#and also make sure the mantis crew are okay

[radiosummons]

It's 12 or 11 some minutes past midnight and my brain is absolutely mush from studying for this stupid licensing exam.

And the only thing I got left in my fucking brain is that one image of Cal with his poncho hood up:

It makes me wish that the rest of the collectable ponchos in game also had hoods. Or that one of Cal's idle animations could have been flipping his hood on or off. Or like .. literally anything with the hood, idk.

I just think he looks fucking adorable, okay?

Update: Okay, so have more poncho hood Cal Kestis (cause I still can't get enough of it-I have a problem, okay?)

I don't why but I just fuck with him having a poncho hood PFFFTTT

[breakfastteatime]

Alrighty friends, here we go, Breakfast Tea's Battle Scars Review. Putting it under the cut because spoilers, and also my levels of spiciness are at maximum. Lots of swears ahead! I don't tend to write book reviews (hi, unpublished author over here) but, uh, this is for science!

For the record, I have NO IDEA how these tie-ins are commissioned. So, for example, I don’t know if the author came up with the plot and it was okayed, or if she was told “do something with A, B, C and D and make it a book” so I appreciate that she probably didn’t have as much freedom as a fic writer.

Also, yes, I did get to the point where I was skimming chunks of the book, so if I'm factually wrong, feel free to correct me, but know that it won't make me like the book any better because my issues are layered and numerous👍

Also also, this is pretty stream-of-consciousy so go with me, okay?

Finally, there’s *one* spoiler that I’m guessing will tie into the game re: Greez.

Okay, let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Plot Summary (warning, I haven't done a good job summarising it hahahahahahahaaa)

The plot is - the crew go to break into a Haxion Brood base because reasons. While they're there they find a bunch of stormtroopers, one of whom is actually Fret, who wants to defect because she's sick of the Empire. Merrin is instantly attracted to her which, okay, sure, fine, to the point of becoming completely giddy around her. Also, Merrin's been struggling with her powers because of all her trauma from Dathomir (a very good a legit reason but, uh, didn't we do that with Cal in the game ANYWAY AHEM) but DON'T WORRY, SHE JUST NEEDS TO HAVE SEX WITH THE RIGHT PURPLE LADY BECAUSE SHE’S ANGRY AT THE EMPIRE TOO AND SEX WILL SOLVE ALL OF MERRIN’S WOES AND LITERALLY ALLOWS HER TO ACCESS HER MAGICK AGAIN WOO! Oops, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Fret then reveals she's not actually a stormtrooper but used that as a disguise to escape because don't you know it, she's got intel that will lead them to something called the Shroud, which will essentially make anyone who has it invisible. Think cloaking technology from Star Trek. That's the best comparison. So, if the rebels have this, they'll be able to undertake sneak attacks, but if the Empire has it, BAD NEWS. ANYWAY, the crew go to the person Fret’s working with who claims he’s anti-Empire too and he’ll use the Shroud for good and everyone agrees they’ll go get the schematics and bring them to him. Off they go and find said Shroud schematics after Merrin totally gets her powers back after receiving some sexual healing (no, really), only to discover the Shroud’s schematics aren’t written down but are instead secure in Fret's oops-not-dead lizard girlfriend Irei's head... and she's vaguely Force-sensitive because OF COURSE SHE FUCKING IS. Oh and the Fifth Brother is here too because he naturally wants the Shroud and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The Mantis crew are all totally at odds with each other because it turns out despite living and working together for years they’re all after totally different things but have never said anything until now, which would be interesting if Fret wasn't there being all self-insert OC. And anyway, don't worry, the crew gets over it. Oh, and Greez loses an arm protecting Cal and Cere from the Fifth Brother about halfway through.

Uuuuh what else….??? Oh! Right, Fret’s dealer dude. They realise he’s bad, they defeat him. Boom. Can’t be arsed to go into more detail than that (also I was totally falling asleep reading this part, my bad???).

Fret and her ex(?) get back together (kinda??), leave the Mantis after the whole Shroud thing and the Fifth Brother are dealt with, Merrin opts to not go with them and Fret’s like “Oh, yeah, I see what you have with Cal” and Merrin’s like “??? Cal’s like that with everyone.” Interpret that at your discretion.

OH OH OH and Cere totally goes off to find some Jedi circlet thing that is LITERALLY A VIDEOGAME ACCESSORY USED TO BOOST STATS which is (unintentionally??) hilarious but fuck that it’s so completely lost in the rest of it, as is a lot of Cere’s desire to create a legacy for the Jedi.

The Good!

Hooray for LGBTQ+ representation!

Fight scenes are good when the action is happening.

Cere's characterisation is okay???? Like out of all of them, she feels the most in character... kind of???????? I get her motivation, and it feels fairly close to what I think she's gonna be up to in the next game. But her decision to… wait… sorry, this was meant to be positive. ARGH! Alright, let’s move on…

I really like the concept that, since the end of the first game, they’ve all been on the run from the Empire and the Haxion Brood. Excellent concept! I’m guessing Survivor will give us more.

I also really like the concept that the crew all want different things.

SPOILER!!! Greez loses an arm. This scene was pretty good and believable – Greez wants to save Cal and Cere and he makes a terrible sacrifice to do so.

The Everything Else

👎 Wish that LGBTQ+ rep was in a better written book. I do read romance sometimes (or, more accurately, books in which romance occurs) and I am not opposed to instant attraction. But I like it to be a bit less fire-hose-of-HAWTNESS to the face. It basically feels that Merrin has a week-long relationship with someone in which sex solves all her problems??? There's a lot of stuff in this book about why Merrin can't go to her actual friends with this (she's a Nightsister, dammit, and no one can understand how she feels but Fret is angry like Merrin is, therefore instacrush, lust, sex and AAAAARGH), but wouldn’t it be much more narratively satisfying if the people who support her through her troubles are the ones she has long-term relationships with??? Near the end Cal does become this person to her but it feels a bit awkward. Almost like he’s stepping up because Fret left. 👎 Merrin’s struggles here, while absolutely understandable, feel like a rehash of Cal’s entire journey in the game… except Cal sorts his shit out one way, and Merrin shags her way to better mental health. I mean, get yours, Merrin, but it feels like an odd choice, because… 👎 Fret, Merrin's love interest, feels like such an author self-insert it actually made me uncomfortable. Lady, I don't wanna read your fantasies!!!

👎 The plot doesn’t have room to breathe because there’s too much going on. And while I’m here, the Shroud feels completely universe breaking because while the prototype they wind up making is a fake and becomes a bomb, the fact that Irei designed it to hide herself (she’s Force sensitive, remember??!?!?!) means it could potentially work and literally change the Star Wars universe... But Irei’s a total non-entity in the rest of canon sooooooooo this universe breaking macguffin is pointless, making the plot largely pointless??? Or did I miss something when I got to the skimming part? WHATEVER. The Shroud thing… Aaaah, I’ll get back to that later… 👎 There’s too much authorial voice masquerading as the characters. In other words, I didn’t hear the characters, I just heard the author coming through loud and clear. (and okay, yeah, every time I have a character suddenly be British makes me guilty of this too BUT I like to think it’s not as bad as this. HEY! LET ME HAVE MY DELUSIONS ALRIGHT?!). For example, Cal goes off on this whole *thing* about the Fifth Brother's hat, which doesn't feel like him at all. At no point in the game did he go off about Trilla’s helmet (which he compares the Fifth Brother’s hat to) or trade really petty insults. He has his whole bravado thing going on, but not “dude, your hat looks STOOPID.” Seriously, it’s about a page of him being uncharacteristically cocky and sassy (more on Cal’s characterisation later). This authorial voice tendency makes everyone feel the same, especially when you’ll read one thing in Cal’s POV, move onto Greez’s, and Greez will think the exact same thing. There’s very little differentiation in character voice. The banter is BAD.   👎I'm not saying JFO isn't funny because it has some lovely moments (“Wait, do you have feet?”), but they are light touches. This book's 'humour' is like having an anvil dropped on your head. This is the book where subtly came to die until the VERY end where there’s some nice moments with Cal and Merrin… except it’s ruined by Cal CONSTANTLY thinking about how he needs to protect his family… Which brings me onto… 👎 This book is so repetitive. If Cal referred to the others as 'Family' one more time, or someone else said they wanted to make a dent in the Empire’s hull, I'm not sure my e-reader would've survived. I actually counted btw – pg 77 of my ebook edition has the word family on it 7 times. SEVEN TIMES. The word crops up 39 times overall and once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop. The phrase ‘making a dent’ appears 9 times and again, once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop. Oh editor, where are you?

👎 It’s also inconsistent in its storytelling. For instance, there’s a moment where Merrin and Cere go off on a mission together and Merrin reflects on how well they always work together… and then later on she goes off with Fret and is like “It’s so nice to not be alone for a change!!!” And while this is probably in reference to how her and Cal tend to approach missions from different angles (literally – above and below), it’s one of those instances where something here needed editing – e.g. actually Merrin and Cere have never done a mission together, therefore that’s nice, and so when she goes off with Fret she can be like “wow, twice in one day! I could get used to this!” It’s shit like that made the whole thing so frustrating. 👎The structure is bad. Midway through an otherwise good action scene, the POV character will stop to think for so long they would have been killed. It really disrupts the flow of the battle. The pacing just screeches to a halt. It’s the same whenever the characters reminisce on the events of the game, but I’ll come back to that. Stick a pin in it! 👎 The book also does a several days later flashback that wrecks the pacing. We’re at this moment of tension – they’re about to break into a compound but oh no – the access codes from Merrin’s girlfriend don’t work because GASP she lied about abandoning the Empire! Cue tension! Cue drama! Cue… romance in a ‘several days earlier’ flashback. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH. Honestly, poor, poor Cal the first time he gets to use his own room again. Echoes EVERYWHERE. He’s gonna go as red as his hair every time he looks at Merrin and everyone’s gonna get the wrong idea. Sorry, what was my point? OH RIGHT! Pacing! Pacing BAD.

👎 BEEDEE WUN. Get. In. the. Fucking. Bin. 👎 Speaking of our beloved BD, he is here, but he's referred to as 'Cal's droid' or Cal is referred to as his master, which... no. Absofuckinglutely NO. At one point, Merrin (who presumably has known BD for 2-3 years at this point), thinks of BD as Cal’s ‘strange but cute little droid’. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! They are friends. Best friends. Cere, when thinking of the crew, her family, states there are "four and a half people" on the crew. BD IS NOT HALF A PERSON, AND ALSO OH GOD THE HISTORICAL CONNOTATIONS OF THIS ARE SO BAD, HOW THE HELL DID AN EDITOR NOT PICK UP ON THIS?!?!?!?

👎Cal's characterisation is NOT good. He is so inconsistent outside of I MUST PROTECT MY FAMILY. MY FAMILY, THE CREW OF THE MANTIS, WHO ARE MY FAMILY. I WILL DIE TO PROTECT THEM, MY FAMILY, THE ONLY PEOPLE LEFT TO ME THAT I LOVE, THE MANTIS CREW. Which, for the record, works as a motivator for him, but not when it’s done with all the nuance of a sledgehammer to the knees. When Merrin's busy having sex in the engine room (you know, where Cal sleeps, the guy with psychometry), he is initially naive to the point of stupidity. “Oh golly gosh, Merrin’s sealed the door, I guess that means her powers are coming back!” He was on Bracca for 5 years. I think he knows what goes on behind closed doors. When he realises what's happened, he is both totally blasé (the Jedi don’t have relationships so he’s never thought about it), and also jealous in a way that can be interpreted in one of two ways, depending on your shipping leanings. He's either jealous because Merrin is HIS woman (oh, no, sorry, I mean GIRL. Fucking HATE it when adult women are called girl), or he's jealous because Fret is inserting herself into HIS FAMILY, THE CREW OF THE MANTIS, THE FAMILY HE WILL DIE FOR when she’s a lying liar who lies. He’s *so* petty he refers to Fret as a ‘gal’ which, again, UUUUUUUUUUUGH. Oh, and he's seen an echo revealing Fret to be a liar, but he's not going to disclose it to the others because he doesn’t want to hurt Merrin when she’s finally happy and able to use her magick again and yet Fret might be about to kill his family, the crew of the Mantis, the people Cal will literally die for. Because they’re his family. PICK A MOOD, CAL. Actually, wait, I’m not done with what’s been done to Cal…

His characterisation makes me want to weep. He gets annoyed with Cere for wanting to find a Jedi relic despite... the entire... first game... being... about... this... exact... thing????? I think the author was going for “well, Cere wants to create a legacy for the Jedi so their history is not lost to time!” whereas Cal wants to (say it with me!) ‘put a dent in the Empire’s hull’ which, okay, there’s an interesting contrast, but Cal is someone who is inherently linked with the past so why is *this* the conflict between these two? It’s not quite working for me, probably because it’s just not central enough to the plot. If *this* was what we dug into, it would probably work really well. Unfortunately, we’re not here for that.

Cal also says shit like “What’s the problem here, team?” like he’s in middle management.

👎 The book is set somewhere between the two games and is purposefully vague, which *would* work if these characters *felt* like they'd spent years together instead of the author telling us they have. Relationship-wise, it feels like we're maybe a couple of months out from the game because the book wastes so much of its word count going back over events from the game… which happened years ago at this point! My guess is it was written with people who hadn't played the game in mind, which again just makes the pacing suffer. Plus, we’ve got five people who’ve lived together for years (they’re a family, a crew, they love each other like family, they will DIE FOR EACH OTHER!!!!!!), and yet all of them see their mission differently. Y’all have been at this for YEARS but it’s only now that you realise you’re not united?! This would work if we were closer in time to the original game… but years down the line?! And again, this is a GREAT concept! SO much to work with there… except we’ve got sexy purple lady and lizard lady in the way of what could’ve been an amazing character exploration of CHARACTERS WE KNOW AND LOVE. STICK ANOTHER PIN IN IT!

