emptiness of the void there’s a feeling of freedom up here, a wide openness begging to be seen, to be felt, to be experienced.

rule five : the universe owes you nothing.

the need to be unrestrained overrides the need to conform ( always has, always will ) and when the union of allied planets tries to take away the stars from him and the rest of the crew, they all sign up to fight against it. jaewon has to wait a year before he looks the part well enough to play it. he is still underage, but for a boy with no past and no family, that’s easily overcome, and even at seventeen, he knows the independents can use him. he decides that even if he dies in an unmarked grave, it will still be worth it, and maybe his ghosts will welcome him when he enters that final blackness.

of course, that ain’t exactly plan a, so he puts his experience and his impressive determination to good use, being young and fearless, something of a daredevil. right out of the gate, he proves himself qualified to run missions and handle extreme bloodshed and war; having been immune to it as a child. he trusts his instincts more than most, and survives more than most, raising through the ranks by way of recommendation as well as ascension through combat. the alliance has the upper hand in just about every battle fought, but the independents don’t make it easy for them, and that’s his rallying cry.

by the time he is twenty, he is made sergeant, and the pounds of blood on his hands only multiplies.

they lose the war of course, about a year later, and yes he is one of the few traversing through the mounds of corpses, wading through the pools of blood, in serenity valley. this valley, where the tides of the war shift forever out of their favor, this valley where defeat becomes certain, where no amount of resolve in his chest can justify the amount of deaths on his hands. this valley where hope and faith become replaced with grim reality, and he swears by every breath in his body that even though the verse itself might fall under the boot of an empire, he never will.

rule six : take control.

the armistice has his old crewmates settling down on various different planets, finding lives for themselves, picking up pieces of their pride in any solace they can uncover. and he doesn’t blame them, he doesn’t fight them on any particular point. except vera, he comes to heads against her for a minute.

“i can run the ship.” it’s pretty much been his goal since he first stepped foot on it. “if you won’t take it, let me have it.”

“jaewon, the back end is falling off. there are patched-up holes everywhere. you’re not going to take this ship anywhere except maybe the junkyard back on valluria.” she looks at him sternly. “it’s about time you figured yourself out, anyway, don’t you think?”

back to valluria. back to the planet jaewon wanted nothing more than to escape. when he thinks of his home world, he just only remembers the net collapsing around him, the stench of blood and sun and despair. he doesn’t want to figure anything out anymore. and anyway, he can’t look back, it’s against his rules. but they touch down anyway, onto a small city on a desert’s edge, and he is forced to say his goodbyes. it feels like everything is falling apart, everyone scatters to the winds, and jaewon’s chest is like a graveyard for about a month. he can feel it in his gut every waking hour; he is not supposed to be here, he doesn’t fit in here.

being back on this planet is like walking into a beartrap you already know is there. he hates it, he hates the misshapen buildings, all weird edges, the dust storms. he doesn’t see vera for a few weeks, before she finally sends him a wave, giving him the keycodes to the ship. she tells him to fly it to the nearest docking station and get whatever money he can for its pieces and parts.

as soon as he gets those codes though, he already knows what he’s going to do with them instead. he doesn’t hesitate.

the idea of letting anyone else touch the ship, pull it apart, rip out its heart and display it disgustingly for wealthier assholes to pick and choose ( insert memories of him being chained to the ground, covered in a mask while someone yells out prices for his head ) turns his stomach inside out. he’d rather crash and burn with it, than give up the one thing in the whole damn universe he’s actually come to love.

once a thief, always a thief.

coming back is like returning into his own ribcage, fitting his soul back into his body, inhaling air for the first time in what feels like forever. it’s the only place he’s managed to belong to. “miss me, baby?” he asks the long, empty corridors as he makes his way to the front piloting station, firing it up and then riding it the fuck out of there, heading off-world. he lands on a nearby moon and gives it a makeover, renaming it serenity, in honor of the lives lost in the war, the ghosts that haunt his shadow, the only chains he’ll ever allow himself to wear.

rule seven : the universe has no limits, don’t adhere to any.