👎 The author struggles to integrate game mechanics into a n ovel. BD-1 will just randomly hand Cal stims because hey, I guess that’s what he does in the game????????? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 👎 The author hasn’t heard of show, don’t tell. Stop bloody telling me that Cal loves his family and show me – give me a scene where they sit down for a meal together. Give me a scene where Cal sits with Greez after he’s injured. ANYTHING that shows me rather than smashes me over the head with one of the 39 uses of the word family.

👎 Cere really randomly refers to Cal as her Padawan when he’s busy getting his arse handed to him by the Fifth Brother. Cal’s honest, he knows he didn’t beat Trilla because he was stronger than her, but this is YEARS later. Has he not gotten stronger in that time? SIGH. Also, Cal might be mentored by her but he’s not strictly speaking her Padawan? Okay, now I’m just nitpicking… 👎 WAIT, ONE MORE! Cal refers to Master Tapal as Master Jaro. That just irritated me.

How I’d Rewrite It

So, let’s take the pin out and examine the lack of character exploration (except for Merrin who we do get to have a good look at in a weird way). The main issue I have with this book is Fret and Irei get in the way of what could have been a really good character-building piece for the five characters we know and love from the game.

So, wanna know how I’d write it? Simplify and FOCUS:

The Mantis crew are infiltrating a Haxion Brood base because they’ve gotten their hands on a precious Jedi relic that the Empire are also after. While there, Cal and the others find the relic but are attacked by the Brood and the Empire. A defector (Fret) finds them and says the Empire is using the Fifth Brother to hunt for the Shroud’s schematics and its inventor (Irei), who’s in hiding. Fret gives them the name and location of the broker who will pay the crew for retrieving the Shroud and Irei – a man linked to the Rebellion known as Luthen Rael. He’ll also give them Irei’s location. While trying to escape, Fret gets shot and killed by the Brood or the Empire or WHATEVER and the crew feel somewhat obligated to carry on with her mission because the Shroud is a double-edged sword. Cere’s hopes of starting her great Jedi legacy have to be put on hold, Merrin’s still worried about her powers because she’s lost and doesn’t know if she’s getting the vengeance she seeks, Greez thinks finally Cal’s going to stop going for bigger and bigger gambles, Cal’s excited to be doing something really important, and BD-1 is happy to see a new world and meet new people. Also, there’s no breaking into anywhere without him, and they need to move fast.

Great, we’ve got our ticking clock – get the Shroud before the Fifth Brother!

However, because the crew’s been run ragged due to being hunted by the Brood for so long, they’re starting to make mistakes and Cal’s taking bigger and bigger risks with little pay out, so the crew goes into the mission at odds with each other. After BD hacks his way into the systems and locates Irei, Merrin gets her to safety. Cal and Greez get hurt when they go up against the Fifth Brother because Cere, convinced she needs to try and save him from the dark side because he too was once a Jedi like Trilla, tries to save him and it backfires horribly. They all manage to escape and get to the Mantis, fall out because they all want different things. They take the time needed to figure that out and reunite, take Irei to Luthen (they get out just in time when the Fifth Brother comes back again), Cal and Merrin fight him off together because Merrin’s got her powers back because she has a purpose again (working for the Rebellion) and off they go to the next adventure.

Your subplots are essentially the same:

Cal wants to stick it to the Empire and help as many people as he can, while keeping his family safe, however he needs to understand that doing this randomly is essentially pointless (which… okay, I have issues with this too but if I go off on that you’re never getting the next chapter of the Big Fic. I’m working with what I got, friends!!!)

BD-1 is just happy to go wherever Cal goes so long as he gets to scan new stuff and slice new systems!

Cere wants to build and protect the Jedi’s legacy by gathering everything she can of their history. She *is* tiring of the seemingly hopeless battle against the Empire and *wants* to put down roots, and she *needs* to be honest with Cal about this (who, once he got over his “you can’t leave me, Cere!” initial reaction would be absolutely fine with this??? HEY, WORKING WITH WHAT I’VE GOT!)

Merrin wants to regain her powers, and she needs to come to terms with the terrible trauma she experienced, but she can do this not through what is ultimately a fling, but by being honest with Cal, Cere, Greez and BD and working through it with her family. You tie it into the plot by having them working for the Rebellion, which means Merrin finally feels a purpose because it’s through the rebels she sees that she’s not the only one who suffered great loss and, like them, she can do something about it. And hey, maybe she hooks up with Irei in a much subtler and less SEXUAL HEAAAAAAAAAAAALING way because she wants to.

Greez wants to stick with his family, but he needs to be honest with Cal and say if they’re going to keep doing this whole kicking it to the Brood and the Empire, they’ve got to be smarter about it.

Basically, by cutting out all the OC bullshit, you focus on the crew we all know and love from Fallen Order without some rando OC being there to FLY THE MANTIS. Get the FUCK out of there! If I didn’t think Fret was a self-insert before, her getting to fly the Mantis sealed it for me.

There is a GOOD CONCEPT buried in the depths of this book. It’s just, y’know, not to my taste.

Alright, I think that does it for now. PHEW! That feels better ^_^

[gffa]

It’s Monday and Mondays are for being cranky about minor annoyances, so I’m gonna complain about how I wanted so badly to like Jedi: Battle Scars because this may be the queerest Star Wars book yet and I was so ready for the f/f pairing to be front and center!  And sure part of my problem might be that I’m not feeling particularly charitable after the book wasn’t charitable about my faves, but the base problems are still the same for me: The entire structure of Merrin/Fret’s relationship is everything I’m just not interested in.  Cal becomes increasingly unlikeable as he’s written as a third wheel to make this a weird love triangle and I’m frustrated on his behalf because he doesn’t really seem to have any kind of internal world beyond Merrin and repeating that the Mantis crew are his family. But it’s also Merrin and Fret themselves, where there’s a passage in the middle of the book, Merrin’s pov says:      Fret was angry.      And she let Merrin be angry, too.      Merrin hadn't realized how much she'd needed to be angry until she had started to talk all of this through with Fret. She felt like the poison from her wounds, each time she was able to experience fury with Fret, bled its way out, bit by bit. Except that’s not in any of their scenes.  Their scenes are entirely soft snuggles and giggly makeouts and heated looks of wanting to bone each other right that minute.  It’s flirty makeouts in the middle of dangerous missions.  It’s holding hands as they walk through the recon portion of the mission.  Merrin doesn’t actually express any anger around Fret, she becomes the softest person I’ve ever seen around her--and Fret’s not really shown with any anger, either.  But that’s because Fret doesn’t really express much of anything outside of wanting to leave the Empire and making eyes at Merrin. The two of them jump immediately into a relationship, there’s no time for the reader to come to care about Fret or give us reason for Merrin to trust her so deeply other than wanting to bone her and, honestly, I’d even be okay with that, if it weren’t dragging Cal into this weird love triangle thing and it weren’t being treated like it’s plumbing the depths of Merrin’s anger, when it’s actually doing the opposite. I wanted so badly to like this book because, holy crap, pansexual Merrin and talking about Dathomir and Merrin’s anger and trauma?  Except she doesn’t actually experience any of it, it’s just all softness and kisses while saying the opposite.

[pinkvaquita]

akjdwiga okay so i don't have a name for her yet but i'm gonna call her manti for this because she's a manticore-

when manti would first show up in the story, she'd be in the cookies of darkness, one of the few cookies that could legitimately rival pomegranate's loyalty to dark enchantress, with manti's loyalty being about as blind as pure vanilla or dark choco

and her devotion is to like, cultish levels in the worst way possible if i'm gonna be honest- think catnap and the prototype dynamic, or in other words; de had saved manti from the brink of death when everyone else had left her behind, that spawned a false/one-sided feeling of love from manti, alongside idolization, and boy oh boy did dark enchantress decide to use that to her advantage

manti would be a good foot taller than de so she'd always be like leaning over or kneeling to be lower than her, to be able to look up at her "savior", girl was constantly feeding into de's ego at all times unknowingly

during her time with the cookies of darkness she was NOT in good physical condition, be it because of de making sure she won't be able to fight back when she's no longer useful and needs to be disposed, or simply because she kept forgetting about all the important stuff to her health outside of eating and drinking enough to get by

i imagine she'd have her own entire chapter where the story crew go around chasing after her and whatever hellfire she creates in de's name, trying to explain to her that de is really bad, and especially seems to be bad for her looking at her current state

throughout the entire chapter she's constantly trying to brush them off but as things go on she gets progressively more distressed, like she's seeing their points and realizing that yes de does this stuff and yes it does have this effect but she's also trying to reason with herself that it's just because de wants to keep her safe, that de does feel the same for her she just expresses it differently

nearer to the end of the chapter de does actually like show up, manti ends up collapsing onto her knees in front of de after being beaten the living shit out of by gingerbrave and the others (very much against their will they did not wanna fight her), looking up at de and frantically asking de if what the story crew said was true, asking if she truly loved her or if she was just toying with her

"Please...my dear, you love me, right?...They're- they're wrong, aren't they?..."

"Of course...I will, always, love you-" as de says this she's raising one of her hands, with whatever cake monster she summoned behind her, and she goes to slash down at manti's face

the slash does end up connecting, but gingerbrave tackles manti out of the way of the cake monster's mimicking slash, which would have ended up yeeting her into a wall and probably killing her- the moment manti manages to lift her head, her own jam is spilling from the claw marks on her face, and her eyes are practically waterfalls with tears as she stares at de with her cake monster, realizing that the story crew were completely right

she ends up just kinda sitting there in silence while the story crew take care of de about as efficiently as they always do, and when the fight is over, gingerbrave goes to check on her, sitting with her while the others get bandages for her wounds

"...Hey, I'll be honest, you did some messed up stuff, but you did it because you cared about her, right? You wanted to help."

"...I'm a monster..."

"Don't think like that! You were manipulated by someone that had helped you at your lowest point! Of course you were so loyal to her!"

"...I killed people, for her...don't you think I'm evil?..."

"I'd kill for my friend if I had to, even if you didn't know you had to do it to survive, you did. Yeah, you're messed up, but evil? No. Never. Maybe misguided though!"

"...Heh, you're rather optimistic one, aren't you?..."

"Of course!"

"...Thank you, Gingerbrave..." after that conversation strawberry and wizard help to patch her up, with little custard doing his best to hype her up as well, and then they go their separate ways, with manti promising to pay them a visit once she's done some self-reflecting and gotten a bit better physically

that then leads into a side story within the crème republic where she meets oyster and healing yuri ensues <3

manti's relationship with oyster ends up a very long slow burn because manti keeps telling herself that she's just delusional, she doesn't actually feel these ways about oyster, meanwhile oyster is mentally screaming because "oh my god massive lion woman help what do i do AAAAA"

they meet in a similar but far less severe way than manti and de, with manti having tripped on a pebble or smth and scraped her knee as Oyster was passing by, and Oyster being the extrovert she probably is, went over to help her up and noticed how in shambles Manti looked, because by then she was still recovering and hadn't exactly set herself up with a stable income, so food was somewhat scarce

Manti is feeling butterflies the entire time as Oyster helps her up and then offers her a place to stay until she can properly get on her feet after a little bit of explaining about her situation, but she ends up pushing down those butterflies as much as possible, trying not to let them fester and grow into anything because of what happened last time she loved someone for helping her, which is a far more severe case than would be considered normal

So for like a few months Manti is just living with Oyster trying to adjust to a more normal life, heal, and get herself a job, and she ends up getting a job at a bakery after a little while! She's getting better a bit faster with having something to occupy her mind, but she's also still on the fence about Oyster, unsure if she should trust her or not (later decides she's fine to trust after a particularly bad day where she spills everything in a fit and the next day Oyster acts as if not a thing happened, going as far as to say she doesn't know what she's talking about, because Oyster knows she has no business butting into other people's trauma if they don't wanna talk about it), meanwhile Oyster is in absolute pining central watching Manti's growth as a person like "oh she is so beautiful" and those thoughts getting Oyster progressively more smiley at Manti as she gets healthier and more social

it's probably a year or two later before Manti finally acknowledges that no these feelings for Oyster are not just flukes, they aren't seeds for her own destruction, she does actually feel this way, but it ends up being another half a year before she says or does anything out of fear, Oyster is completely patient with it though, more than willing to let Manti take her time and adjust to the idea of a proper relationship

it ends up being around the 4 year mark of them knowing each other that Manti finally opens up, explains absolutely everything in a moment of proper calm, and then they go on their first date and the other elders finally get a break from Oyster's ranting about her not yet girlfriend girlfriend

Manti's true proper colors are out by that time, absolute sweet heart with of course some trauma and maybe some flavor of neurodivergent, but either way she's a gentle giant and strong af too now that she's eating well and getting to work out more (working at a bakery is a work out in it of itself), so big buff lion wife Oyster's beloved (and mine too)

In between that time she does go to check on the story crew, and they hardly recognize her until they hear her voice, and then they're all immediately super excited to see her and are showering her with compliments telling her how proud they are that she's doing better, chili even getting in on the pride train with a little compliment or two

alright i think that's all my rambling- for now at least, glad to finally get those words out onto something-

... I need a book of this , a webtoon of the book, a series of the webtoon of the book, and fanfics of the series of the webtoon of the book. NOW.

This Is such a good fucking story. Omg you have it all figure it out-

[thirteenmyspacegirl]

Okay I know you reblogged that ask game last night HOWEVER: 🖊🖊🖊 for Maia Silver, Skylan Aegis, and Amirah Rushman Bennet!!

YIPPIE MY FAVS HEHE THANKS >:D

MAIA- Maia is honestly my new favorite oc i mean they're adopted by the ghost crew, will soon meet and befriend the mantis crew and grudgingly come to love these families they're apart of i mean honestly what's not to love- they're also the first oc I've written for in a long time and naturally my first and immediate thought was to slap them into a massive found family journey<3 also they totally taught themself how to make drawings out of aurabesh letters 😌

SKYLAN- up and coming fav!! gonna be honest i haven't written her story in a while and i sometime mix her and Natalia up but i still love them both dearly 💀one of my favorite headcanons i have about her that i just rotate in my mind totally not just bc i know it'll be positively ages before i can actually find a way to add it to the story is that she's really good at all things cards. sure she's good at the games and all, but she's an excellent shuffler, dealer, and can make a perfect card tower on her first try with every card in the deck

AMI- MY POOR SWEET TRAUMATIZED BB- he's literally been through so much i wanna give them the biggest hug for making it out on the other side i mean honestly i wish so much of it didn't have to happen 😭 they're so so strong and brilliant and i wish she could've found someone to tell her that like Hazel could :( tbh the reason she and Sasha are my most traumatized and hurt with not much of a happy ending characters are because they were created both in my worst patches of depression- but yeah on a happier note dkskwj Ami's previous partner made him pronoun bracelets that they could wear, she had just come out as genderfluid and it was pretty much the sweetest thing anyone ever did for him 💙

[kyberphilosopher]

Eunoia

The Mantis crew decides to take a well deserved break.  Word Count: 2422

Warning(s): straight fluff, short Requested: yep This can be read for a female, male, non binary, or any other reader.

Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five main vowel graphemes. It comes from the Greek word εὔνοια, meaning "well mind" or "beautiful thinking”. It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health. In rhetoric, eunoia is the goodwill a speaker cultivates between himself and his audience, a condition of receptivity. In book eight of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feelings of goodwill a spouse has which form the basis for the ethical foundation of human life.

* ✭ ˚ ･ﾟ ✧ *･ﾟ * ✭˚･ﾟ ✧* ･  *

Cal is actually not as observant as people think he is. You know because you’ve been leaning against his doorway, watching him, for about two minutes now and he hasn’t noticed a thing. 

Maybe if you were in his position you’d be the same. That seems about right. He’s hunched over his desk with the lamp on bright, tinkering with something that you can only assume is for BD-1. He’s probably lost in thought. Maybe he’s dreaming of better days. Or maybe he’s just trying to figure out which wires and bolts connect to which. There’s no way to be certain from your position. He’s the mechanic, you are not. 

So why have you been watching the redhead from his doorway for three minutes now? A simple answer. He is your friend, and you enjoy his company. Even when he’s not giving you attention, completely unaware to your presence in moments like this one, lost in his own world, it’s his warmth that really counts. Cal is such a relaxing bout of fresh air compared to everything else in the galaxy, in your life. It’s like being at a great party, but whether you enjoy it or not, stepping outside and tasting the air and the smell of something wonderful. Even if you had a day full of talking to people and had become burned out, talking to Cal would have been no problem at all. Maybe in a way that makes him your favorite person. 

Yeah, maybe. 

BD-1 jumps onto Cal’s desk. His head looks at the boys hands, cocking about as if observing. Then he meets your gaze, only to find a smile. One index finger raises to your lips, prompting the little droid to stay quiet about this, before you turn away and head towards the main part of the ship. 

“Where’s Cal?” Greez gruffs upon seeing you. He’s shaking spice onto a steaming brown plate, which puts a pep in your step. Greez’s cooking always makes life better. 

“In his room,” you answer. You turn from the doorway to the counter, where something hot does cause stringy, swirly puffs of air to waft upwards from a large metal container. With your back to Greez, you pull a plate for yourself and begin hulling it full of food. Some sort of rice or grain?  

“Hmph, that reminds me,” the Latero begins mid-chew. “Me and Cere was talking about taking a vacation.”

“Vacation?” you scrunch your eyebrows and put the lid back on the container. “Where to?”

“The beach maybe?”

You scoff as you turn around and lean on the counter. One hand holds the plate while the other uses your index finger to prod at the mush. It smells alluring. The individual pieces of it stick to your skin. They burn and sting, but it’s so small it doesn’t bring much of a reaction. “I don’t know a lot of beaches.”

“Well, ya know,” Greez shrugs. “Just a thought.”

* ✭ ˚ ･ﾟ ✧ *･ﾟ * ✭˚･ﾟ ✧* ･  *

It was more than just a thought. Six days later, the Mantis touches down on Scarif. But first there’s the issue of landing. 

“Watch that tree,” you point, leaning over Cal’s shoulder as he co-pilots beside Greez. A second later, the ship gives a great rock and the palm tree crunches beneath it. “You weren’t watching the tree.”

“Sorry,” Cal offers sheepishly. 

“What?” Greez says. He’s the one in main control of the ship. He’d never let Cal take over the whole thing. “What he do?”

“Ran over a tree,” you snort. 

“Cal!” Cere scolds, turning around in her chair. 

“I said I was sorry!” Cal defends. 

“I’m telling the wookies what you did,” you whisper.

“Don’t,” Cal whispers back, though it’s still desperate. 

The Mantis parks itself in a field of tropical emerald on the cuff of a beach. The sand is white, the waves cyan and royal blue and sloshing. There’s several beaches on the planet. All of which are very beautiful. Would be a true shame if anything were to ever happen to Scarif. It’s so different compared to so many other planets in the galaxy- not occupied by Imperial forces or scumbags. 

Greez waves everybody off. Cere exits first. Cal is ahead of you, but he steps to the side and rather gentlemanly insists, “You first.”

You hum and move past him. The Scarif air hits your face with a warm breeze. It smells of salt and water and some kind of flower. The horizon goes orange and pink and salmon with the setting sun. It is... serene. It nearly knocks you off your feet. It takes his voice to realize Cal is beside you at the bottom of the ramp. 

“Woah,” he offers simply, in as much awe as yourself. 

“Woah,” you repeat in agreement. It’s still for a second. “Come on. Let’s join them. Or else I’ll have to cast a Jedi mind trick on you.” Your fingers wiggle up and down by Cal’s face for dramatic effect. 

Cal rolls his eyes. “Shut up,” he utters with a push on your elbow, urging you forward into the sand. 

Okay, so maybe you like Cal more than just a friend. But who can blame you? Things had been feeling different between you two lately. You’d always gotten along pretty smoothly. You made up for skills that Cal seemed to lack himself, and his abilities- human and nonhuman- never ceased to amaze you. He was a friend. And then, when you tended to the stab wound he’d gotten from Vader, there was a moment where you held each others eyes. After that, the joking became more constant. The little touches on the shoulders and elbows and forehead taps happened more often. And you started watching him from his doorway sometimes and... and at some point you just caught feelings. 

Cal Kestis seemed to feel the same, but who could really say? No use poking that bear right now. 

The sand is soft, even beneath your boots. Cere stands in front of the water, just breathing in the air. The light breeze makes her vest ripple. It’s tempting to just join her. 

“Gotta say,” you hear a familiar voice say from your left and below. “We picked a nice place.”

“Maybe we should stay a while,” you joke, though you secretly hope for it, to Greez. 

“Yeah,” Greez rolls his eyes. “Until this moron gets us into trouble again!”

Cal perks up. “What did I do?”

“Anybody who can lift things with their mind is gonna attract some attention, kid. You just brought it on us.”

“So true,” you jump on with a smirk to Cal. 

“Alright,” Cal turns away towards the beach. You position yourself so you’re closer to him, and Greez takes the opportunity to waddle away further ahead to waves.

“Sorry for bursting your bubble, Cal,” you continue with a smug grin. “Maybe in the next life, don’t be born with force powers? Just a suggestion.”

“You think you’re so funny,” Cal tells you, though he’s smiling too. His pale green eyes spare a glance at you, thick lashes dancing on his boyish face. 

Your knees bend until you collapse on your bottom in the sand. It’s so soft, it doesn’t even resist your weight. It makes way for you easily, like a blanket. “I do.”

Cal joins you in the sand quickly enough. You’re both face to face, the wind in your hair and the water at your side. It crashes every few seconds, but it’s peaceful. Some kind of bird flies overhead, and butterflies are in the forested area behind you. The light of the sunset illuminates Cal’s hair more than usual. The brightest points of his eyes are highlighted. 

“He loves you,” you offer. 

“You think so?”

“I am one hundred percent certain... Just don’t touch the ship.”

Cal raises his hands as if surrendering. “Understood. Hands off.”

You turn your head to the water. Greez and Cere are standing ahead, most likely having a conversation of their own. The tide carries so much of the stress your shoulders hold away from you. Everything with the holocron, the empire- it was ridiculous what living in hiding could do to a person. It’s hard to imagine how Cal did it for so long. How painful that must’ve been for him. How painful it is to imagine him in pain. 

“How’s your stomach?” you decide to ask at last. 

Cal tilts his head for a second. “Better.”

“Perfect?” you raise your knees to your chest and rest your arms on them. 

Just then, a little whirring noise pulls both of your attentions away. BD-1 bounds down the ramp of the ship, twirling around in observance as if excited. “Hey, BD,” Cal greets. “I know, buddy. I know.” The droid places itself in Cal’s lap, still looking around at the change in scenery. 

“We’ve never been able to do this before,” you tell him. “I mean, I wasn’t here for the whole adventure. But I was here after and before and... and just... we’ve never done this.”

Cal is quiet. “I haven’t either.”

You look at him. 

“Taken a break. I guess time on Bracca was the closest thing.”

You smile softly. “I’m sure it was really nice.”

Cal rolls his eyes along with his head, though the corner of his chapped pink lips turn upwards. “As nice as it could be with the Empire.”

“That’s pretty nice.”

Cal and you huff a humorous puff of air in unison. 

“What were you doing before the Mantis?” Cal suddenly asked. 

“Oh,” you roll your eyes and wave your hand. “Not important. Don’t even worry about it.”

“Come on!” Cal shifts. 

“I’m serious!” you defend. “It’s boring stuff. You wouldn’t want to hear about it. Not as interesting as the force.”

“Well anything related to you is interesting,” Cal says casually, one of his palms lifting in the air for effect as he shifts again. 

Well that makes your face feel hot. Anything related to you is interesting. How often do people get to hear that? And how casually it comes out of Cal’s mouth, the shrug of his shoulders that you tie so easily to him, that’s how you know it’s honest. Not only have you heard something intimate that not many people will in their whole lives, but it was also heartfelt. 

“Yeah,” you mutter, though it sounds distant and far away as you watch Cal’s eyes. He doesn’t seem to mind. Then you snap back to reality. “This is gonna be good.”

Cal watches you pop to life, standing up entirely and running towards the water. BD-1 perks up as well to watch you just in time to see your much bigger form nearly knock the Latero over. And, much to Cal’s surprise, the little droid jumps from his lap and bounds after you. The red head decides he’s next to follow. 

“BD-1,” he rasps, also nearly pushing Greez to the ground. “Don’t touch the water!”

But it’s too late. However, nothing happens. BD-1 stands in the shallow waves, unelectrocuted and unbroken. He doesn’t spark a bit, only cocking his head in wonder at his friend. 

“Think fast!” a voice calls. 

A splash of warm and salty water slaps against Cal’s face. He cringes, turning his shoulders away on impact with a little gasp that makes his throat burn. “Hey!”

Another splash. 

Cal turns to you. You’re standing with your hands on either side of yourself, open and matching your smug and proud face. Your boots are still on, which can’t be comfortable given that they’re now submerged in water. BD-1 is on the back of your shoulders- something Cal thought was only between him and the droid. Apparently not. 

“What’s wrong, Cal? Can’t handle the current?”

Cal stills himself. Then he bends down himself and flicks water upwards. 

“Hey! No!”

He does it once more. 

“No!”

So you too repeat your original actions and begin forcing salty liquid up into the air in Cal’s direction as well. BD-1 grips onto your collar for stability while you both go to town, careful to not open your mouths too wide and taste the saltiness. 

“Be careful you two!” Cere calls from the shore. Neither Cal nor yourself heed her words, continuing on in disrupting the tide. 

“They’re fine,” Greez assures with the wave of one of his many arms. 

“Are you sure about that?” Cere responds with a hand on her hip as she watches you tackle the Jedi to the sandy terrain below the shallow water. 

“Completely fine.”

You push both of Cal’s shoulders down jokingly, careful not to subdue his head under the water. He cranes his neck to keep it above the waves. Through his soft lashes, Cal can just see your smiling, evil intentioned face with BD-1 on your shoulder gazing at him. 

Honestly, it feels just how it did last week- the last time you had watched Cal in his room. Gazing at him, admiring him. Just now you get to touch him, relax with him, splash water at him, even. You wish you could capture this moment if not forever, then for a while, and Cal wishes the same. 

* ✭ ˚ ･ﾟ ✧ *･ﾟ * ✭˚･ﾟ ✧* ･  *

Sorry it’s short. Idk if it’s my best work certainly but I haven’t written for Cal or Star Wars in a while. But I didn’t kill the reader in this fic or have someone sick or in danger! So it might be my first ever straight fluff? I don’t know. But what a good character to do it with. I’m glad to give Cal a break. And i hope the requester enjoys. 

[whatanoof]

hello there mesh'la, i'm a major cal kestis simp and i absolutely adore your work! i don't know if you normally do requests but if you do, i had an idea! can you do one where cal and his girlfriend spend the night making love very loudly, and then the morning after the crew of the mantis teases them about it - and they point out that the both of them are covered in hickeys? xd

Pairing: Cal Kestis x Reader

Word Count: ~1.1k

Warnings: references to sex, swearing, rather cruel banter until you consider that they're family and it's all good natured teasing?

A/N: Anon this would totally happen, I'm not going to lie to you. Cal would get so lost in the sauce that he wouldn't think too hard about holding back in any way. The found family dynamics are high in this one guys, not gonna lie, but the prompt is so freaking funny in concept that I couldn't resist? Also, I've totally moved into just finding Cameron Monaghan gifs that really fit the vibes, because Cal Kestis gifs tend to be super serious

Greez snaps awake, scared and disoriented. What had woken him? There’s a rhythmic squeaking coming from the wall, and heavy breathing echoing around the tinny walls of the Mantis.

“Fuck, please!” Someone groans, long and drawn out and breathless and loud.

Oh. He rolls his eyes, grabs his pillow, and smushes it as tightly as he can around his head. It does the job decently well, he supposes as he drifts back to a fitful sleep.

---

Merrin was already awake when the noises began to filter through the walls of her quarters. Dathomirian Nightsister texts are scattered haphazardly through her quarters, half of them skimmed through tonight and another two floating before her.

“You feel so good, baby.” A strangled moan follows the words, someone keening rather high, enough to rival that of a shrieking bird that she had heard back home. “Fuck, can I move?”

It takes a few seconds for the words to pull her attention from the texts, but when she notices, all she does is huff a heavy sigh. Green magic spins around her before expanding to press to the inside of her room.

She listens carefully for a few moments, but no sound gets past the magic barrier. She curls up under the covers and continues to read. At least someone is having fun tonight.

---

Cere is on night shift in the cockpit. No physical sound reaches her, but her connection to the Force twinges. She lowers the noise of the comm chatter and magnifies the Force sensation, identifying increased pleasure and thought projection coming from the aft quarters of the Mantis. Not again.

She sighs and pushes the Force as far as possible from her mind. Turning up the comm chatter again, she continues to monitor the surroundings.

A high pitched groan pierces through the stillness, echoing from inside the air system and managing to be heard by Cere even through her headphones. Her temper flares, but she inhales sharply and calms herself. There’s nothing to be done about it tonight. There will absolutely be words in the morning.

---

“Good morning!” Cal all but skips into the kitchen towards the caf machine. “How close are we to Bogano?”

He is greeted with less than an equal amount of cheer. Greez sends a highly unimpressed look his way over a cup of caf. “Someone’s in a good mood.”

Merrin snorts, “I bet I could tell you why.”

Cal blinks at them, looking like a swampling caught in headlights. “What?”

Cere appears behind him and claps a hand on his shoulder, “I believe that they’re referring to last night’s activities. Very loud activities.”

Cal says nothing, but the expression on his face can only be interpreted as, ‘oh shit.’

You really couldn’t have timed it better if you tried, because you chose that exact moment to appear from the back hallway, blinking sleepily with mussed hair and a truly impressive array of blue and purple dotting along the skin exposed by the neckline of your pajama shirt. All eyes land on you the second your foot hits the threshold, and you freeze at the sudden attention.

“What’s wrong?”

Merrin breaks the tension, “You got a little something there.” She gestures to her own neck, and your hand flies to yours to mimic hers, trying to peer down and see what she is pointing at.

“And there. And there.” Greez pipes up, and you rub your skin a little more frantically. “And there. Oh, you missed the one there.”

Cere shoots them a look. “Behave, you two.”

Cal moves to your side, leaning to whisper in your ear, “Sorry, I should’ve warned you this morning when I got up, but you were still asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Warned me about what?” You’re going to blame your sleep-addled brain because you are not getting anyone’s meaning at all.

“I--uh--I marked you up a lot last night.”

Your jaw drops when you finally understand. “Cal Kestis!” You hiss furiously, glaring at him while you try in vain to pull the collar of your shirt up to hide your skin better.

“Leave it. Everyone’s already seen it anyway.” Merrin calls from her corner of the table, an amused grin spreading across her features.

“Everyone heard it too last night.” Greez chortles, hands slapping his side in mirth. “You are a loud one,” he said, referring to you.

Now it’s the second time you’re confused this morning. “What are you talking about?”

“You were moaning very loudly last night. Impressively high-pitched too, maybe you should consider joining a choir.” The Latero laughs at his own joke rather explosively, but your brow only creases further.

“I wasn’t making noises last night. Cal gagged me.”

A shocked silence spreads over the group as everyone turns their attention from you to the redheaded Jedi trying to edge back to the hallway leading to the quarters. He stops when he notices that he’s been caught, raising his hands in the air with a guilty smile on his face, “Sorry about that?”

Greez cackles, hands slamming onto the table and nearly upsetting his cup of caf. “That was you?!”

Merrin’s laughing too, “I thought those sounds weren’t within the range of a normal human male. Congratulations on your excelling vocal chords.”

Cere’s chuckling too, “Maybe she shouldn’t be the one wearing the gag.”

Cal’s flushed bright red, and he turns and sits at the table with a defeated air. “Okay, eveyrone just get it out right now and we can move on.”

“Oh no, we are never going to move on. You sounded like that Shyyyo bird on Kashyyyk, pretty boy!”

You sit beside Cal with a modest smile, squeezing his hand. “I suppose we deserve it for ruining their sleep.”

“You’re damn right you do!”

“And now that you know, it better not happen again,” Cere interjects with a stern gaze on the both of you, causing you to shrink under the severity. “We have to get sleep if we’re to keep running missions of such a dangerous nature.” You both nod sheepishly. “But--” You look up at her slightly amused tone, “Cal you really should consider joining a nature group. I’m sure you could imitate most of the bird calls in the higher range. It’s truly a lost talent.”

Cal groans as he thunks his forehead down on the table, and you pat his hand reassuringly. If Cere has jumped on the train of ridiculing, then the subject truly will not get dropped for sometime. It may be time to consider getting Cal a gag as well if you’re going to continue.

Cal Kestis Taglist:@marvelassassin221b, @my-awakened-ghost, @katethecrazy, @gabile18

[uraveragelonelygay]

hey bestie! i love gamora and you probably don’t get a lot of requests with r x gamora, soooo i’m doing it <3

may i request a fluff blurb f!r x gamora, where gamora shows R (her gf) off to the guardians?

Pairing: Gamora x reader

Warnings: none

quick a/n: thank you for giving me a chance to write for Gamora, i adore her. also i don't like peter quill so sorry not sorry for how i portrayed him lol.

*********************************************

Gamora shot you a reassuring smile as she walked with you towards the ship that housed her friends...no, scratch that. Her family. You and Gamora had met when the Guardians stopped by Earth to go over some business with Nick Fury. Gamora took a wrong turn when looking for the bathroom and found herself accidentally walking into your bedroom. The two of you locked eyes and it was as if Gamora’s world had stopped. She never envisioned herself falling in love. Peter had mentioned some “unspoken thing” between the two of them, but she knew what love felt like, and she felt none of it for him. But you? You were different.

You shot her a warm smile and introduced yourself.

“Hi, I’m Y/N. You must be Gamora, I’ve heard so much about you! You’re such a badass!” You had excitedly exclaimed.

That voice had to have been her new favorite sound in the entire galaxy.

And then you giggled when she told you she had been looking for the bathroom, and she decided your laugh was even better.

After months of contacting each other via an intergalactic device that Tony had given each of the Guardians to stay in contact with the Avengers as they travelled the galaxy, Gamora knew you were the one. And when she told you that on a call one night, she was ecstatic to hear that you felt the exact same way.

It was hard, though. Long distance within earth is one thing, but when two beings in love are on entirely different planets? It got lonely. The two of you wanted nothing more than to be in each other’s arms, since you hadn’t been able to see each other since you had first met, 9 months ago.

So now, here you were, finally with your girlfriend. Gamora had insisted that the Guardians make a stop on earth, as she had someone to introduce them to. Although, she almost didn’t want to. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her family to meet you, not at all. It was more selfish than that. She had finally gotten you in her arms, and now she would have to share you? Not her cup of tea.

But she was willing to do it for you, since you had requested it.

The door of the ship opened to reveal the cast of characters you had heard so much about.

The only human of the crew, Peter, you assumed, approached you with furrowed brows.

“Gamora, who’s this? You brought us all the way back to Earth to meet a friend?”

A raccoon then pushed Peter to the side. Rocket.

“Calm down, Star Munch, let the woman talk.”

A few more beings gathered around you, and you identified them as Groot, Drax, and Mantis.

Gamora glared at the two, more specifically at Peter, before speaking.

“She’s not a friend. She’s my girlfriend. Everyone, meet Y/N, she’s an Avenger here on earth.”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Is there something wrong?” You said anxiously.

“I am Groot.”

Rocket nodded. “Yeah, Groot says he never thought miss scary green lady over here would fall in love, and I can’t help but agree.”

“Or if she did, we all thought it would be with me,” Peter said, half-cocky, half-jealous.

The ship went silent. Gamora wrapped an arm around your waist defensively.

Just as Gamora was about to yell at Peter, a loud belly laugh from none other than Drax broke the silence.

“Speak for yourself, Quill!” he said. “I personally think this earthling is much more her style.”

You smiled at him, feeling your anxiety slowly trickle away.

Mantis then approached. “May I touch you?”

“Uh...sure?”

She placed a hand on your head, closing her eyes. She then pulled away, smiling. “She feels romantic love.”

You blushed, and Gamora smiled at you, pulling you into her side. “I feel it too,” she whispered for your ears only. Your smile widened.

The group of you sat around and chatted for a few hours before Gamora pulled you aside.

“Okay, now you’ve met them, sharing time is up. Now can I have you all to myself?” Gamora said impatiently.

You laughed at her antics before pulling her into a soft kiss. “Of course, love. Let’s go.”

As the two of you walked off towards your room in the Avengers Compound, hand in hand, you couldn’t help but be grateful that Gamora’s family (save for Peter) had accepted you with open arms, paws, and branches.

*********************************************

[pirate-kwazii]

Watching Ring Of Fire now so here’s more of my thoughts

Is that a fence in the water

Is everyone groaning about the sea urchin and crab or yawning? I can’t tell

Okay I’ve had the Vegimals song stuck in my head for awhile now

Kwazii’s alarm clock shoots tennis balls at him- same

And Dashi starts the day with yoga

Tweaks fell asleep playing video games mood

Shellington what the fUCK

Tf is that- is that lava?!?

Oh ring of fire like the volcanoes- I feel stupid now

They’re doing their role call out of order

What the fuck Kwazii why did you eat 17 kelp cakes

Is the only thing you eat is seaweed

VIDEO TRAINING VIDEO TRAINING

*terrible accordion playing* *everyone winces*

How many cousins do you have peso?!?!

Kwazii: I’m going out and FAST!!!!

Captain: *eyebrow raise*

Kwazii: I mean I’m checking the engine

MORE GUPS?!?!

“Don’t push the Z button” Kwazii is definitely going to press it I bet all 3 of my dollars

Wait why did Peso and Barnacles need a Gup if they were taking the octopod?!

How much time does Tweak have to keep making all these gups?!

Aw Kwazii loves that Gup so much

WHAT IS BARNACLES WEARING WHAT THE HELL NO

Kwazii’s copying it omg-

Shellington and Dashi are such nerd friends it’s actually adorable

Tremors those are probably important

Ring-shape? Like the ring of fire-

Oh no comms are down

A TSUNAMI?!?!

Mateys you should’ve stayed at the Octopod

Kwazii saved Tweak’s life and now it’s flooding

Why don’t they know about the Ring of Fire if they LIVE in the ocean

Oh no the comms are down they can’t reach them!!!!

Damn at least no one is alone...

Of course the Chinstrap Penguins live on a volcano

Well at least Shellington and Dashi are alright and above water so there’s a lower chance of drowning

“How does he know I’m an octonaut?” Maybe it’s because you’re wearing the octonauts colors and the logo all over it

Wow itd be faster to push the stupid thing

Last time you guys followed the screaming sound there was a tsunami

Well at least you found the whales you wanted to find

“I’ve always wanted to see a whale but not like this!” I’d sure hope so Shellington

Of course the volcano erupts

Tweak Kwazii are ya okay?!

THEY DONT HAVE AIR TANKS ON THEM OH NO

TWEAK!!!

Now is not the time to copy Barnacles- holy shit it worked

She just noticed that?!

Shit you guys are stuck

Kwazii beggars can’t be choosers

Why is that the only way to get across Tweak

No Tweak pay attention

ITS ON FIRE

I really hope you guys can hold your breath

She’s pulling a Ladybug and the things she looks at glow now

Improvised fire extinguisher

WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE ARENT YOU UNDERWATER

Eww they landed in seaweed and a banana peel

Why does everyone end in the garbage disposal- sorry compost

Oh he almost fell in-

*opens door and floods room* Guess we’re swimming after all

Tunip leave him it’s natural selection

Grouber just sits and eats during a panic- same

“Lesson Nine- dealing with disasters” what

Why is the background of those videos so bad

I mean it’s rad but also bad

Tunip: *hands the Vegimals a bunch of shovels* good luck

Mateys how did that dirt pile work-

*quickly unplants all the seaweed*

*vacuums the animals*

LEAVE THE SEAWEED YOU HAVE ENOUGH

“You gotta save us!” Why didn’t you get their attention sooner?

Why do none of them notice the volcanoes that they live on/near

We’ve seen the rafts it won’t work

How the hell did you think of that

Is that even possible

They only leave Inkling in charge when legit no one else is there

Kwazii and Tweak: *mimic pirates, rabbits and Barnacles*

Peso and Barnacles: *mimic penguins*

How was the lava that aLMOST COOKED YOUR EGGS NOT A WARNING SIGN

Wow Inkling is not good at this I see why he’s never in charge

Even Kwazii and the Vegimals have managed the octopod better than that

Why is there is Disco Ball

Why does it always switch to the training videos

“Dashi’s so good at this” yeah it’s almost like it’s her JOB

There was a BUTTON FOR THAT EXACT REASON AND YOU DIDNT THINK TO PRESS IT FIRST?!?!?!

Took you long enough jeez

What is they fall off of the “slide”

“Mothers and babies first” anyone else can perish

Well that egg is dead

Oh never mind he got it

WHY DIDNT YOU TWO GET ON THE SIDE TOO TWEAK WOULD UNDERSTAND

I mean she and Kwazii are trying not to be set on fire so I’m sure she’d get it

“I just hope everyone else is okay” well shellington and Dashi are stuck on a volcano that’s exploding trying to get a beached whale out on a very slow Gup, the Vegimals are trying to evacuate the garden, and Tweak and Kwazii are trying to get out of the burning and flooding repair area so no I don’t think anyone else is okay

“This isn’t working” no really Dashi

Oh the crabs know Kwazii that explains so much

Another Training Video?!

The crew all look so nervous when they appear in a training videos

Oh now Dashi and Shellington are mimicking Tweak

Poor Shellington he’s clumsy

“I have to say I.. really like that plan” yea cuz it’s the one that doesn’t involve you burning in the lava

Shellingtons getting a workout in oof

He’s about to fall into the lava

Now the crabs about to fall into the water

Oh god he’s screwed

Crab jump on the whale- now he’s flying

Shellington get out of the lava!!!

Alright some people are safe

Oh never mind the other volcanoes are erupting too

That water level is dangerously high are they gonna be okay

Kwazii don’t phrase it like that it sounds like you’ll die

KWAZII!!!!!

Oh god oh no his tail

Mimicking Barnacles saved the day

TWEAK!!! KWAZII!!!

Oh they are alright thank god

They’re gonna be traumatized from this- *angst time*

“And how will we get up there” Kwazii making good points again

Kwazii with a grappling hook is a terrifying idea please get one

And now they find out the comms are down

Kwazii trying to be helpful

WHY DOES SHE HAVE AN EMERGENCY CARROT STASH

KWAZII GOT ONE TOO

Another video but this ones useless-

TWEAK YOU TURNED OFF THE POWER

They sounded the octo alert together!!!

Babies

EVERYONES OKAY!!!!

OF COURSE THERES ANOTHER ONE

Kwazii and Tweak: ya we’re good

Also them: *trying to not to drown or burn*

They are all gonna connect to each other like Voltron aren’t they

KWAZII DID PRESS IT IM NOT LOSING MY $3 TODAY!!!

Tweak: I got a plan

*crashes through the hatch*

Kwazii: *excited cat sounds*

Yeah they’re going together naturally

“Mega Gup Z” epic naming skills Tweak

“Seat swap” “wait a minute- WHOA”

“It’s completely covered in sea creatures” there’s no way you get all of them

Oh good some are swimming away

“Sit tight” they can’t really do anything else Captain

Do we know where they go after being S U C C E D into the mega Gup z?

And now rocks are everywhere

Kwazii’s excited cat noises are giving me life

Couldn’t the crabs walk away?

Oh no they’re getting stuck in the volcano-

Oh they’re good thank Neptune

Dashi: yea it’s bout to erupt we gotta go

Peso: I saw something inside there we gotta go look

Does Peso want them to die

Of course the animals sound snobby

“Why ever would we do that” CUZ ITS ERUPTING i swear all the creatures have the IQ of a walnut

“I didn’t even make a button for it” bruh

Yeah just like Voltron

Kwazii: *even more excited cat noises cuz he gets to destroy things*

Why do you all name the moves with the word “mantis” in front of them?

They all share one braincell and Barnacles and Peso have it 90% of the time

Tweak gets the other 10%

Everyone else runs on pure chaotic energy

“Tweak Status Report!” Tweak: WE ARE FUCKED

Let Tweak say “Fuck” 2k21

Kwazii: *e x c i t e d c a t n o i s e s*

*throws sea creatures at whale*

*blows up into five gups in massive explosion in front of erupting volcano*

Is all that sea urchin thinks about is food

“You know what I’d like? Dinner” “you know what pal, that sounds great”

“Have the eruptions stopped” “yea but that’s not what I called about”

Is Inkling trying to be more than that guy who sits in his library all day?

Yea it’s not hatching because of the bandage all around it

Please say the egg doesn’t die

Oh it’s alive good

Octonauts: remember that island that got destroyed by a volcano? Would you like to live on an island that volcano created?

Penguins: not really

Octonauts: too bad

Vegitoa? Wow

ITS THAT STUPID SONG AGAIN LAST TIME IT WAS IT MY HEAD FOR TWO WEEKS

“It still felt like we were working as a team” maybe cuz you were all copying each other the whole time

“You really, really need to update those training videos” yeah fair enough

Of course the Vegimals still remember the dance

I see what the hype was about that was a fantastic movie mateys... though everyone’s probably gonna have some problems after that

[twistnet]

dating cal kestis would include

general

- cal has had some traumatic experiences, watching troopers he saw as friends turn on him and his master, his master pass before his eyes and close friends die at the hands of the empire. he’s still trying to get through everything that’s happened and sometimes it weighs down on him. sometimes he just needs someone to just listen

- when you first start dating, cal is still very hesitant. having romantic attachments goes against the jedi code. so he has some doubts about it. at the extreme, he feels like he is betraying the order and his teachings. he knows the the order doesn’t exist anymore, but it's the idea of holding onto the teachings. but after time, he finds guidance from cere and moves past it

- cal has been alone for a long time, so he’s happy to have someone by his side. getting to experience new places, help out the alliance and save the galaxy from the empire is so much better with you at his side

- very much a caring person and can be very protective. if something doesn’t feel right, he’ll let you know. and wills always put himself between you and the enemy. regardless if you are a jedi or not, he still wants you safe.

- likes that you got along with the Mantis crew, bonding with everyone including bd-1. the droid is always looking out for the two of you, and loves that you like to help out on repairs

- if you are a former padawan, like himself, he finds comfort in the fact you can train together. combine all your techniques and moves, give pointers, help focus or channel the force to do something. its an environment that is safe to learn and mess up in.

little things

- likes holding your hand. uses it as a way to not only make sure you are right behind him, but it also grounds him.

- being connected, you always know how he’s feeling. having you come up behind him and hug him is super reassuring when he’s lost deep in his own head

- likes to give you his ponchos to wear on different missions, or just in general

- values your inputs and ideas. tries to see things your way and implement them into the plans they have

- working together on his lightsaber or bd-1 is a favorite pastime with you, let’s him live in the moment and make happy memories to replace the old ones

- after a particularly rough battle or narrow escape, cal will look you over for injuries. making sure you are okay and ready to move on. catches himself brushing your hair from out of your face

affection

- nicknames, he usually calls you by your name in public. it’s formal and the right thing to do when in front of Saw or other rebel leaders. however, the minute you get back to the mantis, he uses nicknames as a sort of playful teasing. calling you sweetheart or babe. cere finds it nauseating and greez could care less so long as he doesn’t lose his appetite 

- hugs, for comfort, for reassurance, after risking your life. you name it. cal finds that it speaks volumes and is more subtle than kissing in public situations. out in the open, everything can be used against you and he would rather it seem as you are a friend than a lover to the enemy

- kisses are mainly in private. kisses on the cheek, forehead or back of knuckles are his favorite. is still very shy when it comes to kissing you on the lips, just a quick peck before he pulls back blushing, but it’s very rare that it comes to that

- cuddling, happens in private as well. it’s comfort from nightmares and bad missions. you and cal cuddle in his bunk, more so that you start to slowly move your things into his bunk so you don’t have to keep going back to get them. there was one time cal and you had cuddled in the lounge of the mantis, fast asleep from that days mission. cere had seen and covered the two of you up. knowing you needed the rest.

[the-wintershade]

Dating Cal Kestis Would Include...

Cal is just this soft and kind boi with such a fire inside of him.

Protective!Cal jumps out at any opportunity where he feels you are uncomfortable or unsure of yourself.

He’s always going to be right there, standing slightly in front of you, lightsaber at the ready.

He gets that slight crease between his eyebrows and his teeth might slip out a little bit as he’s trying to warn others that he’ll defend you with everything he has.

But he doesn’t want to be suffocating.

He’ll only do that in very serious cases where he can feel that something is wrong, that you’re terrified or scared.

If you tell him that you’re okay or that you can handle it, he’ll back off but stay close just to watch over you.

Since he’s kinda protective, you’ve developed a system to let him know you’re okay.

Started out when you tagged along on a scouting mission that wasn’t supposed to be dangerous but, of course, there were seeds of the first order coming about. He kept you behind him at all costs and always tried to keep a hand, arm, or some part of his body in front of you.

If you were force-sensitive, you were usually aware of dangerous people well before you made it over and soon grew tired of him always having to be in front of you.

If you weren’t, you let him lead, knowing he would be better at that kind of thing anyway, but also got a little frustrated at the being in front all the time.

So, once, when his arm came out in front of you, you looked at it and tapped it twice.

Cal didn’t know what was going on and he turned to you with a scrunched face and worried eyes.

“I’m okay. I’m not in any danger. I can handle it.” You looked to him and then to his arm. 

He let it fall before turning to you.“Does this bother you?”

“A little bit. But not because I’m upset that you’re looking out for me. I just want to be here with you as another operative on a mission, not as a follower that needs an escort.”

Cal seemed to understand and apologized for making you feel beneath him, but you assured him he didn’t. It was true.

So you came up with tapping him twice anywhere on his body when you knew you could handle the situation while Cal was taking on the defensive role. And it worked.

Even if you were a bit spooked, if you knew you had the problem covered, you’d tap him twice on his shoulder.

Weird person hitting on you and Cal tried to step up? Two taps on the lower back as you wrap an arm around him. You would politely tell them off and everything would be fine.

If you were force sensitive or weapons proficient and ran into a storm trooper or creatures, two taps on his outstretched arm and you’d be able to take those suckers out.

A little uncomfortable splitting up but had to? Two squeezes to your conjoined hands followed by four rapid pulses. I’ve got this, come back to me.

He’s a very good listener and he’s the best to open your mind to because he won’t judge you for anything that comes out. He just patiently waits with that soft, seriousness, looking at you, nodding along with what you’re saying until you’ve finished. 

Even then he’s not the type to try to analyze things unless you want him to. He’ll usually be quiet until you start a conversation and then he’ll begin talking.

In the beginning, when you first got to know each other, Cal was pretty shy around you, but now? Now, he shares everything with you. Every detail he finds intriguing, inspiring, or intellectually challenging, he confides in you.

He loves sharing his little world with you.

Touch starved af!

Cal loves to have you run your fingers through his hair even though he won’t tell you explicitly.

He’ll play with his hair, running his hand over it, intentionally messing it up until you come over and fix it or mess around with it.

Works every time.

Also likes the idea of holding hands but doesn’t do it all the time because he usually likes to have his hands free.

But around the mantis, in his room, while eating (surprisingly), and taking you safe places, he’ll reach out for you, waiting until you place your hand in his before moving on.

He likes it when you’re walking around and you’re just relaxing, exploring a new city or somewhere where you get a breather for a few days, and you wrap yourself around his arm.

Once again, he’ll never admit it, but he likes having you close, tucked against him.

Hugs are probably his favorite and he loves pulling you into one. He’ll hold you for a longer time than necessary, breathing you in, memorizing your touch, your feel, how you fit into him.

He just genuinely likes being close to you.

Cal’s not a big kisser.

Not because he doesn’t like it but he’s so inexperienced and unsure of himself that he’s not always comfortable with it.

It’s not his favorite way to express affection but he tries.He likes kissing you on the forehead, cheek, or hand the most. The shoulder is a close second to those.

He kisses you quickly on the lips, only lingering in the other spots where he likes kissing you the most.

But as time goes on and you become more comfortable and used to each other, he begins to kiss you longer and harder.

Sometimes with more intensity than he means to.

And it’s good.

But there are times where he needs space and he does have limits on what he can give to physical affection for the day.

And you respect it and give him space when he needs it because he’s been through a lot and deserves to have his boundaries.

You and Cal sleep together, but just sleeping. He doesn’t want to force you into anything and he’s never really entertained the thoughts to want anything else but you right beside him.

The first few times it’s awkward and when he even asked you, his face was so red that he barely got the words out.

But he did and you, wide eyes and blushing just as much, agreeded.

After the general awkwardness faded, it was nice sleeping next to him.

He sometimes liked sleeping with your backs touching when he wasn’t that up for cuddling just so he was touching you is someway.

Other times, he would wrap his arm around you and hug you close, nuzzling into your neck, his nose pressed against your skin.

Or you would lie on his chest, wrapping an arm around his torso, while he kept his arms around you.

You were sometimes the big spoon depending on what was going on that day or week.

His mouth usually hangs slightly open while he sleeps and he looks so innocent and calm that you wish you could just wrap him up and keep him safe from everything.

You can’t do that so you compromise with a kiss on the cheek.

He still has nightmares about order 66 and his master which you can feel wether it’s through his pain or through the force if you’re force sensitive.

Your heart hurts watching tears come out of his eyes and small mumbles of pleading phrases escape his sleeping lips.

Usually, you let him work through it and hold him a little closer until the movement and tears and mumbling stops.

Other times you have to wake him up because he’s shaking or violently thrashing and screaming. You speak softly at first and then become a little louder, assuring him you’re there and that he’s safe.

He always looks like a young child when he wakes and you just hold him against you, murmuring soothing words to him until he calms down.

He doesn’t like crying in front of you. He thinks it makes him look weak but you reassure him, again and again, that there is nothing wrong with crying.

You wipe at his eyes and hold on to some part of him while he calms down and falls back asleep. He unconsciously pulls you closer.

Some days he focuses on the memories harder than others, and when that happens you touch him to let him know you’re there but don’t say anything to disturb him.

He’s always very careful and cautious with you, making sure he’s not stepping over any boundaries and that you’re okay with everything.

It’s one of the things you really like about him: how caring and genuine he is.

He’s very sweet with you but also with BD and kind to the crew on the mantis.

He’s delicate with everything, trying not to disturb the wildlife or places he goes too much. He only takes what he needs when he needs it.

He’s not that fond of killing stormtroopers or creatures but he’ll only kill when there’s no other option.

You love his softness and sometimes he wonders if that’s a bad thing.

“You still like me? Even though I’m not hard and tough?”

“Cal, I adore you because you’re not hard and act tough all the time. You’re genuine and you care and you’re gentle and thoughtful. Those are qualities it’s hard to find in anyone these days and I’m always in awe and amazement of you. I love those traits. Don’t feel self-conscious of them.”

He blushes a furious pink and looks away. You smile.

Cal always has this look he saves for you. It’s pure happiness and admiration and you always have to look away when you see him admiring you for fear that you’ll melt.

But there’s a way you look at him that’s so open that his cheeks flush a deep red and he’ll turn away.

Cal’s not that much of a flirt but he’ll wink at you and carry a lazy way of walking when around you. 

You like kissing him swiftly on the cheek as you walk by to watch him flush and throw him off what he was working on.

He always gets you back by wrapping your torso into him from behind and kissing your forehead.

BD-1 adores you. He always sends out a string of happy beeps and noises when he and Cal come back and jumps out to you.

You catch him and listen as he talks about all of the cool things that they found while he was scanning.

Cal tries to shush him, but laughs when you tell him to stop and let the droid talk in peace. You hand him back to Cal when he’s done and Cal pats him on the head. “Did you get it all out buddy?”

He gives an emphatic yep! and Cal chuckles along with you. His eyes linger on you as they normally do and you feel your skin heat up.

The mantis crew likes you too and all of the calm and determined energy you bring to the team. You help keep Cal grounded as you tag along on missions and steady him when he’s afraid of losing control or hurting people. They thank you for that.

You also like helping out with planting the new seeds and watching them grow much to Greez’s appreciation.

Cal’s not great at saying I love you. He’s never really said it before in such a way, and he feels out of practice.

But he shows you, all the time, through things big and small.

And even when he won’t say I love you, he’ll say other things like “be safe”, “I missed you”, or “I need you with me”.

It feels awkward to say those three words out loud because he knows the heavy implication that comes with using them, so he’s waiting till just the right moment to say them to you.

One night, as you’re lying together in bed, you almost asleep, he whispers “I love you.”

You eyes snap open as you look to him watching you with that lazy smile on his face. He moves your hair and plants a warm kiss on your forehead.

You feel it down to your toes and your core becomes alive with flame.

“I love you too.”

[chipthekeeper]

Cara Dune is gay, a masterlist

Been meaning to compile my Ao3 stories all into one post on here (mostly for my benefit but if anybody else finds it useful then yay, please be my friend) so let’s do it. Just a note, these are all written with her paired with original characters, but most feature some of the canon characters we know and love in some capacity or another.

Listed under the cut (this got too long and I want to pin it) in, roughly, the order I wrote them starting with the earliest.

Shock series:

Shock -- A brand new shock trooper joins Cara Dune’s unit. It doesn’t take long for each of them to realize they need the other to survive.

Five chapters, 11,573 words. Set before the events of The Mandalorian but adheres very strictly to season one’s canon.

Echoes -- A series of moments in Cara and Rylan’s journey.

Nine chapters, 28,743 words. Started out as just random bits but eventually wraps up the story started in Shock. Still very carefully sticks with season one canon.

Rogue -- Cara has a unique approach to bounty hunting. But the rules of the Guild Code won’t be the only ones that get broken.

Eight chapters, 21,353. Takes place after season one and imagines Cara having joined the Guild.

Forces at Work series

Force of Habit -- A young Force-user on Alderaan leaves her comfortable life to join the crew of the Mantis and enter the ranks of the Jedi. More than a decade later, she reunites with someone from home, paving the way for a team-up between their two crews and an adventure that will change their lives forever.

Thirteen chapters, 42,461 words. This one might be my favorite. A crossover between The Mandalorian and the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, tied together by an original Jedi character. If you haven’t played the game, it’s not necessary for understanding the story but I always encourage playing because it rocks.

Force of Nature -- New (and old) adventures in life and Jedi-ing for Sam, Cara, Cal, and the crew after the Gideon affair.

Six chapters, 23,220 words so far. There are no rules with this one, it’s just whatever pops into my head regarding the characters from FoH. (Okay, the one rule is read the other thing first.)

Go Easy -- Amid the Rebels’ victory celebrations after the Battle of Jakku, Rylan makes what she believes to be a sure bet. But after things don’t go her way, she meets a certain shock trooper, and comes to realize that losing isn’t always so bad.

One chapter, 3,765 words. A oneshot dedicated to all the thirsty shits out there who want to be punched in the face by one Cara Dune.

Let the Sky Fall -- A hotshot Rebel pilot’s life and career are turned upside down near the end of the Galactic Civil War. She doesn’t think she can ever get her old self back, until a familiar face comes back into her life.

Ten chapters, 27,337 words. Not a lot of extra notes on this one.

Reprogramming --  Under the jurisdiction of the New Republic, the Outer Rim has become a forgotten, lawless place. As a marshal on Nevarro, Cara Dune does her part to keep her city's people safe. But a new, yet familiar threat is beginning to emerge, and Cara will have to make an ally out of an old enemy in order to keep it in check.

Ten chapters, 37,155 words. A different take on Cara’s recruitment back into the New Republic I guess. Incorporates a lot of canon but also completely shits on other parts of canon.

If for some reason you’ve already read all of this nonsense, please tell me which one is your favorite (for science). While I’m not seriously working on anything right now, Force of Nature is ongoing and I’ve got a vague idea for something completely new. Thus I’m reserving the right to edit this as we go.

Also, here’s something no one asked for.

Also also, a disclaimer: in no way does my continued fandom of Cara constitute an endorsement of Gina Carano’s....opinions. And I believe if Cara was a real person, she would absolutely be on the right side of history. I mean, duh.

[capricornus-rex]

I was wondering if you could do a prompt with Cal and the reader where they’re both inquisitors, or the reader (as a Jedi/force-sensitive) having been supposedly “killed” during a fight with an inquisitor, only for Cal to find out later down the road that they’ve been turned into one, and it becomes his mission to save them and convince that he would never abandon them? I hope that’s okay and not asking for too much! ;~;

Nonsense! This is definitely okay and you’re not asking too much 😊😉 It was a little tricky to make the fic not look like a reverse twin of my 2 similar-sounding fics “Come Back To You” and “A Path I Can’t Follow,” but I saw it as a chance and a happy challenge to mix up the plot and add up what I wished I could’ve done on either fics. So, here you go, Anon! ☺ I hope you’ll enjoy the fic and I’m really sorry that it took a while in making it—as I was caught up in other requests and my own fic as well.

“Someone Left to Save” | Cal Kestis x Reader

Summary: The Mantis crew arrives to the capital of Ulfin, in the planet of Pevera, under siege. They meet the local rebel cell spearheaded by the former Republic admiral, Jax Beneb, who seeks to destroy the Empire’s occupation that was aggressively imposed upon while exploiting the planet of its natural resources. A plan is devised to destroy the Imperial’s main base of operations—as well as their influence—in the planet; however, it was a do-or-die mission that you and Cal had gotten yourselves caught in.

A/N: Also, Happy 40th Fic for me! ;;w;; I never saw myself expanding my masterlist with requests from other people, I just thought it would slowly grow with my own ideas and prompts but here I am now! 😭😭❤❤ I’m so glad you guys stuck around and liked my content, I’m forever grateful and really appreciate the support! You guys are the greatest!!! 🥰💖✨💜🌼

Tags: Force-Sensitive! Reader, Inquisitor! Reader, Jedi! Reader, Fake Death, Jedi turned Inquisitor, Seduction to the Dark Side, Turn to the Dark Side, The Dark Side of the Force, Aftermath of Torture, Torture, Psychological Torture, Redemption Arc! Reader, Possible Redemption, Premonitions

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, physical and psychological torture

Also in AO3

Next: Part 2 | Masterlist

1 of ?

TWO DAYS BEFORE THE COUNTERATTACK

Many travelers would call Pevera as Felucia’s near twin—due to the vibrant, unusual, and colorful flora, the formidable yet fascinating fauna, and the great lakes that stretched and blotched across the continent. However, it colors begin to fade as the Empire devours it with its shroud.

All of you have gathered in one of the temple ruins that make up for the rebel cell’s meeting halls. Beneb and the fighters settled in the jungle that’s miles away from the capital Ulfin’s boundary. You and Cal listen in on the exchange of the soldiers and Beneb regarding their plan of their counterattack.

The main target? The Imperial outpost that’s been erected at the city.

The operation was quite elaborate for a rebel cell, nevertheless, Beeneb was confident that it was manageable—since he had put his faith on his soldiers to be the good ones, albeit being an interesting medley of misfits.

“We will strike at night—when they are most vulnerable, they’ll be under the impression that nobody will be outside due to the curfew,” Beneb interjects, he raises a finger at you. “[Y/N] will be part of the small division who’s in charge of planting the explosions at the very foundation of the building. The explosion will divert the Imps’ attention to their outpost while we free the captives and our men in their holding camps.”

And the former admiral moves his finger to Cal, “You, on the other hand, will go with the assault division. You’re one of the best fighters I’ve seen, my boy, and we’re gonna need all the brawn we can get until the captives have been freed.”

He never liked this idea not one bit—since its conception, he wasn’t really keen on the thought of having you take on one of the most dangerous tasks of this mission: explosives. You had to talk it out of him just so he’s convinced and reassured that this plan will come through.

At the end of the briefing, Cal pulled you to a secluded spot in the camp: at the side of a tent, which is still slightly in sight of other people around the camp.

“You’ve been uneasy since the start of the briefing,” you point out.

He reasons out his exact sentiments on the plan—he doesn’t like how Jax Beneb planned this whole counterattack.

“It seems risky,”

“Cal, in these times, everything is risky,” you argue. “I was hoping you’d have some trust in me—given that they put me in the explosives team.”

“I do trust you. It’s… It’s the plan I don’t trust,” Cal muttered, strictly within your earshot.

“They’re gonna have to do better if they wanted to kill me off,”

“Don’t joke like that,” he clicked his tongue, apparently ticked.

“I’m not joking,” you shrug your shoulders. “I meant it—I’m not that easy to get rid of, and neither are you.”

Cal fell silent. You had him back to a corner on that one. His eyes were wary of the partisans that passed you by, those pair of green irises shifted from one person to another, avoiding eye contact or greeting them with curt nods and mumbled hey’s and hi’s.

You bring your hand to his cheek, gingerly turning him to face you.

“I know it’s scary, but it’s gonna be okay,” you caress his cheek with the knuckle of your forefinger, he nuzzled his lip to the cushion of your thumb.

That same night, you were restless.

You’re haunted by the vision of red and orange burning blindingly behind your eyes, the rumble felt so surreal you feel the vibration at the soles of your feet, and whatever tension it brought you it was suffocating. Later on, in your nightmare, you’re greeted with the sight of Cal lying flat on the floor, facing up, his face is covered in ash and soot, red marks signify fresh yet minor burns, a streak of blood paints along the side of his face. Meanwhile, you can feel yourself lying right beside Cal’s unconscious—and seemingly dead—body. You want to scream, but you’re mute, with only the sound of a hundred, faceless screams, explosions, and the flaring inferno wrapping around the two of you.

“Cal, please get up…!” you hear your subconscious self beg, your voice cracking as you choke on your own words. You couldn’t even hoist your hand to nudge him, let alone touch.

He doesn’t budge. Embers continue to flutter over a plume of black smoke wafting in your direction.

You jolt up, awake in a cold sweat. Your eyes adjust to the dimness of your tent, lit by a single power lamp, your ears prick up and listen to the cacophony of insects chirping in the sparse vegetation of the outskirts. The bioluminescent sap of the trees flowing underneath the bark glowed around the camp in place of the bonfire that’s been put out for tonight.

Cal shuffled in his bed, he was woken up by your exclamation and shallow, rapid breathing.

“[Y/N], is something wrong?”

“I… Yeah…” you stammered, massaging both sides of your head as you hunched your back. “Bad dream is all… Sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep, Cal.”

He hesitated, but did so shortly afterwards. He didn’t close his eyes yet when he laid his back flat on his bed, he tossed to his side facing you, but you returned to your own bed with your back turned to him. Cal watched the steady by labored rise and fall of your shoulders as you coax yourself back to sleep, although you struggled in doing so.

It was a restless night. You literally fought it off by having a quick sparring session with one of the partisans.

Cal approached and leaned against the banister of the pen where you and spar buddy fought. He noticed the sleight of your hand is still intact—the grip around the hilt is firm and secure—but your ankles when buckling seemed flimsy; it’s not that he wanted you to fail, rather he anticipated the likeliness of you fumbling once the opponent lands a blow against your practice rod—which is nothing short of a typical electrostaff with a dead circuit.

“Did you get enough sleep last night?” asked Cal as soon as your sparring was over.

“I’ve caught enough winks. Why?”

“Your form looked off, that’s what,”

“Did I now?”

“Looks like you’re not as confident as you were yesterday,”

“Cal, my nightmare had nothing to do with the counterattack,”

He dismisses it by mouthing the word “Sure” and then the two of continued to talk with the banister between you. Seeing that he is the only person you can confide to with these kinds of dreams, you eventually caved in and narrated everything to him—even the macabre part where you find him lying lifeless next to you and he doesn’t budge.

“Okay, I won’t lie: that is scary.”

“It’s only a dream, Cal, don’t take it so seriously,”

“For a while there, you sounded like you did,”

“Well, it felt real—but that doesn’t mean I believe it,”

The bickering ended before the tension would even rise. Even if neither of you are talking about it, there’s always something that reminds you of it—anything was a potential stimulus: the campfire evoked the images of the burning light that seared your eyes, the collective voices of the fighters gradually melding together into one indistinct voice reminded you of the faceless screams.

This went on for the rest of the day, even during a recap meeting with Jax and the partisans. After that short meeting, you were led by one of the partisans who will handle the explosives with you on the day of the operation.

“Come on, we’ll teach you how the detonators work,”

“O-Okay…”

The partisan sensed the warble in your tone, she chuckled, although not to offend. The adult woman clapped your shoulder and slung her arm around it, hauling you to her side.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, little spark! You’ve got enough time to run away from it before the Imps could even realize it exists!”

While you were being stowed away by the detonations experts, Cal joined in with the fighters who were constantly warming up and sparring at one another—with the one collective reason that they want to be in tiptop shape when it’s time for the operation to be executed. Even without touching you, Cal had sensed your anxiety, he’s noticed your episodic wincing and migraine attacks, and though you insist that you’re fine—both of you perfectly know that nothing seems fine anymore as the day for the counterattack approaches ever so briskly.

[rainydaydream-gal18]

Cal Kestis x Reader: Continued

(Author's Note: Oh wow, so I finally have a fic to publish! It's been a while since I've posted any Cal Kestis content. I hope my Star Wars crew enjoys it! I am currently working on a Hobbit fanfic as well, so stay tuned. Again, thank you for your patience and support. I've had some serious writer's block, and I'm glad to finally have something for you guys. Apologies, I need to fix the spacing and indentation since I am publishing on my phone right now. But for now, enjoy!)

    The forests of Kashyyk were dense, and the air was humid.  It was a great space for training, which is why you and your mentor-slash-boyfriend Cal Kestis were there.  Plus, he had made friends with the Wookies on his journey and liked to check up on them every now and then.  

   Focusing your energy, you launched yourself off a boulder towards the platform above.  You made the landing with ease, shooting your companion a pointed look.  Your skills were certainly improving.  Training more with Cal was paying off.

    Your victory was short-lived, though.  Moments after your feet met the platform, they slipped on the wet surface and caused you to stumble backwards.  You didn’t fall very far before a strong hand grasped yours, pulling you the rest of the way up until you were face-to-broad-chest with Cal.

    “Hey,” you said.

    He chuckled.  “Hey.”  

    BD-1, who had previously been resting on his shoulder, jumped off and gave a few amused beeps.

    You smiled at the droid before meeting Cal’s gaze again.“Thank you for that.  I wasn’t really looking to fall on my butt today.”

    He shook his head and took a step back.  “If you were focusing more instead of bragging  with your eyes….”

    “Oh, please.”  He was right, of course, but you waved his comment off.  Finally, you sighed and conceded, “alright, I’ll try and be more focused and less braggy.”

    At that, he chuckled again and kissed you on the forehead.  It was the strangest thing.  One moment, he was pulling away, and in the next moment you were locking lips.  It was gentle with passionate undertones.  His arms wrapped around you, and your hands rested on his shoulders.

    The sound of Wookie speech interrupted your moment.  You and Cal broke away abruptly and put a little distance between you.  The small patrol of Wookies weren’t fooled, though, and they eyed you both slyly.  One let out a smug phrase in their language, and you felt your cheeks grow warm.

    BD-1 let out beeps of laughter and jumped back up onto Cal’s shoulder.  He seemed to be blushing too, which was a rare but cute sight.

    “Hello there,” Cal greeted the patrol with the wave of his hand, recovering from the moment.

    The Wookies greeted him in response, and as they conversed, you took in the world around you.  It was very beautiful there.  Such a shame that the Imps were trying to take over and enslave the brave people who lived there.  You were careful not to allow bitterness and hate take hold, but it definitely created some unsettling feelings in you.  It is difficult to feel compassion and care for something and not get upset when it’s threatened.  However,  is it possible that your compassion could extend to all?  Of course you were opposed to what the Empire was doing, but perhaps there was room for compassion towards the individuals brought up in the regime, those who were sucked in out of fear or lack of purpose. How dark it must be for them.  There may be a way to reach them...

    Your train of thought was interrupted by Cal’s beckoning gesture.  You had been so deep in thought, not even realizing that you were beginning to wander.  You strided back towards the platform and leaped up to join the others, making sure to focus and not slip off this time.

    “The Wookies say they’re very happy to be working with us.  They’ve invited us back for a meal.”

    “Oh, that’s great,” you replied, smiling.  As exciting as it would be to dine with another culture, a part of you was nervous.  You weren’t exactly fluent in Wookie, nor were you familiar with their customs.

    As if sensing your feelings, which he probably did, Cal offered a soft smile.  “I’ve been catching up on my language skills, so don’t worry.  I can translate, and it’ll be a learning experience for us both.”

    You nodded, feeling more at ease.  Cal explained to the Wookies that he and you needed to check in with the rest of the Mantis crew because apparently they were invited as well.  You’d return to that spot in the forest shortly.

    As you parted ways with your allies for a short while, you sensed something was off.  There was a particularly dark feeling that was nagging you under the surface.

    “You feel that?” Cal asked, suddenly growing tense.

    “Yes,” you nodded.

    Suddenly a blast came out from nowhere, and you quickly activated your lightsaber to deflect it.  Cal activated his as well and got into a defensive stance, holding the blade close.

    A small squad of Imperial Troopers were nearby, you could feel it.  They were hidden away as they fired at you and your companion.

   Despite your ability to deflect these blasts, you were getting tired of them remaining safe while you and Cal were sitting ducks. You wanted this fight to end quickly.  So you paused your deflecting, drawing in a calm breath. You focused and pulled the opponents from their hiding places in the brush. They all came flying into the clearing at once, shouting. You held them in place for a moment. 

    When you opened your eyes, Cal was gazing at you with lips parted in amazement. You glanced around and realized the troopers had been knocked off their feet and were still recovering.

    You were just as surprised by your move as he was. With lightsaber in hand, you approached the closest trooper. The glowing blade hummed as you gave it a spin in your hand and aimed it at him.

   "Please, no!" The trooper begged. 

   "You are endangering these people. They've been through enough, don't you think?" You questioned, tone sharp.

   Cal grew uneasy beside you, but didn't intervene. He must have sensed that you meant this individual no harm.

  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the trooper continued.

  "We are all capable of darkness. So I want you to remember this moment the next time you are faced with a decision; the next time the Empire demands that you take a life or try to enslave it." Your tone grew softer as you knelt down. "I will keep fighting you if you choose to keep attacking, but I'm giving you the chance to walk away. Remember this moment, and think about what you'd want if you were in their place." 

   At that, you rose to your feet. Other troopers had gotten back on their feet as well and begun aiming blasters at you. The trooper in front of you held up his gloved hand as a sign for them to halt. 

  "We will say that the jedi were too strong and that we had to retreat," he informed them.

   One tried to protest. "But, sir-" 

   "Let's go," he insisted. "We don't belong here."

   And they left. They hurried away into the forest, and you turned to Cal. "We're fighters," you said, "but we're also supposed to value mercy and peace."

   "A very important lesson," he agreed. "I struggled with it for some time after order 66. But moving on doesn't mean I have to be okay with what happened. Perhaps, I can bring about more change with meaningful words and action rather than just a lightsaber, like what you just did."

    "Maybe it changed something for the better, maybe not." You shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

    "Let's get back to the Mantis. We need to fill them in on everything and make it to dinner with the Wookies on time."

    "I really worked up an appetite there," you agreed. "Let's go."  He leaned in and planted a kiss on your lips.  "What was that for?"

   "Oh, no reason. You're just beautiful, is all."

   You rolled your eyes, smiling. 

[dumbchickwrites]

office affairs -- part 4

Pairings: CEO!Sam Wilson x Reader

Summary: Sam is the CEO of the Red Wing PR agency where Reader has been working for the past two years. Problem is, they both think one hates the other. However, when their friends set them up on a blind date, they’ll realise it was all a big misunderstanding.

Words: 2.1k

Warnings: language, Reader is still thirsty, fluff, Mimi wants to gossip.

A/N: This series is part of @marvelmaree​‘s birthday challenge. You can find the masterlist on my blog and hers! Enjoy!

Brunch with your friends and your sister is always a good time. You can’t complain. You have drinks, food and some of the people you love the most. And on this particular Sunday, you still feel the euphoria of your date with Sam.

All weekend you tried to let it go already, telling yourself that you were acting like a middle school girl. But at the same time, who cares, right? Once again, you reminded yourself to let yourself be for a moment, without your self-consciousness stopping you from simply feeling.

“Is she daydreaming again?”

“I bet she’s thinking about Sam.”

“Who’s Sam?”

“No one, baby. Eat your food.”

Someone snaps their fingers in front of your face. You blink a couple of times before frowning at the owner of said hand. Maria doesn’t flinch under your glare.

“Where did you go?” Noelle asked.

You take a sip of your mimosa before you answer.

“Back at L’Orage.”

“Annnnd…?” Natasha pushes.

“We—” you begin, but your gaze meets Michelle’s. 

She’s looking at you like she also wants all the tea. Your eyes lower to her empty plate, hers follow your gaze. You know what she’s thinking, and she knows what you’re thinking. 

“Mimi, you’re done eating right? Why don’t you go watch some TV inside?” you say before her little hand reaches the basket of pastries on the table.

“But—”

“Auntie Henny is right,” Noelle cuts her and you roll your eyes at the nickname. “We don’t want you to get sick, right?” she says, rubbing her belly.

“Okay, Mommy. Can I get more juice from the fridge, please?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!”

Just like that, she’s back inside the house.

“I thought the use of that nickname was forbidden in this house,” you say.

“We’re in the backyard,” your sister gives you an innocent smile.

You throw your napkin at her but she easily catches it.

“Anyways. We kissed.”

“Huh,” Natasha crosses her arms over her chest and lays back on her chair. “But?”

“What?”

“There’s a but. There’s always a but with you,” Maria says.

“There’s no but. We kissed, that’s it. It was a very nice kiss. Then he took me home—Back here!” you add quickly when you see how big Maria and Natasha’s eyes got. “He said he’s down for a second date.”

“So how do you feel about him?” Maria asks.

“Do you want me to tell you you were right? Because that’s not gonna happen.”

Maria gives you a look. You sigh.

“It turns out he doesn’t hate me at all. He was actually kind of shocked when I talked to him about that. He thought I didn’t like him,” you take another sip of your drink. “I like him a lot. He’s nice, funny, he listens to me when I talk.”

“Annnnnd…?” this time it comes from Noelle.

“And I kinda want him to bend me over a desk some time.”

The four of you burst out laughing like madwomen.

“More seriously, I guess I should thank you guys. I had a really nice time.”

“Aw, you’re welcome, sweetie,” Natasha rubs your arm. “Personally, I think you guys are a match made in heaven. Literally.”

“Don’t jinx it, Nat!” Maria exclaims.

Natasha makes a zipping motion over her lips with a little smirk.

As Noelle refills your champagne flutes and you move on to another topic – here Noelle and Laetitia, the mother of the new kid in Mimi’s class --, you can’t help but feel grateful for this moment.

You were lucky to find people you can rely on other than your sister after so many years. After everything that happened. Sure your sister is your best friend and vice versa, but sometimes you can’t help but feel guilty about all the stuff you dump on her.

It’s not easy for you to interact with people and maintain healthy relationship. You try your best to find a nice balance between over communicating and totally isolating yourself. You’re still a work in progress though.

That’s why all this dating business was pushed aside for a few years.

Maria and Natasha end up spending the rest of the day at your house. You order takeout, drink some more – responsibly though, all while binge-watching Disney movies and playing board games with Michelle. It’s the nicest day you’ve had in a hot minute.

When the girls leave and it’s finally time for bed, you go to sleep with the ghost of today’s smiles still dancing on your lips.

*

In your opinion, Mondays are overrated. You never understood this whole thing anyway. Sure it’s the beginning of a new week, but it’s still a day like the others.

This particular Monday though, is a bit special. You’re excited to see whether or not Sam had the flowers delivered in your office. So excited that you’re walking around with a huge grin, your face beaming as you step into the elevator.

“Well good morning m’lady,” Scott from HR greets you when you step off the elevator. He’s at the front desk, talking to Rumlow.

“Morning Scott,” you say, still smiling.

“You got a secret admirer, huh?” Scott asks.

“Excuse me?”

“Your office is filled with flowers. And I mean filled. Janet walked by ten minutes ago and she hasn’t stopped sneezing since. Y’know, allergies.”

“Oh, um… I—” you stutter, not really knowing what to say.

“I’m just messing with you, kiddo. Just—If it’s a dude from around here, just make sure you stop by my office some time, ‘kay?”

Okay… You need to end this conversation now. You can feel your cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Honestly, it’s not that you don’t like Scott, everybody likes Scott. It’s just that he can be a bit too much sometimes.

“Sure thing, Scottie. You have a good day, okay?”

You don’t wait for his answer before you keep walking towards your office, climbing the stairs leading to the first floor with ease.

A woman you don’t recognize is standing in front of your office, staring at the glass wall. The cleaning crew must have left the blinds open again despite your multiple notes.

“Hello,” you greet her before you reach your office. “Can I help you?”

You can’t see the inside yet but Scott was right, the scent is strong. Just how many flowers did Sam send?

Her gaze meets yours as she whips her head towards you, her long burgundy hair following the movement. She’s wearing a green suit, a bold but beautiful contrast with her skin tone.

“Hi!” she smiles. “I’m sorry, is this your office?”

“Yes. You’re new here, right?”

“Yes, yes. My name is Gamora, I’m the new Digital Manager,” she offers her hand for you to shake.

You introduce yourself as you shake her hand. “… I take care of—”

“Events, yes. It’s written on your door. Anyways, I was just looking at the flowers in your office. Must be nice. My boyfriend… He’s not really that kind of guy.”

“Um…”

Once again, you don’t know how to talk to people.

“Sorry if I’m being weird.”

“Oh, no, it’s… Don’t worry about it. So where are you from?” you ask.

You figure you should at least try to make small talk with her. She seems nice, she has a very kind face. There’s something about her eyes though… She’s clearly been through a lot.

“I’m from New Asgard, in Norway.”

“Wow, how did you end up here?”

“My boyfriend, Peter. He lives in the US and he asked me to move in with him. I couldn’t say no.”

The name makes you flinch, but you wipe the discomfort away as soon as it appears. Peter is a common name. In this city alone there are hundreds of them. You need to get used to it, it’s been years already.

“Well, on behalf of the entire Red Wing team, I’d like to say welcome,” you give her a genuine smile.

“Thank you so much. That means a lot.” With a sigh, she throws one last glance towards your office before she starts walking away. “I better find Scott, we’re not done with the tour yet. I’ll see you around, I guess?”

“Sure. Have a good day!”

Once she turns around the corner, you take the last few steps that lead you to your office.

“Oh my God,” you whisper.

Your office is filled with flowers all right. It’s not just fifty like Sam said. At least a dozen of bouquets of red roses, tulips and peonies are scattered around your office. On your coffee table, the empty spaces on your bookshelf, the floor… everywhere but on your desk. Thank God, the scent isn’t disturbing to you.

“Oh my God,” you whisper again.

You can’t believe your eyes. You set your bag on your desk and draw the blinds over the glass walls to keep the prying eyes out of your business. Walking around a bit, you take the time to inhale and admire every single bouquet.

“Wow, he really wasn’t joking.”

You turn around to find Natasha and Maria standing in your doorway, holding huge mugs.

That’s right the morning coffee. Morning coffee is always in your office on Monday and Wednesday.

“Aw sweetie, don’t cry!” Natasha grabs a tissues from the box on your coffee table and hands it to you.

You didn’t even realize you were crying. Damn, he really had you in the palm of his hand, huh?

“It’s just, no one has ever done something like this for me before, and I feel stupid now because I’m crying for fucking flowers.”

“Hey, it’s not stupid, okay?” Maria chips in. “From what you told us, you’re not used to this kind of treatment, so it’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed right now. Here,” she hands you one of the mugs she’s holding. “Mantis told us you just got in so we figured you didn’t have time to make your cup of tea yet.”

“Thank you.”

You take a sip of the beverage, the hot liquid helping with the lump in your throat.

“Is… Is he here?” you ask.

Their offices are located on the floor above yours along with Sam’s, so you rarely see him during the day.

“Not yet,” Natasha replies. “He’s late. Something about getting Falcon a new cone.”

Oh yeah. He mentioned his dog’s surgery Friday night.

“Good morning, ladies. You talking about me?”

There he is.

Sam is standing in the doorway, a smirk on his lips, always handsome. A warm feeling spreads in your chest at the sight of him, and this morning’s grin is back in an instant.

“Samuel,” Maria greets him. “You’re late.”

“Ah shit. The boss wouldn’t like that, would he?”

“Whatever,” Maria rolls her eyes at him.

“Maria, come to the kitchen with me, I want to see if the pastries have been delivered already,” Natasha says, grabbing Maria’s arm.

“But shouldn’t we go with—” her sentence is cut short by Natasha’s pointed look. “Ohhh. Right.”

The girls shut the door behind them as they exit your office, you and Sam left alone.

“Morning,” he says, slowly approaching you. “Do you like the flowers?”

“I do, very much. What happened to the fifty flowers, though?”

Sam shrugs. “They were supposed to represent the number of times I wanted to kiss you. But as the weekend went by, I lost count, so…”

Goddammit.

“Come here,” you mumble.

You grab his hand and pull him closer to you, your free hand finding its place at the back of his neck. The kiss you give him is slow and sweet as you do your best to express your gratitude. You’ve been on one date, yet he has managed to make you feel more special than you’ve ever felt. He really is something. Sam kisses you back, and you can feel him smile as he does.

“Thank you,” you say when you break the kiss. “This is… wow.”

Sam keeps your body close to his, not wanting to let you go just yet.

“You’re welcome. So… about that second date. How do you feel about roller skating?”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“I kind of like it. I haven’t skated since I was a kid, though.”

Sam nods. “Dinner and roller skating. Let’s say… Wednesday?”

“Wednesday sounds good,” you smile.

“Okay.”

Sam peppers small kisses on your lips and the corner of your mouth before letting you go. You instantly feel colder.

As he walks to the door, you seat at your desk and power up your computer, ready to start the work day.

“Wait, I need one more,” Sam says.

He rounds your desk and spins your chair so you’ll face him, before giving you another kiss. Once again, he peppers small kisses on your lips and cheeks and this time, you can’t help but giggle.

“It’s not even noon yet and I’m having the best day I’ve had in a while,” he whispers.

“Stop it. You’re gonna make me blush,” you joke.

“Now that would be my greatest achievement.”

Sam leaves shortly after that, leaving you to start working with the same dumb smile from earlier on your lips.

***

Tags: @marvelmaree​ @ljstraightnochaser @blackmissfrizzle​ @youdonotghostnickfury​ @minillamakeup-blog​

[moonlit-imagines]

He Needed My Help

Cal Kestis x reader

warnings:

a/n: reader is also a jedi (but tbh jedi code is lame and jedi can now love ahaha) went a lil overboard here

prompt: anonymous: “Heyyy, can we get a Cal Kestis imagine where the reader helps heal him after his encounter with Vader? Perhaps she pulls him out of the water instead of Merrin, revives him, and treats the lightsaber wound on his chest?”

You were already inside the Fortress, split up from the rest of your crew, Cal and Cere were in danger, you could feel it. It was only a matter of time before this place was destroyed. Water was pouring into your section and you decided it was time to go in. You pulled your breather out and prepared to swim out of this awful place.

On your way to the surface, you spotted two floating bodies out in the deep blue. You knew exactly who it was and you knew exactly what you needed to do. You mustered up all the energy you could and pushed against the water, your muscles aching from all the action you’d experienced in the past couple days. But this was more important than anything you’d been faced with during your short time on the Mantis.

Cal wasn’t wearing a breather, you noticed it was on Cere. Always putting others before himself, classic Cal. It was your turn to be the hero, you pulled your breather off and placed it over his mouth and nose, then wrapped your arms around your crew, your family, and swam up. You pushed and pushed before you finally reached the surface and gasped for air.

“Y/N? Y/N! Are you okay? Where is everyone?” Greez called to you over the comms.

“I’ve got them, Greez,” you panted, wishing for a rest that you probably wouldn’t get for a while, “I have both of them.”

“Thank God.” He let out a sigh of relief. “I’m coming for you, don’t worry. Merrin’s gonna pull you all out.”

“Thanks, Greez.” You waded in the water, making sure to keep your head up so Greez could see you. The Mantis headed your way and hovered above your general area. Next thing you knew, Merrin appeared and brought you three to safety.

“Are you alright?” Merrin asked you as you fell to the floor, trying to catch your breath.

“I will be, thank you, Merrin.” You took another moment and crawled back to your feet, took Cal in your arms and brought him back to his bunk. You noticed the lightsaber wound on his torso and could only imagine the pain he went through. “Oh, Cal.” You whispered and removed some of his damp clothes. You hadn’t done this next trick in a while, but it seemed like today was the day.

You placed your hands on Cal’s cauterized wound and closed your eyes, focusing on the Force, using it to heal Cal. It was a familiar experience, bringing back memories of other people you healed in the past. People no longer with you today. But Cal...Cal needed this, he deserved this. In the midst of your very own flashback, you felt a hand grab yours and snapped back into reality to see Cal peering up at you with a weak smile.

“I thought you didn’t do that anymore?” He mumbled and his head fell back into his pillow. You rolled your eyes and chuckled, he was very talented in the art of amusing you. And himself, for that matter.

“Be quiet, Cal. I’m trying to focus.” You closed your eyes again and finished the process, feeling tired and weak by the end of it.

“Y/N?” Cal sat up, feeling much better than before. “Thanks for everything, I really appreciate it.” He placed a hand on your shoulder and watched you yawn and collapse due to your exhaustion. “Oh...that’s not good.” Cal kneeled down next to you and replaced himself with you on his bed. He knew that you needed rest, and a lot of it. Without even thinking, he moved your dirty hair from your face and kissed your forehead. He didn’t want to leave your side, and for a while he didn’t, but he needed to check on the rest of the crew.

Cal rushed to meet everyone and was immediately greeted with a hug from Merrin.

“Oh, good, he’s up!” Greez cheered and clapped with all four hands. “Where’s y/n?”

“Well, they passed out after I woke up. But I can thank them for healing my lightsaber wound. Look, all better.” Cal pointed out your work and sat down amongst the crew.

“Good, y/n’s asleep. I was worried the time would never come.” Cere admitted to Cal. “They’ve been straining themself. It’s about time they got some rest.”

“Is there something you know that I don’t?” Cal asked, scrunching his eyebrows in concern. Greez chuckled at his question and began to tell the story he’d been waiting for.

“Kid, y/n fished you and Cere out of the water after you passed out. They gave you their breather and got stranded in the water waiting on me and Merrin to come and get you guys. Not only that, we know that y/n has barely rested recently, kid doesn’t know when to quit!” Greez explained proudly, informing Cal on all you’d done without him knowing. “When y/n wakes up, make sure they’re doing okay. Got me?”

“I think I’m gonna go stay with them for a while. I’ll come back when y/n’s up.” Cal made his way back to his bunk to see you peacefully sleeping. He didn’t even realize that BD-1 had stayed in here with you to supervise while you were unconscious. “Hey, buddy. How’s y/n doing?” Cal asked and BD gave him a few beeps as a response. “That’s good, thanks for looking after them.” He patted BD and sat beside you on the bed, gazing at your beaten-up body.

He tried to clean you up a bit, but there was only so much he could do. He noticed you took off some of his soggy clothes, so he did the same for you. After all your outerwear was hung to dry, he laid next to you and waited. He waited for hours. Every once in a while, you’d make a noise or move around and it got his hopes up, he was excited for you to wake so he could talk to you about everything.

Finally, your eyes fluttered open and Cal sat up quick.

“Hey, hey. How’re you doing?” He asked you in a whisper, trying to keep you comfortable. It took you a moment to answer him while you shifted in his bed.

“Everything hurts...” You groaned, but that didn’t stop you from getting up.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.” Cal helped you up and brought you in for a hug that you didn’t exactly expect, but definitely welcomed. “I really want to thank you, y/n. Greez told me what you did, how you saved me. I owe you, big time.”

“Oh, you owe me?” You looked into his eyes and cocked an eyebrow, amused to say the least.

“Have anything in mind?” He already knew what you were thinking, the thought of it left a smile on his face.

“Oh, of course not!” You obviously lied, getting closer and closer to his face.

“That’s too bad...” He mocked while getting closer to your lips, keeping his eyes on the prize. “You sure?”

“Never been more sure in my life.” You whispered and closed the gap in between the two of you, enjoying the moment. This was quite possibly Cal’s first kiss since you were both raised to follow the Jedi code. Before the two of you had properly finished this kiss, you heard a few beeps and separated quickly. “Hi, BD...how long have you been here?”